On the Green

I have a male student in his early thirties who is relatively new to golf yet already knows he wants to play competitive amateur golf. He has good athleticism which has spurred on his desire to achieve; but knows he needs to get his overall game in shape. I asked him to define his goals as well as areas he needs the most work and they were: 1) more fairway hits, 2) pitches from 100 yards and in to within 10-12 feet, 3) better chipping and putting, and 4) better course management on the course.  Perhaps what impressed me the most besides his desire was the fact that he had goals and a realistic time frame of five years or less to win a major championship.

This student “loves golf” and has played almost daily even during the cold weather. It is good to play and practice but poor conditions may cause unwanted repetitive moves when the body and hands are cold. It is also difficult to get an accurate assessment because the golf courses are not in competitive form in the winter.

Our game plan will begin by creating current benchmarks; basically where are we right now. This will help us to chart his progress; it is very important to see positive results, which create confidence. I am a huge advocate that you need a great short game to win at golf; not just a long and straight drive. So, I will devote a good amount of time helping to make the short game more accurate, which will result in lower scores. There is no part of the game that reduces scores quicker then putting and chipping.

This week I also had the opportunity to work with one of my Ladies Clinic groups. After the long layoff from the holidays and bad weather, I had them all begin with the short stroke to regain coordination and solid contact with the ball. One student during the layoff recovered from a sore neck and shoulder. She was so fearful about getting hurt again that she gripped the club lighter, relaxed and swung the club without force; her results were outstanding. She shared with all of us that the doctors and physical therapists all said her condition was caused by tension.

Tension is very easy to produce in golf, beginning with a tight grip. For beginners this is perhaps one of the most common problems instructors see. The tight grip radiates up the arms into the shoulders and neck area, totally handicapping any athleticism that may exist. Although this student is approaching her golf game now from fear of hurting herself again, she is now learning how to make the moves correctly without tension and reaping the benefits of great shots. This is just another lesson learned from our mistakes.

I had another female student later in the week, adjusting to the long layoff with short strokes. She too admits to being tense, wanting to do so well. Her shots continually got better as we worked our way through the bucket of balls. She began with a quick, forceful stroke all geared to “hit,” “lift” and move the ball. This motion ended up topping the ball. In order to get airtime on the ball, she practiced a few shots with a longer flowing tempo that brushed the carpet and followed through to a hold position that pointed down the line. We used an expression of (Tick Tock) and stretched it out Tiiiiiicccccck,  Toccccccccck to emphasize time. This seemed to work pretty well.

She learned the difference of tempo, sound of a solid hit from a thin shot, and how to hold a swing finish in balance. She achieved great success over time, which we will use to build more of the swing the next time we get together. She just needs to practice more of this drill a number of times until then.

Joyce Wilcox is a teaching professional and an LPGA Class A Member. Contact Joyce at 910-274-4767.