Tip #25: Overhaul Your Game

Setting goals for your game is an art. The trick is insetting them at the right level -- neither too low nor too high. A goodgoal should be lofty enough to inspire hard work, yet realistic enough toprovide solid hope of attainment.

Norman realized years ago that chipping was his Achilles heel, so he spent hours and hours refining the rough spots

If, for instance, you're a 15-handicapper at the start ofthe season, there's not much point in setting a year-end goal of a5-handicap. Unless you're possessed of unusual time and talent, 10 strokesis far too tall an order for one year.

Nor would aspiring to a 14-handicap make sense. Thatwould be like going on a diet to lose one pound. A good compromise would beto shoot for a handicap of nine -- the allure of a single digit next toyour name, yet within reasonable reach of your present level.

Basically, every golfer, assuming he is physically able,has two choices: He can make the best of his current game or he can try tooverhaul it. Of the two, the first is far less taxing but offers a smallerreward. The second demands much more but yields much more.

Our friend the 15-handicapper could choose the first pathand might be able to lower his handicap to nine without making any majorchanges in his swing and without undue time and trouble. But he wouldn'tget much better than a nine.

Alternatively, assuming he were to choose the over-haulroute, he might have a chance to get down to a 5-handicap, perhaps evenlower, but only after a lot of hard work.

The first option generally requires major attention tothe aspects of golf that most influence scoring -- the short game, sandplay, putting and trouble shots, plus practice or play at least once aweek.

The second option entails thorough study of all aspectsof the game, possibly reinforced with lessons from a competent PGAprofessional, and it certainly involves thousands of practice balls, pluson-course practice or play two or more times per week.

So ask yourself how much desire you really have. Then setyour general strategy -- choose one of the two routes -- and begin to setsome specific interim goals as part of that strategy.

Set easy ones first. Let's say you chose the first route,to make the best of your current method, and let's say you're that15-handicapper in search of a nine. Clearly, you'll have to begin workingon your short game and putting, but before you do, set yourself an interimhandicap target of 12.

If on your home course you usually shoot about 87,reorient yourself to an average score of 84. And if par for your course is72, or 70 or whatever, forget it. Stop thinking about the course's par andinstead focus on your own personal par -- now set at 84.

You can do this by going through the course, hole byhole, and deciding on which holes you should make pars and where you shouldexpect bogeys. This is far more reasonable and motivational than trying toplay against 18 pars. A personal par of 84 gives you a reachable goal, saysix pars and 12 bogeys. That's something you can pursue with confidence andaggressiveness.

In determining your par and bogey holes, go back to youranalysis. If your favorite club is the 7-iron, and if one of the par-threeholes calls for a 7-iron tee-shot, surely you'll want to plan for a par onthat hole.

If you habitually play a draw, you'll probably want toplan for pars on the right-to-left holes and bogeys on the left-to-rights.If you hit a high ball, you might feel it reasonable to plan a bogey on theinto-the-wind holes.

You probably will never shoot your goal score for each ofthe 18 holes in a single round, but these 18 mini-goals will give you roomfor compensation and aspiration. A double-bogey six won't get youdisgusted, since one of your par-fours may turn out to be a birdie.

It probably won't take you long to start shooting thatnew par-84. Once you have a couple of 84s or better under your belt, setthe second goal -- your new par-- 81. Readjust your scores for theindividual holes so that you have 18 comfortably attainable targetstotaling 81, and then go to it again. Don't be surprised if it's eveneasier this second time -- you may even dip down into the 70s.

Now let's say your goal is not tied to your handicap.Let's say you simply want to become a more consistent player. Once again,take a look at your self-analysis. This time, see which areas of your gameare the weakest.

If chipping is your Achilles' heel, practice it with abold "think-sink" attitude. This is, in fact, exactly what I did. A fewyears back chipping was clearly the worst part of my game. So I marchedmyself to a practice green and spent hours and hours refining the roughspots.

If that sounds arduous and dull, put some fun into it bycharting your progress. Take 20 balls and begin by practicing routine20-foot chip shots. See how many of the 20 you can knock into the hole.Chances are you won't make any at first, but you should set yourself a goalof sinking at least one.

Once you can sink one out of 20 consistently, try to sinkan average of two out of 20, then three, then four. When you can sink fourout of 20 from 20 feet, you'll find that chipping is no longer the weakestpart of your game!

Or let's take another goal -- you want to win your flightof the club championship. Again, go through your game analysis, and matchit to your course. Determine the spots where you want to play aggressivelyand where you want to play safe. Don't be afraid about consciously avoidingsituations where you'd have to play your less-than-favorite shots.

For instance, if you're very accurate with a fullpitching wedge but not very good with partial wedge shots, then on holeswhere you have to lay up short of the green, there's no point in trying toslug your ball up close where you'll have to hit that partial shot.Instead, you should be sure to leave yourself enough room so that you canplay that full wedge into the green.

The pros do this all the time, and Johnny Miller was oneof the best at it. He knew that he was as precise as anyone in the world athitting a golf ball 110 yards -- exactly 110 yards. He figures that fromthat distance he can put his shot within six feet of the pin more oftenthan not.

So, on long par-5s, when Johnny knew after his drive hecouldn't get home in two, he simply asked his caddie, "What's the yardageto the 110 point?" Then he'd hit whatever club he needed to get to thatdistance. He may have hit as little as a 6- or 7-iron, secure in theconfidence that the next shot would give him a short birdie putt.

That's aggressive golf -- using your strongest tools asoften and as effectively as possible.

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