2020-05-01_Golf_Digest

HIT 20 DRIVERS

▶ Check how many

times the ball struck

within a half-inch

of the center of the

clubface. Your results

determine the quality

of your ball-striking.

HIT 20 7-IRONS

▶ Map your average

carry distance,

ignoring any shots that

fly less than 100 yards.

Your results determine

how close you are

to producing your

maximum ball speed.

scoring

DRIVER CONTACT

● Tour: 19 of 20

●0 handicap: 16 of 20

●10 handicap: 13 of 20

●20 handicap: 9 of 20

7-IRON CARRY

● Tour: 175 yards

●0 handicap: 160

●10 handicap: 150

●20 handicap: 135

clearwater

teaches at GolfTEC

Headquarters in

Englewood, Colo.

180

170

160

150

140

130

120

● = 1/2” ▲

STRETCH OUT

▶ Start with slow

driver swings and

slowly ramp up the

speed finishing

with this shorter,

arms-extended pose

(above).

TURN MORE

▶ The path to solid

irons is from inside

the target line. The

way to set up for that

is to turn your hips as

far as you can early in

the takeaway (above).

FIND THE SWEET SPOT ALL THE TIME

▶ Centerface contact is what separates good

players from poor players. These drills will get

you to find the sweet spot on your clubs nearly

every time you swing. —c l e a r wat e r

To truly predict an amateur player’s

peak playing ability, we first asked Ric-

cio to crunch big data—individual shot

outcomes from thousands of golfers

with Handicap Indexes from +2 to 30.

By figuring how likely a player at each

scoring level is to produce what is con-

sidered an “acceptable” result, Riccio

was able to determine how many shot at-

tempts any player would need to have at

least an 80-percent chance to hit a good

one. That analysis led Riccio to develop

a simple test that golfers of any skill level

can take to determine how close they are

to playing their best.

The way to reveal your potential,

Riccio says, is to play a modified nine-hole

scramble. Depending on your current av-

erage score, you’ll hit up to four balls from

each location tee to green. If your average

score is 77 or lower, you get one extra ball

from each spot. If you shoot 78 to 93, you

can hit up to two extra balls. For those

who average 94 or higher, it potentially

becomes a four-ball scramble.

But where this differs from a normal

scramble is that you should move on af-

ter hitting any shot you would deem good

in a typical round. For example, if you’d

normally be satisfied to hit a shot any-

where on the green on a par 3, and you do

that on your first try from the tee, don’t

bother hitting again. Move on to the putt.

(It’s probably best to do this scramble on

a quiet day at your course.) ▶

FULL SWING : NICK CLEARWATER

TEST

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