My Annual Dare

OK - so here I go again. I know I talk about this over and over, but it is truly so important that I cannot stress it enough.

Do you REALLY want to get better this year?

Then work on your game from 100-yards and in. It is that simple, so do it.

Yesterday I opened the range at our course for the first time this season, and at the end of the day I observed where all the balls had been hit. There were literally less than 10% of the balls lying in the first 100 yards of the range. A good bit of the rest were around the 150-yard target, and the rest were at the end (or maybe in the woods!).

Here is another example of why the short game is so key. Last Monday I played in my first tournament of the year. Having not hit a ball since January, I warmed up with about 20 shots and went out and hit 13 out of 18 greens. Now my point is not to brag about my play. Instead, it is to show you that our full swings are so ingrained that it doesn't take much to keep them going.

HOWEVER, guess how many times I got the ball up-and-down on those missed greens. ONCE. Why? Because that is the part of our game we need to keep sharp if we want to score better. If I can hit 12 or 13 greens in a round, I should be able to shoot a good score. But if my "100-yards and in" game is sloppy, like I was last week, then my scores will not improve.

So again, HERE IS MY DARE TO YOU this year. I dare you to only practice from 100-yards in. Yes, you are allowed to warm-up with full shots, but when you devote the time to practice, do not stray beyond the wedges. I am going to take this dare and will report on its successes. It really does work, and, believe it or not, is probably the most fun practice you can have because it is close to feeling like the real thing. You get to see the ball bounce and roll, and can really improve your feel. You will learn to get the ball in the hole, even on a bad day, and will continually shave shots off of your score.

So you want to get better? There is your answer. Are you going to do it? I dare you!