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Ken Tannar, PGI Creator

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Feb/Mar PGI Contest

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You owe it to your game to make the best of your abilities; become " Master of Your Own Game". Stand out and improve, even without hitting any balls!!

Here's to a long lasting life of great golf!

It's exciting that another season is now in full swing with all the tours in action.

 

View the left hand side of this page for some other great golf gift ideas. Get some great golf books from amazon.com. View my recommended golf science books.

A Brief Message    Feb 7/05

  • Congratulations to Phil Mickelson for winning at Pebble Beach.
  • My last newsletter discussed whether different depth dimples make a difference in distance. Click here. This newsletter begins a series on managing your golf game on the course. How do you make the best of what you've got?
  • I've developed a spreadsheet to keep track of putting statistics. You can download your free copy here just for being a newsletter subscriber (no strings attached). Just provide me some feedback, if you're so inclined.

     

     

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Golf Game Management I: Lower Scores

Read other Parts from the Technology & Distance series, Short Game series and Off Season Golf series here, Archives.

Send me any suggestions you have for the next or future newsletters. Just submit your ideas using this simple form. Now on to this week's topic.

I. Lower Scores without Physical Improvement

    The topic of this next series is Golf Game Management. Can you shoot lower scores without physical improvement? The answer is a resounding, YES! Not that I'm advocating not improving your ball striking and short game skill level.

How well you score on the course is dependent on the following:

† Ball striking ability (distance and accuracy).
† Short Game Skills (100 yards and in).
† Putting Game (reading greens and executing).
† Mental Game (concentration & control of emotions).
† Game Management (optimizing the other parts)


Dave Pelz, in his book "Short Game Bible" (which I highly recommend, and not because if you buy it from amazon, I get a large chunk of money), outlines a similar break down of the game of golf. He advocates, as do I, that the Short Game is the one that golfers should be focusing most of their energies.

   In this next series of newsletters, I'll be emphasizing ways that you can improve your Game Managment, which in my view, is getting the most out of your current skill level.

   Probably the easiest way most amateur golfers could improve their game management to lower their scores is to hit more club on all their shots. In a poll on my website, out of 484 golfers taking the poll, over 65% of golfers come up short over 50% of the time.

   It has been my experience that most full shots that fall short of the target are due to not hitting enough club. Just like your handicap is an average of your best 10 rounds of the last 20, golfers tend to gage how far they hit their clubs based on their BEST instead of their average.

   Consider this simple analysis of how many strokes this under clubbing costs. I'll use my own statistics in the analysis which are my short game averages:

Wedge 10-40 yards = 2.8 strokes = E(Wedge) = Expect #strokes with wedge
Chips = 2.4 strokes = E(Chip) = Expect #strokes with chip shots from green edge
Putts (15-30 ft) = 1.9 strokes = E(Putts) = Expect # putts

Let's assume I'm hitting an iron to a green on a par 4. If I hit the right club for the shot and execute the shot adequately, I'll put the ball on the green (let's say 15-30 ft from the pin). Based on my putting statistics, I would on average take 1.9 more strokes to hole the ball for a total of 2 + 1.9 = 3.9 strokes.

If I underclub, I'll come up short of the green and either need to wedge or chip the ball onto the green; I'll assume an average of 2.6 strokes (half chips and half wedges). Based on my short game statistics, I would on average take 2.6 more strokes to hole the ball for a total of 2 + 2.6 = 4.6 strokes. I'd make bogie over half of the time.

The difference between these two scenarios is 0.7 strokes. If I underclub on half of the 18 holes, that's 9 X 0.7 = 6.3 strokes more for a single round. That's a lot of strokes. And, this is assuming I have a relatively good short game. The weaker my short game, the greater the difference in strokes (once again, empha- sizing the importance of the short game). And, of course, if there is a hazard in front of the green, the penalty for falling short is even greater.

Now, you might argue that if there are hazards left or right of the green, then hitting the right club would put them into play, whereas under clubbing would eliminate them. You're right. We would need to know your "shot pattern" (percentage of shots you hit left, right, short, long) to estimate the effect. Suffice to say that hitting the right club more often will reduce your score.

One of the services I provide golfers is a "shot pattern" analysis. I'll be discussing shot patterns in greater detail in future newsletters. The concept is extremely important in making wise club choices on shots; knowing where you are likely going to hit the ball and how that overlaps with the golf hole hazards.

In future newsletters on this topic, we'll take a look at Game Management further in areas such as club selection based on shot patterns, wind, elevation, altitude, and temperature. We'll also look at Game Management as it applies to your short game and putting. There a lots of ways to make the best of what you currently have! We can all make better choices on the course.

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If you are more interested in finding out which golf ball is best for you and your game, consider the following:

Longest Golf Ball Report -- a statistical analysis of different golf balls hit by an
                                    Iron Byron Robot machine.

Discover the secret "missing link" in your golf game. Understand which golf balls REALLY make a difference in each stroke!

A list of resources that have been used to produce this newsletter can be found on my website here.

The focus of my site is to utilize science and math to lower your score. New technology is one way to achieve this, but to be honest, the technology is one small piece of the puzzle.

To actually improve significantly, we all need to:

1. Improve our swings using CD Interactive, Hit Down Dammit!

2. Learn how to swing simpler like the Iron Byron with the great coffee table book, Swing Machine Golf!

3. Improve our physical fitness and strength.
The Golf Trainer Power Performance Program™
and Ultimate Golf Fitness Ebook

4. Improve our mental games. Golf Mind Software

5. Improve our Probable Golf games. Learn how to make better choices on the course through knowing how shot patterns and reading the elements and course better.

Click on the links above to take a look at ways that I personally use myself and recommend you try as well.

Hope I provided some useful ways for to become better prepared for you best golf season ever.

Ken Tannar

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