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Putt to a smaller target to sink more three-footers. By Annika Sorenstam September/October 2007 1 When you play darts, you aim for the bull's-eye on the dartboard. Short putts should be approached the same way. Instead of aiming at the hole, try putting to a smaller, more specific target, such as an imaginary tee behind the hole, a piece of tall grass at the back of the cup or a brown spot on the green. This encourages you to make a firm, aggressive stroke, so the ball holds its line. It also creates a greater margin for error, because if you miss your target, the ball still has a reasonably good chance of dropping in the cup.

For deep lies, open the face and get steep The weighting in new cavity-back irons has cut down on flyers from the rough. It?s the thick lies you still have to worry about. By Ernie Els Photo By Dom Furore September 2007 Catching a flyer out of the rough was something you really had to be concerned about five years ago, especially with muscle-back irons. Now, with the way irons are weighted, flyers don't happen very often. The weight behind the face makes the ball come off more consistently. For the most part, when you play a full shot from the primary rough at your course, you're gauging how close to a standard shot you can hit based on your lie in the grass. If the ball is sitting on top, with more than two-thirds of it exposed, you can play from your same setup position and expect pretty much the same distance. The club will slow down a bit as it goes through the grass, but the reduced backspin on the shot will make the ball roll more. Things change when the ball is down in the grass. For example, I hit my 7-iron 184 yards from a standard lie in the fairway. From the rough, I'd use a 6-iron, play the ball back an inch or two and swing down on a steeper angle to catch the ball first. It also helps to aim slightly left and open the clubface at address. You'll get more height on the shot, and the club will cut through the grass more easily. Els writes instruction articles only for Golf Digest.

3 keys to short sand shots Lesson Tee: Annika Sorenstam Annika By Annika Sorenstam Photo By Dom Furore July 2007 1. To hit a short bunker shot over a high lip, you have to keep the clubface open. That starts at address: Holding the club with your right hand, rotate the face 30 degrees open, then set your left hand and reposition your right. Take a wide stance for stability—you'll be making a firm swing—and play the ball just inside your left heel. 2. Squat down a little at address. Lowering your center of gravity puts the bottom of the swing arc below the level of the ball, so the club can slide under it. Make a three-quarter backswing, keeping your legs quiet and your feet planted. Don't think of the swing as a flip of the hands and arms. Make a full turn against a stable lower body. 3. Swing the clubhead into the sand about an inch behind the ball. With the clubface open, you'll have to swing pretty hard to push the ball up and out. Keep your wrists firm as you splash through the sand, with the face pointing straight up (above). Turn your shoulders through so they face the target at the finish. REHAB UPDATE The ruptured disk in my neck that sidelined me in April is coming along. The best news is that I won't need surgery. I'm sticking to intense rehab and should be contending again soon. Annika Sorenstam writes instruction articles only for Golf Digest Publications.

Fairway sand Choke down and keep your lower body still Els To play a fairway bunker shot, take your normal grip (left), then choke down two inches (right). By Ernie Els Photo By J.D. Cuban August 2007 As long as you have a decent lie, hitting from a fairway bunker isn't as difficult as you might think--you just don't have room to hit it heavy and get away with it. I play this shot the same way I would a wind shot from the fairway. Set up with the ball in the middle of your stance, and anchor yourself in the sand by digging in your feet. Take more club, but choke down on the grip two inches, as I'm doing here. That offsets your feet being below the surface of the sand. When you hit this shot, focus on making a three-quarter backswing and keeping your lower body quiet. Hit the ball first, then the sand. The shot will come out lower than normal, because of the stronger loft on the longer club, but it'll have more backspin. Els writes instruction articles only for Golf Digest. For more tips, click golfdigest.com/instruction.

Make your practice swing count Annika By Annika Sorenstam Photo By J.D. Cuban August 2007 1. Most golfers don't put much thought into their practice swings, then wonder why they have no feel for the shot. Instead, focus on making it a true rehearsal of the swing you're about to make: Use the same grip pressure, the same aim, the same tempo. Don't just waste it. 2. I'll sometimes use my practice swing to groove a move I'm working on. For example, if I'm trying to get my shoulders turning from the start, I might swing back only halfway. This is not a real rehearsal, but it can help me get a feel. It's one thing to feel it on the range, but better to do it just before you swing. 3. Whatever I'm doing with my practice swing, I always make a full finish. I want to feel the end of the swing--that's where I have to get when I go for real. I also look at my practice swing as a trigger: From that point forward I have to block out distractions and focus on the shot at hand. Annika Sorenstam writes instruction articles only for Golf Digest Publications.

RANGE DRILL: 1. Take a narrow stance with the ball forward. 2. Swing to the top with a full turn. 3. Step forward, and swing through the ball. By Rick Smith Photo By Stephen Szurlej May 2007 A split second before completing the back-swing, the best players make a slight lateral move with their hips and trunk toward the target. This move not only allows the arms to swing down on plane, it helps increase swing speed by providing improved leverage between the body and club. It's a real power move. If you want to copy it, first train with my step drill to get the proper feeling. On the range, grab a 7-iron, tee up a ball, and address it with a narrow stance. Your front foot should be in line with the ball. Take the club to the top, but before you start down, step toward the target with your front foot. This action will help you feel that lateral move the best players make. Hit balls this way to get a feel for this shift to your front side. Ranked No. 5 by his peers among Golf Digest's 50 Greatest Teachers, Rick Smith is based at the Treetops Resort near Gaylord, Mich., and Tiburon in Naples, Fla.

Speed up on short putts This tee drill will help you make more four-footers Leadbetter By David Leadbetter July 2007 So many amateurs miss short putts because they don't accelerate the putterhead as it approaches the ball. They make a backstroke that's too long and then have to slow down to avoid knocking the ball way past the hole. Decelerating often throws the putterhead off line as well, and the ball misses left or right of the cup. To correct this, on putts no longer than, say, four to eight feet, try to make a short backstroke and then accelerate through the ball. A simple drill on the practice green that will help is to place a tee a few inches behind the spot where you address the ball. This tee will limit the length of the backstroke and ensure that you accelerate the putterhead to get the ball to the hole. Acceleration will help keep the putterhead and ball on the line you choose.

""칩 샷을 할 때는 롱퍼팅처럼"" 그린 근처에서 칩 샷을 할 때는 마치 먼 거리에서 퍼터로 느리게 치는 것처럼 해야 한다. 데이비드 듀발은 1999년 메르세데스 선수권 대회에서 우승할 때 이처럼 퍼팅 스트로크 같은 스타일로 여러 홀에서 파 세이브에 성공했다. 퍼터와 피칭 웨지로 플레이할 때 가장 큰 차이점은 공의 위치가 다르다는 것이다. 피칭 웨지로 플레이할 할 때는 공을 스탠스 중앙에서 오른발 쪽으로 위치시켜 클럽이 다운 스윙하면서 임팩트되어야 한다. 만일 파워의 증가가 필요하다면 몸을 약간 돌려 주면 된다. 이때 초보자들은 팔로만 치거나 강한 스피드로 갑자기 치는 경향이 있다. 칩 샷은 아이언을 퍼터처럼 사용해 시계추의 움직임처럼 스트로크해야 한다. '로프트가 큰 클럽을 사용하는 퍼팅' 정도로 생각하라는 테이비드 듀발(2) "스윙은 간결할수록 좋다. 이 같은 스윙을 하려면 먼저 생각부터 간결해야 한다. 특히 아마추어들은 무엇이든 듣고 본 대로 다 하려고 든다. 그러나 이는 자신의 스윙을 복잡하고 어렵게 만들 뿐이다."