That's the 150m marker I'll hit 6 iron.........

The golf lessons I give are largely conducted under the cover of the driving range, where we have a flat lie every time and many attempts to hit the correct shot. However, the more I teach, the less I am convinced that this is only environment to help my players lower their scores. Of course, fixing the slice or improving the grip is essential, and I always I finish a lesson in the belief that I have delivered everything that my student expects. However, given all our best efforts, combined with that of the manufacturers and all the new equipment, it is somewhat perplexing that golfers' average handicaps over the last 30 years have changed so little

The developments in teaching knowledge and the equipment we use as instructors are worlds away from those I had when I first qualified. Most players use the driving range more often than they would have in the 1990's. Then there is equipment and ball technology, if you believe the marketing machines of the big companies we all should be hitting the ball 10m further per new driver that we have bought over the years and have 20% more accuracy to boot. If it were all true, I would be hitting my driver 400 meters and my iron shots should all be inside 3 feet.....if that were true, yours truly would be sitting writing this article on the deck of my private yacht moored off my own island in the Caribbean, and just for the record, that's not the view I have as I look outside today!

So why has the average handicap of the club golfer altered little over this period of time, for Men it is just under 17 and for Women it is 29, the stats show that it has changed less than a shot over the last 20 years which frankly is incredible. Maybe the answer lies on the grass. Over the past few months I have given a couple of playing lessons on the course, does this hold the answer? Both of the players were students of mine from the range and both have golf swings that have improved drastically over the time I have worked with them (I have video evidence to prove it!) In both cases, we have worked together over a number of years. Interestingly, it was only on the golf course that I saw the biggest faults in their game. Out there, it was blatantly obvious and it was nothing to do with their swings.....it was their game itself!

Golf is made up of two factors: the first is your ability to hit the ball, and for both players, we had improved this dramatically with our sessions on the range with their much-improved techniques. The second factor is actually 'playing golf', something I had worked a little with them at over the years. Although their ability to hit the ball had improved, their ability to play golf had not progressed at the same rate. 

For one of the players, simple alignment of both tee shots and approach shots was well off the mark, leaving them to hit perfectly good shots that missed the targets. Its very common for right-handed players to aim too much to the right of the target. So pay attention to your alignment, in this day and age its easy to check. Ask a playing partner or friend to take a video from down the line on a tee and see for yourself. Many of you will be surprised at what you see. In the image, you will see me on the tee with the driver lined up perfectly, the clubface aimed at the centre of the fairway, my feet and body aligned parallel to the left, not at the target. Using an alignment stick or just a shaft on the ground will help you with this.

The other player was near the 150m marker and just pulled out a 6 iron. When I confronted them about it, the answer was 'I always hit a 6 iron from the 150 marker'.....I can't repeat my reply!

The pin was at the back of a 40m long green, the ball was on a slight upslope and there was a light breeze blowing against and the ball was 6m behind the 150 disc. I made my calculations of the distance to be 168m to the flag with 1 club extra for the wind and half a club extra for the slope, which increases the height of the ball flight. In my mind, the 'real world' distance to the flag was 183 meters, to my eyes it looked like a smooth 4 iron even for me. Unsurprisingly, his 6 iron came up short. TrackMan data shows (insert wind effect image) how much a headwind hurts more than a tailwind helps, essential knowledge for any golfer.

If you really want to improve your scores, you need to improve your game on the course as well as golf swing, if you have a laser then getting the flag distance is easy, but take into account the slope on the ground and wind, its easy for a shot to play 2/3 clubs different to the actual number. Put all this into play and then you will have a chance to lower your scores week in and week out

Written by Jason Wood. Jason is the TrackMan Specialist at Thornleigh Golf Centre in Sydney

Book a TrackMan Lesson with Jason at Thornleigh Golf Centre 02 9875 5445 or online.