Practice Tip  

Drive for dought, putt for more dough

The old adage "Drive for show, putt for dough" no longer applies. In the modern era you've got to be able to drive for dough too. Golfers are too good these days and drivers are easier and more forgiving to swing. Also the ball goes longer and straighter. So, as a golfer, how should you spend your practice time? My recommendation is:

Driver 40%   Iron Play 15%   Chipping/pitching and putting 45%

My philosophy is that the driver is singularly more important than putting alone. What good is being a great putter if you're always putting for double bogies? You need to be able to put the ball out a fair distance and in the fairway most of the time to score well. Good driver swings will then trickle down into good iron swings, wedge swings, as well as chipping, pitching and putting strokes.

The driver is a great club to practice because it tells the truth about your swing more than any other club. You won't fall into a false sense of confidence with the driver like you can when hitting an 8 iron. Being the longest club in the bag and with very low loft it is the least forgiving. But being the longest it can also be the best club to practice swinging and establish a good rhythm. Plus most people enjoy whacking the ball as far as they can on the range. If you can get consistent ball flight and shot shape with the driver it will carry on th shots with the other clubs.

Practice irons enough to know how far you can hit them normally and from a variety of different conditions such as into the wind, out of the rough, up and down hill lies, etc.

Chipping, pitching and putting skills always need to be maintained especially as you play a variety of conditions experienced with playing many different courses. Every course has its own firmness, grass textures, green speed and undulations, etc. that have to be taken into account in the practice of the short game.

You'll find that good drives will relieve stress on the other parts of your game. Hitting poor drives will make you spend the entire rest of the hole trying to recover, but hitting great drives will give you confidence that will carry on to all other clubs and lower scores.

Jack Nicklaus says that when he hits the fairway off a good drive he expects to make a birdie, when he doesn't he's lucky to make a par.

Always see your favorite PGA Professional if you want helpful driving tips.

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