Often when it comes to shooting our best score ever people have the idea that every single thing needs to go perfectly, and often the task can seem unsurmountable to most! However if you can take a task and break it down into smaller chunks it can often seem far more manageable and achievable. Let's use breaking 90 as a starting point..... What does it actually take to break 90? I often hear hitting 5 or 6 greens in regulation, holing a few putts and driving the ball 230 or more. But actually this is far from the case! In order to break 90 you need to be able to complete 4 simple tasks: 1) Drive the ball 180yards or more, in play consistently - In play can be fairway, rough or even desert areas as long as it is a reasonable lie and you have a clear shot to your approach area. 2) From that position can you advance the ball to within 50 yards of the green in regulation - This will be from the tee on a par 3, within 2 shots on a par 4, or within 3 shots on a par 5 3) Once you find yourself within 50 yards can you hit the ball on the green every time, the situation is irrelevant as is the distance from the pin 4) Once on the green can you make it in two putts or better Looking at these tasks with students they rarely become overwhelmed! The tasks in essence are quite simple, and achievable for most, and instantly this can take the pressure off most people to hit shots like they have seen on the PGA tour, and actually simplify their course strategy from the outset.
Now that we have broken down the task lets see how we can put it in play immediately. We have designed a simple scorecard to assist you with this and as you can see the first four lines match our tasks, and if we do those correctly then in reality the score should take care of itself. The objective is simply to tick as many boxes as possible on the scorecard, and see what score comes out on the other-side.
This scorecard is more than simply a checklist however, it is also a reference to help us guide our practice and any coaching we may be having in order to actually lower our scores on the golf course. For example lets say I have achieved all 9 Drives, Approach shots and wedges, however I only 2 putted twice and had 3 putts or more on 7 holes..... I think it becomes fairly obvious where I should be spending my time, and it certainly is not on the driving range!! While this is an extreme case it can certainly help guide you towards more constructive practice.
The main goal here is to use process and smart strategy in order to help you reach your goals. The next time you are out playing, give this a try and let us know how you get on.
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