My Top Ten List

There are many tips that we often hear given on the golf course that tend not to be very helpful.  Keep your head down is one that immediately comes to mind.  Here is my top-ten list of what I consider to be some of my favourite golf tips from the old time teachers and champions, most of which won't likely hurt you, and have certainly helped me when I manage to remember them.  Of course any tips that involve the mechanics of the golf swing are dangerous, but I can't help but include number eight. I think most duffers, or people just learning the game don't make enough use of the top hand.  Golf is a two-handed game, but for a right-handed golfer, the right hand can do a lot of damage if that left hand isn't working just as hard.  

1.  Take Dead Aim - Harvey Penick

2.  One Shot at a Time - Bobby Jones, among numerous others

3.  Swing Easy and Accept the Extra Distance - Sam Snead, Julius Boros 

4. Clip the Tee or Brush the Grass - Harvey Penick, Johnny Miller

5.  Play Comfortable or Play Within Yourself - Raymond Floyd, Bobby Jones...

6.  Grip the Club Firmly With the Last Two or Three Fingers of the Left Hand for Right-Handed Players - Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan

7.  The Best Shot Possible is Not Necessarily the Best Shot to Play - Bobby Jones

8.  Take it Back and Pull it through with the Left Hand for Right-Handed Golfers - Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Billy Casper...

9.  The Woods are Full of Long Drivers - Harvey Penick

10.  I Can Hit a Seven Iron 180 Yards, But It Doesn't Mean I Try to Do It - Raymond Floyd

I notice that some of these tips amount to the same thing, namely, it is better to exercise a bit of restraint if it is your score you're concerned about. Bobby Jones said that he had to learn not to rely on a series of brilliant sallies, but instead to play conservatively, before he started winning Majors.  I know that I play my best when I err on the conservative side.  I don't know about you, but I find myself having to learn these lessons over and over again.  But then, no one ever accused me of being very smart.