This is a solid book written by Raymond Floyd on the art of scoring, a great strategical and mental book on how to get the most out of your game. Really pay attention to the strategy he mentions as it can save countless strokes when you are in trouble.
*********************
The object of the game is to shoot the lowest score you can. In my experience, for all the other undeniable benefits of the game, scoring well is also the most surefire way to really enjoy golf. Right now there are probably more people captivated and even obsessed by golf than ever before, yet most are consumed with swing mechanics, driving the ball further, sports psychology and having the latest equipment. All are worthy subjects that can improve your game and increase your enjoyment, but I think most people miss the forest for the trees. Most people don't know how to play the game. I'm going to impart everything I know about playing the game: attitude visualization, how to deal with pressure, anger, and fear, about preparation and strategy.
To me, a scorer is someone who consistently gets the most from his skill level, who often shoots scores that are better than the way he or she hits the ball, and who in that sense regularly beats the golf course. If you are a scorer you won't always win, but you will know and play the percentages, and you won't often beat yourself.
Mistakes that professionals almost never make
Play to your strengths
If you're a scorer, you can find a way to play a course that will enable you to emphasize your strengths. Just because a hole seems to dictate a particular kind of shot doesn't mean you have to hit it. It's most effective to make the best of what your most consistent shot is, rather than try the so-called correct shot if you're inconsistent with it. Very few pros today try to hit the shaped shot into the pin (the "perfect shot"). They go with their strengths. This is obviously even more important for the average player. If your shot is a high fade or even a slice, stick with it. What's important is that you accept the limitations of this shot. If the hole is a dogleg left, you'll be forced to play to the wide side; if the pin is in the back left, you can't shoot at it.
Target, target, target
A scorer is obsessed with his target on every shot. If he is truly concentrating, for those moments until he hits the shot, the target is the most important thing in his life. When I'm playing my best, I immerse myself in my target. I try to let all my senses take in as much about the target as I can, and as I go through my pre-shot routine, I narrow down to where and on what path I want to hit the ball.
Having a game plan
A game plan is valuable because it imposes structure and discipline on your round. Golf is full of ups and downs, but when you have predetermined design for negotiating a particular course, following it can help you keep your composure and stay away from mistakes. It's natural after a poor hole to want to get the lost strokes back on the next one, but a game plan will keep you on a track designed for percentage golf.
Just the act of creating a game plan will make you more of a scorer. It will get you evaluating your abilities against the challenges of the golf course. By analyzing holes to determine the best route for you, you'll be going through the same process that pros consider critical to success on every course they play. The nature of the game plan will depend on the golf course. If it's one with small greens, an overriding strategy might be to shoot at the middle of the green no matter where the pin is. If it's a long course with wider than average fairways, going for a little more distance off the tee would be appropriate. IF the course has greens that slope severely from back to front, keeping the ball below the hole is crucial.
Particularly difficult holes are also best played with a predetermined game plan. Again, this helps control the natural urge to hit a heroic shot. The important thing, whatever your game plan is to stick with it throughout the round. With an intelligent game plan, it's easier to play comfortable. These are the universals. When I've fully lived up to all ten in one tournament, I've invariably done well. Again, I'm not talking about the quality of my ball-striking, but the quality of my thinking and my playing. Try to keep the universals in your head as you play and see how well you adhered to them after your round. In the big picture, how well you followed the universals will give you a better measure of how you played than your score. And if you follow the universals faithfully, you will become a scorer.
Chapter 4 Off the Tee
Being a scorer starts with being a good driver. A good driver isn't necessarily a long hitter, although length used intelligently is a wonderful advantage. A good driver isn't necessarily consistently straight, although accuracy is an even bigger advantage. A good driver evaluates what confronts him, knows his capabilities, and makes a conscious effort to avoid the big trouble and get the ball in play.
If you want to get the most out of the tools you have, any kind of shot you can get in the fairway with regularity is a fine starting point. Other than being a good putter inside 7 feet, the most valuable asset you can have in golf is to be a straight hitter. Placing the ball off the tee into a position from where the next shot can be hit unencumbered is the most fundamental factor of consistent play. Most golfers would do well to think of their tee shots as analogous to the serve in tennis: get the ball in play or lose the point. And you don't get a mulligan if you mess up the first one.
Playing from the fairway or short rough starts a very desirable chain reaction. First, the biggest disaster shots in the game are usually tee shots. Once you're on or near the fairway you're far less likely to make a big mistake on the hole. In match play, being straigh puts continuous pressure on your opponent and makes you a hard player to beat. In sum, being play off the tee simply makes the game easier.
What about distance? Again it's an undeniable advantage, but in relation to your ability to hit straight, I would say that, all other things being equal, a player who is in the fairway 80% of the time will beat a player who is 30 yards longer but hits the fairway only 40% of the time. To put it another way, if trying for an extra 10 yards off the tee is going to cause you to miss several more fairways, don't do it. A long, straight drive is a great way to start a hole, and wonderful for the ego, but if straining to produce such a shot all the time makes you wild, it's simply not worth it. A long straight one compared to a shorter straight one doesn't help you nearly as much as a really cooked one hurts you. I learned this the hard way. When I was a young man, I was one of the longest hitters on the tour, but also one of the wildest. My idol was Arnold Palmer, and in my early years I played a lot of practice rounds with him. I admired his forcing style of play and tried to emulate him. Like Arnold, I strove to hit the ball hard, to cut doglegs off the tee, to take out the driver on tight driving holes. Obviously, Arnold's style was right for him. Besides his extroverted, aggressive personality, Arnold was extremely straight off the tee. That ability allowed him to really challenge a golf course, much the way that Greg Norman's combination of power and accuracy allows him to be so bold.
I was different. I've never been as straight as those two players, so while I may have thought that constantly attacking off the tee was the right way to play, in fact it wasn't right for me. The mental strain of trying to hit forcing drives would, once a round or so, cause me to hit a terrible drive that might ruin my whole round. I also learned that I have a personality that likes to play percentages. I found that I truly hate to waste strokesm and that I was doing just that by being so aggressive. I became a much better player when I played a lower risk game off the tee. Then when I got within 30 yards, I could use my superior abilities in that range to attack with confidence. As much as I revered Arnold Palmer, I learned I had to be me.
In general I believe in a conservative approach. Unless you are very skilled, and have a temperament that can forget mistakes, it's the best way to go. At every level.
The first rule, then, of tee shots on so-called driving holes is to get the ball in play.
Carefully assess the hole
We'll talk about this more specifically in chapter 6. The point here is that a scorer makes a thorough point by point analysis of a hole before ever hitting the shot. Can it be reached easily in regulation? Which way is the wind blowing? Where is the trouble, and on which side of the fairway is it safer to err? Where on the green is the hold cut? Is the best club a driver, or something less? Does it fit my strengths or does it tempt my weaknesses? How have I played that day, and what was the pattern to my misses? There are many possible questions and a scorer asks the right ones.
Tee the ball correctly
When hitting a driver, tee the ball so at least half the ball is above the top of the club. This will allow for a natural positive angle of attack that launches the ball high on the face, the best spot for less spin and more launch. Conventional wisdom says to tee the ball low when you want to hit it low, especially into the wind. The problem with this is that it can promote hitting the ball with a descending blow, which imparts more backspin than a ball hit slightly on the upswing. Backspin into the wind will make the ball rise, which will defeat what you're trying to achieve.
When to go for distance
There are holes where the penalties off the tee are minimal, and the rewards for hitting a long one can be significant. At the professional level, a good example is the 15th at Augusta. It's a 500 yard par 5 with a pond in front of the green. There is almost no trouble off the tee, so a mishit would simply mean laying up short of the pond, the same as if you hit a straight but short drive. It's worth it in this kind of "no lose" case to go for a long one. Amateurs will face similar situations. When a hole is wide open with little or no trouble off the tee, and the reward for extra length is tangible (such as reaching a par 5 you wouldn't ordinarily be able to get to in two shots), then the gamble of playing the driver is worth it. Even though you are going for a bigger hit, you're still playing comfortable.
On the other hand, if a hole is just plain easy, with no trouble off the tee, but very reachable in regulation, there is no point in taking a big swing. You might only succeed in making an easy hole hard.
Hitting downwind also gives you more room to make a big swing. A strong following wind will straighten out errant shots. But on a tight driving hole that's downwind, the margin for error closes again, because the farther the ball travels the harder it is to keep in the fairway.
Look at the hole as an architect would
A well-designed golf hole has alternate routes that are based on the concept of risk versus reward. Generally there is a bold route off the tee that requires more risk, but if successful has a proportionate reward and a good chance for a birdie. There is a safer route that leaves a longer and more difficult second shot, but is easier to execute. Deciding which route is best for you depends on your skills and temperament. Sometimes a risky shot fits into your strength, but rarely if ever should a player who struggles to break 80 take the riskier route. The safe route will keep you away from the disaster shot that's been keeping your scores so high. It's better to hit to the fat part of the fairway and away from trouble. It will probably fewer birdies, but it will cut down on the bogeys and worse. If you try to cut a dogleg, cut the corners that go the way you usually curve the ball. Sometimes the architect puts features into a hole that can be taken advantage of. For example, a flat spot on an otherwise sloping fairway may lie short of where your normal drive would end up. In that case, it might be advantageous to take less club and place your shot on the flat spot as if it were a green on a par 3. Keep in mind that some fairways have slopes in them that can as catapults if you can land your ball on them; use them to your advantage.
Learn to hook the ball
The fastest to become better from the tee us to learn how to curve the ball right to left. It will improve your game in many ways. You'll be longer, you'll be able to hit a more penetrating shot into the wind, you'll have the skill to curve the ball out of trouble, and you'll be able to play more holes the way they were designed. To be a scorer it's at essential to at least know how to curve the ball both ways. Make sure that you have a strong enough grip and to have the clubface closed to the path on the downswing and into impact. Learning golf mechanics is usually a process of taking a step backward in order to take two steps forward, so accept that you'll temporarily lose some confidence and hit some wild shots. The important thing is to challenge yourself to try your new shot, and relish the road to improvement.
Find the right driver
A driver can be the latest in technology and be a terrible club for you. Before you buy a club, go to a professional with a launch monitor to check your swing speed, launch angle, spin rate, and whether you need an adjusted lie angle, shortened shaft length, different flex and/or kick. Then you can get fit properly.
Catch it solid into the wind
You don't want to get too much spin on the ball. A strong headwind will accentuate errors and you want to minimize them. Maybe learn the Tiger stinger, or have a special driving iron or fairway wood that drives the ball low under the wind.
An exercise program can add yards to your drives
We all laughed at Gary Player in the early days, but it turned out Gary knew what he was talking about. Basically the more flexibility and strength a person can develop, the longer he will hit the ball. For amateurs, flexibility is paramount because they sit in offices most of their working days. Flexibility is something the body loses quickly, but also something it can regain quickly. As far as strength goes, the main sources of power in the golf swing are the hips and the trunk. Style your workout in this direction, and you'll undoubtedly pick up some yards. This is one reason senior-tour players are hitting the ball longer than ever.
Focus on the target
Trust your swing and execute through your routines. The way to give it its best chance is to have faith in the centrifugal force of a freely swung clubhead. If you get first-tee jitters it's nothing to be ashamed of. I believe they help me focus, because very often, my first shot is one of the best I hit all day. Here's how I get myself ready to hit my first tee shot. First of all I hit a few drives at the end of my pre-round practice session. While doing so, I pretend I'm hitting my first tee shot of the round--complete with the gallery and the natural adrenaline inside me. My thoughts are focused and making a smooth, controlled swing. When I get to the first tee, I try to direct my thoughts to execution--not what's at stake or who is watching me. I make sure my movements and my mood are relaxed and slow. When it's my turn to hit, I make a conscious effort to go through my normal routine. It's important not to take the easy way out on the first tee by just getting things over with. By giving in and getting off to a poor start, you only increase the pressure on yourself for the rest of the round. If your nerves or lack of confidence is severe, there's no law that says you have to hit a driver off the first tee. Hit your "safety shot" if you have one, or drop down to a club you're more comfortable with, a fairway wood or even as little as a 5-iron. It won't go far, but if you hit it solid, it will get rid of the butterflies without any damage done. The key, even if you hit a bad first-tee shot, is knowing that you approached the shot carefully and gave it your best mentally. That knowledge alone is a good start to any round.
*********************
The object of the game is to shoot the lowest score you can. In my experience, for all the other undeniable benefits of the game, scoring well is also the most surefire way to really enjoy golf. Right now there are probably more people captivated and even obsessed by golf than ever before, yet most are consumed with swing mechanics, driving the ball further, sports psychology and having the latest equipment. All are worthy subjects that can improve your game and increase your enjoyment, but I think most people miss the forest for the trees. Most people don't know how to play the game. I'm going to impart everything I know about playing the game: attitude visualization, how to deal with pressure, anger, and fear, about preparation and strategy.
To me, a scorer is someone who consistently gets the most from his skill level, who often shoots scores that are better than the way he or she hits the ball, and who in that sense regularly beats the golf course. If you are a scorer you won't always win, but you will know and play the percentages, and you won't often beat yourself.
Mistakes that professionals almost never make
- underclubbing
- swinging too hard
- automatically shooting at the flag
- not playing away from trouble
- missing the green on the wrong side of the flag
- trying for too much out of trouble
- trying shots you have never practiced
- panicking in the sand
- misreading turf and lie conditions
- consistently underreading the break on the greens
Mental Mistakes professionals rarely make:
- becoming impatient
- playing overaggressively
- having more than one swing though on the course
- dwelling on a shot already played
- thinking about score and anticipating shots
- rushing under pressure
- practicing without a specific purpose
- neglecting the short game
- becoming overly meticulous on the greens
- forgetting to have fun
Devote yourself to two overriding principles. The first is to play comfortable. This means mostly finding out and understanding what is your best possible golf and playing for a little less. Play for what you know you can do instaed of what you hope you can do. Take what the golf course gives you. Play comfortable. I think this is the best advice I can give anyone about actually playing the game. It's the road to consistency. It's so simple, but it makes a huge difference. The second principle is to avoid the big mistake, the big number. These big numbers (double, triple bogies and beyond) probably happened because of carelessness of poor judgment as much as bad mechanics.
Golf is a hard game to play well. It's fun, but it's hard. It's full of disappointments and setbacks and days when nothing goes right. It will exasperate you, I don't care how good your attitude is. I think we love it because on those rare occasions when we do come close to conquering it, we know we've really done something. Accept the failures as opportunities for growth, get excited by the successes, enjoy the journey. Learning and improvement come more easily when the student is having fun.
Professionals almost always know precisely their strengths and weaknesses as golfers. Everyone on the PGA Tour averages a score that is under par even with only making 50% of 7 foot putts, hitting 7/10 GIR and 10/14 FIR, getting the ball up and down about 6/10 times. Two things are going on. Their mistakes are small ones--a pulled drive into the rough, a mishit approach that ends in the fringe-- and they know how to minimize the damage.
How far exactly do you carry the ball? Keep in mind that most pros hit their iron shots with about 85% effort. I know I do; it gives me better control of both the distance and the trajectory. Shots that aren't hit solidly generally curve more, don't start on line as often, don't fly as far, and are more easily grabbed by the wind. Iron shots that aren't solid don't carry as much backspin. Bottomline: shots that aren't solid rarely behave like you want. Solidity is a good general barometer of where you are as a player. If you hit the ball solidly on full shots three out of five times, chances are that your fundamentals are good enough to be a single digit handicap player. If your handicap is higher, the greatest source of your improvement will be in the short game and in your mental and management skills.
What is your predominant shot pattern and the pattern of your missed shots? There's no sense in trying to hit shots you can't pull off. When you find your predominant shot pattern, build your game around it. If you're going to be a scorer, you have to use what's most reliable for you. If you are a slicer whose bad shot goes way right and there's a lake that borders the fairway on the right, the percentage play is to aim to the left as much as possible to prevent a penalty and a resulting big score. You might call this defensive golf and you'd be right. But the golfer without great control or skills who's trying to shoot his lowest simply has to avoid hazards to stay away from the big number that's out there waiting for him. You may be trying to get rid of your slice, so you hate to play for it, but the practice range is the place to address that problem; when you're on the course, accept your problem and plan around it.
What clubs do you hit well? Your favorite clubs can tell you a lot about your swing and the kind of player you can become.
What are your skills around the green? A sophisticated short game can make up for a lot of deficiencies in the long game. Read Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible for more.
How well do you putt from 6 feet and in? To me, this is the best measure of how good a putter you are. Read Dr. Bob Rotella's Putting Out of Your Mind.
What is your mental approach during a round? Remember that you need to master your self communication/ talk. You do this by mastering your body language (55%): shoulders are back, head is up and your gestures and movements are confident and calm. Your tone of voice in your mind (38%): you are telling yourself to remain calm and confident in a calm voice rather than in a panicked and rushed voice. The words you are using (7%): You are telling yourself to be calm and confident.
Put in the reps with solid fundamentals and swing mechanics.
Chapter 3 The Universals: What Every Scorer Does
Play comfortable by understanding what you're capable of and playing at a level just inside that boundary (it's also called playing within yourself). It means playing golf the easiest way you can. Avoiding high risk shots in favor of safe ones. Swinging at 85% instead of 100%. Playing shots that allow you to relax rather than to feel pressure. Taking what the golf course gives you.
On the surface, this might not seem a very appealing concept. After all, isn't part of the fun of golf to test your ability? What about stretching your limits? Well the truth is that you won't be /underachieving at all, you'll be growing as a scorer and your scores will come down, which is hardly a sign of underachieving. Playing within oneself is a timehonored method of sports performance, one the greatest athletes practice regularly. Champion boxers routinely start their fights conservatively, to ease into a good rhythm, to make sure they don't make a foolish mistake until they can figure out their opponent and to conserve energy in order to get relatively stronger as the fight goes on. A comfortable player more easily gets into an easy rhythm that will repeat. I know so many of my best rounds started with a smooth drive hit just to get in the fairway, and a smooth iron just to get on the green. As I kept up this approach over the first few holes, I might have made some putts or I might not, but my confidence was growing just from the act of doing things easily, and I gradually got more comfortable trying for more. If I'd started forcing shots early, I might have made a couple of early birdies, but the chances are good I would've had a harder time keeping an effective rhythm into the round. It's important to make the distinction between playing comfortable and being "on." Playing comfortable means accepting what you have that day--no matter how little that might be--and not forcing more. It's a mindset more than a physical state. And it's a key to getting the most out of your game.
It's a lesson that came to me slowly, but once it came, I was in contention to win a lot more often. Bobby Jones learned the same lesson and wrote that it was a vital part of his incredible run of winning 13 major championships within a period of seven years. Playing comfortable takes discipline because it's in our nature to push the limits of what we can do. Jack Nicklaus was the greates exponent of playing comfortable. Even though he had the ability--probably more than anyone in the field--to drive par 4s and shoot at tucked away pins, Jack would patiently play irons off the tee, shoot at the middle of the greens and to stroke his putts to where they would just fall in on the last roll. He was establishing complete control of his game, so like Michael Jordan, if he needed more at the end of the tournament, he could reach for it effortlessly, without forcing anything he couldn't handle.
Playing comfortable promotes physical relaxation. It's easy to maintain nice, loose muscles and swing in rhythmic tempo which is the key to hitting the ball most consistently (it's the glue that keeps the swing smooth without manipulating the golf club). One of the best tips I've ever heard was given by Sam Snead when he advised swinging at about 85% effort. Sam said swing at that pace was conducive to smoothness, which promoted good timing. He said that the slow tempo and the absence of any violent moves in the swing gave the body time to make corrections, so bad swings didn't send the ball nearly as far off line as a hard bad swing would.
When you play comfortable you also take enough club. Rather than trying to hit a 6 iron perfectly-- which I would call a force-- you take a smooth 5 iron. You have more control, you get up to the flag more often, and you probably hit more shots solid.
On the mental side, playing comfortable engenders a calm, confident state of mind. You know you're hitting the shot with greatest margin for error, so there's less pressure to hit the ball perfectly. I see so many amateurs who are always forcing shots and playing out of their comfort zone. On long par 4s that they can reach only with their two best shots, they try for too much off the tee, get in trouble, and make a big number. They would be much better off smoothing something--perhaps even a fairway wood or long iron--off the tee, doing the same with their approach, and giving themselves a chance for a one-putt par and at worst an easy bogey. The strain of trying to produce perfect shots can get you into an edgy mental state that can affect your whole round. Professionals avoid this state of mind unless they know their games can handle it.
In this regard, playing comfortable is crucial in competition. In the prime of my career, I gained a reputation as being a good front-runner, the reason I think is that when I had a lead, I would make a conscious effort to play comfortable. My view was that as long as I did, the filed had to come and get me; I wasn't going to go back to them. That mindset gave me a mental safety net, and very often, I found that after a few holes I would get back into a groove that made more aggressive golf comfortable. When I've had runaway victories, or led wire to wire, that's precisely what happened.
Playing comfortable takes patience. If you aren't used to it, you may feel as if you're leaving strokes on the course. But that impression is formed because the satisfaction you get from the difficult shots you pull off makes you think of that as your normal performance. The point of playing comfortable is to produce a level of play that you can sustain. You're trading in the feeling of the rare heroic shot for the better feeling of consistently lower scores. A comfortable approach avoids risk because they create pressure and a negative mindset. But once a player in a comfortable mode makes a strategic choice to play a percentage shot, his mind frees his body to produce a smooth swing unencumbered by fear. A comfortable round is filled with one positive shot after another. In that sense having a conservative strategy makes it easier to have a confident swing.
For beginners, they should make sure they play as comfortable as possible. That means learning golf on easy courses in a relaxed environment, without a lot of pressure to play quickly on a crowded course. Amateurs should also make a point of playing from the right set of tees, the ones that make comfortable golf more accessible to them.
Avoid the Big Mistake
This is also vital to being a scorer. As much as a good player knows where his opportunities are, he knows even more where disaster lies. A scorer knows good golf is not so much about hitting a lot of good shots as much as limiting the number or effect of the bad ones. It's a game of misses, and a scorer knows where to miss it. A scorer is an expert at sensing danger. When he gets on the tee, he weighs the potential dangers in descending order. The worst is out of bounds, the next is the rough/ thick vegetation/ wasteland that leads to either an unplayable lie or lost ball. Then there are water, trees, regular rough, and bunkers. He assesses how dense the trees are, how thick the rough, how deep the bunkers, how sloped the fairway. From this information he determines where the safe spots on the holes are--where he can afford to put himself in a little bit of trouble--like light rough--in order to stay away from big trouble like out of bounds or water. Most holes have so-called bailout areas that might dictate a longer or more difficult route to the hole, but which avoid potential disaster.
Percetages dictate when you should bail out, but there is no shame in being extra conservative when the penalty for the wrong kind of mistake will mean a triple bogey or worse. When pros bail out, it's usually with an iron off the tee or an approach to the fat side of the green. For a 10 handicapper, the bailout away from hazards might be in the rough off the tee or short of the green on the approach. If the penalty for a bad mistake is high and you don't feel confident in negotiating the trouble with an attacking shot, take the bailout and give the hazards a wide berth. If you're basically conceding a bogey, that's all right, especially if the hole is one of the toughest on the course. The key to scoring for the average golfer is to avoid double bogey or worse. I am advocating playing defensively, this doesn't mean playing scared, but it does mean having a healthy respect for the fact that for nearly all golfers, the worst that can happen is much nearer to reality than the best. Golf is a game of mistakes, and the winner is almost always the player who makes the fewest bad shots--or those that do the least damage. Only the really skilled can play aggressively--employing power and taking big risks--with success, and even they do so at their peril. Even for a pro, I like the chances of the golfer who plays within himself and avoids the big mistake. In this sense, a good round of golf is about controlling the damage done by bad shots.
Have a safety shot
There are times in a round of golf when the game seems incredibly difficult. The fairway looks like the narrow side of a 2X4, the green like a distant lily pad, and the hole the size of a nail head (the wheels are coming off, you're on bogey train). When this happens, and it happens to professionals more often than you think, get into survival mode. Perhaps you can rescue yourself with a quiet pep talk, but sometimes the feeling of helplessness persists. The best weapon scores have to handle this kind of situation is what I call a "safety shot." A safety shot is something that gets you through bad moments without much damage being done. It's usually some kind of makeshift shot that won't impress anyone. It might have an unimpressive flight, but it will go reasonably straight, be there again if you need it, and probably begin to restore a sense of control. If you have an iron shot over water and you haven't been hitting them well, consider an alternative like playing towards the safest part of the green, taking out more club and hitting a 3/4 shot or 9:00 swing. If it's a shot around the green from a poor lie that you feel is begging to be hit thin or hit fat, take the putter and roll the ball along the ground. If it's a downhill 10 foot put that looks like it could run 10 feet past, lag it. What's vital is to keep the ball in play, avoid the big mistake, and stop the bleeding.
Winning ugly is an integral part of competition and it's an important part of being a scorer. When Jack Nicklaus gets tight on a tee shot, he resorts to a swing that tends to hit hte ball in the heel of the club. He hits a shot that starts left, flies lower than usual, and has a dying curve to the right--but it allows him to keep playing without self destructing. After the bad moment is past, Nicklaus is usually back to his old self. The danger here of course is to give in to fear too often. If you find yourself hitting more than a dozen safety shots a round, reassess your approach. Being a scorer also means understanding those times when you have to confront the challenge of a difficult shot or moment and simply do your best. The security of a safety shot can be an important refuge when it feels like everything's slipping away.
A scorer studies the flight of his playing partners' shots to see how strong the wind is, how long the distance is playing, how firm the green is, all sorts of things. Being a careful observer is a big part of being a scorer.
One Shot at a time
When you think about it, there is really nothing you can gain by knowing what you're shooting. The fact is, in almost all of the best rounds I've ever shot, I didn't know how I stood in relation to par or what I scored until it was added up at the end. I simply played one shot at a time. The best mind-set for scoring is total immersion in the shot you're about to hit, and after you've hit that one, total immersion in the next one. Out on tour, a lot of very good players don't look at the scoreboard--even when they're in contention on the final day--for fear that it will distract them from their routine of focusing on the shot at hand.
Understand Angles (pg 52)
Play your tee shots to create the angle that will give you the most green to shoot to, and try to avoid approaches that force you to carry a bunker to a tightly cut pin. Whenever possible, know where on the green the pin is cut before hitting the tee shot. Unless you have a quick stopping lob shot, make an effort to avoid missing the green on the side closest to the pin. This is called "getting shortsided." Favor the wide side, from which the recovery is easier because you have more green to play to.
Develop a pre-shot routine
This is a vital part of every shot for a scorer. The purpose of the pre-shot routine is to trigger concentration, to mentally announce that serious business is under way. Limit swing thoughts to one per round. The pre-shot routine is the mechanism to shut off destructive feelings (bad feelings from missed shots or overexcitement that can result from a great shot or score). If for some reason your concentration is broken during your pre-shot routine, I find it more effective to start all over. A scorer will not hit a shot if he isn't ready. Make sure you time your pre-shot routine on the range so that it doesn't take up too much time.
I find that my pre-shot routine works best when I play briskly. This doesn't mean that the pace of play has to be fast; I've learned through years of slow play in pro golf how to slow down my movements between shots, and then to play quickly and decisively when it's my turn to hit. This doesn't mean rushing. IT simply means moving at a steady pace and always being ready to hit the ball when it's your turn. Brisk play lends an orderliness and purpose to your playing and keeps you mentally sharp. Your first look--whether it's a tee shot, an approach, or a putt--is very often your best.
Play to your strengths
If you're a scorer, you can find a way to play a course that will enable you to emphasize your strengths. Just because a hole seems to dictate a particular kind of shot doesn't mean you have to hit it. It's most effective to make the best of what your most consistent shot is, rather than try the so-called correct shot if you're inconsistent with it. Very few pros today try to hit the shaped shot into the pin (the "perfect shot"). They go with their strengths. This is obviously even more important for the average player. If your shot is a high fade or even a slice, stick with it. What's important is that you accept the limitations of this shot. If the hole is a dogleg left, you'll be forced to play to the wide side; if the pin is in the back left, you can't shoot at it.
Target, target, target
A scorer is obsessed with his target on every shot. If he is truly concentrating, for those moments until he hits the shot, the target is the most important thing in his life. When I'm playing my best, I immerse myself in my target. I try to let all my senses take in as much about the target as I can, and as I go through my pre-shot routine, I narrow down to where and on what path I want to hit the ball.
Having a game plan
A game plan is valuable because it imposes structure and discipline on your round. Golf is full of ups and downs, but when you have predetermined design for negotiating a particular course, following it can help you keep your composure and stay away from mistakes. It's natural after a poor hole to want to get the lost strokes back on the next one, but a game plan will keep you on a track designed for percentage golf.
Just the act of creating a game plan will make you more of a scorer. It will get you evaluating your abilities against the challenges of the golf course. By analyzing holes to determine the best route for you, you'll be going through the same process that pros consider critical to success on every course they play. The nature of the game plan will depend on the golf course. If it's one with small greens, an overriding strategy might be to shoot at the middle of the green no matter where the pin is. If it's a long course with wider than average fairways, going for a little more distance off the tee would be appropriate. IF the course has greens that slope severely from back to front, keeping the ball below the hole is crucial.
Particularly difficult holes are also best played with a predetermined game plan. Again, this helps control the natural urge to hit a heroic shot. The important thing, whatever your game plan is to stick with it throughout the round. With an intelligent game plan, it's easier to play comfortable. These are the universals. When I've fully lived up to all ten in one tournament, I've invariably done well. Again, I'm not talking about the quality of my ball-striking, but the quality of my thinking and my playing. Try to keep the universals in your head as you play and see how well you adhered to them after your round. In the big picture, how well you followed the universals will give you a better measure of how you played than your score. And if you follow the universals faithfully, you will become a scorer.
Chapter 4 Off the Tee
Being a scorer starts with being a good driver. A good driver isn't necessarily a long hitter, although length used intelligently is a wonderful advantage. A good driver isn't necessarily consistently straight, although accuracy is an even bigger advantage. A good driver evaluates what confronts him, knows his capabilities, and makes a conscious effort to avoid the big trouble and get the ball in play.
If you want to get the most out of the tools you have, any kind of shot you can get in the fairway with regularity is a fine starting point. Other than being a good putter inside 7 feet, the most valuable asset you can have in golf is to be a straight hitter. Placing the ball off the tee into a position from where the next shot can be hit unencumbered is the most fundamental factor of consistent play. Most golfers would do well to think of their tee shots as analogous to the serve in tennis: get the ball in play or lose the point. And you don't get a mulligan if you mess up the first one.
Playing from the fairway or short rough starts a very desirable chain reaction. First, the biggest disaster shots in the game are usually tee shots. Once you're on or near the fairway you're far less likely to make a big mistake on the hole. In match play, being straigh puts continuous pressure on your opponent and makes you a hard player to beat. In sum, being play off the tee simply makes the game easier.
What about distance? Again it's an undeniable advantage, but in relation to your ability to hit straight, I would say that, all other things being equal, a player who is in the fairway 80% of the time will beat a player who is 30 yards longer but hits the fairway only 40% of the time. To put it another way, if trying for an extra 10 yards off the tee is going to cause you to miss several more fairways, don't do it. A long, straight drive is a great way to start a hole, and wonderful for the ego, but if straining to produce such a shot all the time makes you wild, it's simply not worth it. A long straight one compared to a shorter straight one doesn't help you nearly as much as a really cooked one hurts you. I learned this the hard way. When I was a young man, I was one of the longest hitters on the tour, but also one of the wildest. My idol was Arnold Palmer, and in my early years I played a lot of practice rounds with him. I admired his forcing style of play and tried to emulate him. Like Arnold, I strove to hit the ball hard, to cut doglegs off the tee, to take out the driver on tight driving holes. Obviously, Arnold's style was right for him. Besides his extroverted, aggressive personality, Arnold was extremely straight off the tee. That ability allowed him to really challenge a golf course, much the way that Greg Norman's combination of power and accuracy allows him to be so bold.
I was different. I've never been as straight as those two players, so while I may have thought that constantly attacking off the tee was the right way to play, in fact it wasn't right for me. The mental strain of trying to hit forcing drives would, once a round or so, cause me to hit a terrible drive that might ruin my whole round. I also learned that I have a personality that likes to play percentages. I found that I truly hate to waste strokesm and that I was doing just that by being so aggressive. I became a much better player when I played a lower risk game off the tee. Then when I got within 30 yards, I could use my superior abilities in that range to attack with confidence. As much as I revered Arnold Palmer, I learned I had to be me.
In general I believe in a conservative approach. Unless you are very skilled, and have a temperament that can forget mistakes, it's the best way to go. At every level.
The first rule, then, of tee shots on so-called driving holes is to get the ball in play.
Carefully assess the hole
We'll talk about this more specifically in chapter 6. The point here is that a scorer makes a thorough point by point analysis of a hole before ever hitting the shot. Can it be reached easily in regulation? Which way is the wind blowing? Where is the trouble, and on which side of the fairway is it safer to err? Where on the green is the hold cut? Is the best club a driver, or something less? Does it fit my strengths or does it tempt my weaknesses? How have I played that day, and what was the pattern to my misses? There are many possible questions and a scorer asks the right ones.
Tee the ball correctly
When hitting a driver, tee the ball so at least half the ball is above the top of the club. This will allow for a natural positive angle of attack that launches the ball high on the face, the best spot for less spin and more launch. Conventional wisdom says to tee the ball low when you want to hit it low, especially into the wind. The problem with this is that it can promote hitting the ball with a descending blow, which imparts more backspin than a ball hit slightly on the upswing. Backspin into the wind will make the ball rise, which will defeat what you're trying to achieve.
When to go for distance
There are holes where the penalties off the tee are minimal, and the rewards for hitting a long one can be significant. At the professional level, a good example is the 15th at Augusta. It's a 500 yard par 5 with a pond in front of the green. There is almost no trouble off the tee, so a mishit would simply mean laying up short of the pond, the same as if you hit a straight but short drive. It's worth it in this kind of "no lose" case to go for a long one. Amateurs will face similar situations. When a hole is wide open with little or no trouble off the tee, and the reward for extra length is tangible (such as reaching a par 5 you wouldn't ordinarily be able to get to in two shots), then the gamble of playing the driver is worth it. Even though you are going for a bigger hit, you're still playing comfortable.
On the other hand, if a hole is just plain easy, with no trouble off the tee, but very reachable in regulation, there is no point in taking a big swing. You might only succeed in making an easy hole hard.
Hitting downwind also gives you more room to make a big swing. A strong following wind will straighten out errant shots. But on a tight driving hole that's downwind, the margin for error closes again, because the farther the ball travels the harder it is to keep in the fairway.
Look at the hole as an architect would
A well-designed golf hole has alternate routes that are based on the concept of risk versus reward. Generally there is a bold route off the tee that requires more risk, but if successful has a proportionate reward and a good chance for a birdie. There is a safer route that leaves a longer and more difficult second shot, but is easier to execute. Deciding which route is best for you depends on your skills and temperament. Sometimes a risky shot fits into your strength, but rarely if ever should a player who struggles to break 80 take the riskier route. The safe route will keep you away from the disaster shot that's been keeping your scores so high. It's better to hit to the fat part of the fairway and away from trouble. It will probably fewer birdies, but it will cut down on the bogeys and worse. If you try to cut a dogleg, cut the corners that go the way you usually curve the ball. Sometimes the architect puts features into a hole that can be taken advantage of. For example, a flat spot on an otherwise sloping fairway may lie short of where your normal drive would end up. In that case, it might be advantageous to take less club and place your shot on the flat spot as if it were a green on a par 3. Keep in mind that some fairways have slopes in them that can as catapults if you can land your ball on them; use them to your advantage.
Learn to hook the ball
The fastest to become better from the tee us to learn how to curve the ball right to left. It will improve your game in many ways. You'll be longer, you'll be able to hit a more penetrating shot into the wind, you'll have the skill to curve the ball out of trouble, and you'll be able to play more holes the way they were designed. To be a scorer it's at essential to at least know how to curve the ball both ways. Make sure that you have a strong enough grip and to have the clubface closed to the path on the downswing and into impact. Learning golf mechanics is usually a process of taking a step backward in order to take two steps forward, so accept that you'll temporarily lose some confidence and hit some wild shots. The important thing is to challenge yourself to try your new shot, and relish the road to improvement.
Find the right driver
A driver can be the latest in technology and be a terrible club for you. Before you buy a club, go to a professional with a launch monitor to check your swing speed, launch angle, spin rate, and whether you need an adjusted lie angle, shortened shaft length, different flex and/or kick. Then you can get fit properly.
Catch it solid into the wind
You don't want to get too much spin on the ball. A strong headwind will accentuate errors and you want to minimize them. Maybe learn the Tiger stinger, or have a special driving iron or fairway wood that drives the ball low under the wind.
An exercise program can add yards to your drives
We all laughed at Gary Player in the early days, but it turned out Gary knew what he was talking about. Basically the more flexibility and strength a person can develop, the longer he will hit the ball. For amateurs, flexibility is paramount because they sit in offices most of their working days. Flexibility is something the body loses quickly, but also something it can regain quickly. As far as strength goes, the main sources of power in the golf swing are the hips and the trunk. Style your workout in this direction, and you'll undoubtedly pick up some yards. This is one reason senior-tour players are hitting the ball longer than ever.
Focus on the target
Trust your swing and execute through your routines. The way to give it its best chance is to have faith in the centrifugal force of a freely swung clubhead. If you get first-tee jitters it's nothing to be ashamed of. I believe they help me focus, because very often, my first shot is one of the best I hit all day. Here's how I get myself ready to hit my first tee shot. First of all I hit a few drives at the end of my pre-round practice session. While doing so, I pretend I'm hitting my first tee shot of the round--complete with the gallery and the natural adrenaline inside me. My thoughts are focused and making a smooth, controlled swing. When I get to the first tee, I try to direct my thoughts to execution--not what's at stake or who is watching me. I make sure my movements and my mood are relaxed and slow. When it's my turn to hit, I make a conscious effort to go through my normal routine. It's important not to take the easy way out on the first tee by just getting things over with. By giving in and getting off to a poor start, you only increase the pressure on yourself for the rest of the round. If your nerves or lack of confidence is severe, there's no law that says you have to hit a driver off the first tee. Hit your "safety shot" if you have one, or drop down to a club you're more comfortable with, a fairway wood or even as little as a 5-iron. It won't go far, but if you hit it solid, it will get rid of the butterflies without any damage done. The key, even if you hit a bad first-tee shot, is knowing that you approached the shot carefully and gave it your best mentally. That knowledge alone is a good start to any round.
No comments:
Post a Comment