Introduction
In this article, I’m wish to introduce you to a concept plan for a definitive and reliable method on How to Break 90. Why? Because I know that it’s one goal that a huge majority of avid golfers share. “I want to break 90” is the second most common goal that my students have, behind only, “be more consistent.”
I will warn you that this plan is unorthodox. Then again, if doing things the “normal” way worked, you wouldn’t be reading this, would you? Follow this plan accurately and I give you assurances that your chances of shooting an 89 (or better) will improve dramatically in no time at all.
In this article, I’m wish to introduce you to a concept plan for a definitive and reliable method on How to Break 90. Why? Because I know that it’s one goal that a huge majority of avid golfers share. “I want to break 90” is the second most common goal that my students have, behind only, “be more consistent.”
I will warn you that this plan is unorthodox. Then again, if doing things the “normal” way worked, you wouldn’t be reading this, would you? Follow this plan accurately and I give you assurances that your chances of shooting an 89 (or better) will improve dramatically in no time at all.
Get Your Mind Right
A huge part of breaking through any scoring barrier is creating the proper mindset. To break 90, you need to do two things:
1) Realize that 89 is 17 bogeys and 1 par (on a par 72 course). That’s it. I know that every golfer who wants to break 90 has made lots of pars and bogeys before, so there’s nothing involved in breaking 90 that you can’t do already.
2) Pick the right tee box. I’ll deal with the specifics of this shortly, but you cannot go into this with the idea that you have to break 90 from the tips. Breaking 90 is breaking 90, period. If you have to go all the way to the forward tees to break 90, do it. Scoring barriers are mental more than anything else, and once they’ve fallen, they’re down for good. You should want to break them as soon as possible, regardless of the yardage of the course.
To shoot under 90, you don’t need to be Ben Hogan, you only need 3 shots.
1) Realize that 89 is 17 bogeys and 1 par (on a par 72 course). That’s it. I know that every golfer who wants to break 90 has made lots of pars and bogeys before, so there’s nothing involved in breaking 90 that you can’t do already.
2) Pick the right tee box. I’ll deal with the specifics of this shortly, but you cannot go into this with the idea that you have to break 90 from the tips. Breaking 90 is breaking 90, period. If you have to go all the way to the forward tees to break 90, do it. Scoring barriers are mental more than anything else, and once they’ve fallen, they’re down for good. You should want to break them as soon as possible, regardless of the yardage of the course.
To shoot under 90, you don’t need to be Ben Hogan, you only need 3 shots.
The Shots and strategies that YOU Need.
There are a number of strategies to be applied to Breaking 90. You must abide by these strategies, lest you be doomed to shooting 91 or more for the rest of your days.
Determine what is the longest club you have that you have the most control with that you can hit 150 yards or more without ever getting in trouble. This chosen club may not be the driver and if it isn’t don’t even bring it with you to the golf course.
Next over all by simply thinking differently, you can do a lot to reach the goal of breaking 90 without changing your swing at all.
Determine what is the longest club you have that you have the most control with that you can hit 150 yards or more without ever getting in trouble. This chosen club may not be the driver and if it isn’t don’t even bring it with you to the golf course.
Next over all by simply thinking differently, you can do a lot to reach the goal of breaking 90 without changing your swing at all.
- Add one to the PAR of every hole. P.A.R. stands for Professional Average Result. Therefore establish a new PAR for yourself. That means I’ll play par 5′s as par 6′s, par 4′s as par 5′s, and par 3′s as par 4′s.
- Thou shalt not three putt. - Get the first putt within 3 feet of the hole. Once I’m on the green, the first putt’s goal will be to get the ball within 3 feet of the hole which gives you a better than even chance to a two putt on every hole.
- Get chips within 6-10 feet of the hole. Gives me a good chance of getting up and down, and importantly no more than 2 putts.
- Have a reliable pitch shoot - Never miss the green from 50yards into the hole. This means not always going at the pin, just get it somewhere on the green because now you will have a chance at a one putt and no more than 2 putts.
- When approaching from off the green, “it you can Putt, Putt first, if you can’t putt then chip, if you can’t chip then pitch. If given a choice between these three shots, choose in this order.
- Know my club distances. I know I’ll hit a ball right or left, but there isn’t any reason why I shouldn’t be able to hit it hole high with clean contact if I know my distances. This will be essential for course management., Therefore what you need to do is find out exactly how far you hit your chosen iron (let’s call it a 7I), and each club below it (8I, 9I…). (Simulator can help here)
- Thou shalt not take penalty strokes Take trouble out of play. If there is a possibility a ball can get in the water or out of bounds, take that possibility out by laying up. The goal here is to get rid of the really bad triple bogeys or higher on holes.
- If I’m in trouble, just get out. This means if I hit it in the trees, just punch it back to the fairway rather than trying to shoot a gap towards the pin and remaining in trouble if I miss.
- Get out of the sand the first time. Just get it out without wasting strokes.
- Don’t hit clubs I’m not confident with. On a tight fairway or on a second shot on a long Par 4, just grab a club I know I’ll get it closer to the pin without getting into trouble.
- When going for the green, aim at the biggest part. No need to always go at the pin if it’s sitting next to a bunker or at the back of the green.
- Choose consistency over distance. Club down, use 3/4 swings, use the bump and run, choke up, swing at 70% power, or do whatever it takes to be consistent.
- Get a setup. This is the easiest thing to get perfect every time.
- Get help for your most common mishits. I need help fixing my fat shots and pushes.
How to practice using the simulator.
When approaching the green it will be important to know which of your clubs are the most reliable and easiest to hit under pressure. When you know what how far your irons can REALLY travel in the air (carry distances) …use them to your advantage to increase your success rate of getting onto the green from the varying distances that you will face.
Effective use of the 19th Hole Simulator- To Better understand how far you can hit your irons and increase your confidence that you can carry out the shot, I recommend using the simulator in the following way.
Select the “Closest to the Pin mode” in either the Practice mode or the competition mode at this point and you will find a large number of Par 3’s to choose from. While in the practice mode the simulator is able to measure the “Average distance to the Pin” or a “Leader board”
Then starting with the shortest hole start hitting with the club that you think you can reach the green, if this club is not consistently successful then change clubs until to can achieve consistent success, then made a note of the distance and the club you used. Repeat this exercise with greens of varying distances until to have covered full swing distances from 100yards and onwards.
In the next golf improvement program newsletter, I will introduce the “Breaking 90 Practice Plan” and how to use the Simulator to achieve better results on the golf course
Effective use of the 19th Hole Simulator- To Better understand how far you can hit your irons and increase your confidence that you can carry out the shot, I recommend using the simulator in the following way.
Select the “Closest to the Pin mode” in either the Practice mode or the competition mode at this point and you will find a large number of Par 3’s to choose from. While in the practice mode the simulator is able to measure the “Average distance to the Pin” or a “Leader board”
Then starting with the shortest hole start hitting with the club that you think you can reach the green, if this club is not consistently successful then change clubs until to can achieve consistent success, then made a note of the distance and the club you used. Repeat this exercise with greens of varying distances until to have covered full swing distances from 100yards and onwards.
In the next golf improvement program newsletter, I will introduce the “Breaking 90 Practice Plan” and how to use the Simulator to achieve better results on the golf course