1.You have to have all your basics right for a really good golf swing so that you can hit the shot you want to hit at the time you want to hit it.

You have to stand correctly with a good grip that works for you. Have your back and head in the correct relationship to your ball. Feet the correct width apart. Hands the correct distance from your body. The ball in the correct position and be properly lined up towards your target.

2. You have to know the distances each club will hit the ball when YOU make your swing and hit the ball. Not when someone else makes their swing, and not what the books say the distance should be.

So you have to find these distances out for yourself in a method I will explain to you. Then you have to know the distance from a given point on the course to the middle of the green.

Knowing this, you will obviously know which club to use, and you can then hit the ball with confidence.

3. Your swing must be proficient. Every one hits a bad shot sometimes, even the professionals. However, your technique must be such that you can reproduce a good golf swing and make good contact with the ball time after time.

It is not difficult, and you will have very little to think about.

Once you have the golf swing you have always dreamed about, and learn to watch the ball for long enough you will hit wonderful golf shots that will surprise and thrill you.

4. Your short game must be one where you have a mental confidence and positive attitude that will enable you to be successful in the shots you choose to make.

You have to have a fighting attitude around the greens.

You have to learn how to have a totally positive attitude when you really need one.

The golf swing is a little different for these shots.

You will begin to look forward to making those shots from just off the green knowing that you will get the ball near the hole 90% of the time. (Nothing is 100%).

5. Your putting must be top drawer too. You must have a technique that allows you to be close to the hole when putting from a distance, and one that allows you to sink most puts from within 5 feet.

If you sink every 5 footer, you will cut down the number of puts you are having on your rounds of golf and your score will be lower as a consequence.

My method of putting, which in total frustration I worked out for myself, will help you immensely in this aspect of the game.

I showed this method to a friend recently, and she was ecstatic and could not wait to get to her putter to try out the technique.

She rang me after her next round of golf, and stated that my method was so logical, and so successful for her, that she could not understand why others have not thought of it too. It really is quite revolutionary.

Don