On The Tee with Hank Johnson

Play Within Yourself : What does it mean?
Key: You must know what you can consistently do. ie. What tools do you have in your tool box? You can’t use a tool you don’t have.
You don’t play golf with your BEST shots. You play golf with your AVERAGE shots.
Testing system:
Average fairway is 40 yards wide. Add 10 yards on each side for the "first cut".
Mark this off in your practice area.
Hit 10 balls each with your driver, fairway woods and hybrids and chart the results.
Use data to determine your most effective driving club and most effective long advancement clubs.
On the course, be aware that fairways have narrow areas where they are pinched in by bunkers, cut lines and other features.
The average green is about 20 yards or 60 feet wide at its widest point. It’s also about the same depth from the front to back at its deepest point.
If you have a green this size in your practice area, great! Use it to test yourself from different yardages. If not, then mark off a "green" this size to use for testing yourself. Make it 20 yards wide and 20 yards deep.
Hit 10 shots from 100, 125 and 150 yards with the club you would use on the course. Chart the results.
To play "within yourself", use the data you collect with this testing procedure.
Don’t attempt to hit shots or clubs that you can’t consistently produce acceptable results with.