Labels: Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, top golf school

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 8:29 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

The building of a golf swing that will allow a Golfer to improve their consistency should be done one step at a time. Unfortunately many Golfers are not willing to accept the one step at a time process – they’re only satisfied when everything “clicks at the same time”. Yet trying to do too much at one time with your golf swing would probably give you the same results as a pile of money being invested in the stock market on October 9th, 2007. Meaning, you aren’t doing so well with what you invested in either venture.

Regardless of what you do in the future with your golf swing – I’ll leave the investment advice to others who are much smarter than I – it maybe a good thing to go back to some important basics once-in-a-while just to make sure you’re allowing yourself to make your best golf swing. And as many eager Golfers are now focused on swing plane, swing path, two lever golf swings, x factors and every other buzz term that has been dreamed up – the question many Golfers should have on the tip of their tongue is “when’s the last time I worked on the foundation of my golf swing?”

Because if those buzz terms are important in order for you to become a good ballstriker – you may have difficulty achieving them if your foundation isn’t stable.

Luckily, in my youth – starting after my Junior Year of High School and continuing for a couple years right after graduation – I was able to spend much of my days doing some construction work. And it didn’t take long to discover one eye opening detail: Roofers really appreciate it when a house has a solid foundation.

Meaning – if the lower part of the house is wobbly – the upper part of the house is even more wobbly. And because many of the roofers I met were still wobbly from the night before – the last thing they wanted was … well nevermind. The point is – think of your golf swing as if it were a house or tall building. If the bottom of your body isn’t secure (or out of balance) – what’s happening with the top half of your body?

So the question I pose to you today is: Is it possible that many of your swing faults are caused by an unsecure foundation?

And as obvious as that is – it isn’t obvious enough to millions of Golfers that struggle round after round, year after year, as they search for a glimmer of consistency. Listen, every Golfer can hit a great golf shot – the key however to playing consistent isn’t the ability to hit one-great-golf-shot-every-once-in-a-while. So yes, even with an unsecure foundation – you can hit a good golf shot. (Just as the stock market is down big time since October 2007 – it has had some good days). Though how many good shots in a row (consistency) can you hit with an unsecure foundation?

As all the smart people in the construction business know – if the foundation of the house isn’t secure – the top of the house is even less secure. And as (hopefully) all the smart people in the golf instruction business know: Your upper body is only as secure as your lower body allows it to be.

So the question that begs to be asked right this second is: How secure is your foundation? And the answer is: It’s probably just as secure as you are consistent. Or to put even more perspective on this, you could say: It’s probably just as unsecure as you are inconsistent.

So, as just about every Golfer that gets in a struggle with their golf swing starts to blame the much over used malady of – “I think I’m coming over the top” – could this “I think I’m coming over the top” problem be triggered by an unsecure foundation? If your bottom isn’t secure – wouldn’t that cause your top to be even more all over the place? And “all over the place” could translate into a “I think I’m coming over the top” golf swing.

This is not to say that all these bad things are caused by an unsecure foundation – it’s just to say: When’s the last time you checked your foundation? This is also not to say that a good solid foundation means not allowing your lower body to move – it has to move – movement is essential in a consistent golf swing.

Now, because I know I’m probably going to get a ration of “Well, instead of telling me what I’m doing wrong – why don’t you tell me what I need to do” emails. First – I’m not telling you what you’re doing wrong because most likely I’ve never seen your golf swing. At this time I personally only work with a handful of special clients - however, I’ve seen enough Golfers to know that many Golfers do have this problem. The other reason I’m bringing this up is that I’m seeing a disturbing trend in the Golf Instruction Kingdom of way too much emphasis being put solely on what’s going on at the top of the golf swing.

And I understand that it just sounds sexier when you’re talking to another Golfer that says: “Yeah, I’m working on bringing my club more from the inside.” Or – “I’m working on a bigger shoulder turn so that I can create more effortless clubhead speed.” I mean there’s not much glamour in saying: “I’m working on having a more secure foundation.” That’s like hearing a friend tell you about their trip last week to the Four Seasons in Maui. And when you’re asked what you did last week, you had to describe your trip to Tallahassee, Florida to help your In-laws paint their house.

Many Golfers are told to work on bringing the golf club down on the inside to prevent from “I think I’m coming over the top”. And regardless of how much a Golfer works on this “move” – many assuredly revert back to the “I think I’m coming over the top” movement. Why? Maybe because that movement that you’re trying to eliminate isn’t being caused by your movement at the top of your golf swing. Maybe it’s being caused by your lack of a stable foundation – which is causing your upper body to compensate, which could be causing you to create a “I think I’m coming over the top” golf swing.

Now Second – I can’t suggest what you need to do to fix this - if you are in fact having a foundation issue - for the same reason: I probably have never seen you swing. Though don’t fret – I think I do have a solution for this.

One of the great, great things a Golfer can do (regardless of if you have a bad foundation or good foundation), is to hit golf balls bare foot. It’s an incredible sensation. First, you quite possibly could discover a lot about your balance even before hitting a golf ball.

Remember, golf shoes are made for comfort. Which means – massive amounts of cushioning. That cushioning for many people doesn’t allow them to feel where their weight is on their feet. Why is that important? That’s part of your foundation!

Second – hitting golf balls without shoes can be an eye opening experience for some people. You may start to feel what exactly you’re doing with your body during your golf swing. Now, I don’t expect many Golfers to try this because I know a lot of Golfers will interpret this is as a stupid thing to do. So, for those Golfers that think its stupid – don’t do it. Though, for the Golfers that are curious – try it – I think you might find out more about your foundation in just a few golf swings than you have in all the years you have been playing.

And just in case you needed a little push – did you know that both Sam Snead and Seve Ballesteros both learned to hit the golf ball (and practiced that way for many years) bare footed? Sam Snead in the hills of Virginia and Seve on the beaches of Santander, Spain.

Or instead of hitting a couple of golf balls bare footed – you could try another method that was floated by me in an email from a Golfer that suggested a way of getting rid of the “I think I’m coming over the top” movement, he said that you could try to improve your swing by: “Slowing you rate of closure so that you wouldn’t be shifting your baseline so much because of your excessive forearm rotation and loss of pressure points – which would help you avoid blocks, hooks, slices and chunks.”

If I were you – I’d choose hitting a couple of golf balls without your shoes.

The Monkey doesn’t think much about their foundation, they’re too concerned with “the important things” in their golf swing

The Player knows that a solid foundation can help with a consistent golf swing

Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

GMS Bonus Material

For Anyone Considering Video Analysis

We have added our report on: “Using Video Analysis To Improve Your Golf Swing” to the Golf Made Simple website for you to download and view.

Just click here to be taken to the download page. It’s easy, it’s free and it’s a pretty extensive report on our findings.

Indoor Putting Drill

If you’d like for us to email you a special Indoor Version of an excellent GMS Putting Drill that you could spend hours on - email us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put ‘Blog’ in the subject line.

Tour Putting Square

Use the Tour Putting Square inside your home to improve your scores. Just send us an email at TourPuttingSquare@GolfMadeSimple.com with the subject: Blog – and we’ll email you how to use this game changing drill.

Swing Drills & Core Training

To view a segment that covers 2 swing drills you can practice inside, plus 3 exercises to strengthen your core - email us at: PushUp@GolfMadeSimple.com with the words ‘Blog’ in the subject line to receive a link and password to access the video segment from our DVD - ‘How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors’

"I Broke The 90 Barrier!"

Marc--

I was able to play my first round today after the GMS session in Lansdowne, VA. I am thrilled to let you know I broke the 90 barrier. I shot 44-42, no triples, 3 doubles, 5 pars and 10 bogies. Thanks to my new confidence around the green, I was down to 34 putts. I only had 2 GIR, but on three holes my ball striking is so much improved over 2 weeks ago, that I went off the back of the green on at least 3 holes. However, chipping back was no problem. Only had 1 bunker, on a par 3, and easily blasted out to the greenside rough just off the green (level 2 sand player), and then chipped to within 3 feet to save bogey.

Since this last GMS class, I am hitting between 1 and 2 clubs longer and playing with much more confidence.

Please forward this e-mail to Sam and let him know I am one happy PLAYER today.

Best regards,

Ed H - Lafayette, Pennsylvania - Sent June 7th, 2009

Attended Washington DC location on May 29th to 31st, 2009

"From A 19 To A 15 Handicap In 2 Months!"

Hi GMS,

I just wanted to say "hi" and tell you my game is getting better.

My handicap was a 19 and now it is a 15. I am getting on more greens in regulation and I can "feel" my good swing. I no longer have a day where I can never find the good swing. I am practicing more often and trying to warm up before I go out with some of the drills we were taught.

Hope all is well in Florida - Vermont is beautiful for the next few months - we will play a lot of golf.

Susan T - Braintree, Vermont - Sent June 17th, 2009

Attended Amelia Island location on April 20th to 22nd, 2009

Share Your Golf Made Simple Testimonials | Click Here

"Please Buy Golf Magazine"

Excerpted from Classic GIW Issue 167 - July 12th, 2006

"So I'm sitting around and somehow a Golf Magazine gets thrown in my lap. "What's this?" I say. "It's the August Issue of Golf Magazine - the worlds most widely read golf publication" a friendly voice says. "Well why are you giving it to me?"

"I thought you might like to read it. I mean, everybody reads this magazine. They have loads of tips and the very best Golf Instructors in the world contribute to it. Have you ever read a Golf Magazine?"

"I try to forget about those Monkey Days of my youth!"

"Well there's an article in this magazine that you might like to read. It's called …. "

Continue reading the rest of this Classic GIW - Click Here

Click on any of the dates listed below to send an email request for more information

Upcoming Dates Golf Made Simple

Washington DC - Virginia

July 24th to 26th

July 28th to 30th

July 31st to August 2nd

August 4th to 6th

August 7th to 9th

To see other available dates for our Washington DC Location beyond the dates listed above Click Here

Lake Tahoe, California

July 24th to 26th - Level 1.5

July 27th to 29th

July 31st to August 2nd

August 3rd to 5th

August 10th to 12th

To see other available dates for our Lake Tahoe location beyond the dates listed above Click Here

Denver, Colorado

July 27th to 29th

July 31st to August 2nd

August 3rd to 5th

August 7th to 9th

August 10th to 12th

To see other available dates for our Denver, Colorado location beyond the dates listed Click Here

Click to see available dates for our other GMS locations:

Florida:

Boca Raton - Tampa - Amelia Island - St Augustine

California:

Palm Springs/La Quinta

Arizona:

Phoenix

Photos Of Recent GMS Classes

Kaia J., Ruth M., Tom W., Len S.

Washington DC | June 5th to 7th| 2009

Gareth K., Dawn K., Gerri P., Jim C.

Boca Raton, Florida| May 15th to 17th | 2009

Bob S., Scott B.

Lake Tahoe, California| June 29th to August 1st | 2009

Have you attended a GMS Program and would like your Photo?

Send an email to myplayerphoto@golfmadesimple.com
include your 'name, location and program dates'.

There's Nothing As Good As A Golf Tip!

As you may have read in the last GIW – Marc wrote ‘Do You Take Golf Tips From Strangers’. And in many past GIW’s, he has written about how many Golfers have gotten worse after listening, reading or watching a Golf Tip. So to hear your feedback on golf tips - we’re looking for the Worst Golf Tip you have ever heard. So we’d like to start compiling a list of the worst Golf Tips Of All Time. Now, maybe this is a Golf Tip that helped a friend of yours, but when you tried it – you had bad results. It could be something you heard from an Instructor, or from someone at a cocktail party, or something you read in a magazine or on the Internet. The key is that it's a Golf Tip that you have tried – not something that you heard, but just sounded stupid. It has to be something that you tried and caused you to actually start hitting the golf ball worse after doing so. When you email this to us – you don’t have to include your name if you don’t want to. However, we would appreciate if you could describe the Golf Tip, what it was designed to help you fix and the results you encountered. Saying that – if you’ve ever come across a Golf Tip that did help you – we’d like to hear about that also. In a future GIW, we’ll write about the “winning” Golf Tip (and we’ll include your name only if you want us to), along with sending the “winner” a special prize. Email your entries to: GolfTips@GolfMadeSimple.com Regards, Alex - Director Toll Free - 1-888-580-3635 International - 001.904.460.8355 Email: IWantToBe@GolfMadeSimple.com By the way, the first Golf Made Simple DVD has been the #1 Selling Golf Swing DVD on Amazon.com. 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 the Theories and Assumptions Based Approach that millions of Golfers struggle with year after year. Are you ready to end the struggle? Click here to purchase on Amazon.com Or call us at 1 (888) 580 - 3635

Labels: Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 8:09 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

After the longest hiatus that Golf Improvement Weekly has ever seen (2 months) – we’re back. Just as it maybe a good thing for Golfers to take a break from the game every-once-in-a-while to refresh your brain – GIW needed to do the same. Although GMS had a record year in 2008, and 2009 is actually ahead of 2008 – it’s been a hectic 9 months (with 3 new GMS locations opening), along with everything else. So, we just needed a break from writing.

So, just a few days ago when I still wasn’t writing – I amazingly became bored and started reading a forum on an internet chat room with the title of something like – “What I Don’t Like About Tiger’s Golf Swing” – where this supposed ‘guru’ that has adopted the title of “ITeachGolf” - listed everything he thinks is wrong with Tiger's golf swing.

And what’s funny is that I believe he wrote this just as Tiger was winning yet another golf tournament by shooting 13 under par.

His/her contention is that Tiger really doesn’t have a good golf swing – the only reason he wins is that he’s just the best athlete on the PGA Tour. And that my friends is just another reason why you should stay away from Internet chat rooms – unless you want: A) to laugh; B) to cry; C) to be able to say to yourself – “are there really people that think that way?”

This issue with Golfers wanting to improve their golf swing is something that myself and our company works with each day with multiple individuals that travel from around the world to come and see us. So yes, we specialize in golf swings. So when we see people that bring up nonsense like the above – it makes us cringe.

Yet, the scary aspect is that many people might read further into what this ‘closet guru’ has to say about Tiger’s golf swing and even start to use the techniques he suggests Tiger needs to use. And that scares me because I know many Golfers are so desperate to improve – that they’ll try just about anything. Remember when you were young and your Mom said “don’t take candy from a stranger?” Well, many Golfers have forgotten about the dangers of doing that.

‘Don’t Take Golf Tips From A Stranger’

That’s going to be the title of my new book. Yet, as much as you need to continually warn the young about the aforementioned candy from a stranger – It’s my duty to remind you to do the same with golf tips. It can be dangerous for the health of your golf swing.

For example: Last week I was walking through one of the many airports that I walk through each year (this one was LAX) - I really shouldn’t be telling you this because I told everybody in the office and my wife that I was hiking on the Robert Trent Jones Trail. I got to my gate, sat down in a chair to await my plane – and just 2 seats down from me, was a lady that was really into what she was reading – I had to look over to see what magazine she had.

So at closer glance, I could see that she was reading a golf magazine and particularly an article about improving her golf swing. Now, I’m not the kind of person that just walks up to someone else and starts a conversation – yet, I had just finished helping a fantastic gentleman (a pretty famous person) with his golf swing for 3 days at a beautiful golf course – so I was on a natural high and in a really good mood – so I couldn’t resist. I had to ask her what she was reading.

When she looked up at me with this – “Why are you bothering my?" look – I said, ‘I apologize, I’m a Golfer also. And I was just interested in what you’re reading.’

Well, I got more than I was asking for:

She went into a 23 minute briefing of what’s wrong with her golf swing. She then took out a pad of paper and pen and started sketching her swing plane and what her plane needs to look like. She then took the pen and started gripping it like a golf club to show me what her grip looks like and what the proper grip should look like. I was then told about how important it is not to sway on the backswing, why Sergio can’t win a major, and why she would never want to swing like Jim Furyk.

Once she came up for air – she then asked me about my game. I told her I don’t play as much as I’d like (which is true), I’m not as consistent as I’d like (who is) and I’d like to hit my driver 10 more yards (sounds like fun). She then asked me to grip the pen like it was a golf club to see my grip. I then found out that my grip needed to be adjusted. I didn’t have enough knuckles showing. And that I should try interlocking my fingers instead of overlapping. She then apologized because she really couldn’t judge my grip pressure because we were using a pen and not a golf club.

She then suggested that I could become more consistent if I improved my posture – that is even though she never saw me set-up to a golf ball – though that’s something that she read in one of her 3 golf magazine subscriptions and that she has been doing it herself. Although, she hasn’t gained any more yards since working on her posture – she is sure it’ll eventually start working.

I then learned that I could get more distance by turning my shoulders a little more – “have you ever tried the X Factor?” Yet again, it was something she read in a magazine or saw on television.

So what’s the point of this story? The point is that after I said ‘thank you for the advice’ – I asked my “new pro” what her average score was. And although everything she said was very convincing and she said it very eloquently and it really sounded as if she knew what she was talking about – she had yet to ever break 100. Now, there isn’t anything wrong with someone who has never broken 100 – we were all at that point one time or another.

However, when I did ask how long she has been playing and how many lessons she had taken and how many years she has been reading those magazines scanning for tips – all I can say is that I was shocked. Playing golf: 7 years; Lessons: 10 to 15 lessons a year; Subscriptions: 3 different golf magazines for about 6 years.

Now, I’m not shocked that this Golfer hasn’t broken 100 in 7 years – that’s not shocking, everyday we help Golfers who have been in that same situation. What’s shocking is that this Golfer has worked on a hundred million things in her golf swing and she’s still not getting any positive results. Yet, she continues to work on a hundred million things!

So I never said anything about what I do for a living, I just told her that I once heard a really good tip that I’ve used successfully in my game for many years. And that from what she had told me about her game – it might really help her. When she said – “sure, what is it?” I told her about “Tick Tock”. I then told her that if she was going to be successful using “Tick Tock” she had to do it every golf swing she made the next time on the golf course. I then gave her my email address (not my GolfMadeSimple.com email address) so that she could email me her results after the next time she was going to play – which was this past Sunday, July 5^th.

She wished me luck with my game and I wished her luck with her game as I reminded her not to forget the “Tick Tock” on every swing. And then I flew home and forgot about the whole conversation - not thinking anything would come of it.

July 5^th, 8:07 pm – incoming email: “Marc, thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re not going to believe this!!!! I broke 100 for the first time. I can’t believe it. A 96!!! I have never hit the golf ball so well. It was unbelievable – my friends kept saying to me that they never saw me play that consistent and stay so calm on the golf course. That was the best golf tip ever. Who told you that tip? I need to read more about that person’s methods! Thank you, thank you.”

I then wrote back using my GolfMadeSimple.com email address congratulating her on her accomplishment, explaining why “Tick Tock” was so valuable, why it probably helped her, along with some more encouragement, etc.

Now, why is it that this very nice person that wanted so desperately to break 100 couldn’t do it even with putting her heart and soul into it for 7 years, taking multiple sets of lessons, reading countless magazine articles, thinking she knew what she needed to work on (fancy terms like swing plane and lag and X factor) - yet in one brief, chance meeting she was able to break 100?

The Monkey will get lucky once-in-a-while taking Golf Tips From Strangers, but in the long run it will cause more harm than good

The Player works on simple techniques that create positive results

GMS Bonus Material

For Anyone Considering Video Analysis - We have added our report on: "Using Video Analysis To Improve Your Golf Swing" to the Golf Made Simple website for you to download and view.

Just click here to be taken to the download page on the http://www.GolfMadeSimple.com website. It's easy, it's free and it's a pretty extensive report on our findings.

Indoor Putting Drill - If you'd like for us to email you a special Indoor Version of an excellent GMS Putting Drill that you could spend hours on - email us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put 'Blog' in the subject line.

Tour Putting Square - Use the Tour Putting Square inside your home to improve your scores. Just send us an email at TourPuttingSquare@GolfMadeSimple.com with the subject: 'Blog' – and we'll email you how to use this game changing drill.

Swing Drills & Core Training - To view a segment that covers 2 swing drills you can practice inside, plus 3 exercises to strengthen your core - email us at: PushUp@GolfMadeSimple.com with the words 'Blog' in the subject line to receive a link and password to access the video segment from our DVD - 'How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors'

Labels: Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, top golf school

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 8:30 PM 0 Comments Links to this post