Tip: Fixing what's broken

I was talking to a friend of mine recently, following a tough round on the course, and he announced that he had to “fix” his swing. This is probably the twentieth time he’s mentioned this in the last year, and in fact he has spent a lot of time, energy, and money over the past several months trying to do just that. I’m sure he’ll keep saying the same thing for the next several months, as results won’t get much better for one very simple reason: his swing is not what his problem is. From tee to green, for a player of his level, he is at the high end of average in terms of distance and accuracy. The problem is, he is an absolutely terrible putter, both in terms of reading the line and in reading the speed of the greens. And for all the resources he’s pouring into “fixing the swing”, he’s not spending time dealing with the putting.

My tip of the day is pretty simple: if you’re working on your game, fix what’s actually broken. If you’re not sure what the problem is, keep track of your statistics: how many fairways do you hit, how many putts do you take, etc. If one area seems to be especially out-of-kilter, work on that area. If you’re still not sure, ask a trusted friend, playing partner, or coach if they see a particular area of your game that especially needs work. Let your practice focus more on what YOU need to work on, not on the latest gimmick on the market or the latest tip you read in a magazine or online, or saw on TV (unless, of course, it relates to your special area that needs attention). It’s simple, and it’s bound to get more results than trying to get better by fixing what isn’t broken and ignoring what is.