How To Play the Best Golf of Your Life! - (4 Part Tip)
By Paul Wilson
Are you someone who currently shoots 85, 95, or over 100?
Wouldn't it be great to play the best golf of your life and take
your game to a whole new level? Unfortunately this is not going
to happen unless:
1). You don't lose any balls
2). You happen to get the ball up and down from everywhere
3). You make every putt
4). The stars are aligned perfectly
Even if you do shoot a career round, the very next day you will
go back to the same lousy scores that you are used to shooting.
The thrill of having that amazing round will be long gone and
you will be scratching your head at why you can't play to that
level all of the time.
Well, you don't have to keep scratching your head because I'm
here to give you a reality check. You can't play to the best of
your ability because you are already playing to the best of your
ability. You will never get any better if you keep doing what
you are doing and thinking the way you are thinking!
The only way you are going to bring your game to a new level and
play to the best of your ability is to change what you are
currently doing! Now, I know that 95% of you don't want to take
lessons (even though you should), so I'm going to help you play
the best golf of your life a different way. All I want you to do
is make a few simple changes to your current game and change the
way you think. If you can do that you really will play the best
golf of your life!
Before the Round
The first thing we are going to do is change the way you warm up
before your round. The warm up is very important because if you
don't warm up properly you may hurt yourself and/or do things
while you are warming up that may actually be hurting your golf
game.
First, you should do a few simple stretches before you even hit
a ball. Not only stretch your arms, wrists, shoulders but also
do some leg stretches. In all my years of standing on a driving
range watching people warm up, I've seen about 3 people stretch
their legs before their round and I was one of them. Your leg
muscles are the largest muscles in your body and you use them
throughout your golf swing. Because of this, it would probably
be a good idea to stretch them out before you play.
Once you've stretched a little you can begin to hit balls, but
instead of your normal warm up session, I want you to do
something a little different. Warming up is not about grabbing
your driver and hammering a few balls out there. I want you to
reach into your bag for your pitching wedge or sand wedge. Now
that you have the right club in your hand, I would like you to
do about 20 easy practice swings holding the club a few inches
off the ground. As you do these "off the ground" practice
swings, concentrate on how the club feels. Try to swing nice and
easy at about 50% of your ability. If you're doing it right, the
club should feel heavy. If the club feels light it's telling
that your arms are too tight as you swing so loosen up more and
swing a little easier.
Now that you've done about 20 practice swings it's time to hit
an actual ball. Keep in mind that you have a pitching wedge in
your hand, not your driver. This means you are just going to hit
some easy shots ... forget about distance. I want you to keep
thinking about swinging at 50% of your ability. This will keep
you loose and relaxed throughout your whole swing.
Now as you hit these warm up shots, I don't want you concerned
with how well or how poorly you are hitting the ball. In fact, I
don't even want you to pick a target. I just want you to hit
your balls into the range without a care in the world. After
about 10 - 15 wedge shots it's time to move up to a 7 iron.
Again, DO NOT pick a target. Just make some easy swings at 50%
of your power not caring where your ball is going or how well
you are hitting it. By not paying attention to your shot, you
are keeping your expectation levels down. I guarantee that if
you were to hit the ball incredibly well on the range, your
upcoming round would be disastrous. This is because you would be
expecting a great round based on your warm up shots.
After about 10 - 15 shots with your 7 iron, it's time to hit a
few drivers. REMEMBER, I want you to swing at 50% of your power.
This is absolutely vital! Again, do not pick a target. Do not
care where you hit the balls. Once you have hit about 10 - 15
easy shots it's time to either hit a few more pitching wedge
shots or make your way over to the practice green.
Now that you've done about 20 practice swings it's time to hit
an actual ball. Keep in mind that you have a pitching wedge in
your hand, not your driver. This means you are just going to hit
some easy shots ... forget about distance. I want you to keep
thinking about swinging at 50% of your ability. This will keep
you loose and relaxed throughout your whole swing.
Now as you hit these warm up shots, I don't want you concerned
with how well or how poorly you are hitting the ball. In fact, I
don't even want you to pick a target. I just want you to hit
your balls into the range without a care in the world. After
about 10 - 15 wedge shots it's time to move up to a 7 iron.
Again, DO NOT pick a target. Just make some easy swings at 50%
of your power not caring where your ball is going or how well
you are hitting it. By not paying attention to your shot, you
are keeping your expectation levels down. I guarantee that if
you were to hit the ball incredibly well on the range, your
upcoming round would be disastrous. This is because you would be
expecting a great round based on your warm up shots.
After about 10 - 15 shots with your 7 iron, it's time to hit a
few drivers. REMEMBER, I want you to swing at 50% of your power.
This is absolutely vital! Again, do not pick a target. Do not
care where you hit the balls. Once you have hit about 10 - 15
easy shots it's time to either hit a few more pitching wedge
shots or make your way over to the practice green.
How to Play the Best Golf of Your Life! - Part 2 of 4
In the previous golf tip I explained that in order to play the
best golf of your life, you have to change what you are currently
doing. I know that not everyone wants to take lessons, so I'm going
to help you play the best golf of your life anyway by making you
aware of a few simple changes you can make to your current game.
Last month's tip taught you how to warm up before the round. It
ended with us walking off of the driving range after hitting a few
shots and heading over to the putting/chipping green just before our
round. Let's move on the next step ...
Chipping Before the Round
If you have time, and if you are at a course that allows you to chip
to the practice green, try to do so before every round. Even if you
can only hit 20 chip shots before your round, try to do so. Although
hitting 20 chips is not going to make you great it will if you hit
20 chips every time before you go to play. Imagine, if you play 50
rounds per year multiplied by 20 chip shots you have just hit 1000
more chips than ever before. So a little practice over a long period
of time will add up to great chipping.
To practice your chipping before a round simply place 3 old golf
balls in a side pocket of your bag. Every time you go to play just
take out these 3 balls and use them to chip with. If you don't have
some old balls to chip with, the odds of you using 3 brand new balls
are slim to none. The moral of the story is that if you can prepare
yourself for your practice, you will be more likely to practice.
Bunker Shots Before the Round
Again, if you have time or course that allows you to practice these
shots, then do so. The best way to practice bunker shots is to
sprinkle a bunch of golf balls throughout the bunker so that some
are in good lies, bad lies, uphill, downhill, footprints etc. This
will give you a chance to practice all different types of bunker
shots. As you go to hit these bunker shots, make your goal to just
get the ball out of the bunker and onto the green (forget the pin).
If and when you can get all of the balls onto the green, it's time
to start trying to get them close to the pin. The reason for
practicing this way is that it dramatically reduces the pressure
from the shot. If you know that the worst you are going to do when
you are faced with a bunker shot is to get the ball on the green
there is no pressure on the shot. If there is no pressure you can
clearly focus and more often than not get the ball closer than you
expect.
Practice Putting Before the Round
I can't think of a golf course that doesn't have a practice green
close to the first tee. Because of this, everyone should be using it
to hit a few warm up putts before their round. Now your probably
saying to yourself, "this is nothing new", "I already do this" or
"I've heard this before". Well actually ... you haven't heard this
before because I don't want you to hit your normal 10-12 footers. I
don't want you to ever hit putts from this length. Why? Because you
are wasting you time hitting these type of putts. How many of these
do you actually have in a round of golf? I guarantee you that you do
not have that many. You have way more long and short putts so these
are the putts you should be practicing. Also, if you sit there
before a round and sink a bunch of 8-10 footers your expectation
levels will be too high when you go out on the course. Expectation
levels? What do you mean? Well, if you putt amazingly well on the
putting green before a round do you know how many putts you will
make on the course ... zero! This is because you are expecting to
make everything. Once you don't make everything like you did on the
practice green you start to pressure yourself, doubt yourself, and
you start thinking about your stroke instead of just letting it
happen.
The best thing you can do before you play a round of golf is to
practice long putts and 3-4 footers. In order to do this, take out 3
balls and go to one end of the green. Pick out a hole that is on the
other side of the green (approx. 50 feet) and hit all 3 balls to
this hole. DO NOT try to make the putt, just try to get it close to
the hole. Once you have hit all 3 balls walk up to them and try to
knock them in. Once you get them in, turn around and try 3 more
really long putts and so on. The objective is to reduce the amount
of 3 putts from your game. Think of it this way from 12 feet a pro
is going to make about 25% of their putts. If they make 25% what do
you think your will make. Probably 20% or less. Now how many times
from 50 feet do you think you will 3 putt? If you don't know I
suggest you try it. If you three putt more than 20% of the time from
50 feet I think your time would be much better spent practicing the
longer putts instead of 12 footers.
Now that you have a better feel for how to practice before you play
it's time to make your way to the first tee.
How to Play the Best Golf of Your Life! - Part 3 of 4
This was going to be the final tip in a 3 part series that will
show you how to play the best golf of your life but I find myself
with so much more to say. So, make sure you read the 4th and final
tip in next months paper.
Frame of Mind
In the last tip, I had you hit a few warm up putts and now you're
headed toward the first tee to play your round of golf. As you step
onto the tee what are you thinking? Are you thinking that you are
going to play a great round of golf? I hope not. If you think like
that you are destined for failure. This is because you are building
your expectation levels up too high. You have just said to yourself
that you are going to play a "great" round. So what if you don't hit
your first shot perfectly? What if you don't play the first few
holes great? If you don't start off great, you will start to get
worried. This will get you analyzing your swing or trying to make
corrections on the course which will only make things worse. Because
you did not start off great, you'll also put pressure on yourself to
play great. The game of golf is already full of pressure so you
certainly don't need to be placing anymore on yourself.
What you should be thinking of is that you are just going to enjoy
the day. If you play poorly or play well you don't really care
because you are just going to go through the motions. Thinking like
this reduces the expectation levels and allows you to live with your
mistakes. Now when you hit a bad shot it's OK because you have given
yourself permission to do so. I don't know anyone who hits every
shot perfectly so you may want to adopt this carefree attitude the
next time you play.
On the Tee
You now have the right frame of mind to go out and play so what do
you do next? Most people would grab their driver and try to hammer
one right down the middle as hard as they can. This, of course, will
lead to a disastrous result and if it doesn't ... it's pure luck!
You see, the harder you try to hit, the tighter your wrists will
get, and the more outside / in your swing path will be. This will
cause a huge slice and a shot that will most definitely miss the
fairway. The problem with this scenario is that you are again,
thinking about the wrong thing. If you are trying to hit the ball as
hard as you can, you are trying to be the hero. Unfortunately, you
will not be the hero after the round. The guy that shot 75 will be
the real hero of the day. Think about it, the guy who shot 75 will
never want to have your game but you will always dream of playing
like the guy who shot 75.
So what do you think about? You should be thinking about swinging
50% of your ability. Yes, that's right 50% for every shot you hit.
The logic behind swinging at 50% is two fold. First, if you swing a
little easier you will actually hit the ball longer. This is because
when you lighten up your swing your wrists also loosen up. Looser
wrists swing faster than tighter wrists. The looser wrists will
allow the club to whip through impact faster and generate more
clubhead speed.
Secondly, if you swing easier you will be more likely to hit the
fairways. The more fairways you hit, the more confidence you will
gain. The more confident you are the harder you can swing without
fear of missing the fairway. In other words confidence breeds
distance. So I know it's not too fun to go out and feel like you are
barley swinging at the ball but once you start hitting fairways more
regularly it will be well worth it.
Approach Shots
This is another area where the average golfer could certainly
improve. If you follow the instruction above on how to hit the
driver you will instantly improve the amount of greens you hit in
regulation because you will not be getting into as much trouble with
your tee shots. Hitting the greens from the fairway is so much
easier than from out of the trees.
Another way to increase your greens in regulation is to quit trying
to hit the ball at the flag all of the time. Not all pin placements
are in easy spots on the greens. The closer they are to the edges,
the more pressure you have on you to hit the ball close. This
pressure will cause you to look up for your shot too early because
you are trying to see how close hit it. The more you look, the more
you will top the ball or end up hitting it thin over the green. Now
you are faced with having to get the ball up and down to save par
which is another pressure situation you've found yourself in. As you
hit more greens, you will also gain more confidence. This confidence
will allow you to take chances in the future and you will be able to
successfully try to hit the ball closer to the pins.
Hopefully you are starting to see the pattern here. A big part of
taking you game to the next level is confidence. If you are
confident you will become more successful in hitting the fairways
and greens which will allow you to play the best golf of your life.
How to Play the Best Golf of Your Life! - Part 4 of 4
This is the fourth and final tip in my series "How to Play the
Best Golf of Your Life".
In the first tip I talked about how to warm up on the range before
your round. In the second, I talked about how to chip and putt
before the round and in the third tip I talked about your frame of
mind, tee shots and iron shots. As I was writing the third tip, I
just felt there were things that were not in the tip that you really
should know. That's why I have added this fourth and final tip. This
tip explains how to play the game and what to expect in the future.
Never Think "You've Got It"
One of the most frustrating things in golf is how dramatically your
play can vary from one day to another. Just when you think you've
"got it" ... it's gone. I call this the "kiss of death". As you
continue into the future, don't ever think or say that you've got
it. The quicker you realize this, the quicker you will accept the
fact that's okay to make mistakes.
If you don't believe me, just think back to all of those interview
with Tiger Woods after he blew away the rest of the field. If Tiger
beats the rest of the field by 5 shots what does he say when he's
interviewed? He says, "I could have played a little better" or "I
didn't have my A game today", he never says that "he couldn't have
hit it any better". He never says that "he's got it". He , and all
of the other pros out there, never think they have got it. They're
always trying to get better. Now that you know that you are always
going to make mistakes, you shouldn't be surprised when you do.
The Short Game
The way to still play good golf when you didn't bring your "A" game
is to work hard on your short game. You should be pitching,
chipping, putting and hitting bunker shots as much, if not more,
than you practice your full swing. Not only does a great short game
allow you to make up for your mistakes, it also takes pressure off
of your long game. TO understand what I mean, imagine hitting a 3
iron into a green. If you have a poor short game, you'll be shaking
like a leaf standing over that 3 -iron shot because you know that if
you miss the green it's highly unlikely you are going to get the
ball up and down. Now if you have a great short game, it's no big
deal to hit a 3 iron to a green because even if you do miss the
green you may get it up and down. I hope you see how a great short
game can not only help you make up for your mistakes but how it can
also help other parts of your game as well.
What to Do When You're Not Hitting It Well
Hitting poor shots can be very frustrating and very depressing.
Every experienced player has felt this before and it's not fun.
Sometimes you just wonder if you are going to find your game again.
In this situation you can do a few things:
First, you can try to fix your swing on the golf course. I wouldn't
recommend this unless you know exactly what you are trying to fix
and exactly how to fix it. Thinking about your swing on the golf
course can definitely make things worse.
Second, you can immediately revert back to a shot that you know you
can hit when things fall apart. A great example of this is how Jack
Nicklaus referred to his fade as his "bread and butter" shot. If he
refers to a type of shot as being his "bread and butter", it means
it's a shot he can always rely on. This is the type of shot you
should have in your game. As soon you get that feeling your swing is
falling apart or you start seeing unusual shots that you normally
don't hit, immediately switch gears and start hitting your "bread
and butter" shot. Maybe your shot is a big hook or a punch shot etc.
If you can go back to this shot that never fails, you can at least
get through your round and get to the practice range after your
round to fix it.
Finally, you can try to play the shot you are hitting that day.
Let's say that you normally have this tiny draw but when you are
warming up on the range you see that your shots are fading a little
to the right. Instead of trying to fix your swing on the range, you
take note of this new pattern to your shot that day and allow for
it. If you are normally a drawer of the ball and you see yourself
starting to fade it slightly to the right you simply aim a little
left that day and so on.
Conclusion
By following the information in this four part series, you should
now know how to practice before your round, how to prepare yourself
mentally, what to think about on the tee and from the fairway, and
how to make up for your mistakes. All of these things combined will
help you to play the best golf of your life!
Paul Wilson
Creator - Swing Machine Golf
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