How to Use Your Imagination Around the Golf Greens (Video) - by Pete Styles
How to Use Your Imagination Around the Golf Greens (Video) - by Pete Styles

I think when I’m playing golf I appreciate that most of the tee shots I’ve ever hit are very similar to each other. You’re always standing on a flat surface, you’ve always got the tee in ground, you put the tee back in the relevant height, you’ve always got a nice wide fairway straight out in front of you. So the set up, the swing, the mental process, the physical process is always very similar. But golf for me gets really interesting when I get near and around the green; that’s when you can really engage your brain to an imaginative setting and start looking at how the golf ball will react with different shots. I’ve got five or six different clubs to use. I’ve got five or six different heights, different flights, different landing, and different roll ratios to use. Depending on the shot I’m going to play, the ball position I’m going to play, the amount of hand action I’m going to use, and all the time trying to assess the shot that’s in front of me to work out which one is the best for me. When you are out on the golf course a nice way of looking at the shot would be to imagine that you’ve got the ball in your hand, and you’re thinking about, “If I want to get it to that flag, how would I throw it or roll it to get it there? Would I throw it in a straight line at the flag or would it land on that nasty side slope and kick off into the bunker? Would I throw it higher to clear the slope to land it on the far side and if I’m throwing something higher when it lands and stops it would come down quicker? Or would I throw it up the hill to the left to let it roll down on the down slope and land it near the flag?” So all the time you are assessing the different heights, the different directions, the different roll and flag ratios, it isn’t a case of just pitching wedge, because I always use my pitching wedge when I’m near the green, standing chipping that straight line and then find there is a slope and the ball rolls off.

So when you assess the shot have a look at as if I got it my hand how would I throw it? Take a good wide angle view, look at the slopes coming in, look at where the danger is, look at where the safe areas are. If you’ve got the time to do so you are not going to delay play, actually walk up to the side of the green. If you are ten paces off the side of the green, have a little run up on to the side of the green, look at how the ball will react. Read the putting surface as if you are taking a putt because when this ball lands on the edge of the green and it stops to roll down to the hole it reacts like a putt. So don’t just play the standard club standard shot, use your imagination use the clubs in your bag to give you different results use your imagination to give you different ideas. And I think that’s the best way to play. It’s a lot more fun, a lot more imaginative and it will improve your scores.

2013-03-28

I think when I’m playing golf I appreciate that most of the tee shots I’ve ever hit are very similar to each other. You’re always standing on a flat surface, you’ve always got the tee in ground, you put the tee back in the relevant height, you’ve always got a nice wide fairway straight out in front of you. So the set up, the swing, the mental process, the physical process is always very similar. But golf for me gets really interesting when I get near and around the green; that’s when you can really engage your brain to an imaginative setting and start looking at how the golf ball will react with different shots. I’ve got five or six different clubs to use. I’ve got five or six different heights, different flights, different landing, and different roll ratios to use. Depending on the shot I’m going to play, the ball position I’m going to play, the amount of hand action I’m going to use, and all the time trying to assess the shot that’s in front of me to work out which one is the best for me. When you are out on the golf course a nice way of looking at the shot would be to imagine that you’ve got the ball in your hand, and you’re thinking about, “If I want to get it to that flag, how would I throw it or roll it to get it there? Would I throw it in a straight line at the flag or would it land on that nasty side slope and kick off into the bunker? Would I throw it higher to clear the slope to land it on the far side and if I’m throwing something higher when it lands and stops it would come down quicker? Or would I throw it up the hill to the left to let it roll down on the down slope and land it near the flag?” So all the time you are assessing the different heights, the different directions, the different roll and flag ratios, it isn’t a case of just pitching wedge, because I always use my pitching wedge when I’m near the green, standing chipping that straight line and then find there is a slope and the ball rolls off.

So when you assess the shot have a look at as if I got it my hand how would I throw it? Take a good wide angle view, look at the slopes coming in, look at where the danger is, look at where the safe areas are. If you’ve got the time to do so you are not going to delay play, actually walk up to the side of the green. If you are ten paces off the side of the green, have a little run up on to the side of the green, look at how the ball will react. Read the putting surface as if you are taking a putt because when this ball lands on the edge of the green and it stops to roll down to the hole it reacts like a putt. So don’t just play the standard club standard shot, use your imagination use the clubs in your bag to give you different results use your imagination to give you different ideas. And I think that’s the best way to play. It’s a lot more fun, a lot more imaginative and it will improve your scores.