Secrets of the Short Game

I have never taught a golfer who isn’t looking for the secret that will insure 100% success in his golf, that elusive something that’s going to make him or her a better, or even great, player.  We all know that it is out there, and we have been searching for it as long as the game has been played.  No matter what we do or say, the search goes on.  No matter how well he plays, in the back of his mind every golfer still wants to know that little extra “secret” that will unlock his ability to play even better.  “Please tell me, what is the secret for me?” 

I’ve never had a student ever ask me if there truly was a secret to the Short Game.  However, I believe that whether they come to a 3-day University for a Complete Education or just take a single lesson, they are hoping deep down inside that something educationally will be mentioned that will change their game for the good, overnight!  Most golfers will tell you that they know that it takes a lot of hard work to become a better player.  And, that there is no simple fix to improve their golf games.  Yet without saying anything, they hold out that there is something that will solve all of their problems right now.  I see it in their eyes.  They would never admit to it because of the embarrassment factor.  But, they are convinced that there is a secret to the Short Game.

The good news is that they are correct; there is a secret.  In post # 2, I spoke about how having a positive attitude was “the Secret.”  We learned about the Law of Attraction, how one can attract to them what one wants in life and in golf.   Without question, having a positive attitude will help you reach your goals much faster than not having one.  Besides the mental thoughts, there are some Physical Secrets to the Short Game.  One we talked about in the last post was Feedback.  Again, by far, this is the number one Secret.  If you don’t receive, internalize, and benefit from the Feedback provided by your shots----if you don’t both consciously and subconsciously correlate your shot results with your actions and learn from your experiences----then you will never improve. 

But you can’t just practice. You must commit to what I call “Intelligent Practice.”


The Five Rules for Intelligent Short Game Practice with Feedback are:

 

1.       Never Rake and Beat Balls

2.       Never Hit a Practice Shot With Bad Alignment

3.       Know your precise yardage

4.       Watch the Trajectory of Each Shot

5.       Hold Your Finish While You Learn

We will discuss each of these rules in the following posts.