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 Tips from the Pro

By:  David Elchin, PGA

With spring’s arrival comes the excitement that this year will be the best we ever played.  “Now how am I going to go about this” you say to yourself as the thoughts of last year’s poor shots enter you’re not so positive mind.  I know the answer; I’ll put more time in on the range and keep hitting that driver and those long irons until my hands are blistered.  Well that’s one way of going about it, but there may be a better way.

Let’s think back to the cold days of winter when our armchair TV shows allow our bottoms to make that indentation into the seat cushion just a bit deeper.  Yea, those muscles need to be reworked and toned again. So where do we start?  We build our swing from small to big, giving us the best chance for success.  Putting, chipping, pitching, 1/2 swings, 3/4 swings, the full swing—that should be the growth pattern of our swing in the beginning the season.  Let’s face it, we all know that we have to crawl before we walk and walk before we run.  So let’s get started.

Grab that putter, lob wedge, sand wedge, pitching wedge and a small bucket of balls. Start with 2, 3, 4, 5 foot putts working on your rhythm. Don’t worry if you miss, you are working on making a pendulum stroke.  You’ll notice that your distance will be more consistent.  Then move to the chipping green and continue to work on short shots to longer shots by controlling the length of your swing maintaining a pendulum swing. Now is when you move to the driving range keeping in mind that you start with your short irons using a half swing and allowing that swing to grow into a full swing. Don’t be in a hurry, this process will take a few days until those muscles are back in shape again, and getting back into the season will be a lot more enjoyable.  You never know, that seat cushion may come back to its original shape.   Play Well