Rethinking Your "Best" Shots

I found an older article from Hank Haney over at the Golf Digest site that some of you might find interesting. It's called 4 Obsolete Shots and What to Play Today, and it's about the strategy you use out on the course.



Haney says there are 4 commonly-recommended strategy tips that simply aren't useful anymore. They are:

1. Hit your 3-wood for accuracy
2. Lay up to your favorite yardage
3. Take dead aim at the flagstick
4. Chip your ball from the fringe

I'll let you read the article to find out why he says you shouldn't follow them most of the time -- hey, there's always an exception to the rules! -- but I want to focus on that third one because I think it could help most of you a lot.

Rather than aiming at the flag, Haney recommends shooting for the middle of the green. And the logic of this is so overwhelming that it's hard to believe we don't do it automatically.

Simply put, most weekend golfers don't know exactly how far they hit the ball. I mean, do you know -- right here, at this very moment -- how far you carry each iron, how far it rolls out, and how far overall you can expect the ball to travel? Probably not. But by shooting at the middle of the green you maximize your chances of hitting the green and leaving yourself a putt.

And, although you may not have thought about it this way, if your ball always ends up in the middle of the green you'll never have a putt that's more than half a green from the hole! And since most holes aren't placed right on the edge of the green, they'll usually be much shorter than that. It's simple logic.

So pop over and read the article. It will give you some food for thought. And by all means, try shooting for the middle of the green for a few rounds and see if it doesn't lower your score.