ON THE RANGE / ON THE COURSE
Thoughts & Tips on Practicing & Playing
ON THE COURSE : FOCUS ON THE THINGS YOU CAN CONTROL – COMMON ERRORS FOR THE RECREATIONAL GOLFER
I ’ ve had the privilege of going on the golf course with thousands of recreational golfers during “ play with the pro ” sessions over the years . One of the common themes I hear from them on the course after hitting a bad shot is “ what did I do wrong ?”, meaning what was wrong with my swing ? This of course is an understandable question . In some cases , there was certainly a break down in swing mechanics . The bigger issue is golfers don ’ t value the importance of the two things they can control on the golf course : their set-up and their mindset / decision making . They spend the majority of their time on the course worrying about the things they have zero control over : the result of the shot , score on the hole , the person their playing with , the weather and their swing . Yes , their swing ! I know it hard to believe , but your swing takes approximately 1.35 seconds , so you have no real control of your swing on each shot .
So , let ’ s go over one thing in each of the key areas a golfer can control that will have a positive impact for recreational golfers during course play .
The Set-Up : Alignment
Set-up is a core fundamental of any shot you go through as you address the ball to prepare to hit a shot . It consists of grip , stance , posture , ball position and alignment . Although all of them are important , I want to focus on what can be arguably called the most difficult thing to do in golf , alignment .
Certainly , learning to align yourself to a target is a fundamental skill that requires learning the
4 | March Newsletter