Percentage Golf With An Open Stance

Once we choose and adapt to a swing-saving, Open Stance, we should concern ourselves with the mental side of the game. I’m not talking about esoteric themes, you understand. I am making the assumption of consistent ball-striking and directional control. Therefore, all that is left is to plan your walk around the golf course. We don’t have to chisel our plan into stone ahead of time if we are present in our round. Playing percentage golf is a better way to choose your appropriate shot. 

Phil and Dave, six hour rounds, and any number of niggling excesses of modern-day golfers have us up the night before a round of golf planning as if our ball has a remote control mechanism, wirelessly linked to our brain – responding independently of history and logic. Golf might not work that way… just saying. However, knowing how many out of ten good shots (percentage) we hit with any given club can clear the runway for lower scores.

Once a golfer establishes their philosophy in action and practiced repetition, we take it to the golf course to test it. Over time, we get a sense of the frequency of solid strikes and directional stability with our golf ball. Consequently, and if we are paying attention, we learn how and when to rely on our probabilities. Even now, I find myself using ideal swings to navigate a golf course. Hence, in the absence of practice and play, our decision-making, at some point, will disappoint us. Why do we make golf harder than it needs to be? We should not.

Therefore, take the advice of every great golfer of all time, and work on your short game. That way, you don’t have to be perfect from the fairway in order to score. I’ll tell you the story of Ariel Canete later on as my “paradigm of hope”. Until you get to the point of predictability, do one thing, won’t you?

Open your stance, and play golf.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy