Using your Backyards Natural Features to add Challenges to your Chipping Practice
- rukket
- Apr 15, 2014
- 2 min read
Almost everyone has some access to an outside area. Whether you live in an apartment or own your home you can work to improve your game by being creative and using your space’s natural attributes to challenge yourself and improve your game.
Many golfers use their backyard-chipping target to hit back and forth on the flat area of their lawn. In order to get better it’s important to challenge yourself and keep mixing it up (Deliberate Practice). Thinking of new ways to make you think about the shot and going just a little bit outside your comfort zone is what can really make the difference between an amateur and professional player.
Golf courses have an infinite number of surfaces your ball may land on and you will be required to play off any surface that is not ground under repair. Your backyard can help you prepare for almost anything, if you look for the right characteristics. Even if it seems your yard is perfect you can create the lies you feel most uncomfortable with and get to work.
Use that hill: Use that small hill or uneven grading in your backyard to practice chipping off an uneven lie. The key here is to challenge yourself. Don’t simply hit back and forth to your chipping target. Set the target up in a part of the yard first where you are chipping up then where you are chipping down.
No grass? No problem: Use that spot where it’s just impossible to get grass to grow to practice chipping off hardpan. Or if you have a slight hill where the lawnmower cuts the grass extremely short you have another excellent option to play of an irregular surface that is more difficult than you’re typically used to.
Use natural barriers to give yourself more challenges: Hit over bushes or around trees to make your chipping practice more difficult. It will help you think creatively and add some pressure to make the shot as no one wants to go digging into that holly bush.
Haven’t mowed in a while? Perfect for practice hitting out of the rough. Also an excuse for leaving a patch un-mowed or wait a few extra weeks. Hitting of a surface that is far from manicured lets you get prepared for those shots that are bound to happen to the best of us.
Look outside and get creative with your yards attributes. Hit off a lie that is downhill with no grass, or uphill out of a rough. With a little creativity and laziness (of course good laziness) you can create a challenging chipping playground. Also add a chipping target to give yourself a point of reference and a way to judge your improvement.
Author: Ryan Dickerson, Rukket Founder
www.rukket.com
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