The 4 categories of shots every golfer must learn

Alright, we’re getting closer and closer to your first round of golf. Soon, you will be standing on the first tee box at Pebble Beach with your foursome. Your caddie has just given you his first bit of advice about where to hit. You’re aiming for the exact spot he or she pointed out. The driver is in your hands ready to launch a bomb down the middle of the fairway. Your three golf buddies are waiting in anticipation to see what happens. Ok, ok, maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself here. Long before you get to that Pebble Beach first tee, you will have 4 types of shots you need to learn to hit. I know you’re ready. Let’s launch into it!

There are 4 categories of types of shots you MUST learn to play golf. There is just no way of getting around this. There are actually many more types of golf shots, but I promised to keep it simple for you. I will get to shots like the Draw, Cut, Slice, and Hook later. Please stay with me as I break it down for you.

The 4 categories of shots required in golf

1. The Drive
2. Iron Play
3. Chip Shot
4. The Putt

The Drive

So, if you have been to a golf course you know there are 3 different types of holes on a 18 hole track.

The majority of modern courses today have 3 different types of holes as seen in the table. Most are designed to be Par 72. I am getting ahead of myself a bit, so I will quickly explain scores in “Relation to Par”. In the picture above I am playing a Par 5 hole. Simply put, an amateur golfer like me playing from the blue tees will hit (i.e. Stroke) the ball 3 times to get on the green. That means I will have two putts to make par which is 5 strokes. All extra strokes have specific names as illustrated in the table below. The only one missing from the table is the coveted “Ace”. Most people know it as the Hole-in-One!. Hole-in-Ones are very rare, however not as rare as the Condor or Albatross (aka Double Eagle). Per the table below, a Condor is 4 strokes under par for a Par 5. A Condor is only possible on a Par 5 or the uncommon Par 6. Only five condors have been recorded officially. The Albatross does happen on the PGA Tour on occasion. It’s also called a Double Eagle and is 3 strokes under Par. An Albatross is can happen on a Par 4 or Par 5. If an Albatross is hit on a Par 4 it can also be considered an Ace (Hole in One). Most Aces occur on a Par 3 from the tee box. I personally have two aces under my belt.

Every golfer needs to learn how to hit “The Drive” off of the tee for Par 4 and Par 5 holes. The purpose of the Drive is to hit your ball as far as your skill level allows. You want to position your approach shot to the green from an optimal position on the fairway. In the beginning you will use the 3-Wood in your bag off the tee. Hitting the Driver in the beginning can be difficult until you get your swing developed. The 3 Wood is easier to hit for most beginners. The driver is probably the most replaced club for good golfers. I will explain why that is the case in a future post. I got you covered.

Iron Play

So, you just bombed your Drive off the tee just like I did on the Par 5 in the first picture. Now any guess what comes next? Iron Play! I used my 3-Wood to advance the ball further towards green. Why? I can’t reach a 574 yard distance from the blue tees in two strokes like a PGA Professional. My best bet is to avoid hitting the ball on my second shot into the water on the left. I would have to take a penalty stroke which would impact my overall score. My decision to play a high percentage safety shot is important for you to understand later. I will explain in more detail how making good decisions on the course will be key to your golf score.

Any distance you can cover to get the ball closer to the green should be your goal. You will learn how to think your way around the course. Your focus now should be building confidence and trust in your golf swing on the range.

Here’s one of the cool things about golf. Every round is different. How you play one hole on Monday will be different than when you play it on Tuesday. Seriously, the wind, how wet the course is, or how much sleep you got the night before are all factors. Within the category called “Iron Play” there is a type of shot called “The Approach”. The approach is a shot you make with the intent of landing on the green as close to the hole as possible. On the 18th hole I did my best calculation to figure out where my 3 Wood would leave the ball for my “Approach” shot. I hit my Driver about 275 yards to the right side of the fairway. My second shot to the green was 268 yards. I can hit my 3 Wood 230 yards with a full swing. The best approach shot distance for me from the fairway is about 100 yards. I didn’t want to hit the ball to my full swing distance. I would be left with a 68 yard approach shot. I chose to choke down on my 3 Wood and hit a 3 quarter swing 170 yards in length. I was now positioned about 100 yards from the hole. My ball was in optimal position for my 3rd shot to get the ball close to hole.

Most approach shots are done with an Iron Shot using one of your iron clubs like I am doing in the picture above. For you, that means focusing on gaining skill with your 5 Hybrid, 7 Iron, and 9 Iron. In the beginning I want you to focus on improving your ball striking. I see so many new golfers struggle to get their shots in the air. They also won’t be able to hit the ball as far as they want. You will take each of these things (ball striking, getting in the air, and distance) one at a time. I promise you will get there!

Control is an illusion in the game of golf. Despite this the more you practice, the more luck will come your way. The next type of shot will help you make or save par more times than you can count. If the drive and the approach are the “Yang” style of golf, then its opposite is the “Yin” style. Yang is hard and Yin is soft. The Yin style of golf is the “Short Game” which are Chipping and Putting. It’s the part of the game which will require feeling each shot. You will learn to sharpen your distance perception while you increase your mind and body connection. See! I told you golf was going to make you grow.

Chip Shot

The Chip Shot is one of the most important skills to learn in golf. It is a very important part of your short game. Essentially, its used to get the ball close to the hole when you miss your approach shot and do not land on the green. You will save many strokes off your score with your chipping ability. The biggest tip any professional golfer would tell an amateur is to focus on improving their short game.

Beginner golfers will tend to spend most of their time pounding their driver at the range. Nobody wants to look like a fool off the tee. If you can drive the ball 300 yards you should be proud. Most beginners can not hit a long drive like that. However, you will negate your long drive if your short game betrays you around the green. I promise to cover more about the short game in a future post.

The Putt

Undoubtably, you will encounter a disagreement or two with a fellow golfer regarding the most important golf shot skill. They all matter of course! There is a saying that your path will cross eventually. It was made famous by Bobby Locke from South Africa . “You drive for show” and “Putt” for dough. Putting is short distance shots where you aim to get the ball into the hall. More money has been made on the golf course missing a putt than by using any other club in your bag.

Dave Pelz, who is widely regarded as a short game putting guru advised his students to spend at least one-third of their practice time to becoming the best putter they can be. I recommend picking up his book Putt Like the Pros

To summarize what we just learned. There are 4 main categories of shots required in the game of golf.

• The Drive
• The Approach
• Chipping
• Putting

To make par, every golfer must string together each of the categories shots to make par. The beautiful thing is that it doesn’t have to look pretty. It just needs to match the number of strokes on each hole to make par. My dad had a saying about making par. It’s now “How” it’s “How Many”. You can hit one bad shot on a hole. You can make a par by hitting a great shot in one of the 4 categories.

In coming posts we will explore a lot more details and distinctions. There are a lot of new words you may have never heard before. I will help you learn when to use golf distinctions, what they mean, and why they are important to you.