Why golf is the greatest game

As complex as people make golf out to be it really isn’t in fact golf is one of the simplest games. Simple because the aim of golf is to hit a ball the least amount of times possible to get it into a hole, and then repeat the same task on holes of different length and feature until the game is over. Golf is typically played over 18 holes although socially 9 holes of golf is very common, professionals play a tournament over 72 holes in four days. The reason why golf is great though is that golf has a handicap system to even out golfers of all standards so they can play and enjoy golf together.
To understand how a handicap works we first must understand the concept of “Par”. Par is the amount of shots allocated to play a particular hole for a perfect golfer; there are typically three different types of holes on a golf course Par 3’s, Par 4’s and Par 5’s. The ideal is that to play a hole in Par you will have 2 putts, so on a par three you would take one hit to put the ball on the green followed by two putts for your Par 3. Therefore on a par four you would take two hits and two putts and on a par 5 three hits and two putts for your par. If you played golf like this it would by the golfing world be termed as regulation golf, if you have watched or played golf however you will have noticed that it tends to be anything but regulation a lot of the time even for the professionals. This matters little as it is the score on the card that matters at the end of the day not how many of each type of shot we hit.
The Par of all the holes on the course is then added up to give us the par of the course, typically around 72 and our handicap is calculated relative to that Par. So if you consistently scored 100 your handicap would be 28 allowing you to take off 28 shots from your score at the end of your round to give you the magic par 72 score, and as your typical score came down so would your handicap. This adjusted score is referred to as your Nett Score. Handicaps also work to even out the best golfers for instance if you had a one of the worlds best professionals playing at your club and they consistently had only 66 shots the would be given a +6 handicap meaning at the end of there round they would have to add 6 shots to give them their Nett score. This is why golf is the greatest game as you can see it is very possible that an in experienced golfer off a 28 handicap could play a game of golf with one of the worlds best compete over 18 holes and beat them. There is no way this could happen in any other sport imagine a game of tennis between a novice and the world best not only could the novice not compete but both parties would no doubt struggle to enjoy the experience.
It is worth noting that professional and elite amateur events are played without using handicaps to truly find out who is the best golfer. So sorry no British Open trophy without a few years of practice.

Hit it further than ever before

Learning how to use your legs properly is the key to generating extra clubhead speed and consistency.
At set up our knees should be equally flexed as demonstrated in the picture. However in the backswing as our body rotates our left leg will flex more than at address and our right leg will straighten slightly (right handed golfer). It is a common misconception that the right leg doesn’t straighten in the backswing. However because we bend forward at the hips to play golf when our hips turn in the backswing the right side goes slightly up and the left slightly down in the backswing, as seen in picture two.

impact and the down swing

The opposite happens in the downswing and follow through only in a more dramatic action because our body is far more rotated. Notice in the picture of an ideal impact position the left leg is fully extended and the right leg is flexed this is due to our hips being 45 to 55 degrees open at the moment of impact. The flexing and extending of our legs into impact is the ultimate power move and should lead the rest of our body and club into impact.

finish

More of the same happens through to our balanced finish practice this and I guarantee you more consistent and longer shots.

Improve in 2009

With spring in the air it is time to dust of the clubs and get back to the golf course, the only question is, are you actually going to improving your golf this year or keep being frustrated by you same old faults. As a golf coach who has coached golfers of all levels, the one thing I see which is common to most, is at some point they hit the glass ceiling of improvement and sit in the middle management of golf for the rest of their days.
So what I am going to ask you to do is approach your golf like a business plan and objectively assess your game and set some realistic goals for better golf. The objective measures I am talking about are the Statistics readily available on all of the best players in the world and you need to know them in order to improve your own game.
· Fairways hit
· Greens in regulation
· Sand saves
· Chipping up and downs
· Total putts
You should also ask yourself after each round whether your decision making and strategy assisted or hindered your day. A bit like a mini appraisal, just like one you would hold with any staff member you were trying to help improve their skills.
Setting realistic goals is easier once you have the above information because you will have an objective measure of where the weakest parts of your game are, and just as important you will know when you have made an improvement no matter how small.
Armed with this information you can now head to your local golf professional and take lessons specific to the area of your game that most needs help, and remember once you have taken a lesson or read one of my tips it is important to give it a chance to work. Consistent is what consistent does once deciding to take a course of action you need to follow it through for at least a month to receive any benefit.