Choosing The Right Golf Club For A Tee Shot (Video) - by Pete Styles
Choosing The Right Golf Club For A Tee Shot (Video) - by Pete Styles

Now when it comes to the tee shot on the golf course, most golfers would say there is no club selection in this unless it’s a par three. If it’s a par four, par five straight to the back, drive ahead covers come off, and off we go. Then they turn around and they look down there to see what they’re facing and they might be facing a very narrow tight hole with hazards over here and water over here, and suddenly the drive they’ve got in the hand doesn’t necessarily look like the correct club. So we always got to make sure that we assess what’s down here first, and is driver going to be the correct option.

Now let’s suggest on this occasion that it is the correct option, I’ve got my hole out here and I want to now aim in the right direction. One thing we would always consider is never get punished by a straight shot. So never aim at something thinking, well, the wind will move it away from that pond or my slice will move it away from that pond, because you can guarantee on that occasion when you’re aiming straight at something, the wind will die down, the slice won’t happen, and you’ll just bullet the ball straight into trouble. So never aim at trouble, never get punished by a straight shot. Another thing that you want to be able to consider when you’re playing this shot is effectively your tee shot is a layup for your next shot. So it’s a shot that I’m hitting down there to make my next shot onto the green easier. So we might consider that if it’s a par five super wide, super long. Okay, clearly, on that occasion I want to hit the ball straight down the middle as far as I can. But if I’ve got a 300 yard par four that’s got a quite a narrow angled green, really what I’m doing is thinking a step ahead of myself and thinking, where do I want to hit my next shot from? There’s no point hitting this ball really close to the green and then finding that the flag is tied behind the bunker and my ball is in a bad light behind the bunker behind the flag, I’d rather play to the wider part of the green and then chip the ball or pitch the ball up the green from an easier lie. So plan yourself almost playing the hole in reverse to work out where you want to lay this ball upfront. The next thing when I’m hitting this tee show if I’ve got to commit to this but I don’t want to force it. So I’ve chosen my line, I’ve chosen my club, I know where I’m hitting it, I’m going to commit to that line; but I’m not going to try and force this ball out there particularly by being forced into it by other people, the guys I’m playing with they just bum the ball 300 yards, I’ve now got the ball 300 yards trying to keep up, that’s not going to be conducive to good golf. Pick your distance, pick your target, choose the right club and then be committed to the shot but not overly forced into the shot. And if you can make those changes to your club selection mentality when you’re on the tee, that should prove beneficial when you get down to the fairway. 2016-08-24

Now when it comes to the tee shot on the golf course, most golfers would say there is no club selection in this unless it’s a par three. If it’s a par four, par five straight to the back, drive ahead covers come off, and off we go. Then they turn around and they look down there to see what they’re facing and they might be facing a very narrow tight hole with hazards over here and water over here, and suddenly the drive they’ve got in the hand doesn’t necessarily look like the correct club. So we always got to make sure that we assess what’s down here first, and is driver going to be the correct option.

Now let’s suggest on this occasion that it is the correct option, I’ve got my hole out here and I want to now aim in the right direction. One thing we would always consider is never get punished by a straight shot. So never aim at something thinking, well, the wind will move it away from that pond or my slice will move it away from that pond, because you can guarantee on that occasion when you’re aiming straight at something, the wind will die down, the slice won’t happen, and you’ll just bullet the ball straight into trouble. So never aim at trouble, never get punished by a straight shot.

Another thing that you want to be able to consider when you’re playing this shot is effectively your tee shot is a layup for your next shot. So it’s a shot that I’m hitting down there to make my next shot onto the green easier. So we might consider that if it’s a par five super wide, super long. Okay, clearly, on that occasion I want to hit the ball straight down the middle as far as I can. But if I’ve got a 300 yard par four that’s got a quite a narrow angled green, really what I’m doing is thinking a step ahead of myself and thinking, where do I want to hit my next shot from? There’s no point hitting this ball really close to the green and then finding that the flag is tied behind the bunker and my ball is in a bad light behind the bunker behind the flag, I’d rather play to the wider part of the green and then chip the ball or pitch the ball up the green from an easier lie.

So plan yourself almost playing the hole in reverse to work out where you want to lay this ball upfront. The next thing when I’m hitting this tee show if I’ve got to commit to this but I don’t want to force it. So I’ve chosen my line, I’ve chosen my club, I know where I’m hitting it, I’m going to commit to that line; but I’m not going to try and force this ball out there particularly by being forced into it by other people, the guys I’m playing with they just bum the ball 300 yards, I’ve now got the ball 300 yards trying to keep up, that’s not going to be conducive to good golf. Pick your distance, pick your target, choose the right club and then be committed to the shot but not overly forced into the shot. And if you can make those changes to your club selection mentality when you’re on the tee, that should prove beneficial when you get down to the fairway.