Epson Tour professional Natalie Sheary (New Britain, Connecticut) returns for Episode 4 of her weekly instructional series, “Staying Sharp with Sheary.” A Wake Forest University alumna and past champion on the “Road to the LPGA” at the 2016 W.B. Mason Championship, Sheary provides advice and drills to keep your game sharp—both physically and mentally—while at home.
In this week’s episode, Sheary details two different chipping techniques. The first is how best to attack a shot from a troubled lie with soft underlying conditions, such as pine straw. She discusses playing it the same as a greenside bunker shot, using a full swing and maintaining acceleration through the ball.
“When we’re in a challenging area around the green, it’s easy to doubt the shot especially when it’s hard to predict how the ball will come out of the lie,” said Sheary. “We can alleviate doubt by practicing chip shots from various lies that require a certain amount of creativity and focus.”
— Natalie Sheary (@NatSheary) May 6, 2020
The second approach deals with firm underlying conditions where you are unable to get underneath the ball. Sheary’s objective here is to make clean contact for a bump and run shot. To ensure this, play the ball back in the stance and strike the ball first. A shorter swing is ideal and maintaining acceleration will provide good results. Don’t be afraid to land on the fringe if there is enough space between you and the flagstick.
“The ultimate goal is to get up and down from any situation,” Sheary said. “This can only be done with the repetition of unconventional shots during practice. Have some fun and challenge yourself. Drop a few balls in the deep rough, in the wood chips and even the pine straw.”
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