Instruction
What do you do when you can’t hit the broadside of a barn?
The Major League Baseball season is heating up. The best teams are starting to pull away from pack, and across the Midwest and Northeast the weather is finally starting to warm up enough to make attending an MLB game seem like a good idea. Why do I bring up baseball at this time of the year on a golf website? It stems from baseball producing one of my favorite analogies for the game of golf.
Master of Many Pitches, Multiple Cy Young Award Winner Clayton Kershaw is the Elite Pitcher in Today’s Game… and a role model for all golfers.
I think we’ve all experienced it before. Our straight shot on the golf course, “our fastball,” can’t find a fairway or a green. If a big league pitcher can’t find the strike zone with his fastball, he better have a backup pitch that can be thrown for strikes. Otherwise, he’ll struggle to get Big League hitters out. As golfers, we need to realize that having one shot isn’t going to solve all the problems we face on the golf course. Want a few examples?
- Does a low-trajectory player do well with his long irons or fairway woods to elevated greens?
- Does a high trajectory player succeed in windy conditions with his wedges?
Both players will have limitations with their most consistent ball flight under those adverse conditions. Adding another layer to this scenario, do we have a backup plan if our straight shot isn’t performing at a high level?
So many golfers never consider having a backup plan. This is where I want to shake my fist at one of the most prevalent cultures within the game of golf. Golfers think that they need to wait until they can hit a perfectly straight shot before they learn other ways of controlling the golf ball. I couldn’t disagree more with this thought process, and for that reason I want to introduce an exercise that will allow you to have multiple golf shots.
I like to call this exercise The Nines, which is short for the nine potential ball flights. All you need is a golf swing that produces relatively consistent ball contact. From there, we’re going to have you alter your club face position and ball position, which will allow you to experience different ball flight patterns and/or trajectories. The task for you is to go into this exercise with an open mind. Try to make the same swing without manipulating your technique. Then simply collect data about what your golf swing produces after you make those static changes to your setup.
Bubba Watson was able to hit a 40-yard hook during the 2012 Masters’ playoff by practicing shots to help him control his golf ball in as many different scenarios as possible.
So here are the details to execute this exercise. Grab your 6 iron. Pick one specific target for the entire exercise. I would encourage you to place a shaft or club on the ground to ensure that as you conduct this experiment your variables are kept to a minimum and your body is aiming at the same target every time.
Now get nine golf balls and split them up into three different groups of three. With the first group of three, start with your normal, stock ball position. Then hit three golf balls with a square club face. Observe what your golf ball does. Take notes. What was the shape of shot? What was the trajectory? What was the distance?
Hit another three golf balls with a closed club face (let’s start with 3-5 degrees pointing to the left for a right-handed golfer). Again, collect data.
Finally, hit your last three golf balls with an open club face (again, with 3-5 degrees to the right for a right-handed golfer). Once again, takes notes as to how your golf ball behaved.
Here is an example of changing your ball position. Note how changing ball position can change where in your swing circle you contact the golf ball. Note how the backward ball position creates a rightward path. Note how the forward ball position creates a leftward path.
Next you’re going to follow the same tasks listed in the paragraph, but you’re going to move your ball position. The first alteration to your setup is to conduct this exercise with your ball position two balls closer to your backswing foot from your standard position. The second time should be two balls closer to your target foot. With each new ball position, hit three different golf balls with a square, closed and open club face. Take notes from each shot. Complete this task with your driver as well.
Another view of how ball position can change your swing circle and delivery of your golf club. Note how the backward ball position creates a more descending angle of attack, whereas the forward ball position creates a more ascending angle of attack.
At the end of this task, did you have static positions of club face and ball position that you preferred the most? I would even encourage you to rate each setup from your favorite to your least. Your favorites should be your backup shots on the golf course, which brings us back to the pitching analogy.
Now that you know that you have a second, third and fourth pitch, go get reps in with them at the driving range! Just like a pitcher needs to throw a curveball for a strike, you need to execute a low shot that curves to the right (if that’s one of the shots you prefer within your modified setups) to hit a fairway or a green.
A single-digit golfer’s ball flight from stock ball position. Note the club path and face-to-path data. Also note the visual ball flight.
You also might want to take a look at the setups that produced the ugliest shots for you. Those setups magnify the dynamic characteristics of your golf swing that don’t perform well. Depending on your goals within the game of golf, you may want to try to improve your technique to help you execute shots from these setups.
Tiger Woods wanted to be able to hit all nine ball flights under the most demanding tournament pressure in the world. Bruce Lietzke, another world-class player, only wanted to see his golf ball fall right. The choice is yours!
A single-digit golfer’s data from a ball position toward the trail foot. Note the more rightward-launching ball flight tendencies. Also, note the more rightward club path data.
One last thing to ponder. When you study your data, it should tell you a lot about your golf swing. The key is to attach ball flight principles to what your technique is producing. This is way too complicated of a concept to cover for this story, however; any well respected teaching professional (especially one with a TrackMan/FlightScope/ForeSight) can help you resolve your own personal mystery.
A single-digit golfer’s data from a ball position toward the target foot. Note the more leftward-launching ball flight tendencies.
So give this exercise a go. I believe it can return you to a simpler time where you learned more about golf just by doing. I still remember playing catch with my father as a younger boy. I did not throw too many strikes with my first throws, and my father spent a lot of time running after my misplaced pitches. I learned with each throw, however, coming to understand how to alter arm and body positions, as well as release patterns to throw a lot more strikes by the end of the session.
Hopefully this exercise helps you recapture that learning style, and in turn, helps you control the golf ball with multiple shots more efficiently and instinctively. Good luck!
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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May 5, 2018 at 9:24 pm
Simple…. buy a new set of golf clubs…. PXGs…. TW P-790s…. most any new and improved club design that will transform your game and ego.
If you want to be a winner you gotta look like a winner… clubs, cap, clothes, shoes, ball, bag, head covers …. the whole WRX … 😎