TaylorMade Golf
Tiger Woods and Nelly Korda are two of the greatest golfers to ever play the game. They are scarily accurate from inside 120 yards with their wedges and this new video from TaylorMade Golf is likely to be *the one thing* that makes you a better golfer as we head into Summer.
I recently went on a bucket list golf trip with friends to Bandon Dunes in Oregon where we got in 6 rounds across Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails, Old Mac, Shorty’s, Sheep Ranch, and Bandon Dunes for a second time to round it out… Going into that trip I worked more on my physical fitness in the gym, pounding weights and doing cardio, to plan for the 12+ miles of walking a day across the hilly/dunes conditions and afterward it was evident to me I should have been working on my short game more.
Tiger Woods says it at the beginning of this video, “if you want to improve your game this is where you need to spend the most of your time.” If Tiger Woods and Nelly Korda are giving you advice like that then you would be a FOOL not to listen. So here is the video with some notes/recap below:
One of my biggest takeaways from this video is, despite Nelly Korda being just 26-years-old she has the wealth of knowledge of a professional golfer 3x her age. Her understanding of the game of golf is so deep that she continued to amaze Tiger Woods, the G.O.A.T. throughout.
The talk about the stance… In the first shot, the ball sat ‘two balls below her feet’ which Nelly Korda astutely pointed out that the ball “tends to go a little bit more right” when it is below your feet. Despite growing up in Florida and playing golf in virtually flat courses for most of my life, this was one of the first lessons I remember learning but it only really came into play when a ball was leaning against a false dune or the edge of a bunker.
Tiger Woods And Nelly Korda’s Advice For Scoring Better Inside 100 Yards
(1) Adjusting your stance to how the ball is laying is crucial. That might sound simple and it is something many golfers take for granted and adjust intuitively but when addressing the ball it is crucial to always adjust accordingly.
(2) “I never hit my shots 100%.” — Nelly Korda. That is something the vast majority of average golfers, myself included, need to remember when we hit the links on the weekend. There is always an urge to beat the stripes off the ball but when Tiger Woods and Nelly Korda, two of the greatest ball strikers in the history of golf, discuss “never” hitting 100% then we ALL need to listen and incorporate that into our own golf games.
(3) There are always multiple paths to similar results. Hearing Tiger Woods and Nelly Korda talk through the 113-yard shot around 3:55 is incredible. Tiger Woods would have a completely different point of aim, ball flight, and shot selection than Nelly started with but she was then able to easily emulate the shot that Tiger spelled out for her.
(4) Ball flight is crucial even in Florida which has considerably less wind than other states. When I was out at Bandon Dunes we faced 50+ MPH gusts on Sheep Ranch in a round that had such extreme weather I found myself questioning everything in life. It was awesome but man, it was tough. And had I even put in the *tiniest bit of practice* with varying ball flights I would have scored significantly better not only in that round but every single round I played in Oregon. Even from inside 100 yards, controlling your ball flight is crucial when it comes to spin and landing zone.
One thing I find interesting here is they never mention the ‘bounce’ of the wedges which is something you hear mid-handicappers constantly discuss but Tiger Woods and Nelly Korda either didn’t think to mention it or they’re so accustomed to their wedges it’s a non-issue for them.