Escaping trouble video

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach Barney Puttick has some advice for being more aggressive when escaping trouble to help you make par more often.

Try these tips on escaping trouble if a hazard in front of you always means a chip out sideways and you'd like to be more aggressive with your escape shots

After a bad drive, sometimes a chip out sideways is the only option. That isn’t always the case, though, and you shouldn’t be afraid to take on escape shots every now and then, particularly when playing Stableford or matchplay events.

If you’re faced with a bush in front of you, but still want to progress the ball 100 yards or so, there are a couple of things you can do to make the shot easier.

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First of all, simply move the ball slightly forward in your stance to help get the ball up quicker. The key then is to break your wrists almost immediately after taking the club back.

This will really help to get the ball up quickly and miss the trouble ahead of you. Try this shot to get a feeling of how quickly you can get the ball up and how far it will then travel.

Top tips

• Obviously after some bad drives, a chip out sideways is the only option.
• However, a lot of the time there is a more aggressive option to take. It just depends if you have the confidence to execute it.
• You shouldn't be afraid to take on escape shots every now and then, particularly depending on the format, for example stableford or matchplay situations.
• There are a couple of things you can do to get maximum yardage out of your recovery shots.
• Move the ball slightly forward in your stance and break your wrists almost immediately after taking the club back.
• The combination of these will help you get the ball up quicker in order to miss the trouble in front of you.