Stimulate Interest Through Self-Competition

by Dr. Richard C. Myers

WWW.THINKANDREACHPAR.COM

By competing against yourself in practice you can endure a method of insuring continuous progress in your game. Here are some short drills that can help you improve your score, while maintaining interest.

With putts: Putting practice on the average practice green is very tiresome, primarily because so few shots are hit in comparison with the length of time it takes your feet in playing one ball from cup to cup. A method I have found to be effective in practice is when there are few people around. This is a game we use to play in college. Scatter 25 balls around the cup about seven feet out. This will give you straight putts down hill, up hill, and all of the putts breaking from left to right, and all putts breaking from right to left, and all the effects of grain. Jot on a score card the number made out of each 100. Then transfer these numbers to a chart which will enable you to strike an average after each 1000 putts. Compete against these scores. It is a good and fun game. Plus you practice your putting in the long run.

With chips: Use of 50 balls. First play them all to the nearest cup on the practice green. Jot on a score card how many result in gimme putts. Then play to the second nearest cup and so on to each cup from that particular position. After you have made a complete circuit, find the percentage. Then repeat the process, competing against your former scores.

Another method which takes al little more time but has a number of psychological advantages is to combine chipping with putting. Use nine of your best balls. Chip to the nearest hole, then sink the ensuing putts. Every two holes constitutes a round. Aim at getting a par of 36. The distance to the nearest hole should be varied each time. You will be surprised how many of the short putts will turn out to be very difficult. This practice of putting and chipping is a fast method to lower your scores. It is also a good way to keep your game from deteriorating if you have not had time to play for a long time.

With wedges: Beginning ten yards from the green, drop balls in a straight line away from the green at intervals of about a yard. Each shot is a little longer that the one before. Keep moving away from the green until you reach the distance at which the club is no longer effective. With wedges, either strike the average as before or note how many consecutive shots you make that leave you with a reasonable putt to finish the hole. Take short practice sessions, and stop as soon as you hit five consecutive perfect shots-and then move on to practice with another club.

With irons: With other clubs, move back from the green, dropping balls at one yard intervals or less. Keep a record of how many shots out of each 100 are hit to the putting surface.

With woods: There are about 14 drives on the average 18 hole course, so keep records so see how many of each 14 practice shots are good playable drives. When you arrive at a point where you can hit 14 consecutive drives in a row, you know that you cannot lose very many strokes off the tee.

These little drills can be fun to do and can also help you improve your golf score and game.