To start, I have to thank Mike Johnny, author of 36aday who I had a brief discussion with yesterday, for giving me the inspiration behind this article. While the comment below belongs to discussion about the benefits of a pre-round routine, I understated how important it can be for calming your nerves. That’s something we’re going to elaborate on today.
Month: February 2016 Page 2 of 3
Looking back at my golf career it really is amazing to think of the number of punches I’ve had to hit out of the woods. I mean let’s be honest, we all have bad shots, and sometimes these bad shots end up in bad places. Let’s assume we landed in the woods (which isn’t too much of a stretch some days) we all need a shot that we can rely on to help us escape the sticks without adding any more damage to our score. I know that with a few mechanical tips, and a little practice, that can be the punch shot.
When I was back in high school I used to do the same thing before every tournament. It was my pre-round routine if you will. I would stretch, go out on the range and hit about 50 balls to warm up my swing, move to the green where I would spend about ten minutes hitting different types of chips and ten minutes on different types of putts. There are a few reasons why I do the same things before ever round, regardless of whether it’s competitive or recreational and these reasons are what we’re going to talk about today.
Continuing the recent series on practice advice, I decided to look at the short game today. I talk extensively about why chipping and other shots around the green are seemingly more difficult than other shots in my article: How to Chip Away Strokes Around the Green but, to summarize, it all boils down to practice, or at least it did for me.
The reason I was successful around the green was because I spent hours and hours practicing the shots I would be required to hit. Now in the same article I also briefly discussed how I used to practice but, looking back at it, I realize that it’s not only impractical for a lot of different golfers but also somewhat unorthodox. It worked for me but it might not for you, and that’s why we’re here today. There are other, just as effective, methods of practicing chipping that require a lot less time and space than my unique method (although I thought it was awesome as a kid).
It seems like everything in my life this week has been reminding me of golf. We must be getting close to spring! Just this week after returning from New York, I came home to find no snow accompanied with a cold, windy, drizzle. What many might consider a golfer’s worst nightmare. There are a lot of reasons why rain can be detrimental to your score, not to mention the fact that most people don’t consider it nearly as enjoyable as playing in warm, dry conditions. But unfortunately, some days it just isn’t meant to be. Luckily for you, there are ways we can cope with playing in the rain.