We all know golf is a game of misses. The only shots that come off exactly as we want are the ones that go in the hole, and many times they still didn’t happen exactly as we wanted. Have you ever made a putt that hit the hole so hard, it popped a few inches in the air before falling? Then you know what I mean. 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
Progress Update: March 29, 2010
I have not felt this positive about my game at any time since I started this adventure. Not at the beginning of any season, not at the end of any season, and certainly not at the high-point of any season. I am hitting the ball as well now as I have in years. I’m finally hitting the shots that I know I have inside me. The ones that I’ve had at my command in years past that led me to believe that this undertaking is not a fool’s errand. I think I have finally started to resolve my takeaway problems, where I was taking the club back outside the line, initially. That put me in poor position at the top and left me with no way to reliably make consistent contact. I’m going to explore my thoughts on the reason for this in another post, but I think it has something to do with not playing golf (rough winter) since last November. It’s as if I erased the chalkboard and started with a clean slate.
Got Your Rule Book Handy?
Let me guess: no? The beauty of the Rules of Golf is that the book is small and can easily fit into your golf bag. I know, the decisions book is a different story, but having the roles handy is a good start. I keep the Rules in my bag because the last thing I want is to get out on the course and not know how to proceed and just have to wing it, only to find out that I have to tack a mountain of strokes to my score, or even worse, I’m disqualified. It’s not a big deal if you’re just out playing for fun, but in a tournament situation, or when you’re competing seriously (i.e. for money and/or glory), you want to have the answers at arm’s reach. Still not going to pack the Rules in your bag? OK, I get it. Fortunately, there’s one rule to remember in case of emergency that will help you out of a jam. Rule 3-3, “Doubt as to Procedure” will help you, should you
Curing Fat Shots
Never let it be said that Twitter isn’t a great way to find helpful information. Recently, Dexter from Golf Tips & Quips tweeted a helpful YouTube video featuring Hank Haney giving some great advice on two causes of fat shots and how to cure them. As I watched, I saw Hank imitating the exact problem I suffer from and I thought it would be helpful to point it out here, since I don’t currently have any decent video of myself to share. Have a look at the video and meet me down below when you’re finished. As you saw in the video, there’s a problem with steep fat and shallow fat. The steep issue is the exact problem I’ve suffered from for a long time. I took some video last season that showed me doing exactly what Haney described. The only difference is, I don’t really suffer from fat shots (primarily) as a result of being too steep. I tend to hit the ball off the toe and pull hook it. Mainly, this happens because
Reading Lies on the Golf Course, Part I
A few weeks back, I was contacted by a reader who is interested in learning how to read lies and suggested the topic to me. I thought it was a great idea, so here we are. He pointed to a recent golf telecast where Nick Faldo, in discussing the new groove regulations for 2010, pointed out that players are going to have to do a better job of reading lies now. 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
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