Play Comfortable Golf

What, exactly does play comfortable golf mean?  It simply means playing golf by trying to hit golf shots that you are comfortable with.

Golfers have perplexed me over the years over the word comfortable.  Golfers are human beings and human beings crave being in their comfortable zone.  That is just how our brains are wired.  Our brain works very hard doing only things it is comfortable with.  This is why it is difficult for people to improve at golf.  Generally speaking, in order to hit better golf shots we need to change something and change makes us uncomfortable.

On the other hand when I play golf with people I watch them intentionally do things that make them uncomfortable.  When they are selecting a club for a particular shot they invariably pick a club that they will have to hit perfectly to get to the green knowing full well they have a slightly better chance of hitting it perfectly than they do of getting hit by lightning.

The Key Question

Golf course architects have told me many times over the years that they intentionally put the great majority of the trouble in front of the green because golfers invariably hit the ball short.  One of them asked me a question that proves their point.  When is the last time you heard a golfer say “Is a six iron too much?” and he is right.  The question is always “Do you think a seven iron is enough?”  Then they proceed to take the seven, tense up and strain trying to hit it as far as they can.

If mid to high handicappers would decide to take one more club and swing comfortably they would improve immediately.  Sam Snead was convinced that he actually hit the ball farther swinging at eighty percent than he did at a hundred percent and with much better control.

Ask yourself when was the last time you hit an approach shot over the green?  The odds are you will have trouble remembering it unless you skulled a shot.

The bottom line here is to learn to play “comfortable golf” and just accept the extra distance and the joy of hitting more good shots it brings with it.

Cover Photo via Flickr