Golf Swing Distance-Accuracy

As I thought about these three terms Golf-Distance-Accuracy and jotted them down and looked them over, I thought, I’m guilty of getting golf swing distance and accuracy in the wrong order even when I write them down!

It’s beyond the truth.

I see it all the time with golfers. Whether they are trying to pick up the game or they have been playing for some time, the golf club everyone wants hit is their driver.

Oh it feels so good to put that ball in flight way out there doesn’t it.

When I first began playing I would go out to the local course and always find a game in the afternoon and more often than not, I would get paired up with a couple older gentlemen usually retired (in the middle of the afternoon during the week it was primarily retired folks playing).

For the longest time I couldn’t figure out how these old duffers could keep up with a young buck such as I. My drives, the distance on my irons was impressive (notice I said distance). But the older gentlemen would usually end up beating me or stay with me right to the end. How could it be I used to ponder?

Finally, it occurred to me.

One word. Accuracy.

The easiest shot in golf is the shortest shot.

The longer you intend for your shot to travel the more accurate you have to be with the ball off of the club face.

When you are practicing your golf game work on your accuracy first. Start with the shorter shafted shorter distance clubs and work to hit your target.

Master this activity. Hit your target.

Each club’s shaft gets longer as you make your way to your driver. The pure physics of this make your longer clubs more difficult to control and therefore the last to achieve consistent accuracy.

Don’t get frustrated by a wayward driver. If you’re honest with yourself and have a look at your shorter clubs, they probably aren’t that accurate either. They just aren’t as glaring at the shorter distances.

This may come as a surprise to you but if you are having trouble hitting the greens 100 yards out, what makes you think you’re going to be able to stripe your drive down the middle of the fairway some 280 yards out?

If NASA couldn’t hit the moon with a rocket do think they would then assume they would have better luck at Pluto?

Therefore, properly written it should be Golf: Accuracy-Distance.

And it then follows that this should be your mindset when it comes to your golf practice sessions. Start short, start small. Refine your swing with each club as you gradually work your way to the Holy Grail of golf swing distance… your driver. Be accurate first and distance will come.

If the accuracy of your golf shots is consistent, your golf scores will drop, and your wins will increase. Your golf swing distance will come in time.

Driving A Golf Ball

Let’s talk about your tee shots and driving a golf ball. Next to putting, driving a golf ball is probably the most influential part of your golf game when it comes to how you score and your handicap.

First of all, remember this… your driver isn’t always the best club for you to hit. Now knowing this and being disciplined enough to keep the driver in the bag may be two different things. Don’t get me wrong…

If you’re driving the golf ball well, it’s the right choice. But don’t let your ego get involved in your score… here’s a few golf driving tips…

Approach each tee shot with a plan.

Pick out a spot where you want to play your next shot from then picture yourself hitting that spot. Remember, if you’re having an off day with your driver, hitting your 2nd shot from the fairway is much better than taking strokes to recover from a wayward drive. So, if you need to pick out a spot a club or two down from your driver then do so.

After you’ve stood behind your ball and picked out your target from the tee, then pick out a shorter intermediate target on your line that you can line yourself and your clubface up to. When you do this you accomplish a couple of positive things. Number one and most obvious is that you have confidence that your alignment is correct. And since you have been practicing your alignment you now have confidence in your perceived confidence!

Secondly, when it comes to driving a golf ball, there is a very beneficial side effect that picking out a shorter intermediate target has; it works for me and I continually see this work with those golfers I work with.

By picking an intermediate target you’ll find that you will take a lot of pressure off your swing. You won’t feel as though you have to ‘reach back for that little extra’ when driving a golf ball to get to your target. As such your rhythm and tempo will be better. You won’t have such a tendency to over swing; because you’re just trying to get your shot started down the line that you know is correct.

Rolled up, what all of this means is that you’ll provide the swing and let the club do the work instead of trying to get too much out both your swing and the club.

Remember the fairway is, over all, more important than extra distance.

The object here as we’ve discussed these tips is for you to stand on the tee box with a plan and with confidence. As part of your plan, you will pick out a target that coincides with where you want your tee shot to end up. This will trigger your focus and help eliminate other visual variables that the golf hole throws at you. Picking an intermediate target will help get you aligned and keep you swing within yourself know that the club will do good work when you allow it to do so.

Head off to practice now and continue on that rhythm and tempo thing… and just getting the ball started toward your target. You’ll soon find that you can have both good distance along with accuracy when driving a golf ball.