BREAKING 100/90/80 BREAKING Contents 100/90/80 BREAKING 100 BREAKING 90 BREAKING 80 2 Rule No. 1 in 6 Get It There 10 Hidden Key to Play Your Best Shortcuts by Tom Watson the Sand Why you should Solid Strikes Get it right, and swing easy with The supporting you’ll hit perfect short irons elements can make bunker shots BY DAVID LEADBETTER all the difference BY BUTCH HARMON BY TOM WATSON 7 Power Shift 3 Finish Strong Training your 11 Cheat Sheet Swing it like lower body to hit for the Sand The Big Easy it flush The 3 keys you really BY DAVID LEADBETTER BY DAVID LEADBETTER have to know BY CHRIS KIRK 4 From the 8 Sharpen Your Aim Learn this simple Don’t Skip the Hips Ground Up 12 routine the pros use Turn them back for An effective golf Play Your Best Bunkers by Chris Kirk BY HANK HANEY more power swing starts with How much practice do you BY TOM WATSON devote to the short game? your feet ▶ Less than 10% % ▶ 10-25% BY TOM WATSON 9 My Secret to ▶ 26-50% ▶ More than 50% Better Golf 13 Gimme Range SOURCE: GOLF DIGEST READERS Maintain your Howuring the to offseason, roll in your the thigh. That long sets up a de - heavy sole of your sand wedge, 5 Consistency Cheat Sheet D I play a lot with my scending blow. A lot of golfers control the depth. for the Sand amateur buddies in hang on the back foot, sensing (3) The final key is rhythm. shoulder tilt Atlanta.putt I have as big edgestone in the they dead need to help the ball up. Keep it slow and smooth. See Counts Play Your Best short game, and bunker play But you’ve got to hit down. my long follow-through? You Step by Step by DavidBY Leadbetter TOM WATSON The 3 keys in particular.BY DAVID These tips areLEADBETTER for (2) With the clubface slight- can only do that with a nice, them—they know who they ly open, take the club back to even tempo. Remember these Keep the ball in one you really I think I’d are—andhit it farther for you, too. the outside. Then swing down three tips, and you’ll be fine. have to knowif I were stronger(1) At inaddress, my . .lean to your on an out-to-in path, but not front side. Push 80 percent of too steep. You don’t want to Chris Kirk, 30, has four PGA Tour victories and played on place for every club ▶ Midsection:your weight51% to your forward leg, dig. You’re looking for a slid- ▶ Upper body: 31% the U.S. team that won the % enough that you feel pressure ing action. Let the bounce, the 2015 Presidents Cup. BY BUTCH HARMON ▶ Lower body: 13% ▶ Hands: 5% SOURCE: GOLF DIGEST READERS h lauren: belt, $995 • g/fore: glove, $35 glove, $995 • g/fore: h lauren: belt, P travis mathew: shirt, $85, pants, $115 • callaway: shoes, $130, hat, $28, glove, $25 $28, glove, $115 • callaway: shoes, $130, hat, $85, pants, shirt, mathew: travis Power Shift 1. GET YOUR 2. PERFECT 3. SHIFT,22 AND golfdigest.com 4. MOVE | january TO 2016 Photograph by Dom Furore ants, $198 • ral ants, LEGS ALIGNED YOUR PIVOT THEN ROTATE THE LEFT HEEL tiate the forward rotation of your TrainingELEMENTARY your P From the Ground Up hips. Replanting the left heel is lowerWATSON body an important lesson that my to hit it flush any golfersIf you get wanthappy to hit teacher, Stan Thirsk, taught me An effective golf swing M feet whenit longer, they try copy when I was growing up. It allows to take a healthy cut atthe the ball.power They lookmoves as in▶ A balanced ▶ As you go ▶ Initiate the ▶ Finally, settle $115 • house of fleming: belt ank: shirt, b if they’re spinning out of setup promotes back, sense your downswing into your left . starts with your feet you to accelerate your swing other sports. Whether a control, like a car on an icy good use of weight being with a shift of heel and use and release the club powerfully road.it’s A lack hitting of stability a inbaseball, the lower body. increasingly the lower body your left leg as the lower body puts them in Bend from your supported by toward the a post to swing playing a forehand inhip joints a your right heel. target. You’ll around. Feel henever I evaluate a and there’s a sequence you through impact. a weak position coming into little so they’re To get a feel for feel it initially as if that leg is impact.tennis, To consistently throwing make a pass golfer’s ability, I first should strive for. Start with If your footwork is good, stacked over the this movement, in the forward screwed into the W betteror contact even and kicking finish your a soccerbacks of your cross your arms half of your left ground, letting check for a proper grip your center of gravity directly you’ll be able to finish the swing swing in a comfortable pose, knees, down and practice foot. Make this you brace followball, these you four steps shift for and turnthrough your your backswing shift before for the strike and a balanced, athletic setup. between the balls of your feet. in a posed position. Look for al- improved lower-body action. ankles. Check pivot without you rotate your and complete your lower body—feetthis with a club- a club, like I’m upper body your swing in Then I watch the footwork, Then as you take the club back, most all of your weight on your Davidin Leadbetter particular—toward is a Golf Digest shaft (above). doing here. around that leg. balance. Teaching Professional. detwiler • Jos todd by illustrations which ultimately determines let your weight transfer slightly front foot, with your back foot the intended target. You how efficiently the player cre- to the inside of your right foot used only as a counterbalance. 36 plantgolfdigest.com the lead | april foot, 2016 turn Photographed by J.D. Cuban at The Concession Golf Club, Bradenton, Fla. the hips and then go ates clubhead speed. and eventually toward the heel. with the upper body or Proper footwork is a neces- As you start the downswing, Tom Watson is a Golf Digest leg. That’s an athletic sity for consistency and power, plant your left heel firmly to ini- Playing Editor. move. Golf is the same. $90, golf: shirt, john caldwell • Polo by illustration 16 golfdigest.com | january 2016 Photographs by J.D. Cuban Play Your Best Golfer’s Wish List by Butch Harmon BREAKING What’s the scariest shot from a greenside bunker? ▶ Water over the back: 38% % ▶ Buried lie: 34% ▶ Second try to get out: 16% 100▶ Over a high lip: 12% Play Your Best | by Butch Harmon SOURCE: GOLF DIGEST READERS verybody says amateurs the ball. That’s hard to do. If you BUTCH’S BASICS Rule No. 1 E can’t get out of green- go back too far, you hit it on the in the Sand side bunkers because upswing—another way to skull it. they’re crushed by fear. Well, To set up properly, play the that’s part of it, but the bigger ball forward—opposite your Get it right, thing is, they set up in a way front instep (below, left). Also, and you’ll that makes it almost impossible open the clubface before you to hit a good shot. They get bad take your grip. That will expose hit perfect results, so the fear develops, but the bounce feature on the bot- the root cause is a poor setup. tom of your sand wedge, which bunker shots A lot of golfers treat bunker helps the club slide through the shots like pitch or chip shots. sand. With the ball forward, you They set up with the ball in the can make your normal swing and If your ball is in thick greenside middle of the stance and push enter the sand two to three inch- rough, that’s when their hands ahead so the shaft is es behind it, the clubhead pass- you want to play the leaning toward the target. That’s ing your hands through impact ball middle and lean fine if you want to hit the ball (below, right). That will happen the shaft forward. first, but in a greenside bunker naturally if you set up correctly, You’re setting up a you want to hit the sand first. which is the best thing you can downward strike so the club’s leading With the ball middle, you catch do to help your bunker game. edge digs under the it clean and skull it, or you try ball. Notice above, to shift back during the swing to Butch Harmon is a Golf Digest the clubhead is not get the club in the sand behind Teaching Professional. passing my hands. It’s more of a dig- ging action, not the splashing or skim- ming action you want from bunkers. ATcH lex: w RO • T lemINg: bel F e OF uS ve, $21 • HO O PLAY IT UP SLIDE UNDER , $27, gl With the ball Let the clubhead HAT forward, you can pass your hands : swing into the for a skimming IST le sand behind it. action in the sand. TIT , $190 • eS SHO FOOTJOY: SHIRT, $72, PANTS, $85, $72, PANTS, SHIRT, FOOTJOY: 162 golfdigest.comBREAKING 100/90/80 | july 2016 Photographs by J.D.