The devil's in the detail

Master Scrambler, Padraig Harrington

Reading through Golf Monthly and Today's Golfer this month I stumbled across two tiny details that will make a difference to my game. As a relative newbie and high handicapper I always look at the tips on how to improve your game, in fact I'm sad enough to tear them out and keep them for future reference. After over a year the advice is starting to get a bit repetitive but every now and then there's a little gem of advice.

As I am starting to better understand the game, and more importantly what works for me, I have made a few tweaks in my short game set up. However, this months feature with Wilson and Padraig Harrington in Golf Monthly provided me with some much needed precision. Recently I have been keeping the ball in the middle of my stance and my weight a little more to the left. Everything I have read has said you should 'favour' your left side. But what does that actually mean? 60 percent? 75 percent? No, according to Harrington it's 90 percent! Load your left side with pretty much all your weight, or even stand on one leg, and this will help avoid duffed shots and give you a crisper contact. I'm the kind of person that likes to deal in numbers, facts and specifics. Tried it with a few chips this morning - what a massive difference!

Robert Karlsson complete with finger saving tape

The next tip was actually something I was already doing. Apparently to generate more carry distance you should feel pressure from the club on your right hand "from your first knuckle to the first joint of your forefinger". I've been suffering with a little rubbing and soreness in that exact spot and was wondering whether I was actually doing something wrong. Turns out I was doing something right. Fast forward a few more pages in Today's Golfer and there's a picture of Robert Karlsson with a bit of tape protecting the exact same spot. Cue question to the missus about the location of our tape. Must give it a try.

I have never been this excited about my golf and am chomping at the bit to get up to the club on Saturday morning.