September’s Tip of the Month: USING THE GOLF COURSE AS YOUR COACH

BY RYAN WILLIAMS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL

Our handicaps as a country are not lower than that of our counterparts in Ireland and the U.K. Yet, most of their courses do not have a practice facility at all, much less a driving range. Sitting down to write this during the week when our driving range was closed got me thinking about the benefits of skipping the driving range every once in a while. Golf is the only major sport I can think of in which its players practice somewhere other than the field of play. Because of this, one of the most common things a golf coach hears has to do with a player struggling to transfer his or her success on the driving range to the course itself.

Let’s start with defining the differences in setting between a round of golf and the practice facility. It essentially comes down to two words:

Consequence and Acceptance

Consequence:

How often are you really aiming a target on the driving range? Did you know the yardage? Did you think to account for the lie? Wind? Change in elevation? The side on which you absolutely cannot miss? Unless you’re incredibly disciplined, my guess is you find something comfortable to aim at from a good lie and hit ball after ball with the intention of the strike feeling good and the ball flying somewhat straight. There’s no acknowledgment that a very high quality shot 5 yards in the wrong direction could be the difference in a routine par and a penalty shot, the way it would if you were to hit your tee shot just a few feet too far right on the 7th hole of the Vineyard or 8th hole on the River. In other words, there is no real consequence.

Acceptance:

Let’s imagine you miss a putt on the putting green. You may have grabbed three golf balls because three come in a sleeve. After the first putt, you hit the second one with the knowledge gained on the first. Perhaps the second or third go in the hole and you pat yourself on the back for having hit a good putt. But should a good putt be defined as one that goes in the hole? I would argue that a good putt, regardless of the result, is a putt that’s been well-read, rolled down the intended line, and with proper speed. After all, those 3 things are those over which one actually has control. Putting casually with 3 golf balls neglects the green reading portion to a large degree nor does it jive with the better definition of a “good putt.” Having healthier ways of evaluating a shot make it much easier to accept what’s happened and move onto the next shot the way we need to if we want to play our best golf!

Back in last December’s newsletter, we discussed how to get competitive when using the practice facilities. This month, let’s look at creative ways to use the golf course to improve various parts of your game. Here are just a few examples of games I’ve played with the students over the years:

“Perfect Drive”

Play a tee shot and then choose a location from inside of a pitching wedge distance and play into the hole. The students keep track of four things:

1. Fairways hit: add a point for a ball in the fairway; subtract a point for a ball in a penalty area or out of bounds

2. Greens Hit with wedges: missing greens with wedges is one of the most common ways players give away strokes. The goal in this game would be to never miss a green.

3. Proximity to the hole: pace off how far away from the hole you are in feet after your wedge and find your average at the end of the round

4. Score: Did you shoot better than you usually do? The results may surprise you and open your eyes to how much your short game/wedge play could improve.

“3 Club Game”

Choose three clubs plus a putter to play a round of golf. I usually go hybrid, 7-iron, sand wedge, putter. Believe it or not, many have shot their career lowest round with only three clubs! This is because of three nice learning points inherent to the game:

1. Players keep the ball in play and make the simpler decision much more often, thus keeping big number off the card

2. With a limited arsenal, players learn to think ahead strategically. For example, without his or her most lofted club, players will intentionally avoid shortsided pitches around the greens

3. Players learn to play different shots out of necessity; a high, soft 7-iron from a shorter distance than normal, for example. Is there a world where having more creativity and feel for distance is a bad thing?

Let’s always remember that golf is played on the course! As important as it is to continue to develop your golf swings, no one has ever been asked how many swings they made in the grill room after a round. They’re asked, “what did you shoot?” As in, how many shots did you play today? Sometimes, it’s a very healthy endeavor to skip the range and get engaged in playing shots. With a little time in the right mindset, our games can take on the savvy of our peers overseas.