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It’s a simple game if you let it be. The swing is optional. Ever watch Jim Furyk with his outside/in draw back. Or maybe the habits of Jack and his clearing the way for the swing just prior to draw back. Lot of ways and approaches. And it seems the pros change their swing consistent with their successes. They will use one until they can’t win with it or they get hurt and have to change it.

But the real success to the game is knowing your limitations and strengths. Most players that play regularly spend time on the range and are confident with certain clubs. So they use them by trying to get to where they can use them for the ability they have with them. If you can consistently hit a 90 degree wedge 105 yards and land it within a 10 foot circle, why wouldn’t you want to hit that shot? So instead of driving the ball 320 yards, maybe in the fairway, and hitting an 80 yard punch shot from the rough or sand that you don’t practice or the clubs are not designed to hit, you hit the ball 295 to hit that wedge. Playing within your limitation and strengths. Makes that putt a lot easier in most situations and you will use a putter more than any other club in the bag in a round. Take advantage of it by creating easier putts with more controlled shots in the short grass more often. Takes the hazards, traps, and bad green spot out of the game.

Simple game. You don’t have to hit it a mile, hit with a smile. Stay within yourself and hit the clubs more consistently with what they are designed to do and you are confident with. When John Daly won his British open, the driver stayed in the bag. Sure he could hit it a mile, but not always in the short grass. He never used it in that tournament. He substituted a one iron and was successful. His only other major was the PGA in his rookie year. But his inconsistent play kept him off the Ryder Cup throughout his career.

But if you’re out there to watch the ball fly, then stay on the range. It’s cheaper and you won’t be holding people up behind and with you. Join them at the ninth crossover and/or the 19th. You will be a happier person. And just as exercised.

rwood