3balls Golf
Shots involving water hazards may be some of the most intimidating shots in golf, but the hardest are those you have to make around trees. When dealing with trees, you have basically two options: you can go over the top or you can go under the lowest branches, or for the more advanced golfers you can play shots around the tree. When it comes to trees, these are the best golf tips for beginners that we’ve got:
Going Over the Tree
Before you attempt to shoot over a tree, make sure this is really your best shot — you may be tempted to try one of these tricky moves to make an impression, but when over the tree shots fail, they fail big time. If you’ve determined going over is your only hope, here’s how you do it.
Choose a high lofted club to help with your launch angle — something like a gap wedge may be your best friend, but it’s going to depend a lot on the tree. When you get into your stance, move closer to the ball than normal to create a more upright swing and make sure the ball is nearly opposite your left heel. As you move through your shot, focus on hitting the back of the ball and extending your right arm into a high finish beyond the impact.
Punch Shots (Going Under the Tree)
More often than not, you’ll find yourself needing to go under a tree using a punch shot. These low-trajectory shots are useful for getting your ball under branches without losing it inside the tree in question. Punch shots can be tricky, but if you choose an iron a few steps below the one you’d typically play (say, a 5 iron in place of a 7 iron), you’ll have much better success.
Set up with the ball behind the middle of your stance and your hands ahead of it — the goal is to deloft your clubface as much as possible. Bring your club back into a three-quarter length backswing and move into the swing with no more than 80 percent of your power behind it (this swing is mostly in your arms, with minimal movement from your hips). At impact, resist twisting your right forearm over your left; the club head should be below the level of your hands at the end of your follow-through.
When it comes to trees, the best golf tip for beginners is to practice, practice, practice. Both shots for dealing with trees can be tricky and will require some precision and skill in order to really perfect them. If you find you don’t have a low or high enough lofted club for the job, take a look at our extensive catalog at 3balls.com — we’ve always got the right equipment at the right price and we’ll deliver it right on time.
Photo credit: Mathew Bajoras / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
