Scott Hend
The well-travelled Queenslander has three European Tour titles to his name, and a wealth of knowledge having turned pro in 1997
1Pitching Short to long – that’s what I always say. It’s all about keeping the backswing short and the follow-through long. This helps you to keep accelerating through the ball. When people decelerate, they lose control of distance, which is really common. You want to be accelerating through impact, whether that’s a short or long shot.
2Increasing power To make real gains, it’s all about flexibility and stability. I do a lot of work on my core muscles and triceps. You have to be flexible, too, so getting warmed up is important.
3Coping with nerves When you have your practice stroke, imagine you’ve already missed. Visualise how you missed it and then think about how you’re going to rectify it. All of a sudden you’ve got rid of the anxiety of missing the putt and you’re focused on doing the right thing.
4Reading greens I’m a feel player. I don’t pace my putts out. I’ll have done all my work on the putting green beforehand. So, before you go out, you have to hit long and short putts to get a feel. On tour, you putt on all different types of grass, so it’s tricky. If you’re putting on Bermuda grass, when it’s shiny, it’s usually down grain and faster. When it’s dark, you’re putting into the grain, so the putt could be anywhere between six inches and a foot slower.
5Long-irons It’s all about trying to sweep the ball off the turf. Think ‘bottom of the arc’. Too many amateurs get obsessed with a downward strike. Let the natural loft of the club do the work. Focus on a sweeping strike. That will help get the clubface square at impact.
6Course management If you’re an 18-handicapper and you’ve hit one off the tee, just imagine you’re there for zero – that’s course management. It’s about playing to your strengths. For example, if you’re not feeling great with your short pitch shots, leave a full wedge in. That’s not being negative. Get yourself on a Trackman, too. If you have a favourite yardage, stick to it – plenty of pros do that.
7Bunker play There’s a tendency for a lot of golfers to line up towards the pin. I take my line on an imaginary pin about a metre or so left of the target. Then, I open the clubface to where the flag actually is and swing down the line to the imaginary pin.
8Holing out I do a lot of my work around the hole on the putting green beforehand, from three to five feet. I figure that if I’m pretty solid from there, the putts from 50 feet aren’t going to cause any problem. Three to five feet is a pretty big circle to putt into from that range. I’m old school, too. I like to tap in, so long as I’m not on someone’s line.
9More up-and-downs Practice, there’s no avoiding it. You can chip with a variety of clubs, but a lot of amateurs go straight for the 60° wedge when they should probably be going for a 50° or 9-iron. Learn a few different shots and don’t always use the same club.
10Practice You need to spend more time on the chipping and putting green than you do on the range. I have mates back home who ask me, “Why am I playing so bad?” It’s because they’ve just hit a bucket of balls before playing and nothing else. People could write three to five shots off a round if they practised their chipping and putting more.