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Work on Your Whole Game

It is the perception of golfers and/or golf instructors that a lesson consists of watching someone hit 20 golf balls and telling them what is wrong with their golf swing. This is simply a critical analysis of the golf swing and because we have no perfect model to compare the swing to, in a sense there is something wrong with everyone's swing. To tell the golfer who is looking for game improvement that the only work that needs to be done is in the area of full swing is a futile effort. Try breaking your golf game down into four equal parts: ball striking, short game, management and the mental aspect. With that in mind, I offer you the following:

Ball striking

Ball striking is simply how well you hit the golf ball. Do you hit it solid, straight, high, low, long or short? This is the area where beginners/intermediate golfers see most of their improvement. You start your golfing career by missing it, then miss-hitting it and through trial and error and numerous golf balls, you become a better ball striker. Your game simply cannot end here. Statistics tell us that regardless of age, gender or skill level, approximately two-thirds of our golf shots are 100 yards or less. We spend 95% of our practice time working on 25% of the game which is the full swing end of it ... and 5% of our practice time working on the 75% of the game which are swings less than full. Mathematically, if our practice habits continue in this manner, we can never improve.

Short game

The short game consists of our shots on the golf course that are less than 100 yards. This will include putting, chipping, bunker play, wedge and short-iron play. This is the are where the advanced players spend a lot of their time. These are the scoring shots. In 1989 Nick Faldo won the Masters shooting 65 on the last day at Augusta despite hitting just nine greens in regulation. Did he have a good ball striking day? The answer is "no" but of the nine greens he hit, he made eight birdies and of the nine greens he missed, he got it up and down in two shots eight out of nine times. We simply need to spend more time on our short games.

Course management

Golf course management is simply the difference between being smart and stupid on the golf course. We sometimes make errors and large numbers on holes not because of poor mechanics, but because of poor decision making. The management aspect of the game is how well you gather information, make decisions, club selection and shot selection. This is an area where a lot of people would benefit with on-course instruction.

The mental aspect

The two things we have total control of on the golf course are our behavior and our attitude. This is where the mental aspect comes into play. We need to learn how to control our emotions, concentrate, visualize and learn to deal with failure. If you've ever played with a golfer whose temperament changes dramatically on the golf course, this is a candidate for work on the mental aspect of the game.

The plan

Try this to measure your own game. Using the four areas listed above, grade your game from the strongest aspects to the weakest. The two areas that as judged weakest are the areas in which you should be spending most of your practice time. Golfers often, upon grading themselves, find they are working on ball striking which may be the first or second best of these four aspects of the game. It is safe to say that by working on the aspects of the game we judge weakest will gain us the most improvement.

Overall, the goals of the instructor and the pupil remain the same -- game improvement, which in turn leads to lower scores. And by looking at your game with these four areas in mind, you may find that game improvement has not been the true target of your practice time.