How Do I Get More Consistency?

Don’t be afraid to take a lesson from a PGA professional. I have to tell you that I hear this day in and day out, “I am very inconsistent with my golf game and I want to shoot lower scores, but I don’t want to take a lesson because the pro will foul me all up and I can’t play.”

 Well, you can’t play the way you want to now and shoot lower scores, so go to an expert and get some help. That’s why I went to PGA school all of those years: to be credentialed and to help you; that’s why we are there as teachers: not to foul you up but to help you gain consistency and have much more fun with your golf game.

First step: Interview your professional. Ask questions like, “how long have you been teaching and how much do you teach?”

Second step: Make sure the facility at which you will take lessons has a practice facility that meets your needs, including a driving range and a short game practice area with bunkers, putting green and a pitching area (you can hit those thirty yard shots to the green). I also recommend your pro takes you out on the golf course for a playing lesson so you’ll be able to take what you learned from the range and short game area to the golf course.

As a PGA teaching professional I believe you need to always get the fundamentals under your belt, and here I want to share with you some basics. First, start off with what I call the P.G.A: posture, grip and alignment.

First put your golf club behind the golf ball and get a sense of where the club face is pointing. Then get your grip, and lastly set your feet up to the ball and the club. This may sound simple, and it is, but what I see most players do is the opposite. The player sets his feet and body position first while already having the hands on the club with the grip. Lastly, I see the player placing the club on the ground behind the ball. The problem here is the club face is reacting to the body rather than the feet and body setting up to the club face and the target line. Watch a PGA Tour player next time on television; they always get the club behind the ball FIRST, then grip and then set the feet up to the ball and club face. Posture is different with every player and we all look a little different here. Place the golf club shaft on your tummy holding the end of the shaft with each hand. Take a stance, placing your feet about shoulder width, left foot turned out (for you right hand players). Lock your legs for a moment and tilt your spine forward. This will have your backside poking outward and then bend your knees slightly. You never ever want to act as if you’re in a sitting position, but you want to feel a more athletic stance, very much like a baseball shortstop. The grip also varies from player to player. I believe this is the most important part of any golf lesson, because the way your hands are placed on the grip have a direct cause and effect on the way you hit the ball and play the game. Imagine as you are looking down the shaft and the grip that it’s like a clock. As you look straight down the grip and shaft, 12 o’clock is straight down the middle of the grip and one o’clock is off to the right; 11 o’clock is off to your left. Place your left hand on the grip, placing your left thumb off to the right a little as if its pointing down at 1 o’clock and keep it there, then move your left hand to the right so you can see TWO knuckles on the back of your left hand. (Here I like to take my red magic marker and mark the second knuckle on my glove with a big red dot so I can see the dot when I’m gripping the club.) Next place your right hand on the grip placing your right thumb off to the left having your right thumb pointing down at eleven o clock. You’ve got it. This is a basic golf grip for most of my players. From here you can experiment with the overlap or inter-lock with the pinky finger, so this will vary from player to player. What we have covered here is what I call “pre-shot”: getting you ready to hit your shot. Remember, a pre-shot is very much like the pre-flight the captain does with an aircraft before he takes off, so take your time and make sure your PGA pre-shot fundamentals are all set.

I’m always asked about how I teach my LPGA Tour Player seven-time winner. My answer is always the same: I teach her the same way I teach everyone, with the basics of good timing, a good set-up, proper grip, and good balance with the feet. Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals…. There is an old saying on the tour, “the better the player, the more back to fundamentals the teacher goes.”

Finally, I want to give you a basic swing to practice. My feeling is that if a player isn’t able to hit a pitching wedge 50 yards straight with consistency, then why in the world are they going to try to hit other clubs a longer distance? If you can’t hit the short club well try this: take your pitching wedge and get your club, grip and stance set. Take a practice swing, but just half way so you have formed what I call the L-SWING. This is where your left arm is facing out from your chest – level to the ground, or the bottom of the L – and the shaft pointing straight up to the sky, the L-Swing or half swing . Practice hitting shots with this half swing movement and get some consistency going and have fun. This is a great starting point for beginners and even you veteran players who have trouble getting the ball on the green. I always have fun with a player when I ask them what they’re looking for with lessons. They always answer me with, “I’m inconsistent.” I will answer back, “so you’re consistently inconsistent.” Stay with the basic fundamentals like the PGA and LPGA Tour players do to play better golf and have more fun.

Honored as PGA teacher of the year, Ben Alexander is the PGA professional at Poppy Hills Golf Course, Pebble Beach, CA. He can be reached at 831-277-9001 or via his website: www.benalexandergolf.com.