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  • Debunking Flyers

    • Debunking Flyers

    Traditional golf instruction tells you that when your ball is sitting in light rough, you have what's called a 'flyer' lie. At impact the grass will come between your clubface and ball, producing a shot with little backspin - sort of a knuckleball. The ball will fly farther and bounce more actively than a crisp shot from the fairway.

    That's true - but only with certain clubs. I've found that on short irons (PW, 9, 8) I get true flyers only part of the time. The rest of the time I get bloopers - the ball goes up quickly but then drops down quickly, and the overall distance isn't any greater than on a fairway shot with the same club.

    The middle irons (7, 6, 5, 4) are the true flyer clubs. The ball consistently zings off these clubfaces and jumps into the air, arcing forward as well as upward. It comes down with very little backspin and then bounds forward. Once in an Australian tournament I hit a 250-meter 5-iron from a flyer lie, and I'm sure you've had similar experiences.

    But once you get down to the long irons - anything from the 3-iron down - the flyer effect virtually disappears. The reason is that the heads of these clubs aren't deep enough to allow the ball to slide up the clubface at impact. As a result, you get either a normal distance shot - if you're lucky - or a fluff, as the ball and/or club gets caught in the grass. The fact is, you can usually hit a 5-iron from the rough as far as you can hit a 3-iron from the same lie. For the same reason, you should be careful with fairway woods from grassy lies: a 3-wood rarely works, a 4-wood has a good chance, but a 5-wood is ideal.

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    Part I: Before You Swing

    • Clap Hands For The Grip
    • The Short Thumb
    • Look High, Look Low
    • Aim The Clubface First
    • Your Feet Can Fool You
    • Don't Toe The Line
    • Posture Is Natural
    • The Root Of Many Evils
    • One Spot For Every Shot
    • Suit Yourself
    • Get The Picture
    • Consider A Bit Of Flare
    • Open Up On Short Irons
    • The Right Height
    • Why Jack And I Hover The Club
    • A Game Of Inches
    • Get A Countdown
    • Step All The Way Back

    Part II: The Long Game

    • Pulling The Trigger
    • The Left-elbow Lead
    • The Extension Bench
    • R.P.B. For Long Drives
    • My Swing Doesn't Change
    • Three Wrongs And A Right
    • Read Your Wrists
    • It's A Horse Race
    • Hit The Second Ball
    • Tempo And Rhythm
    • How To Hit It Off The Deck
    • On Long Irons
    • For Battles In Britain
    • The High Shot
    • How To Make It Suck Back
    • The Spinless Shot
    • Shotmaking Made Easy

    Part III: The Short Game

    • Throw Yourself Into the Short Game
    • They're Just Shorter Swings
    • Fit The Swing To The Shot
    • Hit Your Short Shots Hard
    • One of the Few Laws
    • Master The Method, Vary The Clubs
    • Chipmaking
    • Blast from Bermuda, Putt the Rest
    • Deaden Impact with a Putter Grip
    • How To Miss It Close
    • The Knockdown Punch
    • The Seven-Fingered Shot
    • The Sand Wedge Putt
    • Putters Aren't Just For Putting
    • Why You Should Putt Aggressively
    • I'm An Apex Putter
    • Trust Your Technique
    • Keep Your Eye on the Back
    • Hold the Hold in Putting
    • Know The Breaks
    • The Ultimate Nerve Test
    • Part IV: Bunkers And Trouble Play

      • Four 'Musts' In Bunkers
      • It's Just a Splash
      • Play Detective
      • Double the Distance in Sand
      • The Long Distance Runner
      • How To Make It Sit
      • Take a Stab at Short Shots
      • Seve's Softee
      • Slice An 8-Iron
      • How to Play the Hardest Shot
      • The Best Two Hours You Can Spend
      • Slash Your Way Out of Jail
      • Grass Knowledge
      • Debunking Flyers
      • How's It Growing?
      • The Lazy Lob
      • Living With Divots
      • Go Ahead, Have A Blast
      • Lean Against The Slope
      • Tips For Playing In Rain
      • Into A Hard Wind, Take A Light Grip
      • Don't Fight Crosswinds

      Part V: Managing Yourself And Your Game

      • Know Thyself
      • Pace Yourself
      • Get The Stiffest Shaft You Can Handle
      • Be Bold with Your Strengths
      • Pep Talks
      • Go To The Movies
      • Why I See the Apex
      • Suit Your Shot To A Tee
      • The Secret Weapon
      • Look For 'Bad' Lies
      • Play The Hole Backward
      • On A Tight Tee Shot, Get Loose
      • Walk Smartly
      • 3-Way Yardage
      • Yardage Is Only the Beginning
      • Between Clubs, Go with Your Tendency
      • Gauging the Greens
      • Don't Be A Sucker
      • Read Greens From Afar
      • My Practice Practices
      • Have A Post-Round Agenda
      • Shake It Off
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