The foundation of what golf is all about: 18 holes, tee boxes, greens, fairways, hazards, equipment options, golf balls, tees and everything about the layout of the golf course property to what materials you bring with you – this is the first element, and I’ve some deep talks with tour professionals about this where they were shocked that they hadn’t thought of it as literal and basic as this. These are the elements of golf so we evaluate the elements of the land first. The second element involves the swing and the hitting of the ball around this property. The swing is a reflection of what you can do but also what you think you should do with that golf club and most of us, 95+% of us need to refine this action in order to be able to move onto the third element – playing the sport of golf. Since there is no right way to strike the ball or swing the club, we have to understand what our ball does when we do what we do and play accordingly.
When a golfer hits 100 balls with the same club at the same target, a pattern emerges. This pattern has a relatively consistent start line, curve and more balls end up on one side of the target than the other. That pile may also be longer or shorter than the other side of the target line. Think about your shots for a minute… think about a par 3 at your course. Where do you usually hit your second shot from? Now think of all the par 3s, because I’m fairly sure your ball ends up in 1 or 2 places. When we have the realization of our ‘shotgun pattern’ or ‘ball peppering’, we can choose the appropriate target. Most golfers make big scores because of bad targets, not bad swings.
