Recently, one of my clients joined a programme that I run and part of that is having a 9 hole assessment round. The idea is that we play and as we go around the course I makes notes of my clients strengths and weaknesses, once the round is completed we sit and have a coffee to chat through my findings and then formulate a schedule to start working on things.
The chap I was assessing is really into his golf and a joy to spend time with, as we got to the 3rd he found himself in the trees, the lie was awkward with an overhanging brach in front of him, the ground is very soft at this time of year making a running shot very difficult, so I asked him how he was going to approach it!!
He said without hesitation, I'm going to hit my wedge and hope it goes through the branches and with a bit of luck it might land on the green, ( I wish I had got my camera with me so you could see the difficulty of the shot he was about to play). So I asked him, before you try that shot is there another option? Nope, was his prompt reply, not if I want to go for the pin.
Ok, what about playing a shot away from the pin I said, there is a gap in the trees if you aim in that direction, play your 6 iron to keep the ball low and your almost guaranteed to finish on the green, why don't you try that shot instead? How come I didn't think of that! came his reply.
He then went on to say something that really got me thinking.
"Why are Golfers Not Taught To Play Golf?"
What a great question, why aren't golfers taught to play golf? Golfers are taught to swing a golf club that's a given, but how many of you reading this were taken on to the golf course by a professional and shown how to play golf? I'm going to have a wild guess and say 1% of you, now I don't mind being told I'm wrong but I bet I'm not far off.
We have all learnt to play golf by trial and error and by watching others, but how do you know exactly what you should be doing unless you've had some professional help, could this be one of the reasons why it can take such a long time to improve?
We played 2 further holes and once again he found himself in a testing situation, this time before he selected a club he said what do you think I should do here? We both stood behind the ball and I asked him to see if he could work out two options!! Well if I was playing normally I'd hit my rescue club and see what happened, but now you've made me think and perhaps that wouldn't be the right approach, so what other shot could you play I asked? I suppose I could hit an 8 iron and get it back in play but that would leave me a longer 3rd shot to the green, that's very true, but which is the less risky shot to play? Well the 8 iron is.
As a Positive Impact Coach I don't like telling people what to do as it doesn't give a person an awareness, so what I asked him to do was to play 2 golf balls, one the way he saw the shot and one using the 8 iron, we are going to complete the hole with both balls and see which one produces the best score.
This is how it went, with his rescue club he swung and topped the ball sending it about 10 yards, he then had another go with the same club and struck it beautiful, so good in fact that it sailed through the fairway and finished in the thick rough on the other side, he then used his sand iron and got it back onto the fairway, form there he chipped it short of the green , chipped on and just missed his put giving him an 8 with that ball.
With the second ball and using his 8 iron he played the hole like this, an OK connection hit the ball about 100 yards but critically back on the fairway, he then hit a 6 iron just left of the green but not in any trouble, a relatively simple chip onto the green gave him a chance of a 1 putt, he made a super attempt at holing the putt but it just slipped by, giving him a 6 on the hole.
So you might say I proved a point but there was something much more powerful that carried on to the next tee, I asked him if he had taken an 8 on the last hole how would be be feeling right now? well I'd be angry; he said, and probably try and smash this tee shot to make up for it, and if you'd made a clever 6, how would that make you feel? I'd be feeling alright, yes calmer and I'd certainly not be trying to smash hell out of this ball.
We finished the round and sat in the clubhouse for our post round assessment, he had a big smile on his face and said to me, you've showed me something very different today, you taught me that's there's an art to playing golf and that's something I'd never appreciated up until now.
From my perspective I'd helped him appreciate that there is always another way to approach a shot, hitting a high risk and reward shot often doesn't come off and the outcome on that hole and maybe the rest of your round can be devastating, playing the right shot at the right time is smart golf in my opinion, but how do you know what's right or wrong if you've never been shown?
If this had made you think about the shots you try, and made you question your decision making why don't you book a playing lesson with a professional, see if there is a better way you could be playing and don't be afraid to ask lots of questions as you go around, rules are very important and if a situation comes up find out what your options are. I have a simple Philosiphy in life " if I have tooth ache I go to a dentist" I don't ask a friend to help me , seek out professional help and I think you'll agree with me it's the best money you'll ever spend on your golf.
As always if I can be of any help leave a comment.
Happy Golfing
Julian Mellor
PGA Professional
Positive Impact Golf Coach
Julianmellorpga@icloud.com
