GolfPlus Aug 2018 Digital Edition (August 2018) | Page 44

BUBBA WATSON
BUBBA WATSON
‘Make sure you practice away from the
course and have fun on it’
1 What is Bubba Golf?
For me, it’s about creating
the shot, creating a moment. I
don’t care if it’s in a major or it’s
just me at my house. You’re
trying to create a moment, a
shot, a feeling that makes you
smile and want to come back
and play golf again.
2 Why do you hit it so
far?
The ´ rst thing he taught me
was the grip – and the
importance of what the
clubface was doing at impact.
It’s like Jim Furyk. He has a
funky swing at the top but it’s
what happens at impact that
matters and he’s one of the top
golfers in the world at impact.
There’s never been two golfers
that swing the same. All the
greats in the game have a
different style of playing, a
different way of thinking. But
they’re all really good and really
consistent right at impact. My
dad made me just swing around
impact, so it got my hands used
to the feeling of square. Now
when I move the ball it’s all
about my hands leaving it a
little open to cut it or closing it a
little for a hook.
It’s technique, but I’m not
thinking about it. I never
dreamed of trying to hit it
further than everybody else, it’s
just what I do. Back when I was
six years old my swing was past
parallel because that’s what I
discovered I needed to do to hit
plastic balls further in my yard.
It made me swing faster and
got me ´ ve feet further. My dad
just said hit it as hard as you can
4 What are the most
and have fun with it. From there,
common mistakes
you’ve got to ´ gure out how to
you see from handicap
tighten it up. I just kept getting
better and had to work out how golfers?
It’s thinking they’re better than
to hit fairways.
they are. They’re taking a 7-iron
because one time they hit it 180
What
else
did
your
3
yards and now they think that’s
dad teach you?
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2018
supposed to happen every time.
But the key is they don’t
practice. Just because it looks
like I don’t practice, I do. The
´ rst thing you tell amateurs to
practice is the short game but
they all want to get the driver
out and hammer it. But you
need to practice, and especially
the short game. wedge to a 7-iron to change the
height. But I use a 63° all the
time. I hood it and hit down on
it to get it coming out lower and
I open it up to create more
height. Also, the farther back
the ball is in your stance the
lower the ball will come out and
it’s easier to get the ball high if
it’s further forward.
5 What advice would
you give to amateurs
on the short game? 7 How do you
approach putting as
such a natural feel player?
It’s great to be able to hit it 350
yards off the tee but if I miss a
three-footer that counts the
same. If you can practice from
´ ve feet and in then when you
chip it to ´ ve feet you can make
six out of 10, which is great for
an amateur. That’s going to
lower your scores. You’ll get
con´ dence and you’ll see that
practicing does help. It’s still about technique – and
when I say technique, I mean it’s
a pattern because you’ve done
it so much that you know how
to create what you want to
create. In putting, that’s straight
back and straight forward.
Some golfers open and close
the blade a little but the most
important thing is that you’re
consistent. I practice ´ ve
footers all the time. There’s no
secret to it. It’s just more
practice and trusting your reads
and stroke. You also need to
keep your head down because
most amateurs look up because
they want to see if it went in.
6 How do you hit
different chip shots?
Most golfers are different to me
and they’re going to use
equipment, so they’ll use
different clubs from a 60°