Patience - How to Set Your Personal Best

This tip comes directly from The Bradley Johnson Memorial Golf Tournament held this past week at Greystone G.C. in Birmingham, Alabama. Which by the way was a special event which was run perfectly. I was honored to be around all of those great kids celebrating the life of a wonderful young man.

Have you ever gotten off to a great start during a round of golf? Have you ever gotten off to such a great start that you immediately started to think, "I have a chance to shoot my all time low round!" Then unfortunately a poor swing arises and mistakes are compounded and all of the good you had done with your fast start has gone away and you are left feeling frustrated and upset over a wasted chance to shoot a great score. All too often people get off to a good start and they become too aggressive and try to force the action. Players tend to start trying to force birdie putts in the hole rather than just playing golf. The lesson to learn here is to try and practice more patience on the golf course and stay in the routine and with the game plan that you have set for yourself. Just as we do not want to beat ourselves up over poor shots we also do not want to allow quick starts and good shots to cause us to abandon our strategy and force us to make poor decisions which erase the the good we have done.

So if you want to set your personal best... the next time you get off to a quick start dont get overconfident and try and force the action rather stay the course and continue along with the smae strategy that had gotten you off to the quick start. If you follow this strategy I can promise that you will finish off good starts better and set more personal bests.

Score Better On Par 5s...

How many times do you get to the end of the round and look at your card and realize that you really messed up a few of the par 5s? Even more frustrating is when you realize that most of the time when you had to take a big number on a par 5, you had started the hole right from the middle of the fairway with a beautiful drive. Use the following guidelines for par 5 play and you will soon see less big numbers and more birdies on your par 5s and your score card will look better.

Most big numbers begin when a player hits a nice drive and then tries to go for the green in two. Remember that the landing areas are narrower close to the green on par 5s. This is the penalty for taking an aggressive play at the green for your second shot. Players too often feel that they have to take their 3 wood and hit the ball as far down and close to the green as they can for their second shot. What this does is give you a smaller landing area and brings into play more trouble and the possibility of a very difficult third shot.

Use this rule: If you can not reach the center of the green with your second shot on the fly then the best shot for you is to hit your second shot to a yardage which leaves you your favorite wedge shot into the green. If you can hit your wedge 100 yards try laying all of your second shots back at the 100 yard marker. Most of the time you will find that you will get a a full 100 yard wedge closer to the hole with a better birdie opportunity that you will from trouble and the difficult shot that is left for you from an offline fairway wood second shot.

Use this little bit of course management to lower your scores next time you tee it up!

Hit Better Fairway Woods...

This tip occurred to me while watching a replay of Tiger's win last year at the British Open. Most people can learn from what Tiger did all week with his 5 wood. Tiger used his 5 wood to masterfully navigate Hoylake, avoid trouble and win an emotional British Open.

Tiger hit wonderfully controlled shots with his 5 wood all week. The key was that Tiger really hit down on these shots. He swung at those 5 wood shots much more like and iron rather than a wood. I think this is something Tiger does that makes him so effective with his fairway woods. Especially off the tee.

I have many students come to me and tell me they are struggling with their fairway woods. Whether it is for control off the tee or for 2nd shots from the fairway they have trouble getting them in the air. Rather than trying to sweep your fairway wood and lift it into the air pretend you are hitting an iron shot. Use the same drill we have used on the Dewsweepers many times before. Make sure you swing more down at the ball. Pick a spot in front of the ball and try and make the club find it's low point there.

If you try and swing your fairway woods moer like and iron....hit more down on them rather than sweep them you will find you hit more consistent and solid fairway wood shots. You may not win the British Open but you will give the gang at the club a run for their money!

Effective Practice Leads to Lower Scores...

I can't tell you how many times I walk up and down the tee and see one player after another just hitting ball after ball. They all think they are practicing but in reality most are not getting better at golf at all.

Practice effectively and with a purpose. It would help all of you to practice in a fashion that prepares you better for what you will encounter on the course. Don't just hit 7 iron after 7 iron. Rather picture holes you are familiar with in your mind and play them on the range. Hit your driver at a target. Then hit the next ball using the club you would be left with after the last tee ball you hit. It is important to go through your pre-shot routine on each shot just as you would on the golf course. If you get used to using your routine and simulating the shots you will encounter on the course you will find it becomes easier to stay in your routine, focused and less frazzled on the golf course. So, the next time you go hit balls, do not just hit balls...Practice and simulate the scenarios you encounter on the course. Practice effectively and the next time you play you will feel more prepared and your scores will reflect it!!!