Category: Golf

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Golf: Fault No. 10

Trying to lift the ball or help the ball into the air is fault no. 10. This fault is usually associated with the beginner player, but I have seen this in players who have been playing for a while, especially in the short game. This is a natural feeling to have. The golf shot has to get up in the air, and what better way to do it than trying to hit the ball on the upswing to get the job done. Unfortunately, that leads to mostly ground balls and hitting behind the ball. There are many videos about hitting down on the ball and how to do it. There are some videos that say you should not hit down on the ball. This is more or less a matter of semantics. Either way, these videos go through many drills and techniques to hit down on the ball properly. You really do not need to worry about doing any of these techniques. It is the concept you have to believe in first. Every golf swing is actually hitting down on the ball. That is one of the reasons they call it a downswing. It really is a natural occurrence of hitting the ball with a slightly descending blow. No swing is perfect, but it is not a swing flaw or fault that is keeping you from hitting the ball first and then the turf. It is a lack of trust in the concept that is keeping you from doing it. So, without changing any part of your swing, let us see how we can get you to hit down on the ball.

The golf swing has a start, a top, a bottom, and an end. What we are interested in this time is the bottom of the swing. Take a 7 iron, put a ball down where you would normally position the ball. Now step back and take a practice swing just like you normally would if you were actually hitting the ball. You want to make sure that your club makes contact with the ground. You do not need to lay a ton of sod on your practice swing, but make sure that you hit the ground and take a little bit of grass with it. This is the bottom of the swing. See where this is in relationship to the ball that you just placed down. If the ball is not totally behind the missing grass, move it to that point. If the divot is more than an inch in front of the ball, then move the ball forward to that spot. Keep repeating the practice swings until the ball is consistently about 1 inch or less behind the divot. That is your new ball position for your irons and fairway woods. You may vary the position about 1/4 of an inch as the clubs get longer and shorter, but the ball should not be played any further back than dead center of your feet. Try to make a real swing as close to the practice swing with the ball in the new position. The new position may not be all that different from where you originally placed the ball, and that is fine. Part of the solution has been that you have bought into hitting the ball on a descending blow. Another way of getting to believe in the descending blow is to try and hit your driver off the tee with a descending blow. It is fine to play the ball in your normal driver position, but this time have the feeling that you are hitting the ball on the downswing. With the ball teed up, you may not hit the ground, but if you are thinking descending blow, it will help you make the transition to the fairway woods and irons. Once you feel comfortable with this, go ahead and get back into the feeling of hitting the driver right in the back of the ball or slightly on the upswing. When in the learning process, it does not hurt to hit every shot with a slightly descending blow. In a nutshell, find out where your swing bottoms out and place the ball position accordingly.

The short game is the same thing. All your shots for the short game contact with the ball must be made with a descending blow. This technique is crucial because it ensures that you strike the ball cleanly and consistently, allowing for better control and accuracy. Sometimes, that descending blow must be pretty steep, depending on the type of shot you are attempting and the way the ball is sitting in the grass. For instance, if the ball is nestled down in the rough, a steeper angle of attack may be necessary to get under the ball and lift it into the air effectively. Again, the principal is the same. Always take your practice swings and check where the club is brushing the grass during your practice. This simple act can provide valuable insights into your swing path. Position the ball just behind the spot where the club makes contact with the grass for optimal results. Once you do this, your short game shots should improve significantly, leading to lower scores and a more enjoyable game overall as you gain confidence in your ability to execute these shorter shots with precision.

Despite what you watch on YouTube, this problem is not a problem in technique; rather, it is fundamentally a problem of perception. Once you fully grasp the concept of hitting the ball with a slightly descending blow, your swing will naturally adjust to fulfill its intended purpose of striking the ball correctly. It’s essential to hit down and through the ball, thereby dispelling the idea of hitting up at the ball to achieve lift. This shift in mindset is critical, as it allows the clubhead to perform its role effectively, generating the necessary power and trajectory. An important aspect to remember is that the bottom of your swing should occur about one inch past the ball; this precise positioning is what enables optimal contact. As you incorporate this approach into your game, you will begin to notice a transformative improvement in your shots—higher, longer, and straighter. Consequently, embracing this technique will not only enhance your understanding of the swing but also significantly elevate your overall performance on the course, making every practice session more rewarding and enjoyable.

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Golf: The Ten Commonest Faults, Introduction.

There seems to be a pattern when it comes to playing golf. Everybody has to start sometime, whether it’s through simply picking up a club, watching instructional videos, or taking formal lessons from a pro. As you play the game more frequently and dedicate longer hours to practice, you inevitably begin to notice improvements in your skills. However, it is crucial to recognize that no player’s journey is linear; it really does not matter how much you improve, as there comes a time when you hit a wall and do not seem to get any better, regardless of effort or dedication. For those who really excel at golf and manage to get their handicap below 5, it’s not uncommon to experience periods where their game digresses instead of progresses. This phenomenon can certainly be observed in elite players competing at the highest level, where the pressure to maintain performance is immense. Not all of the faults that I will be covering will apply to better players, but some definitely will resonate, especially when we delve into the top three problems that keep players from improving. When I was contemplating writing blogs about the most common faults, I initially thought about listing them all at once and providing quick solutions. However, after reflecting on the matter more deeply, I came to the conclusion that these faults are so pervasive and impact players at every level that each one truly warrants its own dedicated article. By doing this, I can give each problem the attention it deserves, allowing for a thorough exploration of causes and potential solutions. I will not drag this out too long, as I want to be concise while still being informative. Between now and the opening day of baseball, I should be able to cover the 10 faults or problems, or whatever you want to call them, that I have identified through my experiences. Some of these issues may be physical, involving swing mechanics, while others may pertain to conceptual misunderstandings of the game itself. Additionally, some could be classified under mental issues, such as anxiety or frustration during play, which can significantly affect performance. These factors are certainly not all swing faults; however, there are a few that clearly fall into that category. I truly believe that regardless of what level your game is at, if you can overcome these 10 issues, then your game will substantially improve, putting you on the path toward reaching your golfing goals. We will be getting started in the next couple of days, and I truly look forward to sharing these insights with you. The only thing that could potentially delay these blogs would be if the Pirates make any major moves over the next 5 weeks, but in other words, there won’t be any significant delays.

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Golf: Waiting For The Thaw

It has been another rough winter in Pittsburgh for golf. Last year I played 4 rounds in December, 0 rounds in January, and 2 rounds in February. This year I played 0 rounds in December, 2 rounds in January, and 0 rounds so far this month. We have had years when I played a decent amount of winter golf. In December 22 and January, February 23, I played 10 rounds. From December 23 through February 24, I played 16 rounds. The last two years have not come close. It becomes a challenge to get through the winter. I do write some blogs on other subjects. The Pirates have been a little more active in the off-season, so I have been able to write about that. I have two Momentus golf swing trainers that are only a little over 2 feet long that I swing in the house. One is an 8 lb. weight trainer, and the other is just a normal short club. I swing these about 20 to 30 times per day. This keeps the golf muscles in shape. It is hard to fill the rest of the day when you do something almost every day that takes 5 to 7 hours out of the day. Fortunately or unfortunately, I am old; just sitting and staring into space is considered normal for old people, so I do that and nobody bothers me.

I do get on YouTube a lot. I watch a lot of golf swings, both good and bad, and some old golf matches. I check out instruction to see what misinformation is out there. I have subscribed to four sites that I have found entertaining and helpful for my golf game. The first one is the Golf Ball Addict. He tests golf balls and recommends balls for the average golfer. It is an in-depth testing process, and it has definitely changed the way I think about golf balls. Even if I did not think this guy was correct in his testing, he is a very entertaining fellow. That’s the bonus; he knows what he is doing and is entertaining. If you want to play the right golf ball and save a ton of money, check the Golf Ball Addict out. Next, we have Black and White Golf. Why they call it Black and White Golf, I have no idea. It is about 2 guys playing various courses in West Virginia and they play various formats. In a nutshell, they stink at the game. They know this, so it’s cool. One is a little better than the other. One has a full beard, and the one with the full beard aims so far right that the only way he can get a ball in play is to hit these huge pull hooks. He pulls this shot off about three times per round. Sometimes they both hit trees and buildings more often than they do the fairway. The bearded one did make a hole in one. They are fun to watch, and I think someday they will play better. The third site is Mr. Short Game Golf. This guy has by far the most followers. I have just been watching him now for about three weeks. I like his style, and the instruction is fine. The only thing I get a big kick out of is that it’s like everything he tells you is a big secret. When he gets to the key point of the instruction, he lowers his voice just a little. It is like he is only telling you, and nobody else will find out. It is actually a little bit of his appeal. Then the final site is a typical good-looking female golfer who has a fair game of golf. In this case, her name is Karin Hart. As she tells you, her first name is pronounced like “Car.” What is best about her is that most of her videos are short and make no sense, but she is great to look at and does not have a bad swing. I can think of worse ways to pass the time.

Right now, I would not even begin to hazard a guess when I may be setting foot on a golf course. I would say the earliest would be around February 25th. We have a lot of snow on the ground. I would love to see the Pirates make some kind of news, even if it is some kind of dumb signing or trade. All I know is the thaw cannot come fast enough. This is the 2nd winter in a row like this. It makes me think that next year I will be planning a winter trip. I am going to Phoenix in March to see my youngest grandson play in a Little League tournament. I may be checking out possibilities for next year. Even the South is cold right now. There is a little more daylight now, and that has helped. Thank God February is only 28 days. Too bad June and July can’t have 45 days.

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Golf: Golf Season 2025 Wrap Up

There really isn’t all that much to wrap up since I wrote about the season on November 11. The reason being is that for the first time in 23 years, I did not play any rounds of golf in the month of December. I played only 8 more rounds the rest of the year, with the last being on November 24th. Mother Nature took over from that point, and that was that. I made it to 166 rounds for the year and managed to shoot my age 2 more times to reach a nice round number of 50. I must have thought it was a nice number because my last 2 rounds of the year I shot 76, including making a double bogey on the last hole of my last round of the year. I thought for sure I would make it to 170 rounds for the year, but it was not to be. The other news is that I got a new set of irons that arrived in mid-December. More about them when I start to play again. There is snow on the ground right now, but the temperatures this week are supposed to be in the 40’s all week through Saturday. There is supposed to be some rain also. Whether this will be enough to get rid of the snow is hard to say. It would be nice to get out and give those new irons a swing. As usual, I’m looking forward to 2026 to be able to try some new failed theories I have come up with as I am on this weather-induced hiatus. By far the shortest end-of-season wrap-up. It doesn’t take much to cover 8 rounds of golf.

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Golf: The Pro Can’t Do This, Why Do You Think You Can?

There are lots of things that seem to frustrate golfers. Everyone wishes that their games were more consistent. Another one is the inability to take their game from the practice tee to the golf course. The reality is that the pros cannot do this either. The tour player is playing the game at its highest level. Their short games are unbelievable. They putt so much better than the recreational golfer. These are all things we can work on and improve. The pros, even though their games are so good, still seem to lack true consistency. They too can never predict how they are going to play based on their pregame warm-up. Let’s look at some examples of both problems. Then I will look at what is the best way to handle the problem, not solve it.

Even at the highest level of the game, the results can be inconsistent. My favorite example of this is when Peter Lonard won the Heritage Classic in the early 2000s. He shot rounds of 62-74-66 and 75 to win the tournament by two shots. His rounds varied by 12 shots worse, 8 shots better, and finally 9 shots worse on the last day. Lonard had won on other tours, but this was his first and only win on the PGA Tour. Even though this is the best example, there are many more instances of players having a great round one day and then shooting badly the next. There have been players who have had the first-round lead in tournaments but shot so poorly the next day that they missed the cut. We have seen players just barely make the cut and then play two great rounds over the weekend to win the tournament. With as much time as these guys work on their games and work hard, you would think they would be a little more consistent with their scores. The point of all this is simple: if this happens to pros on a fairly regular basis, then why do we get so upset when our scores may vary this much on a day-to-day basis? You can explain some of this due to the stress of playing in tournament golf, but certainly not all of it. Let’s get to the second issue before we look at how to handle all of this.

The problem of not being able to take our practice tee results to the golf course is a problem that has been discussed at length in articles, podcasts, and YouTube videos. To cut to the chase, all the solutions to this problem are simply wrong. I don’t care what you do on the practice range. Pretend to play a round. Change clubs at least every 3 or 4 swings. Go through your routine in great detail on every range shot. You are simply not going to fool the brain that this has anything to do with playing real golf. Another thing that proves it really can’t be done is to listen to the tour players after they have shot a particular round. After a very bad round, the player may talk about what a great warm-up session he had, but when he got to the first tee, the wheels fell off immediately. Other times, after a very good round, the player may speak of having a horrible practice session, and then when he got to the first tee, everything just fell into place. Then the final proof of the pudding is to simply watch the players on the practice range. During a big event, many times TV will cover players warming up on the practice tee. These practice tee swings do not even look close to the swings they will be taking coming down the back nine on a Sunday. Check it out. That’s not to say you do not need to practice. You have to take it for what it is worth. Anything from trying a new move or address position to just loosening up the golf muscles. This is what practice is for and nothing more. Do not try to recreate on the golf course. It is just not going to work.

So, what’s a mother to do? Number one, do not look for a solution to either problem. There is none. If there were, then you would not see the wide variance in the scores of tour players. What can you do when your game is going south? It starts with the first tee. Expect nothing and be ready for anything. If things are not going well, then get very conservative. Get the ball in play. Shoot for the middle of the green. Even in putting, just lag the ball to the hole on even shorter putts in the 15 to 20-foot range. Try to make some changes in your address position. Stand closer, open or close your stance, and change your ball position. I would not try to make any swing changes. You might try changing your rhythm or tempo. Sometimes swinging faster or slower will help. Be patient. Sometimes what changes a round is a lucky shot or a long putt that drops. All you can really do is as much damage control as possible and hope something turns it around. Finally, just accept it, get through it, and enjoy the day. Believe me, easier said than done, I will vouch for that. When it comes to practice and pre-round warm-up, you have to change your outlook. To be fair, there are just as many stories of guys having great or bad warm-up sessions and going out to play great or poor rounds. Do not look at any form of practice as the fastest route to game improvement. There are lots of golfers out there who really enjoy practice, and that’s great. It still boils down to once you get on the course, you have to find ways to perform. That is really the key to golf. I am not too sure there is really a wrong way to practice. What is wrong is what people expect from practicing. Remember, expect nothing and be ready for everything. It is your only hope in this goofy game.

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Golf: The Evolving Left Heel

When you start looking at golf swings over history, the use of the left heel is one of the biggest differences. It is hard to say exactly when the golf swings of the pros changed, so these years may not be exact, but we need to divide the left heel into three different generations of golfers: the pros from 1900 to 1935, the pros from 1935 to 1990, and finally, the pros from 1990 to the present. There will be some exceptions during these times, although for the present swing of the pros, I see no exceptions, which does not mean that there may be a few. From 1935 to 1990, the use of the left heel gradually and subtly changed over those years. Let’s go through the years and see what the left heel did.

From 1900 to 1935, the great players were Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Harry Vardon, James Baird, J. H. Taylor, Tommy Armour, Willie Anderson, Ted Ray, and Jim Barnes. They all lifted their left heel quite high during the backswing. There is no question they did this lifting of the left heel consciously. The left heel, in most cases, started to come off the ground just as the swing began. Many, but not all, even lifted the heel slightly on less-than-full shots. When it came to full iron shots, the left heel would come off the ground. It would not come off the ground quite as high as the driver, but there was no doubt the left heel came up for all shots. On the driver swings, the heel came way off the ground, where just the top of the shoe was touching the ground. Of all the great players of that era, Gene Sarazen’s heel came up the least on the driver swing. In fact, he came the closest to swinging the way the pros swung during the ’40s all the way through to the ’90s.

As we got into the 50s and pretty much into the 70s and the 80s, things began to change. The left heel continued to rise on the driver swings and most of the iron shots. However, for the short irons, the heel would remain on the ground for some players. Certainly, for short game shots, nobody would lift their heel. The great players during this time were Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, and Lee Trevino. This was the first boom period for golf, thanks to Arnold Palmer. While practically all the players raised their left heel distinctly for all long shots, it was more of a reaction to the turning of their bodies, especially their hips. They all felt that the left heel was being pulled off the ground by a full backswing turn. Nicklaus’s heel came way off the ground for his driver swing. The difference between this swing and the swing of the early 1900s was that at the beginning of the swing, the left heel did stay on the ground. Because the left heel came off the ground so late in the backswing, it was a much quicker up and down. It may have been more of a timing mechanism. It certainly was for Jack Nicklaus. He mentioned in his instructional books that he felt the first move to begin the downswing was to plant the left heel back on the ground. I looked at a lot of golf swings from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and all the players followed this particular rule. They all felt that the left heel coming off the ground was one of the last things that happened in the backswing. There was no question that practically all the good players raised that left heel.

Beginning in the late 80s and into the 90s, a new thought process was starting to take place when it came to the left heel. Good players started to have more of a rolling process when it came to the left foot and the backswing. These players included Greg Norman, Ernie Els, and Nick Faldo. From the rolling of the left foot came keeping the left foot on the ground through the entire backswing. This was to restrict the hip turn to create a stretch at the top of the backswing to create more power. In today’s game, we have practically all the pros with Tiger Woods topping that list. I did not get too technical here because even rolling the left foot inward does keep about 90% of the left heel on the ground. There is no question this is the modern swing. Keep that left foot on the ground throughout the swing. So how should this evolving left heel affect our game?

We all should consider at least trying to lift the left heel. There are two big benefits to lifting the left heel on the backswing. First and foremost, it guarantees that you will get your weight off the left foot during the backswing. The second benefit, which Jack Nicklaus mentions in his books, is that it will keep the hips level during the swing. As your left knee turns toward the ball, if you do not lift your left heel, you will feel your left hip move closer to the ground. What method should we use when we lift the left heel? Should we feel that the left heel is being dragged off the ground, or should we start lifting the heel as soon as the swing starts? I think you can experiment with either method, but I would start out with the left heel lifting right away, simply to get used to the move. One thing lifting the left heel will do is take the strain off the back and hips. I would practice by always incorporating the left heel lifting right at the beginning of the swing. For the real deal, if your results are better by lifting the heel late in the backswing, then go ahead and make that your backswing. Lifting the left heel has long been a forgotten part of golf. For us weekend warriors, I think it should be rediscovered.

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Golf: Practice Swings

To practice swing or not to practice swing, that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer doing something for no reason or take the risk of having irreparable damage done to your golf game for failing to do so. Back when Shakespeare wrote “to be or not to be,” nobody in golf was taking practice swings. It was not until the turn of the 20th century that golfers and golf instructors thought there would be a benefit from rehearsing your golf swing before every shot. When you think about it, no other sport really does a practice swing. You never see a pitcher turn his back to the plate and go through the complete wind-up without throwing the ball. You do not see a tennis player go through the motions of hitting a serve and then hit the serve. You do not see a bowler take a full 4 or 5-step approach without the ball. Practice swings have been part of golf for over a hundred years. There are many possible benefits to making practice swings. Despite these benefits, we do not seem to be able to hit the ball with the same motion as our practice swings. There are many videos on YouTube to teach you how to hit the ball with your practice swing. These may be some of the worst instructional videos in the history of golf. First, let’s take a look at the general consensus when it comes to the benefit of practice swings. There are different feelings about practice swings for each part of the game. The full swing, the short game, and putting all have different ways you should be thinking of practice swings.

For all full shots, the internet says the practice swing can benefit these parts of the game. The practice swing can serve as a muscle memory rehearsal. You can create the swing that you want for a particular shot. You can use the practice swing to ingrain a new swing thought. It can help you with your tempo and rhythm. It can give you a moment to increase your mental focus. After all of that, it is a wonder that anybody could execute a golf shot before 1900. Short game practice swings are more shot oriented. You want to engage with the turf on your practice swings with chips and pitches. You want to gauge how far you want to hit the ball and the trajectory you want to use. You want to establish your swing length for the shot. Putting is about the same as the short game for practice swings, but you want to be even more precise with your distance control and rhythm of the stroke. With putting, you may want to take your practice swings from behind the ball. There is not a lot of opinion that is against the practice swing. The biggest negative is if you are doing it wrong, then it is more of a problem than a help to your game. It may ingrain bad habits, plus it might slow down your game if you take too many. It may cause some overthinking of the shot. Then there is the problem of not being able to hit the ball with the same technique as you used on the practice swing. This is the same problem as not being able to take your game from the range to the golf course, which I have written about before. It simply boils down to the fact that you cannot fool your brain. The brain knows you are taking a practice swing just like it knows you are now going to hit the ball. I will get into that in a future blog. For now, do not worry about it because there is no solution for either problem. Needless to say, I disagree with just about everything that is written about the practice swing on the full swing and about half of what is written about it in the short game and putting. So let’s cut to the chase.

The full swing practice swing should be nothing more than a loosening device to help you swing. It is especially true for me because it is rare that I ever hit balls before a round. Usually, I will start out with big practice swings to begin with and then, as I warm-up, I will take slower or shorter practice swings. Maybe the practice swing can help with some rhythm issues, but it still boils down to executing the swing. I watch a lot of old film and videos of the pros during tournament play, and all of their practice swings were just a relaxed version of their swings. Few of them ever took a full hard swing with their practice swings. Basically, you should never try to create a full swing shot with your practice swing. You may create part of it, like a high follow-through for a high shot. When it comes to the short game, I think one thing that is overlooked when the pros are preparing for their shot is the way they take a practice swing. It is more of a back-and-forth motion, not taking any time to reset. It is like they are trying to get a feel from moving backward and forward, then forward to backward without ever stopping. I think in putting, the way you take your practice swing is dictated by how you are putting. If you are having a good day at distance control, then the practice stroke should be more of a loosening device. If you are having trouble with green speed, then the practice strokes need to be done more precisely to mimic the way you are going to hit the putt. We all know the one thing that practice swings do is to slow play down. You see it all the time the individual who takes 2 or more practice swings for every shot. The bad thing, is that individual is probably not going to break a 100. So just hit the damn ball.

So are practice swings a necessary and unique element of golf? Most likely yes. I have played a few rounds without ever taking a practice swing. Sometimes I have done this in the middle of the round. Like the practice swing itself, there is no rhyme or reason why I will suddenly stop taking practice swings. Sometimes I think it is just to show that the game can be played without the practice swing. One of the main reasons you should try not to make your practice swing exactly like your regular swing is how many times do you do something exactly the same way. One of the simplest ways to show this is to simply write your name. Then try to write it exactly the same way. You will never be able to do it. Same thing with your golf swing. Let’s say that you feel you make the perfect practice swing for the shot you are trying to play. In some respect, you have just wasted that swing. When you try and do it for real and the results are poor, it just increases your frustration. Even on the short game, you do not want to feel that your practice swings are that precise. Always think in general terms and just get a good feel for the shot. The practice swing in golf, even though it is unique when compared to other sports, is here to stay. Don’t overdo it and don’t overthink it. Take it for what it is: a way to loosen up and get ready for the full shots, a way to get a general feel for short shots. Don’t be lackluster with it, especially for the short shots. Just do not get into the practice swing too much. It’s only when you hit the ball that it really counts.

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Golf: Course Management Vs. Having Fun

Everyone wants to improve their game. When your handicap gets down under 10, many say that the best way to get your handicap down further is through your short game and how you manage getting around the course. Most course management advice is usually on the conservative side. In trouble, get out of trouble. Keep it in the fairway even if you lose distance. Shoot for the middle of the green. Try to stay below the hole. I could have titled this blog, maybe we are taking our games too seriously. Some people would argue that the advice I am about to give here is because I grew up watching Arnold Palmer. He had that go-for-broke style. You could argue that he cost himself as many majors with that style as he won. In later years, Phil Mickelson was a player of similar ilk. Many critics of Phil simply felt he made many dumb moves when it came to the shots he tried to play. Palmer was never criticized that way. Perhaps it was because he had so much early success and those spectacular comeback wins. Beyond that, there is no doubt that the consensus is that to improve your score, you play on the conservative side. But really, is that any fun? That is an easy question to answer; hell no, not even close. Even though we are all trying to get better, are we playing for all that much? Even if we are wagering within the friendly confines of our foursome, we certainly are not playing for that much money that it should make a difference. Let’s look at each area of the game and see what the advice usually is and why it is okay not to follow it.

Off the tee: You want to hit the fairway even if it means that you have to give up some distance. I played at a golf course that I belonged to where on the 14 non-par 3 holes, if you were going to play the course correctly, you would only hit the driver 4 to 5 times. I hit mine 13 times. There was only one hole, a very short drivable par 4, that I laid up on. The area of the green was surrounded by trees and bunkers, and it just wasn’t worth it. I would hit driver there about 3 times a year just to do it. I was working back then, and when I played on weekends, I was going to let the big dog eat. Did this cost me strokes at times? I think it did. However, I had a good time doing it. To this day, I almost always hit driver off the tee. I enjoy driving the golf ball too much. There have been many instances where I have scrambled for a par, when the driver has gotten me into trouble. Sometimes it has really gotten the round headed in the right direction. Hitting the driver in golf is to me the most fun part of the game.

Through the green: Now that you’re off the tee, let’s look at some other course management rules or suggestions. Play for the middle of the green. When in trouble, i.e. the woods, get out of trouble. On a par 5, lay up to a good distance to shoot into the green. I rarely follow any of those suggestions. I always flag hunt unless the pin is in some ridiculous spot or I am too far away to go over a bunker. When I am in the woods, I am always looking for a way to go to the green, whether it be high or low. I always try to get as close to the green as I can on a par 5. Why do I do this? First of all, it is fun to try all the shots that are required. I like to bend it toward the flag. Even if I miss the flag on the same side and short side myself, as they say, the greens I play are not that fast, and the short-sided pitch is not that difficult. Making a great recovery shot is really fun. Going around or through a bunch of trees and getting the ball on the green or near the green really is a thrill. Even if it does not turn out, I can still make a bogey most of the time. On a par 5, I hit my 3 wood even if I cannot get home in 2. It gives me great practice with my 3 wood, and I feel I can get the ball just as close with a 30 to 50-yard pitch or bump and run as I can with a full sand wedge at 100 to 110. I will lay back if there is severe trouble around the green, a creek or deep bunkers.

Around the green and putting, there is not as much strategy going on. Even the advice of not getting above the hole does not hold that much water when it comes to playing most public courses. The greens are usually not that fast. The faster the greens, the more you should adhere to that rule. Don’t get me wrong; there are going to be times when you have to take the conservative route with course management. If you want to have real fun playing golf, then 95% of the time, go for broke. Just remember, nobody is going to get hurt or die. This is just a golf game. Who knows, you may pull off a shot that you will be talking about for the rest of your life. I have never heard anybody at the bar talk about chipping out from the woods on number 12. It is time to have some fun playing this game. It is rare when you get that chance.

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Golf: Our Changing Golf Games

One of the many mysteries of golf is why our games change so much from day to day. You will hear many golfers bemoan the fact that one day their drives are great and their iron game is horrible. Then the next time out, the opposite is true. Everything is clicking from tee to green, and they cannot make a putt. Their putting is fantastic, but they can’t get a ball close to the hole. They are having a horrible time with their short game when it has been good for the last 4 rounds. Here is one that I have experienced when playing competitively. For maybe the last 3 to 4 rounds I have played going into a tournament, I may be driving the ball extremely well. Maybe it’s my iron game that has been spot on. Possibly, I have had 5 very good putting rounds. The day of the tournament, that best part of my game, becomes the worst part of my game. This part of golf has been brought home to me more now that I am retired and get to play a lot more golf. Since 1996, even when I was working, I managed to play 3 to 4 times a week and probably had around 2 range sessions a week. Now that I do not practice anymore, another part of this phenomenon has been brought into focus. Whatever the bad part of my game was the day before seems to go away on its own the next day. This happens even on the pro tour. Tour players’ scores will sometimes vary by 5 to 10 shots from round to round. After a round, they are seen on the driving range “fixing” the problem. It looks to me that going to bed and waking up solves the problem too. This may really be the biggest mystery in golf. Until somebody comes up with the reason this may happen, we have to find a better way of dealing with it.

Most of the time, we are looking to find ways to correct the part of our game that has gone haywire during the round. Instead of trying to do that, we should just make the best of it. The problem will most likely correct itself the next day. Some problems are bigger than others. Let us start with driving the golf ball. You will hit your driver 13 to 14 times a round. If your shots are having a particular pattern, just go ahead and play if you are making solid contact. If you are not making good contact, then change the ball position or open or close your stance. Sometimes what you do may not even make sense, but just go with the results. If your irons are the issue, then take some pressure off your iron game by going for the middle of the green until things seem better. If that doesn’t work, then again, ball position and stance may help you get better. You may wind up hitting nothing but low punch shots or your 7 wood from 150 yards and out. Sometimes taking more club than you think may work; taking less club may actually free up your swing when you go after the ball a little harder. This can be helpful toward the end of a round that you are playing well. Never underestimate fear and adrenaline. If your short game around the greens is giving you problems, then change the way you are playing the shots. Maybe go for the bump and run for all shots, even if that means not hitting the green on the fly. Go the opposite way and hit nothing but high shots, even when the high shot is not required. Getting closer or farther away from the ball may help. We discussed putting in the last blog, but the principle is the same. A grip or stance change may help the situation. The one thing you do not want to do is to try and fix your swing or technique. Whatever you come up with is not going to last anyway. You probably have misdiagnosed your problem anyway. The bottom line is you have to go with whatever game you have that day and do the best you can on the part that is misbehaving. Once the round is over, forget about it. It most likely will go away the next round. That is the good news about your game changing so much from day to day. The bad stuff doesn’t stay around either.

The best way to think when you start a round is to be ready for anything. Try to minimize what you are doing poorly and take advantage of what you are doing well. If you are driving the ball well, use it on holes where you might otherwise use an iron or fairway wood. If your fairway woods are bad, then use irons when you are over 190 yards away. If the irons are bad, then bunt that 7 wood 150 yards. If low punch shots seem to be working, do it. If trying to lift the ball up high in the air gives you good results, do it for every shot. If everything in your game is working smoothly, just say a little prayer and don’t expect it to happen tomorrow. Remember changing ball position and stance may do wonders. Do it quickly and see if results will change. If you are hitting better shots, continue until you stop hitting better shots, and then try something else. Remember you can hit a fade from a closed stance; Hogan did it all the time. Likewise, you can hit a hook from an open stance. There are no laws on the golf course, just results. It is not that you want expectations to be low; you want them to be nonexistent.

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Golf: Putting

One of my favorite subjects is putting. It is by far the most important part of the game. There are many people out there that think other aspects are more important. One that gets a lot of play is greens in regulation. I am sorry, it just won’t fly. I do not care how many greens you hit; if you don’t sink those putts, it is all for naught. I think the reason for this is that everyone wants to make shot-making the most important part of the game. It sells golf clubs, lessons, and just seems that it should be. Putting is so simple to do. There are almost no fundamentals, really. Your method is meaningless as long as you can get the ball into the hole. Many people will argue that putting is not golf. Like a lot of things in golf, there is really nothing to compare to in other sports. It would be like a basketball player having to throw a strike in bowling rather than shoot a free throw when he is fouled. I am going to touch on bowling again later. Watch any tournament down the stretch. See who holes the most putts. That will be your champion. I think this is what holds people back on their putting. They do not give it its just due. It doesn’t keep them from working on their putting. It is more of a mental thing. Subconsciously, they are more concerned and happier when they are hitting great iron shots and getting the ball on the green. They chalk up a missed putt to just one of those things. It is that unconscious lack of respect for putting that inadvertently undermines everyone’s game.

My putting had its usual ups and downs and right now it is in an up position. About 3 weeks ago I started spot putting. It is just a fact it is easier to aim at something that is 3 to 10 feet away than something that is over 15 feet away and beyond. Those spots on the bowling alley are not there just for show. I find a spot on the green or some color change on the green that is close to the line I want to go on. I line up to that. I get a picture in my mind of what speed I want the ball to go when it is going over the mark. On short putts I still try to find a mark. I have done this in the past and then got away from it. One of the big things now in golf balls is the alignment tool. I do not use it. I find that it is difficult to line it up exactly where I want it. Mentally I feel that it makes putting seem to be too exact. I will use it on short putts sometimes, especially when there is no spot between the ball and the hole. Now that leaving the flagstick in has been around for a while, there seems to be a shift toward taking the pin out. For myself, I am pretty ambivalent about it. I think the real problem here is that all flagsticks are not created equal. If during a round I see the ball being rejected by the stick a couple of times, I may start to take it out. In my mind, I think it is a crap shoot. There is no question in my mind that on certain putts the flagstick has kept balls out of the hole. It has also let other putts go into the hole that would have lipped out or gone right over the hole. I don’t know how long I will be using spot putting. Will it make it to my season-ending blog? Technique is irrelevant when it comes to putting. The key to putting is to get the ball moving at the right speed for the line that you have chosen.

The final key to putting is green reading. You can have the stroke of Ben Crenshaw and Brad Faxon combined, but if you can’t tell how much the putt is going to break and in what direction, then you are doomed. There are many green reading tips out there and cookbook methods. I think most of them are pretty worthless. My best advice is to use the laws of correction. On the very first hole, notice what you did on your first putt of the day. Whatever way you missed it, correct it immediately on the next hole. If you missed it short, on the next hole, make sure you are pass the hole. If it was low, play more break on the next putt. Instead of bemoaning the missed putt, just calmly observe why you missed it and correct it immediately. This is the only way you are going to get your putting on track. Recently, I had a day where my speed was perfect from the first hole. I did not change a thing and wound up making 5 birdies, of which 3 were putts of over 15 feet. I have no idea why my speed was so good that day. I made 5 bogeys that day, and all were related to ball striking and short game issues. If you make early corrections when putting, you will get a feel for the greens much quicker. However you do it, you must find a way to get the ball into the hole. The better you are at the most important aspect of golf, the lower you will score. It is a very simple equation.