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Golf tips in sports magazine often say that your first shot is the most important on every hole. So do some PGA pros. While this idea is debatable, one thing is certain. Finding the fairway more often cuts your golf handicap down to size. In other words you’re better off being 10 yards short in the fairway, than 20 yards longer in the woods. That’s just smart golf.

But even if you play smart, you still need the right driver. Without it, you’re in trouble. Too long a driver is just as bad as too short a driver. But the right size driver helps you hit more fairways, lower your scores, and score well. But choosing the right driver isn’t easy, as I tell students in my golf instruction sessions. You need a good plan to do it right. Below are five elements to include in our plan.

Check Out The Loft
You’d be hard-pressed to find a PGA pro using a driver with less than 10 degrees loft. Why—because the key to distance is high launch and low spin. The longer the ball is airborne, the longer the drive. Since balls are designed to stay airborne longer, you want a driver that maximizes this technology. Higher loft also increases your chances of hitting straighter shots. If you’re using a driver with 12 degrees of loft, try one with 13 or even 14 degrees of loft.

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Q. Good day, Jack. When I look at golf distance calculators on the Web, they are all fairly in line except for the lob wedge (LW). My distances are: PW 110, SW 95, LW 60. I need to fill the gap between a sand wedge (SW) and lob wedge (LW). Any suggestions on how to do it?

Kind regards,
Theo le Roux

A. Thanks for the question, Theo. Many golfers use a three-wedge system to cover shots from 100 yards and in. They use a pitching wedge—with a loft of about 48 degrees—for full wedge shots, a gap wedge—with a loft of about 52 degrees—for mid-range shots, and a sand wedge—with a loft of about 56 degrees—for shorter shots.

If you combine these clubs with three backswing lengths—full, medium, and short—and three wrist angles (135 degrees, 90 degrees, and 45 degrees) you should be able to cover most shots from about 100 yard to 15 yards or so. The wrist angles are key. They produce the added distance on some shots.

For more precision, some golfers carry a lob wedge (LW)—with a loft of about 60 degrees. You can still combine the four wedges with the three backswings, but the lob wedge adds another degree of precision to your short game.

The distances you cover with your wedges depends on how well you them. Not everybody hits them the same. Visit the range to determine how far you hit each wedge while varying backswing lengths. That will give you an idea of how far you hit each club with each backswing length.

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Q. Hi Jack, I have every DVD that you’ve put out including the sand trap DVD. But there’s one question that I have and it is not answered on the DVDs. I would like to know how to get out of a sand trap that’s wet and almost hardpan without hitting the ball thin.

Thanks,
Lou Kasitz

A. Thanks for the question, Lou. The key to getting out of a bunker containing wet sand is figuring out the sand’s hardness before hitting the shot. You can do that by walking in the bunker. It’s called the shoe test. Here’s what to do next:

* If the sand is firm, set up a little wider than usual, make a low sweeping take away, and hit down briskly about 1 inch behind the ball.

* If the sand is hard-packed, play the ball as you would from hard dirt. Square the blade at address, play the ball back in your stance, set the hands ahead of the ball, and pick the ball cleanly off the surface

* If the sand has a thin crust and soft sand underneath, play the shot as a typical bunker shot. Use a sand wedge, especially if the sand is deep and powdery.

If the sand is hard packed, try replacing your sand wedge with a pitching wedge. It digs in and under the ball better than a sand wedge, preventing skulling.

Be weary of bunker that has loose sand over a harder surface�the trickiest of all bunker shots. Attack these with a heavy-flanged wedge, like a lob wedge. Use a sand wedge, if you don�t have one. Also, be weary of digging a little too deeply into the hard underbelly. When that happens, the club head slows down, causing you to leave the ball in the sand.

Most bunker shots have a slight margin for error. Attack them confidently, regardless of the type of sand they contain.
If you’ve got a golf question you’d like answered, send an email to us at questions@howtobreak80.com and we’ll review it. I can’t guarantee that we’ll use it but if we do, we’ll make sure to include your name and where you’re from.

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Q. Dear Jack, I play a course with a green that slopes steeply up from the front to the back. The green isn’t very large. If my approach shot goes over the green, I have to chip short but high so the ball lands softly on the green and doesn’t run too much downhill.

If I don’t hit the ball hard enough, it won’t make it over the hill to the green, and if I hit it too hard so it gets up in the air, it rolls across the green and off the front when it lands or else shoots across the green.

I don’t know how to hit the ball high so it lands softly and stops. Can you give me some tips on how to do this?

Thanks.
Carol Cotton

A. Thanks for the question, Carol. The type of shot you make depends on your lie and how far you are from the green. Here are three options:

1. If you’re not too far off the green and you don’t have to hit the ball too high, try a “Runyan shot.” It is named after the late Paul Runyan, who invented it. This shot hits the ball higher than a normal chip shot, but it doesn’t run as much. Here’s how to hit a Runyan shot:

1. Take your normal putting stance with front foot open
2. Stand close to the target line
3. Hold the club (a 7-iron works best) in a vertical fashion
4. Grip the club like you grip the putter
5. Position the ball in the center of your stance
6. Swing straight back and through, pendulum fashion.
7. Keep the toe of the club low to the ground

The key here is hitting the ball with the toe of the club. That deadens the ball while it rides up the face of the club, giving it some overspin so it rolls forward.

2. If you’re off the green but on the back slope, use a less elevated club and swing with the slope of the green. Just make sure you pick out a target before hitting the shot. You’ll need to put some backspin on the ball to control the roll, which you can do by hitting down on the ball.

3. If you’re farther away and have a tight lie, you have to alter the trajectory of your shot. Here’s three ways to do that:

* Move the ball forward in your stance
* Open up your clubface more
* Release your hands through the ball earlier

Again, you’ll have to add backspin to control roll. It takes practice to learn to hit the ball with different trajectories.

The first thing you must determine when your ball rolls off the back of the green is the lie. Based on that, you can decide on what shot to make.

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Q. Hi Jack, I have a question I hope you can give me an easy fix to. I seem to have difficulty with some bunker shots. Firstly, I don�t seem to get enough height out of my bunker shots. That results quite often in the ball just clearing the bunker’s rim and running across the green into opposite bunker or just catching the top lip and having to repeat the shot. Also, how do you correctly hit from a bunker when you are say 30-35 meters away from the pin.

Regards,
Phil Latham
Melbourne, Australia

A. That’s a great question, Phil. To hit a high, short bunker shot: (1) move the ball forward an inch or two in your stance; (2) open the clubface a few degrees more; and (3) take a steeper swing. Also, try cupping your wrists a little during the backswing, which adds height to the shot.

When opening the clubface, don’t grip the club and then open the clubface. Instead, open the clubface and then grip the club. It makes a difference. You’re less likely to close the clubface at address the second way. And make sure you accelerate through the shot and complete your follow-through.

To hit a longer bunker shot, you must create a wide arc during your backswing, which you can do by keeping your hands as far from your shoulders as possible. Also, try moving the ball back in your stance a bit. This helps produce a slightly lower, but longer, shot.

Both shots require work to learn. But the work pays off in the long run. Mastering your bunker game chops strokes off your scorecard and your golf handicap.