For any golfer who wants to play great golf
Posts tagged Practice
Twelve Days at the Academy (Golf Channel)
Dec 7th
Since this blog is focused on getting better, let’s take a look at the Golf Channel’s 12 Days at the Academy. What I have been doing is recording the shows onto my DVR and then watching them for the most solid information. Since we all are all working on different parts of the game and we have different strengths and weaknesses you may not agree entirely with me on my assessment.
The episodes I have so far are: Michael Breed, Brandel and Frank, Martin Hall, Greg Normal, Mediate and Ballard, Annika Sorenstam, and Sean Foley.
Strong Episodes
For me, the two most impactful episodes have been Brandel and Frank and Sean Foley.
I was surprised at how good and useful Brandel and Frank’s content was for players of any level. The they did a terrific job showing impact and providing drills. My favorite drill was dragging the club from a foot and half behind the ball.
The other episode that made an impact was Sean Foley’s. I am a big fan of the swings of Hunter Mahan and Sean O’Hair. They both have awesome rotational swings, and hit the ball a long way and accurately. What I like that Sean Foley did was emphasize hitting it solid by hitting the ball first and minizing sway away from the ball. He said you there is lateral movement in the golf swing but you want to it to be toward the target. This episode works really well with the Brandel and Frank’s episode on Impact Position.
Unfortunately I was less than enthusiastic about the other episodes. I felt that Annika’s, Rocco’s were for the most part aimed at higher handicap golfers. There’s nothing wrong with that but I personally got very little out of them.
Weak Episodes
Michael Breed’s episode was middle of the road for me. Not fantastic but not bad. He had some very good things to say about spin, and his demonstration of how left to right spin cuts distance was solid. I also like the tip his dad gave him about feeling like he’s swinging in a shampoo bottle to improve tempo.
Martin Hall
Although I liked a lot of what he has to say about the golf swing, he is a bit quirky for me. Understandably he seemed a little bit nervous as this is a huge moment and opportunity for him. However I found him to be very gadget focused. Not many people will go out and build a swing plane, attach lasers to their clubs, or build the bungee cord contraption. That being said he made a lot of valid points aimed, in my opinion at the mid and high handicapper.
Overall I’ve enjoyed the series so far and I’m looking forward to see what Player, Palmer and Nicklaus have to say, along with Dave Stockton.
What are your thoughts? Do you like the show? What is the most important thing you have learned from it?
Sometimes in golf we need to unlearn before we can learn
Jun 14th
The last couple of weeks have been up and down in terms of my scores, but I have learned some very valuable lessons along the way.
In my last five rounds I have two of my best scores for the season, two of my worst, and an average round. What does that tell you? It tells me that golf is a game of patience. You can’t control the outcome. You can only control your process.
Golf is interesting because you can’t force a good shot, you can only let it happen, but you can definitely do a lot of things to create bad shots. The opposite of that is what I think sports psychologists call “getting out of your own way”.
Over the last few weeks I’ve kept plugging away and practicing what I learned from my coach Eben Dennis. What’s interesting is that little by little the pieces are coming together, but only because I’m still working on them. Most golfers, when they take a lesson, or try to make a swing change, take a short term approach. I don’t think they do it on purpose, but I think they get frustrated when they are not getting results. So they start to think that what they were learning doesn’t work. It might be because they tried to take it to the golf course and when it failed there, they assumed the idea or concept is broken. They dump it and start working on another idea, trying a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. But what if it wasn’t the idea or concept that was broken? What if they just didn’t take the time they needed to really get it?
You can’t become a better player if you’re constantly trying and throwing out ideas. Some things take a while to learn. And sometimes, we need to unlearn before we can learn. Drop bad habits so that you can make room for good habits.
One of these bad habits I had, which I didn’t even realize was that I was re gripping my club during the swing. I’m not sure if it was on the back swing or on the downswing, but at impact, the club was in a very different position from where it started in my hands. Here’s the thing though, I didn’t figure this out until a few weeks after seeing Eben. And once I figured it out, I needed to unlearn this habit, before I could pick up the habit of maintaining my grip in the same position throughout the swing.
Now that I’ve worked on it, there is one less compensation to make and this has made a world of difference. It has taught me to use the club as it was designed to be used. Sounds like a simple and common sense statement doesn’t it? Use the club as it was intended to be used. But the truth is that few very few golfers actually do that. They use it as they think it’s supposed to be used, not as it was actually intended to be used and there’s a big difference. If you go to the driving range you will see golfer after golfer, chopping away at the ball. You’ll see them get into all kinds of contortions as they make compensations to get the club on the ball.
But the truth is that the club was not designed to require all these compensations and extra effort at the ball. It was designed for ease of use to let the ball get in the way, and to use the loft and the club head to do the work as the ball simply bounces of the club face. Think about that for a few minutes. Marinade your mind in that thought. The ball bounces off the face of the club, no extra effort needed and no need to chop at it.
This morning’s round is a sign that I’m working on the right things. I shot a 76, that could easily have been a 70 if only a few more putts had gone in. This round simply ramps up my determination to continue to work with the concepts I’ve been learning. Control, Vision and Dynamic balance. Get Power Feel Golf to understand what these mean in the golf swing.
Get to know your tendencies
May 10th
While I’ve been playing pretty consistent golf, I have not been practicing my long game as much. I think one of the things that happens when you play a lot of golf without going to the driving range is that you can start to get into some bad habits. For me, it was with my setup. I noticed it yesterday in my first driving range session in a while.
The first thing I noticed was that my setup didn’t feel right. After a bit more careful thought I determined that it was my shoulder alignment. My shoulders were a bit open. I had to consciously set myself up properly and once I did that my shots straightened out bit and the ball would start either right on line, or slightly right of target and draw back in.
I think it’s important to know what our tendencies are and to try to develop better habits. My shoulders opening up at address is a tendency that I have and it creeps back in if I don’t watch my setup. It can also creep into my putting and send putts off line.
However knowing that it is a tendency allows me to be on the lookout for it and the place to make those changes is on the practice tee. If you build good habits on the practice tee you can take them to the course.
Often when you read about tour players going to see their instructors, you might notice that they talk about working on their fundamentals. Setup, grip, ball position, etc. Even tour players can let their own tendencies creep into their game and a good instructor will notice that happening and begin to correct them. I read recently that Kenny Perry was having some problems with his driving. He was getting stuck and had the club coming from too far inside and as a result he was losing distance. His ball position with the driver had slowly crept for forward. Once he recognized that, he was able to get his ball position back into a better place for him, and his driving improved.
Gain more confidence by challenging your fears and doubts
May 9th
A sure way to ruin a golf shot is to step up to it and hit without being fully committed to the shot. There are a number of reasons that can cause us to not commit to the shot.
Sometimes it’s our equipment. There’s a 4 wood in my bag that doesn’t fit my swing anymore. My irons and driver have an x-stiff shaft and this 4w has a stiff voodoo SVS7. It just seems and feels out of place now. I feel like I need to make too much of an adjustment to my swing to hit it well. So when I have a 235 yard show where it would be appropriate I hesitate. This happened recently and I’ve decided not to repeat the mistake.
The hesitation is, I believe, my body telling me not to use the club. Even on the practice tee it feels strange now and it really doesn’t feel like it belongs in my bag now. I used to love hitting this club but as my swing has evolved, my equipment changes with it, and that’s what has happened with my irons and driver.
Not being comfortable with the equipment can cause hesitation. The result of this is usually a less than committed swing that tries to compensate for the discomfort. And this often leads to bad shots. It’s what Doc Joseph Parent calls an “anyway.” A shot that you hit “anyway” even though you feel uncomfortable about it.
One the other hand, I really love the way my irons play now. It’s taken me a little bit to get adjusted to the stiffer shafts, but the ball flight and consistency have made it all worth it. This gives me so much confidence when I get ready to hit a shot that it becomes very easy to see the shot in mind, and hit it.
There are other things that can cause less than full commitment to a shot. This is not a complete list but I think these are some of the major reasons:
- Not knowing the right distances to play to, especially if the green or target is up hill or down hill.
- Not knowing exactly how to calculate the effect of the wind.
- Having a difficult or very long forced carry.
- Having a very difficult lie in the rough or even the fairway like when the ball is in a divot.
- Being unsure of the speed of the greens.
One of the best ways to eliminate many of these doubts is to practice hitting from difficult lies. The more experience you get escaping from difficult lies the more confidence you’ll have in approaching those shots.
One of the things I see that I think really holds golfers from becoming better is when they improve their lies in recreational rounds and then go out and play a tournament. If they don’t ever practice out of those difficult lies, they won’t know how the ball is going to react out of them. So right away, they put themselves at big disadvantage in competition.
Challenging your fears and doubts
Learn to get excited about practicing the shots that make you nervous and you’ll become a better golfer. Make a game of it. See how many times you can get up and down from a difficult shot.
Try to eliminate the doubts and recognize why they happen. Sometimes the doubts come from a lack of experience with a type of shot, other times they come because you’re body is telling you that something is not quite right, as when the equipment doesn’t fit you. These doubts can be overcome but in either case it’s very helpful to deal with them.
New strategy for effortless golf has surprising results
Apr 29th
Today was one of the great practice sessions. Even though I set out to do something I was practicing on the simulator, I ended up going in a completely different direction with my driving range session.
At home I had been practicing with the driving range portion of my golf simulator . I noticed that I had difficulty squaring the face, but once I concentrated on having an inside path and getting the face slightly closed at impact I hit beautiful draws.
I wanted to see how that would translate on the driving range I go to, to hit actual golf balls. So I started out doing that, and quickly got bored of it. I followed an intuition I had and instead practiced in a different way.
I started with the pitching wedge and picked out a target about 75 yards away. And the thought I had in preparing for the swing was this “What is the smoothest slowest full swing I can do to hit it to that target 75 yards away.” So I felt the smooth swing in my body, and then did the same thing with a golf ball. That smooth swing created a gorgeous pitching wedge shot. It arced high, and went right at the my aim point but effortlessly carried to 130 yards.
I felt no effort in the swing. In fact, it almost felt as if there was anti-effort. That was interesting so I wondered if I could do that consistently. I hit about 10 more shots, to the exact spot give or take a couple of feet. The ball just exploded off the face and the sound was completely different from the way it sounded at the beginning of the session.
Earlier in the session I had been trying the ideas from the simulator session and I was hitting my 7 iron about 165. I wondered if it would work the 7 iron. I grabbed my 7 iron and picked out a spot 125 yards from me on the line I wanted to hit the shot to. Again I thought, what is the easiest smoothest and slowest swing that will take it to 125. Once I felt that I had it, I stepped up to the ball. The swing felt slow and smooth, and the ball sailed to 175 yards, bouncing off the back of the green at the range. Again it felt effortless. I was trying to do less and ended with a better result.
Have you ever experienced this? Give it a shot, I think you’ll like it.
30 Day Challenge: Wedges – Day 5
Mar 31st
The last few days of practice were pretty much rained out by one of the seemingly many tropical storms that’s hitting the north east. Luckily the skies will clear up for about a week.
I continued to practice short shots at the range, devoting 80% of the bucket of balls to them.
The positive thing is that my distance control is becoming better. I can get pretty close to the distances I want with virtually any club. For example there is a green out on the range at 126 yards. I can hit it pretty consistently with the following clubs 52* sand wedge, PW, 9i, 8i, 7i. I’m finding that although the 52* can get it there, in fact it can land at about 130. It gets a super high ball flight. It’s one of those shots that’s much better if there is no wind. I’m finding it’s easier to hit consistently with the pw or even 9 iron because the trajectory is more controllable. With those clubs, the shots feel like half shots almost, but the trajectory is nice, and the ball gets a lot of spin, though I’m not trying to put a lot of spin on it.
I’m still working on accuracy. Although I’m getting a good feel for the distances, I tend to miss a bit left or right depending on the target. I think that’s simply a matter of working with it. It continues to be a lot of fun and I know my accuracy will improve. I’m not missing by much, so that is exciting.
I hit the last 20 balls with some longer irons, hybrid, and woods. My rhythm was better and I hit some fantastic irons and some really good hybrids. The driver is the one club that continues to give me a bit of inconsistency but I’m not too worried about that as I don’t need to hit driver all that much to play well. Still, it would be nice to get the driver in better shape. I hit some great ones and some poor ones, but even the poor ones would be in play.
I also felt something interesting on my best shots. It felt as if time slowed down at the top of the backswing. It was kind of strange, but it also felt really in sync.
Control distance with trajectory
Mar 30th
There are many excellent reasons to learn to control your distance with trajectory. Here are some of my favorites:
- Not every shot is a full shot. The more you can learn to master partial shots, the more control you’ll have approaching greens.
- Dealing with the wind. Lower trajectory shots fly better in the wind and are less likely to be taken off line. Have a short shot and it’s a windy day? Take more club and use a partial shot to take the wind out of play.
- Helps your short game. Partial shots are all about feel, control and imagination, learn to do this and it will make your wedge game and short irons so much more effectively. It will also open up more of the green enabling you to play safer shots to tucked pins and still get the ball close.
- Learn solid contact. Partial shots require you to stay within yourself. The more you practice these the more you’ll learn to feel how a solid shot feels. Trust me, it transfers to your long game and full shots and makes you a better ball striker with every club.
Take the 30 day challenge: wedges and learn how to control your irons and wedges with more imagination and creativity. You’ll learn valuable things that will help your entire game and make you a better player.
How to warm up properly to play your best golf
Mar 20th
Do you ever show up to golf course only minutes before your tee time, dash to give yourself a quick stretch, take 2 swings, and then hit your first tee shot deep into the woods, OB or in the rough? Does this happen all the time?
How can we give ourselves the best opportunity to play well? How can you expect to play well without giving yourself an adequate warm up?
I want to offer a different way to warm up for your round of golf. It’s going to be designed to help you quickly get into the groove so that you can play your best.
First, let’s talk about what the purpose of the warm up is.
Certainly part of the warm-up should be designed to get your body moving. Golf after all is an athletic activity. It requires coordination, flexibility and strength (to varying degrees). Any tightness in your muscles will affect how you play.
The other part of the warm up is to prepare you for the round you are about to play. You want to see what your swing is doing that day, and you want to give your self the best opportunities to play well without having to think about mechanics on the golf course. Any sports psychologist or mental game coach will tell you that thinking about mechanics while you’re doing the activity will lead to decreased performance. So how do we give ourselves the best opportunity to play well.
I’m going to share a routine that works well for me. But I want you to understand what I’m trying to accomplish with it. I want to eliminate 2 variables from the warm up so that we can get off to a great start. I also want to make sure that we engage the imagination and feel parts of our brain. This will help us on the golf course.
Eliminate the variables
The first variable I want to eliminate in the warm-up is club length.
Why would I want to do that?
The average golfer does not practice nearly enough to have a consistent swing. This is a big reason their handicaps have not improved in the last 20 years. If you are constantly changing the length of the club, than you are going to need to constantly adjust. When you don’t practice enough, it becomes difficult to make those adjustments quickly. By warming up with the same club, a 6 or 7 iron only for the first part of it, you have a consistent ball position, a consistent bottom of the arc, and a consistent length of the club. By not having to adjust to changing those variables you can more easily get a true sense for what your swing is doing that day. You can also groove consistency.
The next variable I want to eliminate is loft.
Again by warming up with the same club you can groove consistency. You can get some rhythm. And you can prepare to play great golf.
Engaging Feel and Imagination
So I’ve taken away two variables. But what I do want to do is really get your feel and imagination warmed up and ready for play on the golf course. When you watch the best players in the world, you will find that each shot is unique. They are normally not playing the same stock shot every shot. Each shot has a unique trajectory, curve and target.
I’m not going to expect the average golfer to practice unique trajectory, curve and target but I do want to engage feel and imagination. So here is what to do.
With your 6 or 7 iron you are going to hit to different distances, straight out in front of you.
Take a few balls and hit between 3 and 5 to each distance below.
15 yds
30 yds
50 yds
80 yds
100 yds
120 yds
150 yds
By starting with short chips and moving to longer shots you began to engage feel and imagination. You need to try and feel the length of the shot. Your imagination becomes engaged in the process. Starting with shorter shots also builds your consistency. As you strike short shots accurately your confidence goes up. If after moving to the next distance you see shorts start to go off line, take a few balls and hit some short ones again, get that feeling solid and return to hitting the longer shots but with that solid feel in mind.
After doing this first part of the warm up, you should be ready to hit some longer clubs including driver. Maintain the feeling you had when you were hitting crisp shots with your 6 or 7 iron and you should see improved ball striking on the course. For more on practicing see managing your expectations on the golf course or using your natural auto pilot to play your best golf .
Review: Divot Mat
Mar 8th
The DivotMat is an excellent practice/training aid. It identifies your impact characteristics in a unique way for indoor or outdoor use.
The Divot Mat consists of a few key pieces. 1) The Divot Mat Sheets, 2) The Divot Pad (Lie Board), 3) The Divot Mat, a soft mat on which to put the Divot Pad including velcro strips to fasten it securely to the mat, 4) 2 DVDs with instructional information.
The Divot Mat sheets have 9 golf balls printed on them that serve as the focal point for your shot. When you swing and hit the mat, your club leaves a trail mark on the Divot Mat. This trail shows where the club first hit the mat, how long the divot is, and the direction of the divot. These 3 things enable you to see whether you are hitting the ball fat, thin or just right, and whether you have an inside-out swing, outside-in, or straight swing path.
Zen Chili Rating for The Divot Mat
5 Zens out of 5
• Easy to use, provides instant understandable feedback
• Can help someone focus on the divot instead of the ball
• Use anywhere you can swing an iron.
• Good DVD explaining common faults and fixes.
5 Chilis out of 5
•Mat is well constructed.
•Divot Sheets are refillable, durable, and good for about 40 swings each.
• Affordable.
• Nice carrying case.
• Well thought out package and design.
The sheets are very sturdy and definitely stand up to the impact from the club without tearing. The divots are clear, although it can get harder to see your last impact if the sheet is already pretty marked up. The company sells refill sheets that come in packs of 36. They recommend using each sheet 30 to 40 times, which means a refill pack should last about 3 months.
It’s very easy to use, though I recommend putting it on a mat or carpet. Do not the Divot Pad off hardwood floors or concrete. The sheets stick to the Divot Board through some double sided tape. It’s a piece of cake to take a sheet off and put a new one on. Then start swinging your irons and look at the divots. The feedback is instantaneous and easy to understand.
It’s a great practice tool that can help sharpen up anyone’s game.
Check out DivotMat website for more information.
30 Day Challenge – Day 12 – Balance in the golf swing continued
Feb 23rd
So yesterday I began talking about balance in the swing. My main concern was that thinking about my spine angle would put the focus where it shouldn’t be and take me away from visualizing, feeling and executing the shot.
I did quite a bit of work today on balance and naturally creating the setup without having it be contrived. The results are very encouraging.
Using a mirror, I practice a balanced setup. What I found was that when I comfortably and naturally got setup to the ball everything did in fact get setup properly. My spine was at the right tilt and I felt comfortable. I felt no confusion the way I did yesterday. I spent some time with Eben to understand how to get into that position naturally and that time spent is paying off.
My body felt in a dynamic athletic position that was ready to swing without compensations. It definitely felt different from what I’ve been doing.
As I said yesterday in martial arts you spend a lot of time working on balance. Being out of balance, means being inefficient. Being in balance leads to efficiency. I never really understood how that applied to golf until yesterday and today.
So what else have I felt since this change?
The club felt lighter. My body seemed to resists less, because it was setup in a nice position. I also felt more freedom to move through the swing. It was a different sensation and it felt great. I will keep posting about balance. Tomorrow hopefully I’ll be able to hit some golf balls and get some ball flight feedback.
