With the end of the Masters, most golfers are gearing up for the golf season. Winter is almost over here in Chicago and the Cubs and pollen have captivated the masses. Spring time is a rebirth, a new beginning and the Cubs are could-be pretenders, I mean contenders. Your golf game has more rust than a 82 Toyota pick up, it’s time to go out and swing the sticks. Limber up the muscles, burn off some excess “layering” and find creative ways to trucker talk. What you should be doing is finding out a way to practice…golf’s dirty 8 letter word.
Where to start
Golf for most of us is rather enjoyable, or constant heartbreak. We either are consumed by the mysteries, or confounded by the demands. Yet in all of us there is a desire to improve…a strange personal challenge, a call to “next year I’m going to….get better!” That is the amazing thing about golf, unless your initials are TW, you need to practice. And these are some guidelines to help.
Do an assessment on your game. Figure out what you do well and what you struggle with. On a scale from 1 to 5 (with 1 being dreadful, and 5 being “all-world” rate the following:)
- Driver
- Fairway Woods/hybrids
- Long Irons 3-4
- Middle Irons 5-7
- Short Irons 8-PW
- Wedges G-S-L
- Chipping
- Bunker Play
- Putting
- Course Management
Now add up your total…there’s a possible 50 points out there….Take that number and multiply it by 2 then divide it by 3. That’s your real total. Nothing is inflated more than golf acumen, except fish stories…and I have proof of mine! BTW I scored a 33 adjusted to a 22. Any score above a 30 and your game is rather solid, glad to know you and let’s play sometime. If you scored below a 20 then practice is your savior….it will without a doubt help your game. It also means that you are truthful, which as the saying goes…denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
Find the Range closest to the putting green
In all my years it never amazed me to watch golfers on the Driving Range. What amazed me was watching people on the putting green or pitching green. Those were the people that understood the importance of practice. Don’t get me wrong, there is place and time for everything. The Driving Range is needed, albeit in smaller doses, for all golfers. The primal urge to pound golf balls is embedded somewhere deep within the Limbic system and can not be reprogrammed. What is needed is a method to improve. So find a driving range with a short walk to the putting and practice greens.
If you’ve followed my posts, you might see a common thread…The game of golf is not won with brute force and strength, yet it is subtle and yielding, kind of like Operation™ (Milton Bradley is not a sponsor and in no way shape or form associated with dlrgolf.com). The person that takes the time to practice their short game, in a nutshell improves the rest of their game. The logic is thus:
- Chipping takes pressure off of hitting the ball on the green
- Short wedge mastery can save any errant shot
- Two putting is a goal that any golfer can obtain
- More strokes are taken from inside of 40 yards than any other position!
Getting Dirty means to come Clean
So if you honestly want to improve your game, then lets practice. Hit your bucket of balls, flail away with the driver if it makes you work up a sweat, then take the time to cool down on the putting green. The best way to do this is to allow yourself 1 hour of practice. Twenty minutes of ball striking (most people are machine gunners and 30 balls in 20 minutes will be super easy) followed by 20 minutes of putting and 20 minutes of chipping.
To make practice fun, you need to do two things. Find a partner…a golf buddy and develop a game. The partner should be someone you like, and the game? Try playing a 9 hole putting match, or chipping match. Get the juices flowing by wagering a cold beer, or candy bar. Try to have fun, but also be into the learning aspect. And if you are looking for someone to pal around with, I’m setting up practice “dates” (and yes I’m happily married) for people to just go out and hit a couple balls on the range and then work out the short game. So check back soon and I’ll have times and locations posted. Let’s do this…and come out clean and mean for 2010.
