Are You Spending Enough Time On Your Skill?

The more I teach the more I become aware of how important skill can be regarding a player’s peak potential. A player can only go so far on technique alone. He or she needs to compliment technique with a high skill level as well as having the ability to adapt to changing conditions of each shot.

This skill is gained during practice and requires the player to have the desire to try and figure out how to hit shots and what is needed to hit those shots. One must feel comfortable experimenting and adjusting to living outside of what the normal swing would feel like, as well as working at it often enough to feel confident pulling the shot off under pressure. It is learning to use your clubs in as many ways as possible.

A colleague of mine, Andrew Rice, would always talk about how the 15-year-old group of boys practicing together is a great example of experimenting and figuring things out by challenging each other to hit shots that you wouldn’t normally practice. By challenging each other and hitting shots outside of the norm, they are building their skill and situational awareness. When they experience a shot on the course that is similar to one of the crazy shots that they were hitting with their friends they will have an idea of how to hit that shot. Players that do not have experience with those shots are now facing that challenge for the first time when it counts and that can lead to big numbers on the scorecard.

My advice would be to act like a 15-year-old boy and try and figure things out. Have your practice be a little bit less cookie-cutter and more trying to figure things out and how to hit shots. That can mean that if you have time to practice go and play a couple of holes. Hit shots from places that you are unsure of or uncomfortable with in order to figure out what you need to do. Build your skill around the technique and you will become a complete player.

Give It A Try!