Lesson 3 – Golf is a Patience Not a Power Game
Golf is a Patience Not a Power Game
The best piece of advice I ever read about golf was a suggestion that the average weekend golfer could learn a lot more by watching a good woman amateur or woman professional play a round of golf than by watching the top male players. On a Saturday morning soon after that, I read in the sports page that the finals of a women’s amateur tournament were being played that day at a club less than a half hour from my home. Within minutes I was in my car and on my way.
At the time I had been playing golf for over 17 years and, when I was playing really well, I might break 90. On my good days I scored in the low 90s; but many days I did not break 100. Watching that one women’s amateur match for just nine holes started me on the program that got me into the 80’s consistently and occasionally even breaking 80.
If it had not worked out that way, I would probably have turned to tennis or handball (or at my current age, shuffleboard) because, after watching the two women finalists for nine holes I vowed to escape the duffer ranks or quit the game for good. I was not alone in those feelings.
Macho Lesson
On the course that day, dozens of embarrassed eyes met and looked away as brawny, powerful men, most of whom could barely break 100, watched two small, almost frail females shoot one and two over par on a pretty good course, from the “men’s” white tees and on a day when neither was playing her best. I heard one spectator tell his companion, “When I get home I’m giving my clubs away. I wouldn’t have the heart to ask money for them after watching this.”
Yet, for those who were willing to learn, class was in session that day. First, the two women amateurs swung slowly enough for spectators to study the mechanics of the swing more closely than was possible watching the fast swoosh-bam swing of many male professionals. Second, devotees of the long drive came face to face with the fact that the two tiny women (one was barely five feet tall and did not weigh 100 pounds) played almost par golf without belting the ball 250 to 300 yards off the tee. In fact, as I walked along, pacing off their drives, only one or two exceeded 200 yards; most were in the 180-to-190 range – but they were straight. I thought of the bigger, stronger male members of the club who had played from the same tees for years without ever breaking 90.
I was reminded of the punt, pass and kick contest I had watched the previous winter at half-time of a Washington Redskins game. You probably have seen one of these contests. Young men and young women compete by punting, passing and kicking a football, trying for distance, but at the same time trying to get the ball to land on or near a stripe laid down on the field in front of them.
The winner is the one who kicks and throws the ball the farthest; and straightest; that is, if the ball veers left or right the distance from the strip is subtracted. So, a 30-yard pass that lands on the stripe wins over a 34-yard pass that lands five yards to the side of the stripe.
I saw huge, hulky teenagers whose efforts were long, but wild, lose to short, scrawny contestants who kept the ball on or near the stripe. The woman amateurs I watched in that Saturday match rarely strayed far from an imaginary stripe that stretched from the tee along the center of the fairway to the heart of the green, not always on a perfectly straight line but along the surest and safest path to the hole.
Straight
Speaking of straight, I noticed how straight the two women kept their left arms during the backswing, particularly on short chip and pitch shots. It made me realize that on the dinky shots around the green I had become quite sloppy and was not concentrating on keeping my left arm straight. My short game had become an embarrassment and for typical weekend golfers who do not reach very many greens in regulation, the short game is even more critical than it is for the professional. By simply concentrating on a straight left arm, I soon all but eliminated dubbed and sculled shots from within 30 yards of the green. I concentrated on taking the club away with a straight left arm (not so rigid that the wrist muscles tighten) and swinging through crisply.
Up to this point, it was not unusual for me to leave a 30-yard pitch on the fringe short of the green or scull the shot over the green and wind up with a double bogey or worse. Simply straightening the left arm produced such an improvement that whenever I got within 30 yards I was almost always able to get on the green, usually 20 feet or less from the pin. I started getting many more “routine” bogeys.
Once I discovered how much the straight left arm helped my short game, I applied the technique on longer shots. Watching the women play convinced me the secret of a respectable score was patience and accuracy. I became determined to keep the ball in play on every shot. I knew that I could reach every hole on my course easily in one over regulation. My initial goal was to do just that – get on each green so that I was putting for a par. I didn’t care whether I had a six foot putt or a 60 foot putt. I knew that I couldn’t shoot a bad score if I had 18 par putts. This is where persistence together with patience produces confidence.
I found that if I limited my backswing to the point where keeping the left arm straight was no problem, the ball rarely detoured far from the target line. Usually, I could make up for any lost distance by taking one more club – a four-iron when I normally hit a five. Besides, the shorter backswing allowed me to shift my weight back to the left side at the beginning of my downswing much easier than before; this more than made up for the restricted swing.
Try It
The next time you are at the practice range, pick a target not far down range say the 100-yard marker. Hit a few balls with your normal swing and the club you normally would use from that range – and don’t be embarrassed if that means using a 7 or 8-iron (So what if all of your buddies hit a wedge from that distance). Pay attention to both the distance and accuracy of your shots.
Then, using the same club, hit several shots with what you would consider less than your normal full swing. Don’t be afraid to shorten your backswing drastically. Observe the results. Remember, you are shortening your backswing but in all other respects you are completing your normal swing. In other words, turn your shoulders and hips as one piece, stay just as crisp through the hitting area, and follow through as you normally would.
If your experience is typical of others who have tried this, you probably will find that you will not hit the ball quite as far with the shortened swing, but chances are your shots will be much more accurate. If this is so, move up a club and hit a few more shots at the same target. If you choose a 9-iron for 100 yards and come up short with the shortened swing, hit your 8-iron with the same shortened swing. You may really surprise yourself by discovering you don’t lose any distance at all with a shortened swing.
I now have one of the shortest backswings anyone has ever seen, yet I hit the ball as far and, more importantly, straighter than ever before. Even so, hardly a season goes by without at least a half-dozen people suggesting, “If you can hit the ball that far with almost no backswing, just think what you could do with a full swing.” I usually don’t argue or try to explain. I just hit away – not always terribly long, but almost always straight.
While we are on this subject, a strong recommendation. If you have not yet watched Allen Doyle on the Senior PGA Tour do so ASAP. Admittedly Doyle was an all-American hockey player so there is a solid explanation for his slap-shot swing. But you will be amazed with the distance Doyle gets with that swing and you will also be amazed when you see how much he has won this year and last. If you have cable you can catch the Senior Tour on CNBC almost every Saturday and Sunday.
Old & Wise Advice
But don’t take just my word for it. I like to read old golf books, especially the ones giving advice to the average golfer. Golf advice has not changed much in the last 90 or 100 years. I am continually delighted to come across a bit of advice written many years ago that I thought I had discovered for myself or from a “modern” golf book. In a book on golf from Badminton Library, a series published in England before 1900, I found a chapter by Sir Walter Simpson that contained a passage on the benefits of a short backswing:
To shorten the swing is often effective against slicing. As there is much prejudice against this, and as it would cure not only slicing but many other kinds of bad play were it not for the reluctance of golfers to submit to it, it is worthwhile to try to show how mistaken the prejudice is. Because it seems inevitable that they must shorten their driving, is the reason why men would do anything rather than cut off a segment of the circle they describe.Most golfers have proved at one time or another by experience that doing so lengthened their carry. But they look upon this as an accidental result of something else (they do not quite know what), and are persuaded that, in the end, their drives must be shorter. It seems to them a very simple and incontrovertible piece of reasoning. There is a flaw in it nevertheless …
Simpson went on to say that it is not the length of the backswing that produces power, but rather the size of the circle, or arc. With drawings and elaborate description, he made the logical argument that a so-called full swing that does not involve effective shoulder turn will produce less force than a so-called short backswing with effective turning of the shoulders.
If I had not tried successfully the short backswing I am not sure whether I would find Sir Simpson’s 1895 explanation convincing. All I know is that the short backswing works for me and that it has worked for virtually everyone I know who has tried it.
Whether or not you choose to adopt the short backswing as your own, it is important that you groove a “one-piece” backswing – with your hands, the clubhead, your upper and lower body all slowly beginning to leave the ball at the same time – and that you initiate the downswing by turning your hips toward the target, letting your arms, hands and clubhead follow naturally. [Note: The Colonel Bogey Way does not eliminate the need for a good teaching professional. If you are not hitting the ball with any consistency, you may need lessons. More on this subject later.] If there is any one thing that ranks close to patience in importance in improving your golf game it is slowing down your backswing. We’ll discuss this in more detail in a later lesson but it is never too soon to start working on slowing your backswing.
I can’t stress too much the importance of keeping the left arm (or right arm for lefties) straight. I realize that stop-action photos show that many of the top professionals have a significant bend in their left arm, but I still recommend that you do not unless you are capable of hitting the ball straight with a bent arm. Unlike the touring pros, you will not be playing four to six rounds a week and hitting practice balls every day. You need a swing that you can duplicate easily, week after week, even if you haven’t hit a single practice shot between rounds. With a straight left arm and a controlled backswing, you can develop such a swing. Warning: The human mind cannot think about several things at once, especially while trying to swing a golf club. So, when you are addressing the ball on the course you should get your proper stance, picture the shot you want to make (more on this later) and then either clear your mind completely or concentrate on just one thing. Usually thinking about making your backswing as slow as possible returns the most dividends.
Even with the straight left arm, shortened and slow backswing and exercise of patience, you may never be able to break 80 consistently – that takes a lot of playing, even more practice, and probably some serious lessons. But by playing the Colonel Bogey Way you will find, as others have, that you can leave the duffer ranks and get much more enjoyment out of every round you play. You can become a respectable golfer without having the mechanical ability or devoting the time and effort that would be necessary to become a scratch golfer. This is all that most golfers want.
Power
It may take a while for you to get it through your head that scoring consistently in the 80’s does not require a lot of power. But when you do, you will have taken a giant step towards enjoying every round you play, no matter the score, and towards your personal goal whatever it is. Breaking 100 regularly or breaking 90 or just enjoying your self more.
Why is it that we think of golf as a power game? Probably from watching the touring pros and reading their instruction books. (I am and always will be a big fan of Arnie’s but “going for broke” is not the best approach for the average weekend golfer and unless Phil Mickelson changes his approach he may never win a Major.) It is not hard to understand why the pros think that way. For them to win or make big money on the tour, they have to make a significant number of birdies in most tournaments (the U.S. and British Opens being the biggest exceptions).
Pros know they are not going to make very many putts over 20 feet, so to make birdies they have to put the ball 20 feet or less from the hole. And they know they can’t do that very often when the approach shot is over 150 yards. So, to have a decent chance to win any tournament, they must drive the ball off the tee upwards of 220 yards (women) or 260 yards (men) on the average.
So, what do average weekend golfers do? They try to emulate the touring pro. Yet, there is no need to belt the ball like a Laura Davies or a Tiger Woods to score in the 80’s. How many times have you read with considerable embarrassment the scores posted in a local juniors tournament by 12, 13, and 14-year olds? Most of these juniors are not budding Davies or Woods. They score in the low 80’s or better frequently without ever hitting a ball over 200 yards. Go watch them sometime. You’ll learn about the same lesson you’d learn from watching the women.
The notion that good golf involves maximum use of one’s strength is deeply ingrained in the weekend duffer’s psyche. For many years, I was reluctant to walk up to a par-3 tee with a wood in my hand when my three playing partners each had an iron. It took a long time for me to get it through my head that it is how many, not how, that counts. If you are really interested in scoring respectably every time you play a round (and thus enjoying every round you play), you are going to have to get the same message through your head. If you think you get enough satisfaction from the one or two good drives you hit during your weekly round, even if your score is 105, wonderful, keep it up. But if you’d really rather be breaking 100 consistently and possibly even scoring in the mid-80’s, then you are going to have to learn to be patient and to concentrate on scoring and not on power. This is where persistence comes in. You need to be patient with yourself and your game, but persistent in playing the Colonel Bogey Way. Remember patience and persistence lead to confidence.
Two of my regular foursome call me the energizer bunny. They can out drive me by 50 yards or more and be well in front of me on the second shot but often as not they are not on the green in regulation, so when I put my third shot less than 20 feet from the pin, the pressure is suddenly on them. They may joke about me not ever going away, etc. but in our matches, it isn’t a joke, and they know it.
A Macho Man Named Stan
I see the disastrous results that flow from duffer’s concentrating on how far they can hit a given club every time I join up with strangers for a round. This affliction even affects reasonably good golfers. A case in point is a club member I’ll call Stan. At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Stan is a powerful man. Yet, I’d be willing to play him even, head to head, on any given day even though his handicap is several strokes lower than mine. Why? Because Stan’s main interest on the course appears to be to prove that he can “get there from here” with at least three clubs less than anyone else can.
When we played, before each shot he would talk loudly about his estimate of the right club. At one point on a par 3 he asked my playing partner what club he intended to use and when my partner said a 6-iron, Stan expressed concern since he had a 7-iron in hand. Obviously, if anyone else was going to use a 6, Stan felt he could get there with an 8 or 9. While this conversation went on, I calmly stood by with a 4-iron in my hand.
My partner hit his 6, pulled it slightly and ended up hole high in a trap. Stan hit an 8 – crushed it, I should say – swinging with the viciousness, but hardly the control of Arnold Palmer in his heyday. Stan made the green all right this time, just barely clearing a water hazard, and landed 50 feet from the pin. I hit an easy 4-iron about 20 feet from the pin. I probably could have used a 5, but the shot was all carry over water and I feel more comfortable if I don’t have to hit a full shot in that situation.
A similar scenario went on hole after hole. Stan made sure after each “successful” shot that all of us knew how little club it took him to get there. The trouble was that Stan swung so hard on every shot that we spent considerable time in the rough looking for the not-so-successful ones. That day I beat Stan by one shot and I wasn’t playing well. I feel as though I could beat him regularly in a head-to-head match because after staying with him or beating him on a few holes, it would drive him nuts knowing, as he does, how “weak” I am and how “strong” he is. It really is a shame because Stan is so strong that he could use a much smaller percentage of his energy and still easily outdistance most average golfers. Instead, he tries to kill every shot and, in so doing, throws away shots.
I have observed a lot of weekend golfers over the years and the percentage afflicted with Stan’s disease is very high. Yet, if you gave any of them the choice between being able to score in the 80’s regularly or being able to hit an 8-iron 160 yards, I don’t think many would hesitate in taking the low score over the long ball. Despite what you may have read or thought about distance, the ability to score in the 80’s is not directly related to the distance you can hit a ball with any particular club. I rarely hit any ball over 190 yards with any club in my bag, yet I can score between 85 and 91 a high percentage of the time on most golf courses.
The secret is having the patience and persistence to make the distance you get from each shot count as much as possible, and that means hitting the ball straight. Vicious slices and duck hooks come from trying to kill the ball. I used to hit a real banana ball and I still have a natural fade, but when I’m not on the fairway I’m not far from it. Patiently, I just keep working each shot towards the green. My persistence has paid off in a high level of confidence, particularly inside 100 yards. I use the club I have the most confidence in for each shot and I could care less what club others might use in the same situation.
Try it. You can drive those power hitters nuts with your control. They will out-drive you consistently, hit an 8-iron when you hit a 5 or 6; but when you come in with an 85 to their 90 or worse, they will be the ones talking to themselves on the way home.
A Note To Women
A special note for women golfers. You do not have the same macho problem that most of us men must overcome but that doesn’t mean that you don’t throw away a lot of strokes. The most common problem I have noted with women golfers is not on the tee and not on the long fairway shot. It is when they get within 50 yards of the green. Once I sat outside a clubhouse waiting for the pro to finish giving a lesson. It was a lady’s day and I watched several foursomes play the 18th hole, a 320 yard par four. I saw woman after woman hit a respectable tee shot and a decent second shot. Then I saw one after another take two, three or more shots to reach the green from 20 to 60 yards. What happened was that I would observe a woman golfer take a full backswing from 20-60 yards and about half way down start to decelerate and fluff the shot. It happened time after time. (You could almost sense the mental gymnastics. Oops, I don’t need a full swing, I’d better slow down.) It has happened with many women I have played with. What to do? Decide on the club you want to use and if you don’t need the full distance of that club choke down on the club or shorten your back swing (or both) and then follow through crisply. Under no circumstance do you want to be slowing down at impact. Don’t be afraid to hit a little long. Better to be on the back of the green with a long putt than to take 2-3 strokes to reach the putting surface after a good drive and a good second shot.
By now you should have a pretty good idea what the Colonel Bogey Way is all about. It’s about that part of the game variously said to account for from 60% to 90% of success: the five-inch course between your ears. I know the Colonel’s approach will improve the mental side of your game, and that when necessary will make it more profitable for you to get help from your pro with any mechanical problems.
Although I have stressed that you don’t have to hit a long ball to get a low score, there are some minimum distance standards you have to be able to meet. Unless you men can get off the tee consistently 150 yards or more and you women 130 yards, you have virtually no chance of breaking 100 consistently. Once again, I think the reason is more mental than physical. On a lot of courses, par-4 holes are in the 350-to-360-yard range, so theoretically it is possible to reach the green with three 120-yard shots. But that leaves no margin for error. So, if you cannot hit the ball off the tee consistently, reasonably straight, 150 to 170 yards for men or 130 to 150 yards for women, you need to see a teaching professional or play a shorter tee (more about this later).
I have played with many golfers who hit the ball reasonably well but who think poorly around the course. This kind of golfer is able to trim off 10 to 20 strokes by learning to be patient and by playing smart golf. But for the player who stands on every tee with a total lack of confidence that he or she can even hit the ball, smart thinking is not enough. This kind of player has little conception of the golf swing. This kind of player, after dubbing a shot, says, “I felt the same on that shot as I did when I hit it well.” If this describes you, then make your mind up to either enjoy your present game or to hustle off to your pro for lessons on the fundamentals. And if you decide to take some lessons, you will need to exercise a different kind of patience. You may need to avoid the golf course for a few weeks while you learn a new swing. Or, if you must play, you would be better off not keeping score. Just work on seeing if your golf shots improve. Otherwise you may get frustrated and blame the Pro for making matters worse. Or you will revert to your old comfortable swing and you will have wasted the time and money you invested in the lessons.
That’s enough for today.
GOOD LUCK
&
GOOD GOLFING!!
Colonel Bogey