I was prompted to write this months News article following the visit of a client to the shop earlier this week.
"Could you", he asked, "fit a stiff graphite shaft to my current 2 wood". When I queried why he wanted this done, he explained that he wanted to increase the distance he hit the ball from the tee, as he really did want to reduce his handicap.
The client in question currently plays off 19 and wants this year to get down to 14. He has been playing for around one year and common with most players, he considers that the farther you hit the ball from the tee, the better you will score. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Supposing that he always plays to his handicap, he is going to score 91, of which at least 41, or 45% of his shots are on the green, with another 10 shots played either out of bunkers or chipped from around the green. So 56% of his shots are played within 10 yards of the flag.
In truth he would only hit his driver about 10 times during the average round, but would use his putter more than four times that amount. I explained to him that he only had to reduce five of the 50 odd shots from around or on the green and he would achieve his target of playing off 14.
He, like most players that you see at the driving range, hit basket after basket of balls with their driver, but never practice their short game and only ever have a few perfunctory taps with the putter on the practice green before teeing off and always from 20-30 feet from the hole.
It never fails to amaze me why the club with which you take the most shots during a round, is the one which is usually the most ill fitting club in the bag and additionally the one which you practice the least with. Most people never change the grip from one year to the next
Start to take this club more seriously and watch the scores come down. Make sure that it fits you properly. Make sure that the feel is correct, that your putting stroke is smooth and repetitive and that the grip is the right size to relax your hands.
This is also the only club in your bag that you can practice with on the carpet at home, without causing any damage. And finally don't practice putts from further than four feet from the hole, these are the ones that HAVE to go in.
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