STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Every golfer has strengths and weaknesses, even the ones on TV. We are naturally more gifted in some areas than others. And this is how it works for most things in life.

Some players can bomb it off the tee. Others are magic around the greens. Do you have a favorite club in the bag? Are there also a few that make you nervous to hit? What is your favorite part of the game to practice? Can you handle pressure better than most? Deep down, every golfer knows their strengths and weaknesses whether they are willing to admit them or not.

So why is knowing your strengths and weaknesses important?

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is vitally important to you reaching full potential on the course. What great players do that most people don’t realize is play to their strengths. We call it course management. Most of you have heard those 2 words put together but do you really understand what they mean?

Here’s what I think they mean; get around the course playing to your strengths as much as possible.

Course management is one of those aspects of golf that is unique to each player because we all have different abilities. Good course management for you likely means something totally different than good course management for me.

How about an example. Let’s use a golfer who hits it long off the tee but isn’t very strong from 30 to 100 yards out. Would you recommend this player hit driver on short par 4s? The obvious answer is NO. They would be much better served to hit 3 or 5 wood off the tee and leave a full iron shot into the green.

Another example. Imagine a player contemplating hitting 3 wood into a par 5 with a giant sand trap guarding the front of the green. What should they do? Good question. How good are they out of the sand? A good sand player should go for it. The reward outweighs the risk. A poor sand player may need to lay up to avoid making a big score if the approach shot isn’t struck perfectly.

Those are both course management examples. This is why we must know and understand our strengths and weaknesses. Course management means breaking down each hole separately and putting together a game plan that highlights our strengths. This is an instant way to play better golf.

Start from the green and work backwards. What shot would you like to hit into the green? Then position yourself accordingly off the tee. Now it’s obvious that our plan doesn’t always work out but go through the thought process anyway. Mental preparation and confidence are directly connected. The more you prepare, the better you’ll play.

Real World Application: Write down your current strengths and weaknesses. Then, next time you play, try to manage the course to your strengths as much as possible. It would also be wise to dedicate some practice time to strengthening the weak areas. Continue to play to your strengths and work on the weaknesses. This is the key to playing consistently better golf.

Thanks for checking in! And as always, your comments are welcome.

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