7 Reasons Why You ABSOLUTELY Need A Golf Strategy

If you're not using any golf strategy for your play, you're losing easily 3-5 if not even more shots per round. Do you know why? Because playing golf without strategy is like driving a car without knowing where you headed. Joke aside, here are 7 reasons why you need a golf strategy, and you need it fast!

1. You need a golf strategy to enjoy the game of golf

You simply need a golf strategy, even if you're a high handicapper, because it helps you make better decisions during the game and you don't find yourself in bad positions. Sometimes the shots are perfect, but the club choice isn't. Or you get caught up in the wrong positions because you aim your tee shot unknowingly at the wrong side of the fairway and you land in a fairway bunker.

These errors are simple and fun to fix with a proper golf strategy. Because of that you can enjoy the game and don't have a feeling you are always at the "wrong side" of the hole. Did you know you can avoid hazard with a simple fix as teeing your ball for a tee shot at the right position of the tee box?

2. You lose shots without a good golf strategy

Maybe you already know that, but you can lose shots without a proper golf strategy. It doesn't matter if you're a scratch golfer or a high handicapper, there's always room for improvement with a good golf strategy. From aiming, to correctly club choice, great green positioning and approach shot tactic etc.

3. You don't know which club to use

Many times golfers doesn't know exactly which club to use. Do you know your carry yardage for every club in your bag? You should... This is crucial if you want to even plan your golf strategy. After you know your carry distance, you can decide which club to hit based on the distance to the pin, to the start and end of the green, stiffness of the green, potential backspin distance etc.

For example sometimes if the green is leaning back towards the water, it's better to use one more club more and hit it at the green with less backspin rotation than to bomb your wedge with full power resulting in excessive backspin rotation and driving the ball back into the water hazard.

4. Having a plan is half of the work done. That's why you need a golf strategy.

I know, there are many shots during a round of golf that are simply not as planned. But when you have a plan, you know at least which tactic to play, how to correctly choose the club, the distance you're going for etc. and this can sometimes cost you a lot of shots.

Imagine you're at the par 3 with water in front and you need to carry the ball at least 145 yards and the flag is 153 yards. First of all, you need to know your carry distance for every club in the bag. Second of all, you carry your 7 iron 155 yards and your 6 iron 165 yards. Which one will you hit?

I bet at least 3/4 of amateur golfers if not even more would go with their 155 yard club because that's the almost exact distance to the pin. As you know the par 3 holes are usually one of the most difficult ones for the amateur golfers, so if you're not in the 12o yards or less range, aim for a par. This means you should be rather safe on green than short of it, especially if there's water or a deep bunker in front of it.

If you hit your 155 yard club just a little thin or off center, you can easily lose 10 yards which means you are short of the green and struggling with up and down for a par. BUT if you would just a longer club, you can hit it off center and still carry it 155 yards, but if you hit it perfectly, you are still safe on the end of the green with a longer putt and a chance for a birdie.

5. There's always something to aim at

I see a lot of golfer aiming just at the middle of the fairway, or aiming somewhere roughly in the direction of the green without an exact target which can result in poor results. There's a big difference if you aim with your approach shot at the green, or 3 yards right of the pin at the thick tree behind it. They say: you aim small, you miss small 😊

Maybe you aren't even aware but with the correct aiming you can avoid penalty or difficult next shot for exactly these three yards, which you aimed more to the right.

6. Take advantage of your strength and not weakness

Know your strengths and weaknesses and take advantage of your strengths. Every golf strategy should be based on your strengths which can benefit your game.

For example if you naturally fade your ball you should usually aim with your shots at the left half of the fairway. If you happen to slice it too much you would still be in a good spot at the right side of the fairway and not in the rough or between the trees.

7. The external factors affect the shot much more than you think

Some amateurs don't take into consideration wind, firmness of the fairways and greens, humidity, green speed, sand deepness and softness, fairway slopes and the list goes on... These are all external factors that should be take into account in the golf strategy because sometimes can push you over the edge between a good and bad shot.

Conclusion

Writing golf strategy is one of my favorite things. The game is much easier if you have one and if you follow it.

Do you have a proper golf strategy? Hopefully you use one, or you're at least open to the idea of having one 😊 You can read more about it HERE.