I I confess to being something of a swing nerd. When I work on my game with my main coach, Mark Blackburn, I want to see all the data behind what I’m doing and understand what’s happening. However, the conversations we have on Wednesday of a tournament week are very different than those in a practice session. When it’s time to play, you need to think about position, not perfection. How do you leave this shot in a spot where you can hit the next one? If you do make a bad swing, how do you absorb that and move on without throwing your round away? That’s much more about mind-set, decision-making and discipline than it is about technique. I’ve learned to be tough on myself for making reckless decisions and letting negativity from a bad shot bleed over – not for failing to execute a swing the way I wanted. That’s what I’m after in this story – to help you get some of that attitude. I’ll help you play your best when you don’t have your best by taking you through my game from tee to green and showing you how I make decisions and pick shots that reduce risk and release pressure. I want you to have a similar process, so you don’t get trapped in a negative, defensive cycle. Then again, if negative, defensive cycles are your thing, that’s cool, too. You do you. We’ll be over here making good pars. – with Matthew Rudy
DRIVING DOWNSHIFT TO GET IT IN PLAY
SETUP DRAW 3-WOOD
is a must, I’ll go with two other options. When I need to hit a draw, I’ll use my 3-wood. I move the ball position from in line with my lead shoulder – like I would for a driver – to the right side of the logo on my shirt. I also set up closer to the ball. You can see my arms hanging closer to my body ( opposite page, top left) . Finally, I close my stance, so my toe line is a little right of my target. All of this helps me draw it. When I can still play a cut driver but have to find the fairway, I tee the ball down. You can’t even see it in this picture ( opposite page, bottom left ). I then aim at the left edge of the fairway, swing slightly out to in, and embrace the left-to- right curve, finishing with this “held off” look ( left ). The ball doesn’t fly as far, but I also don’t have to send out a search party to find it.
If you’re on a bad run of holes,
it’s tempting to try something different off the tee or swing at 140 percent – because, hey, what you’re doing isn’t working. Instead, you should be tightening your choices under stress, not multiplying them. In those times, I get the physics of the clubs to work for me instead of trying to fight them. My advice is, return to your most reliable option off the tee, even if it’s not the best shot for the hole or you’re giving up distance. Just get it in play. Normally with my driver, I try to air it out with a cut. But when I’m not hitting it great or accuracy
SETUP LOW-CUT DRIVER
26 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
NOVEMBER 2023
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator