Earlier this year, PGA Tour veteran, Steve Lowery, captured the AT&T Pro-Am, defeating Vijay Singh in a playoff. It had been eight years since Lowery's last victory on tour, and his success was largely due to his creative shot making.
Lowery carved a number of beautiful approach shots on the back nine of the final round by utilizing a simple technique to hit specific yardages that all of us can try.
Lowery, on the majority of his approach shots, choked down on his club a good inch, and nearly a full two inches on others. By "choking down" I'm referring to gripping the club with the hands placed down the handle, closer to the clubhead. Why would he do this?
As a rough guide, for every inch a golfer chokes down on the club, about three to five yards are subtracted in total carry when performing a full swing. So, if you normally clear 150 yards using a 7-iron with your normal grip position, expect to carry a shot about 145 yards when choking down an inch. This is a great method to implement when you find yourself in between clubs, where one club will send the ball too far, or the next lesser club will send the ball too short of the desired target distance.
Apparently, Lowery found himself in a lot of "tweener" situations, and therefore, opted for stronger clubs, taking a little off of them by choking down as needed to strike the perfect yardages.
Rarely do we find ourselves with approach shots that exactly match-up with one of our full swing, full club distances. And for many, when faced with a tweener, find it tempting to take the shorter club and just try to bomb it as hard as they can, hoping to produce and squeeze that extra yard or two. This can be risky however, because the harder swing is more difficult to keep controlled and balanced, often inducing tension in the hands and arms.
Instead, try choking down with the longer of the two clubs in consideration and take your normal swing. More than not, you will find it easier to perform and your tempo need not be adjusted.
- David Haugh is a PGA teaching professional and golf writer. He teaches at Argue-ment GC.
Lowery carved a number of beautiful approach shots on the back nine of the final round by utilizing a simple technique to hit specific yardages that all of us can try.
Lowery, on the majority of his approach shots, choked down on his club a good inch, and nearly a full two inches on others. By "choking down" I'm referring to gripping the club with the hands placed down the handle, closer to the clubhead. Why would he do this?
As a rough guide, for every inch a golfer chokes down on the club, about three to five yards are subtracted in total carry when performing a full swing. So, if you normally clear 150 yards using a 7-iron with your normal grip position, expect to carry a shot about 145 yards when choking down an inch. This is a great method to implement when you find yourself in between clubs, where one club will send the ball too far, or the next lesser club will send the ball too short of the desired target distance.
Apparently, Lowery found himself in a lot of "tweener" situations, and therefore, opted for stronger clubs, taking a little off of them by choking down as needed to strike the perfect yardages.
Rarely do we find ourselves with approach shots that exactly match-up with one of our full swing, full club distances. And for many, when faced with a tweener, find it tempting to take the shorter club and just try to bomb it as hard as they can, hoping to produce and squeeze that extra yard or two. This can be risky however, because the harder swing is more difficult to keep controlled and balanced, often inducing tension in the hands and arms.
Instead, try choking down with the longer of the two clubs in consideration and take your normal swing. More than not, you will find it easier to perform and your tempo need not be adjusted.
- David Haugh is a PGA teaching professional and golf writer. He teaches at Argue-ment GC.
