Keeping Your Sanity When You Golf

Recreational golfers love to imitate the pros that they watch on TV but it may be doing you more harm than good. Of course we all want to make shots like the pros but their exceptional shots may be killing our mental focus and sending our games down the drain.

If the pros can land a 150 yard shot over a well trapped narrow green, why can’t we? For one thing, we don’t have the height and backspin with our 6 or 7 iron to hold the green. I tried this shot yesterday and it cost me 2 more shots to get my plugged ball out of the forward lip of a trap. What was I thinking?

Here are 2 more common sense thoughts that we should learn from the pros.

1/ Sinking 10-15 foot Putts: Last year’s leader in this category was Alex Noren. He sank 43% of those mid-range putts. The Tour average was just 30%. Recreational golfers should be happy to sink 10-15% of these putts. My point here is that you should not lose your cool if you miss a 10-15 foot putt. Plan on passing the hole (as the short ones never go in) to give yourself a chance for success but you should be happy with a 2-putt from that distance.

If you miss a 10-15 foot putt DON’T GET ANGRY WITH YOUR PERFORMANCE.

Golf Digest offered this image to remind you that anger will never improve your game (or your clubs).

2/ Chip Your 30-60 yard Wedges to within 10 Feet: Recreational golfers typically miss half of their approach shots to every green (and that’s including the short par 3 holes). That’s why you should be including at least 25% of your practice time developing your chipping skills to within 10 feet of a target hole.

Minimize your score by practicing chipping close to the hole and sinking more of your 1-5 foot putts.
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Ask any pro how they sink more long putts. ANSWER: Take a chipping or iron lesson!

Cut down on the time that you spend learning to perfect your long clubs. Over half your time should be spent on perfecting your chipping, sand shots and putting because that is where you will save more shots in every round of golf. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ to limit your wrist lag when chipping and to keep your leading wrist flat for putting. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com