Final Word On Playing Better Golf

I promise this is the last word I'm writing on how to be a better golfer - at least for a little while!

Beyond technology, beyond teachers, beyond mindset and beyond understanding mechanics there are two important issues that limit our ability to get better. I'll even go out on a limb and say there are none more important.

First, our flexibility. Look at today's professionals. They are more athletic and better conditioned than ever before. They run, lift weights and stretch out. Like great swimmers, the best are extremely flexible. The flexibility gives them a range of motion that allows them to create tremendous power while maintaining key body positions. Think about that last idea - create power while maintaining key body positions. Once you turn, rotate, stretch or twist beyond your flexibility you end up destroying a key body position. And once you've lost the body position the body mechanics no longer work.

We all want to hit the ball farther. We are never satisfied with the current distance we get with a particular club. In the back of our mind we are always looking for another 10 yards. So we reach back a little further and destroy our good body mechanics. And we all know what the result is. Flexibility is extremely important to high level golf. Swinging within our flexibility limits is crucial for playing good golf at every level.

Lastly, what holds us back as much as anything are good practice facilities. Most golfers don't belong to a private club. Even then, many private clubs have so so practice facilities. Hitting off mats is not good for your game. I believe it was Lee Travino who said 'Never hit off a mat'. Yet most weekend warriors have no alternative. It's hit off a mat to warm up or don't warm up at all.

And mats are only the tip of the iceberg. I've been rereading Pelz's book on the short game. By the way, if you want to improve your play around the green (read if you want to reduce your handicap) get this book. It's factual and will really open your eyes about how to build a pressure proof short game. The key to Pelz's approach is ultimately to practice - practice on real grass to real greens hitting hundreds if not thousands of shots. Better golf is about repetition under real conditions. Great golfers warm up before they play and practice after they're finished. They always hit off grass and they practice under 'course like' conditions. They chip and pitch to greens of all different yardages. The hit balls out of traps on to real greens.

Unfortunately, good practice facilities are generally not available to the average amateur golfer. Until they are, golfers aren't going to get better, regardless of the club and ball technology available or the skill of their instructors. In a future blog I'll look at golf practice facilities in more detail. Tomorrow let's talk about the increase in aggression in international cup events such as the Ryder and Solheim.