Finding Your go To Shot (Video) - by Pete Styles
Finding Your go To Shot (Video) - by Pete Styles

Now if we are going to investigate the possibilities you’ve been able to hit different ball flights, draws, fades, high shots and low shots. It would be nice to be able to do that from a base of having a zero shot, a go to shot. Now, in an ideal world, that go to, that zero shot, would be dead straight, beautiful height, 250 yard drives with no real spin on the ball, just flying dead straight. The reality of the situation is not many golfers even very good players have an absolutely dead straight ball flight in their game consistently. Golfers might be able to hit the odd one, but more often than not a golfer will have a shot that has an element or quite a lot of curve to it. Now as long as that ball is a controllable curve, a consistent curve and a curve the golfer understands and knows is going to happen there is not really a big deal. If I know that I am a fader of the golf ball and I fade the ball a third of a fairway every time. I can set up down the left side, and I can aim for a third of the left side of the fairway, the ball fades back, lands in the middle. Likewise if I am a drawer of the golf ball and I set it off down the right, decide and draw it back into the center there is no problem with having a go to shot as long as it’s controllable.

Now if my go to shot is a 40 yard slice into those trees, I’ve got problems. If my go to shot is a stone cold top across the ground this way, I’ve got problems. We need to make sure that our go to shot is something that’s safe, something that’s reliable, something that’s consistent, and something I can play on any golf course. Now, if I go to the driving range and I tee up ten balls and I make fairly neutral swings, kind of switch your brain off kind of golf swings, turn my brain off, set up and just repeat the same action ten times. And then look at the general average ball flight and lets call that my go to flight. Once I have established the go to shot I can then work on other areas of my swing to change that ball flight, to improve it, to hit it high or hit it low, or hit it left, hit it right, but I need to understand what my go to shot is first. So that’s your first protocol: head to the driving range, sort out your go to shot and then let’s look at how we can change ball flight after we’ve achieved that. 2015-10-16

Now if we are going to investigate the possibilities you’ve been able to hit different ball flights, draws, fades, high shots and low shots. It would be nice to be able to do that from a base of having a zero shot, a go to shot. Now, in an ideal world, that go to, that zero shot, would be dead straight, beautiful height, 250 yard drives with no real spin on the ball, just flying dead straight. The reality of the situation is not many golfers even very good players have an absolutely dead straight ball flight in their game consistently. Golfers might be able to hit the odd one, but more often than not a golfer will have a shot that has an element or quite a lot of curve to it. Now as long as that ball is a controllable curve, a consistent curve and a curve the golfer understands and knows is going to happen there is not really a big deal. If I know that I am a fader of the golf ball and I fade the ball a third of a fairway every time. I can set up down the left side, and I can aim for a third of the left side of the fairway, the ball fades back, lands in the middle. Likewise if I am a drawer of the golf ball and I set it off down the right, decide and draw it back into the center there is no problem with having a go to shot as long as it’s controllable.

Now if my go to shot is a 40 yard slice into those trees, I’ve got problems. If my go to shot is a stone cold top across the ground this way, I’ve got problems. We need to make sure that our go to shot is something that’s safe, something that’s reliable, something that’s consistent, and something I can play on any golf course. Now, if I go to the driving range and I tee up ten balls and I make fairly neutral swings, kind of switch your brain off kind of golf swings, turn my brain off, set up and just repeat the same action ten times. And then look at the general average ball flight and lets call that my go to flight. Once I have established the go to shot I can then work on other areas of my swing to change that ball flight, to improve it, to hit it high or hit it low, or hit it left, hit it right, but I need to understand what my go to shot is first. So that’s your first protocol: head to the driving range, sort out your go to shot and then let’s look at how we can change ball flight after we’ve achieved that.