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I Want To Hit My Driver!

Golf Improvement Weekly Newsletter

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Hitting your Driver is the greatest aspect of golf. There’s nothing I’d rather do more than be able to go on the golf course and hit my Driver. Walking to the tee of a Par 3 is a let down. Why even have Par 3’s? Let’s have only Par 4’s and Par 5’s so that we can hit Driver all the time!

And it’s a shame that there are Golfers out there that are afraid to pick up their Driver. “Oh, I can’t hit my Driver. I miss every fairway. So I just use my 3 wood.”

That’s no way to play golf!

Isn’t it a let down when the other Golfers in your group hit their Drivers and then you come up to the tee with your 3 wood? Or worse – an iron! Yes, there are holes on the golf course where Driver might not be the best club to play – but there shouldn’t be more than 2 or 3 of these holes.

Let’s face it – there are 3 Major aspects of your game that need to be aligned to have your best score ever. Your PLAN, your Putting and your Driver.

Though, if you have any 2 of these 3 working well – you’re still going to have a good score. Maybe not your best score ever, but you’re going to feel good adding up your scorecard after the 18th hole. Let’s say these scores will be in your top 10%.

Yet, if you go out and have only 1 out of the 3 working – you’ll be scoring what you’d consider as an average score. Nothing to be ashamed of, but it’s not improvement. And we want to see improvement!

Where a lot of Golfers go wrong, is in their assessment of how well they hit their Driver during a round. There are too many Golfers that consider themselves to be having a bad day with their Driver if they miss 7 out of 14 fairways.

Fairways hit is the most overrated stat in Golf!

For example – You’re on a 390 yard hole and pop-up your tee shot that goes 105 yards, but lands on the fairway. That counts as a fairway hit, although you’ve got 285 yards to the center of the green. Is this a good thing?

Or for example – Same hole and you bomb the farthest drive you’ve ever hit 285 yards into the right hand rough. This counts as a missed fairway, although you’ve got only 105 yards to the center of the green. Isn’t this a better thing?

Let me see – which second shot would you rather have?

The key with driving well isn’t Fairways Hit – the stats on the PGA Tour will show you that. The key is keeping the ball in play. A ball in the rough is in play – a ball in the trees can be trouble. But, as it says above – ‘if you have any 2 of the 3 Major aspects of your game working, you’re going to see a good score.’

So even though you’re in the trees on 3 or 4 holes doesn’t mean that you’re scoring badly. If you’re playing to your PLAN (the 1st Major) – you’ll make the correct decision out of the trees and be on the green in 3 shots. Then with your putting working well (the 2nd Major) – you’ll 1 putt for Par or 2 putt for Bogey – after a drive in the trees.

Though, if you take that same scenario, but you aren’t “Playing to your PLAN” – you might be on the green in 4 shots. Though, if one Major is working (your putting) – you’ll 1 putt for Bogey or 2 putt for Double Bogey – after a drive in the trees. Doing this 3 times a round isn’t going to stop you from having an average score.

Yet, if none of the 3 Major’s are working – you’ll have a bad round!

Every email we receive about one of our Golfers whose playing better than they did before seeing GMS includes at least 2 of the 3 Majors working well. They don’t always say that they’re hitting their Driver better than ever or putting better than ever. Though, they all say that at least 2 of the 3 Majors were working well.

What does this mean for you?

It means you don’t have to be hitting your Driver better than ever to score better than ever. It means you don’t have to be Putting better than ever to score better than ever. It means you don’t have to have your PLAN working better than ever to score better than ever.

Don’t be so hard on yourself to hit the ball better than ever – it’s not necessary in order for you to improve your score. Though, remember – if you’re struggling with your Driver – you can still have a good score if you focus on your PLAN and your Putting.

The Monkey is trying to hit every fairway and if they don’t, they can’t score because they have no PLAN and they don’t practice their putting

The Player knows that if they work hard on their PLAN, that they only have to either drive or putt decent to have a good score

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life

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