Major winner Justin Leonard shares his recommendation for amateurs to avoid the temptation of making an attempt to over-swing on each shot.
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Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com sequence by which we’re sharing enhancements, learnings and takeaways from beginner golfers identical to you — together with among the velocity bumps and challenges they confronted alongside the best way.
It’s in each beginner golfer’s blood to whip out the driving force and swing as onerous as they can on almost each shot, pondering they’ve received the flexibility to bomb the factor for an additional 20 yards or so.
Sadly, we all know what occurs once we do this.
The ball sometimes hits off both the toe or heel and shanks or slices, the membership is available in too steep and digs into the bottom for a piece, or our swing sequence is so out of whack that we simply prime the hell out of the ball and watch it get grounded, saying aloud, “just keep rolling.”
I’ll wager a cool $100 that everybody studying this is aware of this precise feeling. In truth, there’s a very good probability it occurred to you in your most up-to-date spherical! (Editor’s Note: I settle for Venmo).
Justin Leonard shares knowledge to enhance your play
It takes ability to carry again from the temptation of making an attempt to swing out of your footwear on each shot and to easily simply play inside your talents. Sure, it’s extra enjoyable to attempt to “ooh” and “aah” your buddies with a formidable bomb, however it doesn’t occur almost as steadily as any of us hope.
One participant who’s infamous for merely enjoying inside himself and executing good golf photographs is main champion Justin Leonard.
Leonard, who captured the 1997 Open Championship, was by no means recognized for crushing it along with his driver. Instead, he persistently hit fairway after fairway, casually enjoying a wise shot, controlling what he might and avoiding unforced errors.
This is one thing that also helps him immediately and says it’s a ability that each beginner must be taught in the event that they’re critical about reducing their scores.
“I think a big thing for amateurs is kind of knowing strengths and weaknesses,” he tells me. “Knowing your own limitations and understanding like, OK, look, if you’re on a par-5, it’s a hole you know you’re not going to reach in two, so why not take a club that you’re just going to put it in play with? You’re going to play it in three shots anyways.”
While speaking with Leonard about this, he pinpointed a real-life instance that he skilled throughout final yr’s U.S. Senior Open, offering perception into his strategy on a difficult par-5 gap.
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“There was a par-5 with water down the right, rough on the left,” he explains. “I thought, why not take a 5-wood and just play it as a three-shot hole, rather than go ahead and hit driver to stretch for extra yardage? If I had hit it in the rough, I’d have been in trouble, and would’ve had a harder layup and a longer third shot.”
Leonard additionally reminds amateurs that they don’t at all times want to right away seize the massive canine on each par-4 or par-5 — which are sometimes scoring holes. If you battle with a hook or a slice along with your driver, merely change your strategy, play safer photographs, and, in lots of circumstances, you could possibly attain the inexperienced in much less photographs by doing so.
“For amateurs, understanding that you don’t have to hit driver off the tee is so important,” he says. “A whole lot of instances it’s in all probability not the play, and simply understanding your individual strengths and weaknesses and enjoying extra in direction of your strengths is the quickest approach to decrease scores.
“If you struggle from fairway bunkers, then find a way to take them out of play. If it’s greenside bunkers that give your problems, aim towards the other side. Just avoid short-siding yourself and find alternative ways to play around some of your known weaknesses.”
So if you happen to can enhance your course administration and dial in your decision-making, Leonard says you’ll have a greater probability at controlling that little voice in your head that’s tempting you to at all times go for distance over accuracy.
“You don’t have to go practice things that you’re uncomfortable with, so once you’re out there trying to shoot the best score possible, just understand your strengths and weaknesses, then navigate your strategy and your game around them,” he says.
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