Tip #25: Overhaul Your Game

Setting goals for your game is an art. The trick is in setting them at the right level -- neither too low nor too high. A good goal should be lofty enough to inspire hard work, yet realistic enough to provide 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 of the season, there's not much point in setting a year-end goal of a 5-handicap. Unless you're possessed of unusual time and talent, 10 strokes is far too tall an order for one year.

Nor would aspiring to a 14-handicap make sense. That would be like going on a diet to lose one pound. A good compromise would be to shoot for a handicap of nine -- the allure of a single digit next to your 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 to overhaul it. Of the two, the first is far less taxing but offers a smaller reward. The second demands much more but yields much more.

Our friend the 15-handicapper could choose the first path and might be able to lower his handicap to nine without making any major changes in his swing and without undue time and trouble. But he wouldn't get much better than a nine.

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

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

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

So ask yourself how much desire you really have. Then set your general strategy -- choose one of the two routes -- and begin to set some 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 that 15-handicapper in search of a nine. Clearly, you'll have to begin working on your short game and putting, but before you do, set yourself an interim handicap 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 is 72, or 70 or whatever, forget it. Stop thinking about the course's par and instead focus on your own personal par -- now set at 84.

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

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

If you habitually play a draw, you'll probably want to plan 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 the into-the-wind holes.

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

It probably won't take you long to start shooting that new par-84. Once you have a couple of 84s or better under your belt, set the second goal -- your new par-- 81. Readjust your scores for the individual holes so that you have 18 comfortably attainable targets totaling 81, and then go to it again. Don't be surprised if it's even easier 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 game are the weakest.

If chipping is your Achilles' heel, practice it with a bold "think-sink" attitude. This is, in fact, exactly what I did. A few years back chipping was clearly the worst part of my game. So I marched myself to a practice green and spent hours and hours refining the rough spots.

If that sounds arduous and dull, put some fun into it by charting your progress. Take 20 balls and begin by practicing routine 20-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 goal of sinking at least one.

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

Or let's take another goal -- you want to win your flight of the club championship. Again, go through your game analysis, and match it to your course. Determine the spots where you want to play aggressively and where you want to play safe. Don't be afraid about consciously avoiding situations where you'd have to play your less-than-favorite shots.

For instance, if you're very accurate with a full pitching wedge but not very good with partial wedge shots, then on holes where you have to lay up short of the green, there's no point in trying to slug 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 can play that full wedge into the green.

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

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

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

- Greg Norman