Bernhard Langer is one of the true legends of the game, amassing 123 professional wins and two Green Jackets so far in a glittering career. With 42 DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) wins, he sits second in the all time list – just behind the great Seve Ballesteros.
The 66-year-old's aptitude for winning hasn't slowed down in recent years either, as he currently holds the record for the most Champions Tour wins (46). It would be impossible to accrue accolades to that scale without expert knowledge of the game, and when an elite player shares their golf tips – we should all pay attention.
In this article, Bernhard Langer shares five expert tips, covering all aspects of the game, so that you can become a better golfer and shoot lower scores...
1. Driving
To me, it’s mostly in the set-up. If you have the perfect grip and address position then you have much more chance of making a good swing. But if you’re lacking in the grip department and the address position then you’re going to struggle.
It's going to show more with the driver than with any other club, because the driver has the longest shaft and less loft, so it creates more sidespin and the ball goes further. A wedge you hit about 120 yards or whatever, and a driver goes twice as far, so any mistake will show up much more with a driver than with a pitching wedge.
2. Iron Play
I think with an iron it’s not how far it goes, it’s how consistent it is. I don’t care if you hit your 9-iron as far as I hit my 7-iron, I’m interested in hitting my 7-iron the same number every time, within plus or minus one or two yards– that’s my goal.
There are people out there who only care about how far the ball goes, but that’s not important for an iron. You want to hit your driver far, but an iron is about finding the same distance consistently. That’s the best way to trust it and get the ball as close as possible to the hole.
3. Chipping
Most people don’t trust the loft of the club, they scoop it, try and help it up in the air or flick their wrists at it. I’d like to see people utilise more of the bigger muscles, like the arms and shoulders, and use body rotation, leaving the wrists out of it.
The loft of a sand wedge is often 56°, which is more than enough to get the ball up in the air – you don’t need to help it.
4. Bunker Play
I often see amateurs address the ball without opening the clubface. They have the club square in the sand, and when you do that you dig more. So I encourage them to open it up, which can be scary at first because they think they’re going to shank it.
I try to get them to open the club up and swing harder at it, because the more clubhead speed they create, the more spin they create. And then I also tell them not to hit the ball – you want to hit the sand in front of the ball.
If you do that a few times and see that it works, you build trust and allow it to happen, instead of scooping it and doing all sorts of things wrong. Bunker play is mostly technique... and technique can be learned.
5. Putting
Putting is so individual and there are so many different ways of doing it, but I think there are two important factors. One is reading the greens – if you don’t read the green well and have your line correct then you have no chance.
Secondly, it’s the speed of the putt. If you don’t match the correct read with the correct speed, you won’t make a lot of putts.
