Make your golf game your own

Yesterday I mentioned that I have begun, with smashing success, to hit all my long pitches with my pitching wedge. It feels good. It feels right. I feel in full control.

Yesterday I hit one from 60 yards, and one from 35, and both of them ended up less than three feet away. The second one almost rolled in.

This brings to mind that we have a lot of clubs in the bag we can use to hit a lot of different shots. It should not be said that you have to use this club for that shot, or that shot has to be hit with this club.

You should feel free to hit any shot you want with the club that you want to use. Not the club that everyone else uses, or what the pro says to use.

The reason is that when it comes down to putting the club to the ball, it has to feel to you like the right thing to do. You need to feel at ease with it in the same way that you write with one hand and not the other. It has to feel like your shot.

Let me give you an example. I have a stroke of one particular length and firmness that I use when I chip. Every time, for every chip, the same stroke. For some reason, that’s the way I like to hit those little shots. This stroke turns on the artist in me.

So to chip the ball different distances, I use different clubs. I make little adjustments to fine-tune the distance, but it’s basically the same stroke every time.

To play golf, you need
a tee shot,
an advancement (fairway) shot,
a pitch,
a chip,
a long putt,
and a short putt.

If you can find your way to hit each of these shots, with the clubs you like, your golf will improve immediately, because it will be your golf.

P.S. I sometimes use two putters. One for long putts and another for the shorties.

See also Play a Difficult Course

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

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