How well do you know the rules of golf? There are only 34 rules defined by the USGA (not counting Appendix I, II, and III which involve local rules, conditions of competition, and equipment). Unfortunately, it’s easy to encounter situations where it might not be apparent how to score a specific situation, so there’s a whole book covering decisions on the rules. Many people have a vague understanding of the rules. The major stuff, at least. However, having a solid understanding of the rules, and playing by them, will help you post an accurate score. This is critical if you ever hope to play in serious competition. First off, your handicap will more accurately reflect your real skill level. Secondly, while it’s important to know when to penalize yourself, it’s just as important to know about the things that will work in your favor. For instance, did you know that if your ball is in or lost in a water hazard, you have two options of how to proceed (not counting playing it where it
Repetition
The only real way to make any kind of permanent change to the golf swing is through repetition. It sounds like a given, but often times we start learning something and achieve some success then move on to something else before going through enough repetition to commit it to muscle memory. It’s like rolling a boulder up a hill. If you stop pushing too soon, it’s going to roll back down to the bottom. Repetition doesn’t just build muscle memory. It also builds mental strength. As you begin to groove the swing, confidence grows. When it comes time to execute under pressure, you’re more likely to perform well. Repetition is especially important in putting because it’s such a delicate matter. Some of you may be familiar with Phil Mickelson’s 100-ball putting drill. It was shown to him by the great Jackie Burke. I remember reading about it a while back before hearing that Phil had given it a try, and it fascinated me. The basic idea is that you line up ten balls in a
Gamesmanship Revisited
Within hours of my post yesterday about gamesmanship, I got a phone call and e-mail from my mom. She was quick to point out that the definition for the word “gamesmanship” according to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition indicates that it is a synonym for “cheat” or “trick”. She added, “It would appear that when you emphatically imply that you never cheat but suggest that you use verbal trickery under the ruse of gamesmanship they are not the same thing. Aren’t you very close to crossing the line?” I’d say that gamesmanship does come close to the line, but does not cross it. I sent my mom an interesting article at golfonline.com about gamesmanship. The author, Eamon Lynch says, “Let’s be clear: Gamesmanship isn’t cheating.” Lynch then goes on to quote Dr. Richard Coop, Golf Magazine’s mental game guru who says, “It doesn’t violate the rules but may violate the intent of the game, which is sportsmanship.” She explicitly pointed that blurb out to me. Mom makes a good point there. From there,
Gamesmanship
Golf is known as a “gentleman’s game” (ladies too, of course). That doesn’t mean that competition can’t get a little heated at times. I believe in sportsmanship and try my best to be a good, fair competitor. I’ve never cheated and never will. But my highly competitive nature forces me to employ a little gamesmanship at times. This is one of the great aspects of match play. I try to keep it subtle if I’m playing someone I don’t know well. I might overshoot a green with a 7 iron and exclaim that I can’t believe a 9 iron flew that far. I might concede a putt that’s a little long or make my opponent putt a gimme. These aren’t techniques that I invented but believe me, I file away every one that I hear. When I play against my brother or one of my close friends, it goes beyond sportsmanlike. A lot of it could be considered breaches in etiquette. When we escalate a match beyond “just for fun” it can get ugly. Recently,
Don’t Short Yourself
A common bit of golf knowledge is that high handicappers tend to under-club too often. All things being equal, this is a fix that can be made that will result in instant improvement. Many times, ego gets in the way. But in reality, most of the time it comes down to playing statistical probabilities. Think of it like this: every golf shot we make that employs a full swing will either be perfect or will contain some degree of error. Let’s pretend that skulling the ball over the back of the green isn’t an issue for now. That means that each full shot is either going to go the precise yardage and direction that we’re expecting or it’s going to be short and possibly right or left of the target. This will happen through mistakes or inconsistency. Hitting a ball off-center on the club face will result in some lost yardage, even with today’s forgiving clubs. Now we have to ask ourselves: how many shots that we hit every round are perfect? Technically a perfect
Loading ...
Connect
Here are some other ways we can connect