Mental Mondays: Find Your Choke Stroke

Jimmy Demaret had in his repertoire what he called a “choke stoke”—a club that he could depend upon when nothing else was working. I think Demaret had the right idea, but the wrong name. It’s not a “choke” club, but a “clutch” club, and finding it can help you salvage a round.

When the wheels come completely off my game, I turn to the seven iron. For whatever reason—and it’s probably psychological—the seven never seems to let me down. In moments of golfing crisis, I turn to the seven as a drowning man seizes a life preserver. I’ll play it off the tee, out of the fairway, and as my chipping and pitching tool. Only when I feel that my groove has returned do I turn back to the rest of the bag.

You probably already have a favorite club in your bag. The next time nothing else seems to be working, find a way to use that stick—even if it seems somehow inappropriate to the job.

If the driver’s not working, and you resort to your favorite six iron off the tee, it’ll likely take you an extra shot to reach the green. But at least you won’t be hitting three from the tee after yanking one out of bounds. And if you’re well inside the six iron’s range to the green, choke up or take a three quarter swing. But get that club into your hands until your problems work themselves out.

About This Series: In 1960, the average golf score was 100. Forty years later, in spite of all the innovations in clubs, balls and instruction, the average golf score is ... still 100. In fact, only 20 percent of all golfers will ever break that mark.

Here’s the problem: Even with all the improvements, the one thing we haven’t been able to improve is the golf intelligence of the players. Most hackers—and more than a few better players—just play dumb golf. So here’s part one of a series on playing smarter golf. I’ve been collecting mental game golf tips for years in a series of notebooks, on my palm pilot and in various computer files. They’ve helped my game. I know they’ll help yours

This tip is an excerpt from The Five Inch Course: Thinking Your Way To Better Golf. The complete book is available in Kindle format at Amazon.com.