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How To Play Blind Shots

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Published: 28Aug2008
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Accuracy off the tee is critical to scoring low. Hitting a 175-yard drive that finds the fairway beats hitting a hitting 225-yard drive that lands in deep rough almost every time. In deep rough the high grass grabs and twists your club, as I've pointed out in my golf tips, causing you to mishit the shot. Mis-hitting adds strokes to your score.

But being short off the tee also puts pressure on you in some situations, like when playing blind shots from the tee box. Simply put, blind shots are when you can't see the flag or green from where you're hitting. Not knowing exactly where your hitting creates tension in your swing. It also creates a sense of urgency. Together, these faults can sabotage your swing, causing you to hit fat or thin, or worse, hook or slice.

What you need is a strategy that boosts your confidence when paying blind shots from the tee. Confidence replaces tension and urgency with flow and rhythm, resulting in a fluid yet powerful swing. When your swing is fluid and powerful, your ballstriking is crisp. Crisp ballstriking produces more accurate shots off the tee, saving you strokes. Ads By CbproAds

Avoid Playing Somewhere Safe When hitting blind shots off the tee, avoid the temptation to play the ball "somewhere safe." Instead, pick out a specific target. For example, if you're trying to cut a dogleg over trees, don't just pick one tree to clear. Instead, pick a couple of reference points. Doing so, will keep you safe if you land your shot between them. Make sure you leave room for error on either side of the points. That way you won't need to hit a perfect shot.

When hitting blind shots from the fairway, you should also pick out a specific target and aim for it rather than a general area. For many players, it's harder hitting a blind shot from the fairway than off the tee. If you can't see where you're hitting to, you can easily end up in a lake, pond, or bunker, costing your strokes. Hit into enough lakes, ponds, and bunkers and you'll launch your golf handicap through the stratosphere.

Walk To A Good Vantage Point When faced with a blind approach shot, take time to walk to a good vantage point, one where you can see the pin or target clearly. Then find a visible target that you can use as an alignment aid. Sometimes, for example, you can use a tree that's behind the green but directly in line with the pin. Now, aim for the tree. One course I play hangs a red flag from a tree to make it easier to align your shot.

If you would rather use the green as your target, choose two large objects bracketing the green and try splitting them with your shot. If there aren't any usable alignment aids, you can have a playing partner walk ahead to give you a line, as long as he or she moves before you hit the ball. Also, avoid shifting your feet after you're aligned. Instead, trust your aim and swing with confidence.

Hitting blind shots can be a nightmare. They can cost you a ton of strokes if you mis-hit them, which in turn can boost your golf handicap. To hit blind shots with confidence, pick a specific target and aim for it. The more specific the target, like a tree or a mound, the better off you are. Picking out a specific target boosts your confidence and takes pressure off you when hitting, especially if you're a short but accurate hitter.

One other tip I give students taking my golf lessons: Always use a tee. If you're hitting a hybrid raise the tee slightly higher than you would for an iron. Hitting off a tee with an iron or hybrid provides the clean club-to-ball contact you need to execute an accurate tee shot from the tee. This, in turn, produces better, more accurate drives.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

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