If you are working on more distance, but your scores are going up, you may want to change your strategy to hitting more fairways and greens. I was surprised to see a great article by Peter Sanders recently in a GOLFWRX Blog that attempted to explain Jordan Spieth’s recent lack of success in winning the Tour Championship. After a very successful 2015, Jordan declared that he wanted to get more distance out of his drives in 2016. This turned out to be a problem for him and may be a much bigger problem for you.
This is a YouTube video of Jordon Spieth during 2015 when he rose to the Number 1 Golf Ranking in the World. Control of his drives turned out to be a primary contributor to his success.
In 2016 he is averaging longer drives but it is not paying off.
Jordan’s average driving distance increased in 2016 but his consistency and accuracy dropped. Sanders summarized how Jordan was 12 strokes off the lead in the FedEx Tour Championship. His drives were putting him in more problem areas so he lost strokes to the leaders in his Approach to the Green and Around the Green. His drives in 2016 were averaging 299 yards (17 yards further than in 2015) but his accuracy for fairways hit dropped from 64% to 50%.
If you are hitting your drives further but they are landing in the rough, on uneven ground or behind low hanging limbs you have to scramble to hit the green on your next shot. Hitting longer drives, especially for the recreational golfer, is not the best solution to lower your scores.
NOTE: Recently the Long Drive Championships were shown on the Golf Channel. Most of the contestants missed the fairway in about 75% of their attempts. Now you can understand why these guys are not on the pro circuit. In the game of golf long bombs in the rough will kill your game. The harder you swing the higher the odds are that you will be playing your next shot from the rough.
Strategic Golf Will Cut 10 or more strokes Off Your Game
1/ Determine the swing speed for your driver which will allow you to finish in balance and holding your finish to watch your ball flight.
2/ Focus on a driver swing to LAUNCH your ball with a consistent controlled draw or fade by hitting in the upper center of the face of your club. Think of Dustin Johnson’s power when he unloads and launches his club from the inside to outside but limit your power to land it in the fairway.
3/ Hitting short of a hazard or sand trap is a safe option if you want to cut strokes. Reduce the risk and lower your score.
4/ When you are within 30 yards of the hole in the fairway or short rough, practice pitching or chipping using your clubs like a putting swing (with your shoulders and not your wrists) to get within 1 putt of the hole.
Are you breaking 90 on every round of golf? Use these tips to play bogey golf along with some pars to shoot in the 80’s. Breaking 100 is nice, breaking 90 is fun and breaking 80 is the wonderful feeling that we all strive for.
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