My golf league does a three-club event which, unfortunately, I missed this year. It got me thinking about it some, though, and I thought I’d see which clubs you all would choose. It’s really a great exercise in course management. It forces you to think about which clubs you need most and which clubs you can most easily adapt to fill in the holes.

Many teachers would tell you that a limited set is the best thing for juniors, too. It gets them out of the analytical mindset that overburdens many of us and teaches them just to grab a club and hit a shot, and if they don’t have a club that’s perfect for that shot, then they have to make that shot with what they have. It’s a great way to learn creativity and to become versatile shot-makers.

As of now, there are just under 1,600 responses to the poll and here’s how the results are currently broken down. My choices are shown in bold:

Putter (76%, 1,206 Votes)
7 Iron (40%, 640 Votes)
3 Wood (27%, 421 Votes)
Pitching Wedge (22%, 345 Votes)
Driver (20%, 315 Votes)
5 Iron (17%, 262 Votes)
Sand Wedge (14%, 229 Votes)
8 Iron (13%, 204 Votes)
3 Hybrid (12%, 191 Votes)
6 Iron (12%, 185 Votes)
5 Wood (10%, 162 Votes)
9 Iron (10%, 159 Votes)
4 Hybrid (8%, 131 Votes)
2 Hybrid (5%, 77 Votes)
4 Iron (4%, 71 Votes)
Lob Wedge (3%, 45 Votes)
3 Iron (3%, 44 Votes)
Other Fairway Wood (1%, 21 Votes)
Other Hybrid (1%, 12 Votes)
2 Iron (1%, 9 Votes)
Some other club not listed (0%, 3 Votes)

There are a couple of surprising things in there, I think. For instance, the overwhelming majority of you chose the putter. I see the logic in that, but I disagree with the choice. Let me tell you why I chose the clubs I did and I think you’ll see why. When I sat down to think about my choices, I had four things I considered in my selections:

1. The clubs I select must be clubs I’m very comfortable with.
2. The clubs I select must be versatile
3. Continuing to refine number 2, the clubs I select must be able to produce the widest array of shots that I might face on the course, with more weight placed on those shots which I’m more likely to face.
4. My selections were based on what I expect to face at my home course, and would not necessarily apply to a round at another course.

With those things in mind, let me go over why I selected each club.

3-Wood

Despite the fact that my course is on the shorter side, I believe there is great importance in being able to get in good position off the tee. That means control as well as distance. With the 3-wood, I get plenty of distance, hit it fairly straight, and can control it fairly well if I need to turn the ball.

So why not choose the driver?

Simply because if I need to hit a longer shot off the fairway – like on a par-five, for instance – I can do that with the three wood. I would sacrifice some of the distance of the driver for the control, confidence, and versatility that the 3-wood provides. Many teachers would recommend that even with 14 clubs in the bag so, in this case, it’s a no-brainer.

5-iron

I was kind of torn between the 5-iron and 7-iron. The 7-iron is the club I practice with the most. I’m very comfortable with it. At the same time, I’m pretty comfortable with the 5-iron, too. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that I can hit my 5-iron to 7-iron distance, but not vice versa.

With a middle iron, I can hit the ball as I would normally, but I can also hit it low and run it. I can hit it under tree limbs. I can sling it around corners. I can run it onto greens. I can accomplish a lot of shots with a 5-iron and can do it from as far out as 200 yards.

Sand Wedge

For me, the sand wedge was another no-brainer. This club provides the most versatility out of the three and it can be argued that it provides the most versatility of any club in your regular bag. You can essentially use it for just about any shot from within, say, 100 yards (your distance may vary, but that’s where I start thinking about hitting it).

For starters, it’s obviously useful for hitting out of the sand. With three clubs in your bag, chances are, you’ll end up in some greenside bunkers. To give yourself a chance to get up and down, the sand wedge’s specialty is critical.

Beyond that, it’s fine for approaches from within 100 yards. It’s got plenty of spin so you can control it and stop the ball quickly. You can use it for chips and pitches, especially if you have to carry the ball over water or sand and thus don’t have the option to hit a low, running shot.

One place it falls short is in the case where you do need to hit a low runner. This is another reason I chose the 5-iron. I actually practice hitting 100 yard 5-irons and I can certainly use it for running chip shots when the sand wedge is not appropriate. So basically, between the sand wedge and 5-iron, I have pretty complete coverage within 100 yards.

Why I Didn’t Choose a Putter

Of course, there is putting to think about, isn’t there? In a logical selection, 76% of you said you’d take your putter. No doubt thinking that it’s the most heavily-used club in your bag accounting for half the shots in an ideal par round (i.e. par-72, assuming two putts per hole). Naturally, you don’t want to give away those strokes.

There are two reasons I chose not to take a putter.

First, it violates my second consideration. It completely lacks versatility. Aside from putting, it has no other uses. Sure, you could putt from the fringe or approach. However, I’m covered with my sand wedge  and 5-iron in those cases.

Second, as surprising as it might be, I can putt almost as well with my sand wedge as I can with my putter. Not as well, mind you, but close enough that I’m comfortable going with it. It might cost me a few strokes through the course of the round, but having the highly versatile sand wedge brings so much more to the round that will help offset any lost strokes.

So how do I know I can putt with my sand wedge? A couple of years back, I got to the first green one evening and realized I left my putter in my dining room where I had been practicing the night before.

My first choice for a replacement was my 2-iron, given that it was a heavy iron and that it had the least loft. But I had trouble controlling it because of its length and balance. I tried my 5-iron and 7-iron and while they were better, they still lacked.

So, I decided to try my sand wedge. I found that if I square up the leading edge and hover the club head off the ground and aim to hit the ball right near its equator with the leading edge, I can put a pretty good roll on the ball. Because it’s so short and has a heavy head with a low center of gravity, it was a good replacement for the rest of the round. I made some decent putts and only missed a couple that I felt were directly related to not having a putter.

With all this in mind, when I sat down to decide which three clubs to use, the choice of sand wedge over putter was a given, because of the multitude of shots I can hit with a sand wedge (including putts) versus the limited utility of the putter.

Some Other Surprises

I’m a little surprised that the driver ranked so highly in the results. I understand the need for distance off the tee to take the pressure off of having so few clubs. But the driver, like the putter, has a limited capacity for shot-making. On top of that, many people struggle with the driver in the first place. In a round like this, being in the fairway is paramount. These are some of the reasons I chose the 3-wood instead.

Another interesting surprise is that the pitching wedge ranked above the sand wedge. The pitching wedge does have some advantages, such as being effective from a bit further out. It’s versatile around the greens, giving the ability to run the ball a little more. On the flip-side, though, while it can be played from the sand with a little practice, the sand wedge is obviously much better adapted for that. Not to mention, around the greens, especially if you have to carry over trouble or if you’ve short-sided yourself and need to stop the ball quickly, the sand wedge has a big advantage. To me, the advantages of sand wedge over pitching wedge far outweigh the disadvantages.

Finally, I would have expected to see the 2- and 3-hybrids ranking a little higher. They can give sufficient distance off the tee while giving big advantage over the three wood when hitting out of the rough. While the 3-wood was a no-brainer for me over the driver, it wasn’t such a clear winner over the 2-hybrid. In fact, it was almost a coin flip. I chose the extra distance over the utility of the 2-hybrid, knowing that I’m pretty confident that I can keep my 3-wood out of trouble most of the time.

In some ways, it’s hard to accurately look at the results without considering all three clubs a person chose. For instance, just because a lot of people chose the putter, the other two clubs that were chosen by each individual might be vastly different, for a variety of reasons. However, I think there’s some utility in looking at it this way, given the consensus of people who chose each club.

Either way, I can say I’m glad we get 14 choices in our bags instead of three. I might actually go out for 9 holes this fall with just my three chosen clubs and see what happens. It could be fun.

In the meantime, I’d love to know the rationale you all used in your selections, especially the people that would choose the putter. Did my reasoning sway you at all, or would you still definitely choose the putter? What about those of you that chose the driver? Feel free to let me know which clubs you all picked for your three and why. I think that could spark some fun debate.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Playing a Three-Club Round

Over the years, I’ve read a lot of books on the mental game of golf.  Dr. Bob Rotella has written a few books that I have thoroughly enjoyed.  Not only that, but I feel like they’ve given me great insight into something which I believe is important to play great golf.

This year, aside from playing my normal casual rounds, I decided to join a league.  I’ve played a few times this season so far, and I must say, I’ve really been stinking up the joint.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s been great and the guys I’ve met are a lot of fun.

But when it comes to playing my best, I’m just not doing it.  I’m getting killed out there.  My typical 9-hole score for casual rounds since the beginning of the season has been in the 40-42 range, which isn’t great, but represents a huge early-season improvement over previous years.

When I get out there in league matches, though, I’m lucky to break 50.  I had a similar experience in the club championship last year, shooting probably 5 or 6 strokes over where I was at during casual rounds at that time.

Now, I know, the first thing that comes to mind is that I’m wilting under the pressure.  Believe me, the thought has been swirling around my mind for a while now.  And, in fairness, I’ve been suffering from intermittent back spasms for several weeks.  It’s caused me some trouble, especially being able to practice as much as I want, but I just don’t think that’s the explanation for my problems in competition.

In fact, it occurred to me today that maybe my mental game is right where it needs to be.

Let’s roll back for a minute and think about some of the common aspects of the mental game teachings of those like Dr. Bob Rotella and others.

First and foremost, there is a component of trust.  It’s trust in the swing that you have worked hard to build.  As you stand there, ready to hit a particular shot, you need to have trust in your preparation and trust in the shot you have chosen to hit in that moment, and trust that your body will execute that shot at that moment.  There’s no room for consciously thinking about mechanics.

Beyond that, there is the ability to accept the result of each shot.  When it’s time to hit a shot, we need to be able to put the previous shot out of mind, no matter how bad it was.  We need to be able to live in that moment and to plan and visualize that shot, and to have the proper trust in place without being fixated on the ball that was just jacked into the woods.

On the swing mechanics, I’ve been working on a few items.  First, I’ve been working on making a fuller shoulder turn.  I’ve been kind of letting my core quit on the back swing and trying to get all the way back with more of my arms, which causes me to get in bad position at the top.  That keeps my weight a little to centered and on the down swing, trying to then shift onto my left side causes all sorts of problems.  Aside from these things, my pro has me playing the ball just a little further forward because my ball position had sort of crept back in my stance a little.  And, of course, I’m always fighting to keep my tempo even because I tend to get a little quick, especially with longer clubs.

Why do I bring that up?  Well, for one, these changes are relatively new, and not ingrained yet.  I can stand on the range and find each of these things (and a few others) and start to reliably hit shots.

What I can’t do, though is stand over a shot on the course and revert to trusting that my swing will perform.  It’s not so much that I don’t believe it will perform, it’s that it can’t.  I haven’t made these various changes permanent.  When I stop consciously thinking about what I want to do with my swing, it reverts to old habits all by itself.

It’s not a conscious lack of trust, so much.  I will admit that at the beginning of a match or a competitive round, I’m a little nervous, but after a few holes I settle in and mentally, I don’t feel much anxiety or any other negative feelings that might make me think I’m just wilting under pressure.

I’ve noticed lately that during casual rounds, I’m still sort of playing in driving range mode.  I’m thinking about swing thoughts.  I’m reminding myself to do a full shoulder turn and to not break down at the top and to get my weight left on the down swing and to keep my tempo in check.

When it comes to competitive rounds though, I find myself playing a lot more on auto pilot, just visualizing the shots and letting my body try to perform the correct swing, and above all, not dwelling on previous shots.  Those are some of the hallmarks of a strong mental game.  I just haven’t developed the swing to back it up yet.

It kind of leaves me with the dilemma of not knowing which player I am.  Am I the guy that can go out and shoot a 40 in a casual round and hit a lot of nice shots on the range, or am I the guy that gets in the competitive situation and struggles?

I tend to think it’s the latter.  I think the driving range and casual rounds show my current potential, but the league rounds show where I’m at as a competitor.

But the real question was: what’s the state of my mental game? I honestly think I’m on the right track and my results are showing that I’m not physically prepared yet to be a solid competitor.

What do you think?  Am I on to something or am I just wilting under pressure?  Or are they really different faces of the same beast?

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Either My Mental Game Is Great Or It’s Awful

So often, I find myself (and observe others) being fixated on the cup, no matter what it will take to get there.  I contend that, sometimes, the best play is to miss on purpose.  Maybe calling it “missing on purpose” isn’t the best way to state it. Let’s refine that to mean that we choose a target different from our natural tendency to shoot for the hole, the flag, or the green itself.

Sometimes, it’s an obvious choice and sometimes, it’s not.

Take, for example, your classic sucker pin.  Say the flag is tucked way to the side, behind water, just on the green, with a nasty bunker off to that side.  I think we would all agree that the play there is to shoot for the safest part of the green.  Of course, knowing that and doing that are two separate things.

I’m amazed how many players will shoot at that pin every time.  Yet, I do think that we’d all agree that, academically, going for it is the wrong play (in most circumstances) and that we should consider going for the fat part of the green.

OK, so we agree that we all can bring ourselves to miss on purpose sometimes.  How about when it’s not so obvious?

Here’s a situation I had to deal with a while back. I was faced with a putt of somewhere between ten and 20 feet, up over a hump and then severely downhill to the pin, which was right at the base of the down-slope.  The green was playing very fast that day.

Going at the flag, it was clear that if I didn’t hit the hole, that I would easily be ten or even fifteen feet past.  Even if I did hit the hole, at that speed, it could have easily hopped over or hit the lip and shot off to the left or right.

I saw something, though, that gave me a little window of hope: the hump ran perpendicular in front of me and then curved up toward left side of the hole but toward the left it flattened out much closer to me than it did in the area down straight toward the hole.

It occurred to me that if my target was a spot around five or six feet left of the hole, I could safely stop the ball there and virtually guarantee myself a second putt of six feet or less, which I felt confident that I could make because it was relatively flat down on that level.

And that’s exactly what I did.  I aimed six feet to the left of the hole, to give myself a second putt that I had a good chance of making.  I don’t remember whether I made the six-footer, but I’m confident that I made the right decision.

It occurred to me at that moment that sometimes I have to be prepared to miss on purpose to give myself the best chance to score.

Here’s another example.  I wish I could point to a specific course and hole, but if you watch enough golf on TV, you will certainly have seen this.

Every so often there’s a situation where a green isn’t very receptive (it’s firm and fast) and where players are forced to hit long shots into it.  Typically, there will be trouble behind, maybe a hazard, or a collection area leaving a tough pitch with not a lot of green to work with.

What you’ll see is a number of players intentionally aiming for a green-side bunker in front or to the side of the green.

Most of us amateurs don’t have it in our wiring to aim for a bunker.  However, given the situation I just described, having an uphill bunker shot with plenty of green to work with gives them the best chance to make par or even birdie (for instance, on a drivable par four, a short par five, or a long par three).

Given the alternative of taking a long shot into an unreceptive green with trouble off the back, a simple bunker shot can be quite appealing.  It might not be so appealing if you have a paralyzing fear of hitting from the sand, but that’s an issue for another day.

It might not be very often you’re faced with decisions like these.  Shooting for the fat part of the green might be an obvious choice, but other circumstances are more tricky.  Shooting for the fat part of the green isn’t even a miss, so much, because our target is probably the fat part of the green to start. It’s the times when we’re naturally fixated on going for the hole when this all means something.

To put up the best score possible, we need to be able to creatively think about course management and how we select and play each shot to put the lowest possible number on the scorecard.  Sometimes the choices are obvious.  Many times, they are not.

We typically mentally allow for some degree of miss, but setting out to miss is not something most of us are comfortable doing when we are naturally resolved to go for the hole or for the green.  Be ready to do it when the situation calls for it, and you’ll be adding a little more shine to your course management skill.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Can You Miss On Purpose?

As most of you probably know by now, grooves in irons have been dialed back at the highest levels to try and reduce the spin that wedges and short irons can impart on the ball.  In recent years, it became common for players to just bomb away off the tee, because they knew that their wedges would still provide high spin from the rough.

Now, with grooves providing less help to players out of the fairway, Faldo made a good point, that reading lies will become more important.  (Note that the new grooves won’t affect most of us for quite a while, but all of this is still worth talking about)

What did he mean by that?

After we hit a shot and approach the ball, probably the most important factor in deciding the next shot is the lie of the ball.  In other words, how will the way the ball is sitting affect the ability for you to put the club head to the ball and have the shot react the way you expect?

There are two important parts to that. One:  can you strike the ball solidly? And, two:  how will the shot react?  The first question is kind of obvious in most circumstances. If your ball is lying against a tree root, clearly your ability to strike the ball solidly is in doubt. It’s the second question, however, that is just as important, but more tricky to predict and to understand.

What that comes down to is, how much spin can you put on the ball?  We might not be thinking of it in those terms at the time, but that’s really what we’re asking ourselves because it has a big effect on the outcome of the shot. If you’re able to strike the ball perfectly in the center of the club face with the club head moving at normal speed, the variable then becomes the amount of spin on the ball.  That will affect distance, trajectory, and stopping power.

Let’s take a look at actual situations and we’ll discuss the factors that go into the outcome of the shot.  It’s not my intent to cover every possible situation here or the mechanics of how to hit shots from all the different lies, but to discuss generalities that will help you to get a feel for reading lies.  Nothing is a good substitute for practice, however, so get out on the course when no one is around to try these shots and see for yourself how they react.

We’ll look at the situations that occur with shots from the rough and from the fairway.  In part II, we’ll look at lies in the sand and some special circumstances.  In each case, we’ll take a look at the questions we should be asking ourselves as we go about reading lies.  That’s really the how-to of reading lies. Knowing which questions to ask and what the answers mean is what this game is all about.

In the Rough

Shots from the rough are really the ones Faldo was talking about when he mentioned being able to read lies with the new grooves imparting less spin.

The main purpose of grooves on the club face is to divert grass and moisture from the club face.  Those things tend to cause shots to spin less.  With the old grooves, much more grass and water were able to be diverted so it was possible to still get good spin from poor lies.  Now, that capability is diminished.

It’s not just grooves, however, that are important.  Remember the first part of the equation?  Can we strike the ball solidly?  If the answer is ‘no’, then there’s a much bigger issue.

In that case, we have to consider that we may not be able to strike the ball solidly and at full speed.   If the ball is buried in six-inch rough, we have to start worrying about what the club head will do as it passes through the grass.  I previously covered how to hit the ball from deep rough, so I won’t go into the specifics here.  But understand that there are consequences to that type of lie.

For instance, there is a tendency for the club face to shut as the grass grabs the hosel. Then, there’s the question of spin.  As we discussed, grooves divert grass and water so that the club head and ball can meet solidly.  Is there too much grass to be diverted?

The Questions

Here is a checklist of things you probably should be considering as you try and read lies in the rough.

How Long Is the Grass?

The length of the grass is really important to being able to strike the ball solidly. Remember that the club head approaches the ball in an arc. It’s fairly low to the ground for a couple of feet before actually getting to the ball.  If it has to pass through long rough, there’s a very good chance that the speed and path of the club head will be affected. The club head will slow down. It will have a tendency to twist (usually closed).  You may be forced to try a lay-up shot, if you don’t have a chance to strike the ball well.

How Thick Is the Grass?

As all of you are certainly keenly aware, rough on a golf course comes in many, many varieties.  Not just species of grass, but the climate and amount of maintenance that it receives causes it to grow differently.

Rough that is thick and healthy presents a huge challenge.  At times, however, long rough might be more dry and brittle and even sparse.  In that circumstance, it presents somewhat less of a challenge.  In either case, you’re still left to answer the two questions I posed at the top.

How is the Ball Sitting in the Grass?

Can you strike it solidly?  If so, then there’s the question of how much grass is going to get in between the ball and the club face. A clean strike means that you’ll get more spin.  A lot of grass means that you’ll get less spin.  However, that doesn’t necessarily mean less distance.

You’ve probably heard the term “flyer lie”.  When the spin on the ball is greatly diminished, you might actually see more distance out of the shot. And, it will probably fly along a lower trajectory (spin  helps the ball fly higher). Not only that, but you can expect it to run further on the green because there isn’t enough spin to stop the ball as quickly.  You should be mindful of what kind of trouble lurks behind the green because you may find yourself hitting it over the back. You might want to consider less club and play for the ball to fly and run further.

How is the Grass Laying?

This is one that we might not consider as much. When grass gets long, or when it has been rained on or trampled, it might tend to lay in a certain direction.  Some types of grass might tend to do that all the time.  On the green, we call it “grain”.  It can happen just as easily with rough, too.

It is very important to pay attention to which direction the grass lays, relative to the path the club will take as it approaches the ball.

If the grass is laying away from the target even with the ball sitting on top, as the club head approaches the ball, it will tend to get down into the grass and the shot will act more like one where the rough is standing up.  The club head will slow. There will be a tendency to twist.  There will be grass between the ball and club face. And so on.

However if the grass is laying toward the target, the club will tend to just pass smoothly over top of it. This doesn’t mean that the shot will be so simple, though. In this case, if the ball is sitting on top of tall rough that is laying over toward the target, it’s easy as the club head approaches the ball, to hit down a little lower (firm turf would resist this a little). This makes it possible to hit the ball a little higher on the club face, reducing both spin and distance.  It’s probably enough just to be mindful of not trying to make an overly descending blow, as if you’re trying to take a big divot.

In the Fairway

When the ball is sitting in the fairway, there is much more uniformity in the types of shots you can expect.  However, it is these shots where we rely on precision.  If you’re 100 yards from the green, in the middle of the fairway, you want your 100 yard shot to go 100 yards, and you want to get the amount of spin that you’re expecting.

We still should be asking ourselves questions about the lie, even in the fairway.

How Firm Is the Turf?

From the fairway, grooves aren’t the primary factor that contributes to spin.  There is usually very little grass that gets between the club face and ball, so there is little grass and moisture to divert.

You may have heard the phrase “pinching the ball”. On tight, firm turf, depending on how much of a descending angle the club head approaches the ball, the club face actually pinches the ball against the turf very briefly.  This maximizes spin.  The firmer the turf, the more that spin is maximized.  More spin means more stopping power, but it can also mean slightly less distance and a higher ball flight.  Softer turf will diminish this slightly.

How Tall is the Grass?

Yes, this even matters on shots from the fairway.  Some courses go several days between mowing fairways and depending on the type of grass, it might be significantly longer after a few days. At that point, you need to be asking yourself how much of an issue you’re facing with grass getting between the ball and club face.  I’ve played rounds where, because of a string of bad weather, fairways were not mowed for almost two weeks.  At that point, fairways started to resemble rough, and reacted like rough too.

How Wet Is the Grass?

Remember how we said that grooves divert grass and moisture?  Well, they can only divert so much.  After they have started operating at capacity, then there will be an effect on the shot.

During or after rain, or even after a heavy morning dew, there is simply too much moisture for grooves to divert.  This moisture gets between the club face and the ball and it will tend to lessen spin.

Putting It All Together

Remember that reading the lie is only one piece of the whole puzzle.  It’s easy to get too wrapped up in the minutiae and to lose sight of the rest of the big picture.

Consider the fact where the fairway is really wet.  You might think, “OK, wet turf means the grooves will be taxed and won’t move all that water, so that will mean less spin and the ball will fly a littler further and run out more after landing.”  In theory, yes, but don’t forget to consider the fact that since it’s wet, the ball can just as easily plug on the green and stop dead, if the putting surface is soft. Or, you might have to take a more conservative swing to keep your balance.

I also can’t stress enough that this academic exercise will only take you so far.  There is absolutely no substitute to hitting shots from these various lies to get a true feel for how they will react.  We’re talking about tendencies here, so nothing is absolute.  A certain situation might tend to increase or diminish spin, but that doesn’t mean that it will.  The golf swing is a very dynamic machine and there are a lot of variables that can tip the scales one way or the other.

Next time, we’ll take a look at reading lies in the sand and in some other special circumstances.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Reading Lies on the Golf Course, Part I

Previously, I covered the tee shot on a tight driving hole, and the long carry over water.  Since then, the tight tee shot was overtaken by the delicate downhill pitch/chip over a bunker with the pin cut close, moving it to second place.

It’s very interesting to me that this shot is in second place behind the long carry over water.  The reason being that the delicate pitch or chip over a bunker downhill to a closely cut pin position is a virtually no-win situation.  The other two are almost completely mental challenges.

I would have expected the no-win situation to be more dreadful, but I suppose the things that cause those kinds of feelings are specific to the individual based on ability, experience, and the like.

If you can forget about the water or the trouble on the hole with OB, woods, water, etc. coming in to play on the tee shot, the shots themselves are completely routine.  If you have the ability to hit the ball to a reasonably sized target and carry it a reasonable distance most of the time, then those shots are psychological barriers.

In fact, in the delicate pitch/chip scenario, the bunker is really a mental challenge, as well.  I just threw that in there to add to the anxiety.  I know that many of us have trouble hitting delicate short game shots.  Some players have real trouble with skulling or chunking pitches and chips.  In that case, the bunker does come into play.  However, if you have a reasonably decent pitching or chipping stroke, the bunker shouldn’t even be a factor.

The real issue is, this shot is very difficult, even for a tour pro.

We need to consider our expectations around the greens.  As you probably know, our objective, when the ball is somewhere around the green, is to get the ball on the green and make the putt to save par.  To do that, we need to get our pitch or chip to stop reasonably close to the hole.  Dave Pelz calls that the “Golden Eight Feet”.  If we can get the ball to stop within 8-10 feet of the pin (or closer, obviously) we give ourselves the best chance to make the putt.  Further out, and the odds are heavily in favor of missing, even for a tour pro.

If you have to pitch the ball to a pin that is cut close to you with a severely downhill slope in the way, then the shot is nearly impossible, even if you manage to hit the hole or pin.  It doesn’t matter how much spin you can put on the ball or how adept you are at hitting the flop shot.  When the ball lands and its spin is expended, gravity will simply carry it well past the hole.  And, don’t forget the fact that if you’re forced to land the ball on the slope, the angle will propel the ball forward, giving the it zero chance of landing softly and rolling out.

Prevention is the Answer

Prevention is really why this shot is an issue of course management.  You should be doing everything in your power to manage your misses.  Don’t think for a second that the pros don’t know where the best miss is on every green they hit a shot at.  If their natural shot shape will have them flirting with disaster like that, you can bet that they’re either going to shape the shot differently to keep the ball in a safer area (which you may or may not have the ability to do), or they’re going to aim their shot at a spot that takes the danger out of play if they miss it (which we all have the ability to do).

If you hit the ball for the fattest part of the green, you have a good shot at getting down in two putts or maybe even making a long putt.  Even if you miss the green, you have a good chance of getting up and down.  If you get into a spot where you have that nasty downhill shot, you’re almost definitely looking at the pitch and two putts, and if you hit your pitch poorly and fail to get on, the outcome will be worse.

I Hate to Say “I Told Ya So”

OK, I did, but we both know that we’re all going to end up with shots like that at some point, despite the fact that we know we should try really hard to avoid it.  Even tour pros will find themselves in a spot like that on occasion.

The key is to manage your expectations at that point.  When I’m in that spot, I forget about making the shot or even getting it close.  My number one goal is to get it on the green.

When you start thinking about making it, the first instinct is to try and get cute and feather the ball up there and let it run out as slowly as possible to try and stop it close.  In some cases, if you can just barely get the ball started, you might be able to stop it close.  But I’ve been in situations where I could just set the ball down on the edge of the green and it would roll 10-15 feet past because of the severity of the slope.

When you get in that mindset of feathering it, you run the risk of forgetting your fundamentals and decelerating through the shot and hitting it fat (or just simply not hard enough).  Do that and you may not even reach the green.  That wastes a stroke and leaves you in essentially the exact same predicament.

The conservative  play is to just get the ball on the green so remember your chipping or pitching fundamentals and be sure to land the ball on the green and suffer with the run-out.

Depending on the area where the pin is located, you might want to consider the riskier cut lob (flop) shot.  If the spot around the pin gives you a fairly flat landing area, you might have success flying the ball to, or just past, the flag.  If you practice the flop shot and the lie is suitable, then it can be a decent option.  If you don’t practice the shot or the lie isn’t suitable, then you’re primed to either skull the ball over the opposite side of the green or to barely advance it.

Take YOUR Game into Consideration

The basic idea here is that this shot is nearly impossible to get close to the hole.  You need to give your own skill level realistic consideration and try your best to avoid it, and to limit the damage when you end up putting yourself in that difficult position.  Pick your shot carefully and play within your own comfort zone.  If that means accepting that the ball will have to be played well past the flag and that you’ll likely be two-putting, then so be it.  In the long run, accepting a little pain will prevent the big blowups that can come from situations like this.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Dreaded Shots: Delicate Downhill Pitches to Close Pins

I’m a little surprised that this type of shot is the subject of such dread because the solution has nothing to do with swing fundamentals.  Conquering these shots has everything to do with combining an honest assessment of your own ability and game with a solid course management plan and combining all that with a solid mental approach.

Let’s not mince words:  if you’re dreading this shot, it may be because you shouldn’t be hitting it.  There’s no shame in laying up and it will probably save you more strokes than you’d gain if the gamble pays off.

Why don’t we take a closer look at the situation and you’ll see why.

First we’ll define the long shot.  Since everyone’s game is different, I’ll define it in terms of clubs.  Let’s say a long shot is anything longer than a 5-iron.  So, we’ll say 4-iron and up, including equivalent hybrids.  For me, that’s around 210 yards.

Second, we’ll define what “over water” means.  Obviously, if the water is right in front of the tee (or right in front of you in the fairway, for second shots) it is not nearly as intimidating.  I know there are those of you who think of nothing but topping the ball in that situation, and honestly, we’ve all topped one into the drink at some point.  I’m really talking about those situations were the water is near the end of the intended ball flight, though.  This would typically be when the green is on the far side of a creek or lake.  For the sake of this discussion, I’m going to assume you can get the longer clubs to hit the ball in the air most of the time and you’re not really worried with water right in front of you.

Really, there are two possible reasons why you fear that shot.

Honesty and Consistency

Presumably, you have a rough distance for every club in your bag.  If I ask you how far you hit your pitching wedge, you’ll have a number that’s probably good for somewhere within plus or minus a few yards.  Better players will have a much tighter zone.

However, as you get to longer clubs in your bag, the chances become greater that the number you have for those clubs is a “perfect shot” yardage and that the longer the club, the lower percentage of the time you’ll actually hit your perfect yardage.

This is one of two reasons you fear the long shot over water.

If you hit each club in your bag the same distance every time, then the shot becomes nothing more than getting an accurate yardage and factoring in wind and lie.  We all know, however, that players with higher handicaps will come up short most of the time.  The higher the handicap, the bigger the error in  the result usually, except in the case where a player is honest enough with himself to keep tabs on the typical yardages for his clubs , instead of the perfect yardages.

When you have open fairway in front of you, you have the luxury of being able to play to the perfect yardage and then just deal with a chip or pitch.  When water looms in front of you, the chance for getting wet is high.

When you’re faced with this type of shot, there are several things you should do to increase the chance for success.

First, throw out the perfect yardages and pick out a club where its typical yardage will get you safely on the green.   Second, evaluate the conditions to see whether things like the lie, the wind, and so on will help or hurt.  Adjust your club selection to deal with the conditions.

Then, you need to evaluate what your percentage of success is.  If you’re not looking at a high chance of success, then you need to suck it up and do what makes sense:  lay it up.

I don’t care if it’s an approach shot on a par four or a par five.  If your chances for success are not high, then you’re going to be assessed a penalty stroke more often than not.  If you lay up, there’s always a chance for still getting up and down to save par.  More likely, you’ll get a respectable bogey and put the depressing double bogey out of the equation.

Getting Wrapped Up in Results

The second reason you might fear a long shot over water is that you’re fixated on the water and the outcome of hitting into it.

I know I’m like a broken record always citing the mental game, but it’s because I think there is some serious improvement to be made there.  Most of the mental gurus will tell you that being fixated on the result of a shot before hitting it is a good way to ensure that the bad result happens.

As you’re assessing a shot, you certainly will consider the fact that there is water, along with a hundred other things.  But once you get ready to pull the trigger, you should have chosen your shot, completely committed to it, and visualized the outcome.

If the water is still dancing around in your thoughts, then you have some work to do.  Get to the book store and pick up everything by Dr. Bob Rotella and sequester yourself away in a quiet place until you read it all.  Go ahead, I’ll wait.

I see you’re back.  I hope the books were enjoyable.  See what I mean?  Everyone who pretended to go and get books and skipped to this paragraph will be missing out, but those of you who did now understand the importance.

Stop fixating on the bad stuff.  Get it out of your mind.  Commit to your shot, hit it, accept the outcome, no matter how bad, then start preparing for your next shot.

Putting It All Together

To get the best result out of a shot that requires a long carry over water, you simply need a sound course management plan and a solid approach to the mental game.

Be honest about your club distances and how reliable you are about hitting your clubs those distances.  Don’t be afraid to lay up and accept a bogey in exchange for putting the big numbers out of play.  If you decide that going for it is the proper play, then plan your shot, commit to it, hit it, and accept the result.  Keep the possibility of a bad outcome out of your mind.

If you improve in these two areas, I guarantee you’ll stop dreading those long carries over water.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Dreaded Shots: Long Carry Over Water

We’ve all been there.  You stand on the tee and the hole you’re faced with looks about ten yards wide.  There is trouble on both sides.  Maybe it’s water, woods, out of bounds, or some combination of the three.  There are deep fairway bunkers and the green looks so far away.

You stand over the ball and all that trouble is swirling around in your mind.  You’re thinking about penalty shots, water splashing, double- and triple-bogeys.  It’s not a pretty picture.

The most important thing to do on a tight driving hole is to get on the short grass.  You need to eliminate the trouble to give yourself a chance to score well on the hole.

Let’s see if we can get you on the right track.

Rule Number One

To conquer your tight tee shot nemesis hole, you first need to improve your mental outlook.

If you’re standing on the tee with all the stuff I outlined above swirling in your head, then your mental game needs serious work.  You need to pick up a stack of Dr. Bob Rotella’s books and get reading.

The biggest improvement you can make in that area is to train yourself to not be results oriented.  Know that you’re going to plan your shot, commit to it, hit your shot, accept the result – whatever it may be, then hit it again.  That’s all you have to do.  If you hit in the water, you’re going to drop a new ball, assess a penalty stroke and hit it again.  You’re not going to be mauled by a lion.  In the grand scheme of life, it’s only one shot and should be treated accordingly.

This is a boiled-down look at solid mental game of golf so you may want to read more.  You can start with my mental game category, but all roads lead to the books of Dr. Bob Rotella for me.

Getting It in the Fairway

Obviously, a sound mental approach isn’t enough if your course management plan is lacking.  If you’re going to stand on that tight driving hole and grab your driver and hit a banana ball out of bounds, then it doesn’t much matter that you have a solid mental outlook.

As I said above, every choice you make should be about getting the ball in the fairway.  Nothing else matters when you stand on the tee.

Let’s look at some things you can do in that area, as well as some tips to help you get the ball in the fairway.

Shorten the Driver

This is something I’ve been experimenting with for months.  If you decide that driver is the club to hit on the hole, then don’t be afraid to choke down an inch or two.  If you read the post linked a couple of sentences back, you’ll see that Tour pros use shorter drivers than we do because of the added control.  In my own experiment, choking down on my driver 1.5-2 inches has given me a lot more control.

I have given myself more confidence on the tee, especially on tight driving holes.  If you’re a regular reader, then you know I’m struggling with my long irons.  I’ve gained so much confidence with my driver that it has become a better option for me on a narrow hole than long irons.

Check the Macho Attitude

Sometimes it’s tough to reach for something other than driver when standing on the tee.  I guarantee, though, that every time you hit driver on that dreaded hole and your ball splashes down in the water, you wish you had selected a different club.

As I said earlier, your number one priority should be getting on the short grass.

I was once given a tip by an assistant pro at the course I worked at during college.  He told me that on a hole where I’m not confident in my driver, I should club down until I get to something I’m sure I can put in the fairway.  That’s one of the most important pieces of golf advice I’ve ever gotten.

What’s your go-to club?  3-wood? 5-iron?  7-iron?  Don’t be afraid to hit it.  Hit the longest club that you’re positive that you can get in the fairway.

Bogey Can Be Like Par

That brings me to the other thing that I was taught along with the tip about clubbing down.  He also taught me that sometimes it’s alright to plan for bogey.

Look at it this way.  You’re on the tight driving hole.  It’s about 400 yards to the flag.  You hit driver and end up out of bounds.  Now you’re on the tee hitting your third shot.  What do you do?  At best, if you hit driver again and get in the fairway, you’re probably still looking at a double bogey.

Say you have to go all the way down to your 7-iron before you have a club in your hands that you know you can hit in the fairway.  And let’s also say you hit your 7-iron 150 yards, for the sake of argument.

If you hit your 7-iron off the tee, then hit it again, you’ll be left with 100 yards.  A wedge and two putts and you’re looking at an almost certain bogey.

It might feel wrong, but not as wrong as the double-, triple-, or even quadruple-bogey will.

Choose Sides Carefully

Do you walk onto the tee and plop your ball down on any old patch of turf and swing away?  Or, do you use the tee box to your advantage?  If your typical miss is a hook or a slice, then you can usually minimize the damage by setting up on one side of the tee or the other.

If you slice the ball, then you’ll want to set up to the right side of the tee.  If you do, you will naturally aim diagonally left across the hole.  That will give your boomerang ball a lot more room to move right before trouble comes into play.  If you do the unthinkable and actually hit it straight, then you’ll be on the left side of the fairway.  Either way, you’ll have a much better chance of being in good shape off the tee.

If you tend to hook the ball, then the same principles apply, but you’ll want to tee off on the left side of the teeing area.

Not a Technical Swing Challenge

In the end, hitting tee shots on tight driving holes is not about practicing with your driver at the range or getting lessons to banish your slice. Those things are important, but once you step on the tee, the only things you have to rely on are course management and mental game.

You have to live with the swing you brought to the course that day.  To make the most of your game, you need to be willing to commit to a sensible course management plan.  Of the tips I mentioned above, the only one that requires any sort of work is improvement of your mental game.  The rest comes down to forcing yourself to make logical, realistic choices.

Before you set foot on the course for your next round, resolve to create a course management plan.  Planning for the whole round is preferrable, but planning for your dreaded tight driving hole is a start.  Make the tough choices about club selection ahead of time and don’t waiver when you step onto the tee.

Work on these things and you won’t dread a tight tee shot any longer.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Dreaded Shots: Tee Shots on Tight Driving Holes

Certainly, a good mental approach is to train our minds to not be results-oriented and to play one shot at a time and to stay in the moment and all that.  Let’s be realistic, though.  If we amateurs were good at that, we’d play a lot better than we do.

Every player has individual strengths and weaknesses.  Better players have fewer weaknesses and the weaknesses that they do have are not as severe. Less skilled players might have huge holes in their games to the degree that they simply cannot play certain shots.

I’m fascinated to know what your most dreaded shot is.  In fact, I’ve changed up the poll in the sidebar so I can get a tabulation.  If you don’t see your most dreaded shot listed, then leave a comment here or e-mail me and I’ll add it to the poll.

I know for me, right now, my most dreaded shot is anything with my 2-iron.  Everyone tells me to get a hybrid because amateurs can’t hit long irons.  Well, this amateur can hit long irons.  I didn’t have this problem before I started monkeying with my swing.

My 2-iron was like a precision instrument.  I could easily hit it 240 yards, sometimes more.  I could turn it either direction or hit it straight as a laser beam.  I could hit it nice and high.  I could hit it with confidence on a tight driving hole.

Now, half the time I either smother it or top it.  The other half of the time, I clunk it forward somewhere, usually way, way short of what I used to hit it.  I barely pull it out of my bag anymore and when I do, I find it difficult to suppress the dread that I feel.

When I start working with my pro again in the spring, I’m going to make it a priority.  I might switch to a hybrid this year, but not before I can hit that two iron again.  Does that make sense?  No.  But it’s the principle of it.

So which shot do you dread the most?  Again, take the poll in the sidebar and if your dreaded shot isn’t there, let me know and I’ll add it.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Your Most Dreaded Shot

In golf, though, it should be used sparingly, because the negative outcome will usually be disaster.

Now, be honest.  How many times have you been standing over your ball on a par five, about to hit your second shot, with 220+ yards to the green, over water?  And how many times have you taken the shot, knowing that the club you have in your hand will yield that perfect result only a fraction of the time?

Why do we do it?  I say “we”, and not “you”, because I’ve done it too.  Guilty as charged.

How about those times when you have 160 yards to a tucked pin on a difficult green that’s protected by water or severe bunkers?  Do you have the discipline to aim for the middle of the green, take your two putts, and get out of there?  Or do you go for it, thinking birdie all the way?

I bet some of you “go for it” types blasted Phil Mickelson in 2006 when his “go for it” attitude brought an end to his hopes for winning a U.S. Open.  And I also bet that next time you hit the course you put yourself in similar situations.

I know I have.

The only good reason for it is that subconsciously, we must believe the reward is worth the risk.  If you hit your 220 yard shot over water and make the eagle, you’re going to remember it for a long time.  If you hit to the tucked pin and have a tap-in birdie, you’re going to remember that shot for a long time.  Fall short and it’s just another in a long string of misses.

Sadly, most of the time, we’re going to fall short of success in golf.  Golf is a game of misses.  We’re going to miss shots probably 99% of the time.  The only question is, by how much.  Even Ben Hogan said he only hit a few perfect shots per round.

Virtually every shot we strike is mishit to some degree.  That 220 yard shot over water?  Miss the sweet spot by 1/4 inch and the ball is probably splashing down.

Sometimes, the “go for it” attitude is a powerful tool.  Winners know when to go for it.  Coming up the 18th hole, down by one, a winner knows that the time has come to go for it.  Finishing second is not good enough.  The player with a winning attitude will pull out all the stops to try and make birdie.  Everyone else would play reserved and try to lock up second place money.

These situations are few and far between, though.

Of course, there’s always the opposite problem.  How many of you out there are capable of shooting under par for a given round?  I’ve read that, mentally, many players of that ability will get under par and then suddenly start protecting the score, keeping themselves from going really low, even though they have the game.  They get under par and then so desperately cling to it that they forget what got them there.  That’s kind of the anti-”go for it” attitude.

If we want to shoot better scores and lower our handicaps, we have to discipline ourselves to limit “go for it” episodes to those times when it’s the difference between winning and losing and to those times when the reward is worth the risk.

What I try to do when I’m facing a risky shot is, think what I would recommend another player do in that situation.  Better yet, ask yourself what you would do if you were sitting at home thinking about the shot.  If the answer is different than what you’re about to try, then you need to rethink your strategy.

Sometimes, going for it is bold strategy.  Most of the time, it’s just bad strategy.  Learn to tell the difference and you’ll become a better player.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

The “Go For It” Attitude in Golf

“So exactly what are you talking about”, I can hear you asking.

Have you ever played team sports?  Football (either kind)?  Baseball?  Hockey?  Basketball?  Rugby, lacrosse, or volleyball?  Let’s forget for a moment that those sports require teams simply to play the games.  Let’s instead turn to what team dynamics mean for an individual and then we’ll get back to golf.

I played team sports through childhood and on through my 20′s.  One thing that I always liked about it was the camaraderie.  I was an individual, but I was never alone.  There was always someone else there to help me achieve my best or to take up some slack when I was in a slump.  I always did my best because I never wanted to let the team down.

One of the drawbacks to solitude is struggling to be 100% self-reliant.  There’s no one to lean on.  A team atmosphere changes that.

On a golf course, we’re completely alone. Again, I’m not talking about those occasions where we’re in some kind of team competition, so let’s leave those aside.

I discovered this summer that I was able to get back some of that team dynamic that I was missing with one simple thing:  I started scheduling regular lessons.

It makes sense if you think about it.  In our imaginations, we have the image of PGA Tour players living and dying on their own, week in and week out, in solitude.  It looks that way on television, but they have bigger teams than most of us could dream of.  Caddies, swing coaches, trainers, mental gurus, business managers.  Sure, they’re the ones that hit the shots.  But, don’t think for a second that it’s not a team effort when the club isn’t in motion.  Take a walk to the practice tee at a major to see for yourself.

Obviously, there are differences in the size of a player’s team.  Some have never had any swing coaching.  Some don’t work out much or at all.  Some don’t really look to caddies for shot advice.  In general, though, these things are quite common at that level.

My theory is that it’s not just about learning the best technique.  It’s also about having someone to lean on.  Mentally, that’s a big advantage in a sport that seems to demand solitude by placing so much pressure on the individual.

I’ve been asked many times why I didn’t stick with the one plane swing concept, or why I don’t adopt the Stack and Tilt swing.  Believe me, I’ve thought long and hard about it.  In the end, it came down to not being able to find a local pro to coach me on those concepts.

When I went back to taking regular lessons, I didn’t know how it would turn out.  To my surprise, I immediately started to feel a sense of team.  Sure, my pro doesn’t see it that way.  He gives lessons to a bunch of people every week.  It doesn’t matter, though, because I do see it as a team effort.

When I tried to go it alone, it was difficult.  I studied hard, always increasing my knowledge of the golf swing.  I’m always going to do that.  I also worked hard.  I practiced and practiced and practiced.  The problem came when things didn’t improve as they should have.

It’s not that I wouldn’t have eventually figured out my swing issues.  I would have dug it out of the dirt, as Ben Hogan liked to say.  The real problem was the shattered confidence that came from not being sure what was going wrong and not being sure if I was wasting my time changing some swing position.  Self-doubt crept in and started to keep me from progressing.

So I did the only thing that made sense.  I added someone to my team.

Forget the fact that he immediately helped me find problems and start to fix them.  Don’t think for a second that it happened over night, either.  It’s been a long process.  It’s truly amazing, the mental boost I get from knowing that no matter how bad I struggle, I’m going in for a lesson every two weeks and we’re going to get to the bottom of the problem, whatever it may be.

If you find yourself struggling and frustrated to the point of quitting, then do yourself a favor and add someone to your team.  Get a series of lessons.  Get some sessions with a personal trainer if you’re struggling in that department.  You might even do well to team up with a friend and hit the driving range together once a week.  Go with someone that can look at your swing as you try to diagnose and fix problems.

Some people prefer the solitude and don’t want help.  I can understand that.  That’s the allure of golf for some people.  They like the pressure to be squarely on their shoulders and don’t want help bearing the burden.  They like to figure it all out from themselves.  They lose themselves in practice for hours at a time. And obviously, many players aren’t looking to improve, so this concept isn’t really relevant to them.  I get that, also.

Personally, I respond better with someone in my corner.

No one can help you when it’s time to make a stroke.  But if you’re like me and like the support, then try and do something to turn golf into a team game.  It may give you the boost you’re looking for to get through frustrating times.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Golf as a Team Sport