Short game…it’s that important!

“Game management is accomplished by staying constantly alert and then reading and reacting to potential problem situations before they materialize. It all boils down to paying attention to details” Jim Evans

If 65% of amateurs shots are 100 yards and in, what are you doing to lower your scores? In this short segment, we’ll clarify one thing…you must have a short game in order to have lower scores. Every teacher, coach and pro alike will tell you that you must work on your shots from 100 yards and in to get lower scores. I have a friend that I like to play scrambles with. He used to teach golf at a private club, but moved on to make more money for his family. His name is Joe. Joe drives the golf ball incredibly long and is always in the fairway. So with that, it gives us a huge advantage in any scramble. His average drive is 360 yards, yep that’s right 360! But Joe has a hindrance, his short game is not consistent and he has another problem, he doesn’t work on that part of his game. He doesn’t spend a lot of time practicing with his new job, and when he does he only works on his strengths. Most of us would love to just keep the ball in the fairway, much less be able to drive the ball 360 regularly.

One reason we like to play in scrambles together beside our friendship, is that the short game is my strength and I work on my short game regularly and we take advantage of it in tournaments. I don’t hit the driver far enough for scrambles but I am usually in the fairway, so my drives are usually used as a safety net. 260 won’t win you tournaments, but neither will 360. If the short game is the weak part of your game, than you need to change your routine on the practice range. You will need to spend at least 50% of your practice time working on your short game. Pete Rose was asked once by a reporter a question that went something like this, “why did you excel in every area of your baseball career?” His answer was, “why everybody is working on their strengths, I’m working on my weak areas”. He went on to talk about how so many guys spent way too much time working on their strengths while not getting better in areas that needed help to propel their overall performance. Now, you may not like Pete Rose, but there is wisdom in that statement. I don’t hit the ball very long, but I have a very good short game and long iron game that will off-set my lack of distance.

One thing about life and golf, is that we have strengths and weakness in our lives. It’s all about the details. I am not a detail person at all. But with golf, I have learned the importance of details. Those little subtleties make a huge difference. One stroke there and one here can make or break a round of golf. Like golf, life is full of details. The more we pay attention to details, the more successful the task may become. Golf and life are full of details. Make sure you pay attention to them so you can not only become a better golfer, but better at life. What details are you looking at in your walk through life?