You stand on the tee box and it is sunny. The day is great. You are golfing with friends or making new acquaintances. What should you be thinking about?
It should be something to do with the hole you are on.
Spend some time and think about the hole. How long? Straight or dog leg? Water? More Water? Nothing but water!
A good drive will set you up for a good score. If you are in the trees, deep grass, or a hazard, it becomes harder to save your score. Current thinking is ‘grip it and rip it’. Giant head drivers encourage that thinking even more.
Follow this golf swing tip to improve your chances of being in the middle of the fairway-often the best spot to be whether you are 100, 200 or 300 yards out.
First think about the hole and the distance you want to be at. A short dog leg left can hurt you if you simply drive as far as you can straight on. Driving too long can be a problem. So think about your length.
Based on your length decision, choose a club which is comfortable for you. A 3-wood or 5-wood is a perfectly fine choice.
Once you have distance in mind, then aiming is your next big decision. Do not just aim down the middle every time.
Look where the hazards are. You will find creeks, sand, trees, water, hills, rocks, cactus or other things to affect your choice. In addition, think about where the green is and what hazards are protecting it. If there is sand on the left then you want to approach from the right. So you want your drive to finish on the right.
Then consider the effect of the wind. Will it push you further left or right?
Finally, choose where on the tee box you want to stand. You can tee up your ball anywhere between the two markers. That means you can stand outside the markers if you tee up on the left side of the box (for your right hander). In addition you can move up to 2 club lengths behind the markers.
That gives you lots of choice where to stand and aim from. Pick your spot and tee up. Then pick a spot to aim at. I should remind you to aim at something not aim away from something. Looking at water, trees, houses and other distractions only attracts your ball towards them! Pick a spot on the fairway based on your choices and look at it when you aim.
Then, follow your pre-shot routine (remember-the same every time), take a smooth swing and smile to yourself as you end up where you wanted to. Then smile again as your partner picks a different spot, takes out the big wood and takes a mighty swing sending his (or her) ball 300 yards – into the trees.
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