Playing Tip  

Be observant

To play good golf you must be constantly observant to the weather and course conditions and how they will affect your next play. Prior to making your next play, a good way to be in tune with the conditions is to always watch the play of others in your group or even that of the group ahead of you. Watch carefully how the ball is affected by the wind as well as how it reacts once it lands on the ground.

Typically, into the wind distance will be lost, backspin and ball curvature will increase based on the individual’s normal ball flight. Downwind the ball will fly further and spin and curvature will lessen. In wet conditions the ball will roll less once it lands in the fairway or green than with firmer, dryer conditions where it rolls out further each time.

You can benefit greatly from noting the club selection of others playing in your group but you must also interpret the quality of their specific shot. Too often I see amateurs pull a club just because everyone else in the group used the same club. Then when they walk up to the green, the balls are of varying distances as well as left and right of the flag.

Say, for instance, that you typically hit a high fade and your partner hits a low draw and you both hit it close to the same distance on a calm day. Then when the wind is blowing into your face, you need to expect your high fade to go one, two, or more clubs less depending on the strength of that wind. Into the wind a fade will always tend to shoot up high in the air and carry less. Downwind you can expect to hit maybe the same club or one club less and also expect your ball to carry further in the air and land with less roll than that of the low draw of your partner’s shot. Ben Hogan once said that controlling his ball flight trajectory was one of his big keys to playing great golf. I’m sure he gained great insight into what shot trajectory was required based on the information he learned from watching other players.

You also need to be aware of how solid their shot was struck and the placement of where they hit it. Even if it was solidly struck, did the shot make it all the way to the flag, or was it one or two clubs either long or short of it?

When playing from the fairway you also need to be aware of the lie in which they played their shot. If they played from the light rough or even heavy rough did the ball come out with uncontrollable spin, bounce and roll thus carrying and rolling further than a well controlled, crisply struck fairway shot?

Putting is another big area to watch carefully. Watch the break of other players’ putts carefully before you putt. Even if the player is on the other side of the cup, chances are your putt will break in the same direction around the cup. Not only can you learn the break, but you can get insight into the proper speed required. But just like with iron shots you need to interpret the quality of the speed and line of their play. If they tend to hit their putts firmer and you like to die your putts into the hole then you need to play slightly more break than they did if they just happened to hole it.

So watch the play of others carefully and interpret the quality of their shots in helping you decide how to play your own shot based on the current course conditions. If you play enough golf, much of this playing tip will become second nature. Play more golf.

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