Chapter 2

Recovering from Bad Breaks and Bad Weather

In This Chapter

Making shots that save your day

Coping with Mother Nature’s moods

Becoming a golfer for all seasons

If you break golf down into its primal form, it’s simple. All you have to do is hit a ball from a flat piece of ground (you even get to tee the ball up) to, say, a 40-yard-wide fairway. You find the ball and hit it onto a carefully prepared putting surface. Then the golf gods allow you to hit not one but two putts. And even after all that stuff, you still get to call your score par.

However — you knew there had to be a catch, didn’t you? — golf often isn’t so straightforward. For one thing, you’re going to make mistakes. Everyone does. Usually the same ones over and over. (That doesn’t change, by the way. Even the best players in the world have glitches in their swings that give them fits.) Everyone has a bad shot that he or she tends to hit when things go wrong. You may not hit that fairway with your drive or that green with your approach shot, or you may miss both. You may take three putts to get the ball into the hole now and again.

And golf doesn’t often take place on a level playing field. Very seldom is the ball lying enticingly on a perfectly flat carpet of grass. Sometimes you play three or four holes into the teeth of a howling gale and reach a hole going the other way — just in time for the wind to change direction. And then it starts to rain.

This chapter’s all about how to deal when the golfing gets tough.

Overcoming the Scenery

As if trying to hit a tiny ball into an only-slightly-bigger hole that’s hundreds of yards away weren’t hard enough, you’ve got nature’s natural beauty to overcome. Long grass and trees may add visual interest to the course, but that’s little comfort when you literally can’t see the hole for the trees. The following sections explain what to do when you have to play from these unfortunate spots.

Getting out of a rough spot

Rough is the grass on the golf course that looks like it should be mowed. It’s usually 2 to 3 inches high and lurks everywhere but the tees, fairways, and greens.

When you try to hit a ball out of long grass, the grass gets between the clubface and the ball. The ball then has no backspin and flies off like a bat out of heck, and direction can be a concern. But the real problem is that, with no backspin, the ball can take a longer voyage than you expected. The lack of backspin means less drag occurs while the ball is in the air. When that happens, you’ve hit a flyer. That’s never been a problem with the driver off the tee, but it’s a concern when you’re trying to hit the ball a certain distance.

If the lie is bad enough, just get the ball back into the fairway. If you can hit the ball, the technique for this shot is much the same as the shot out of a divot: Play the ball back in your stance and put your hands forward. A chopping-down motion allows the club to come up in the backswing and avoid the long grass; that way you can hit down on the ball. Swing hard, because if you don’t, the grass will wrap around the club and twist it, giving the ball an unpredictable trajectory.

The more you play this game, the more you hit these shots and understand how to play them. Keep your sense of humor and a firm grip on the club.

Tackling tree trouble

A walk in the woods can be a serene, soul-enhancing, mystical journey, blending one’s spirit and body into nature and all her beauty. But when you’re walking into the trees to find your golf ball, you may feel like you’re in a house of mirrors with branches and leaves. The trees seem to be laughing at your predicament, and you end up talking to them in a less-than-flattering dialogue. It happens to everyone.

When I’m in the trees, the trees play games with me. And so, to extract my ball from this maze of bark, I play a game with the trees. Usually, one lone tree is in my way as I try to exit this forest. All I do is take dead aim at that tree and try to knock it over with the ball. The key here is to not be too close to the tree in case you score a direct hit. You don’t want to wear that Titleist 3 as a permanent smile.

My reasoning is that I got into these trees with something less than a straight shot. So if I now try to hit something that’s 30 yards away from me and only 12 inches in diameter, what’s the chance that I’ll hit it? If I do hit it, what a great shot it was! I can congratulate myself for that, turning a negative into a positive. I’m still in the trees, but now I’m proud of my accuracy. Now you probably know why I’m on TV and not on the regular tour anymore.

Making Special Shots

Because golf is a game of mistake management, you’re going to get into trouble at least a few times in every round. How you cope with those moments and shots determines your score for the day and, ultimately, your ability to play well. Never forget that even the greatest rounds have moments of crisis. Stay calm when your heart tries to eject through the top of your head.

Trouble lurks everywhere on a golf course. You have to know how to hit shots from the rough, and others that go around, between, or over trees. Long shots, short shots, and, perhaps most important, in-between shots. You may be faced with a shot from 200 yards where a clump of trees blocks your path to the hole. Or you may be only 50 yards from the hole and have to keep the ball under branches and yet still get it over a bunker. Whatever the situation, the key is applying the magic word (drumroll): imagination.

Visualization strikes again: If you can picture the way a shot has to curve in the air in order to land safely, you’re halfway to success. All you have to do is hit the ball. And the best way to accomplish both things is through practice — practice on the course, that is. You can’t re-create on the range most shots that you encounter out on the course. The range is flat; the course isn’t. The wind constantly blows the same way on the range. On the course, the only constant about the wind is that it changes direction. That’s golf — a wheel of bad fortune.

The best way to practice these weird and wonderful shots is to challenge yourself. See how low you can hit a shot. Or how high. Practice hitting from bad lies and see how the ball reacts. Play from slopes, long grass, and all the rest. Or play games with your friends. The first player to hit over that tree, for example, gets $5. The trick is to make practice competitive and fun — and also beat your friends out of five bucks. Check out Chapter 3 of Book V for more ways to take the sting out of practicing.

Wait a minute, though. We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. We’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you that many of the trouble shots hit by the pros are not only very low-percentage plays but also way, way out of most people’s reach. Even the pros miss the tough shots now and again. And when they do miss, the result can be a triple bogey (a score of three over par for one hole — for example, a 7 on a par-4) or worse. So admire the pros who go for broke like the old, even bolder Phil Mickelson. But never, ever try to copy them — if you’ve got a choice.

The good news is that at this stage of your development, all you really need is a couple of basic shots. Leave the fancy stuff for another time, another book. All you need to know to score well is how to hit the ball low or high back onto the fairway. That’s enough to cover 99 percent of the situations that you encounter. Better to give up one shot than risk three more on a shot that you couldn’t pull off more than once in 20 tries.

Altitude adjustment

Because golf isn’t played in a bubble, you’re going to come across situations where a higher or lower shot is required. For example, when you have a strong wind in your face, a lower shot is going to go farther and hold its line better. The great thing is that you make all your adjustments before you begin. Then after you start your backswing, you can make your regular swing. You don’t have to worry about adding anything else. Figure 2-1 illustrates the shots in the following sections.

Hitting the ball lower

Hitting the ball low is easy. All you have to do is subtract from the effective loft of the club. The best way to do that is to adjust your address position. Play the ball back in your stance, toward your right foot. Move your hands toward the target, ahead of the golf ball, until they’re over your left leg.

Now take your usual swing, focusing on re-creating the positional relationship between your hands and the clubface as the ball is struck. In other words, your hands should be “ahead” of the clubface at impact, thus ensuring that the ball flies lower than normal.

Golfers commonly employ this sort of technique when playing in Florida, Texas, and Hawaii, where they often have to deal with strong winds. When you play the ball back in your stance with your hands ahead, you come down into the ground with a more abrupt angle that takes more turf.

Figure 2-1: The downs and ups of golf.

I remember one good story about a low shot. It happened years ago during the Bing Crosby tournament on the 7th hole at Pebble Beach (a downhill par-3 of 110 yards). From an elevated tee, you can just about throw the ball to the green. On this particular day, the wind was howling from the coast (the green sits on the ocean), and the 7th hole was impossible. Water was erupting from the rocks; wind was blowing water everywhere; seals were hiding; and seagulls were walking. Definitely a bad day for windblown golf balls.

Billy Casper arrived on the tee and surveyed the situation. Many players were using long irons (irons that go 200 yards) because the wind was so fierce. Billy went to his bag and got his putter! He putted the ball down a cart path into the front bunker. From there he got the ball in the hole in two for his par-3. Now that’s keeping it low into the wind and using your imagination!

Hitting the ball higher

As you’d expect, hitting the ball higher than normal involves making the opposite adjustments at address. Adjust your stance so the ball is forward, toward your left foot. Then move your hands back, away from the target. Again, hitting the ball is that simple. All you have to do is reproduce that look at impact, and the ball takes off on a steeper trajectory.

Uneven lies

No golf course is totally flat. So every now and again, you need to hit a shot off a slope. The ball may be below or above your feet. Both positions are sidehill lies. Or you may be halfway up or down a slope.

When you’re faced with these situations, you need to make an adjustment. And as we note in the preceding section, if you can make most of your changes before starting your swing, the shot gets easier. The common factor in all these shots is the relationship between your shoulders and the slope. On a flat lie, you’re bent over the ball in a certain posture. You should stand about 90 degrees to the ground.

But if the ball is above your feet, you have to lean a little into the hill to keep your balance. If you stand at your normal posture to the upslope of the hill, you may fall backward. You’re close to the ball because of the lean, and you need to choke up on the club (hold it farther down the handle on the grip).

The reverse is also true. With the ball below your feet, lean back more to retain your balance on the downslope. Because you’re leaning back, you’re a little farther away from the ball; grip the club all the way at the end and use the whole length of the shaft.

The main idea for sidehill lies is to stay balanced. We don’t want you falling down any hills.

For uphill and downhill lies, the setup is a little different. Imagine that your ball is halfway up a staircase, and you have to hit the next shot to the top. Because your left leg is higher than your right, your weight naturally shifts to your right leg. On a downslope, your weight shifts in the opposite direction, onto your left leg. Let that weight shift happen so your shoulders stay parallel to the banister. Keep your shoulders and the imaginary banister parallel, as shown in Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2: Keep shoulders and slope parallel.

Finally, follow these three rules:

Adjust your aim when you’re on a slope. Off a downslope or when the ball is below your feet, aim to the left of where you want the ball to finish. Off an upslope or when the ball is above your feet, aim right.

Play the ball back toward the middle of your stance if you’re on a downhill lie, or forward off your left big toe from an uphill lie.

Take more club (a club with less loft) if you’re on an uphill lie because the ball tends to fly higher, and use less club (a club with more loft) from a downhill lie because the ball has a lower trajectory in this situation. For example, if the shot calls for a 7-iron, take your 8-iron instead. Remember: From these lies, swing about 75 percent of your normal swing speed to keep your balance. Practice with different clubs from different lies to get a feel for these shots.

Digging out of divots

Unfortunately for your blood pressure, your ball occasionally finishes in a hole made by someone who previously hit a shot from the same spot and forgot to replace the grass. These holes are known as divots. Don’t panic. To get the ball out, first set up with the ball farther back in your stance to encourage a steeper attack at impact. Push your hands forward a little. You need to feel as if you’re really hitting down on this shot. A quicker cocking of the wrists on the backswing helps, too. Some pros like to swing a little more upright on the backswing with the club (take the arms away from the body going back). This method allows a steeper path down to the ball. (See Figure 2-3.)

Depending on the severity and depth of the divot, take a club with more loft than you’d normally use. Extra loft counteracts the ball’s being below ground level. Don’t worry — the ball comes out lower because your hands are ahead of it. That makes up for the distance lost by using less club.

Remember that a shot from a divot comes out a lot lower and runs along the ground more than a normal shot. Aim accordingly.

You have little or no follow-through on the downswing of your shot from a divot. Because the ball is back in your stance and your hands are forward, your blow should be a descending blow that chops the ball toward the green.

The best swing thought for this situation is Don’t swing too hard. If you swing hard, your head tends to move — you don’t hit the ball squarely. And when the ball is lying below the ground, you must hit it squarely. So take a smooth, downward swing.

Hang Onto Your Hat: Handling High Winds

When conditions are rough because of wind or rain, scores go up. Adjust your goals. Don’t panic if you start off badly or have a couple of poor holes. Be patient and realize that sometimes conditions make golf even harder. And remember that bad weather is equally tough on all the other players.

Figure 2-3: Escaping a divot.

I’ve played professional golf for 40 years, and I’ve played in some bad conditions. Because I’m not a patient person, my scores in bad weather have been high. If I got a few strokes over par early in my round, I’d take too many chances trying to make birdies. I’d then boil as I watched my score rise with my blood pressure. A calm head and good management skills are just as important as hitting the ball solidly when you’re trying to get through tough days in the wind and rain.

I remember playing the TPC Championship at Sawgrass in the late 1980s on one of the windiest days we’d ever seen. J. C. Snead hit a beautiful downwind approach to an elevated green. Somehow the ball stopped on the green with the wind blowing upward of 50 miles per hour. J. C. was walking toward the green when his Panama hat blew off. He chased it, only to watch the hat blow onto the green and hit his golf ball! That’s a two-shot penalty — and rotten luck.

If the wind is blowing hard, try these tips:

Widen your stance to lower your center of gravity. This change automatically makes your swing shorter (for control) because turning your body is more difficult when your feet are set wider apart. (Figure 2-4 illustrates this stance.)

Swing easier. Try taking a less-lofted club than normal and swinging easier. This way, you have a better chance of hitting the ball squarely. By hitting the ball squarely, you minimize the wind’s effects.

Use the wind — don’t fight it. Let the ball go where the wind wants it to go. If the wind is blowing left-to-right at 30 miles per hour, aim left and let the wind bring your ball back. Don’t aim right and try to hook it back into the wind. Leave that to the airline pilots and the guys on the PGA Tour!

Choke down on the club. You don’t have to keep your left hand (for right-handed golfers) all the way at the top end of the grip. Move it down an inch. This grip gives you more control. Keeping your left hand about 1 inch from the top of the grip gives you more control over the club and the direction of the shot it hits. But more control comes with a cost: The ball doesn’t go as far as it would if you used the full length of the shaft.

Allow for more run downwind and shorter flight against the wind. You have to experience this part of the game to understand it. The more you play in windy conditions, the more comfortable you become.

Figure 2-4: Windy means wider.

Swingin’ in the Rain

If you’re from Southern California, you may not have much experience playing in the rain. Those of you from the Pacific Northwest may already know a bit about how to swing in the rain. Regardless of your climate, the following sections give you some pointers on playing in wet conditions.

Packing the right equipment

The best advice we can give you for playing in the rain is to make like a Boy Scout and be prepared. For starters, pack the right all-weather gear:

An umbrella: Pack one of those big golf umbrellas. And never open it downwind; you end up like Mary Poppins, and the umbrella ends up looking like modern art.

Rain gear: That means jackets, pants, and headwear designed to be worn in the rain. If you play in wet weather all the time, get yourself some good stuff that lasts a long time, not a garbage bag with holes cut out for your head and arms. Good rain gear can cost between $100 and $700, but if you’re on a budget, you can get decent gear for less — see Chapter 1 of Book I for tips on that.

Dry gloves: If you wear gloves, keep a few in plastic bags in your golf bag. They stay dry even if the rain comes pouring in.

Towels: Keep several dry towels in your bag because the one you have outside will get wet sooner or later. Keep one dry towel hanging from the rib on the underside of your umbrella and another inside your side pocket. When the weather gets really wet, you can wipe your club off on the closest caddie.

Dry grips: Having dry grips is one of the most important components of wet-weather golf. You really don’t want to have a club slip out of your hands on the driving range and fly through a snack-shop window.

Waterproof shoes: Keep an extra pair of dry socks in your bag, too, in case the advertiser lied about those “waterproof” shoes.

Wet course conditions

A golf course changes significantly in the rain. You need to adjust your game accordingly:

On a rainy day, the greens are slow. Hit your putts harder and remember that the ball doesn’t curve as much. You can also be more aggressive on approach shots to the greens.

If you hit a ball into a bunker, remember that wet sand is firmer than dry sand. You don’t have to swing as hard to get the ball out.

A wet golf course plays longer because it’s soft — a 400-yard hole seems more like 450. The good news here is that the fairways and greens become, in effect, wider and bigger, because your shots don’t bounce into trouble as much as they would on a dry day. That means you can afford to take more club — and more chances.

Try not to let the conditions affect your normal routines. The best rain players always take their time and stay patient.

Rainy days result in soft green conditions. Even if you normally don’t make a ball mark on the green, you may when it’s raining. Be sure to fix them.

Playing in the rain is one thing; playing in lightning is another altogether. Here’s our tip on playing in lightning: Don’t. When lightning strikes, your metallic golf club (along with the fact that you tend to be the highest point on the golf course, unless a tree is nearby) can make you a target. So when you see lightning, don’t take chances — take cover.

Weathering the Seasonal Elements

If you live in Florida, California, or Arizona, you only notice the change of seasons when 40 bazillion golfers from colder climes flood the area trying to get the seven tee times that are still available. If you live in an all-season climate and prefer to enjoy the changing weather without giving up your golf game, this section offers some tips.

Swinging into spring

Golfers anticipate spring like no other season. You’ve been indoors for most of the winter and read every book pertaining to your golf game. You’ve watched endless hours of golf on TV and ingested everything the announcers have told you not to do. It’s spring — time to bloom!

One of the first things you need to do is decide your goals for the upcoming year. Is your goal to be a better putter? Become a longer driver? Simply want to get the ball off the ground with more regularity? Establish what you want to do with your game and then set out to accomplish that feat.

Here’s some more springtime advice:

See your local golf professional for a tune-up lesson. All golfers pick up bad swing habits during the off-season. Get off to the right start!

May is free lesson month. Find a local PGA professional who participates in this program, and he or she will give you a free 10-minute tune-up.

Practice all phases of your game. Don’t neglect weak areas of your game, but stay on top of your strengths, too. Spring is a time of blossoming — let your game do the same.

Map out an exercise program. Did you avoid exercise during the winter? Spring is a good time to map out a game plan for your physical needs. Are you strong enough in your legs? Does your rotator cuff need strengthening? Does your cardiovascular system short out later in a round? Book II details how to develop a golf-specific fitness program.

Dress for the weather. Spring is the cruelest time of year to figure out what to wear. It can be hot. It can be cold. It can rain. It can be blowing 40 miles per hour. It can be doing all these things in the first three holes. If you’re carrying your bag, it can get heavy with all the extra gear in it, but you don’t want to get caught without something you need. Take along your rain gear, a light jacket, hand warmers (we discuss these amazing creations in “Winterizing your game” later in the chapter), your umbrella, and an extra towel. And take along some antihistamines — it’s spring, and the pollen is everywhere.

Learn about yourself and your golf game. Remember, spring is the time of year to be enlightened. In the words of Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset, “To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.”

Heading into hot summer swings

Hopefully, you’ve been practicing hard on your game, working toward those goals you set forth in the spring (see the preceding section). But practicing and playing are two very different animals. The more you practice, the easier you should find it to play the game well. Summer is the time to find out whether your game has improved.

These tips help you make the most of your days in the sun:

Work on course management. How can you best play this particular golf course? Sometimes, for one reason or another, you can’t play a certain hole. Figure out a plan to avoid the trouble you’re having on that hole. Do you have the discipline to carry out your plan? That’s why summer is great for playing the game and understanding yourself. You can regularly go out after work and play 18 holes before it gets dark.

Tailor your equipment for the conditions. During the summer, consider getting new grips on your clubs. The grips are called half cord because they have some cord blended into the underside of the grip. New grips give you a better hold on the club during sweaty summers. You can also use a driver with a little more loft to take advantage of summer’s drier air (which makes the ball fly farther).

Practice competing by playing in organized leagues. You play a different game when your score counts and is published in the local paper.

Dress for fun in the sun. Take along sunblock of at least SPF 15 and put it on twice a day. Not everyone wants to look like they fell asleep in a tanning bed. And wear a hat that covers your ears.

Play in the morning. Afternoons are often too darned hot.

Drink plenty of fluids during those hot days. You don’t want to dehydrate and shrivel up like a prune, so keep your liquid intake constant. Try to drink water on every tee during the heat of summer. One hint: Alcoholic beverages can knock you on your rear end if you drink them outdoors on a hot day. Stick with water and save the adult beverages for the 19th hole.

Having a ball in the fall

Without a doubt, fall is the best time of year to play golf: The golf courses are in good shape, the leaves are turning in much of the country, and the scenery is amazing. The weather is delightful, and all sorts of sports are on TV. Both you and your game should be raring to go.

If you have the time and the money, make travel plans to the Northeast and play golf there. The colors are astounding. Colorado is also breathtaking in the fall. Some vacation planners specialize in golf trips. Get a bunch of friends you enjoy and start planning one now.

Here are four fall golf tips:

Dress for the fall much like you do for the spring. Take a lot of stuff with you because the weather can change faster than you can swing. (Flip to the earlier section “Swinging into spring” for more on packing for spring golf.)

Keep a close eye on your shots. Especially if you live where trees lose their leaves in the fall; you can easily lose your ball in the leaves.

Assess everything you did with your game this year. Did your techniques work? If not, were your goals unrealistic? Was your teacher helpful? Take a long, hard look and start to devise a game plan for next spring.

Look at new equipment as your game progresses. Fall is a great time to buy equipment, because all the new stuff comes out in the spring. By fall, prices are lower for last year’s clubs.

Winterizing your game

Get out there and work on your game — you don’t have to mow the grass until April!

Preparing for brisk weather

If you’re brave enough to venture onto golf’s frozen tundra, we have three musts for you:

Take a jumbo thermos with something warm to drink. You may think that bourbon chasers make the day much more fun, but alcohol makes you feel colder. Coffee or hot chocolate works better.

Dress warmly. Silk long johns work well on cold days. Women’s seamless long johns work best, but if you’re a guy, the salesperson looks at you funny when you ask for a women’s size 14. That kind of request may lead to the wrong conclusions.

• Wear waterproof golf shoes and thick socks. Some hunting socks have little heaters in them. You can also wear wool pants over silk long johns and then use rain pants as the top layer when it’s really cold. A turtleneck with a light, tightly knit sweater works wonders under a rain or wind jacket made of Gore-Tex or one of those other miracle-fiber, space-age fabrics like Under Armour. A knit ski cap tops off this cozy ensemble.

• Get some hand warmers. Among the great inventions of all time are those little hand warmers that come in plastic pouches. You shake them, and they stay warm for eight hours. You can put them everywhere on cold days. Let your imagination run wild. Hand warmers can keep you toasty on a cold winter’s day when you’re three strokes down to your worst enemy.

• Keep your hands warm by using cart gloves. These oversized fingerless gloves have a soft, warm lining and fit right over your hand, even if you’re already wearing a glove. Put a hand warmer in each one.

Walk the course if you can. Walking isn’t just good exercise; it keeps you warmer than taking a cart. Besides, you really feel cold when your face collides with an arctic blast of winter. If you must take a cart, make sure that it has a windshield. Some courses have enclosed carts with heaters in them.

Adjusting your swing for a cold day

When you swing a club with all these clothes on, you probably won’t have as long a swing as normal. The clothes restrict your motion. Try taking your jacket off to swing the club and then put it right back on. Because of the restriction of winter clothes, make your swing a little slower than normal, which puts it in a slow rhythm on a cold day. While you’re at it, take more club to offset your slower swing than you’d normally use. If you usually hit an 8-iron for the 140-yard shot you’re facing, take a 7-iron instead.

Here are a couple of other points to keep in mind when you’re playing winter golf:

Lower your expectations. When you’re dressed for the Iditarod, don’t think that you can pull off the same shots that you normally do. Good short-game skills (chipping, pitching, putting, and sand play) and game management are the most important aspects of winter golf. (Chapters 3 through 8 of Book III give you the lowdown on the short game.)

If you usually play in extreme conditions — colder than 40 degrees Fahrenheit — seek professional help. Golf may be too much of a priority in your life. You may be crazy — or you may be the perfect host for a new reality show on Golf Channel.

Indoor golf: Practicing at home

Winter is a great time to become one with your swing and fix all those faults you accumulated during the preceding year. Here’s how:

1. Place a large mirror behind you.

2. Pretend you’re hitting away from the mirror, and check your swing when your shaft is parallel to the ground in your backswing.

Is your shaft on a line that’s parallel to the line made by your toes? If it is, that’s good. If not, that’s something to work on during your offseason.

3. Continue to swing and go to the top.

Is your shaft on a line that’s parallel to the line made by your heels? If it is, that’s good. If it isn’t, put that on your list of things to improve.

These two positions are crucial to the golf swing. Repeat this exercise until you can do it in your sleep.

Have someone videotape your golf swing. Play the tape over and over until you have a really good picture of what it looks like. Feel your own swing. Then work on those areas that you need to improve — an instructor can help (see Chapter 2 of Book I for more on working with a teaching pro).

Next, make your changes and make another tape of your swing. Not only should you be able to see the changes, but you should also feel them. Visualization strikes yet again: Seeing your swing can help you understand your movements and get your body and brain on the same page — ready to turn to the next page.