The Sand Trap, one of my favorite blogs, has a great rant on golf instruction. Having stopped and started golf a couple times over the last decade as my life has gone through changes like having kids, I can totally relate to the post. Every time I lay off for a couple of years and try to get back into golf, I try to find a teaching pro that will helping me shake the rust off. Without fail, I find the instructor trying to shove my square swing into his round hole, trying to re-invent my swing in his/her likeness.

Now I’m not against making swing changes that will help lower my handicap, but I’ve gone from someone who hit consistent fades and had a pretty high GIR, to a power draw hitter who sometimes loses it to the left, and my handicap has never gotten any better than when I was in high school. Part of it is that I was physically better in high school, but a lot of it is my eagerness to completely change my swing to gain a few yards off the tee and dismissing the simple swing characteristics that were innate to my own body.

I think in the long run, I’ve lost a lot by not focusing on repeatability of my own swing as opposed to swinging like Tiger Woods or Ernie Els. It takes a sage teaching pro to see the difference between fixing a golfer’s swing and re-inventing it.

I love this mini-essay from the Wounded Duck.

I need that quote put on a t-shirt upside down so that I can read it every time I address the ball.

The Wounded Duck Golf Blog has a cool post on how to do one of those pitches that take one hop and then bite. I’ve used something similiar in the past with good results but I can’t wait to try it on the practice range tonight. Thanks Quacker!

The Sand Trap posted an excellent article on how the angle of your clubhead can affect your shot. Pulling out some geometry, the article points out just how accurate you have to be to hit a drive in the fairway, hit a green on your approach, or sink a putt. For instance, if you hit a 250 yard teeshot on a typical course, if the angle of your clubhead is off by more than 4 degrees, you’ll be in the rough (assuming you aimed it correctly down the middle).

My take-away from the article is that you don’t want to short change yourself by being out of alignment from the start. If you aren’t holding the club square in your hands and or if you aren’t lined up in the right direction, you are making life a heck of a lot more difficult for yourself. If you don’t take the time to get your grip set properly and have your clubhead closed or open by just 4 degrees, even a perfect swing and proper aim may make your ball find the tall grass.

I knew I shouldn’t have slept through my high school geometry course.

“Placing the ball in the right position for the next shot is eighty percent of winning golf.” - Ben Hogan

Gary Potter’s weblog had a good post on course management that really struck a chord with me. His post is worth reading in total, but the point that hit me was:

At the other end of the spectrum are some of the guys I play with - they have 14 opportunities to hit driver and they do it. Nevermind the alternatives, driver is their choice. What that does though, is give them lots of practice with recovery shots and those 45 to 60 yard pesky wedge shots.

How many guys do you play with that always pull a driver out on a par 4, regardless of the circumstances? I catch myself doing this more often than not and I’m sure I’d score better if I left it in the bag more often.

Many years ago when I was in high school playing golf, I was eager to pull out the driver and pound the ball every chance I could. The old golf pro on the course gave me one simple rule to use for a month, guaranteeing me that my scores would be lowered, if I promised to religiously follow his advice. I couldn’t resist the offer, so I took him up on it. It was this: “On every hole except for par threes, aim for the 150 yard mark for your approach.”

I scoffed at it at first, but a deal was a deal so I followed the “150 rule” for a month. While my buddies would be pulling out their drivers on a short par 4, I’d be pulling out a 5 iron. I took pride in being a long hitter back then, and I had more than a little teenage angst when I’d be out driven by 100 yards or more. It was hard to suck it up and play like a sissy, but the scorecard didn’t lie and I was knocking 5 shots off my typical round at the time. I was also beating the pants off my long driving golfing pals and by the end of the first week, they were trying to do it as well.

Why did it work so well for me? The top reason was that I was rarely in trouble, never having to hack it out of the rough or curve it around a tree to get my approach shot on the green. Also, I ended up getting pretty good at my 8 iron, able to take a little off or add a little on depending on how the wind was blowing and how close I got to the 150 marker on the tee shot. There were no half wedges, second guessing, and finesse involved for the most part. Just pull out my 8 iron and put a good swing on it. To this day, I still feel like I should get it close to the pin when I’m right at 150, where I don’t feel quite as confident at 135 or 165.

The “150 rule” is pretty limiting but at the time I was a teenager, I needed to be caged for a while to see the bigger picture. Perhaps a “125 rule” or a “100 rule” makes better sense, but if you have some time to try it, I highly recommend it on your home course as a scientific experiment. You might be surprised how well your scorecard looks at the end of the round.