I eagerly await Golf Sidekick’s latest and greatest video posts on YouTube. He has been a great source of inspiration to me since I returned to golf a few years ago. He has many wise sayings and thoughts and truly “get” where he is coming from.
Some of his thoughts are about keeping the ball in play and the 6/6/6 approach to the game that I think can be used by golfers of any handicap – it works really well if I can implement it as I play off around 6 so it is easy to calculate.
In recent weeks he has talked about CENTURY – an acronym so complicated I cannot remember and I think Matt just made up and thought that he had to run with it. Whilst the points in the word do work I think it complicates things a bit and I like to use WELD as a method to plan my golf shots.
The great thing about this system aside from the fact that is super simple is that it is super simple: you can start the process as you walk to the ball to take the next shot.
Before I go into detail about WELD I would like to make the disclaimer that I did not create this process. I heard it on one of the many golf podcasts that I listen to regularly and thought it was so simple that I would give it a go. If you take these 4 steps into consideration in setup then you are on your way to execution.
Wind. A factor that directly influences your ball flight. You can gauge the wind as you approach your ball. Check out the clouds, trees & bushes, and water, and get ready to take this into account as you evaluate the next factor. The general rule of thumb is for every 1mph (0,5 mps) of headwind you would add 1% of the distance. Conversely, for each 1mph of tailwind, you deduct 0,5%.
Elevation. Whether you are shooting uphill, downhill, or on the level influences your distance. The general rule for this is the 15 feet formula. (@4,5m) – so for each 15ft difference in elevation add or subtract one club. Again this can mostly be worked out before you get to the ball.
Lie. Whether you are in the rough, in a bunker, in fescue, or on the fairway all have an influence on the distance you shot. Shots lying in the fairway should go the distance you except unless you’re in a divot but shots from elsewhere then have other factors influencing the outcome and results may have various fluctuations in spin, loft, and subsequently distance.
Distance. The final piece of the jigsaw before you execute your shot. You have all the other factors assessed already, you now measure the distance and select a club based on this and the previous 3 factors.
What swing thoughts* you may have at this point is up to you but by going through the WELD setup process you should be in no doubt where to hit and what club to hit is with.
* I will probably post a few ideas about swing thoughts in the coming months, but needless to say, you should try to keep them simple and remove any doubts in your mind when you are about to swing.