Article #13
Featured Teacher: Bobby
To meet this week's teacher, or to purchase a copy of MUNIE ~ The Jitterbug Collection, go to www.bobbysteiner.com
Jitterbug and I talked often about the relative importance of sharpening different aspects of the game.
So, one rainy Saturday morning in the clubhouse, I asked Jitterbug which three areas of golf he considered to be the most important to scoring.
"That's easy," he said. "The first question a guy should ask himself is, 'Can I make a four-foot putt?' If the answer is 'No,' he better work on it 'cause he's just throwin' away strokes. There is nothing more vital to scoring than the ability to make them four-footers."
"But, why four-footers?" I asked. "Why not ten-footers?"
"It's impossible to make all your ten-footers because of the inconsistencies in the greens," he said. "But, 'round about that four-foot range, a person can get pretty doggone good. Them four-footers can be made, so you best learn to make 'em."
"All right," I said. "How about after the four-footer?"
"It's gotta be chipping," he said. "Chipping is right up there with the four-footer. 'Cause if you're not a good chipper, you're gonna be scared to miss greens. And, believe me, when you're scared to miss greens, you're gonna miss a lot more of 'em. You see, the idea is to take pressure off your long game, and the best way to do that is to become a good chipper. In fact, you can miss all eighteen greens and still shoot even par if you know how to chip."
He said that chipping is important for another reason as well: "To learn to chip is to ingrain the correct decsending blow necessary to hit the rest of your iron shots. Therefore, the more you chip, the better you'll hit everything else."
Next important, Jitterbug insisted, is the lag putt.
"Think about it," he said. "If you can get all your long putts within four feet, and make all your four-footers, you don't have to worry about three-putting. And talk about improving your score! How good would it feel to stand over every long putt and be sure that you're not gonna three-whack it?"
He said that most people exercise poor course management simply because they don't believe in their ability to get their long putts close.
"Let's say you have a flag cut close on the left edge of the green, right behind a big bunker," Jitterbug said. "Now, anyone with good golf sense will tell you to aim your approach shot to the right side of the green, away from the bunker. But if you don't believe in your ability to get a long putt close to the hole, you'd rather take your chance and go for the flag. To you, flirting with that bunker is better than going through the humiliation of knocking the ball on the far side and then three puttin'. I'm telling you, man, it happens all the time. People make bad decisions because they don't believe in their ability to get their long putts close to the hole."
"So where does the mental game fall into all of this?" I asked. "After all, the mental game has to be as important as the short-game."
"Don't you see?" Jitterbug said. "The short-game is what makes up the mental game."
I wasn't too sure about that. To me, a strong mental game was little more than simply believing in oneself; not allowing one bad shot to turn into three or four.
"Bobby, why do you think it's so important to make all your four-footers? Important that you can chip? Important that you can lag putt?"
"Well, I suppose, uh, just being able to…"
"Forget all that!" Jitterbug exclaimed. "A good short-game gives you confidence! It empowers you and prevents you from taking unnecessary risks. That's what you get when you sharpen your short-game. You get confidence! Confidence to guide you around the golf course and confidence to make good decisions from tee to green. The players I've seen with the strongest mental approach are the ones with the strongest short- games."