When those "what will Phil do next" commercials came out, who would have thought the answer would have been to become a great shot maker? But that's exactly what he has done.

No longer does Phil just stand up and swing hard. He finally learned that it is more important to control the ball than it is to bomb it. The result is we now get to call Phil Mickelson the Masters Champion.

Now, what you should do is learn a little from Phil. You will see him hitting a lot of 3/4 shots without the full around follow through that you see from most all the younger players on every shot.

The main idea is to control your distance and direction, and the only way us mere mortal amateurs can do that is to stop trying to hit our mid and short irons maximum distance.

If you can hit your 9 iron 140 yards 2 out of 10 times, that is not your club from that distance. You can probably hit it that far 10 out of 10 times with your 7 iron using a 3/4 swing.

Always select a club that will make you ask yourself "How much do I need to take off of this?" , at least from 150 yards in. From there, use the 75% Rule. Make a 3/4 backswing and follow through, focusing on controlling the direction and distance of the shot.

You will find yourself making consistently solid contact with the 3/4 swing and probably start hitting the ball farther with your controlled swing than with the full rip.

So now that he's taught us all a little about the finer aspects of playing the game, as opposed to just hitting the ball as hard as you can, the only question left is "What will Phil do next?"

You can be sure that winning a few more majors is a good possibility.

Darell is the author of Target Putting, a revolutionary ebook that is changing the way the world putts. His site offers many free original golf tips and the worlds largest collection of free golf instruction and golf tip ebooks.

http://www.targetputting.com/golftips