Why assessment is crucial

FRIDAY, JAN. 18: The key to improvement in your golf game is to assess each individual area using a standardized testing format.

In the full swing a “combine” test is required, which is administered using a Trackman, however this is expensive and time consuming.

A quicker and more effective assessment of the short game and each of its six key areas is a test from which we are able to calculate your overall short-game handicap.

I started this process with the juniors from the Bermuda Junior Golf Association a few weekends ago.

We can quickly identify key areas that require improvement.

If you look at the pictures, you can see we have two circles — one from three feet and one at six feet.

A putt that exceeds six feet has the chances of holing it fall to almost ZERO. So once you hit the ball outside six feet it does not matter whether it’s 15 or 50 feet from the hole.

The closer to the hole the shot is the more points they score.

I have worked with the juniors before and it will be interesting to see if they have improved their scores when we do the tests again in a month’s time.

The Master short game junior currently is Mikus Ming. If you look at players with the best short game they are always the most consistent players.

The weakest part of the juniors’ short game was lob shots and bunkers so this is something we will focus on in our next sessions.

As my good friend Craig Brown would say: “Unless you test, it’s just a guess.”

Paul Adams is the PGA director of golf at Rosewood Tucker’s Point.