When I often do course sessions with my students, I do find one of the most common questions is 'Should I Use A Wedge Or A Putter When Off The Green?' The best way to understand which one to use is firstly the lie of the ball and also whether there are any hazards between you and the hole. The other factor of course is whether chipping is a strength or weakness of your game. I would obviously lean more toward a putter if there is any uncertainty with the shot.
Jack Nicklaus's famous saying when approaching the green and which I use for my game is 'A bad putt is always better than a bad chip'. This is something I'm always thinking about when approaching the green to ensure I'm always playing the shot with the best possible outcome. Now when deciding which one to use, the first aspect as mentioned is the lie. If the grass is quite thick and continues to be so between you and the green, I would definitely lean toward a chip as number one, it is much easier to chip from longer grass and also putting through long grass is difficult to judge.
If the lie is quite tight and the grass continues continue to be quite short between you and the green, I would then more than likely choose a putter. It's really up to you how far off the green you would like to putt. I could sometimes putt up to 20m from off the green depending on what kind of lie and undulation in front of me. Now of course if there is a bunker in front of you or some other kind of hazard, you would then be forced to chip.
Now a great tip when you're putting from off the green is try and elevate the putter from off the grass during set-up. The worst situation in putting is catching the grass with the putter blade during impact as it will tend to slow up the putt quite severely. Just ensure the putter stays above the grass from set-up through to impact. The other alteration I do is with the length of my stroke. If I have a ten step putt for example and there's quite a bit of grass between myself and the green, I may play it the same as if it were a 12 step putt. This means lengthening my swing. The amount you adjust will come down to the length of grass and how far from the green you are.
If you'd like any further help in mastering your short game around the green just contact myself at David Waters Golf located at Emerald Lakes Golf Coaching Centre.
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