Martin’s Blog: How to eliminate the Filthy Five

• By Martin Hall
• Sep 12, 2012 7:30 PM ET

CHAPTER 25:
To master the short game you need to eliminate the “Filthy Five.” Those five include the blade, chunk, shank, nasty pull and wide push. Here is how they are caused and how you eliminate them:

• Blade: It’s caused by hitting on the upswing with both the left wrist and elbow collapsing. It’s cured by getting your weight forward, left eye closer to the ground than the right, and both the shaft and left arm working together throughout the hit.

• Chunk: It’s caused by being too hunched over, the hands too far ahead at address, being way too steep into the ball or by the dreaded reverse hip backup. It’s cured by under reach with a neutral grip and left hip, a slight hip slide and the club moving on an arc and not a straight line.

• Shank: It’s caused by the elbows working like pistons, shoving the clubface out. It’s cured by letting the arms rotate a little on the backswing and hitting a little on the inside of the ball.

• Nasty Pull: It’s caused by the club going straight back with the face very closed. It’s cured by letting the arms rotate a little on the backswing and hitting the inside of the ball.

• Wide Pull: It’s caused by a flat, inside backswing with a handle-pull block follow through. It’s cured by an upward extension of the club somewhere between the arms in the backswing and follow through.

Popular golf instruction tips:  Chipping | Lower Your Score | Short Game | Pitching

More video from Martin:

In this video segment, Martin shares some tips and drills that were utilized by the great Seve Ballesteros, who many believe had the greatest short game of all-time.  Watch Video

Martin’s Library: “Getting Up and Down” by Tom Watson

This book greatly improved my short game and it can improve yours, too. Watson says you should chip with a less lofted club and allow your back knee to move through the chip. When you move your knee through the chip it offsets tension in your hands and arms and helps keep the hands soft. Watch Video

Homework Assignment:

• Understand the 8-Foot Rule

• Eliminate the “Filthy Five” One By One.

Next week’s show: Chapter 26: Control Your Tempo, Wednesday 7PM ET

• School of Golf host Martin Hall will reveal the difference between short-game and long-game tempo and teach you how to improve both. Hall will also share a drill used by U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love III and teach you how to practice like Vijay Singh, while Holly Sonders helps answer viewer questions and assists with the instruction.

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