Diamond Author
To be a well-rounded golfer, one could learn dozens of different shots. As Ben Hogan said, there isn't enough time in the day to practice all the shots you need. But if you can hit the shots that create good scores, and there are only a few, that's all you really need to know.
To score, to really score well, get good at getting the ball in the fairway off the tee, getting the ball close from off the green, and getting approach putts close. Let's go over the each shot.
If you get your tee the ball in the fairway, you're way ahead of the game. You've taken the biggest step in getting the ball onto the green in the least number of strokes. When you miss the fairway, that almost means you'll take an extra stroke to get the ball on the green.
The pros make their living on the short game and putting, but that's because they're already getting the ball on the green in the fewest number of shots possible. Until you learn to do that, being good from 60 yards in doesn't make up for the extra strokes it took you to get there.
Give a lot of attention as you practice to hitting your driver straight. If you can't do it, and odds are you can't, because it's such a difficult club to hit, get a lesson. Don't worry about your irons. If you can hit your driver straight, your irons will go straight, too.
If you're getting the ball in the fairway and on the green just like that, you're putting. Congratulations. Only it won't be an easy putt. It might be a 30- or 40-footer. To make those shots that got you on the green pay off, you have to get this putt close.
There's a three-foot circle you can draw in your mind's eye around the cup. Get the ball inside that circle and you're eighteen inches or less from a two-putt green. Good putters aren't the ones who make tons of six- and seven-foot putts. They're putters who never leave themselves with putts that long.
What's left? Well, you don't always hit the green. If you miss by too much, you have a lengthy chip that you can only get up and down consistently with lots of practice and playing experience. But when you're close, when you miss by only a few yards, those are the shots that you can get up and down at last half the time. Practice those short chips and get good at them. The longer ones, just get them on the green so you can start putting.
There are your three scoring shots: the tee shot, the approach putt, and the short chip. Learn to hit those shots, and your golfing buddies will wonder how you got to be so good all of a sudden.
About this Author
Bob Jones is a golf researcher who can show you the reason why you don't strike the ball as consistently as you would like to. It's a little thing, and anyone learn to do it right, in just minutes, right at home. Find out what it is in this FREE download at www.therecreationalgolfer.com.
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