Tips to Sharpen your Game (#7, Tips 25 a to d)

This is the seventh in a series of blogs to help you simplify your knowledge of golf and hopefully improve your game. [These tips are distilled from an article published by Luke Kerr-Dineen for a GOLF franchise called “Play Smart”.]

25/ Know What To Do When You’re In Trouble: You’ve done your smart preparation, but some-how things still aren’t going according to plan. Don’t worry, it happens. Golf is a game of misses. So you should try to minimize your misses and take your medicine and make a good recovery shot. Stay calm. Following are 4 solution to avoid a blow-up hole:

You already lost 1 extra stroke when you made your last rotten swing. Take your medicine and get out of trouble before you lose a lot more strokes.

25a/ Try variable training: “It may sound counterintuitive, but one of the best things you can do when you’re struggling to hit the sweet spot is try to hit misses,” says GOLF Top 100 Teacher Mark Durland. “The next time you’re struggling, try intentionally to hit shanks or shots off the toe. This kind of ‘variable training’ will help your brain get a better sense of the club face when it’s time to hit the center.” [I don’t really understand how this tip will help but I don’t make these up. However, we should give it a try to see what happens in a non-competition game.]

25b/ Eat something: You may simply be running out of energy if you’re playing poorly. Sugar and carbs will spike your energy the fastest but fade fast. Higher-protein snacks will last longer. Drinking water throughout is essential. Weight Watcher’s former head of nutrition says golfers should choose a blend of everything but try to stick to a 2-to-1 protein-to-carbs ratio (a protein bar and banana or apple), with up to 10 glasses of water per day.

25c/ Time your tempo: If you’re playing in the wind, one of the first things to go is your tempo. First brought to light in their pioneering book Tour Tempo, John Novosel Sr. and Jr. say good rhythm can come at different speeds, “but the ratio should always stay 3:1, meaning your back- swing should be three times slower than your down- swing.” If it’s not, your tempo is out of sync. [LOVE THIS TIP!]

25d/ Don’t be a hero: As Tour statistician Mark Broadie writes in his book Every Shot Counts, PGA Tour players average 3.8 shots to hole out from 100 yards when they’re in the trees. Hitting a 60-yard recovery shot vs. pitching out directly sideways gains you ONLY about 0.2 of a stroke, from 2.8 shots to 2.6 at best. At worst, you’ll hit a disaster shot and make a big number. Play stress-free and get the ball back in play. [I love this tip but find it the most difficult to execute.]

We all get in trouble over the course of a round of golf. The person with the lowest score is most often the golfer who hits the smartest recovery shots to ensure that their next shot is an easy success. Improve your swing with every club by practicing all 6 swing fixes with GOLFSTR+. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com