What did you shoot? is a common question among golfers. Its a courtesy but it does tell the importance of the score. There are times when you hit the ball well but for whatever reason you score higher than normal. At other times you may not hit the ball at all well but your score is quite low. The only thing that matters is the score; the number you can tell others or the person posting the scores.

We are under the mistaken impression that the perfect swing is required to be a good golfer, one who scores low. Its easy to fall for this kind of thinking that puts all the emphasis on the correct swing.

What if you actually started thinking more about how you are going to make pars than how you are putting your fingers on the stick (club)? What if you actually had a plan for each hole? What if you disregarded your friends comments about your swing? Is it possible the earth will cave in and swallow you up? Or not? Or is it that your focus could be on the real goal, that of making pars? Love those what if questions. Think about it as we start discussing playing the game.

Playing The Game

Playing the game of golf is more than swinging a stick at a small, lively, white ball with the intention of hitting that ball with great force toward some distant target. The idea of "killing" that ball, with the hope that it does not die at our feet, is a popular concept of golf -- but not the one that yields low scores. What is your goal? To hit the ball or to score low?

Golf is a game of a million subtleties. We may start on the path to becoming a golfer with the intention of hitting the ball and developing a swing that delivers consistent, fabulous shots. Indeed some, maybe many, people will be quite satisfied to just hit some good shots and have some days with low scores.

Good golf shots are one of life's pleasures and good rounds of golf are one of life's special pleasures. But we are missing the essence, the spirit, of the game if we fail to learn how to play the game and instead only learn to hit a few good shots.

What do I mean by "playing the game? I mean learning how to hit smart shots; learning to use your game on that golf course on that day to score as low as possible; knowing how to play different types of shots when you are confronted by challenging or new situations. As an aside, expecting to hit nothing but good shots during a round of golf is not realistic -- even for the best players on their best days. Learn to always play the shot that makes the next shot the easiest. Would you believe that may mean hitting a three-wood off the tee or not shooting at a pin or even a green under certain circumstances? You must figure out how you can make pars and birdies today - on the course youre playing today and with the game that you have today.

Every day is a new experience in golf. You should warm up on the range before you play for two reasons. First, you are warming up the engine. Second, you are finding out how you are hitting the shots today. Are they going right, left, low, high, short or long? Subtle changes take place every day, and you need to adjust to those changes rather than trying to "fix" your swing. So that's your game for the day, which is slightly different from yesterday. You may need to change your game plan slightly for this day of play.

You, of course, do have a game plan, don't you? If not, don't worry. I'll show you how to develop one. Most other sports I know of require a game plan, but most golfers I talk with get a very strange look on their face when I ask them about their game plan for playing this specific golf course on this day. "Show up at the first tee and start hitting" is the common plan. This is almost true for some of the Tour Players as well - but not for the very good ones.

Most golfers are so concerned about hitting the ball and correcting swing problems that they do not think about playing the game and figuring out how they can score low on this course, this hole, this day. If your game is "swing-and-a-miss" much of the time, these ideas are not for you -- not yet. But if you are making contact, these concepts must become part of your vocabulary today.

What have you learned so far?

Warm up before playing. Have a plan. Playing the game is fun, and it is so much more than just hitting good shots. Your game is a little different each day. Learning to play the game will improve your score consistently -- without changing your swing or buying new clubs. So learn how to play golf!