It’s happened to all of us … we’re cruising along playing one of the best rounds of our life, and then all of a sudden out of nowhere, we hit the most dreadful, disgusting shot we’ve ever seen, sabotaging our score and eventually our great round.

Ask 100 golfers what they would want to improve on the most and 100 of them will say consistency. Consistency is that elusive little aspect of the game of golf that has even the best players in the world shaking their heads.

The most important thing to understand is that golf is not a game that will ever be mastered. We have yet to see 18 birdies (or the equivalent of the same) from an individual in competition.

But what makes it so difficult to simply play to what we believe is our potential?

I’ve compiled two reasons that I believe we are constantly searching for consistency and what you can be doing to maximize your potential to be as consistent as possible.

Fundamentals

If you don’t have sound fundamentals, then it is going to be very difficult to expect consistency.

So what exactly are fundamentals?

Simply put, they are your grip, stance, aim, posture and finish. Without these fundamentals, making a repetitive swing is next to impossible.

The best players in the world are reminded constantly by their swing coaches to make subtle adjustments to their fundamentals.

That doesn’t mean you have to have a swing coach at your side at all times to make sure you do everything correctly (unless you’re trying to get on the PGA Tour), it simply means that you need to set aside a small amount of time and money to get with a PGA professional on occasion to make sure your fundamentals are where they should be.

How often you need these lessons is measured solely by your goals as a golfer.

The Mental Game

Literally mountains of books have been written on the mental aspect of the game of golf, but yet somehow the average golfer ignores the role of the mental side of golf.

Once we learn the physical skills needed, then golf switches to a mental game. It is all about managing expectations and dealing with success and failure on the course.

If you’re trying to hit a shot on the golf course that you’ve never hit or practiced before, you have to know that this might be a poor decision and will likely result in a bad shot.

Dealing with bad shots affects everyone differently, but if you find yourself dwelling on a bad shot you hit a few holes ago, then you have a problem. The more you can stay focused on the course in front of you, the more likely you will execute each shot to your fullest potential.

If the mental game is new to you, then take some time this winter to pick up a book or two to help you manage your mental game. Dr. Bob Rotella is just one author that has written several books that I would highly recommend for any level of golfer to understand the metal game more fully.

And as always, visit your local PGA professional or a SwingFix.com instructor if you have any questions regarding any part of your golf game.

When golf fans think of the Open Championship, most think of the links style courses and harsh weather conditions. It’s rare to have an Open that doesn’t feature gloomy skies, driving rains and sustained winds.

Because of these conditions, tour players are forced to make slight adjustments to their strategy when competing in an Open Championship. Those same adjustments can be made in our games when faced with windy conditions at home.

The No. 1 rule when playing in the wind is one that you’ve hopefully heard before: “When it’s breezy, swing easy.”

It sounds corny, but it’s true. The temptation to increase the power of your swing, especially when the wind is against you, can be overwhelming.

When you swing harder and are lucky enough to make solid contact, the ball will have more backspin, causing it to climb in the air and ultimately be taken by the wind.

Another side effect of swinging harder is that making solid contact with the ball becomes less likely. Even the strongest winds are less likely to influence the flight of ball as dramatically if you manage to hit the ball solid.

The most basic adjustment you can make in your strategy is club selection. You won’t feel the need to swing harder against the wind if you simply take an extra club or two.

I can recall several times in my college golf career when the wind would alter my club selection. There were some days I could hit an 8-iron on a particular par-3 hole and other days would have to hit as much as a 4- or 5-iron on the same hole.

The opposite is true when you are downwind. There is still no reason to swing harder, because all you need to do is use a higher lofted club to get the ball in the air to ride the wind. However, remember that during downwind approach shots, your ball will not have the usual amount of backspin, causing it to release and roll more than normal after it hits the ground.

When you are faced with a side wind, knowing your typical ball flight and choosing the correct starting line becomes extremely important. I am a firm believer that you should never aim where a straight shot would put you into trouble.

Put a premium on getting the ball on the fairway or green, even if that means you will be far away from the hole. More often than not we aim too far in one direction to compensate for our ball flight and the wind and we end up hitting a shot opposite of our normal tendencies. Remember, if you hit the ball solidly, the wind can only affect the ball so much.

To hit the ball more solid when playing in the wind, follow these few three tips:

1. Use a slightly wider stance to increase your lower body stability and balance. Wind obviously can affect the ball, but it will also affect your balance if you have an unstable lower body.

2. Choke down on the club about one inch. This lowers the trajectory of your shots, reducing the wind’s ability to affect the ball flight. It also makes the club shorter, making it easier to find the sweet spot.

3. For the more advanced player, use a lower takeaway and finish position to keep the ball down. This also reduces backspin when hitting shots into the wind.

And one final note of caution: Be careful when adjusting your ball position to compensate for the wind. A common adage when the wind is in your face is to move the ball back in your stance to hit it lower. However, by moving the ball back too much you will increase backspin and risk having the ball balloon into the wind.

Take an online lesson with Tyrus York.

Tyrus York grew up on a small par-34 9-hole course in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky, so golf has always been a part of his life. Today he is a Class A PGA Professional at the Larry Ward High Performance Golf Academy at the University Club in Lexington, Kentucky.

Larry Ward High Performance Golf Academy is currently constructing an indoor instructional facility at Keene Run Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky. But of course, you can take a lesson with Tyrus here.

FIVE QUESTIONS

1. First off, talk briefly about your golf instruction philosophy and how you preach it at your facility.

YORK: I put a heavy emphasis on getting to know my student and their goals before our lessons begin. Everybody has different expectations for their own game, and it is my job to guide my students to meet those expectations. It is very important that my students know how much I care for them and their game. By building trust with the student, they are more likely to accept any changes that we may have to implement to achieve their goals. The 'swing' method I use is to simply find the best method to help each individual student.

2. What attracted you to the SwingFix platform and how effective can this method be for golfers?

YORK: I have long discussed with my colleagues about having a platform where my students could upload videos of their swing for me to analyze. SwingFix was able to create this platform and make it 10 times better than I had even thought it could be. I love the idea that any student from any part of the world can upload a swing for us to analyze. It is also more cost effective for the students than taking private lessons in person. This hopefully will allow them to take more lessons that will help them achieve their goals.

3. In your opinion, what is the secret to taking the "range game" to the first tee?

YORK: Having spent the majority of my teaching career at a practice facility, learning to take the range game to the first tee is a problem I hear golfers talk about all the time. The secret is all in how you practice on the range. Set clear goals for yourself before you begin. For example, today you may want to focus on improving mid irons. Spend half of your time focused simply on your goal. When the time is up, use the rest of the time to simulate shots you would hit on the course. Imagine a fairway, rough, and any hazards that may be out there and visualize the shot you need to hit. Be sure to take your time using a good pre-shot routine.

4. Is there a particular training aid that you tend to use most regularly and with the most effectiveness?

YORK: There are hundreds of great training aids out there, but the one I keep going back to is the Impact Bag. As instructors, we can argue all day long about positions in the backswing, downswing, and even the finish. But when it comes to the moment of truth, impact, then most of us will agree. The best way to practice impact position is to simulate a swing and have it stop at the moment of impact. The Impact Bag does this, and allows the student and instructor to demonstrate the correct positions at the moment of truth.

5. Is there a way students who have worked with you most often dramatically improve and achieve that coveted five-shot drop in scores? Power, consistency, short game, management, playing more golf, etc?

YORK: Nine times out of ten, when a student approaches me wanting to drop five shots, the first thing we will do is head to the short game area or the putting green. Even the best players in the world can easily lose five shots around the green in any given round. I will conduct a short game assessment which usually takes about half of a lesson, and from there it is easy to identify what the student could improve the most. I’ve seen students drop five shots from their score within a week after they spent time working on short game.