The main problem Golf Monthly reader Richard Baker struggles with is fairly typical of a high handicap golfer in that not only does he find a lot of bunkers, but he also has trouble getting out of them first or second time. Whether it’s a chunk where the ball stays in the sand or a knifed shot over the green, inconsistency from the sand is leading to some high numbers on the scorecard - something he was desperately hoping Top 50 coach and adidas brand ambassador Dan Grieve could help with.

WATCH: Dan Grieve explains the technique required on bunker shots

Luckily for Richard, both bad shots that Richard hits stem from the same incorrect set up position. It's something we also saw with Jess Ratcliffe's struggles from the rough and Ben Tadman's chipping yips.

“In Richard’s set up, he isn’t creating the platform that he needs to play good bunker shots,” Dan explains. “Successful bunker shots are 90 percent address, 10 percent swing. His stance is too narrow and he has the majority of his weight on his trail side. Often in bunkers the temptation is to lean back away from the target and try and help the ball out, especially if the bunker has quite a tall lip.”

To help Richard feel the correct set-up position, Dan set up to the ball, wiggled both feet into the sand and then asked Richard to step into his footprints. The result was a stance that was much wider, with his feet further away from the ball and by pushing Richard’s pelvis more towards the target, he was then in a much better position to hit more consistent sand shots.

“I wanted Richard to feel more stability in his legs,” Dan added. “This helps get his hands lower and enter the sand two inches behind the ball more consistently. Once we got his set up right it was just a case of getting his chest to turn towards the target into the finish and feel like the loft was pointing more towards him, which helped to activate the bounce and ensure the club didn’t dig too much.”

The results were almost immediate with Richard hitting some high, soft-landing bunker shots that stopped quickly next to the flag. As Dan pointed out during the lesson, there’s no reason why anyone can’t stand to the ball like the world’s best players. Getting this right then set off a chain reaction in terms of how he then moved during the swing.

“Before I came to see Dan my short game was a lottery, lots of duffs and thins,” Richard explained. “The focus on how to set up right and let the swing take care of itself was really helpful. I had no idea what I was doing wrong so being able to reliably get the ball out of the bunker will be really helpful. Actually feeling what a good set up feels like is the real benefit of spending time with Dan, and then experiencing the impact of getting it right is just so much better for the memory.”

A big thank you to Dan Grieve for giving us his time and to adidas for the opportunity. Both Dan and Richard were wearing the Ultimate365 8.5 inch shorts from adidas to improve their shorts game.

Chipping and pitching from the rough, when you can’t make clean contact with the ball, can be a daunting proposition with the ball reacting unpredictably off the club face and once it lands on the green. This was a problem 8-handicapper Jess Ratcliffe has really grappled with recently, and so sought the assistance of short game guru and adidas brand ambassador Dan Grieve to help.

WATCH: Dan Grieve gives Jess Ratcliffe a lesson on chipping from the rough

“I’ve discovered that when I find myself in the rough I gravitate to playing a high, soft landing shot and I often catch the ball a little bit thin,” Jess explains. “I don't feel like I get the best connection and when I do get a good connection, it runs out past the flag, so I need a system to fall back on to get me out of trouble.”

Luckily for Jess, Dan has experience of helping golfers of every ability chip and pitch the ball close from different lies and much of skill required takes place before the swing has even started.

“So this is where the golf IQ comes in, what I call the golfing intelligence,” Dan says. “It really comes into its own when you're reading lies in the rough - the lie is dictating how you play this shot. The golden rule when you're in a rough is you don't hit the ball first. When the ball is nestled down you do need to come in a little bit steeper, but Jess wasn’t setting up correctly for the shot she was trying to play. She was setting up with the majority of her weight on her right side and almost tilting away from the ball. From this position she will likely release the club too much and that’s where the thin shot comes from.”

“So when the ball is sitting down, I'd be down the grip and sit down into my knees a little more with a wider stance, I’d be opening the club face a bit more and I’d set up squarely. I'm also leaning forward towards the target a little and I'm flaring that left foot out of the way. And just by the very nature of setting up with my chest bone now much further in front of the ball from this set-up with a bit of shaft lean, that's going to encourage me to set the club a bit earlier and be able to get into the back of the ball more easily.” 

During the lesson, this very quickly allowed Jess to control how quickly the ball would come out of the rough. Naturally, most chip shots hit from the rough tend to come out with less spin and release a lot more. But what about when you don’t have much green to work with and need to ball to land softer?

“Now when you want to hit a higher, softer-landing shot from the rough we do need some release into this to soften it,” Dan reveals. “So we go even wider with the stance, use our highest lofted wedge and get the hands lower as I want the loft pointing up more. It’s more like a bunker shot - there's not much rotation of the of the upper body, it’s it's more of a hands and arms shot.”

Jess had some almost instant results during her lesson, hitting different types of short-game shots to order having made subtle changes to her technique to accommodate the lies she faced. One way to practice this is to throw the balls over your shoulder in a rough then look at each one and react to it. You then learn how the subtle differences in how you set your weight and how you attack the ball changes how the ball comes out. 

A big thank you to Dan Grieve for giving us his time and to adidas for the opportunity. Dan was wearing the Ultimate365 8.5 inch shorts from adidas to improve his shorts game.

The chipping yips, or the anxiety that sets in when faced with a chip shot or short putt, can be incredibly frustrating, debilitating and put extreme pressure on the rest of your game. This was certainly the case for 4-handicap index golfer Ben Tadman, who came to see adidas brand ambassador and short game expert Dan Grieve for a lesson at Woburn Golf Club. 

WATCH: Dan Grieve gives a lesson addressing the chipping yips

“Around the greens has always been the worst part of my game,” Ben explains. “I’d say throughout the time I've had the yips or feel like I've had the yips, particularly in competition play, I get very frozen over the ball and can hit everything from a duff to a knife straight over the green. I had to pick up in a medal recently because it had gotten that bad.”

Dan is a coach that has seen it all and understands how and why the chipping yips can creep into someone’s game as well as how it isn’t limited to a certain ability of player - it can affect high handicappers, tour players and everyone in between.

“Ben’s a good player, he’s got good hands but they're having to work very hard for him,” Dan explains having watched Ben hit some basic chip shots from the side of the green, which included a chunked chip that travelled no more than a couple of feet. “This topic of the yips, the anxiety side of things, it's an issue for a lot of golfers. Ben’s got a bit of a fear of the ground and when you have a fear of the ground, that manifests as you're coming down into the ball, the anxiety kicks in and there's often an involuntary movement.”

“So with Ben I wanted to try and make things a little bit friendlier because that's what it's all about. Can we get his club working friendlier through the turf so he can start to trust the ground, and then there's a rewiring process that will go on, and he’ll start to then get a lot more comfortable and relaxed over the ball because he’ll know he doesn't need to be perfect. Some of the best players in the world when they chip hit the ground 3 inches behind the ball, I’ve demonstrated it in my videos. I can do it because I've got my angle of attack nice and shallow and I've got the loft and bounce on the club.”

Some other things that Dan implemented in Ben’s technique was to relax the arms and soften the grip pressure to more like a 4 out of 10. Another change was to set the club a little later in the backswing, so Dan got Ben to feel like he was swinging the club back under a low coffee table to ensure the wrists were working less and the bigger muscles were controlling more of the action.

“Obviously Ben’s got to work on his technique on the practice ground. But one thing that really helps with the yips on the course is to try and get as externally focused as possible,” explains Dan. “So get as much into where you want to land the ball, what the first bounce is going to look like, and so where is it breaking to go in the hole. Golfers with the yips have got a lot of internal focus on the ball and their technique, but when you play you've got to really see the shot. The more you can vividly paint the picture of what you're trying to do, the less you should be wrapped up in the technique.”

A big thank you to Dan Grieve for giving us his time and to adidas for the opportunity. Both Dan and Ben were wearing the Ultimate365 8.5 inch shorts from adidas to improve their shorts game.

The downhill chip shot it something that a lot of golfers really fear. In the video and article below, Golf Monthly Top 50 coach and PGA Pro Dan Grieve shares his expert advice that will remove the intimidation factor once and for all.

I understand why this situation poses amateurs problems, but with a few simple set-up changes, you'll quickly realise there's nothing to worry about at all. 

The biggest problem here is that players fail to adapt to the slope. So they'll get into a nice set-up position with a narrow stance and ignore the fact this isn't a normal chip shot they're facing. What's then going to happen is that the downswing is going to be too shallow, making it really difficult to make consistently good contact. So the angle of attack isn't steep enough for the lie and slope.

The key is adapting and making some nice changes to your set-up. The first thing to check is the severity of the slope. The steeper the slope, the wider you need to stand. In the video above I'm on a really steep slope, so I'm going to get almost driver width in my set-up. That's going to allow me to put much more weight on my lead side. 

From there, I want you to think about ball position and the upper body. You want to have the ball just back from the centre of your stance and feel like your chest bone is six or seven inches ahead of the ball.

That will encourage the club to swing up rather than around on the backswing, and then down the angle of the slope into impact. It's really important not to rotate as you normally would on a chip shot, just feel like you're keeping all your pressure on your lead leg and finish nice and short with the butt of the grip pointing somewhere near your left hip in the follow-through. 

The other point to note is that it helps to use a little bit more loft. In the video I've opted for a 60-degree wedge because the slope is going to make the ball come out much lower and I want to offset that with extra loft. The bounce on this wedge will also help the club get through the ball, especially if the lie is a little heavy. Give this a go and improve your downslope chipping.

A number of amateurs struggle with chipping, especially those with high handicaps. Indeed, the stats show a significant difference between scratch, 10-handicap and 20-handicap players. But it's not something you need to lose sleep over.

Below, Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Alex Elliott delivers a three-part lesson, with the aid of a golf ball box, that should help boost your confidence around the greens...

1) Let’s use something you’ve already got in your bag, a golf ball box, and get you finding the middle of the clubface more. Those strikes towards the heel or toe give us all sleepless nights, so place the box a fingertip’s width outside the ball (image below). The idea here is to just miss the box. If you move your hands closer towards the ball on the through swing, then you’re going to catch the box. If you go a little bit out and pull the club in, again you will catch the box. Nice and simple.

2) The biggest route to consistency with your pitching and chipping is keeping that club on plane. If you whip it inside on the way back, you’re going to have problems. Grab a wedge and place it underneath your front foot, under the ball of big toe on your left foot for a right-hander (image below). If you whip the club on the inside, you’ll come into contact with the grip. The club may feel a bit more out on the way back, but that’s a great feeling if you do bring it back on the inside. You should soon start noticing crisper strikes.

3) This is one of my favourite chipping tips. I’ve placed the box roughly a foot behind the ball (image below) and my only aim is to avoid the box on the way back, and hopefully on the way down, to help create a more descending blow. If you are prone to scooping your chips, the box will feel like it’s massively in your way. The objective here is to change your angle of attack. Practise this and you’ll quickly build confidence around the greens

Golf is rarely straightforward, so being versatile and adaptable are key components to success. Nowhere is this truer than in the short game. When missing a green we can be presented with almost infinite scenarios to deal with and it is essential that you have the tools to cope. 

In this article, I want to cover some of the more common awkward scenarios that come up and arm you with some ideas to help you get up and down more often…

Downhill lie

A very awkward proposition for any level of player, the downhill lie is something we all encounter and can cause a lot of difficulty. 

The main reason it is tricky is that it automatically takes some elevation out of the shot which, if you are short-sided for example, makes stopping the ball quickly very tough. One of the most common mistakes I see on this shot is players trying to artificially create that elevation by leaning back and scooping the ball up in the air. Unfortunately, that is maybe the worst thing you can do in this situation. Leaning backwards will move the low point of your arc behind the ball which will lead to bottoming out too early resulting in fat shots.

The key here is to work with the slope as much as possible. Move your weight forward and try to match your shoulder angle to the angle of the slope. From here, swing down the slope to ensure solid contact. You will have to accept that the ball will inevitably come out lower than normal, and adjust your intended landing area and expectations accordingly.

Plugged bunker shot

An all too familiar scenario, you’ve missed the green in a bunker and as you walk up, you can only see half the ball! Time to panic right? Wrong. With a few simple adjustments to technique, you can make this shot a lot easier.

First things first, as the ball is essentially below surface level, we need to do all we can to get that clubhead underneath the ball to pop it out. The best way to achieve this is to create a steeper attack angle. In order to do this, put a little more weight than usual into your lead foot and from here we are going to pick the club up a little more vertical than usual and drive the clubhead steeply into the sand behind the ball.

When practising this shot, experiment with your clubface angle. Some players prefer to play this shot with a square or even slightly closed face to take bounce off and help the clubhead dig more, whereas others are more comfortable opening the clubface a little to provide more elevation. To me this is dependent on strength. If you have the necessary speed and strength to still drive a clubhead under a plugged ball with the bounce exposed then absolutely, go for it. If you have a more moderate swing speed, then squaring up that clubface will help you dig it out of this tricky lie.

Flop shot

One of the more glamorous shots in the game, but one to be used with caution. I play a lot of pro-am tournaments and one of the biggest mistakes I see is handicap players walking up to a short-sided shot having already decided that they are going to flop it before they have even seen how the ball is lying. Reading lies around the green is one of the most crucial and underrated skills in golf in my opinion, and one that can only really be developed through practice and experience. 

Many a time I have looked over to see a playing partner opening up the face of their lob wedge from a bare or nestled down lie, before taking a full swing and watching the ball set off like a missile 90 yards over the back of the green! They then berate their technique thinking they should be able to play that shot like the pro’s they see on TV. Well the truth is, the pro’s they see on the TV wouldn’t have even attempted the shot from that lie because solid contact would be impossible or at best highly unlikely. Instead, they would take a more pragmatic approach, square up the blade and settle for a par putt in the 10-15ft range to avoid catastrophe.

That said, if the lie permits the flop shot can be a great escape option. To play it successfully, take a nice wide stance to support what is going to be a relatively aggressive swing and then open up the clubface. The key here is to open the clubface before taking your grip, not the other way round. If you take your grip then try and manipulate the club open, it is very difficult to maintain this throughout the swing.

From here, maintain a relatively light grip pressure as we want the clubhead to release freely with no forward shaft lean, and swing confidently at the ball. You need to be fairly aggressive as the open face will take distance off the shot.

40 yard bunker shot

One of the most awkward shots in the game, the mid range bunker shot can strike terror into even the most steely nerved golfer. This doesn’t have to be the case however with some smart shot selection. 

Commonly, golfers try and attack this shot with their lob or sand wedge and try to hit much less behind the ball than usual or even pick it cleanly. Now this isn’t necessarily the wrong play, it is just quite a high tariff shot requiring exceptional precision of strike to get right.

I like to build in a little more margin for error and play it slightly differently, instead reaching for my pitching wedge or even 9 iron. I then play the shot exactly as I would a standard 20 yard splash shot, trusting that the additional length of shaft and less loft will propel the ball the required distance. I find that eliminating technique variables here improves my consistency and increases my margin for error. Give it a try.

Buried in greenside rough

Always a frustrating result when having only just missed a green, but I have a couple of methods to cope with a buried ball greenside.

In my first method, I like to try and bypass a lot of the thick grass behind the ball by increasing my attack angle. If you come in too shallow, you will get that thick rough stuck between your clubface and ball and lose all the energy of strike. To increase that attack angle, move your weight forward, positioning your sternum in front of the golf ball and lean the shaft slightly towards target to engage the leading edge to cut through the rough. 

Then simply pick the club a little steeper than normal in the backswing and just feel as though you drop it down into the back of the ball. The key here is eliminating as much grass between club and ball as possible.

If you require more height, then you may want to implement more of an explosion shot. This is essentially just a bunker shot with grass. Open the blade up and with a more aggressive swing, try to impact the grass an inch or so behind the ball using the rough to cushion the strike (much like the sand would in a bunker), and the ball will pop out higher than in method one. Practice both of these shots to have multiple tools in your arsenal.

Up against the collar

Always annoying this one! You’ve basically hit the green and you find yourself up against the collar of rough between the fringe and the first cut. Fortunately there are a few methods to get out of this sticky situation.

First up, try the belly wedge. Essentially this is a deliberate thin shot. Grab your lob wedge, and with your putting grip and stance, hover the leading edge at the equator of the golf ball. Simply rock your shoulders back and forth impacting the leading edge right in the middle of the ball and it should run out just like a putt.

Another option to use in this scenario is a fairway wood or even a hybrid. Again, using your putting grip and stance, simply bump your fairway wood or hybrid into the back of the ball and the wider sole of these clubs will help them glide through the thicker grass. Again the ball will roll out like a putt, but be careful as there is usually a little more energy off the face than with the belly wedge so factor that in.

Finally, a slightly more extravagant option is the toed in putter! Instead of holding your putter in it’s normal orientation, turn it through 90 degrees so that the toe of the putter is facing the ball. This presets a descending blow into to ball due to the angles created and bypass’s the thick collar of rough. Ensure your putter is compatible with this shot before attempting however! It will need a relatively flat toe section like a Ping Anser style putter otherwise you might see some strange launch directions!

Lacking confidence when chipping can be particularly demoralising, not to mention damaging to the scorecard. The knock-on effect places extra pressure on the long game and putting, which then leads to an even more anxious state that is by no means conducive to hitting good golf shots. But while there can be some mental demons at the play, for the majority of golfers bad chipping stems from poor technique and by making some subtle changes, you should start to see your results improve pretty quickly.

WATCH: Ged Walters runs through the six most common chipping mistakes

Here, Top 50 coach Ged Walters runs through the six most common chipping mistakes he sees when coaching golfers of every ability, and suggests some easy ways to rectify them. They’re not all technical either - much of it comes down to strategic and pre-shot factors, like reading the lie and choosing the right club for the job at hand. By following his advice, you should be able to transform yourself from a nervy chipper into an accomplished short game wizard. 

1. Poor set up

Many of the problems golfers experience when chipping stems from a poor address position. The most common fault I see is people setting up to the ball like they’re about to hit their 7-iron 150 yards when in reality they're only trying to advance the ball 25 feet. This set-up position leads to a lot of deceleration and generally poor strike and distance control. To play a standard chip shot, stand much closer to the ball with the handle high and your feet only slightly wider than the width of your clubhead. Position the ball in the middle of the stance and place slightly more pressure on the lead foot, to encourage a slight descending blow.

2. Loss of arm structure

When it comes to the chipping action, one of the main faults is a loss of arm structure through impact. Golfers often feel like they need to help the ball in the air, which leads to the elbows breaking down. The knock-on effect is the club typically rises up and the only way to make contact with the ball is to compensate, either by leaning back or bending the knees. The less moving parts the better, so if this is something you struggle with, practice with a small ball wedged in between your forearms. This will encourage a movement where the arms extend more through impact and the body controls the motion better, helping to achieve better strikes.

3. Limited use of the body

Many poor chippers over-rely on their arms when attempting to hit the ball. Look at the best players in the world and you’ll notice that it is the torso that controls the movement through rotation and the arms come along for the ride. When the bigger muscles control the action, less can go wrong and this should also help with distance control as well as strike. So allow your chest to turn back and through, collecting the ball along the way.

4. Club works inside too early

A common fault with the way bad chippers swing the club is dragging the club too far to the inside too early in the back swing. If the swing direction is too much to the right or in-to-out when chipping or even hitting full shots, this will increase the chance of the club bottoming out too early, leading the either fat or thin shots. Instead, feel that the clubhead works back outside the hands. It will still travel inside, as it does on the way through, but having a more neutral swing path should help achieve better strikes and also achieve more backspin as a side benefit.

5. Clubhead following the ball

It’s a common misconception that the both the ball and clubhead travel towards the target after impact. In fact, the clubhead exits to the left (for a right-handed player) and up as the body rotates through the shot. The clubhead is actually only moving towards the target for a very shot space of time as it travels on its arc so have this in mind when you’re chipping if you feel like your intention is to steer the ball towards the flag. 

6. Wrong club selection

One way nervy chippers make the situation harder for themselves is by selecting the wrong club - specifically reaching for their most lofted wedge. In a majority of situations where there are no major obstacles between you and the hole, choosing a less lofted club and getting the ball running like a putt is easier to control thanks to the shorter swing. So if the situation permits, switch your lob wedge for an 8- or 7-iron. An added benefit of a chip-and-run shot is that you get to see the slope of the green, so aim to be slightly past the hole if anything so you can see exactly how your return putt will break.

Whether it’s chunking or thinning, lots of amateurs struggle to make consistently good contact when chipping, which saps their confidence and costs them shots. In the video and article below, short game guru Dan Grieve runs through a cross-handed drill that will improve your technique and get you striking your chip shots better.

So flipping when you chip is a real common fault among amateurs and what I mean by that is the right hand wants to take over, which causes the lead or left hand to break down. That's going to result in some really poor contacts, particularly the thin shot that rushes over the other side of the green and potentially into more trouble.

So the drill you can do or even maybe play with - as someone like 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick has done very successfully - is the cack-handed drill. So for a right-handed golfer, this means putting your left hand lower on the grip than your right. It's the opposite for left-handers.

What you'll find when you do this is that it levels your shoulders, which is what you want. With amateurs, something I see all the time is a big upward shoulder tilt, which results in the low point of the swing moving being too far back. 

So by levelling the shoulders, that's going to encourage you to rotate better and get the low point just in front of the ball to hit those nice crisp chip shots. So left hand low, nice level shoulders, and you'll see when I hit the shot in the video above, how the finish there is nice and crisp and there is no breakdown of the wrists. 

So if you struggle with your chipping and flipping your wrists through impact in particular, try this drill. Over time, it'll really improve your technique and get you striking the ball much better.

Being able to judge a lie in the bunker and adjust your technique accordingly is a really useful skill to develop. In the video and article below, PGA pro and short game expert Dan Grieve shares his top tips.

So the key to being a good bunker play is actually reading the lie and having the IQ to be able to look at the lie and think, 'Do I need to use less bounce or more bounce?' 

If you're in a situation where there's lots of sand, you need to make sure you're using the trailing edge of the bounce to make it's splashing and then the sand and carries the ball out onto the green. If you start putting the leading edge into this amount of sand, it's going to absorb the club and the ball is likely not going to get out the bunker.

So, a few set-up tips first. Make sure the ball position is just forward of centre and your stance is nice and wide. Get your left foot flared out a little and your weight favouring the left side. An important change here is also just making sure you've got a slight bit of backwards shoulder tilt, as this will encourage a shallow entry when faced with a lot of sand.

From there, you're going to release the club through impact so the butt of the grip is pointing somewhere near your belt buckle or your right hip just past the ball. That means the club is releasing and the sand is going to carry it out. Watch the video above to see how I get on with this shot.

Next up, we have the compact lie, which is a challenge for a lot of golfers because they don't make the necessary adjustments required to change how the club enters the sand. For example, if you're still releasing the club, the trailing edge of the bounce is going to kick and deflect and you're going to strike halfway up the ball. This thin strike means you'll either struggle to get the ball out, or worse, you'll end up skulling it way over the other side of the green.

Again, some simple set-up tweaks will help you change the angle of attack and allow you to release the club with the leading edge staying more down. With this shot, the ball is going to come out a little bit lower and run a little bit more, but that is the sacrifice you need to make if you want to achieve solid contact. 

So, rather than having the ball forward in your stance towards your left heel, you're going to move it just back of centre. I want you to really feel like you're leaning your upper and lower body towards the target as well, so you can see in the video how the shoulder line points down. And by setting up like this, that's going to promote a steeper angle of attack so you're not going to get that kick. 

The next key here is thinking about where you finish the swing. So for the compact lie, you want the butt of the grip to point somewhere near your left hip just past impact and as you complete a short follow-through. This means you're not allowing the bounce to release, therefore giving you a great chance to make solid contact.

This video was shot on location at Infinitum Golf Resort in Spain.

The chipping yips, like the putting yips, are a nightmare for golfers and can really sap the fun out of the game. If you've got them it might feel like there is no end in sight to your suffering, which is why we asked short game guru Dan Grieve to share some tips on how to cure the chipping yips in the video and article below.

The yips have ruined golf for a lot of people, but while it's obviously a hugely mental problem, I truly believe it stems from a physical fault that has crept in and gradually got worse and worse. The result is a fear of the ground that leaves the golfer susceptible to all manner of involuntary movements at impact and likely to duff, thin or even top the ball.

So, while it is mental, let's look at a couple of technical fixes that will help get you on the road to recovery. In my experience, when golfers start making the odd good contact, it starts to rewire the mind to know you can actually physically do it and every good contact is a step closer to getting rid of this awful affliction.

Most yippers have the ball well back in their stance to try and guarantee ball first contact but I want you to move it forward so we can start trying to shallow out the strike.

Generally, what I see is way too much wrist hinge and too much drive coming down into impact, which causes the sharp leading edge to dig into the ground and get stuck. Then what happens is the mind gets fearful of that and reacts very late with the knees or the hands most commonly.

We want the bounce to be kept on the wedge throughout the motion, which increases your margin for error. By using the bounce on your wedges properly, you can hit behind the ball and still make good contact.

To do this, you need to keep the width in the backswing by using your chest to turn and reducing how much you hinge your wrists. As you come through, feel like you open your chest gently and like the club is on the ground for a long time. 

If you watch the video above, you'll see how I'm able to make contact with the ground three inches behind the ball and still hit good shots that give me a chance to get up and down.

Try these tips next time you're practising and you'll slowly gain confidence and get rid of the chipping yips for good.

It’s a strange quirk of the game that those whose bunker play consistently lets them down find themselves in the traps far more than those who can splash the ball out effortlessly. Why is this? Can the sand smell fear? 

It’s more to do with the amount of worry and internal stress that an ordinary bunker can cause a player. The focus is more often on the dreaded sand and not on where you want your ball to go. Even when trying to be positive the thought is often: ‘I’m not going to go in that bunker’.

RELATED: Best lob wedges

Well, now you’ve mentioned it, you might as well get your bucket and spade ready. It's vital to start thinking better if you're going to overcome your demons. That's why Advanced PGA professional Katie Dawkins has put together some useful mental tips on how to play bunker shots.

Bunker play tips: Embrace the sand

How on earth can you fix this magnetic relationship that you have with these hazards? Get bunker savvy first and foremost. Train yourself to love a bunker shot, to embrace a sand save and to literally skip into it with a spring in your step.

A lot of it comes down to routine because if you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail. So get rehearsing that swing outside of the trap before you even step onto the sandy surface. Keep your routine similar throughout your game. I tend to do one practice swing and then my next swing lets the ball get in the way. It’s no different here.

Stand with your ball in the bunker between you and your landing spot – yes, pick out a landing spot when hitting bunker shots as it will help you visualise the shot.

RELATED: Chip-and-run technique explained

Generate a really positive and pumped up practice swing, bouncing that club through the grass behind the bunker. Commitment is everything here so ensure you finish that swing. Many players struggle because they don’t accelerate through the sand enough.

Be confident

The key is then to stride into the sand. It's easy to tell whether a player enjoys bunker play or not from a distance away. You see them practically do a cartwheel into the sand and skip back out with a shimmy in their step.

A player who is allergic to bunkers will drag themselves into the sand and have a stab at it and drag themselves out again, a bit like Harry Enfield’s Kevin saying, ‘that is so unfair, I hate bunker shots’.

You need to be upbeat and this is a perfect example of when positive body language can help you. So head high, get in and get out. You can be a bunker genius if you let your guard down and learn to enjoy the challenge of escaping that treacherous sand!

We’ve all hit golf shots that have landed us in a world of trouble, but whether we have ended up in a bad lie through rotten luck or poor execution, it's important to move on, accept the outcome and deal with the predicament facing us the best we can.

First thing's first, how we react to said poor shot or bounce is extremely influential in how well we then escape from the spot we're in, so having a meltdown certainly isn’t going to help. In fact, it’s just wasting energy you’re going to need to get back in play. Save that for things you can control.

RELATED: Best golf wedges

In this article, PGA pro Katie Dawkins discusses how a different perspective can make all the difference when it comes to executing recovery shots.

Change your attitude

It's time for a change of mindset. Instead of berating yourself for a bad shot or an unlucky bounce, why not think about how good you can be from this position? How Seve-esque can you appear to your playing partners who, let’s face it, have written you off at this point?

Get your game face on and get stuck in. Attitude isn’t going to do all the hard work here but it’s going to help.

Whether you're pitching or chipping, routine will also help to make this cleansing and motivating. The previous shot has been and gone - you can’t change it - so let’s focus on where the ball is now. Dealing with the now is a great way to get round the course whether you’re in the rough or down the middle of the fairway.

On getting to your ball, try not to notice all the negative stuff. It may be half buried and sat with thick grass behind it, or perhaps it's even sporting a large chunk of mud, but whatever the case, keep your attention on the job at hand, not on how hard done by you feel.

RELATED: How to pitch from muddy lies

Ensure you spot the kindest route back into play. Sometimes taking your medicine and just getting the ball out will be as satisfying as going for gold. But, as with all shots, visualise your ideally executed escape whatever shot you choose.

Now rehearse it. Be positive in your self talk and in your commitment to the swing. Testing the rough and how easily your club travels through it will build belief that you’re going to pull this off. Do this away from your ball so you don’t disturb it.

Prepare for the unexpected

Aim is essential. Get that clubhead lined up to a mini target in front of your ball. There’s no point nailing the escape shot of your life if you’re aiming at the middle of a tree trunk and not at the gap.

If the ball is lying horribly, think 'B'. Move it Back in your stance if it’s Buried. From there, lean a bit more weight on the foot nearest the target.

Keep the backswing compact and accelerate. Deceleration with a lob wedge, for example, can come from too long a swing and/or a lack of confidence, so give it some beans but control the distance the ball goes by limiting the swing.

Another important fact to remember is that you’re not going to succeed from trouble every time, so let’s be realistic. Practise escape shots and get out on the course and play a few holes here and there chucking your ball into all sorts of juicy lies.

Challenge a friend for an even more motivational practice session. This is how I practised as a junior and I still enjoy the challenge of getting out of trouble. If you enjoy the challenge, you won’t fear getting into a pickle as much.

So what are you waiting for? Embrace the fun that comes with pulling off an unlikely escape and you'll love the impact it has on your scores.

Bunker play is an area of the game most amateurs neglect, yet they throw their hands in the air in disgust when they fail to splash the ball out effortlessly into the middle of the green every time. Fortunately, PGA pro Katie Dawkins has a great drill that will hopefully inspire you to dedicate more time to this worthy pursuit.

For a lot of golfers, the only practise they get in this department is during the monthly medal. So, if you aren’t lucky enough to have a practice bunker at your disposal, you could perhaps nip out onto the course an odd evening.

RELATED: Best sand wedges

However, if you do, it's probably best to hit only one or two shots in each trap, otherwise the greenkeepers will be queueing up to send a bunch of hate mail. Anyway, to the drill...

Bunker play made easy: Traffic light drill

Draw a set of traffic lights (three large fried-egg-sized circles) in the sand and don’t forget the stalk. Position the stalk opposite the inside of your front foot - this indicates a ball position that is further forward than a normal iron shot, encouraging you to hit sand before ball - and place a ball on the furthest light from you.

You are going to address the back of the bottom circle on your traffic lights as you would do if a ball were nestled in the centre of it. The idea is to remove the entire circle of sand with a lovely positive swing. Get through to that finish and set up to the second circle. Repeat the same positive action. Bang. Bang.

RELATED: 3 keys to better pitching

Then again, repeat with the third circle. This one should have a ball in it and what you should find is that you have gathered momentum by this point and your club glides through the sand a lot easier than you're used to. 

However, don't get comfortable as that startled look on your face as the ball pops out onto the green will soon wear off. Go again!

Do NOT decelerate!

We aim for the back of the circle and accelerate through the sand to a finish. If we decelerate into the sand in a bid to limit distance the surface gobbles up our energy and the ball seldom escapes. Goal number one is to get out first time and ideally have a putt as your next shot.

I love this drill as it feels like the equivalent of hitting a boxing pad; it’s a great practice session following a stressful day. Working on how to play bunker shots is good for the mind, soul and your score, so let’s get some beach time under our belts and get splashing!

Distance control around the greens is key if you want to become a great chipper and bail yourself out of trouble when the long game isn't firing. While technique plays a part, most of it comes down to developing good feel.

It can be a difficult thing to learn as it's not something tangible that can be measured but in this video and article, PGA professional John Jacobs shares his thoughts and a simple drill that's sure to help...

Golf Chipping Drill: Get visual

A good place to start is to remove the club, believe it or not. As golfers, we can get too focused on what we want the club to do rather than what the ball needs to do to put us in a position to get up-and-down.

So, when practising, bowl the ball towards your target a few times and see how you get on. You'll probably notice that you aren't worried about what your arms are doing to achieve the desired outcome. Rather, your primary focus is on the main objective.

RELATED: Best golf wedges

It's a great mindset to apply when you're chipping. Once you've done it enough, grab whatever club is right for the shot and visualise what you want the ball to do, letting your brain and natural instincts take over.

Obviously a golf club adds more weight to the equation, but if you can keep your focus on the shot rather than the technique, everything else will start to fall into place.

Distance control is everything in the short game. So, if you’re still struggling to get the right ball speed when chipping, this brilliant clockface drill will help.

Without altering your set-up in any way, practise taking the left arm back to the seven o’clock, eight o’clock and nine o’clock positions, then swinging through from there with the same tempo.

This will show you how far the ball goes with each length of swing, and how you can control everything by letting the weight of the arms and the club just drop back on to the ball from whatever position you’ve chosen.

RELATED: Difference between pitching and chipping

You may initially think this is a little too mechanical but, with practise, you'll be able to get to the stage where hitting these positions is second nature. What's more, not only will this drill improve your touch around the greens, but it will also give you three different shots with each club you can add to your arsenal.

Golf Monthly created this content as part of a paid partnership with TaylorMade. The contents of this article are entirely independent and solely reflect the editorial opinion of Golf Monthly. 

How to play bunker shots

It's a part of the game that many amateurs struggle with, even ones who are adept in other areas of the short game. In the video and article below, Dan Grieve, Head Professional at Woburn Golf Club, shares his top tips on how to improve your bunker play so you can escape greenside traps with ease...

The set-up 

If you feel like you're in need of some good bunker shot tips for golf, the set-up is a great place to start. First and foremost, it's important to create a wide base from which to attack the sand. This guards against one of the biggest faults - moving side-to-side during the shot - something that causes thin and fat shots. 

Get your front foot turned out about 45 degrees; this allows you to push your front knee over your foot, forcing you to put around 80 per cent of your weight over the lead leg. You can set your spine angle back slightly by tilting your shoulders so that your left is a fraction higher than your right - this will encourage that shallow angle of attack we're looking for here. 

Then, the perfect ball position should be just inside the left heel while making sure the shaft line is neutral, so the hands don’t get ahead of the ball. The clubface can be slightly open, and stand a bit further away from the ball, too, to allow your hands to drop nice and low at address with plenty of knee flex to feel as though you are really rooted in the sand. 

The backswing 

From here, it's all about making sure you keep the loft and bounce on the club on the way back and through. Watch the video above and you'll see how I put this all together to splash the ball out and get it close. 

A really simple drill to check whether you are correctly keeping the loft and bounce is to put a clump of sand on the club face. Make a normal backswing and see if you can keep it there all the way until you throw it over your back shoulder as you reach the top. If you do that, it means your left wrist is getting nicely cupped and the loft and bounce is on the club as you take it away.

Similarly, to check if you are keeping the loft on the club in your follow-through, put a clump of sand on the face and practice the follow-through to see if you can throw it over your front shoulder. This means the club face isn’t turning over through impact, you are holding the loft and bounce on, and creating that nice splash shot.

It might sound difficult, but watch the video with this article to see how it's done!

Reading the lie

One of the greatest bunker skills is being able to correctly read the lie and make the relevant adjustments. Sometimes you might be in a bunker that has much less sand in it. In this situation, you'll need to be able to adjust your technique to avoid thinning the ball through the green.

With a compact lie, keep the stance the same - with the weight forward on the left side - but get your left shoulder more over your left foot; this will steepen your angle of attack, so you come more downward into the sand with the leading edge rather than the trailing edge of the bounce.

Move the ball position back slightly, too, and add a bit more forward lean in the shaft at address to create a different follow-through. The follow-through from a compact lie needs to be a lot shorter than the splash shot, which will allow the leading edge to travel down more in the sand with the handle leading.

In this video and article Neil Tappin is joined by tour coach Liam James to look at the biggest short game faults and how to fix them

Biggest Short Game Faults... Fixed!

No matter what your handicap, one of the fastest ways to improve is to hone your game around the greens. Here, we take a look at the biggest short game faults and offer some simple tips on how to fix them.

Greenside bunker play

1 Many bunker woes stem from inconsistencies in where the club strikes the sand. A simple drill to help you consistently strike the sand in the same place is to draw a line back towards just inside your left heel, where the ideal ball position is. Take two or three practice swings trying to catch the sand on the line before moving in and playing a shot. Strike the sand in the same place every time and your bunker play will improve.

2 A common set-up error is to have the ball too far back in the stance. The ideal ball position is just inside the left heel. Then, when you're in the address position, make sure that much more of your weight is on your left side – about 70-80 per cent – than in a normal full swing. There is then very little weight transfer – you need to keep the majority of your weight on your left side throughout the swing.

3 Many golfers make the mistake of feeling they have to help the ball up to clear the lip and therefore lean back throughout impact, most likely striking the sand too early.

You have to trust the fact that you’ve got plenty of loft in your hands in the first place. With 56˚ of loft or more on a sand wedge, there’s no need to try and add any more – it’s all about trusting the ample loft on the club.

RELATED: Biggest Driving Mistakes... And How to Fix Them!

Set-up

This really is the key to good bunker play and the set-up is very different to a normal full swing. If you get it right, the rest becomes a lot more straightforward.

Chipping

1 I often see golfers take fairly meaningless practice swings, where they maybe swing back too far, or may not even have a practice swing at all.

2 Take enough intentional practice swings to get a feel both for the distance and how the clubhead is likely to interact with the turf through impact.

RELATED: 3 Keys To Better Pitching

3 Club golfers will often hit chips with their hands right at the top of the grip as for a full swing. The club is actually at its heaviest then and harder to control, so to gain more control and gauge the distance a little bit better, grip down the golf club more. 

4 The landing area is vitally important, yet all too often overlooked by golfers who focus too much on the flag. Spend some time having a little walk round and a good look before you hit the chip so you can identify the area where you’d like to land the golf ball in order for it to then release to the flag.

REVIEW: PING Glide 3.0 Wedges

5 In practice, placing a towel where you think you need to land the ball with the club you’re using is a great way of focusing your attention on the vital distance control element of chipping. Once you’ve placed the towel down, practise the swing you think is required to land the ball on it. This will really improve your distance control.

Keep it simple

On straightforward chips , the best players are looking to get the ball running as soon as possible rather than trying to throw it all the way!

Adding some focus to your practice will help you find a better touch around the greens

How To Practise Chipping Under Pressure

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach John Jacobs shows some superb drills to help you improve your pressure chipping to help you make vital up-and-downs for lower scores.

1 Take the test

Getting up and down when you need to will be the difference between a good score and a mediocre one, so try taking the following test.

Create two rings around the hole using tee pegs – one 3ft away from the hole, the other 6ft.

Now hit the following shots: a 40-yard bunker shot, a 30-yard pitch, a greenside flop shot and a chip-and-run.

You get one point for each ball that finishes inside the 6ft ring, two points inside 3ft and four points for holing out.

Take this test regularly and try to beat your personal best to add some pressure to your practice.

2 Box Test

This will help your distance control.

You should be aiming to get your chips past the hole to give you a chance of holing out, and if you miss, you'll see the line for the putt.

Create a box around the hole, using tee pegs to mark the corners short of the hole and alignment sticks to mark the corners past it.

Now hit five shots from just off the green.

You get one point if the ball finishes inside the box but short, two points inside the box but past and three if you hole out.

Using alignment sticks will help your depth perception.

3 Move Away Drill

You might think that touch is a natural attribute, but you can certainly develop it in practice.

Create a semi-circle of tees around the hole and then place five balls, each one 5ft further from the hole than the one before.

You get three points for each ball that finishes inside the semi-circle and four points if you hole out.

This will help you make those subtle changes in speed you need to be a great chipper.

Do it three times in one practice session and you should see a rapid improvement.

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4 Notebook

One of the most important items for any golfer is a notepad.

This is where you can track your improvements and jot down some notes.

Running through these tests once and month and then noting down the scores will create all-important pressure.

You can also note down other drills you might think be useful and refresh your practice.

This will really help you make the most of your precious time and avoid those aimless sessions that do more harm than good.

Related: Best Golf Net - get the perfect setup at home

Checklist:

• Regularly test yourself in practice to improve your touch
• Aim to get your chips past the hole for a chance of holing out
• Write down your results and aim to beat your score

Shot on location at Las Colinas Golf and Country Club, Spain

In this video, 2016 Open champion Henrik Stenson offers five superb short game tips to help you save strokes around the green

5 Henrik Stenson Short Game Tips

In this video, 2016 Open champion Henrik Stenson offers five superb short game tips to help you save strokes around the green

Putting practice

I do a drill that I call the spiral. I go from 3-8ft. I mark out those distances from tee pegs, one ball from each, and I've got to make them all after each other otherwise I start over again.

You've really got to put that focus into each one of them. I'm pretty pleased when I do it. The best putters on Tour would probably make it on the 2nd go on average.

Henrik Stenson What's in the bag?

Club selection

I see a lot of amateurs in the pro-ams going after the lob wedge like a mad axeman. I would play a much easier shot, go for a gap wedge or pitching wedge and make a small swing with good contact and let the ball run up to the pin. Not hitting high flop shots, they're low percentage shots even at our level at times. Make sure you take the easiest one, when there's room on the green make sure you use it.

Henrik Stenson golf swing analysis

Toe chip

I would turn a wedge in a little bit and hit it off the toe, especially on soft and grainy greens because it's very easy for a small chip or pitch to dig it. Playing it from the toe ensures you get a little bit of draw spin on it and makes sure that it's not going to grab as much on the first bounce and helps it release.

Chipping action

For a lot of short game shorts an important thing is to keep the butt of the club pointing towards you. You want to keep your hands in front a degree but when you're driving it ahead the chances of you digging that front edge into the ground and hitting poor shots is going to be quite a lot. For me I like to open the clubface a little bit, move it forward in my stance and let the clubhead get thrown in underneath the ball. That's really important to hit good bunker shots and pitches.

See all Golf Monthly short game tips

Bunker action

Always take sand. Rather take more sand than not enough, hitting thin bunkers shots is not any good. But at the same time you need a good technique so you don't leave it in the bunker. A lot of amateurs leave it in the trap and start getting closer and closer to the ball and then it's a dangerous game.

For many golfers, finding a consistently clean contact on short, delicate chip shots feels almost impossible. That's why in the video and article below, PGA pro Ben Emerson runs through four simple tips that will help you stop wasting shots around the green.

The set-up

When it comes to the short game, it's important to understand that the set-up is key. One of the main faults I see is that people often set up to hit short shots like they would if they were trying to hit a full 7-iron. You don't need that width of stance, so working on getting into a better position can automatically improve the quality of your strike around the greens.

Narrow your stance so it's about the width of a clubhead and flare your left foot out slightly. That just opens the body up a little so you don't have to be as active with it as you would on a normal shot.

From there, I want you to feel like the shaft is leaning about five degrees forward so the grip is roughly pointing at your left pocket, with the ball position roughly in the middle of your stance. The weight should also be on your left side at address and it should stay there throughout the swing.

Proper sequencing

Short shots are all about finesse, so it's important not to swing like you would when aiming for power. In your full swing, the lower body starts the downswing as it tends to be the strongest muscle but we don't want that here.

Instead, when you take the club when chipping or pitching shot, feel like your arms and club start the downswing sequence. If anything, you want the club to be moving fastest so you can utilise the bounce at impact. As you approach the hitting zone, your body will automatically engage and your hips will gently turn through impact and into the finish.

Remember, gravity is your friend, so don't force the club down by pulling it. Just let the arms and club fall in front of you before turning through to a nice balanced position.

Rhythm 

Working on your rhythm is also vital to improving your short game and grip pressure plays a big part in this. One of the worst things you can do around the greens is grip the club too tightly. If you work on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being really soft and 10 being really tight, I recommend aiming for around 3 so it's nice and light. Tense muscles are weak muscles that forget, so the lighter your grip is the more you'll be able feel the clubhead and get momentum into the shot.

When it comes to the swing, I love to count "one and two" during the shot. When you take the club back that's "one"; a bit of a pause in transition is "and"; and coming down into impact is "two".

Keep that nice rhythm and you'll be able to strike the ball better with far more consistency. 

The release

The final thing is to do with the release. There are two bad releases I commonly see. The first is a flip release where golfers try and help the ball into the air, and the second is a block release, which is when golfers pull down with the lead hand and create too much forward shaft lean at impact.

If you're struggling with either of these, here's a simple drill to try. Take your lead hand off the club and put it on your thigh. Then, make some rehearsal swings just feeling the weight of the club and allowing the club to pass the body naturally. You can even hit some shots like this but just make sure you keep everything nice and soft and you'll start to hone a better technique, which will lead to better short game shots.

Galvin Green European Tour player Laurie Canter shows us how to perfect the Greenside Bunker Shot

Galvin Green European Tour player Daniel Im shows three keys to playing the 40 yard pitch shot

One of the keys to being a good bunker player is to understand how the entry point affects how the ball will react. In the video and article below, Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Dan Grieve sheds some light on this topic and shares some simple bunker shot tips that will help you become a master of the sand.

A lot of golfers struggle with how to play bunker shots but it's not as difficult as you might think. You can, for example, change the distance you hit it and how much spin you generate just by where you enter the sand and how you release the club.

I've set up a nice example where I have around 15 yards of green to work with but there is a flat shelf and then a sharp downslope to the pin. In this scenario, you can take less loft and let it release down to the hole or you can fly the ball further with more spin. Here's how to play both shots.

More run, less spin

I'm using my 56-degree wedge for the first one which is going to run more and here are the changes to make for this shot. First, move your ball position a little further back so it is between the middle of your stance and your front foot. As for the swing itself, you want it to be wider in the follow-through so there's less breakdown of the wrists.

In terms of how much sand to take, a great drill is to draw three lines in the bunker about an inch apart. Set up with your ball on the line nearest the target and aim to enter the sand on the line that is furthest away as I demonstrate in the video. This will take the spin off the ball and ensure it has the run required to get all the way to the flag.

This is a great shot to add to your repertoire as it's quite a safe shot and can be relied on if you're facing a nervy bunker shot.

Less run, more spin

To spin it more, I'd recommend increasing the loft to 60 degrees or even higher because this will allow you to create more speed and therefore more spin. Gary Player calls it striking the match so I want you to really zip under the ball through impact and release the clubhead. 

Keep the ball position on the same line but try and enter the sand on the middle line this time. If you execute, you should notice the ball comes out  higher and lands a lot softer with more spin. 

This is a great way of learning how to play two different but highly effective bunker shots just by changing your entry point and the amount of sand you take. 

Galvin Green European Tour player Ricardo Gouveia shows a simple technique to help you attack flags with your wedges

Peter Finch recommends a different chipping action from good lies and bad lies too, where this particular alternative technique comes into its own...

A BULLET-PROOF CHIPPING ACTION I would like to recommend a different way to chip both from good lies, but also bad lies as well, where this particular technique comes into its own.

Normally on a greenside chip and run, you would have the ball further back in the stance, the weight a little forward, and just move the shoulders back and through trying to clip the ball first and then the turf to get it rolling out. There’s nothing wrong with this, but I think you find this alternative technique easier to repeat.

Watch all 7 videos in Peter's 'Keys to Consistency' series...

• Understanding impact basics
• Golf's set-up essentials
• How impact varies from club to club
• A new way to pitch
• Fringe putting drill
• Pressure putting practice

Weaken the grip The grip in your upper hand should run more up the middle of the palm rather than more in the fingers as normal. This weakens the left hand grip a little and neutralises it so the left hand can’t take over.

Club more upright Set up with the club much more upright than normal so it feels like the toe is a bit more down on the ground rather than the heel. The shaft and left arm should almost form a continuous line.

Put the ball slightly forward of centre, and use more of a putting stroke action, with the shoulders and arms rocking back and through. This prevents the heel from digging in and gets the club moving through the point of impact quite quickly.

Don’t let the club drift inside on the way back as this will compromise impact with the leading edge coming in to the ball. Keep the club a fraction outside the hands going back, then take it through as you would with a putting stroke. The ball should pop up and come out quite dead.

Many top pros - certainly those with the best short games - now use the sole's bounce far more when pitching. Peter Finch explains golf's new way to pitch

THE NEW WAY TO PITCH Many golfers will pitch with the ball back in stance and weight more towards the front foot so the angle of attack is travelling down, taking ball first then turf. That can work if you're trying to hit a low pitch up the green, for example.

But many top players, and certainly those with the best short games, now utilise the bounce in the sole far more when pitching.

What is bounce? Bounce is the angle between the lowest point of the sole and the leading edge when the club rests square on the ground – the bigger the angle, the more bounce a club has.

Bounce stops the club from digging in, so if you can use it, the club will glide along the surface a little more, digging in less and adding a bit more loft at impact. Combine loft at impact with a little bit of speed and a slightly descending angle of attack, and you can generate lots of backspin.

Watch all 7 videos in Peter's 'Keys to Consistency' series...

• Understanding impact basics
• Golf's set-up essentials
• How impact varies from club to club
• A bullet-proof chipping action
• Fringe putting drill
• Pressure putting practice

Pitching with the bounce The new way to pitch requires a slightly open stance with the ball fairly central and the hands a touch lower to help you engage the bounce more at impact. The shoulders should be a touch open too, so you’ll also need to open the clubface a fraction.

The club should then be a little bit more upright in the backswing – not miles outside the hands, but certainly not dipping inside the body. Then as you go through the ball, try to get the upper body and the lower body turning to the left of the target while the club travels, or feels like it’s travelling, towards the target.

This new way to pitch will engage the bounce more through the turf. You won’t see much of a divot, but the ball will pop off high and soft with plenty of spin on landing.

Watch Andy Sullivan give an impressive bunker play tutorial at a recent clinic at Nuneaton Golf Club

Watch Andy Sullivan give an impressive bunker play tutorial at a recent clinic at Nuneaton Golf Club

Facing a delicate chip from a tricky lie? Ged Walters explains how to play the toe putter chip to help you escape with your score in tact.

How to play the toe putter chip

One of the toughest challenges you’ll face on the course is a delicate chip from a difficult lie. When the ball isn’t sitting perfectly, you want to swing with conviction. So how do you do that when the flag isn’t far away and the ball is on a scruffy patch of grass?

Watch more short game tips videos

One option is to hit the ball with the toe of your putter. Turn the putter around, take your normal putting grip but narrow your stance a little and place the ball a fraction behind centre in your stance. You should also set a little more weight on your left side than usual. This will help you find the downward angle of attack into the ball that will prevent the club from getting snagged in the grass.

Watch more putting tips videos

Now just make a normal putting stroke. The ball will pop out of its lie and roll nicely onto the green. Of course, this shot does require a little practice but it is worth it for whenever you face a nervous chip from a difficult lie.

How tour players practise putting

Turn the putter round so the toe sits behind the ball and the face is aiming at you.

Move the ball a fraction behind the centre point in your stance so your hands are ahead of the ball at address.

Set a fraction more weight on your left side and make a normal putting stroke. This is how to play the toe putter chip so now you need to devote time to perfecting it. Hit the shot from a range of different spots around the green - from different lie and to different targets. Twenty minutes later and you'll have a pretty good feel for how to play it and how to control the distance.

In this links golf masterclass, Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Clive Tucker explains how to play from soft, links sand

In this links golf masterclass, Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Clive Tucker explains how to play from soft, links sand

In this links golf masterclass, Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Clive Tucker explains how to get up and down from a range of tricky lies

In this links golf masterclass, Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Clive Tucker explains how to get up and down from a range of tricky lies

In this links golf masterclass, Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Clive Tucker explains how to get up and down from a range of tricky lies

In this links golf masterclass, Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Clive Tucker explains how to get up and down from a range of tricky lies

In this links golf masterclass, Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Clive Tucker explains how to hit low punch shots from tight seaside lies

In this links golf masterclass, Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Clive Tucker explains how to hit low punch shots from tight seaside lies

Peter Dawson explains how to control your greenside spin and play both spinning and running chips from the same set-up with just minor changes in execution

How to control your greenside spin with GM Top 25 Coach, Peter Dawson

1) Set-up adjustments Sometimes on a 30-yard chip you will want, or need, your ball to check on landing; sometimes you might prefer it to land and roll out more. I’m going to focus on the checking chip here, but also explain how you can play more of a rolling chip with just a couple of minor changes.

Let’s start with the backspinning chip when you need an added degree of control. At set-up, place 55 to 65 per cent of your weight on your front foot with your hands a little forward too, and hold down the grip two or three centimetres.

That extra weight should stay on the front foot throughout as this enhances the angle of descent, allowing you to break your wrists earlier and then come back into the ball at an angle that all but guarantees ball then turf.

Watch: check out all the chipping basics here...

2) Firm hands through impact From this address position you just need to remember to firm up your hands a little at impact and keep the clubface square for added backspin and control. The hands stay square and the clubface stays square at impact – it's a very positive shot, in which you should be looking to nip the ball firmly.

3) The running chip Sometimes you will want the ball to run more on landing, and the good news is you can play this alternative shot from exactly the same set-up. This time, though, relax the hands and loosen the grip a little bit through impact, letting the hands roll over a little more in the strike. This will give you more roll rather than check.

Watch: improve your chipping strategy with GM Top 25 Coach Andrew Reynolds

4) Common mistakes First and foremost, dirty grooves! Manufacturers spend a lot of time and money creating grooves to help you spin the ball more, but sadly they don’t work if they’re clogged up with dirt. So if you want to play the checking chip, you must keep your grooves clean.

Watch: looking for an alternative way to chip? Check out Gary Smith's method...

The second main mistake is that although many golfers know they should have their hands forward, they overdo – by miles sometimes! This creates too steep an attack and a real risk of simply digging the leading edge into the ground.

Finally, you’ll recognise the scooping action in our photo here, a common mistake as golfers try to help the ball into the air. Wedges have anything from 46˚ to 64˚ of loft, which is more than enough to do that job for you, so trust the loft. You’ll never play a spinning chip if you scoop at it.

Checklist * Keep 55-65 per cent of your weight on your front foot * Be firm and positive at impact to generate spin * Let hands roll more at impact for a running chip

In this exclusive video, Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Ged Walters explains how to play the flop shot in golf with a technique designed to make a tough shot much easier!

As we all know the flop shot is one of the most dangerous in the game - especially if you don't have a close understanding for how to play the flop shot in golf. Duff and thin strikes can quickly turn a chance of a par into a card-wrecking disaster. The truth is, this is not a shot many amateurs practice and so it makes sense to have safer alternative to rely on. Rick Shiels' flop shot made easy easy explains how you can do this...

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If you fall into this category, try this. Set up to the ball as if you were playing a full pitch shot. Aim the clubface at the target and then stand perfectly square to your ball to target line. Now open the clubface a fraction – you’ll notice how it starts to aim to the right of the target. Now aim your body further to the left until the clubface is aiming at the target. Finally, set 65% of your weight on your left foot. This is your ideal set up position. With the swing itself, hinge your wrists early and then try to keep the clubface aiming at the sky in the finish position. If you can follow this simple step-by-step guide, you’ll be able to cut the legs from underneath it and hit a high-flying, soft landing flop shot much more consistently. This is the key to understanding how to play the flop shot in golf.

1 Square to open

Set up square, then open the face of your wedge so that it points right. Shuffle your feet to aim left until the clubface is aiming at the target.

Golf Swing Tips Videos

2 Wrist hinge

Start the swing by hinging your wrists. This opens the clubface to help you maximise the loft on offer through impact.

3 Finish position

Notice how the clubface is not pointing to the left of the target. It is aiming more upwards – feel that you are retaining the loft of the club for longer after impact to achieve this.

Getting up and down from inside 100 yards is important if you want to shoot lower scores. In this exclusive video, Rick Shiels offers his pressure-proof pitching tips to help transform your game!

We are going to start this feature on pressure-proof pitching tips with the number one mistake golfers make. If your backswing is too long when you pitch, you will instinctively start decelerating through impact – this is a natural reaction. As it reaches the ball, the club is moving too slowly and it gets caught in the turf causing a heavy strike. So, a great place to start any practice sessions focused on pitching is to ensure that, however far you are looking to hit the ball – from short 40-yard pitches to longer 100-yard ones – your backswing and follow through are the same length. This will really help the consistency of your strikes and distances when you pitch.

Rory McIlroy Pitching Tips

Wedge line-up

When you face a shot from inside 100 yards, you are in the scoring zone. Get it right and you’ll set up an easy birdie or save a great par, get it wrong and the damage might be hard to undo. This is why it’s worth carrying a number of wedges to help you in this crucial area. Your pitching wedge will have around 46˚ loft and your sand wedge will have around 56˚. This 10˚ space can be filled with a gap wedge and you also may want to consider carrying a lob wedge of around 60˚. Whatever you decide think about how often you face shorter, tricky shots on the course and how an extra wedge or two in the bag at the expense of a lesser used longer club might really help you score better.

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Clock face drill

The best players from inside 100 yards know exactly how to hit different distances. You can try and do this purely through feel but in my experience it really helps to work on the clockface pressure-proof pitching tips theory. The idea is simple, at address your arms and the clubface are pointing at 6 o’clock. Hit a series of shots swinging back to 8 and through to 4 o’clock. Note down how far the average shot goes. Then do the same swinging your arms back to 9 and through to 3 and repeat for 10 to 2. This will give you a collection of yardages you can hit with each of your wedges.

What is the difference between pitching and chipping

Grip change

Another approach worth trying is to hit some shots with your hands down the grip a fraction. Crucially, whether you are changing the length of the swing or altering where your hands are on the grip (or both), you must try to keep your rhythm the same for every shot you hit. The more you practise these pressure-proof pitching tips, the more confidence you will carry with you onto the golf course and the more accurate you’ll be!

Flight control

The final element to consider is your trajectory control. There will be occasions when a higher or lower flighted approach will help you access certain pin placements. Some work on this in practice will help you know exactly what to expect. To hit your pitches a fraction lower, move the ball back in your stance a little and place more weight on your front foot so the handle of the club is ahead of the ball. This de-lofts the club through for a lower flight – notice the divot I am taking through impact and how the hands are leading the club here. For a higher flighted pitch move the ball into the middle of your stance so your hands are directly above the ball at address. This increases the loft at impact for a little extra height.

Shane Lowry, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational champion, explains the changes you need to make to your technique to escape this nasty situation

This isn’t a shot many golfers practice, myself included, so it’s important you lower your expectations from this situation. You first goal is to make sure you get the ball out to give yourself a chance at a par and take double bogey out of the equation.

You obviously need to the get the club through the sand and under the ball but it’s more difficult from this lie. I would try and use the heel of the club a little more. It’s risky but seems to work better for me. More often than not the ball just pops out and you should have a putt to save your par at least.

Stand 2-3 inches further away from the ball than you would for a standard bunker shot. This lowers the handle, which helps the heel dig into the sand first.

The swing needs to feel much steeper than a normal bunker shot, a bit like you’re chopping down on a piece of wood.

Open the clubface and try and hit the sand about an inch behind the ball holding the clubface open through impact. With the heel coming into contact with the sand first, the club will naturally want to close down. A tighter grip pressure will help resist this.

European Tour champ Shane Lowry shows you how to master the chip from our downhill lie. The secret lies in how you position your weight.

Amateurs usually make this shot harder than it needs to be through a poor set up position. They will fight the slope and do anything they can to help the ball up in the air, which makes it almost impossible to make good contact with the ball. Set-up as always is crucial in pulling off this shot and the most important thing is to go with the way the slope is pushing you, don’t fight it.

No – The tendency here is to want to help the ball in the air because the ball will naturally come out lower from this lie. But if you do this by having your weight back behind the ball, you’ll end up either duffing the shot or knifing the ball over the back of the green.

Yes – Your address position needs to match the angle of the slope. So from a downhill lie, your weight will feel like it’s on your left leg for a right-handed golfer. The elevation will come from the fact you’re using your most lofted wedge with a slightly open clubface.

A good image in your mind to create more consistent results is to align your shoulders parallel to the slope. This will naturally get you in a good position. Place a club across your chest and feel that your shoulders marry up with the orientation of the feet. So in this case, the grip end of the club will be higher than the other.

Notice how coming into impact my left knee is flexed more than my right. This shows how my weight has stayed with the slope, allowing me to make solid contact with the ball. You may even find you take a step down the slope after you hit the ball but that’s ok, it shows that your weight has been positioned correctly.

Three-time European Tour winner Shane Lowry gives you some crucial advice on how to play the 40-yard bunker shot, regarded as one of the most difficult shots in golf

I think this is one of the hardest shots in golf. As a Tour pro I’d be happy to get it inside 15 feet from here. I would play it the high tariff way still using my lob wedge with a full swing as that is what I’m most comfortable with.

But the percentage play, and the method I would recommend to amateurs providing the lip of the bunker allows it, is to take your pitching wedge and open the clubface up. Try and play a semi duff and run and hopefully you should get the ideal combination of carry and roll out for the ball to travel the full distance. It takes a bit of practice but if you can master it, it may just save your round.

I would still use my 58° wedge for this shot but amateurs can use their pitching wedge and play it almost like a normal splash shot. This will help them get the distance without having to make a very long swing. The longer the swing, the more there is that can go wrong. Make sure you fully commit to the shot, striking the sand around two inches behind the ball.

Although this shot is essentially a chunk-and-run, you still want to use the bounce to maintain speed through the sand. So use a square clubface but position your hands behind the ball. This will stop the clubhead from digging down into the sand. Notice the angle between my left forearm and back of the left hand.

The tendency on this shot will be to play it like a normal iron shot to get the distance by leaning the shaft forwards. If you play it this way you’ll take too much sand and the ball won’t travel the required distance. This will also reduce the loft, meaning you could catch the lip of the bunker.

Choosing the right shot around the green is crucial if you're to get up and down to save par. Tour pro Reeve Whitson explains the factors you should consider

When selecting what shot to play around the green, I look at what is in between my ball and the hole. If there’s nothing there, just fringe and fairway, I try and get the ball running as early as possible, much like a putt on the ground.

If there’s a slope or bunker between my ball and the pin I’d use my lob wedge to loft the ball over. The lie dictates where I’m going to land the ball. If it’s not lying well, my landing zone is closer to me because it’s not going to spin too much and vice versa, if the lie is good I can fly the ball closer to the hole because I know I can generate more spin.

When playing the bump and run shot, I use a 7-iron, I try to make sure I take my wrists out of the shot by using my putter set up and try to return the same loft to the ball at impact with the shaft leaning forward ever so slightly.

When playing the Lob wedge option, I position the ball middle to back, open the clubface to utilise the bounce, have my weight on the left hand side and drop the club down on the back of the ball, trusting the loft to do the work.

When in the rough, I use a technique I taught myself over the years. If I’ve got a really bad lie in the rough around the green I treat it like a bunker shot. If you’re close to the green, open the face, hit the grass behind the ball and the ball should come out high and soft.

From a bunker, create a wide, solid base and have the clubface wide open. Your weight should be positioned on the left side and stay there throughout, don’t come up to see where the ball goes or try and help the ball up. Amateurs often have the ball too far back and come into the ball too steeply.

A neutral shaft angle at address will help use the bounce at impact and remember to hit it hard, so be afraid to hit the ball hard. Be aggressive, because there will be a lot of sand in between club and ball that will slow the ball down.

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Paul Foston brings you a chipping fault fixer to tidy up your short game around the green.

Hanging back at impact

One fault that many amateurs make is to hang back as they strike the ball. This often stems from a desire to help the ball into the air, but can cause fat and thin shots.

If your weight is on the back foot through impact, your body rotation will stop and your hands will start to flick the club at the ball.

The good news is this common fault has a simple fix. Hit some shots with your right heel lifted off the ground.

This will move your weight more towards your left side. As you play the shot, focus on rotating your upper body through the ball so that your chest faces the target at the finish. This will help you find a more consistent strike and a much better flow to the stroke.

Read more short game tips

Lack of feel

To play short shots consistently well, you need to maximise your natural feel. To do that, you’ll require a lot of softness in your body.

It’s very easy, especially under pressure, to let tension creep in. When chipping, I often see that tension causes a straightening of the elbows and knees through the shot.

This will not only make good distance control hard to come by, but it also makes poor strikes far more likely.

To counter this, you need to relax your knees, arms and shoulders as you address the ball. Then, allow your body to turn through the shot – as I do this you’ll notice that my arms come in towards my rib cage with no tension at all. By having this softness, you’ll maximise your feel for those delicate little chip shots.

Lack of consistency

As with every other aspect of the game, the key to becoming a good chipper is consistency. That’s why you need to develop a technique that enables you to make the most of your wedge’s bounce.

Old-fashioned short-game coaching taught people to move the ball back in the stance and push the hands forward at address.

However, this removes the bounce (the part of the wedge that prevents digging through impact). A great drill that forces you to use the bounce is to hit some one-handed chips.

Set the ball in the middle of your stance at address, and think of the club as an extension of the left arm. Allow the wrists to hinge on the backswing and through impact, this ensures the clubhead passes the left wrist as you strike the ball.

Deceleration

The next issue to address in this chipping fault fixer is the classic fault of decelerating, which is one that we all know to avoid. However, when the pressure’s on, it can all too often creep in.

The club must accelerate through impact – any loss of speed will result in a duffed chip. When you play the shot, ensure that your follow-through is longer than your backswing.

This will help keep the clubhead accelerating through impact. It’s a very simple thought, but one that will pay off, especially when you’re under pressure.

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Keith Williams offers his 40 yard pitch lesson video to help improve your consistency and get up and down more often.

40 Yard Pitch lesson Video

Try these tips if you struggle for elevation on your pitch shots and playing from awkward pitching distances fills you with fear.

The 40 yard pitch shot can cause every golfer a headache. You need to play the shot softly enough to get the right distance but you still need to be committed.

In the situation I find myself here, there is also a bank to go over which adds an extra layer of difficulty. So the key to this shot is to control distance through elevation.

Start by taking a wide stance and sit down a little more into your knees at address than you would for a normal shot.

Open the face and set the ball well forward in your stance - the butt end of the club will feel as if it is behind the ball.

Crucially, your hands should also feel low at address this will help you create the loft we are looking for in the backswing.

As you start the swing, set your wrists, almost excessively, this will make sure you get as much loft as possible on the club.

As you play the shot make sure that your right hand releases under the left through the ball. This will ensure the club stays open at impact to deliver plenty of loft.

You should feel as if the bounce of the club slides under the ball. There is no doubting this is a tricky shot and will take some practice but if you can master you’ll have a better chance to find tricky distances.

Read more top Short Game Tips

Key tips

• Take a wide stance
• Sit down a more into your knees
• Open the face
• Set the ball forward in your stance
• Feel like the butt end of the club is behind the ball
• Hands should feel low at address
• Set your wrists excessively as you start the backswing
• Get as much loft as possible on the club

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Gary Alliss talks through how to set up for a bunker shot and the fundamental techniques required to escape the sand every time.

How to set up for a bunker shot

My aim here is to explain the technique as simply as I can to help you escape sand more consistently.

Firstly, understand that a bunker shot is the only one in the game where you are not trying to strike the ball – instead, you are aiming to hit the sand an inch or so before the ball.

To get it out, you need to use the bounce of the club correctly (this is the part of the sole that sits below the leading edge and causes the club to ‘bounce’ through the sand without digging too far in).

So set the ball forward in your stance at address and open the face of the club a fraction before you take your grip (this will also increase the bounce angle).

To make sure the ball comes out on line and not right of target you’ll need to aim your feet, hips and shoulders a little left of the flag.

From there, just aim to make a full, flowing swing and you should see how softly the ball emerges from the trap.

To get a feel for this in practice, make a few swings without a ball, simply aiming to splash some sand onto the green.

This should help you get a feel for what to do, how hard to swing and how much sand to take.

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Try this!

Shuffle your feet into the sand. This improves your stability, lowers your centre of gravity and importantly, will give you an idea for how soft the sand is.

Remember...

It's always courteous to tap the sand off your soles before walking on the green after playing out of a bunker. This prevents others having to brush away any sand you might have brought onto the green with you.

Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Paul Foston explains how to release 'under' for better bunker shots and talks through the basic bunker technique

Fault:

- You dread even a simple trap shot - You often fail to get out of bunkers

Fix:

Your margin for error for a bunker shot is much greater than for any other, as you don't have to hit the ball - just let the club kiss the sand, before the ball and the bounce of your wedge will do the work for you. However, you do need to make some simple adjustments. Start by opening the face of your sand wedge a fraction. This will add bounce to the bottom of the club and help it skip through the sand.

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Set a wide stance - it needs to be an athletic stance of intent, as you would set up for a driver. You need a wide base for stability on the sand and to ensure you cane make a full, free-flowing swing. This is essential to help you accelerate through impact.

Release 'under' for better bunker shots

Then, as you play the shot, let your wrists hinge as soon as you start the swing - this will help you find maximum loft. Let the swing flow smoothly through the shot, releasing your right hand so it overtakes your left - I call this releasing under, as your right hand does not rotate over through impact as it would for a full shot but stays under the shaft. This allows the face to remain open for a higher trajectory and better distance control. Aim to strike the sand an inch and a half before the ball. As long as you are accelerating through impact, the club will not dig and the ball will escape on a high flight with plenty of control.

Take some time to practise this shot, groove the technique over time and you'll see how simple the basic bunker technique is to master.

England Elite Squad Coach Gary Smith discusses the new way to chip that will help improve the consistency of your strikes

The New Way To Chip

For as long as I can remember coaches have taught their pupils to stand open when they chip and cut across the ball. This has become the accepted method, but I believe it is unnecessarily complicated. There is a more consistent alternative to use both when you pitch and chip, that more effectively integrates your long game into your short game. This is what I call ‘The Linear Approach' and it offers strict spin control, a smooth rhythm and above all, a greater margin for error with the strike. On the pages that follow I'll walk you through the technique, explain the principles involved and the ways to groove it into your game. All you need is an open mind and a willingness to commit to it. If you are brave enough to adopt this simple method, ‘The Linear Approach' could transform your scoring potential.

1) Why aim straight?

Perhaps the more pertinent question to ask here would be: why aim left to hit the ball straight at your target? It doesn't make any sense to aim off line and this only serves to create unwanted left-to-right sidespin. It also makes pulling your chips more likely. Why complicate the action, simply aim straight as you would for any full shot and try to keep the club working along a far more neutral, less destructive path. This requires your body to rotate, working as the engine of the swing, which also keeps the club flowing through the ball.

2) Why set the ball forward?

Your ball position is only relevant when you speak about it in conjunction with your sternum. Notice in the address picture opposite how the ball is forward, but my knees are flexed and my weight is on my left side. This allows my sternum to sit directly over the ball. The traditional approach is to set the ball back in the stance, which causes the shaft to lean back to the ball at address. But this only causes your left shoulder to lift through the downswing, causing inconsistent strikes. The Linear Approach creates a shallower angle of attack that forces you to be more target focused and offers a greater margin for error with the strike. So keep the ball and sternum opposite your left heel and rotate the body freely into the finish, stacking your weight on your left leg and facing the target.

3) Why rotate the body?

Like every other part of the game, your chipping action needs to flow. The saying that encapsulates the correct approach is: to gain control, you need to lose control. The traditional approach often causes players to keep their arms working separately from their body. What feels like it might be offering more control (because your body stays still) only kills your rhythm, hampering your distance control. Feel that your arms are rotating with your body on the way back. Turn around the left leg on the way back (see backswing picture above) and then let the club flow through the ball. Your right hand should take over through the downswing, releasing the club as if you were trying to hit a draw. The right hand works under the shaft as this helps maintain loft through the ball.

4) Forgiving strikes

One of the reasons you should seriously consider using this method is the margin for error it gives you with the strike. The key to understanding why there is so much forgiveness is knowing how the angle of attack and bounce work together. Remember the club should work on a shallow plane through the ball. If you get this right - striking the ground with the bounce of your wedge - you don't need to worry about the ball. The bounce will keep the wedge moving through impact, delivering the sort of strike you are looking for. This shallow angle is also the key to generating plenty of spin. A good analogy is to think of a table tennis player, hitting an ‘under-spinning' forehand. The bat approaches the ball at a shallow angle, with the face open. The ball flies back over the net low and loaded with spin. Exactly the same principles apply here.

5) Let the head go

If you are used to using the traditional chipping method, the hardest new move to master will be how the shaft works through impact. We have already mentioned that your right hand moves under the shaft through the ball, but another good way to think about the right move is to concentrate on the butt end of the club. The top of the shaft should still be pointing at you, after you have struck the ball. If you get the flow of the stroke right, letting the head overtake the shaft through impact, this will feel natural and help the release of the club. It sounds simple enough and it is, although your muscle memory may work against you. Hit some one-handed shots in practice to feel the right move.

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach John Jacobs talks about your pitching swing speed and how you can contriol it to control distance.

Pitching swing speed

One of the big things that golfers are often told to avoid, especially in the short game, is decelerating through impact.

Whilst this advice is absolutely correct, it often leads to an over-aggressive move through impact as players attack the ball with a jerky swing.

Pitching is simply a shorter, abreviated version of your full swing. It should ideally consist of a half swing back, followed by a half swing through.

The swing consists of your upper body and lower body rotating both arms around your spine.  As it's a longer swing than a simple short chip, there is also a soft hand action.

So the way I teach this is to think that if you are looking for a 30mph clubhead speed, you want to be swinging at that pace all the way through the downswing and into the finish.

No sudden acceleration and certainly no deceleration through impact. Keep the speed under control and smooth throughout the downswing.

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This is key to controlling your pitching distances and getting up and down more often from inside 100 yards - Graeme McDowell explains how to do it here.

Lots of amateurs go wrong because they use a totally different approach from their normal swing when they pitch. As we've discussed, there's no need.

It’s simply a mini-version of your full golf swing. It's toned down a little but the same factors, like completing your backswing, staying over the ball through the downswing and finding a balanced finish position still apply.

Almost all poor pitchers get out of sync on their downswing. They overuse the lower body and their upper body freezes, or they just get handsy when delivering the club to the ball.

Both of these make consistently solid contact difficult, and results in lots of fat and thin shots.

Try this!

Feel like you have one swing speed (about ¾ pace) for every pitch shot you hit. Control the overall distance through the length of your arm-swing and the loft of the club you choose.

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Neil Plimmer has some valuable lob shot swing tips, to help you get out of trouble more easily.

Start neutral

Traditionally, players have been taught to open both their stance and the face of the club and then swing across the ball to hit a lob shot.

This is a highly technical, difficult approach that came into being before the invention of the lob wedge.

Now, though, we have up to 64 degrees of loft to play with so you can take a different, less dangerous approach.

I advocate a neutral stance at set-up – aim your feet square to your target line, split your weight 50/50 and set the ball in the middle of your stance (as you would for most normal chips).

This is a much less complicated approach – it’s easier to develop and will give you a far greater degree of confidence.

Lob shot swing tips

As I’ve already said, modern-day lob wedges have more than enough loft to get the ball up and down quickly.

However, you must ensure the loft you set at address is returned the same way at impact. Make an appropriately sized swing with the right swing speed relative to the distance you wish the ball to travel.

Keep your sternum in a central position through the shot and make sure you ‘bruise’ the ground underneath the ball at impact.

The neutral address position will mean you have a much better chance of striking the ground in the correct place to loft the ball in the air.

Plastic practice

As with so many delicate, greenside shots, this is about feel. Sadly, there are no real shortcuts here and the only way to master it is through plenty of practice.

The good news is that using plastic balls in the back garden is one of the best ways to groove the right action.

Being lighter, they are slightly easier to loft, but they deliver similar spin levels to a golf ball. I strongly recommend this approach, as it’s a great way to develop your feel.

Target practice

Once you’ve got to grips with the basics of the technique, I want you to become target orientated. In practice, place an object in front of you to hit over.

This forces you to picture the flight and, when you hit, return the correct loft on the club. The object in the way will take your focus away from the technique to the process of playing the shot.

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Safety shot alternative

The reality is that this shot requires practice. If you don’t put in the time, then you can’t expect it to go well on the course.

With a lob shot, you’re making a long swing for a short shot, and the potential for it to go wrong is great.

So, if you haven’t got time to practise it, and plenty of people don’t, then opt for a more conservative approach. A chip to the side of the bunker, leaving a longer approach putt, is never a disastrous result.

Golf Monthly Top 25 Coach Andrew Jones offers his bunker shot tips video to help you escape sand every time

Bunker shot tips video

When playing from sand you need to forget about this as shot, delicate shot and understand that to get the ball out you need to be explosive and swing the club at what feels like driver pace with plenty of acceleration through the ball.

Beginners guide to bunker play

Obviously the most important thing is to strike the sand before the ball with a depth of divot and the point at which the club strikes the sand being the same every time. The key to this is mastering the two areas of stability in the swing, horizontal and vertical.

Make sure you don’t sway away from or towards the target during the swing – this will create fat and thin contacts. The main error I see here is when players lean away from the target to get the ball up in the air. So concentrate on covering the ball through impact.

Equally, ensure your upper body doesn’t lift or dip during the swing. This is much the same as with your normal giolf swing in that you want to maintain the posture you set at address through to impact.  Set your knees at the right level at address (you should have more knee flex here than for a normal shot) and then hold your height through the swing.

I want you to feel that you are playing this shot 'in the basement' rather than on the ground floor. So flex your knees more than usual and then stay at this level through the shot.

More top golf tips

From there make a full swing with plenty of speed. The adjustments we have just discussed will certainly help you strike the sand consistently. The ball will pop up and out leaving you with a simple attempt for par.

Head to the practice ground and use this bunker shot tips video to help you groove an action that is repeatable and reliable. Your sand save stats will go through the roof!

Golf Monthly top 25 coach Andrew Reynolds explains how to play the 60-yard pitch

How to play the 60 yard pitch

Faults:

You have problems controlling the distance on short pitches

You often catch short pitches fat or thin

Fix:

This little half pitch is a real shot-saver, and so it makes sense to work on the technique this summer. Start by setting the ball in the middle of your stance, and then make sure your hands and sternum are slightly ahead of the ball. You don't want to overdo this because you'll only end up de-lofting the club and hitting the ball too low, and probably too far. However, setting your hands and sternum ahead of the ball is important to take the bounce off the club for a sweet strike.

Finally, don't forget this is a smaller version of your normal swing and you should use your body in the same way. Rotate back and through, letting your arms work with your body to improve your overall level of consistency. Take these thoughts with you to the range and practise this technique as much as you can - it's a real shot saver.

Video:

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Andrew Reynolds explains what the bounce angle of a club is, and how using the bounce can help your game.

Most club golfers are pretty clued up these days when it comes to the loft on their golf clubs, but bounce is perhaps less well understood, even though it’s equally as important.

All wedges, and indeed irons, have a leading edge, a sole and a trailing edge. The bounce in golf clubs was originally designed for sand irons.

When the trailing edge hit the ground, the club would bounce through and out of the sand, bringing the ball up and out with it, rather than the club simply burying itself in the sand via the leading edge, and the ball not going very far as a result.

Most wedges now have two numbers stamped on them: the loft – typically 46 to 60 degrees – and the bounce, which ranges from around six to 14 degrees, with most between eight and 12 degrees. Anything more than ten degrees is quite a lot, especially for pitching.

However, where you play your golf can have a big bearing on your ideal bounce. I play most of mine at Royal Cinque Ports, a links course in Kent, and both my 52 and 58-degree wedges have eight degrees of bounce, so I can get to the bottom of the ball on the tight links turf and make decent contact.

If you play at lusher parkland courses, you’ll need more bounce to stop the leading edge digging in too much.

When it comes to bounce, it’s very much horses for courses... or clubs for courses. But you’ll encounter a variety of lies at any course, so you’ll have to play the percentages and think about what degree of bounce is going to be most useful to you.

Why is it so important?

In some ways, bounce is more important than loft – while you can always make a clean strike with the wrong loft, the wrong bounce for the shot in hand will severely limit your options, or make things physically impossible.

This wedge has 12 degrees of bounce – pretty high. You can see that I can’t get the leading edge under the bottom of the ball from a tight lie with a normal set-up.

To do so, I have to move the shaft in front of the club. I can then make decent contact, but because I’ve delofted the club, I’m now going to be driving the ball forwards more.

That’s fine in some situations, but if you’re facing a high lob off a tight lie over a bunker or up a bank, you’re in trouble.

People instinctively open the clubface to create more loft, but this increases the bounce further and makes things worse.

The result will be that you make contact a third of the way up the ball. If you encounter lots of tight lies where you play, low-bounce wedges are a good idea.

From the rough

If the ball’s sitting in a fluffy lie or off the ground a little, more bounce will help keep the club moving forwards through impact.

If you don’t have enough bounce here, the leading edge may dig in too much, leading to poor contact.

As a rule, the grassier the lie, the more bounce you need to play the shot effectively, allowing you to get to the bottom of the ball and float it up and away without snagging.

From the sand

Bounce comes into its own on greenside splash shots, where you have to get the ball up quickly. You want the club to enter the sand about two inches behind the ball.

If you do this with insufficient bounce, the club will simply dig into the sand, and you won’t have to move far for your next shot!

Setting up with the clubface open and the ball closer to your left heel, as you would typically do in a bunker, actually increases bounce angle further.

Once the club hits the sand, using the bounce will help keep the club moving forwards under the ball, bringing the ball out on a little bed of sand.

Golf Monthly top 25 coach Gary Alliss shows you how to play short bunker shots and save par more often.

How to play short bunker shots

If you find yourself facing a short bunker shot, the natural adjustment I see many players make is to go down the grip without then making crucial further adjustments.

This can harm your ability to escape successfully from the sand. If you go down the grip, then take your address position, your posture will be different to normal as you’ll end up bending too far over.

This causes the club to work up and down on an overly steep path. It will then dig in at impact and the ball will fail to clear the lip.

It’s a common scenario that can easily undermine your confidence. Remember that you need to find a shallow angle of attack when playing from sand to get the most out of the bounce of your wedge.

Instead of trying to control the distance of the shot by swinging more softly, go down the grip a little, but crucially, remember to flex your knees more than usual.

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This will ensure your back is more upright and your swing plane is spot on for the correct shallow angle of attack.

Remember!

1. Weaken your grip by moving your hands further round to the left than your normal grip. This will help stop your hands from turning over and maintain the loft of the club.

2. Ensure you focus on a grain of sand and try not to take your eyes off it.

3. Continue accelerating throughout the shot and all the way to the follow through. Decelerating and quitting on the shot will likely cause you to hit it fat and not get it out of the sand.

4. Take several practice swings in the rough before you get into the bunker to get a feeling for fluid swing you intend to make.

5. Dig your feet into the sand to establish a solid base. This will bring you down even lower to help insure you don't hit the ball first.

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach John Jacobs talks through some simple tips to help you improve your greenside bunker distance control.

Greenside bunker distance control video

Does your short game lacks sharpness? Do you rarely get up and down from sand? Follow these simple tips from John Jacobs to improve your greenside bunker play and save par more often when you find sand.

Once you’ve developed a technique that will consistently get you out of the sand, you need to focus on your distance control.

There are two ways to do this. The first is to use different clubs with the same technique; by varying the loft in your hands you’ll hit different distances.

However, in this piece I’m going to tell you about using your follow-through to control how far you hit the ball.

For a full greenside bunker shot I would make a full swing with my 56˚ wedge, following all the way through to the finish. To take distance off the shot, make the same backswing but shorten the follow-through.

This will just help you slow down the speed of the club through impact to take a little distance off the shot. To take more distance off the shot, cut the follow-through down even more.

This technique requires the natural feel that will come from dedicated practice but I promise, it’s a great way to master more instinctive distance control from the sand.

You can also try this technique with different clubs to see how that effects not only the distance the ball travels, but also how much spin is imparted on the ball.

Try using a pitching wedge, or even a 9-iron, is a good way of playing longer, 30/40 yard bunker shots.

This is often said to be the hardest shot in golf as getting the right strike to control the distance on such a long shot from sand is not easy.