Article #43
Teacher: Bobby Steiner
To meet this week's teacher, or to purchase a copy of MUNIE ~ The Jitterbug Collection, go to www.bobbysteiner.com
Dear Jitterbug:
I tend to use my pitching wedge for most shots around the green, but my friend suggested I try my seven-iron. What do you think?
Jake Marlow
Jitterbug Gang Fan
Jitterbug:
It's a good point your friend brings up. Let me tell you, Jake, I play more often with 85 to 110 shooters than I do scratch golfers. And, I can tell you that golfers of every level would improve dramatically if they'd do nothing more than vary the clubs they use to hit chip shots.
To help you understand why, let's pretend there are ten different effort levels to your chipping stroke. You can chip the ball quite softly, which would be an effort level of ONE, or you can chip it harder, increasing all the way to an effort level of TEN. A TEN, for argument sake, is the hardest anyone would ever strike a chip shot.
Personally, I feel comfortable chipping with an effort level of about THREE, which to me feels like a simple gingerbread motion back and through the ball.
So, here I am, maybe only ten feet in front of the green, and the flag is a total of twenty feet from my ball. Surveying the situation my only objective is to decide which club, swung at an effort level of THREE, will get me near the hole. For this situation, I decide that a pitching wedge is best. If the flag is cut another thirty feet farther back, I may elect to use an eight-iron, but still swing at an effort level of THREE. Another thirty feet farther back and it may be a five-iron, but the important thing is that I find the club that will allow me to swing back and through in a manner with which I'm comfortable.
Said another way, it is easier to adopt one basic motion that works with several different clubs than try to use one club with several different motions.
Mr. Vaughn:
I agree with all that, Jake, but let me add something to it.
Jitterbug has been playing golf for more years than I care to admit, and might be the best chipper there ever was. Having practiced so much, he's very familiar with every club in his bag. He knows what to expect when he chips with a three-iron just as well as he does the sand-wedge. You, on the other hand, may not have so much practice time that you can get comfortable using nine different clubs to chip with. But, you can use at least three. Say, maybe a sand-wedge for your short chips, an eight-iron for mid-range chips and a six-iron for longer ones. Whichever three clubs you go with, in just a short time, you're gonna wonder how in the world you ever got along using just your wedge.
Lord Berry:
See for yourself. Simply drop ten balls in front of the chipping green. Scout out a hole fifty feet away, and chip the first five balls to it using your pitching wedge. Observe the outcome.
Perform the same exercise using a less lofted club, for instance, an eight-iron.
The results will reveal all.