Like most people, I spent part of Father’s Day weekend watching this year’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills. While there is much debate on whether it was a successful U.S. Open for the USGA, I clued in on a different feature of the game. Fox Sports’ utilization of the ProTracer technology on a majority of the shots made it easy to watch the shape and trajectory of the player’s golf shots take form.
Brooks Koepka plays a left-to-right ball flight, a fade. Hole after hole, I was impressed to note that he hardly ever went away from it. Even when the hole might have been better suited for a draw, he continued to play his go-to golf shot. While I admit I didn’t watch every shot, of the ones I did witness, I only saw one “miss” where he double-crossed himself but still managed to make par.
This is something to discuss with our students. It is okay to play a go-to shot and not try to hit the perfect shot shape. As better players, we tend to try to play the hole as it was designed, which could ultimately lead to an uncomfortable shot shape. If you understand your shot shape and are able to trust it, you can eliminate half of the golf course. This is something Brooks did extremely well under pressure.
Next time during a playing lesson or a discussion about course management, focus on shot shape and how consistency is key to winning rounds. Your students will have another key bit of information to shoot their best scores. Happy Teaching!
