Chapter One
Here's the Plan
If you're reading this book for its intended purpose, you're not getting the most of what the game of golf has to offer. You might find it comforting to know that this fact numbers you among the vast majority. No accurate measure can be taken, but based on the information we put together on people who come to our golf schools and based on the best estimate of a number of leading teachers around the world, it appears likely that a full 80 percent of the people who play golf fail to break 100 on a regular basis. You can do better.
Improving your game--in this case, succeeding in regularly breaking 100--requires a commitment on your part. The commitment is not so vast that the decision to pursue the goal should involve a lot of deep soul searching, because it's easier to improve your game than you probably realize. In just about anything you do in life the chances of success increase if you create a well-thought-out plan and follow it. There's nothing profound about this thought--it's just plain common sense. If you want to improve your golf game, you won't succeed if you attempt to do it in a scattershot manner. So, friend, here's your 90-day plan to break 100. Like any good plan it builds upon itself and has short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals. Each point of the plan will be covered in detail in the subsequent chapters.
Look in your bag. You don't wear shoes that are too small for your feet, do you? Suppose you have a size 34 waist (been laying off the cheesecake, heh?). Would it ever occur to you to try to wear a pair of size 28 trousers, or size 48 trousers? Of course not. The point is, it's rather silly to attempt to play golf if the clubs you use don't fit your body, game, or skill level. The typical golfer buys a set of clubs that the latest tour phenomenon is playing and then tries to adjust his swing to them. The fact is the club should fit your swing. The set makeup should also consist of clubs that will allow you to overcome shortcomings and take advantage of your talents. There's a good chance you can knock a bunch of strokes off your game simply by making certain you have clubs that fit you. And it's the easiest way to get started.
Hit the ball closer to the hole when you have a realistic chance to do so--which is quite often. If you're a typical golfer (and we can assume you're not a PGA Tour player if you're reading this book), you play approximately 70 percent of your shots in a given round from 100 yards or closer to the hole. Generally speaking, the shorter the shot, the less complicated it is and the less room there is for error. Your chances of success increase on short shots, and you're playing a relatively short shot about 70 percent of the time. You can see that it makes sense to become more proficient from close range. This book will help you do that.
Be a better manager. While nearly every golfer tends to ignore it, playing a round of golf is similar to any other pursuit that involves plotting a course of some sort. From this tactical perspective it's not all that different than sailing or playing chess--you have to see some sort of plan evolving in your head. Here's the good news: Plotting your way through each hole on a golf course is fairly simple--much easier than the aforementioned chess strategy, which requires you to take into consideration the brain and tendencies of your opponent. In golf, the course doesn't move or think. The only real variable with a somewhat consistent presence is wind. Modern maintenance techniques have allowed for almost every course to be in fine shape, eliminating what used to be another consistent variable. Course conditioning can now be lumped in with rain as an infrequent element of your tactical planning.
The biggest factor in setting your course is your own capabilities and knowledge of your limitations. Once you can get a handle on those you'll be plotting more successful campaigns than General Patton, and this book is just the battle plan you need.
Hit the ball farther (and straighter while you're at it). Chances are you already wish to hit the ball a lot farther than you do--as do most golfers. Not everyone realizes the full extent to which added distance can help your game, however. Some people just want to hit it farther for the feeling of power. Others, because it makes other golfers say clever things like "Whooeee, you hit the snot out of that one." Even though you may have a vague idea that hitting a longer ball would improve your game, do you know by how much? In our schools at the Academy of Golf at PGA National, we demonstrate this to our students by playing a round with them wherein they begin play on each hole from the point to which the teacher has driven the ball. Counting the drive as their first shot, the student then finishes up the hole. Their scores for the round range (on average) between 10-20 shots better than they typically score.
Of course if you play Magellan golf--you're all over the map--it doesn't really matter how far you hit the ball, because it's tough to make good scores from the bottom of a lake or from behind the hot dog stand. So we'll fix you up with some ideas and strategies that will help you keep the ball in play.
