My understanding of the game of golf is that you’re trying to get the ball into the hole in the least number of strokes possible. Whether it’s for your own personal satisfaction or if you’re in a golf tournament – you’re a winner if you have taken the least amount of strokes.
How you play on the golf course isn’t judged by how beautiful your ball flight is. It isn’t like American Idol or Dancing With The Stars where you get voted off the golf course if you’re not hitting a perfect 1 yard draw.
Do you agree?
If you do agree – then why are you worried whether you draw or fade the golf ball? Does whether your golf ball curves a little to the right or a little to the left make a difference in your score?
Golfers get easily sidetracked from the meaning of the game of golf. Golfers fret over whether their golf ball is going a little this way or a little that way – when the game is based solely on getting the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible.
Have you ever gotten confused about your swing on the golf course? Have you ever been working on a draw on the driving range and then tried to bring that swing to golf course only to hit some terrible shots that left you more confused and frustrated?
Hitting the golf ball better is just as important as putting better in the quest for lower golf scores. You need to work on your golf swing to improve your scores. And when Golfers come to see us – we work very hard on improving your golf swing and helping you to become more consistent. Though, we don’t necessarily try to help a Golfer develop a draw.
If a draw develops as you’re improving your golf swing – excellent! If it doesn’t, but you have developed another ball flight (straight or a fade) that you can consistently rely on – excellent! Golfers that try to rework their swing for the sole purpose of developing a draw are on the road to Frustration City. Have you ever made a trip to Frustration City?
What you should be working on is your golf swing. And whatever ball flight that gives you – take it!
What’s going to affect your score more – learning to draw the ball or hitting more greens in regulation?
What’s going to affect your score more – learning to draw the ball or eliminating 3 putts?
What’s going to affect your score more – learning to draw the ball or getting out of the sand onto the green on your first shot?
Did you know that Jack Nicklaus didn’t hit a draw shot (a shot drifting to the left for a right handed Golfer) until the 1970’s – after he had already won 7 Major Championships and the US Amateur twice?
What’s going to affect your score more – learning to draw the ball or hitting the green 10 out of 10 times from 40 yards away?
What’s going to affect your score more – learning to draw the ball or not topping a 15 yard shot over the green?
What’s going to affect your score more – learning to draw the ball or knowing your tee shot is going to curve 15 yards and aiming for it?
Colin Montgomerie – won the European Order of Merit (leading Golfer in Europe) 7 years in a row from 1993 to 1999 – and I don’t believe Colin could draw the ball if you paid him to do so. He plays a slice, but if you want to be politically correct, you could call it a Power Fade.
If you’ve been reading Golf Improvement Weekly for a while, you know that each week we feature two Testimonials from Golfers that have come to see us. And as we have been doing this weekly for 204 Issues – we have yet to have a Testimonial speak specifically about hitting a draw. We have 100’s of Testimonials about Golfers hitting the golf ball better, but no one speaks about learning to draw the golf ball. They just speak about hitting the golf ball better.
What’s more important – hitting the golf ball better or learning to hit a specific shot? If you’re trying to break 100, 90 or 80 – your thoughts should be on hitting the golf ball better.
Does this mean that Golfers that come see us can’t draw the ball or that we discourage it?
Of course not!
We help Golfers to understand their swing. If your consistent shot is a little to the left – good. If your consistent shot is a little to the right – good. Regardless of whether you draw or fade the golf ball – the key is to know which direction it’s going to go 8 out of 10 times so that you can aim for it. Once you can do that – you’ll learn to care less if you draw or fade.
Make your PLAN, say your “Tick Tock” and swing. Hitting the golf ball well is important to scoring – though whether your predominant ball flight is a little to the left or a little to right has no influence on your score.
The Monkey is trying to change and manufacture a swing
The Player is making their swing better
Go Ahead, Be A Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life