 Hi, I'm Mike McNamara, PGA Professional here with the National T-Tournament, the DAV and the VA, and we're going to talk about short game. Short game takes up to 60% of your scores, and it's the easiest way to lower your scores and improve your game. So let's go to the putting green and learn a few techniques that will help you improve today. I'm here on the practice screen and I have three different clubs in my hand. One is the putter, one is a nine iron, and one is a 50 degree wedge. All of these shots can be imagined in different ways, and the most important thing for you is to see what shot you're going to hit before you perform it. When just off the putting green and you're on a surface as the fringe, the first thing you would probably look at is just using your putter. The undulation of the surface will determine how far you need to hit the putt and how far it will roll. This is by far the easiest shot to hit when just off the surface and you're not in the taller or thicker grass. When you're setting up for a putt just off of the fringe, it will take a little bit more effort and a little more clubhead speed to get through the higher grass. What you're going to try to do is open up your stance just slightly, see the line of the ball, and always accelerate through the shot. When you're just off the green, your best option may be your putter. It's one of the easiest clubs in your bag to hit. It's square and it's very easy to keep solid and make solid contact. The one thing you may want to know or take notice is the surface of the grass will be a little bit higher. You may need to take a little bit more of a swing and accelerate through the ball to get it to the hole. The first club I'm going to talk about is a nine iron. I use this club around the green when I'm just off the surface and maybe in a taller grass to hit what we would call a bump and run. It's a very easy shot for everyone to execute. The technique is not hard and I would recommend this for anyone who struggles with their game. As I first approach the shot by the putting green, I'll try to take notice of the undulation and how the green is either sloped towards you or away and where the break may occur. The best part about using your nine iron is it takes a very short golf swing and a very short stroke to get the ball in play. The most important thing in using a club like this is to make sure that your hand position is always in front of the club head and you're always accelerating through the ball. A lot of times I see many of our students take the club back too far and take a shorter shot and making a divot or hitting the ground. This shot can be as easy as just taking the club back just a few inches up to 10 inches back and 10 inches through. When you set up to the golf ball in this shot, you want to try to place that golf ball back in your stance so that your hands are slightly ahead. Open up your left foot and see the line of the shot. You're then going to take an abbreviated back swing and a short follow through. What you may try is also to lift the heel of the club slightly off the ground. The heel of the club sometimes can dig into the surface and allowing fatter shots. By taking the heel of the club off of the surface and using more of the toe, it also deadens the shot and can make it a little softer when it lands. The next club I'd like to talk about is a 58 or 56 degree wedge. You can use this club when you're around the green for lofted shots that you would like to land softly or when you're in trouble situations such as the rough or higher grassed areas. One drill I like to use is a one handed drill just using your right hand when you're a right handed golfer. This allows the handle of the club to maintain its closeness to your body and allows the club head and the weight of the head to accelerate through the ball where you can pop it up and hit it close to your target. One mistake I see amateurs make is by placing their hands too far forward creating a shaft lean that helps the club make a downward motion which can result in a chunk or a pitch. When you're hitting this shot you want to put a little bit of weight on your left side and keep your spine angle straight up and down. A lot of times I'll see amateurs lean forward which also makes their shoulders lean forward and creates a downward motion. You want to stay level with your shoulders to the surface, put a little weight towards your left foot and then once again keep the handle fairly quiet and feel the weight of the club. When hitting a bunker shot your first step is to use your feet and feel the surface of the sand. Determine how much sand is in there, how wet the sand could be and what type of shot you're going to hit. Most sand shots are going to be hitting behind the golf ball and exploding the sand and the ball allowing it to get airborne and land softly on the green. When preparing for this shot you also want to have the golf ball slightly forward. That allows the club to travel underneath the ball, keeping the grip handle and your hands always moving forward towards the target. There are so many varieties of golf shots that you can use around the green. I encourage you to use your imagination, use practice and enjoy playing and practicing. Thank you.