THE INITIAL APPROACH
EVALUATING CONDITIONS ON THE PRE GAME
It’s already been stated in this book the importance of the pre-planning before the round starts. When evaluating conditions of the golf course, you have to remember that depending on the weather conditions everything changes. A rainy day or wet may require from you a complete different approach to the game. When it’s wet, the ball tends to fly less than normal and not get too much roll because the ground is soft. When landing on the green, as well the ball tends to stop and not roll as much as in a hard green and this has to be taken into consideration when hitting the approach shot.
Most golfers know this but they don’t apply the techniques described in this book mainly because most of the time they don’t actually have any technique as far as planning a round or caring about the mental approach to the game. This eventually becomes a blind obstacle that shows up during the round as a consequence more than a problem to deal with. The results of not caring for the mental preparation and planning will drag your game to the guts without you even realise it.
When the conditions are not favourable to the “normal” development of the game, in other words, since you play golf mostly under a sunny day and good weather conditions, you are conditioned to a certain way of thinking and the same way of thinking doesn’t work for a wet condition. So, it will require more patience and a more careful tactic to play the round. You can be a little more aggressive with your shots as long as it doesn’t require too much extra effort from you body. Remember, if you force you body in certain positions that it’s not used to, the consequences can be catastrophic and the damages irreparable.
We all know that play in the rain or under wet conditions is very difficult and this is because we don’t have anything prepared to avoid problems that will arise with the wet soil and it’s very usual to hear the golfer saying that the day was miserable.
It’s not that the day is miserable; it’s just a different day when it comes to the development of the game and you have to learn how to deal with it.
Then, be more careful in wet conditions, have a plan before the round starts and you may try to club up since the ball is not getting much rolling but be careful not to demand more from your body than it can delivers.