Instructor Bill Gaines continues:

Sept.18, 2000

By Roy Love    

HOW TO PRACTICE ON THE RANGE  
    Take your bucket of golf balls and make two piles. One small and one large. Hit the large pile first. Pick a particular part of your golf swing that you want to work on. Your takeaway, for instance or maybe your lower body set up - any portion of your swing that you don't feel comfortable with.
    
    Hit all of the balls without caring about ball flight.  Just work on the particular weakness in your swing.  Don't worry about where the ball goes; don't think about the target. Just practice one thing at a time.

    After you finish with the first pile go to the next one. Completely change your mental process.  Pretend that you are out on the course. Play each shot with a different club. Never hit the same club twice - never hit the same shot twice. Analyze each shot that you hit. If you hit a ball to the right, do not hit another shot until you take at least three practice swings this allows you to get the slice out of your subconscious mind.  If you don't get the slice out of your subconscious mind it will automatically try to correct itself and will invariably over correct causing the ball to go to the left. 

 CHIPPING:
      When accessing a chip shot always walk off to one side of the line of the ball and study how far you need to hit the ball to get it to the hole. Do not stand behind the ball. This exercise allows you to pick the club that you want to hit. Then walk back behind the ball and determine the break and whether it is an uphill or

   Downhill Chip.  You have determined what club to use as you view the shot from the side, but you may want to change the club that you originally selected because of an uphill or downhill lie. Never change your swing - change your golf club.  Put a club down square to the target line.  Place the ball on the hole side of the club.

    Stand with your right foot touching the lower part of the grip behind the ball so that the toe is pointing at the ball, and is one foot from the ball. Now place your left foot so the heel is touching the end of the grip and parallel to your right foot.  This opens your stance so that your hips don't get in the way. Opening the stance allows better shoulder rotation.  It puts the ball right in front of the rear foot.  We then aim the club at the target using the bottom line on the face of the club as a guide. Now place your hands in front of your lead thigh. This creates an angle in your wrist you want to maintain the angle all the way through the shot.

     If the left wrist breaks down it is called "chucking" and you will not put the roll on the ball.  You will hit it soft and you will end up short of your target.

    As you set up check that your ball is front of your right foot - your hands are in front of your left high - your blade is square to your target and the last thing you want to do is put 90 percent of your weight on your left foot. This allows the club to go up on the back swing.  If the weight is on the right foot the club head will go back too low allowing the grass to interfere with the swing. This allows the club to go down through the soft fringe that surrounds the green.

  SHOULD YOU USE YOUR FAVORITE CLUB?
     No - Some people ask me "what is your favorite club" my answer is  "I don't have any."  Use the club that the shot requires. It could be a lob wedge, a seven iron or even a three wood. 
    By using the following formula and a variety of clubs the ball will always end up close to the target that you have selected.  

    When you set up to hit your shot you do not aim at the flag. You aim at a spot three paces in from the fringe. Do this with every shot.  Always try to hit the three pace spot regardless of the club that you are using.  By changing clubs you change the distance that the ball rolls to the hole without changing the tempo of your swing. Your hands are going to be in the same position your stance will be in the same position - The spot that you hit the ball will be in the same position. The tempo of your swing will be the same. The only variable will be your club selection predicated on the distance that you want the ball to roll to the hole.

To determine your club selection use the operative number 12 formula. 
            
1. Pick a spot on the green three paces in from the fringe. 
2. Pace off the distance from the ball to the spot and then on to the pin.
Say it is a total of 20 yards. If the spot is 4 yards away from 
the ball the remaining yards would 16.
3. Divide the roll out of 16 yards by the spot yardage 4. That equals 4 4. Subtract the 4 from the operative number 12.
4. That equals 8.
Your club selection should be a 8 iron. 
            
  Say it is a total of 30 yards from the ball to the hole with the spot being 4 yards from the ball.  Again divide 4 into 24 which equals 6, Subtract the 6 from the operative number 12 which equals 6. 
Your club selection should be a 6 iron.

  There is one variable to this formula which has to be your decision. That is a downhill or an uphill shot. If it is downhill you take a more lofted club, an uphill would require a less lofted club.  By making sure that you hit the selected spot on the green you re insured that you not leave the chip in the fringe and that you will always have a putt.  Take a slow back swing changing the length based on the length of the shot.  Moving the ball back just inside your right instep allows you to hit the ball low. This shot is needed when you have an uphill chip.  

MUSCLES - WHAT THEY DO
    As mention earlier you have two sets of muscles in your body   Large and small.  The large muscles that are in your shoulders your back and your legs. They work much slower than the short muscles there fore they are more reliable as you make your swing.
    Because they react slower you can control them much better.  The small muscles react quicker therefore are much more difficult to control.  When you chip use your shoulders not your arms. Distance is number one: accuracy is number two.

LINING UP:
    Many times your shot will break due to the undulation of the green.  Lining up the shot is crucial.  By looking down the line you can get a pretty good idea as to how far the ball will break as it rolls to the hole .To further the amount of break hold your club out as if it were a sword. Line the ball up with the lower end of the grip on the club and hold the club straight up. The head of the club will be at a spot either to the left or the right of the club head. Then take your stance aiming at the spot that the handle of your club was pointing to. Then all you have to do is hit that spot and let the ball roll out toward the hole and into the cup.

PUTTING:
     Your putter is the most important club in your bag.  It must fit you more than any other club in your bag.  To check your fit stand up to the ball with your natural stance with your body weight 80 percent on the heels and 20 percent on the toes.  This will relax you. Then make sure that your eyes are directly over the ball. Now let your arms dangle down under your shoulders without bending forward over the ball. Take your natural stance.  Have someone hand you a putter.  When you look at the head the sole of the club should be flat on the ground.  This is very important because putters can have 2 to 6 degrees of loft on the clubface. If the sole of the club is pointing up off the ground there is a good chance that your putt will go the left as you come through the ball. Conversely the ball will go to the right if the heel is not flat on the ground. On a ten-foot putt, one degree can be as much as three feet of the target line.  By taking the putter to a professional club fitter he can bend it to fit your natural stance.

  These are some of the things that you learn at a Natural Golf  School.
    If you are new to the game of golf, learning the You may not become a pro, but you could end up swinging like one.

    You can contact Bill Gaines at: