You may know that one of the keys to having a good short game is having the ability to hit the ball higher with more spin in some situations, and lower with less spin in other situations. But knowing that you want to manipulate ball flight is completely different than actually, you know, being able to manipulate ball flight.
Don’t worry, when it comes to your short game, Alex Fisher, one of our Golf Digest Best Young Teachers, has an easy trick that’ll help you control how high or low you hit your chip shots. The secret is your right thumb (if you’re a righty; left thumb if you’re a lefty).
“For a high shot with backspin, swing through impact and hold off the rotation of your hands so that your right thumb stays on the right side of the handle,” says Fisher. “To produce a lower shot that has some run, make the same swing but let your hands rotate through naturally. Your right thumb will end up on the left side of the grip.”
Thumb to the right for high shots, thumb to the left for lower shots; and who said controlling your shot’s trajectory was hard?