Damage control: How to avoid ruining a good round with a miscue

We’ve all done it. Ruining an otherwise very good round of golf by trying to make a miracle escape from bad trouble, only to make it much worse, turning a bogey into a quadruple. After doing that recently I went into my extensive golf library and pulled out a classic Dave Pelz instruction manual entitled “Damage Control.” The subhead of the book is “How to save up to 5 shots a round using all-new, scientifically proven techniques for playing out of trouble lies.”

What impresses me is that “Damage Control” is not simply a collection of specialty “trick” shots that you might try if you were desperate; it starts out as a golfing philosophy, based on the reality that golfers play well for most of the round, but then ruin their score with a few bad holes. It’s also based on the fact that we as recreational golfers will never completely avoid errant shots that get us into trouble. Even the best players in the world have to face seriously troubled lies sometimes; it’s part of the game. We must recognize that golf courses are diabolical; they are designed to lead to trouble should you misplay a shot. Plus, there are bad bounces and bad luck that can cause headaches, so we better learn to deal with them. Pelz believes that we can effectively get out of trouble without ruining the score by acquiring skills and knowledge that is unconventional and perhaps not obvious. “The mental skills of damage control require a different mode of thinking based on a different set of metrics,” asserts Pelz, the oft-regarded golf “engineer.”

A perfect example of one of those damage control secrets is “setupology,” the term Pelz uses to describe how to set up properly (with posture and position) for swings from lies that might spell disaster. Because “trouble lies” almost always involve difficult terrain and an unusual stance, setting up poorly is often the first mistake golfers make when they are in serious trouble. He says the set-up is the foremost skill to limit damage because it comes before the backswing, downswing or follow-through of any trouble shot. If you set up wrong your odds of making a bad swing are much greater, thereby worsening the problem. Take a case where your ball is under a low tree branch. You can take a stance and get the club on the ball but you have to bend way over, with your head in the branches to hit the ball. The damage control play that will allow you to best escape such a lie is playing the shot from your knees, with your torso upright, thereby allowing you to make a better shoulder turn and swing the club with more force, keeping the shaft below the greenery.

The real beauty of damage control is that you don’t have to have any extraordinary skills or talent to save yourself a bundle of agony. It doesn’t take brute strength or the ingenious escape artistry brilliance of a Seve Ballesterous, the most imaginative tour player ever. But it does take some practice to be able to hit some of these anomalous shots. And it does mean getting a grip on some basics. Take “swing shaping,” for instance. If you have to go steeply uphill, downhill, over or around objects like trees, or have a tightly restricted swing, you need to shape your swing to create a ball flight that will get you back in position to continue the hole. This means understanding the swing path, face alignment and ball spin dynamics. Take a waist-high lie where your ball is so far above your feet that you need almost a baseball bat swing. Pelz notes that the club will feel heavier with it horizontal, leaving you with the tendency to make smothered tow hooks. By gripping down on the shaft, positioning your spine angle properly and maintaining your balance (among other things) you can control the starting direction and curvature of your ball, thereby avoiding the bane of the unaware duffer, hitting into real disaster. The shot doesn’t have to be perfect; just good enough so you can recover and possibly save losing a stroke. “In damage control you just have to be good enough to get your ball safely back into the game,” says Pelz.

Dr. Charlie Blanchard is a licensed psychologist specializing in sports and leadership. Contact him at docblanchard71@gmail.com.