I played 18 holes yesterday with my brother Ken and Jack, our putting coach. The day was beautiful with just a slight breeze, sun shining and perfect blue sky. By our 11:30 tee time the temperature was warming up nicely to the mid sixties in the North Carolina foothills. We checked in, got our carts and jetted to the first tee to find an empty tee and hole. Things were looking good for a smooth and speedy round. We cruised for the first 4 holes and then hit the wall on number 5. Turning the corner of the woods approaching 5 tee, a single was standing there waiting to hit. He mentioned the course was stacked up from there forward and that we should join up as playing a foursome would be more enjoyable with less waiting. Little did I know I was about to get an education in the problems of golf.
I'll call our new friend, Guy. He was a real nice guy, and he played this course often and was very free with his help and suggestions about how to play each hole. Fortunately, he wasn't overbearing on this, only chiming in if we started talking about distances or strategy or the course layout. We knew the course well as we play there fairly often, and for the most part his comments and suggestions were correct.
Jack and Ken got Guy talking and we found out he had been playing golf for years and is a regular weekly player. He had good equipment, a new top brand driver, a golden oldie set of top quality irons I liked, and a set of Tour quality, high priced wedges. He played with a high priced top brand ball, wore top brand shoes and had a big staff size golf bag sporting a top brand big company name that had nothing to do with any of his clubs, or his ball, just his shoes. It was obvious he loved golf and was somewhat serious about his game.
Guy had a comment after every shot, especially the bad ones. He was the master of the golf clich©s. One time he hit a high pop up, pull that went around 120 yards into the left woods. 'I tried to power that one.' Another time he chunked a wedge that went around 10 yards. 'I picked my head up.' After another chunk, 'I moved forward.' His putting setup and stroke looked OK but he had the touch of a blacksmith. He compounded bad by the fact he never played enough break. When a putt is hit it too hard and misses the break high point on the low side by 2 feet on a 3 foot break, missing low and fast runs it way by the hole. Then after a line drive knee high skull over the green I heard the Mack Daddy excuse. 'I guess I am not out here today to shoot a good score. I guess I am out here to just enjoy this great day.'
Guy hit the occasional good to great shot in around the ratio of 1 in 6 shots. He hit every type of drive, from tops to pop ups to big slices and hook. But when he connected he could bomb it. His big problem was chunking pitches with a sand wedge, sometimes two or three times, before finally reaching the green.
It was obvious Guy wanted to play well but had some serious issues getting in his way. His posture was awful. He reached for the ball so much he was close to falling down. His stance was too wide and he was aimed, most of the time, 40 to 50 yards right. His swing compounded his setup issues with lifting his front heel up at least 4 inches, kicking his front knee in halfway to his back knee and he sucked the club dead inside as he turned his shoulders well past 90 degrees, giving himself a big reverse tilt backswing. He used he same setup and swing for every shot, from his wedges to his driver. He had more angles in his swing than a crooked car salesman.
The only good thing I could see was that he maintained a good temperament and apologized for us having to look for his ball. Guy also did not play the 'What-did-I-do-wrong-Q & A-game' of trying another setup adjustment or swing change after each shot. He stayed with his program, through the good and bad.
Guy definitely could play a respectable game of golf I am sure. Some of his comments suggested that there was a deep down desire of his to improve. He had the strength, length and good co-ordination. He just needed to get a good setup, alignment and swing. Learning the PPGS limited turn ¾ backswing, keeping his front foot and knee quiet, would certainly help him.
What I think he needed most of all, as do many player's based on what I see and hear when out on the course and even in lessons, is a dose of reality. Get his head out of the thin air and back to earth atmosphere. Dump the clich©s and meaningless comments, as they are nothing but excuses. I can't believe anyone plays golf wanting to and accepting hitting bad shots and playing poorly. We all want to hit good shots and play a respectable to good game of golf. My experience with my students is 99% of all golfers have reasonable playing expectations that they should be able to achieve. The sad thing is they don't and don't even come close.
With that being the case, hitting a bad shot is a clue or message that his game needs some help, not another excuse or dismissal. Get on the practice tee, putting green and short game area and start working on his game. Naturally, getting some competent instruction would help immensely in speeding up this improvement program.
So let's all become or at least head in that direction to become, the golfers we want to be. Ditch the clich©s and excuses. Start keeping stats (especially your putts) to know what the good and the bad is in your game. Practice the good to keep it good and then work even harder practicing the bad to turn it to good. The key to remember is that doing your stats and doing the practice all takes place with your head and mind out of the thin air in the clouds and down here on earth.
The Surge!