As I watched, I saw Hank imitating the exact problem I suffer from and I thought it would be helpful to point it out here, since I don’t currently have any decent video of myself to share.
Have a look at the video and meet me down below when you’re finished.

As you saw in the video, there’s a problem with steep fat and shallow fat.  The steep issue is the exact problem I’ve suffered from for a long time.  I took some video last season that showed me doing exactly what Haney described.

The only difference is, I don’t really suffer from fat shots (primarily) as a result of being too steep.  I tend to hit the ball off the toe and pull hook it.  Mainly, this happens because I compensate with my hands by flipping them closed and doing who knows what else.

You may have heard me talking about fixing my takeaway for a while.  My pro has identified that as one of my main issues and you saw Hank Haney talking about it a little in the video above.  In my case, I tend to take the club too far to the inside from the start.  So, to counter that, I then overcompensate when trying to correct that by taking the club back across the target line and a little steep on subsequent shots over time as I try to work the problem out.

Haney pointed out that a more level shoulder turn can help to fix the issue of being too steep.  I’m going to give that a shot as soon as I can get to the range again and really work on my takeaway early in the season so I can get this resolved once and for all this year. I just have to be careful to not take the club too far inside like I used to do or I’ll be back to square one.

I got on a little tangent there with my own swing and don’t want to lose sight of the original point.  If you’re suffering from fat shots, then this bit of wisdom from Hank Haney might be able to help you start hitting the ball solidly.

Incidentally, that video comes from the GolfLink YouTube channel, which has a ton of other great videos that you might find helpful.

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Curing Fat Shots

As most of you probably know by now, grooves in irons have been dialed back at the highest levels to try and reduce the spin that wedges and short irons can impart on the ball.  In recent years, it became common for players to just bomb away off the tee, because they knew that their wedges would still provide high spin from the rough.

Now, with grooves providing less help to players out of the fairway, Faldo made a good point, that reading lies will become more important.  (Note that the new grooves won’t affect most of us for quite a while, but all of this is still worth talking about)

What did he mean by that?

After we hit a shot and approach the ball, probably the most important factor in deciding the next shot is the lie of the ball.  In other words, how will the way the ball is sitting affect the ability for you to put the club head to the ball and have the shot react the way you expect?

There are two important parts to that. One:  can you strike the ball solidly? And, two:  how will the shot react?  The first question is kind of obvious in most circumstances. If your ball is lying against a tree root, clearly your ability to strike the ball solidly is in doubt. It’s the second question, however, that is just as important, but more tricky to predict and to understand.

What that comes down to is, how much spin can you put on the ball?  We might not be thinking of it in those terms at the time, but that’s really what we’re asking ourselves because it has a big effect on the outcome of the shot. If you’re able to strike the ball perfectly in the center of the club face with the club head moving at normal speed, the variable then becomes the amount of spin on the ball.  That will affect distance, trajectory, and stopping power.

Let’s take a look at actual situations and we’ll discuss the factors that go into the outcome of the shot.  It’s not my intent to cover every possible situation here or the mechanics of how to hit shots from all the different lies, but to discuss generalities that will help you to get a feel for reading lies.  Nothing is a good substitute for practice, however, so get out on the course when no one is around to try these shots and see for yourself how they react.

We’ll look at the situations that occur with shots from the rough and from the fairway.  In part II, we’ll look at lies in the sand and some special circumstances.  In each case, we’ll take a look at the questions we should be asking ourselves as we go about reading lies.  That’s really the how-to of reading lies. Knowing which questions to ask and what the answers mean is what this game is all about.

In the Rough

Shots from the rough are really the ones Faldo was talking about when he mentioned being able to read lies with the new grooves imparting less spin.

The main purpose of grooves on the club face is to divert grass and moisture from the club face.  Those things tend to cause shots to spin less.  With the old grooves, much more grass and water were able to be diverted so it was possible to still get good spin from poor lies.  Now, that capability is diminished.

It’s not just grooves, however, that are important.  Remember the first part of the equation?  Can we strike the ball solidly?  If the answer is ‘no’, then there’s a much bigger issue.

In that case, we have to consider that we may not be able to strike the ball solidly and at full speed.   If the ball is buried in six-inch rough, we have to start worrying about what the club head will do as it passes through the grass.  I previously covered how to hit the ball from deep rough, so I won’t go into the specifics here.  But understand that there are consequences to that type of lie.

For instance, there is a tendency for the club face to shut as the grass grabs the hosel. Then, there’s the question of spin.  As we discussed, grooves divert grass and water so that the club head and ball can meet solidly.  Is there too much grass to be diverted?

The Questions

Here is a checklist of things you probably should be considering as you try and read lies in the rough.

How Long Is the Grass?

The length of the grass is really important to being able to strike the ball solidly. Remember that the club head approaches the ball in an arc. It’s fairly low to the ground for a couple of feet before actually getting to the ball.  If it has to pass through long rough, there’s a very good chance that the speed and path of the club head will be affected. The club head will slow down. It will have a tendency to twist (usually closed).  You may be forced to try a lay-up shot, if you don’t have a chance to strike the ball well.

How Thick Is the Grass?

As all of you are certainly keenly aware, rough on a golf course comes in many, many varieties.  Not just species of grass, but the climate and amount of maintenance that it receives causes it to grow differently.

Rough that is thick and healthy presents a huge challenge.  At times, however, long rough might be more dry and brittle and even sparse.  In that circumstance, it presents somewhat less of a challenge.  In either case, you’re still left to answer the two questions I posed at the top.

How is the Ball Sitting in the Grass?

Can you strike it solidly?  If so, then there’s the question of how much grass is going to get in between the ball and the club face. A clean strike means that you’ll get more spin.  A lot of grass means that you’ll get less spin.  However, that doesn’t necessarily mean less distance.

You’ve probably heard the term “flyer lie”.  When the spin on the ball is greatly diminished, you might actually see more distance out of the shot. And, it will probably fly along a lower trajectory (spin  helps the ball fly higher). Not only that, but you can expect it to run further on the green because there isn’t enough spin to stop the ball as quickly.  You should be mindful of what kind of trouble lurks behind the green because you may find yourself hitting it over the back. You might want to consider less club and play for the ball to fly and run further.

How is the Grass Laying?

This is one that we might not consider as much. When grass gets long, or when it has been rained on or trampled, it might tend to lay in a certain direction.  Some types of grass might tend to do that all the time.  On the green, we call it “grain”.  It can happen just as easily with rough, too.

It is very important to pay attention to which direction the grass lays, relative to the path the club will take as it approaches the ball.

If the grass is laying away from the target even with the ball sitting on top, as the club head approaches the ball, it will tend to get down into the grass and the shot will act more like one where the rough is standing up.  The club head will slow. There will be a tendency to twist.  There will be grass between the ball and club face. And so on.

However if the grass is laying toward the target, the club will tend to just pass smoothly over top of it. This doesn’t mean that the shot will be so simple, though. In this case, if the ball is sitting on top of tall rough that is laying over toward the target, it’s easy as the club head approaches the ball, to hit down a little lower (firm turf would resist this a little). This makes it possible to hit the ball a little higher on the club face, reducing both spin and distance.  It’s probably enough just to be mindful of not trying to make an overly descending blow, as if you’re trying to take a big divot.

In the Fairway

When the ball is sitting in the fairway, there is much more uniformity in the types of shots you can expect.  However, it is these shots where we rely on precision.  If you’re 100 yards from the green, in the middle of the fairway, you want your 100 yard shot to go 100 yards, and you want to get the amount of spin that you’re expecting.

We still should be asking ourselves questions about the lie, even in the fairway.

How Firm Is the Turf?

From the fairway, grooves aren’t the primary factor that contributes to spin.  There is usually very little grass that gets between the club face and ball, so there is little grass and moisture to divert.

You may have heard the phrase “pinching the ball”. On tight, firm turf, depending on how much of a descending angle the club head approaches the ball, the club face actually pinches the ball against the turf very briefly.  This maximizes spin.  The firmer the turf, the more that spin is maximized.  More spin means more stopping power, but it can also mean slightly less distance and a higher ball flight.  Softer turf will diminish this slightly.

How Tall is the Grass?

Yes, this even matters on shots from the fairway.  Some courses go several days between mowing fairways and depending on the type of grass, it might be significantly longer after a few days. At that point, you need to be asking yourself how much of an issue you’re facing with grass getting between the ball and club face.  I’ve played rounds where, because of a string of bad weather, fairways were not mowed for almost two weeks.  At that point, fairways started to resemble rough, and reacted like rough too.

How Wet Is the Grass?

Remember how we said that grooves divert grass and moisture?  Well, they can only divert so much.  After they have started operating at capacity, then there will be an effect on the shot.

During or after rain, or even after a heavy morning dew, there is simply too much moisture for grooves to divert.  This moisture gets between the club face and the ball and it will tend to lessen spin.

Putting It All Together

Remember that reading the lie is only one piece of the whole puzzle.  It’s easy to get too wrapped up in the minutiae and to lose sight of the rest of the big picture.

Consider the fact where the fairway is really wet.  You might think, “OK, wet turf means the grooves will be taxed and won’t move all that water, so that will mean less spin and the ball will fly a littler further and run out more after landing.”  In theory, yes, but don’t forget to consider the fact that since it’s wet, the ball can just as easily plug on the green and stop dead, if the putting surface is soft. Or, you might have to take a more conservative swing to keep your balance.

I also can’t stress enough that this academic exercise will only take you so far.  There is absolutely no substitute to hitting shots from these various lies to get a true feel for how they will react.  We’re talking about tendencies here, so nothing is absolute.  A certain situation might tend to increase or diminish spin, but that doesn’t mean that it will.  The golf swing is a very dynamic machine and there are a lot of variables that can tip the scales one way or the other.

Next time, we’ll take a look at reading lies in the sand and in some other special circumstances.

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Reading Lies on the Golf Course, Part I

For the inaugural edition, we’ll have a contest, talk about grooves, when Tiger is coming back, and have a look at the state of my game and how winter impacts me.

It’s kind of an experiment here, so let me know what you think.  If you have comments, criticism, or suggestions, please let me know.  Either drop it down in the comments, or feel free to send me an e-mail.

And yes, I know, the COR limit is actually 0.83.  It’s a very rewarding feeling to have factual inaccuracies in the very first podcast (though I did correct myself, at least).

Without further ado, you can download the file using this link, or you can use the little podcast player below.  Enjoy (I hope)!

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Life in the Rough Podcast, Episode 1

You may not have heard of Knoodle because it’s fairly new, but it’s a pretty interesting place.  It’s stated goal is to be “a place where people who are bad at stuff go to get good at stuff, and people who are good at stuff go to help people who are bad at stuff.“  In other words, it matches up teacher and student, providing the tools for teachers to easily put together compelling instruction and a place for students to go to take advantage of it.

When I was asked to review the Golf Instruction Series by Josh Zander, naturally, I was interested in seeing what it was all about.

First a little background on Josh Zander.  According to his mini-bio at Knoodle, Zander is a:

“…Class A PGA Teaching Professional at Stanford University Golf Course and Presidio Golf Course. Josh is a member of the Golf Digest Magazine Pro Panel and contributes articles on a regular basis. In 2007, Josh was voted one of the top 20 teachers under the age of 40 in America, voted one of the best teachers in the State of California, and top ranked instructor in the San Francisco Bay Area by Golf Digest. Josh is currently a Titleist Leadership Advisory Staff Member.”

The Josh Zander golf instructional series consists of 14 video lessons on a variety of topics from hip turn to alignment to swing path and a number of others.

Going above the norm, the Knoodle framework adds some cool features to enhance the video experience.  Interestingly, each lesson includes a series of notes, very similar to a PowerPoint presentation.  They sit adjacent to the video and automatically advance as the video progresses to reinforce the video instruction.  All of the notes can be downloaded as Adobe Acrobat files which can be studied later.

In addition, there are mechanisms built in to the Knoodle interface to comment on the lessons, rate them, share them with others, or even communicate with the author.

One of the interesting features of Knoodle is that it lets the instructor set the price of the instruction.  In this case, the price of this video series is set at $10.

As far as the quality of the lessons, I was pretty impressed.  Josh Zander is an accomplished teacher and he presents the lessons in a very easy to understand way.  As I write this, I’ve watched about ten of the 14 lessons and I found them all very concise and informative.  They’ve all been under ten minutes so far, with most falling in the 4-6 minute range.

During the lessons, Zander presents a number of drills and uses a number of training aids while demonstrating the topics at hand.

I found the companion notes to be a nice feature that you don’t really find with most video lessons online.  They not only help to focus on the important points of the lessons, but being able to download them and refer to them later is a nice way to review the material and remember the key points without necessarily needing to review the entire video lesson again.  This might come in handy as you experiment at the driving range.  It’s a lot easier to refer to notes than to watch a video while standing on the practice tee.

One thing that should be noted is that these 14 lessons cover a wide array of topics, but should not be construed as a comprehensive lesson covering everything there is to know about the golf swing.  There are a wide array of topics, but the lessons are fairly focused and brief.

I was somewhat conflicted about the $10 price tag initially.  To be truthful, before I viewed the lessons, I had a hard time believing that the series could be worth it.  The main reason for that is that the internet has grown into such a spring of knowledge (some good, some not so good), but even in the golf world, there is a ton of instruction out there available for free.

After working my way through most of the lessons, though, I think I’ve kind of changed my mind on that.  Josh Zander is a quality instructor and the lessons are pretty well done.  They’re informative and will give you a lot of solid information.  I didn’t tally up the total running times for all the videos, but there has to easily be an hour worth of material.  I don’t know what Josh Zander charges for a lesson, but I have to believe you’d easily pay at least $100 for an hour’s worth of this material from a teaching professional of his caliber.

I have to say that, overall, I recommend checking out the series of lessons.  Players looking to improve will find a wealth of information to help get on the road to better golf.  Knoodle itself is a neat concept and it will be interesting to see it expand and grow over time.  For now, feel free to check out the Josh Zander golf instructional series by clicking here.

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Important Disclosure

As of the time of this writing, I am engaged in an advertising relationship with Knoodle, which you might notice as a big ad near the top of my sidebar.  It is not an affiliate relationship (where I make money if you buy something), nor do I make money for click-throughs.

When I was approached by Knoodle, I was asked about buying advertising and also about reviewing this lesson series.  Before I would accept the advertisement, I asked for assurance that there was no expectation on my review being steered a certain way as a tit-for-tat in exchange for advertising. I was informed that not only was an honest review encouraged, it was expected.

If not for this fact, I would have turned down the advertising revenue, because to me, honesty and integrity are too important to sell.  This is why you have never seen, and will never see, a sponsored post in this space as long as I continue to breathe.

I believe that I have given the instructional series an honest assessment.  Because this is the first time I have ever accepted money from a company for advertising whose product I subsequently reviewed, I wanted to make this relationship completely transparent.  I also want to give you my personal assurance that I have continued to do what I have done from day one.  Namely, to tell you what I think as honestly as I can.

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Instruction Review: Knoodle Golf Instruction Series

Not only do I recommend his books, but I enjoy his articles in Golf Magazine each month. In the February 2010 issue, he wrote an article about choosing wedge lofts wisely.  It kind of centered around the new wedge groove rule changes and, as usual, was full of great facts and advice.

One thing kind of caught my attention, though, and I’m not sure I’m fully on board.  Because of the lessened spin resulting from new groove regulations, he points out that players can expect around 50% less spin from the rough and about 20% less spin from the fairway for wedges of comparable lofts.

He goes on to point out that to stop shots on the greens as effectively, players will have to adopt higher and softer trajectories than what we’re used to producing.  And, he says, there are two ways to do that:  either  open the faces to current wedges to produce high flop/cut shots, or get wedges with higher lofts.  He adds that it’s easier to hit shots straight and control the distance with a square club face than it is with an open-faced cut shot.

This is where I’m kind of torn.  Believe me, I don’t doubt that Pelz can show that, scientifically, hitting those little cut lob shots is not as reliable as hitting something with a square club face.  But, I also think there’s something to be said for developing the creativity that comes along with hitting all kinds of shots with each wedge.

As you may know, Dave Pelz is a proponent of a 4×3 system, where the goal is to carry 4 wedges, and to groove 3 distinct short game swings with each, thereby giving you twelve absolutely grooved, reliable, distances within wedge range.  I talked a little more about Pelz’s 4×3 system and why it works when I reviewed his Short Game Bible, which you can check out for more background.

When it comes to finesse wedge shots, I can certainly agree with using that system.  I’ll be the first to say that if your 9 o’clock sand wedge swing produces a shot of 50 yards, then trying to open the face of your pitching wedge to hit that distance with the same swing isn’t a great plan.

But let’s talk about shots from within your shortest 4×3 distance.  We’ll say for the sake of argument that we’re talking about shots 25 yards and shorter.  I will agree with Pelz that, all things being equal, hitting a 15-yard pitch with a square face will produce a more consistent shot over numerous attempts than if you have to open the club face of a less lofted wedge some amount to hit a higher, softer shot to produce a shot of the same distance.

Naturally, introducing a second variable (an open club face) adds some degree of inconsistency because the best we can do is make a guess of how much the face is open and it won’t likely be the same each time, whereas we can probably get the club face closer to square each time (even though it usually won’t be perfectly square).

I get all that.

At the same time, I think there is some benefit to being able to take out a single club and produce a nearly infinite number of shots within a certain distance.  And maybe that doesn’t even mean taking those shots to the course.  Maybe on the course, it’s best to just stick with the shots Pelz recommends for maximum consistency.

I believe there is, however, a certain confidence and comfort that comes with being able to take a wedge out of your bag and feel like you can do anything with it, even if your intent is only to produce a vanilla, square-faced, short pitch.

I think I kind of felt that a little last spring as I was putting in my foundational practice green work for the year.  To mix things up, I would spend 20 minutes or so with each of my four wedges.  I would hit all the plain square-face chips that I could, to various targets around the green.  I was working on my basic stance and swing and all that, and getting a feel for how each club reacted for those shots.  How high did the ball fly?  Did the shots check at all?  How far did the ball fly for a given swing length?

I also spent a lot of time with each club hitting shots that I might not normally attempt.  I would find a pin that was only a couple of paces on the green and drop the ball in the fringe and see if I could hit a little lob and stop it close.  I would bury the ball in the rough and try the same shot.  I would drop the ball on the fringe and try to keep the ball lower by de-lofting the club some.  I would address the ball with my hands back some to see if the shot came out higher and more softly.

I believe that spending so much time doing that gave me an extreme comfort with my wedges from just off the greens.  My stats don’t really show me getting up and down a lot last year, but in fairness, I usually wasn’t just off the greens because I was struggling with swing troubles for a while and as the summer wore on, I spent less time working around the practice green and more time on the practice tee.

However, early in the year, my confidence from just off the green was at an all time high, and I can’t help but wonder if that was the result of trading a little art for science around the practice green.

Even though we might practice a wide variety of shots around the practice green, normally, that can’t match the infinite combination of possible situations we face on the course.  I might hit 50 balls from three paces off the green to a pin five paces onto the surface, but did I hit any where I was three paces off the green to a pin that was three paces on?  Maybe not.

What I did, though, was practice all sorts of shots with my wedges so that when I encountered a shot on the course that was a little different from what I might have practiced, I was still very confident because I felt like I could vary what I was doing with hand position, club face, swing length, etc. and not feel totally out of sorts wondering what the result would be.

It could be that all I did was find a way to give myself a little false confidence.  Maybe I would have enjoyed the same confidence and even more success by just sticking with grooving a consistent, repeatable swing and not trying to concern myself with hitting all sorts of wacky shots with my wedges.

What do you all think?  Is there a benefit to mixing in a good bit of art with all of the science?  Or do you think that keeping it consistent and repeatable is better in the long run?  I’d love to hear how you all approach that segment of the game.

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Trading Science for Art Around the Greens

Golf courses are filled with trees, water, sand, rough and so on that are just waiting to dole out some punishment.  It’s critical, if we want to score, that we learn basic recovery skills so that these trouble situations have a minimal impact.

Following are five recovery skills you need in your golf game.

Learning to Say ‘No’

That’s right, one of the most important recovery skill is a mental one.

We’ve all been there.  Off the tee, your drive was off target and you end up in the rough.  It’s fairly thick, but you can see the ball.  You have 200 yards to the green with a creek guarding the front, sand on either side, and dense woods behind the green.

In that situation, you need to hit a good shot to give yourself a chance, but being in the thick rough with a fairly long, forced carry, the odds might not be in your favor, depending on your skill level.  The question is, do you have what it takes to say ‘no’ and lay up?

You could take your medicine and hit a couple of wedges in a row and still have a chance to make par.  You’re probably looking at bogey, at worst, if you’re a reasonable putter.

Now, look at the down side in going for it.  Sure, you might hit a great shot and end up on the green or just off with a chance for and up and down.  More likely, though, you’re going to mis-hit your approach and end up in the creek.  That penalty stroke is probably going to put a double bogey on your card.

Or, what if you decide to take more club but catch a flier?  Your shot hits the green like a rocket and shoots into the woods.  At best, you might be able to take an unplayable lie, but what if the ball is lost?  Now you’re talking about a stroke and distance penalty.

Believe me, I know.  It’s very difficult to do it, but being able to set aside ego, optimism, or whatever you suffer from, is one of the most valuable golf skills you can cultivate.  There’s a time and place to go for it, but knowing when that is will make you a better player.

Polishing Your Sand Game

Sand play is one of the most under-developed parts of most player’s games.  The practice bunker at my course gets hardly any use.  I suppose maybe it’s because it’s not next to a practice green.  To me, it seems like at practice areas where there’s a green next to the bunker, players more apt to work on their sand play.

I’d be interested to know what percentage of players that work on their games spend and noticeable time working on their sand play.  Do they hit sand shots to a practice green?  What about fairway bunker shots?  I would bet that most of the players that do work on sand play don’t work on those.

Yet, sand shots are some of the most simple to execute – when you know the basics, that is.  Being a competent sand player gives you the chance to save par after finding your way into a fairway or green-side bunker.  Not being a competent sand player costs strokes, plain and simple.  I’ve actually played with people that experienced noticeable anxiety when playing from the sand. Forget about saving strokes, they’re worried about keeping the ball on the property and not killing anyone in the process.

I covered most aspects of sand play a while back, so if you need to brush up on your sand technique, you can check out these posts from the archives: The Basic Sand Shot, In Sand, the Point of Entry is Key, The Buried Lie: A Sandy Grave, Uphill and Downhill Lies in Bunkers, and The Fairway Bunker Shot.

Keeping the Ball Low

Some of you might play on courses where trees are few and far between.  But in the United States, tree-lined courses are very common.  At some point, you’re going to get a little close to a tree, or you’ll have a tree in your way, and you’ll find that you need to be able to keep the ball low to get under some limbs.

This isn’t a very difficult shot, but it does require some practice.  To execute a low punch, address the ball with a stance that is a little more narrow than normal.  The ball should be way back, well behind center.  Your weight should be mostly on your left side and will stay there throughout the swing.  Your backswing should be somewhat short, as with a wedge shot and you should keep your hands somewhat low on the follow-thorough.

You’re not trying to kill the ball, so your swing should be controlled.  You’re keeping the ball down by de-lofting the club face and by keeping the spin relatively low.  For a longer distance you definitely want to take extra club instead of swinging harder.  The ball will stay pretty low and then run a good deal after landing.  You definitely want to experiment with this shot before trying it on the course so you can get a handle on how high it will fly and how much roll you can expect.

This shot isn’t just good for keeping the ball under limbs.  It it also useful for playing in high winds.  Keeping the ball low will minimize the effect that wind exerts on your shots.

Intentional Hooks and Slices

Most of the time, hitting a hook or a slice is not what we want to do.  We would usually consider it a mistake.  However, there are times when we end up in situations where it can be advantageous to be able to do it on command.

Let’s say, for instance, you’re playing a tree-lined hole that’s also a dog-leg left.  Depending on how far the dog-leg is from the tee, positioning your shot in the right side of the fairway might be crucial.  If you don’t have enough length to clear it all, then it’s critical that you play for the right side of the fairway so that you have an angle at the green.  If you make a mistake and end up on the left edge of the fairway, you may find that you have no clear shot at the green if you’re back a bit from the bend and there are trees in the way.

By all means, refer back to recovery skill one (above), and decide whether it’s best to just take your medicine and hit a wedge or punch something forward as much as possible.  There are circumstances, though, where you may feel like you have a green light and can (or should) go for it.  If that’s the case, you’ll need to be able to do more than play a nice draw (or fade if you’re left-handed).  You may need a controlled hook.

A while back, I covered how to hit a controlled draw or fade.  Feel free to review that now if you need to brush up.

There are lots of things you can do to promote ball flight one way or the other.  In that post I referred to above, there are a number of things mentioned, such as taking a more open or closed stance, using a weaker or stronger grip, and opening or closing the club face slightly at address.

When you need to go from a draw to a hook or from a slice to a fade, it’s simply a matter of exaggerating one or more of those things a little more.  The best place to start is opening or closing the club face at address just a little more.  It doesn’t take much to make a big difference in how much the ball moves.  I wouldn’t, however, recommend exaggerating grip changes in this case.  That can give an uncomfortable feeling at address and that discomfort will do more harm than good.

If you’re very comfortable with the concept of swing plane and you feel like you’re comfortable and knowledgeable enough with your own swing, you can also use that to promote a hook or a slice.

If you want to hook the ball, a flatter plane, with the ball approaching the club more from inside the line will help you do that.  Conversely, to slice the ball, swing along a more vertical plane and have the club face approach the ball from more down the target line (or even from across the line – which is what chronic slicers usually do without realizing it).

One last thing you can do to promote one or the other is to control the release of your hands at impact.  Take a few practice swings and if you’re trying to hook the ball, really get the feeling that you’re releasing the hands through impact, to get the club face closing a little sooner.  If you want to slice it, don’t be afraid to hold on a little and delay the release of the club just a bit so the face stays open slightly longer.

The best thing to do is to experiment with these things at the driving range to understand how they work for you.  You certainly want to do that before getting out on the course and deciding to try hooking the ball on purpose for the first time.

Hitting From Thick Rough

This is probably the most common situation that we golfers face regularly where our recovery skills are tested.  Again, start by deciding whether it’s worth going for it.

By far, the most effective way to deal with heavy rough is to play the shortest, heaviest club in your bag.  That’s typically a sand wedge. A wedge has enough weight to get through the rough and to the ball, and the shorter shaft makes it easier to control.

There are times, though, where the lie makes it possible (or the situation makes it necessary) to go for it, and a hybrid or other long club is the choice.  I covered the basics of hitting from the deep rough last year.  If you have trouble in the deep rough, I think you’ll find that the proper adjustments are relatively simple.

Managing Expectations

The key to being in recovery situations is realizing that we’re in recovery situations. That seems silly to say, but we’re there because we messed up and we’re paying a penalty.  The only reason modern golf courses have sand and long grass is to penalize bad shots.  That’s fundamental to the game.

Often times, it’s the problem of biting off more than we can chew that causes us to hit poor shots in those situations.  If you hit a ball dead down the fairway, you arrive at your second shot and start thinking, “Ok, I have X yards to the green, and the wind is still, and the lie is fairly level, so I need to hit such and such a club.”

The problem comes when you hit a shot into a recovery situation, like into thick rough, and go through the same progression.  You may not even stop to think whether that shot even makes sense.  You’re paying a penalty, and understanding it is the first step to digging out of that hole.  Knowing how to slice and hook, hit from the sand, keep it low, and hit from thick rough are valuable physical skills to learn, but respecting the situation and knowing when to say ‘no’ is the most important.

Remember that and you’re on the right track.  And remember to practice these things at the range before trying them on the course or you’ll end up digging a deeper hole.  Better yet, just keep it on the short grass!

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Five Recovery Skills You Need in Your Game

As the 2009 wore on, I got to be meticulous about keeping my handicap and learned a few things I didn’t know before.  If your only experience with the USGA handicap system is entering scores in a computer and affixing a new sticker to a card every couple weeks, then you’ve been missing out.

There’s a very complex system for computing handicaps which, in fact, takes up a whole book.  Don’t believe me?  I broke out my copy for this post.  Of course, an iPhone image of my manual doesn’t do you much good.  Luckily, the USGA has most, if not all, of that handicap information online.

I recommend digging in to understand the handicap system a little better, but here are nine things you might not know about USGA golf handicaps.  All of this information was compiled from Shortcut to the USGA Handicap System and from the USGA Handicap Manual.

1. Did you know that the USGA has had a handicap system in the United States since 1912? That’s right.  And until 1987, a golfer’s handicap was relative to what an expert would be expected to shoot on a course (par), and they would get the same number of strokes on every course.  After 1987, players began getting a handicap index which took course difficulty into account.
2. Do you really know what the Slope Rating is? The Slope Rating is the mystery factor that lets handicaps express how difficult a course is for golfers of varying abilities in relation to a scratch golfer. It considers aspects of a course’s layout that will affect a high-handicapper’s score more.  This might include forced-carries or significant water hazards.  Courses with more of these kinds of trouble will have a higher Slope Rating.  Slope Ratings range from 55 to 155 with 113 considered the standard Slope Rating.
3. Do you know that you don’t necessarily have to finish a round to post a score? The USGA states that there are two basic principles behind the practice of posting scores.  First, you must try to make the best score at each hole in every round (no sand bagging).  And, second, you are required to post every acceptable score.
4. Do you know what an acceptable score is? I thought you might not so here goes.  An acceptable score might be any of the following.  When at least seven holes are played, you have enough for an acceptable score.  Seven to 12 holes would be posted as a 9-hole score; 13 or more posted as an 18-hole score.  In addition, you should include: scores on all courses with a Course Rating and Slope Rating, scores in all forms of competition (match, stroke, and team competitions where a player plays his own ball), scores made under the Rules of Golf, scores made under the local rule of “preferred lies”, and scores made in an area observing an active season (no “winter rules”).
5. Did you know that if you skip a hole or don’t play it according to the Rules of Golf, it still counts? Before I knew any better, sometimes I would get frustrated while playing alone for fun and pick up the ball or I would play a mulligan or violate the Rules in some other way and assume that I couldn’t count the round.  Well, the handicap system takes those into account.  If you skip a hole, count the score as par plus any handicap strokes you would receive.  If you play a mulligan, you should do the same.  Don’t count the mulligan.  If you start a hole but don’t finish (like if you quit or are conceded a stroke in match play) you must record the score you most likely would have made if you finished the hole.  I’m betting most of you didn’t know that last part.
6. Do you know what a Course Handicap is? With all the talk of index this and rating that, it all becomes confusing.  Your Course Handicap is what many people think their Handicap Index is (which is partly true – the Index is portable and is used to compute the Course Handicap for a particular course).  It’s the number of strokes you need to play to scratch at a particular course.  When all is said and done in a round if you shot even par after your handicap strokes are applied, then you had a good day and your handicap was right on.  If you’re not in that neighborhood, then you either had a bad day or your index is not an accurate reflection of your ability.
7. Did you know that handicaps have been relatively stable for a long while? Despite the availability of instruction (personal, print, television), the accessibility of golf to people to play to their heart’s content, and the technology that goes into equipment, we’re not really getting all that much better at the amateur level.  In its February 2009 issue on pg. 102, Golf Digest printed a chart showing handicap average from 1990 to 2008 dropping sharply with a corresponding explosion in golf technology (they charted against the number of annual submissions to the USGA equipment test center).  However, this drop in handicaps amounted to around less than 2 strokes reduction in index in almost 20 years.  That may be statistically significant and is probably equipment related as Golf Digest hypothesizes (i.e. more distance and forgiveness), but overall, we’re not really becoming significantly better players.
8. We all hate blow-up holes, but did you know that your handicap is insulated from their effects? That’s what Equitable Stroke Control (ESC) is designed to do.  You all know (or should, at least) that depending on your handicap, when you enter a score, you can’t use a score on a hole that is greater than the maximum allowed.  If your Course Handicap is nine or less, you can’t count anything over a double-bogey for handicap purposes.  If your handicap is 10-19, your maximum hole score is a 7.  And so on up through handicaps of 40+ whose maximum score is a ten.  This keeps an occasional big number from blowing up a player’s Handicap Index, so that it’s more representative of a player’s true scoring ability, not his worst case scenarios.
9. Did you know that there’s a Handicap Committee whose purpose is to ensure the integrity of handicaps it issues? The handicap system wouldn’t be much without some form of peer review process.  That’s where the Handicap Committee comes in.  You can read up on the details, but its basic purpose is to make sure the handicap system is run correctly at the club and to make sure that scores are entered accurately.  Typically, at a golf course, this might consist of the pro and/or the pro shop staff, but the club might not necessarily be a golf course, but a collection of people in an organization of some kind.  For instance, my handicap is issued by the New Jersey State Golf Association, not by my golf course directly.

There you have it.  You might have a handle on handicap stuff, but I bet most of you learned something new.

This, of course, only relates to the USGA handicap system.  Other parts of the world use different systems, though maybe those systems share some common aspects.  I’d love to hear from those of you outside the United States and Mexico to learn how the handicap systems you use differ from the USGA system.

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Nine Things You Might Not Know About Golf Handicaps

I’ll get this party started and give you the five things I’m asking from Santa for Christmas.

Enough Tiger Drama

First and foremost, I want a return to normalcy in the world of PGA Tour golf.  The Tiger Woods story has been one of the biggest of the year, and I’m guilty of gossiping about all the ins and outs (no pun intended) of that whole mess.

For 2010, I want the elephant in the room to get up and walk away.  I want Tiger back on the course and I want to go back to the way things used to be, when I felt like I could root for him without thinking about all this controversy whenever his name is uttered.

Gimme Some Iron

I want a new set of irons.  I planned on getting a new set last year but because I was struggling with my ball striking for much of the year, I didn’t feel I had earned it.  Well, I’m pretty much over that hump, so it’s time to replace my worn Callaway X-16 Pros with something new.  I debated a few different new models last year, but I’m undecided now so Santa will have to use his judgment.

Soaring to New Highs

Obviously, I want my game improvement to continue.  I made some really good progress last year (despite some hurdles) and I feel like I’m ready to continue breaking through.  I can’t wait to get out there in the spring, work hard, and break through all the barriers that I can.

I learned an awful lot last year.  Not only did I make strides in my game, but I learned a lot about the mechanics of the golf swing in general and how those nuances apply directly to my specific swing.  I feel like I’m actually getting to the point where I understand what’s going on under the hood.  That’s a good feeling and I want it to continue next year.

Take Me Away

It’s been a long while since I did a golf getaway, so I’d like to do a mini golf vacation in 2010.  The dream vacation to Scotland is pretty much off the table for 2010, but if I can get to Myrtle Beach or Florida or Arizona for a long weekend of golf, that would be ideal.

And My Gift To You

You didn’t expect me to use all five things on my list for myself, did you?

I’m asking Santa to bring you everything you desire in the realm of golf for 2010 (I can’t influence anything outside of the universe of golf, so you’re on your own with that other stuff).  You had better take advantage and tell Santa everything you want because Christmas is only a couple of days away.

Leave your list for Santa in the comments and if you’ve been good this year, you never know, your wish may come true!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Even if Christmas isn’t your thing, I still wish all the best for you and yours for 2010.

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Come Sit on Santa’s Lap!

The latest poll asked about the ways you improve your golf game.  If you haven’t voted yet, please feel free.  The question is, “Which of the following have you done in the past 12 months to improve your golf game?“  I presented you with a bunch of answers and asked you to pick all that apply (my apologies – for a brief period early on, you were only able to select one answer, but that has since been fixed).

This is how the responses broke down as of this writing (out of 167):

• Practice at a driving range or practice green (81%, 136 Votes)
• Read or watch instructional materials (63%, 105 Votes)
• Take a range lesson from a golf pro (34%, 57 Votes)
• Get a club fitting (22%, 36 Votes)
• Conduct a video analysis of your swing, (by yourself or with a pro) (20%, 34 Votes)
• Have a computerized swing analysis done (not at a club fitting) (15%, 25 Votes)
• Another thing which is not listed (15%, 25 Votes)
• Take a playing lesson from a golf pro (12%, 20 Votes)
• Attend a clinic at a local course or driving range (7%, 12 Votes)
• Attend a golf school (4%, 7 Votes)
• None of the above (3%, 5 Votes)

In many ways those answers aren’t surprising.

For instance, I’m not surprised that only 34% of you have taken a lesson from a golf pro in the last 12 months.  One look at my driving range tells me that if all of them were taking lessons, my course would need to employ a dozen pros.  I’m also not surprised that only 4% of you have attended a golf school.  They can get pretty expensive, after all, and often require travel and several days of commitment.

(Update: Doug alertly pointed out in the comments that I had originally referred above to the 12% who had taken playing lessons with a pro.  The number taking range lessons is actually at 34%, but I wonder how many of them overlap with the 12% who took playing lessons.  In reality the number taking some form of lesson could be anywhere between 34% and 46%, which actually puts the total in the somewhat surprising category.  Though, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because as I went on to state below, most people visiting here are those interested in game improvement.  What wouldn’t surprise me is if these numbers are higher than in the overall golfing population.)

A couple of things there are very surprising to me, though.

For one, I’m surprised that 22% of you have gotten a club fitting in the last 12 months.  I expected that number to be much lower.  I’m surprised there were that many of you that bought clubs in the last 12 months (or at least thought about it seriously enough to get a fitting), though I probably shouldn’t be.  We golfers are nuts when it comes to buying new equipment sometimes.

The biggest shock to me, however, is that only 81% of you have practiced at a driving range or practice green in the last 12 months.  I want to scream, “WHY?!” but I’ll just calmy ask.  Why?

In fairness, 3% of you answered “none of the above”.  There are likely some non-golfers that came by and answered the poll.  I’ll throw those out and I’m still shocked that 16% of you haven’t practiced at a driving range or practice green in the last 12 months.

I understand that most of you would rather play than practice.  I get it.  But those of you that found your way here for the first time were most likely looking to improve your game somehow.  As much as I’d like to believe you’re interested in my quest, the vast majority of you were brought here while searching for things to help you fix your game.  The Stack and Tilt.  Learning how to hit from sand.  Straightening your slice.

In general, I expect that most of you like to work on your game in some fashion.  I’m betting many of you like to read golf books, magazines, blogs.  You take lessons.  You buy training aids.  I would have thought going to the range and/or practice green is the most basic fundamental to game improvement like the need for air, water, and food for basic human survival.

It’s not even the fact that 16% of you didn’t practice at a range or green that boggles my mind the most.  It’s really the fact that you selected one of the other answers instead.  I sincerely hope you’re not taking lessons and not putting the teaching to work in between.

I have to know.  Those of you who did not practice at a driving range or practice green in the last 12 months, please tell me your story.  I promise I won’t be judgmental.  I’m just extremely curious.  Do you just not like it?  Did you just accidentally not select that answer?  Do you just prefer to work on stuff out on the course?

Hopefully some of you 16% will fill me in, or maybe the rest of you know the answers and will let me know.  Either way, I’m intrigued with another great poll.  If you haven’t voted yet, please feel free.  I’m going to run it for a while longer.  I’m also interested to hear from any of you about your general practice habits.  If you read regularly, then you know all mine, so let’s hear yours.

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Your Golf Improvement Strategy

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

As I was saying yesterday: Until…

Starting With a Job

In March of 1994, I was in college and was looking for a job for the summer.  The same group of friends that went out there a year or two earlier (including the two clubless deadbeats – sorry, dude…) decided that we should go down to the “country club” and apply for jobs.

I put “country club” in quotes because at the time, we were so naive, we assumed it was a club for the elite like Bushwood from Caddyshack with doctors and lawyers and executives out there playing for serious bucks.  In hindsight, it was an average public course with a decent sized membership.  Though, to their credit, it was a more traditional place where dress code and etiquette and those sorts of things mattered.

Within a week, my three friends were hired.  I waited and waited and heard nothing.  I was getting stiffed!  By fortuitous coincidence, my aunt happened to know a man who was a bigwig at the club and who was in tight with the ownership.  She phoned in a favor for me and I was enthusiastically hired before she even finished hanging up the phone.  On a side note – coincidentally, while that ownership regime was there I was treated very well.  Hmm, my first and only experience with nepotism, I think.

I worked there throughout the rest of my college days and even a little bit after.  Since I went to college for almost eight years (I got to consecutive bachelor’s degrees – cut me some slack) I spent about 5 years working out there.  My first year, I was a cart attendant (we were called cart boys in those days – not sure if that’s a PC violation now), then I worked in maintenance for three years.  After that, I worked part time on weekends for a season or two as a course ranger.

As an aside, I really do believe that those five years have given me enough material to write a book.  You wouldn’t believe a lot of it if I told you, but those are stories for another day (and most of them will never be recounted in this space).

Learning from the Learned

Those were definitely my formative years in the game of golf.  I was then working for that salty old pro that wanted to bounce us out the door a year or two earlier.  His name was Bob.  He worked a non-golf job for something like 25 years, retired, and became a golf pro, something he had wanted to do early in life.  He had a somewhat gruff exterior, but after getting to know him, he was funny, generous, and had a lot to teach.  He passed away a couple of years after I finished up my tour of duty at the course.

His love of the game was similar to mine, I think. He instilled a lot of appreciation for the traditions of golf.  He demanded players dress appropriate to the dress code.  He was always dressed sharply himself.  We used to joke that he never wore the same shirt twice and it wasn’t that much of an exaggeration.  At one point, he hired a waitress from the restaurant to do laundry for him on the side.  He brought five full Hefty garbage bags full of clothes for her to wash (I know because I moved them from his car to hers).  And he said that was just the shirts.  He would bring the pants after she got those done.

I still miss him.  I think he would be supportive of my effort to become a pro and I would definitely value his advice.

I also worked for an up and coming young pro named Brian.  He was an excellent player and really nice guy.  I learned a lot from him too.  He was well on his way to a career in golf, working through the PGA certification process at the time.  Soon after I started working there, he got a job at a course in Florida and I haven’t heard anything since.  But I owe him too for sparking my love for the game.

Getting a job at a golf course was key because golf was free.  Practice was free, too.  If the seed was going to be planted, it definitely had all the water and sunshine it could use.

Working on the course was a great learning experience because it gave me plenty of time to observe the way experienced players played.  I started to pick up the finer points of etiquette.  I learned where carts were allowed to be driven.  I learned about pace of play.  I saw some good swings and an awful lot of bad ones and started to sort of intuitively recognize some of the differences between them.

Equipment Upgrades

I played golf here and there, and at some point, Brian examined my beat-up old set of clubs and said, “come with me.”  He took me to the shed where the range balls were stored and there was a giant container filled with clubs.  These were the ones that had been in the lost and found for multiple years (current ones were kept inside the pro-shop).  He said, “let’s build you a better set,” and proceeded to pluck me out a complete set of clubs, including a putter.

Spalding Executive was a popular model at the time and he managed to put together an almost completely matching set for me.  Which begs the question:  how many frickin’ clubs do people lose?!  The math is mind boggling, that he could put together almost a complete set of Executives just out of the lost and found.

But, I digress.

My First “Lessons”

I was charged up about the “new” clubs so I started practicing more.  I signed up for a clinic that Brian ran one afternoon early that summer.  He started me out with some waist-high 7-iron swings and showed me some other basics.  There was a trash can full of range balls for the students to hit and I was out there hitting balls with my 7-iron until dark.

As time went on, I started to play more.  Some of my fondest memories are the evenings I spent out on the course playing alone.  I kept practicing, too.  Despite the fact that I worked at the course, I didn’t take a personal lesson from any of the pros for several years.

I did get lots of tips and casual information over the years, but aside from that clinic my first summer, I didn’t get much other instruction.  I just learned by doing.

Well, that’s sort of true.

One evening, I was at the range pounding balls.  The driveway of the course ran parallel to the range tee, so it was common for cars to be passing by all the time.  At one point, I heard a car slowing down behind me so I hit my shot and turned to look, and it was Bob watching me.

He yelled, “What the f*** are you doing, big man?!!”  You had to know Bob – if he liked you, he would give you a hard time.  I turned and said, “hitting balls?”  He shot back, “You see that sign up there on the road?!”

The road ran up the right side of the range (yes, I did put balls out there on occasion).  There was a sign up maybe 150 yards up and on the opposite side of the  road.  It was probably 20-30 degrees to the right my target which was straight up the range.

I kind of sheepishly said, “yeah” because I thought he might be having some fun with me but wasn’t sure and didn’t want to seem like an idiot.  He yelled, “You should be swinging your club at that g**d*** sign!!”  I started to turn and aim at the sign and he shot back, “Nooooooooo! Dammit!  Aim down the range at your target, but when you swing the club down, swing it out toward that sign!!”

I hit a few shots like that and he was satisfied.  In a much calmer tone he said, “Good.  Keep working.”  He rolled up his window and drove on.

That was my first lesson on hitting from the inside.  Over the next few years, I received other impromptu lessons like that and learned a lot in the process, without really knowing what I was learning.

Brian taught me how to build putting feel by mentally associating a specific length putting stroke with a specific distance.  It wasn’t about a scientific measurement of putt length and back swing length.  It was about knowing that I have a ten-foot putt and being able to have my muscles recall my ten-foot putt stroke, whatever that happens to look like.

In my first year there, I started to play more and more.  When I got done work, I would run home, change in to proper attire, and then run back and hit the course and play until dark.  By this time, I was becoming a reasonably decent player.  After a couple of years, I had no trouble averaging in the low 40’s and would go through stretches where I could consistently shoot in the upper 30’s.  I was playing probably four or five days per week and even went through a stretch where I played 21 days straight.

Defining Me

It’s funny how circumstances define us.

As you can infer from all this, I played a lot of 9-hole rounds.  We were allowed to play whenever we wanted, but we couldn’t play at busy times when we might take a spot from a paying customer. So, I played in the evenings almost all the time.  And that behavior became so ingrained that it continues to this day.  I am most happy on the course in the evenings, playing until dark.  I like to play against someone else because it helps me focus my game, but I rarely play in a foursome.

I learned to enjoy the solitude of the practice tee and green and of the course late in the evenings.  I learned to like practice because I didn’t want to be the 17 year old fool that went out there to play golf without even understanding anything beyond the basic purpose of the game.  Sure, everyone has to start somewhere, but instead of asking, I just figured I knew it all and went from there.

Those were my formative years and gave me my love for the game.  I owe people like Bob for teaching me the tradition and character of the game.  And I owe several people for taking the time to teach me a little about the swing and how to play the game.  But, somewhere the game got into my soul.  I don’t know if the solitude just matches my personality or if the challenge of the game is a perfect match for my innate desire to learn and improve.

Either way, that was a wonderful time in my life and it was a pleasure to relive it in these two posts.  I hope you’ll share your own introduction to the game in the comments below.

© 2007-2009 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

How it All Began, Part II