Golf - What's a Game Plan?
For most of us, a game plan might consist of general ideas such as beat your buddies, grip it and rip it, hit every shot as far as possible, don't hit any bad shots, make every putt, all fairway shots must be as close to the green as possible, or make a move on the beverage cart girl. But what if you strike out with the beverage cart girl, the putts won't fall, you can't hit the fairways, or hit the greens? What does it mean to stick to your game plan?
First of all, you have to change the way you make your game plan. Forget about beating your buddies, just play against the course, not your buddies. You cannot control how well your buddies play (unless you are into mind games), so instead just control your own game. The right way to make a game plan is to establish a goal and assess your strengths and weaknesses. Let's say your goal is to break 90, and your 2 biggest weaknesses are wildness off the tee and half-wedge shots. Your 2 biggest strengths are full wedges and short irons.
The way to make your game plan here is to think ahead on every shot to avoid your weaknesses and use your strengths. That means whenever possible, put yourself into position for a 100-130 yard shot to the green (your strength or your “wheelhouse”). Avoid going much closer, because that means it's a partial wedge shot (your weakness). With this in mind, it is not always a good idea to hit the ball as far as you can on every shot. Just get the ball to your "wheelhouse" distance where you have the most confidence on the next shot.
If you are wild with the driver, only use it when there is no danger if you should miss the fairway. If you can use a shorter club to safely get into your wheelhouse distance to the green, then you are following your game plan. Even if you completely flub a tee shot, just get your next shot to your wheelhouse distance, and you have a good chance to avoid a double bogey, and you will possibly also make several pars along the way, and that means a you have a much better chance to beat your goal. (see www.geocities.com/golfwithjoey)

Golf - Strategies to combat the dreaded half-shot to ¾ shot.

Do you find that you either pull these shots or hit them too thin? Guess what? You are not alone. These are the shots where most people throw away the most strokes.

You have heard about The Yips? Most people think The Yips only pertain to putting, but I believe The Yips also apply, maybe more so, to the half-to-3/4 shots. Why? Because this type of shot is a departure from your normal swing, and the opportunity for error is magnified by the many different variations in the length of the backswing necessary to control intermediate distances. Then add the factor of twitching nerves as you hope to avoid hitting it fat or thin, and you already have too much to think about.

First, let's address the pulled shot. Most advice on pitch shots say to use an open stance and swing along the body line. This will lend itself to a pulled shot unless you keep the face of the club open during the follow-thru. You can only accomplish that by keeping the hands in front of the club thru impact. Sometimes you cannot help flipping the wrists during the follow-thru, but on a less-than-full shot, you must have the discipline to keep the face open all the way, or else the shot will be pulled. Of course, if you pull the shot every single time, just adjust your aim to a more squared stance.

The problem most people have is shots that are too fat or too thin. Here is a mental image to try, this is what I call the "wagon wheel". Your head is the hub, and your left arm is the spoke of the wheel where the club is attached. If the hub stays steady, and the spoke does not bend, the club cannot help but to strike the ball cleanly every time.

In summary, keep the hands ahead of the club thru impact while doing the wagon wheel, and you should see some improvement in consistency.
(see www.geocities.com/golfwithjoey)