Good morning, folks. I’m Wilson Staff Professional John Witty with this week’s Tip of the Week.
Today I’m going to speak about how to manage your expectations on the golf course and how to stay in your own lane and why that is so important. First of all, as we’re playing, we need to go ahead and what I mean by staying in your own lane is you need to play your game. and how you figure out what your game is, is you show up at the driving range, hit a few balls, and on this particular day, I’m hitting a big slice. Does that sound familiar? Let’s say we got a 10 yard slice i can’t go to the first tee and try and hit it long and draw it and get the ball to roll because i’m hitting a 10 yard slice so go ahead and name 10 yards left. I think you’ll find your day is a lot more enjoyable, your score will be a lot better, and you’ll be able to basically stay in your lane.
Here’s one way you can get really distracted, and it’s when you’re playing with somebody who hits the ball a lot longer than you. The temptation is going to be to over swing. Over swinging is going to produce simply bad shots, and I’ll give you the perfect example of this. I was playing in a tournament years ago, and I played with a guy that had some obvious swing flaws. He was coming over the top, falling back. He was fading at about 15 yards. He hit every fairway, hit just about every green. But the one thing I noticed is he was taking it way out where he had the Jim Furyk loop. So I said, hmm, he’s two under after five. I’m one over. This guy’s really putting it on me. Maybe I should try the big loop.
Here’s how to avoid that trap because it’ll go from bad to worse. Are there any golfers here on the range? Cameraman, come on up here. Can I use you for a moment? There you go. There’s my one iron. Play like the pros. Here’s the last part of staying in your lane. Golf is a gentleman’s game. There’s a lot of etiquette involved. However, if you’re playing competitive golf, there’s a killer instinct involved. I want to beat you by 100 shots, period. I don’t care. We’re friends. makes no difference.
Here’s how you go about that in a professional way. Alright, you’re hitting your tee shot to that flag. We’re on a par three or any tee. I am out of the way. I am standing a couple steps in front of AJ and I am looking right at the target. I’m not watching his swing. I’m just looking at the target where I think this ball is going to land. AJ, go ahead and strike your golf ball. Now by doing this, I have no idea if he hit a great shot, what kind of swing. That particular one was fantastic. About 220 with a little draw. I was courteous enough to see the shot and I’ll tell him, hey, good shot. If he rolls it or hits it in the trees, I basically say nothing. This is how I stay in my lane and stay focused. Thank you, AJ.
