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You need a ball-then-turf technique to get consistent around the greens. 

This is more of a feeling than anything else, and it’s applicable to chip shots, pitch shots, bunker shots – anything that’s not really a full shot – as it just allows you to get full control over the contact and the compression on the ball.

Work on this 

What I tend to work on is having the feeling of working the butt of the club quite hard towards the left hip through impact. This stops your hands from getting disconnected, which can come from flicking at the ball or working the club towards the target. 

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If your hands get too active during this kind of shot, you won’t get consistent results. This is why most amateurs struggle around the greens.

Positives

Doing this also allows you to keep the club and the body together a little more. The main positive is a much crisper contact with the ball, much more ball-then-turf, as opposed to any heavy or thin shots. 

It will also help you control your distances a bit more by reducing flash speed through the ball, allowing you to deliver a similar trajectory every time depending on the length of the swing as opposed to trying to manipulate it with your hands. 

What you’re looking for here, around the greens, in the scoring zone, is a technique that means your shots are more easily repeated. 

If you tend to swing too quickly with the hands, attempt to manipulate the club or try to ‘help’ the ball toward the target, you won’t get consistent results. 

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However, focusing on this technique, where you bring the butt of the club to your left hip, means you’ll get ball-thenturf contact, which means more reliable results.

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