It's In The Bag!

It's In The Bag!

During a tournament Walter Hagen's approach shot lands inside a paper bag that has blown into a bunker. Hagen asks for a drop but is told he isn't entitled to one since the ball is in a hazard. He must either play the ball as it lies, in the bag, or take a penalty stroke.

Hagen is none to thrilled with either option but, as he draws on his cigarette, an idea comes to him. With the gallery and the official looking on, he discards the still smoldering butt onto the bag which instantly bursts into flames. The bag all but gone, he pitches out and makes par!

The Worst Defeat

The worst defeat Walter Hagen ever suffered came at the hands of British pro Archie Compston. In another of Hagen's famous 72-hole challenge matches at the Moor Park Club, just outside London, he was beaten 18 and 17.

Compston played magnificent golf and Hagen was far from his best, being fatigued from a long ocean voyage. Nevertheless, it was hard to justify such a huge margin of defeat. In spite of this, Hagen was photographed after the match, smiling and looking as if he had just won a major championship. The following week he did so, beating Compston and the rest of the world to capture the British Open at Sandwich.

The following year, after a disastrous 10 and 8 loss in the Ryder Cup matches, he bought his caddie a new suit and took him to Muirfield, where he won his fourth Open Championship. Surely no player in golfing history enjoyed more comeback victories.

By accepting in advance that he would inevitably hit some bad shots, have bad rounds or bad weeks, and encounter difficult problems, Hagen always had a mental edge over his opponents. When faced with a problem, he never wasted time and energy dissecting the reasons the problem had occurred; there would be time enough to do that later, on the practice ground. The task at hand was to solve the problem, quickly and efficiently, and get the round back on track.

Practice Makes Permanent, So Practice What You Have Learned

Golfers come to our school for one, three or five days, or for and individual lesson. They discover what they need to do to improve their game, and then they go home. I always wonder if they are going to practice what they have learned.

If they do, they will improve, if they don't they will fall back into their old "bad" habits. You get out of this game what you put into it. Once you've committed to improving your game, you need a practice strategy to get that handicap down.

Most golfers spend many wasted hours hitting ball after ball on the range and never getting any better. This section will focus on two very distinct sessions you can use when you go to the range.

The 1st session we'll call swing practice. Keep a goal in mind as you practice, for example, making a better turn, eliminating swaying off the ball, working on your plane, etc. Once you have set your goal, don't be a "ball beater"; hitting ball after ball over a period of time. Take some time. If you know the flaw in your swing, go through the correct procedure in slow motion so you can feel so you can feel the right move. If you don't know what your flaw is, get some professional advice. It's very tough to correct something if you don't know what you're doing wrong. It's like a person doing brain surgery while he is reading the instruction book.

When you are working on your swing, change clubs every 4 or 5 balls. When I'm doing a practice session, I like to hit all the even numbered clubs one day and the odd numbered clubs the next session. Don't reach for your favorite club and hit all 50, or so, balls with it. The problem with this type of practice is that it does not prepare you for playing the course. When you are on the course and faced with a shot using a club you are not comfortable with, you begin to doubt your abilities with that club. The odds of making that shot are not very good.

While you are working on your swing you need to be paying attention to fundamentals such as grip, set-up and alignment. If you cannot master these pre-shot fundamentals, you will not be able to swing correctly.Find yourself a good practice station. Lay down clubs for foot line, club head path and ball position. Make sure your practice session is aligned towards a target. You should always be aiming toward a target. Change your target during the course of the practice session so you don't get comfortable with just one target.

Imagine you've worked on your swing and ironed out your problem(s). Many golfers say to me, "I do fine on the range, but when I go to the course it never works".

The second part of your session should eliminate that problem; it's called "play practice".In your "play practice" you need to keep one swing thought in your head and play a course you are familiar with. What you are really doing is simulating play on the course.

For example, say your first hole is a par 4, 375 yards with water along the left side of the fairway. Use your Imagination here and set up and hit your tee shot. Put your driver down and wait at least 30 seconds. Let's pretend you have 175 yards left to get to the green. See the shot in your imagination as you stand behind the ball and visualize the ball going through the air to the pin. Make the shot. Now let's pretend you hit that shot a little fat and you've come up 30 yards short. There's a bunker between your ball and the pin. After your 30 second wait, take your sand wedge and try a few practice swings for feel. Now imagine that little lob shot going over the bunker and settling next to the hole. Your play practice has taken you through a hole on the course.

Your next hole is a par 5 of 540 yards. Use the same strategy and "play practice" the hole. You have to use your imagination to make the driving range your golf course. This "play practice" will make practicing more fun and you will be able to take your game to the real golf course because you already practiced it on your "driving course range."

Please contact the golf shop to learn how to put this technique to work for your game today!