A Short-Sided Approach

No green to work with? Setting your wrists is worth the rewards.

Trent Wearner, PGA

During a round you’ll inevitably find yourself on the wrong side of the green. By the wrong side, we mean the short side—the side where you don’t have much putting green surface between you and the pin. It’s a situation even Tour pros try to avoid, especially with the fast and firm greens on which they play. But when they find themselves without much green to work with, there’s a safe way to hit a soft, lofted shot that can cozy near the hole.

Setup
• Play the ball in the middle to slightly forward in your stance.
• Shift your weight slightly to your left foot (right-handed golfer) and lean your upper body slightly towards the target.
• Open the clubface about 30 degrees.

Backswing
Don’t turn radically with your shoulders. This will help set your wrists (Note: the deeper the grass, the more you want to set your wrists).

Downswing
Allow your shoulders and hips to open up/turn. This helps create a consistent amount of loft through the impact area as well as a consistent contact point with the ball/ground.

Into the Finish
Sustain a line between your left arm and shaft. If you don’t turn, your wrists will get flippy and produce bladed shots, chunks and shanks. To avoid these foozles, strive to finish with your left arm and shaft more. (Although Tour players at times use their wrists a little through impact on short shots, you can only develop a feel for using them after having accomplished not using them.)

The author of the popular book, Golf Scrimmages and one of Golf Digest's America's Best Young Young Teachers, Trent Wearner owns and operates TrentWearner Golf Academy (TrentWearnerGolf.com; 303-645-8000) at Meridian Golf Club in Englewood, as well as golfscrimmages.com, a game-improvement site. For more lessons visit www.coloradoavidgolfer.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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