I would say: just bend it as strong as you need it to be. The negative bounce will teach you to make cleaner contact.
I play old hogan blades that had negative bounce to begin with, and I bent those even stronger.
It’s easy though to stick one in the ground if you don’t hit it as good (especially when the fairways are lush or damp)… but it will do wonders for your low point control in the long run.
ok cheers, think i’ll do that then
i’m finding i’m having to reach for the long irons as i’ve lost some distance (which i’m ok with as i know i have much strength to acquire & technique to learn) & i’m actually hitting them better than i imagined i would, might even invest in a 2i… a 2i - imagine that !! 
i’m away in a group of 32 for a 3 day friendly comp at Trevose in Cornwall 2 weeks tomorrow - i’m hoping i’ll have enough game to play ok, but i’m not turning back to my arms swing now, so it will have to be what it is… you can tell i’m a bit nervous right ?
Bradley,
I was re-reading some of your old posts about pitching and chipping. Do you have any suggestions about hitting from a bare or hardpack lie? Quite a few of those around this time of year…
Thanks,
Adam
I would suggest having the ball back in the stance and strike the ball with some forward shaft lean with a reasonably square club face for these…if the ground is bare and firm. The key is to pinch the ball and then the turf on these lies.
If the ground is a bit softer you could try the same approach but with a slightly open face to let the club bounce and not dig into the ground…or sometimes I would try play these like a bunker shot and purposely hit them fat with a longer slower swing and let the club and divot do the work…that takes practice but can be beneficial at times.
Bounce of the sole (you normally see these listed on all modern wedges, 6,8,10,12, 14) helps dictate what you can do also…the lower the bounce on your wedge the more it will want to dig directly into the turf.
This is why you see pros use wedges with a bit of bounce for normal tour play on the softer watered US courses…and when the ground gets firmer like the British Open they normally switch to wedges with a lower bounce… so they don’t bounce the leading edge into the ball on the hard ground and can get the club under the ball and pop it up easier…same goes for bunkers
I always tried to carry a wedge that had bounce (56 degree) and a wedge that had low bounce (60 degree) so I had a club for both conditions if I encountered them, so I was prepared for all conditions and then didn’t have to mess around changing clubs based on conditions as I already had one of each that would work whatever lie I came across.
Do you find it’s swing dynamics which gives you great depth control when chipping, or do you find you need to focus intently on the ball?
I think most great chippers chippers, have a subtle acceleration through the hit…and are more spot chippers…where they aim to land the ball on a spot and then let their instinct and green reading and feel of the pace do the rest…people that try spin the ball or get too fast or slow down lose feel and create more mishits
Makes sense.
But do you find you sharply focus on exactly where you wish to make contact on the ball, or just have a general awareness of where the ball is and let a honed coordination and strong clubhead awareness take over?
Does our vision somewhat allow us to somewhat guide the swing to pick the ball cleanly?
I think it’s just a general awareness of the ball
Pitchers, bowlers in cricket, basketballers, footballers (all codes), even batters in cricket and baseball and tennis players don’t really intently focus on the ball 100%… they just know it’s there and then let the motion collect or move the ball in the process
I always found as much as sports psychs mention eye on the ball, pick a dimple out and stare at it…the intended target works better…like chipping to a spot or aiming at a limb on a tree in the distance
This goes hand in hand with your mind’s eye having an end result such as a number on a teammates jumper that you are kicking or throwing to, or the back of the rim or corner of the backboard square you are aiming at in basketball, or your team mate in soccer or football who is running full speed down the field and you kick or throw to a spot out in front of him and hit him right there 20 yards farther ahead as he continues his path
In short…it’s incredible how the mind can work and do these things and instinctively hit moving balls or kick or throw a ball 10 yards ahead of someone and they just run right onto it. The end result should be more of the intention because that’s how our brain seems to function anyhow…or as Ty Webb said to Danny Noonan “Just be the ball”
Interesting Two.
As I’ve mentioned before I’m a better tennis player than golfer and recently I’ve been experimenting with something that completely removes the anxiety of hittting the ball out of the centre of the racquet. This method basically involves not looking intently at the ball as it approaches, but rather seeing it as a blur through the impact zone - I retain the visual focal point out in the distance, which as we know causes things up close to be a blur. Through impact I then use autopilot to sense where the ball is, and the movement of my head doesn’t just follow the ball into impact this way, but then seems to continue moving backwards beyond where the ball would have gone if I hadn’t hit it. I also employ some of the “bounce/hit” method that is discussed in the book “the mental game of tennis” where you say to yourself “bounce” when you feel the ball bounce and “hit” when you feel the ball come off the racquet. Note it’s important to say these words when you feel them happen, and not in anticipation of them. The result of me doing this is that I have a much higher percentage of centred hits, I’m much more capable of playing the ball on the bounce, and much more able to deal with bad bounces (I play on clay where that happens a lot). I’ve been quite astounded by how well it works, and not only that, but I feel as though I enter into a trance like state playing this way which eliminates all anxiety on my performance.
Now I’d really love to transfer this approach to my golf. I find it more difficult, however, because the ball is stationary, and due to my lesser ability at this sport I’m more intense over the ball and less able to deflect the attention out in front of me - however I do feel as though I’m making progress as my ABS work improves my swing and I trust my swing more - I definitely feel that my problem with being ballbound is improving a lot. Seeing as I’ve only been working on this tennis stuff the last month, I still haven’t really had the chance to introduce it into my golf; so stay tuned.
Anyway, does any of what I’ve written make any sense - do you ever feel as though you play golf with a similar approach and intentions?
Very very true…as the ball is just sitting there mocking us, many people get too tied up in how on earth they are not only going to get that ball to move but also how on earth can I get it from here to there with so many moving parts happening in a split second.
When i look at someone like Trevino… he just eased all the tension from his game (even though I am sure he was feeling uptight or nervous or looking down the road at an outcome)…but he talked, joked and ran around totally distracting his mind as much as possible until his time to hit came… then he pulled a club, stepped in and went waggle, step, step, step with his feet and took the club away… he kept motion throughout in an effort to make golf more like a ball reaction sport (as you suggest with your tennis)…instead of the many people we see who step in and try and aim perfect and wiggle their grip around to try get that perfect, then check their shoulders, then their feet again, then they stare at the ball for 10 seconds, then repeat the process…they are just tying their body and brain in knots thinking too much of the ball sitting there teasing them…
Trevino stayed in motion and then swung, taking away too much thought on the ball and reacting to his target and just letting the ball get in the way
Interesting you bring up tennis Teddy as I to used to ‘bounce-hit’ in tennis too. That was ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ that introduced that. As you probably know the author also wrote ‘The Inner Game of Golf’ which wasn’t as successful–in fact golfers found ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ better. I can’t remember if it was ‘The Inner Game of Golf’ that suggest ‘back-and-through’ but I very successfully used it to teach a beginner girl who prior just couldn’t the ball off the ground. It’s similar I guess to that Hogan clip where he’s on a talk-show teaching the audience how to swing–club shoulder to shoulder.
That’s right Steb, the book was the “inner game of tennis”, not the “mental game of tennis”. To be perfectly honest, I have read the “Inner Game of Golf”, and not the tennis version, but he describes the tennis techniques in both books which is how I know about it. Anyway, I found some useful nuggets in the “Inner game of golf” but I remain skeptical that the bounce hit method that he adapts to golf is all that useful, and some of his other techniques may be more appropriate for a loose swinging style rather than a cohesive tension hitting style. I really like some of the stuff though on using feedback to groove new moves which can help in the module work - so instead of trying to force oneself to make a move or an intention doing module work, instead we can feel whether whether we did it and use that feedback to allow our brain over time to make the necessary adjustments. So instead of “I must do this”, it’s “Did I do this?” after each rep. Sorry Two I’m hijacking your thread. 
Hello Twomasters, I hope I didn’t post this in the wrong place, but I wanted to know who you considered to be the best ballstrikers amongst your fellow countrymen that you have played with or watched and maybe some insight about them. I figure Norman and Senior( got to see Mr. Senior live last year and I’m very impressed 
) are at the top of the list. I remember Stewart Ginn when he won the Senior PGA Championship in 2002, and I’ve seen Rodger Davis on tv but that’s about it. I would really like to learn more on the History of Australian golf from someone who has experienced it and lived it not from Wikipedia!
I will need more time to elaborate …but in a probable batting order:
Greg Norman, Peter Senior, David Graham, Brett Ogle, Bob Shearer, Robert Allenby, Graham Marsh, Steve Elkington, Rodger Davis…and I would round out the top 10 I played with Stewart Ginn or Ossie Moore (when they were younger and in the persimmon era)
Good stuff Twomasters, I can’t believe I forgot about Elkington and Allenby 
! Both of those guys make it look like easy, and I would say your right with those guys after the footage I’ve seen of your swing and the sounds you were making at impact. I especially liked all the width you had going back and the late wrist set or wrist cock.
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Greg Norman…obviously the number 1choice for any Aussie guy 50 years of age and under. I will never forget one of the first shots I saw The Shark strike. It was a Metropolitan GC 4th hole. A par 5. The 1978 Victorian Open. Norman was playing with Curtis Strange and the top Victorian Amateur at the time Peter Sweeney. Strange hit first…a kind of high lollipop drive that nose dived and carried about 230 yards and ran another 30 yards or so. Sweeney was next and sort of replicated Strange’s drive. The tee was raised and I was laying down at the back of the tee about ball level. he swung that persimmon and I watched the ball go about 15 feet high for over 200 yards and then you could hear that ball fizzle and rise and flew where the other two shots from his partner had ended up. It was ridiculous how good that shot looked, especially when compared to the other two players. That had me hooked right then and there and to be able to watch Greg over the years and get to play with him in practice rounds and tournament play was an unbelievable experience.
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Peter Senior was always under rated by the media and the public really, but you just don’t win that many times without having ability. I was fortunate to have two of my greatest rounds (63 in the first round of the 1998 Australian Masters and 64 in the first round of the 2004 Australian Masters) when playing with Pete. I think he helped bring out the best in me. I have played a lot of rounds with ‘Coodgee’ and he still never ceases to amaze me at how well he strikes the ball on a consistent basis. He has often complained about not playing well yet there he is winning the event. He was one of the few players who could struggle for the first few holes and you think he was done and out of it and then he would just start piping irons straight down the flag and birdie 5 holes in a row and shoot a 67. I honestly don’t remember ever playing with Pete when he shot over par. His longevity is a testament to his pure action and belief in his ability.
3)David Graham…I only played with Graham a couple of times but he was a golf genius. Obviously when you win a US Open and a PGA Championship as well as countless other events you know how to golf your ball. He always played well within himself, but had the uncanny ability to rip out a drive on a par 5 or a long par 4 when it was needed and gain an extra 20 yards without losing the control of his ball. He had an excellent short game and was a very solid putter especially under pressure situations. He was a very calculated player and never seemed to try play outside his comfort zone. I will always remember him calling me up for the Presidents Cup to replace Norman when he became injured before the 1994 event. I was the weak link and the lowest ranked player on the team, but he had faith in me and realized I could play and threw me straight into the heat of battle pairing me with Nick Price (world no.1 at the time) against Freddie and Davis Love. He gave me some great words of advice in an interview on national television and also in a personal moment between the two of us when the matches were over. I appreciate all of that more than you could imagine and am very grateful I got to spend some time with an Australian golfing legend.
will work on the others in my top 10 as we move along
Good stuff. I am wondering where Ogilvey, Scott, Baddeley fit in the mix. Particularly Baddeley, as his swing changes have been well publicized, and he recently re-surfaced with a win.
Awesome Twomasters, I’ll be popping the popcorn while I’m waiting on the final 7. Anyone want s’mores or hot chocolate!!!
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Brett Ogle…He had a very lithe body type and had a lot of width to his swing. Nice wide move away, very high hands with a big wingspan. He gave himself room to move the club back down into impact from the correct path without much of a hurry and had tremendous hand speed thru the ball. He was one of the few people who could whizz that driver out there for 200 yards about quail high and then let it climb up. He had distance and was a great long iron player. Unfortunately over time he lost his nerve on and around the greens and that eventually made him call it quits, but he has done well as a commentator and spokesperson for many different outlets in Australia because of his great personable approach. He was a lot of fun, we always had a good time playing together and his ball striking was pretty special.
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Bob Shearer… like Ogle, Bob Shearer had that ‘sound’ of impact. He really hit the ball solid on almost every shot. He was plenty long from the tee even playing his favoured fade shot. His irons were solid and flag high. He had a good solid career winning all around the world. Shears was a flusher who had great control of his ball and was always full of encouragement when you played with him. He had that sound of solid impact and strike.
I wonder what truly gives that ‘sound of impact’? I’ll neever forget watching Ogle at an Aussie Open range–his sound just made everyone else look like they had cheap clubs. Is it simply a better compression, CoG of clubhead moving right through the centre of the ball for longer, higher clubhead speed, certain clubs, certain ball, maybe some type of trapping of the ball through impact?
I’ve heard Tiger had that sound. I’ve heard Hogan had that sound. Rod Pampling was another one that stood out on the range.