What makes a good player?

Its been another week of wet weather but there is signs of it cracking, hopefully giving the golf courses a chance to dry out a little.

Since i last posted i have been on-course with a few regulars, done a fare share of range lessons, taken my girls Encourage Shield for another close loss to Bankstown Golf Club (they have lost 2 - 1 1/2 each week- The reserves match or a drawn match is Worth half a point) and spent more time than i wish to count attending to my new facebook and Linkedin accounts and all the trappings that go with them.

Dave and I have had some interesting discussions on what makes a good player and the things our pupils are striving for and amazingly how far apart these two things are. The player is someone who can hit a few shots but obviously has a good understanding of what their ball is going to do under certain circumstances, Their ability to make educated decisions on the type of shot necessary and act on them is what sets them apart, as well as the ability to miss hit this same shot and not get hung out to dry by the result of this same bad shot. Also a quality short game is an absolute necessity. Most of the people that we teach come with the preconcieved notion that a better swing will allow them to play better, when the skills that make a good player say nothing about having a great swing. If this was the case great players like Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Raymond Floyd and so many more would have never made it off the driving range and onto the lederboards of world golf. There are things that good players do that are tendancies of a good swing, like impact the ball but apart from that it was each to his own. For instance Lee Trevino, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus would all play heir shots with a fade (their ball would curve from left to right) most of the golfers i teach hate moving the ball left to right as they think a straight shot works better. Raymond Floyd was at times an unhappy hooker of the ball (over curving his shots to the left) but this did not stop him from winning two US Masters and two US Opens. Many players i know feel the need of using a 9.5 or 10.5 gergree driver as this will help them play better and drive further, but woth Lee Westwood using a 12 degree driver, Aaron Baddely using an 11 dergree driver and the news is Tiger is using a driver that has been bent to 11 degrees also, why would something that works for them be something that you believe dosen't work for you. So i have come to the conclusion that "what makes a good player is someone who works with what they have and learns to improve the outcome, not striving to fix the proceedure with no guarantee of improving the finished product." The old saying is that the squares on a scorecard are only 5mm x 5mm for a reason, they are not there for a story just to put your score.  If you want to see some of the greatest players ever to play watch this video and see what their swings have in common with yours. The players on this short video won 767 professional tournaments and 39 majors.   http://youtu.be/u3kh0bjlYX0 .

If you want to get the most out of what you do and become the player that you want to be Absolute Golf have some golf schools coming up that will improve your chances. Go to http://www.absolutegolf.com.au/ to find out about our Barnbougle Dunes Trip, GPS Schools with Bob Duncan, as well as some of our on-course days designed to make you a better player.

Until next time, see you on the course.
Jeff Mansfield