Ours is a famously frustrating, stressful game. As the old joke goes: It’s called “golf” because all the other four-letter words are taken. But, #$%!, it doesn’t have to be that way, at least not that often. Perhaps the smoothest of smooth ones are born like this. The rest of us can produce our best selves – free flow – at our best moments by following a few simple tips.
Here are nine tips you can use to make low scores easier.
1. Make smart choices
A stress-free round is not a problem-free round. You will never hit every fairway and green. Boges aren’t the ones that raise your blood pressure; it’s the anxiety of trying (and often failing) to make difficult recovery shots. Shot selection greatly affects our arousal levels: Taking your medicine with a simple pitchout or layup instead of attempting the miracle keeps golf a walk in the park and doubles and triples the card.
2. Make a reliable warm-up
Does foam working sound like the way to cool down? The secret may be in the dirt, as Hogan said, but hitting a lot of balls is for practice sessions, not planting the seeds for a stress-free round. Keep your heat in a bucket, maybe even a small one, and focus on being goal oriented. It can also help to take a few practice swings with your eyes closed to feel your swing and get into a relaxed groove.
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3. Nail the catch
Everything in golf, including effortlessly, it starts with good control. Hammering the club to death is definitely not the way to start a soft swing – but neither is a soft grip that’s more on the palms. For a light strum, you need to hold the stick more in your fingers, which activates your wrists, a key source of energy. Added bonus: Doing this will help all cutters square the face at impact and eliminate the banana ball. Think of it as an easy double game.
4. Develop a movement
Sprinters blast off the blocks, but an effortless swing isn’t a sprint—it’s more like a leisurely jog, in which you shake out your arms and legs before taking off. Develop custom movement as part of your pre-shooting routine so you don’t get flustered from a static position. Whether it’s three small flicks of the wrist or mimicking the first 18 inches of your take, create something that relaxes and activates you.
5. Make a full turn
Think of all the effortless swings that are short and quick… Okay, stop, because you won’t find one. (Tony Finau is the exception that proves the rule.) A big, full, complete, grand, heroic comeback is necessary to maintain the power you’ll soon make it look like rolling off a log. This may require some hip and upper body flexibility work in the gym; meanwhile, consider lifting your front heel off the ground to help create the necessary spiral.
6. Release it from above
At the top is where so many swings effortlessly bounce off the bridge. After a syrupy meal, the brain suddenly screams, “Now kill!” Hands drop down to the ball, speed is lost early in the swing, and smooth synchronization falls apart. To maintain the smooth flow and gradual acceleration that gives easy power, consider pushing into the ground with your feet to initiate the descent. Don’t worry about your hands; they will do what they have to on their own.
7. Attach the skirt
Not to sound like a Zen master, but it can be hard to make an effortless swing when you’re thinking about making an effortless swing. One way to overcome the dreaded “paralysis by analysis” is to think instead about arriving at a very specific follow-up position. On the interval, hold that follow-up position for a few seconds after each swing. You’ll be surprised how well your body soon reverses a slight movement to get to that spot.
8. Understand the sand
For many golfers, the green is like quicksand – the more you fight, the faster it gets swallowed up. To promote a quick wrist hinge and a straight swing that makes it easy to escape the bunker, do this drill: Attach a club to the end of your backswing and, during the backswing, hang your wrists so that the tip is pointing directly at the ball. On your putt, all you have to do is drop that angle and let the clubhead slide down the ball to get the ball out of the bunker.
9. Spin like Crenshaw
Effective putting strokes are repeatable strokes. If a pop-and-bang shot works for you, great. But an effortless, Stroke in Ben Crenshaw, well, it looks like a shot at Ben Crenshaw: It has a longer backswing and a shorter continuation. This ratio promotes strong contact that produces effortless power and less shorts. Practice a slight backswing immediately after impact, which helps shorten the impact and also encourages a cleaner impact.
