Table of Contents
Introduction
A game of golf was meant to be played from fairways. It still does. Practically, you can hit some good shots from the rough, but in most cases playing on the long grass can be extremely difficult. This is why most average golfers find it frustrating and challenging to hit pretty and solid shots from the rough.
Aiming and ultimately shooting for good scores needs a lot of consistency from the first hole to the last. To achieve this consistency, playing from the fairways can be your best option. An average golfer might want to lower his or her score by playing more from the fairways.
Despite all its advantages, this is not good news for you because the main problem remains on how to hit more fairways so that you can enjoy the great benefits that the short grass has to provide. Fortunately, there is hope!
Here are the 9 tips to use on the course to hit more fairways and ultimately find the short grass.
TIP # 1- Do your drills
You might be wondering “why drilling?”. Well, if you want to hit more fairways, you have to work on your drill rhythm. Before you do this, mark out some yards starting from the lowest possible yard measurement such as 120 yards, 170 yards, and then increasing the measurement of the yard. Take your driver and try to pitch the ball into the yards. This drill ensures that your whole body is working relatively with one another. You will have a chance to know your stats based on the number of yards you can find in each round.
TIP # 2- Perfect your tees
You want to make full use of your fairway, then perfect your tees. Most professional golfers tee the ball up on the right, aiming down the left and cut it back into the middle. So before you take on the big stick, think about the tee, forget about shooting straight, or making a sharp trajectory. Allow the tee to give you a natural shot shape!
TIP # 3- Keep the finish target in mind
80% of what you should be doing is to always concentrate on the finish target. Once you know where to start the ball, you should count on where you want the ball to end. When you stand on the tee, look down the fairway, do not over-complicate things then allow your instincts to take over to give you the confidence you can rely on to hit more fairways. Trust in yourself!
TIP # 4- Know when not to hit the driver!
It is generally advisable to evaluate the hole before you carry the big stick. If you watch golf on TV, you will notice that most professionals use something less than a driver to put the ball in the fairway. If this works for the pros, why is it not working for you? Club down from the tee if you have to do so.
Know what the hole seems like. You might have a wider landing area with a driver or with a 3-wood. If you the hole is long, you will need to hit a driver unless the greens are soft and you are a bit on the older side, in which case you will need a 3-wood or a 2-iron to stop the ball spinning.
TIP # 5- Get a “good” driver
Research has shown that a driver and a putter are the two most personal clubs in the bag. Yes, it is! You might not need drivers in some cases as explained previously, but you can as well count on a good driver when needed. You can have the same drivers from the same brand, and still, when you use them, they act differently. So instead of you using just anyhow driver, try to choose your driver from a fitting point of view by trying them to find the driver you like, and you can always rely on when you need it the most.
TIP # 6- Play the chess
Golf is a chess game. This means for you to hit more fairways you have to plan for your next shot. When you are playing on the par 5s, you should take time to perfect the desired distance. To do this, you can pick some reference points at a distance to serve as a guide for your shot then focus your eyes on when standing over the ball. You can take longer perfecting your distance, and this shouldn’t be a hindrance.
TIP # 7- Visualization
As crucial as this strategy can be, it is mostly being overlooked by most golfers. Most amateur golfers will not even imagine their ball flight and trajectory before a swing. This is wrong! Once you have perfected the distance from the previous tips, all you need to do now is to imagine and picture the ball flight to the desired point you want it to be. Instead of focusing on the hazards, the rough and the bunkers, picture the ball flight and trajectory. This is very important.
TIP # 8- Do not fight the wind
As this might sound funny, do not fight the wind. Wind plays a very big role in golf both on tee shots and approach shots. When standing on the tee preparing to hit a drive and make a shot, take note of the tee height. Assuming you have a downwind shot on a par 5, tee the ball up a lot higher and hit the ball up. This will give it more launch and less spin. On the contrary, the ball can also be teed low if it is going into the wind just by positioning the ball in your stance and try to compress the ball out, keeping it low giving you the advantage of placing the ball safely in the fairway.
TIP # 9- Use a launch monitor
The final tip to hit more fairways is to use a launch monitor. It will be of great help to understand your swing better. You might want to know about your spin rate, launch angle, the level of attack you are hitting the ball – the launch monitor will help you do that. If you are new to playing golf, this is not advisable for you. Nonetheless, a launch monitor will help you understand your game, give you more confidence to make your swing and shot. Confidence is key when playing golf!
Conclusion
As you must have probably known from experience that hitting more fairways and obtaining the short grass requires a lot of consistency, practice, and confidence. A wise man once said, “A confident player only sees the fairway when they stand on the tee – a doubtful golfer sees everything else”. Therefore, if you want to hit more fairways, let all these tips and strategies explained be at your fingertips, give yourself to practice to build more trust in yourself, and keep advancing. On this final note, I will like to say “Always keep learning”!!!