I was beginning my lesson with Jim and was asking him my background and history questions about him and his golf swing and game. How long has he played? What is his handicap, has he taken any lessons and what is he working on? How much does he practice, what are his strong and weak points? An important one is, does he have any physical problems that affect his ability to setup and or swing? The last big question I always ask is what was he looking for from this lesson? This gives me direction as to the objectives that he wants attention to and corrected.
Jim's is a 15 to 18 handicapper, plays and practices regularly in season and his main problem is hitting the Big One, The Driver. He said that he slices it badly. Then he chimed in that he hits his 3 wood off the tee quite well. Then his next sentence started with 'BUT' and when I heard the complete sentence, I said stop! Say no more! I grabbed a pen and my lesson pad and asked him to repeat what he just said so I could write it down to quote him. I told him that he just gave me the topic for an important daily article about playing and I wanted to quote him.
Jim's statement that floored me was, 'I keep hitting the driver, even though bad, because not using it would be like not playing the game properly.' This statement begs the question to be asked: 'What is playing the game properly?' It might be appropriate to end this right here and ask all of you to now send in your thoughts of what is playing the game properly? Is it the same for every golfer at every level? Or is it different for pros than amateurs and maybe different for Ams playing in tournaments at high levels as compared to local tournaments. Or is it important for playing in their daily social rounds with their friends even if there is no bet or just a small wager for a buck or the loser buying the drinks or lunch?
Let's see if I can put together a simple definition of playing golf. Playing a round of golf is, 'Getting the ball into the hole with the least or fewest strokes.' The Surge, 2/11/2010, 'Playing Golf'¦The Right or Wrong Way.'
As soon as I finished writing this definition it occurred to me to check out Wikipedia's definition of golf. Wikipedia definition is, 'Golf is a precision club-and-ball sport, in which competing players (golfers), using many types of clubs, attempt to hit balls into each hole on a golf course while employing the fewest number of strokes.' It appears I may have hit the ball dead solid perfect in the sweet spot on my definition as Wikipedia's matches mine.
So, what is the error in Jim's statement about he must hit the driver, even though badly, so he would be 'playing the game properly?' The error is simply that hitting his driver badly into trouble, and having to take penalty shots for OB's or lost balls in the woods or lakes or chip back to the fairway or lay up to the green, is costing him strokes. Having to add on penalty strokes or hit more strokes to get back in play is not playing the game in the 'fewest strokes.' I believe here the means justify the ends, as long as we play by the rules.
I have been to many PGA and USGA rules seminars because PGA Professionals are required to take courses for continuing education requirements. The last education seminar I took for me to finish my PGA Master Professional requirements was a full 2 day rules seminar. In all these seminars, for the past 35 years and in playing and discussing rules with USGA and PGA rules officials, we have never covered a rule or even a recommendation of having to hit a driver or any club because not using it would not be playing the game properly.
How many times have we heard PGA Tour Pros say that they couldn't hit their driver and used their 3 wood all day. We have even seen them putt so bad, they used their driver to putt without having broken or thrown their putter in a lake.
I am about as straight a driver as any golfer would like to be and even dream to be. When I play golf for score, which is every time I play, I have a game plan and many times that includes hitting my 3 or 5 wood or a long iron on very demanding tee shots, on short holes and even long ones, to increase the odds of hitting the fairway and keep fairway bunkers, hazards and rough out of play. There are rounds that sometimes my faithful driver is unfaithful, and when that happens, it is my 3 wood to the rescue for tee shots. Why? Because I have one goal and one goal only when I play and that is to 'GO LOW.' Shooting the lowest score possible involves what I tell or text DJ before every round: F &G & P, which means hit Fairways and Greens and have Patience are the keys to going low. And DJ knows that hitting whatever club off the tee that is needed to play smart and still aggressive and hit the fairway is the 'WAY TO PLAY.'
There is one last point of interest relative to Jim's lesson I must mention. Jim flew in from Canada and was spending two days with me. He also wanted a club fitting, so this lesson was done with Lynn Griffin, the club fitter in Columbia SC. And guess what the fitting showed about his driver? The shaft was way too weak and way too long. The new one Lynn made him worked just fine along with the rest of the complete set of woods and irons he also built for Jim.
Playing golf is about playing your best, which is shooting lower scores every time you play. The key to playing smart is using whatever club gets the job done to hit fairways off the tee. It is all about playing smart and even conservative to play by F & G & P.
The Surg!