https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1en-USTelligent Community 10https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125442Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:26 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:ec7879f4-ca95-4b8c-aa44-19129eee9f60Rick V., Team Titleist Staff0"One of the first things I look at in a playing lesson is how a player is influenced by the architect," Skip said. "I want my players to know their predominant ball flight and strategize around that. Far too often golfers get in trouble trying to play shots that fit the design of a hole rather than managing the course around their shot shape and playing to their strengths."https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125441Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:25 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:1b61edcc-b747-4059-94a5-86d8153254f2Rick V., Team Titleist Staff0Before hitting his short iron approach into the green on No.1, Fabian started making some small practice swings, hinging the club to waist height and adjusting the position of the club shaft. Skip stopped him and explained that even very good players fall into the trap of playing golf swing out on the course instead of playing golf. His solution? "I gave Fabian a visual. I pointed to a cloud above and beyond the green. I said, 'Now, I want you focus on the cloud and put the ball through the cloud.' That's a player thought, not a swing thought – ball flight and trajectory. Tom Brady didn't think about his elbow position when he threw in a game. That's a practice thought."https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125440Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:23 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:84533104-60df-419e-b9c0-1e14ade15fb1Rick V., Team Titleist Staff0No. 2 at Allendale is a long par 4. Fabian hooked his drive and found the left rough, well over 200 yards from the green. Fabian asked about technique, so Skip demonstrated, but first talked strategy. "What you should be thinking here," Skip explained, "is get back into position. That means back on the fairway. Too often players bite off more that they can chew when they're in trouble. Advance the ball, yes, but the most important thing is to get the ball back onto the short grass." https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125439Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:22 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:393321fd-1b0a-4efe-9935-bfe9bc358294Rick V., Team Titleist Staff0Technique-wise, Fabian applied Skip's adjustments - ball position back to promote a steeper angle of attack, forward shaft lean on the club and a more lofted club to account for the de-lofted clubface. The plan was to hit a low, running shot down the fairway.https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125438Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:21 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:b705e187-fd26-4685-8f92-d0b469cd2f93Rick V., Team Titleist Staff0No over-swinging or attempting to hoist the ball in the air on this swing. A beautiful escape that left Fabian inside 100 yards from the center of the fairway.https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125437Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:19 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:958cb48b-517c-403b-885a-020c4aae3cadRick V., Team Titleist Staff0 Fabian hit a sand wedge to twelve feet and drained this putt for par. The lesson? "Fabian hit a poor tee shot. But he hit his second shot to 80 yards. He put it in the middle of the green and sank his putt. So, the tee shot did not hurt him. So often though, golfers snort and get all bent out of shape when they hit a poor drive. You have to understand that it rarely hurts your score. Unless you're O.B. or in a hazard, you're still in the hole. You just have to think calmly and manage the next few shots ahead of you." https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125436Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:17 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:9adbc18f-9596-4ef5-b935-b9425bc5eed0Rick V., Team Titleist Staff0 The next hole was a par-3 and Fabian found a greenside bunker. A great opportunity to learn some sand basics. The big takeaways? "You have to have a lot of cupping or extension in the lead wrist. When you cup the lead wrist on the back swing and you cup it on the follow through, that allows the back of the sole to do all the work."https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125435Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:15 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:1ed4dcb4-4d50-4258-94c8-1099f99681ffRick V., Team Titleist Staff0Fabian tried a shot himself and asked how the ball would go straight when the face of his sand wedge was opened so far to the right of target. "Because you're not touching the ball with the clubface," Skip responded. "You're only displacing sand. If you swing in the direction of the flag, that's where the displaced sand will go. And the golf ball will follow."https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125434Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:14 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:a2ca3f11-b495-4c7f-8f03-00fa2c8d3323Rick V., Team Titleist Staff0Fabian hit a perfect drive on the next hole, a par-4 dogleg right. But as we approached his ball in the fairway, Fabian noted the water fronting the green and said "Oh, boy." This earned him a playful, but stern reprimand from Skip. "Now there's thirty yards between the water and the front of that green. Why would you ever react to the fact that the architect put water there? You might miss a little left or right. You might miss a little short, but you're not going to hit it 50 yards short. I want you to picture a window on the 14th floor above that flagstick. Put the golf ball there."https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125433Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:12 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:5e4a9f37-29a7-4a7c-a367-0bbe901ebaefRick V., Team Titleist Staff0Fabian thinned his approach a bit, but as Skip predicted, he was hole-high, never in danger of losing his ball in the pond.https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125432Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:10 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:59ff290c-bf85-404e-ade2-52f47620cd62Rick V., Team Titleist Staff0The last hole Fabian and Skip played was a long uphill par-5 that narrowed as we got closer to the green. Fabian asked for some help with the hybrid shot he had left. As Skip dropped a ball and demonstrated a shot, he told a story of playing in a Senior U.S. Open and hitting a scoreboard with a hybrid shot – 45 degrees right of where he intended. "For a long time, I hated hybrids! Couldn't hit them. Because I didn't understand how they need to interact with the turf."https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125431Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:07 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:3cec75a1-02c9-43ff-bed9-e065fe88fa1dRick V., Team Titleist Staff0As Fabian stepped in to hit his shot, Skip continued, "Pretend your golf ball is lying on top of a cherry pie. With a fairway metal, we're trying to just barely break the top of the crust. With an iron, we need to get down, through the crust entirely, and get a little bit of the filling. With a hybrid, you need to get deeper into the crust than you would with the fairway metal, but you don't want to take any filling. You'll hear the difference, too, as you change the depth of your divots and interact with the turf differently." https://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/team-titleist/m/playing_lesson_skip_guss_1/125430Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:57:04 GMT9ab519fc-5311-4952-85cd-0a0ceffb73fb:d5ce847e-f516-43e0-be55-45ab7a070014Rick V., Team Titleist Staff0Fabian was all smiles after his afternoon with Skip. He, told me, "I learned more today than I have all season. Just in this three-hour playing lesson." “Well if that's how you feel," Skip chimed in, " you're buying the beers!" Fabian did so, happily, capping off a very memorable and enjoyable day of learning.