Swingin’ Smooth Golf

2 Ways to Think About Course Management

Each golfer experiences course management differently, making it an intriguing topic to explore and discuss. Depending on your performance level, i.e., how repeatable you are at hitting a shot, can change what your course management looks like.

Throughout our exploration of this pillar of SSG, we will discuss how to apply course management promptly to your game. A summarized definition of course management is a golfer’s ability to manage their golf game around the course. I like to think about this in two different ways.

One aspect is a player’s ability to create a game plan before starting a round and to adhere to it throughout the game. What this looks like is Hole 1: I am going to pull driver and aim at the first tree on the left. Then you draw it out of bounds. I re-tee and hit one down the middle. Then, on Hole 2, I pull the same driver and aim down the left again. Your goal is sticking to your plan. I rarely alter my game plan. The biggest reason to alter my game plan is if I have lost all confidence in the club I am about to hit, meaning I can’t say with any certainty what my ball will do in the air.

The second aspect is to avoid making cascading mistakes on the course. A cascading mistake, also known as a cascading failure, occurs when one initial mistake leads to additional mistakes without stopping. This type of mistake often shows up in the golf game as double bogeys or worse, and any mistake can lead to one. The upside to a cascading mistake in golf is that it happens even to pros, and it can be stopped as long as the next shot you hit has the highest chance of success and gets you out of trouble. This can mean punching out of the trees only 25 yards than trying to hit it low through the trees.

Considering course management in this way helps reduce the likelihood of mistakes while also acknowledging that mistakes are inevitable. After all, golf is a game of mistakes; it’s up to you how you manage them.

A lot more goes into having a game plan and being able to stop a cascading mistake. In this weekly newsletter, we will break down every aspect of course management.

I want to hear from you: how do you use course management in your game?

What is Performance Practice?

Performance

Here at SSG, performance practice is defined as the ability to hit a shot or a series of shots within set standards to show and compare improvements. This can be broken down into the most fundamental element of performance: ball-then-ground contact. Being able to make contact in the correct location is a skill that requires exceptional hand-eye coordination and can be performed with multiple different attack angles, club paths, and face angles.

A drill that works on this skill is a personal favorite, the Tee drill. This drill involves placing a tee perpendicular to the target line in front of the ball, target side of the ball, about 3 inches (as shown right). Set up to the ball and keep your eyes on the tee. Then swing the club, only focusing on hitting the tee, and let the ball get in the way of the golf club.

Whenever you work on a specific ball flight, it also counts as performance practice; however, your form can influence your ability to achieve that particular ball flight. An example of this is by placing barriers on either side of the golf ball to aid in a certain club path or face impact location. The point of this drill is to focus on your skill in missing the barriers and curving the ball a certain amount or face location.

Drills that directly influence your ability to implement a specific course management strategy are also considered performance practice. For example, a drill like Leap Frog directly impacts your course management strategy by requiring you to hit it farther and farther with every shot. This helps develop a better feel for the game and is essential for creating an effective strategy to manage environmental factors and course layouts.

All of the drills and examples above require a dedicated amount of independent time to translate into lower scores. As mentioned before, this is different from form practice. During performance practice, your focus needs to be on what your ball flight does or how well you manipulate your form for a particular shot. Purposely manipulating your form for a shot is a skill and should only be done with the purpose of that shot only. Form practice is to change your form permanently, not just for a one-time shot. Knowing what drills are for performance training is necessary to make dramatic changes in lowering scores.

In the coming weeks, I’ll share the best performance drills and what standards you should use for your game.

The Importance of Form Practice

Form

Form practice can be defined as practice that works on how you swing a golf club. As TPI certified, this is known as practicing the Big 15. These are 15 common swing characteristics that affect how you swing the golf club.

As discussed before, there is a difference between performance practice and form practice. With form practice, this should only be done without caring about what the golf ball does. This type of practice can be very frustrating but is necessary to improve your performance and course management.

This type of practice is what most people envision when they think about practicing golf. “Today, I want to work on not coming over the top.” Or “I want to stop Early Extension,” and there is a place where this is needed. However, there is another important aspect to consider: can you physically accomplish what you are doing?

While working on this type of practice, there are two things to consider: one being, do I have a physical limitation that is leading me to show a swing character causing a swing flaw, or do I have the physical ability to make the change but lack the technical knowledge to be able to make the change?

If you have a physical limitation that is leading to a swing characteristic, there are two different options that are open to you. One is that you work on that limitation in the gym, i.e., with a physical trainer or physical therapist. Alternatively, you can receive coaching that focuses on working around your physical limitations. Occasionally, you can’t do anything in the gym to help your physical limitations, so you must work around them.

If you belong to the second group, which lacks the technical knowledge necessary to make changes, then you will find it easier to adjust your form. These golfers need to learn how to diagnose the true problem of, or be coached about, their swing so they can make the right change at the right time. The worst thing to do is try to eliminate a swing characteristic that you do need in order to make good contact with the ball because you think that your form is off.

Throughout the exploration of this SSG pillar, we will talk about all kinds of swing characteristics and how to combat them if they are a true swing flaw and not just how your swing looks.

The Importance of Physical Fitness

Physical

In the realm of golf, people often overlook the importance of physical fitness for playing well. There are multiple factors that can affect your ability to score low in golf, and the most important factor is you. The one that is swinging the club.

Although this knowledge is not new or profound, most people tend to overlook it for one simple reason: golf is not a “physical” sport. There’s no sprinting, there’s no contact, and you only hit a shot every few minutes. But for these same reasons, physical fitness is a necessity for golf. A fast round of golf can take around 3 hours and 45 minutes; a slow round of golf can take upwards of 5+ hours, depending on how busy the golf course is. Typically, one should complete a round of golf in 4 hours and 30 minutes. This duration is longer than a standard basketball, football, soccer, or baseball game.

So what does this mean? Even though you’re not constantly swinging a golf club, your fitness level still needs to be maintained at the same level as it was at the beginning of the round. If you don’t, then your performance will fade down the final holes in the round. If your physical fitness is inadequate, it will also negatively impact your mental game. Maintaining focus on the course for an extended period requires significant physical effort, especially when combined with being outdoors for that duration.

Now why is all of this important? The short answer is that the more physically tired you are, the more your form starts to deteriorate, and in turn, your performance starts to deteriorate as well. This situation can result in high scores without understanding the reasons behind them.

Another key reason physical fitness is essential for consistent golf is that it influences the type of form and performance you can achieve. For example, if you have been trying to fix a swing flaw and it hasn’t been working, then the main cause could be a physical limitation.

Trying to fix a swing flaw that physically you are unable to achieve is running into a brick wall. There are two ways to be able to make this change: one is to strictly address your physical limitation, and two is to teach around the physical limitation. If you don’t, then it will also affect your performance. For example, let’s say that you hit a pull fade, and this issue is caused by an over-the-top swing. After doing a physical screen, you have limitations in externally rotating your right shoulder, and this is the only physical limitation. Then, this is causing your over-the-top swing. To be able to address your pull fade, you need to address your physical limitation in the gym via a physical therapist or fitness coach or be coached on how to shallow the club with your wrists (one of the three different planing mechanisms in the golf swing).

This is why having a solid foundation physically matters so much to golf, and it also could explain why you’re unable to perform to the level you desire.

What’s the Difference Between Form and Performance Practice

Form, Performance

How do you practice? What do you spend your time doing? Are you practicing in the most effective way?

The single most important thing to improving your score is how you practice. Most golfers would find this as common sense, but what you’re practicing is less intuitive. Understanding the differences between the two types of practice will significantly improve your game.

The two different types are 1) form practice and 2) performance practice. There is a big distinction between the two, but they can also be confused. For example, someone who has early extension, an extremely common swing characteristic, may not have an issue with making ball-then-ground contact. For this golfer to address his early extension, they will be strictly working on form practice.

Now let’s switch it. If a golfer doesn’t have early extension or any other swing characteristic that would lead to an inability to have ball-then-ground contact, they struggle with ground contact in the correct place. This golfer working on this SKILL is working in performance practice.

To break this down to simpler terms, form practice is how a golfer looks when they swing the golf club, and performance practice is how the ball performs. When breaking down one’s practice into these two categories, it will simplify your goals.

Most people focus their practice on performance practice through form practice. This is a confusing concept at the best of times, but most golfers and some coaches follow it. To know if you have ever done this, ask yourself a simple question: do you quantify your ball flight by how you “feel” during your shot? Or have you ever considered a swing, a bad swing by the ball didn’t do what you wanted it to do, but on camera your physical swing, i.e., manipulation of the club or body, did what you set out to do. This is a classic example of performance practice through form practice.

If you are working on form practice, there should be zero consideration towards the performance of the ball. Generally, you should perform form practice without a ball initially.

To determine whether to transition your form practice into performance practice is based on your ability to perform the desired form at full speed without a ball. Then start slow and move faster with the ball to incorporate it into your performance.

Now, for the TRUE integration from form to performance, it is to test your swing form with the help of a camera against the performance standards that you have set for yourself. All of the form work that you do will never translate into performance without testing it, and all of the performance practice that you put in without a solid form foundation will not translate into a decreased score.

This is the fine line that golfers need to dance in order to improve their score, but most golfers don’t realize the importance of keeping these two skills separate.

Swingin' Smooth Golf