Catalog
Top Tips
Divots: De-classified 
In these heady days of space-age designs and tomorrow’s-world technologies we tend to forget that some of the most valuable information on the health of our golf swing is – quite literally – right under our noses, in the form of the DIVOT.
For instance, if your swing is too steep your divot hole will be too deep. If your swing is too shallow, you'll barely disturb the grass. Slicing or hooking the ball? Your divot hole can point the way to a cure.
Irrespective of the thickness of your divot, it must be on the forward side of the ball, otherwise you're not making ball-first contact (which leads to the rather unflattering ‘fat’ shot). Once you have that aspect in order have a look below at the different images and see which relates to your divot. Remember; divots can give an indication of what’s wrong with your swing – to fix that problem you need to visit your local PGA Pro.
The variable that determines where the ball goes is the clubface position at impact. Below I’ve listed the combinations of path and face position so you can tell what has happened after the shot.
Divot Pointing Right
- If your clubface is square to the divot you'll produce a straight push.
- If your clubface is open to the divot you'll produce a shot going to the right and then fading/slicing.
- If your clubface is closed to the divot you'll produce a shot starting to the right and then drawing/hooking.
Divot Pointing Straight
- If your clubface is square to the divot you'll produce a straight shot.
- If your clubface is open to the divot you'll produce a shot going straight to the right.
- If your clubface is closed to the divot you'll produce a shot going straight to the left.
Divot Pointing Left
- If your clubface is square to the divot you'll produce a straight pull.
- If your clubface is open to the divot you'll produce a shot starting left and then fading/slicing.
- If your clubface is closed to the divot you'll produce a shot starting to the left and then drawing/hooking.
Once you've noted the shape and the direction that your ball flight takes have a look at your divot shape, refer to the options above, and you’ve found your problem! Then if necessary book a lesson with me and we’ll have you sorted out in no time!
Course Management and the Art of Scoring
It’s often said it’s not how, but how many when it comes to making a score. There are no pictures on the scorecard as they say and nowhere is this more true than at the top level of the game. When you watch the best players in the world its amazing to see the amount of poor shots they hit, even when contending at the business end of a tournament when they should be playing their best golf. The difference is their ability to recover and not follow one bad shot with another and compound the problem.
When you look at the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington, they can all hit wild tee shots which most weekend golfers would be disappointed with. Over the course of the round this may happen more than they would like and you would be excused for thinking that they have shot in the mid to high 70’s. However, more often than not they are signing for another 67 or 68 despite not playing their best golf. This is only possible due to their world class short games, mental strength and ability to manage their golf games when the swing doesn’t feel quite right.
Not everybody can hope to have the short games skills and natural ability of the world’s best, but when it comes to getting it round the golf course there are a number of areas where the club golfer can improve.
COURSE MANAGEMENT:
Only hit the shot you feel totally comfortable playing. Don’t bring in to play a double or triple bogey simply by choosing to play the shot you can only pull off 1 in every 10. Sometimes it’s worth taking a risk if the rewards are worth it but if the dangers are too great then it may be best to lay up. Never play the shot you think you SHOULD be able to hit, always play the one you know you CAN hit. Quite often when you stand over the ball you just don’t feel comfortable. This is usually because deep down there is indecision or doubt. Even the best players can doubt their own ability from time to time, it’s knowing when to play the percentages and not compound a poor shot with a mental mistake or poor decision.
SHORT GAME:
We’ve all heard of the phrase ‘drive for show, putt for dough’. This is certainly true when it comes to making a score. It’s fair to say there’s no better feeling in the game than crunching a long drive straight down the middle, but how often have you finished a round thinking, I hit the ball great but just didn’t score. Usually if you analyse the round afterwards there are two reasons for this. One, when you hit the green you didn’t hole the putt or worse, three putted. Two, when you missed the green in regulation you didn’t get up and down resulting in a high score. Over 75% of shots are played from within 100 yards of the hole. Why is it then that most club golfers only ever practice with their driver or 5 iron and never spend any time practicing their wedge play and putting? It’s not difficult to figure out that if you want to lower your handicap, spend your practice time on the areas that you will need most on the course!
MENTAL STRENGTH:
Never beat yourself up on the course after hitting a bad shot. The best players have a great ability to put a bad shot or hole behind them and re-focus. It’s always amazing that the best players in the world who play for a living and practice every day find it easier to deal with hitting a bad shot than the club golfer who plays once a week. Bob Rotella who is arguably the most famous golf psychologist who helps many of the best players, has written many books but his most famous is probably ‘Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect’. The basic theme Bob talks about is all to do with accepting the poor shots that you will inevitably play during a round. Being able to put these behind you and focus purely on the next shot will allow you to put a score together. If your round gets derailed as soon as a bad shot comes along then you will never be able to get round the course. If you only take one thing from this article, make sure that you learn the ability to accept bad shots. Accept that even a great round will include the inevitable loose shot. Don’t beat yourself up when they come along, make a point of thinking that it’s just one of the poor shots that you were going to hit today and that you won’t let it disrupt your train of thought for the next shot. Remember, the next shot is always the most important one!
I hope you found the latest edition of Top Tips informative. Try and incorporate some of the things that are mentioned here in your next round, you may be surprised that without doing anything technically different with your swing, your score might just improve!