Today’s post is going to seem like heresy, but I think far too much emphasis is put on distance and not nearly enough on ball-striking and just getting the ball into the hole. That said, what matters most on the PGA Tour might not be what matters most to the rest of us as we constantly try to improve our scores and enjoyment of the game. Please hear me out and think about this.
While the GolfWRX community might not reflect this exactly, all my other research indicates that the majority of golfers are over the age of 50, do not spend time at the gym specifically to improve their golf distance and carry an average handicap of 12-18. What’s keeping nearly all of us from dropping our handicaps another 3-4 strokes or more IS NOT that we are too short off the tee or that we just do not hit our irons far enough.
The cold hard truth is that the vast majority of average golfers completely waste strokes in the following areas:
- We don’t putt well enough. You likely have just too many 3-putts and missed putts under 6-8 feet. Think of your last few rounds and count how many strokes you could have picked up if you had just made a couple more putts inside that range and eliminated those 3-putt greens.
- Our short games are weak. It does not take much athletic ability to hit fundamentally sound chips and pitch shots inside 30-40 yards of the hole. Again, think back to your last few rounds and count how many times you got up-and-down in two strokes, versus how many times you took more than 3. Regardless of your handicap, you are physically capable of learning how to hit solid chips and pitch shots so that your average on those 10-14 greens you miss is less than three shots. How many shots would that take off your scores?
- Our ball-striking is not consistent enough. My observation of golfers of all skill levels, from tour pros to 20-handicappers indicates that – outside of putting and greenside scrambling – almost all dropped shots are the result of bad ball-striking. Those wild drives, iron shots that fly far off-line, slightly (or terribly) chunked or bladed approach shots all cost strokes to whomever hit them. Improve your ball-striking to reduce the number of those costly mis-hits and your scores will come down.
I realize this advice goes against nearly everything written. And I admit the game should be much easier the closer you get to the green off the tee (see No. 1 and No. 2 above), but I feel certain if you review your rounds, you will find that I am spot-on as to where you dropped shots.
However, if you really want to get more distance off the tee and with your irons, the most direct path to that goal is to improve your swing fundamentals to improve the consistency and efficiency of your impact. It is a known fact that – even with all today’s technology – a perfectly struck shot will fly at least 5-10% further than a shot mis-hit by only a half inch.
On that subject, did you see a story this past week about how Bay Hill champion Kurt Kitayama picked up extra yards by shortening his driver by a half inch. He said it improved his impact efficiency to give him a few extra yards and improved his accuracy as well.
So, if you really want to play your best golf this season, I’ve given you four ways to get there…and the last one is about distance.
It’s your call. Like I wrote last week…are you willing to do what it takes to get better?
