How I'm Trying to Simplify My Golf Game

The more I investigate my golf game, the more I throw out complications that get in the way of the basic objectives of golf: hit it straight from tee to green; hit it close from off the green; hit it close or in from on the green. Really, that's all there is. I'm trying to figure out how to do all that as simply and reliably as possible.

Here is what I have come up with so far.

As regards the swing, it is easy to think of it as a circular movement. If you look at the path of the clubhead, that's almost exactly what it is. That's a complication, though.

I prefer to think of the swing as linear. The club gets taken straight away from the ball and swing straight back through it.

That's a feeling, not a physical fact. The physical fact is that the clubhead does circle above my head and does circle back down through the ball and on into the finish.

What I feel is that my hands go straight back and they bring the clubhead through the ball going in a straight line, not on an up-and-down curve. My hands never lose their connection with the ball. They arrive at the ball before the clubhead does, and lead it into the ball. Everything is moving along the line that I wish the ball to travel on as well.

As for the short shots, I'm just trying to pinch the ball into the ground and let it fly, or run, straight to the hole. Again, it's a linear-feeling stroke aimed at the hole. One pitching stroke, one chipping stroke, used as much as possible.

Putting? There are two kinds of putts: the ones you think you can make, and the ones you just want to get close. For the first kind, I hood the club a bit going back to keep the clubface square. For the other kind, I open my stance and use a modified chipping stroke.

It's a simple game. Don't make it hard for yourself.

This all works, by the way. I only play nine holes in an outing, but I'm always at 40 or under and I don't hit great shots. I just hit very few bad ones.


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