The Stock ShotThe Stock ShotAim: To get you to think more carefully about your approach shot, dont just lash away with the driver and leave tricky wedge shots to the green which may spin unpredictably. The more you play the same shot(s) the more you know them down to the finest detail
Absolutely my top tip here. Without question. So listen up. You will significantly improve your scores in an instant if you have a "stock shot" and use it. The way I came to this was by hating the backspin I got from the wedges to the green, which in turn caused me to go shorter off the tee and use a longer club, which for a while was a 9 iron, but became a triple lofted ( see later ) 7 iron... ( now I have dropped the 7i in LS99 Ive gone back to the 9iron ). You'll have your own club and setup which you are comfortable with. Know its distance, both in the air and how much roll typically, and how it goes in all kinds of wind. Now play your tee shot to your distance for that shot as often as possible. The advantage of this is that if you hit the same shot into as many greens as you can, you learn that shot so much it hurts, you know the distance, how a sidehill or up/downhill lie affects it, how the wind moves it, how it bounces on the greens, and thats because you are playing it so often, you learn it quick and you learn it well...its no good having a LW as your stock as many many times a par4 is too long to get within LW distance, and there are no prizes for longest tee anyway. Pick a shot you like with a short iron club, practice with that club, maybe even play a full round with just that club to learn its every twist and turn. Now watch in amazement as you plot your tee shots to that distance and have exactly the same shot into 4,5 and even more greens on the course. Believe me, there is no substitute for the confidence and knowledge of a shot in your bag that you know exactly where its going, and its also great if you are slightly off your stock shot because you can work out if the next club up or down is about right too...no question at all, if you ignore all my advice and take one thing, it is this, make it your business to be hitting as many greens as you can with the same shot, even if you need to hit 3W off the tee...Its obvious isnt it, that in a perfect world youd learn every club like that ( and I guess some do ! ) but even with one stock shot your game will rise to new heights of confidence as you butcher the pins and have short putts for birdie. As the natural follow up to this I strongly advise once you have a stock shot to learn a longer club like a 4 or 5 iron, and do the same for the longer par fours, or when the wind is in your face. I even advise you to lay up to your stock shot distance on a par5 you cant reach....better that than a mid-LW for 40 or 50 yards that you can easily hit too hard/soft. If you cant get real close in 2, then lay to your stock shot and hit that full club in.....always hit a full 12 o'clock shot where you can.
Top Tips:
Start with an 8 or 9 iron and instead of blasting to wedge distance, come short to leave one of these...learn this club in all conditions/shots
When you are happy you have a short shot that you know well, move up to a 6iron and learn that
Finally, try to learn a 3 or 4 iron in all situations and lofts....now you have 3 shots you can play for off the tee and be familiar with
Remember if you can, play as many approaches as you can with the same club...you'll learn faster and you can go to school on earlier shots
Do play these stock clubs in the wind too, so you can see how they play in a variety of conditions..in effect, you are mentally creating a very detailed chart for just one club in all conditions...If you know a 7iron goes 160 yards and you know its loft settings, and you know how far it goes in all the main wind directions then you can look to have that shot for your approach
If you miss your stock distance you should be close enough to simply adjust by only a club either way....gives you confidence!