Today we share a recent message from our mailbag.
This from Brian…
I read your book just the other day, and I dropped ten strokes between my last round and the one before.
However, I still have some issues with consistency. On one hole, I drove 290 yards (admittedly a little down hill) but was usually around 235-250 yards. However, on some holes I would slice it out to the right, on a few, hook them into trouble.
Also, on my irons, I vary between a nice draw and a nice fade, but unfortunately, I have no idea when each is going to happen.
For the record, your approach to greens was helpful. When I am outside of 12 feet, I just try to get into the easy circle of three feet. That worked well for me yesterday, as I reduced my three puts to 1 from six.
Overall, I love the strategy you laid out. I shot a 95 yesterday in about a 12-15 mph wind, so I am not too unhappy, but look to improve going forward.
Here’s my response:
Congratulations Bill!!
Fantastic to hear you shaved 10 strokes off your score – 5 by reducing the three putts!
Aside from having the proper swing, much of consistency off the tee and with your irons comes down to swinging with consistent rhythm and tempo. We tend to over swing in a misguided attempt to get more distance. I am especially guilty of this!!
Chris and Rich created the Power and Distance Challenge to address this issue. Participants have reported tremendous gains in both distance and accuracy. Having recently completed the challenge myself I can also attest to being more accurate – particularly with my wedges.
Trying slowing down your back swing. I played with the head pro and a 3-handicap this weekend. The pros was in his 50’s and the 3-handicapper in his 60s I’d guess. I was consistently bombing my drives well past theirs. Yet their drives were consistently in the fairway while I would be just off the fairway and often needed to hit my approach shot under or around a tree.
After 11 holes I asked the pro what my biggest challenge was. He told me to just slow down my backswing. He explained that it’s much easier to keep all the body parts in sync (arms, shoulders, hips, etc.) with a slower backswing. A faster backswing gives you all kinds of opportunities to get all those body parts out of sync and hit inconsistent shots.
The 60-year old 3-handicapper had an incredibly slow backswing and even completely stopped at the top for a full second before unleashing his downswing. For his age, he was crushing the ball and hitting every fairway. I would not have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.
I immediately tried this on the next tee shot and for the rest of the weekend and I’ll be damned if I did not see an immediate improvement. My quick draw/hook practically disappeared with no loss of distance. As a matter of fact, I may have been hitting the ball even further.
By “quick hook” I mean that I have quick hands that tend to close the club face before impact and that is going to produce a shot that goes left most of the time. By slowing down just a little I was apparently able to keep all the body parts in sync better and hit more consistent shots. This was true of my iron shots as well.
Try thinking of hitting “through” the ball not “at” the ball in all parts of your game. Good players hit “though” the ball. Bad players hit “at” the ball. Particularly in the short game – pitching, chipping, and putting – hitting “at” the ball produces a “stab” or a “jab” “at” the ball.
Good luck and please let me know if you have any more questions.
Dedicated to Lower Scores and More Fun on the Course,
Robert Phillips
How to Consistently Break 90
P.S. Do you know the 5 most common swing faults and the quick fixes that will help you play better golf in a hurry? Claim your free videos here: Common Swing Faults and Quick Fixes…
