Long Game
The long game comprises all full swings from the tee and from the ground — drive, woods and long irons.
The long game is the one half of the game of golf, the short game around the green the other. It begins with the drive from the tee and comprises all shots with woods, hybrids and the longer irons. Its task is distance and position: the ball should travel as far as possible towards the hole while staying in a good spot. It is practised almost always on the driving range, where you can train full swings with targets and benchmarks. What matters is not absolute length but repeatability under pressure.
An example from the round: par 5, 480 metres. Your long game breaks the hole down into three parts: tee shot onto the fairway, 5 wood to near the green, the rest short game. Whoever strikes the second shot cleanly plays for birdie; whoever mishits it saves par from the rough. The long game also shows in the small things: a fairway hit gives you clean ball contact on the next shot, twenty metres more in the rough achieve nothing. That is why the straight ball almost always beats the long wild one.
The classic mistake of many amateurs is one-sided practice: hour after hour on the range, only full swings, while the short game withers. Yet well over half of all shots in a round fall within fifty metres around the green. The second mistake is exaggerated swing speed: from the wish for more length the swing becomes stiff and the balance tips. A controlled swing with a solid moment of impact beats the forced power act almost always, in length and in direction. So build your training on both halves of the game, not only on the loud one.
FAQ
Which clubs should I practise the long game with best?
Train the drive from the tee as well as woods, hybrids and longer irons from the ground — exactly these shots make up the long game. On the driving range you practise them with targets and benchmarks, not only for distance. More important than absolute length is that you can repeat your swing under pressure.
Is the long game more important than the short game?
No, that is a widespread error: well over half of all shots in a round fall within fifty metres around the green, in other words in the area of the short game. Whoever practises only full swings wastes most shots there. Build your training on both halves of the game.
Why do I lose length although I swing harder?
Because a forced swing tips the balance and worsens the moment of impact — from the wish for more length the swing becomes stiff, but the contact becomes impure. A controlled swing with a solid strike almost always beats the power act in length and direction. Twenty metres more in the rough also give you less than a fairway hit with a clean next shot.