Clearing up some golf misconceptions that cause you to miss the cup

Here are a few common "mis-cup-ceptions that cause you to miss the cup.

"You have to hit down on chips to make them spin more." If every one of my students heard this, I could give them short game lessons for life, and I do.

A misconception is if you want to spin your wedges or chip shots, you need to hit down on them more. That's false. There is "spin loft." If you have watched TrackMan Maestro videos on YouTube, you may have heard of this term.

Basically, it's the difference between the amount of loft the club has on it at impact and the angle at which the club is traveling at impact (on a vertical plane).

If you have a 56-degree wedge and hit it with 50 degrees (a little forward lean is usually taught for a chip shot), and you hit down on the golf ball 5 degrees, your "spin loft" is 45. The optimum amount of spin loft is 45. Once you exceed 45, the ball will slide up the face and you will lose friction, which creates spin.

If you were to "hit down on it more" and increase the angle of attack, you have a high likelihood to decrease the dynamic loft on the club, essentially your spin loft would decrease, causing the ball to actually launch lower and spin less. People often hit the ball too thin, or low on the face when they attempt to hit down on it more. So, don't hit down on it more, have a good amount of forward lean, and hit down on it slightly and you will get those wedges to check up just as you see on TV.

"Release the club to hit a draw." This one really grinds my gears, and is a little difficult to wrap your head around because it's what teaching pros and Tour players have talked about for years.

Everyone talks about if you slice it, you need to release the club. First, I'm not a fan of throwing golf clubs, so I never want to release it.

In order to hit a draw that falls toward your target, the contact point must be open to the target, but closed to the path the clubhead swings on.

Notice I didn't say clubface (the contact point). I understand we all don't hit perfectly centered shots, so there are a few variables to rule out.

If you were to release the club - the clubface closes or points more left for a righty - and the clubhead path swings more left than it would if you didn't release it. It's possible to release the club toward the right, but the severity is much less. In addition, you are relying a lot on the timing of your hands to have the face perfectly square to where you want it. There is a lot of clubface rotation and it can go from very open to very closed causing wayward shots.

Instead, try to close the clubface prior to contact, but still have the path move out to the right with no release and see what happens. I have my students do a few drills I've created, and they all say, "I don't know how this works yet, but it does!"

"Work on your short game to lower your scores." You can certainly work on your putting and chipping as much as you like, and it won't hurt your scores, but if you are amazing at getting up and down for double bogey, I will beat you every time we play.

Most high handicappers have a tough time getting to the green in regulation (or their personal regulation). That is the area you need to work on.

First, tee the ball up and hit your driver a lot, get it to go as far as you can. Make a big turn with your shoulders on the way back, and make sure the clubface is closed to the path on the way down.

Then, work on your scoring irons (7-iron and lower). Continue to make a big turn, and make contact with the ground after the ball.

Do those two things and hit the ball closer to the hole because you're using a shorter club instead of laying up with 3-wood on a par 4 and having to hit 4-iron or hybrid. Then your scores will be lower and you will have more fun.

• TJ Sullivan, a PGA Master Professional, is director of instruction at GOLFTEC in Oak Brook. He was named a Golf Digest "Best Teacher in Your State" for 2019-2020. Reach him at tsullivan@golftec.com.