41. The best definition I know that defines a good player is this. A good player is someone who controls the spin they put on the ball

Don't think that better players do not suffer fear on the course because they do. It is just that when fear (pressure) does appear, they are more able to cope with it. This lesson looks at why this is and how you can begin to improve your scores by learning to cope with fear. The reason for this is simple; a good player does not try and build his game on a foundation of perfect shots whereas the lesser player believes that is how the game should be tackled. A perfect shot is a fluke when it occurs with any player from the best to the worst. Because it is a fluke, it is unpredictable. Whether you like this idea or not doesn't matter because it is the way it is and no matter how hard you try to make it otherwise, you will not change it. You will fail.

The perfect shot happens when everything from the address position to the complex movements of the swing all align into a state of perfect synchronisation. It gives us that shot that is so pure and satisfying. I am sure you will have already worked out that when you are wracked with fear on the infamous water hole, the chances of “perfect synchronisation” becomes extremely remote. In this situation, you fear the worst and it usually happens.

Here is the start of the problem. The players who suffer the worst are usually of the opinion that a straight shot is what they must strive to achieve. They play golf like a tight rope walker. They think in straight lines. They run in fear of "the curving" shots but if they only realised, the cure to their problems actually lies within these "offending" shots. Better players, from an early age, actually practice these wayward shots because they know they will need them. Just watch the tour players on tree lined courses, hooking and slicing shots to get out of trouble. Did you really think that the only time they hit them is when they need them? No, they practice on the range hitting hooks and slices. They get comfortable with them. Deliberately hitting what are undesirable shots for the handicap player is in actual fact extremely important for everyone. Not only is it a very convenient strategy  for getting out of trouble on the course, the real pay off is that it teaches you how to bring your ball under control during the normal course of play. A good player is someone who controls the spin, he or she puts on their golf ball. 

Don't try to not hit a slice, simply learn to hook. Likewise, if you hook, learn how to slice. Don't try to get rid of hooks and slices, you actually need the ability to be able to hit both. With practice and experimentation, you will be able to turn a slice into a nice fade and turn a hook into a nice draw. Think of it this way, if you can deliberately hook and slice, you can deliberately not do it. Having this skill really does take the fear out of hitting the games bad shots. Remember; a bad shot is a shot you hit which is different to the one you wanted.

The perfect straight shot or fluke if you like sits on a very fine line, exactly midway, between the swing that hooks and the swing that slices. The "Draw" and "Fade" shots sit much closer to this fine line, on the left and right hand side of the straight shot.

It is not easy to learn how to do it but at least it is possible which is more than can be said for the straighline approach. Anyway, if it was that easy, would the game have the attraction that it’s got? I don’t think so!

"If you see me hit a straight shot, then you have just seen me mis-hit it". Ben Hogan