Following on from the last blog Golf is all about making your next shot easier.

If we now know that our average shot is nowhere near our perfect shot.

Dispersion of 5 handicapper with a 8 iron.

Maybe the question that informs our decision making is

How much do i not want to be there?

In a playing lesson this week an interesting conversation emerged.

The golfer in question was in the rough on the right hand side. with a stiff two club breeze from behind and a green that slopes away from the golfer with the pin relatively close to the front.

I asked the question.

How much to you not want to be in a certain area?

Golfer - I definitely don’t want to be left as there is a bunker left and it is a weak part of my game.

Me - Ok great, how much do you want to be short or long?

Golfer - I definitely want to be short of the green.

Me - Alarm bells are ringing!

Me - So just to clarify you would like to be short of the flag, which would bring into play the bunker you desperately want to avoid and if you avoid the bunker, you have a pitch down wind, downhill to a pin at the front with no green to play with!

Golfer - Oh when you put it like that, long as I will have lots of green to play with and I will be pitching into the wind.

Me - So how much do I not want to be short?

Golfer - quite a lot, I will take one more club.

Next time you are playing, ask yourself the question.

How much do I not want to be there?

It worked for Jack Nicklaus whom talked about his Achilles heel being bunkers and how this would inform his decision making.

Either playing left, right, short or long to avoid them.

Please read on to the follow on from this blog The FAT side of the pin