The Flat Belly vs The Flat Stick

If you’re like me, you’ve probably asked anyone and everyone what they do to improve their golf games. I’m always curious to know what guys on the PGA Tour are doing to improve. I’ve learned quite a bit just by asking a few questions, more than will fit on a few pages of a magazine. One thing I have discovered is going to come as good news for all the average golfers out there. There is no reason that an overweight, potato-chip-loving, paunchy, out-of-shape average guy can’t develop his golf skills.

I, for one, have had the wool pulled over my eyes for a few years now. Everywhere I turn there seems to be another golf fitness guru telling me that I can’t get where I want to be unless I can do 20 pull ups in a row, and then do squats so deep my butt touches the ground.

Most of us have been led to believe that the only way to take our games to the next level is start training for a marathon. Get a flat belly and watch your drives magically fly further and your putts start to lip in instead of lip out. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s good to be healthy and in-shape, but is it really necessary to work out seven days a week to be the best golfer you can be?

To start my extensive research, I have conveniently broken the game down to five basic parts and list them in order of importance:

1. Mental Toughness

2. Putting

3. Short irons/wedges (150 yards and in)

4. Chipping/pitching

5. Driving/long irons

Mental toughness: I listed this as the number one important part of becoming the best golfer you can be because I think if you have a good physical game but can’t handle yourself between the ears you’ll never amount to a hill of beans.

Putting: Obviously everyone knows this is a biggie. So far this year, for example, putting amounts to over 40 percent of Phil Mickelson’s strokes per round. Regardless of how well a hole is played from tee to green, nothing can make or break the outcome of your score as much as sinking a putt when it matters. Without a reliable flat stick don’t expect your scores to come down.

Short irons/wedges: Golf Guru Dave Pelz believes that this is statically the deciding factor of whether or not a player on the PGA Tour will make a living or be sent home at the end of the year. I agree with him to a point, but not necessarily for the average player. I do think it’s more important than even chipping and pitching because these are the shots that set up birdies a majority of the time. If you are a good short iron player it’s likely that you’re just a few good putts away from posting good numbers.

Chipping/pitching: Of course this is also essential to scoring, but I rank this slightly behind short irons and wedges for the reason that more birdies are made with short irons and wedges than with chipping and pitching. To reach your maximum potential as a golfer, you have to make birdies!

Driving/long irons: I believe this is the least important element of playing good golf but probably the most practiced by the masses who struggle to maintain that 18 handicap. People obsess over trying every new-fangled $500 driver that just might be the one to add the extra 30 yards and make the ball fly strait and true down the middle of every fairway, yet they won’t spend an hour learning how to make a four-foot putt.

Golf fitness is a booming industry that is making more and more ordinary golfers feel incompetent because of their lack of physical fitness. These fitness gurus keep saying how if you’re not in great shape you just can’t possibly become a good golfer! I disagree whole-heartedly and whole fatly. I’m not advocating eating fast food every meal, but it is just simply not essential to be in peak physical condition to improve in the major parts of the game that determine your score at the end of the day.

The moral to this story is this: there’s no reason ANYONE of any build or body type can’t get good at thinking, putting, chipping, pitching, or hitting a short iron. Your body cannot be an excuse for your lack of ability. If you’re an ironman in training, don’t think the game will come easy because you can do 4,000 crunches holding an anvil over your head. Lower scores will come to those who understand that this game rewards smarts. So next time you’re heading out to the driving range to try and find that extra five yards that you think will take you strait to Nirvana, think again. Take the 100 balls in your range bucket and save five or ten for your driver. Take the rest and wear out your wedges and short irons. See if you can figure out exactly how far you hit each of your short irons. Hit to different targets, make little games with yourself or your friend. Try to mimic competition to help improve your mental game. Then go find the putting green and repeat the process. Taking ample breaks for snacks, of course.