The Golf Swing Blog - Golf Instruction and Golf Lessons for Golfers

Wow! Was that a fantastic golf match or what? Tiger and Rocco – Player e Player for 19 holes. That’s about as good as it can get.

But, I’m sure you’ve had your fill of hearing and talking about the match. Enough about them already - let’s get to your golf game. What could you take away from the US Open to help your golf game – and I’m not talking about one of Johnny Miller’s tips.

I believe that many people were rooting for Rocco because they could relate to him more than they could relate to Tiger. You don’t see Tiger struggling as much with his game, he makes shots that you could only dream of and he’s super long off the tee. And although Tiger has had to work and has worked harder than anyone on the planet to earn his superior skill – many people don’t see that and don’t understand that it’s not natural born talent that makes him so great as much as it is that he works harder than anyone on his golf game. And to back this up about Tiger's determination, look at what he battled through with his knee - which has now officially sidelined him for the year.

Though, people are able to relate to Rocco because he isn’t considered a world class athlete - he’s not 6 foot 2 and chiseled. And although he’s listed at 6 foot 1 – that’s a measurement that I’m willing to debate and put it down as Rocco must’ve been wearing extra long spikes the day the PGA Tour execs had him stand against the measuring stick – nobody would look at Rocco on the street and say to themselves: this guy has to be a Professional Athlete.

Let alone, here’s a guy with major back issues and up until a few years ago was pretty much 40 pounds overweight – he kind of had the body of fellow PGA Tour Player Tim Herron (who earned the nickname Lumpy - one bite at a time). But Rocco had to do something about it because the extra weight in his front was putting too much pressure on his back. So to his credit, Rocco went on a program of strengthening his core and losing pounds.

What strikes me most about Rocco was that in the biggest round of his life, he was 4 over par after 10 holes. Which, to many people reading this, would be the round of your life. Yet, to a PGA Tour Player playing on center stage – making Bogey on almost half your holes might be equivalent to a Golfer who averages 90 to scoring 50 on the front 9 and then making Double Bogey on 10 to start the back 9.

This translates into the 90 Golfer not being very happy with their golf game after their first 9 holes and then making things worse on #10 with the Double Bogey. And this unfortunately still happens after using the time it takes to get from the green on 9 to the tee box on 10 convincing yourself that things might turn around on the second 9 holes.

But now at this point with the Double Bogey erasing any glimmer you might’ve had of a resurrecting back 9 – most Golfers would throw in the towel and start the unforgiving self-talk of – ‘my game sucks’. Which is often followed-up by a couple of Bogeys, a few more Double Bogeys, a Triple Bogey on the 17th hole and then of course the infamous, ‘why can’t I just do this all the time’ Par on 18.

Yet, that wasn’t what Rocco did. Being 3 down to the best Player that ever lived – knowing that his talent isn’t even close to that of the great one – when everybody watching said to themselves after he made Bogey on the 10th hole: ‘That’s it. Here goes Tiger; he’s going to win again. It’s over.”

Rocco didn’t throw in the towel like so many Golfers that you might know repeatedly do week after week.

He Birdies 4 of the next 5 holes. Wow! Which is equivalent to the 90 Golfer I spoke about above making Par on 4 of the next 5 holes – so that now you’re only 17 over after 15 holes. Which might not be your best round ever, but you’re still on track to break 90. And at the very worst – if you Bogey the next 3 holes, you will have scored at about your average by shooting a 92. Which after 10 holes – you would’ve thought impossible!

How many times have you thrown in the towel before the round was over?

There are so many times that Golfers start making stupid decisions on the golf course because they’re not happy with the way they’re playing. They abandon their PLAN because in their mind they’ve played 9 or 10 bad holes – although, that same PLAN that they abandoned was the catalyst that allowed them to move from a 100 Golfer last year to a 90 Golfer this year.

You only had a bad score for 9 holes – big deal! Live with it. If it can happen to Rocco – it can happen to you!

And the funny thing is that all 9 holes probably weren’t bad. It was probably only 4 bad holes caused by 4 or 5 bad shots. With the other 5 holes being played at about average. But since you’re too focused on your score for 9 holes – you tell yourself that you played all 9 holes badly.

Rocco could’ve abandoned his PLAN. He still would’ve been carried away on everybody’s shoulders as a hero for what he had already accomplished. Nobody expected him to be where he was. He could’ve just given up like 9 out of 10 Golfers do after a bad first 10 holes. Nobody would’ve said anything negative about him because nobody expected much from him going up against The Greatest Golfer of All Time – except for maybe Rocco.

Use Rocco and what he did as your guardian angel the next time you start your round playing at a lower level than what you were expecting from yourself. You never know when it’ll turn around. The key is that if you abandon your PLAN – ‘it ain’t gonna turn around’; it’s just going to get worst and more torturous every hole. So you might as well just stick with your PLAN.

The Monkey abandons their PLAN and starts to make bad decisions every time they play if they don’t start off each round as if it’s going to be their best ever

The Player chants ‘Rocco, Rocco, Rocco’

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Here We Come Toronto, Canada

GMS is excited to announce that we'll be conducting GMS Programs in Toronto this summer! Along with hosting 2 and 3 day Level 2 GMS Programs that are open to returning GMS Golfers that have seen us in Florida, California and Arizona - we'll also be hosting Level 1 Programs for Golfers that haven't been to see us yet.

Why Toronto? Well the Toronto area is the 3rd biggest supplier of Golfers to Golf Made Simple's programs in Florida, California and Arizona. So when we received the opportunity to come ‘North of the Border' this summer – we jumped at the chance

We heard a lot of "You need to open up in Toronto because I'll be your #1 client" and "If you ever come to Toronto, I'm sure all my friends will sign-up!" Well Toronto, here we come!

For dates, rates and location of our facility in the Toronto area – just give us a telephone call at 1-888-580-3635 or email at IWantToBe@GolfMadeSimple.com.

Labels: Canada, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Golf Video, Rocco Mediate, Tiger Woods, Toronto

So we have one more tournament on the PGA Tour until everybody whips themselves into frenzy the following week at the US Open in San Diego, California. I associate the US Open with being in the heart of golf season – so that may mean that Golfers are starting to get into their weekly games and enjoying life.

I believe there a few things you should be observing when watching the US Open on television. One of which is the Players making their PLAN before each shot. I'd like for you to take notice and compare how you do it, versus how they do it.

The common Golfer walks (or drives their cart) down the fairway to their golf ball; once at the ball; they find their yardage, look at their clubs and say to themselves – 'I'm 185 yards to the green, that's my 3 iron' – and away they go.

The Player you'll see on television at the US Open will walk down the fairway to their golf ball; they'll get the yardage to the flag; the distance to front of the green; the distance to the back of the green; along with the distance the flag is to the left-side and right-side of the green. The Player will also observe where the trouble is around the green; take into account their predominant ball flight; along with taking into account which way their ball goes when they do hit a bad shot.

Then and only then will they select a club and aim for their shot. How close does that come to how you prepare for each shot?

And although, their golf swings are much better than the common Golfer's golf swing – the main reason the Player doesn't make a slew of Double Bogies and Triple Bogies is that they have a PLAN for every golf shot that's based on their Strengths and Weaknesses.

Yes, there will be people that debate me that the reason the Player has less Doubles and Triples is that they have better golf swings – I won't deny that that's part of the reason. But, it's not the whole reason.

And although the Player has more talent than the common Golfer, one reason they can make better, more confident golf swings for each shot is because they thoroughly PLAN each shot before they even select a club. And additionally, because their PLAN is so well made; that when they do make a bad golf swing; the ball doesn't end up in a position that will leave them the potential to make a Double or Triple Bogey.

The common Golfer just glances at the yardage to the center of the green and hits the club that pertains to that yardage based on making perfect contact with the golf ball. Though, unfortunately, this Golfer has decided the yardage they can hit their 3-iron based solely on a couple of pure hits that they had back in 1993. Yet, they stick with that yardage even though they usually hit the ball short of the green in the bunker or they'll try to get that extra yardage to the green by swinging too hard and ending up in areas of the golf course you rather not be.

Now the Golfer will often times say – 'Well, I don't have a caddie to give me those yardages and I can't take too long to decide what club to use because the other Golfers I play with will be waiting for me.'

Well, you can PLAN if you know when to PLAN and how to PLAN.

No, you don't need to know the exact yardage from the left-side of the green to the flag, but you could and should have a good estimate or even turn it into a fraction. For example: 'The flag appears to be 2/3's across the green'. Which means that 2/3's of the green is to the left of the flag and only 1/3 of the green is to the right of the flag.

If that's the case, which side of the flag should you aim towards?

And the answer isn't straight at the flag. If you do aim at the flag in this scenario, hit a good golf shot, yet the golf ball drifts a little to the right (has that ever happened to you), you'll end up missing the green to the right and possibly short siding yourself with a tough wedge shot. And this is the classic case of you hitting a really good golf shot to the green, but possibly ending up with a Double Bogey.

The Player won't let that happen. The Player in the scenario above would aim to the 2/3's side of the green so that if the ball drifts a little right, it would end up on the green. If it drifts a little to the left, it would also end up on the green.

So yes, there's a big difference in the way the Players in the US Open hit the golf ball versus how you hit the golf ball, but they do make bad golf swings during the course of a round of golf. And those bad swings could lead to disasters when you're playing a golf course set-up for the US Open. But, the top Players won't experience a lot of disasters with their bad shots because they'll have a PLAN to avoid them.

The common Golfer will aim at the flag like they think Tiger Woods would do – yet, in many of those situations Tiger wouldn't be aiming at the flag. Tiger has a PLAN that's based on more factors than just on how far he hits his 3-iron on his very best golf swing.

The Monkey selects their club and shot based solely on the distance to the center of the green


The Player selects their club and shot on a whole lot more

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Here We Come Toronto, Canada

GMS is excited to announce that we'll be conducting GMS Programs in Toronto this summer! Along with hosting 2 and 3 day Level 2 GMS Programs that are open to returning GMS Golfers that have seen us in Florida, California and Arizona - we'll also be hosting Level 1 Programs for Golfers that haven't been to see us yet.

Why Toronto? Well the Toronto area is the 3rd biggest supplier of Golfers to Golf Made Simple's programs in Florida, California and Arizona. So when we received the opportunity to come ‘North of the Border' this summer – we jumped at the chance

We heard a lot of "You need to open up in Toronto because I'll be your #1 client" and "If you ever come to Toronto, I'm sure all my friends will sign-up!" Well Toronto, here we come!

For dates, rates and location of our facility in the Toronto area – just give us a telephone call at 1-888-580-3635 or email at IWantToBe@GolfMadeSimple.com.

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Labels: Canada, driving range, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Travel, Golf Video, Toronto, Video Analysis

Do you want to have your best summer of Golf ever? Then repeat after me – say it out loud so it means more than just it saying to yourself:

"Going ahead from this day forward – I solemnly swear to work on my golf game with the specific goal of improvement. Not a minute of my time will have anything to do with just mindlessly hitting golf ball after golf ball. My game is too important for me to fall into that bad habit.

"From now on, I'm committed to working specifically on the drills that will help me to improve the Weaknesses in my golf swing. I will not just see a golf tip in a golf magazine and decide that this is what I need to work on. I will have to make an honest decision on whether that tip really pertains to my golf swing as opposed to just trying it because it's in the magazine or on television.

"I realize that I need to hit the golf ball better to score better, but I also need to convince myself that 36 putts a round or more is too much. In the past, I've always had the philosophy that my putting is good enough and that I'll start working on it when I get my golf swing more consistent.

"Yet, I've been working on trying to become more consistent for the last 5 years and if I kept that same philosophy, it might be another 5 years before I get to my putting. I need to really stay adamant about this because 36 putts is at least 4 putts too many per round. And really, if I do have only 36 putts a round, it was good putting day for me – in reality I probably average 40 or more putts per round.

"And if I just spend 25% of the time I usually reserved for the driving range and used it for my putting – I could easily go from 40 putts to 32 putts in a short timeframe. Hey, an 8 stroke improvement isn't a bad thing! If you had asked me if I wanted to improve my full swing to improve 8 strokes – I'd be all over that as quick as you could flip a switch, but for some reason – it never meant as much when it came to putting.

"I wonder why Golfers aren't as enthused about improving their putting 8 strokes? Why is it that in the past that improving 8 strokes with my putter didn't seem as appealing as improving 8 strokes with my Driver?

"I mean, 8 strokes is 8 strokes regardless of what area you improve upon.

"My goal is to improve. And the way to see improvement and have it continue through the years is to have a PLAN - that'll allow me to stay focused on what I need to work on. In the past, I've jumped from drill to drill and swing thought to swing thought trying to find "The Magic". Yet, the only thing I found was that I was never happy with my game. From now on – I'm staying focused on the drills that I know are going to improve the Weaknesses in my golf swing!

"Golfers around the world often times become so distracted that they lose focus at the driving range. They fall prey to getting away from their PLAN of improving how they hit the golf ball and get into a ball bashing session that often includes alternating moments of exhilaration; followed closely by long periods of despair.

"Not me anymore – that's the old me. I want to be a Player. And you just can't call yourself a Player and expect to become one – You Need To Earn Player Status!!"

It's easy to read the above – it's a little more difficult to make sure you live by it. Though, if you want to earn Player Status – you need to stay committed as opposed to getting distracted by all the new swing tips that are put in your path each year.

The Monkey says they want to become a Player, yet doesn't commit to a PLAN

The Player reads this GIW over and over and lives it

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com


By the way – Golf Made Simple has just completed our first DVD. After years and years and offers upon offers from people that wanted to produce a DVD for us – we decided we wanted to do it our own way. We've created a DVD to help you become a Player, as opposed to all the other Monkey stuff that's already out there.

Our DVD - How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors – is improvement GMS Style. What's GMS Style? It's a Results Based Approach as opposed to a Theories and Assumptions Based Approach.

Please Click here to purchase through our website or call us at 1 (888) 580 - 3635.

Click here to purchase on Amazon.com

and/or to read the reviews of Golfer's that have purchased the DVD

Labels: Driver, driving range, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Golf Video, Marc Solomon