Working On Strengths

I am sure we have all been told at some point that we need to work on our weaknesses. This is common advice not just in golf but in most disciplines. We are told we are not going to improve by practicing what we are already good at and instead we should focus our efforts elsewhere.

In my goal to get to scratch I decided I should take on board this advice for my golf game. As it is currently the off-season I decided now was the perfect moment to focus on my weakness. In recent weeks my driving has been my weakness so I decided this is where I should focus my efforts for maximum improvement. What I learnt surprised me and is not what I expected to happen.

After devoting a larger percentage of my practice time to my driving I was confident I had improved when stepping onto the course for my next round. I hit more fairways than I had in previous rounds but my score was higher. I was sure I had improved because I had worked on the most inconsistent part of my game so I figured this score was an anomaly. But it then happened for the next two rounds and I decided I needed to reconsider my strategy.

Not only had my scores increased but I had enjoyed my rounds much less. This was a sure sign for me that something was wrong in my approach because the only reason I have been able to get to the level I am at is by enjoying the game. I realized I had neglected practicing my strength which was my short game. I had been so intent on improving my weaknesses I had forgotten the part of the game I enjoyed the most.

One of my strongest memories of watching golf on television is watching Luke Donald become world number one in 2011. He was able to do this through his incredible short game which I have always wanted to emulate. In 2011 he actually finished down in 127th in Total Driving on the PGA Tour. Over the last few seasons Keegan Bradley and Henrik Stenson have consistently wanked high in the total driving category and I had started to try to emulate them. Logically this seems like good idea but it felt wrong because I had moved away from the area I enjoy the most.

Instead of trusting my short game to score I was focusing on hitting fairways. I had forgotten how I naturally play which is to get the ball near the green and rely on my short game. Instead I was trying to play the way I was told would be more consistent and it was not helping me. While it will help if I hit more fairways focusing exclusively on that was a mistake.

From now on I will spend more time practicing my driving but I will also maintain my focus on the short game. I want to maintain a playing style that is natural to me because I know that will give me the best results in the long run.  Instead of learning to drive the ball like Keegan Bradley, I will learn how Luke Donald played to reach world number one. That is, I will learn how to drive the ball like Keegan Bradley through learning to play like Luke Donald.