How Do You Play To Your Strengths?

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It seems to me that we’ve gotten away from what we’re playing golf for. In our attempts to hit the golf ball better we have lost the art of strategy.

Strategy? What does strategy have to do with golf? Well – maybe close to everything!

So what’s your strategy on the golf course?

If you like most Golfers it’s probably to hit the golf ball as well as you can on every shot you take. Is there anything wrong with this strategy? Well the best answer I can give is – Yes and No.

Yes, you should put everything you have in to each and every shot you take. To do less would be not enough. When Golfers come to see us we put more effort than you can imagine into you hitting the golf ball better. The Drills used are for you to discover how to make consistent, solid contact with your Driver through Sand Wedge.

If you’re a able to hit the golf ball better – obviously your scores and enjoyment of the game will increase. So understanding certain principles that you can adapt to your individual swing is essential to playing better golf.

Yet, there’s something to think about before we put all our eggs in the “better golf swing equals better scores and more fun basket”.

You’re not a machine. You’re going to hit some bad shots along the way. How do I know this? Well, if Tiger still hits bad shots on the golf course – I’m sure you do too!

So what’s your strategy on the golf course?

It can’t be solely based on hitting the golf ball better. It has to be about making a PLAN to understand you’re Strengths and Weaknesses.

For example – I know a Golfer I was with this past weekend that regularly hit his Driver well over 280 yards every Drive. If you saw him hit his Driver – I would guarantee that you would say – “Ah, if I could just hit my Driver like that once in my lifetime, I would be satisfied.”

Now this Golfer is a pretty good Player – he regularly scores in the 70’s. And I’m sure there’s a little more than few thousand people reading this that are saying – “I’d be satisfied scoring in the 70’s. What’s this guy have to worry about? He hits the ball longer than a human should hit a ball and he scores in the 70’s – what does he need to work on?

And he’ll tell you that the number one thing he needs to work on his PLAN on the golf course. He’s not satisfied with his strategy. He still isn’t planning well enough to always put himself into position on the golf course to play to his Strengths. Has he improved his PLAN on the golf course over the last couple of years? Well, you don’t going from scoring in the 90’s to 70’s without improving your PLAN.

Is there still room to improve his PLAN?

This Golfer probably can’t improve his ball striking much more. There’s a limit to how well you’re going to hit the golf ball – especially when you have work and family commitments that take precedence over golf.

So how does this relate to a Golfer that’s trying to break 100 or 90? More than you can imagine if your life is devoted to Golf Digest or the Golf Channel! If everything you do on the golf course is based on the Golf Swing Tip of the Month Club – you’re not improving.

You’re most likely going sideways!

Here’s the scenario – You’re standing on the first tee of your favorite golf course. Your predominant ball flight with your Driver is to have the ball slide to the right about 15 yards. And if you make a bad swing, your ball has a tendency to slide 30 yards to the right. Then, every-once-in-a-while when you’re aiming down the left side – your ball stays straight and you hit it into the trees on the left.

So what do you do?

The Monkey will aim down the middle of the fairway and hope. The Monkey will aim down the middle and try to practice the Tip of the Month on their opening tee shot. The Monkey will hit a tee shot that’s not satisfactory.

The Player I was writing about above that now scores in the 70’s has the same tendencies as you. When he hits one of those Drives that you just watch in amazement as it tears through the atmosphere – his ball actually will curve 10 yards to the left. If he makes a bad swing – because of the power that is being produced, his ball will curve even more than 30 yards to the left. And once-in-a-while he’ll hit one to the right.

So how can he be a 70’s Player, yet still hit the ball as far off line as a Golfer that might still score in the 90’s and 100’s?

Because he aims for his good shots along with preparing for his bad shots. He knows when there’s a hole that bends to the right, that it might be better for him to leave the Driver in the bag and go with a another club to put himself in position rather than stand over the golf ball on the tee and be worried if his ball is going to slide too much to the left when the hole curves to the right.

This Player reads the green from 200 yards away. The Golfer that doesn’t break 90 or 100 is only reading the green when they’re standing on it. The Player is reading the green well before that.

What are they looking for?

They’re deciding where they should aim their next shot. They’re deciding if it’s best to go for the green or to hit the ball short of the green and then use their wedge to hit their next shot on. The Monkey takes out their 200 yard club because they’re 200 yards away regardless of what’s happening around the green.

You know we did a study to see what might be the best strategy for the 95 Golfer from 200 yards. We had 10 Golfers play a 200 yard Par 3 using their 200 yard club off the tee and added up the number of strokes it took them to get their ball in the hole. We then had these same 10 Golfers play the same Par 3 using their 150 yard club off the tee and added up the number of strokes it took them to get their ball in the hole.

Guess what?

The average score using the 200 yard club was 4.8 stokes per Golfer. Sure, there was a Par made, but there also were some 6’s.

The average score using the 150 yard club was 4.1 strokes per Golfer. Sure, there was a couple of 5’s made, but there also were some 3’s.

Did this surprise some of the Golfers? Of course it did! So we did it again and guess what? Pretty much the same results. Now this was on a Par 3 where you could tee up the golf ball and also had a choice of what side of the tee box you could tee up the golf ball – so there was even more advantages than hitting a 200 yard shot on a Par 4 or 5.

So think about this – how many 200 yards shots do you have during a typical round of Golf? Would it be safe to say 7?

So if you averaged .7 less strokes on 7 holes – that’s about 5 strokes improvement without improving your golf swing. 7 strokes because you had a PLAN to play to your Strengths and away from your Weaknesses.

Using strategy’s such as this – and there are many more that you should be using on the golf course that you’re probably not aware of – along with improving your golf swing will allow you to go from the 90’s to mid 80’s to high 70’s before you know it.

How do I know this?

We see many Golfers every year from around the world –and we get emails each week from our GMS Golfers that are using these techniques, along with their better ball striking to accomplish their goals on the golf course.

The Monkey is debating if they should have a one plane or two plane swing as they continually see the same disappointing scores week after week and year after year

The Player understands that a better PLAN leads to better ball striking

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon – Your Instructor For Life