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

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

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



The idea that golf needs to be as complicated as many Golfers are making it is a frustrating/confusing concept to me. Every week, I hear of a new, groundbreaking concept that someone has come up with that’ll help all Golfers to hit the golf ball farther and straighter. I’ve heard about new grips, swing plane concepts, weight transfer systems, along with stuff I don’t want to even mention that supposedly will make your swing automatic.


And the funny part is that there are Golfers out there that believe in this stuff because they feel as though – ‘the more complicated, the more better’. These Golfers don’t want to make their golf swing simple. This group of Golfers has a weird perversion towards making things more complicated. They feel as though they need to have 8 steps in their swing. They feel as though that in addition to keeping their head still, they also need to get their elbow tucked into their side as they shift their weight, keep their golf club on plane and use the X-Factor.

It’s not that these Golfer don’t want to make it simple – it’s more about that they get so involved with listening and reading all the golf information out there, that they start believing the golf swing has to be complicated. But I believe these Golfers are in denial because as much as they say that they want to think about all that stuff (and the hundreds of other things they’re thinking about every swing) – they truly wish that they could make it simpler.

They often say to themselves that they’re thinking too much and need to swing without so many thoughts - Yet, many of these aforementioned Golfers have a tendency of getting frightened if they’re not thinking of enough things every time they swing. And although they readily admit that their bad shots are brought about because they were thinking too much – as they approach the golf ball, regardless of how much they try, they go back to thinking about everything they need to do in their golf swing.

These Golfers are constantly telling themselves to swing with no thoughts – that is until they prepare to hit the golf ball when they automatically revert back to thinking too much before, during and after their golf swing.

New Golfers Improve Faster

How is it possible that using the GMS - Results Based Approach, we can get a Golfer that’s just learning to play to be able to break 90 in less than a year? While at the same time there are Golfers that have been playing for years and have taken 100’s of lessons, been through countless golf schools – and still aren’t able to break 90 and/or 100 with any consistency?

As one Golfer that had spent enough money on golf lessons to support a small country (without seeing much improvement); recently wrote to us: “I think the difference between GMS and the other schools that we have attended are that you don’t get students bogged down with mechanics. Your explanations are easy to understand, the drills are fun, and your focus is on one thing…impact.”

Impact – What An Interesting Concept!

Yet, when you hear frustrated Golfers talking about what they’re working on in their golf swing, it often has nothing to do with impact. Everything is about how they saw themselves on video, how they’re taking the club too far outside, how their head is moving too much, how they’re not turning enough on the backswing, how they don’t have the butt of the club pointing down the target line at a certain point of their golf swing or how they don’t get enough fiber in their diet.

Well maybe, just maybe the reason that all those above compensations are happening is because you don’t know impact. Maybe if you worked on being able to get the different parts of your body working together so you’re more in control of the golf club, and/or understood what the motion of impact felt like – maybe all these other so called problems would self correct.

As the majority of Golfers that are struggling with their golf swing are learning to fix compensations by being prescribed more compensations that are being masqueraded as swing fixes – we see Results with our Golfers because many bad swing compensations will be eliminated by simply working on impact.

Do you know that you can eliminate the “over the top, outside in, casting” problem by working on impact?

Yet, many Golfers that have a simple slicing problem are told that the reason for this slice is the above mentioned “over the top, outside in, casting” problem. They are then given another compensation being masqueraded as a swing fix such as learning to ‘tuck in your elbow on the down swing’. And although it’s very easy to tuck in your elbow (or use any other swing “improvement” compensation) on practice swing after practice swing – this Golfer can never do it when there’s a golf ball to hit.

Why?

Because trying to tuck in your elbow is a swing “improvement” compensation that is being used to fix another compensation already in your swing. And that compensation is being used to cover-up another compensation. And thus, you’ll have to learn another compensation to fix that compensation and then another compensation to fix another. And pretty soon you have a golf swing that’s built upon compensations.

And when all these compensations align – you hit a good shot - yet, this doesn’t happen the majority of the time. This is why some Golfers hit the golf ball straight sometimes, to the right sometimes and to the left sometimes; why you hit the golf ball solid sometimes, behind the ball sometimes and top it sometimes – any of these could happen on any swing because you never know which compensation in your swing is not going to work.

So golf becomes frustrating because you have so many compensations in your golf swing that you end up saying – “I’m so inconsistent, I have so many things wrong with my golf swing.” And out of desperation, this Golfer now seeks out someone that will give them a complete swing overhaul that has nothing to do with impact – and as this Golfer struggles worse than ever with this complete swing change, they hear the infamous phrase of “well, you have to get worse before you get better!’

Great, by hearing that, it should make you feel better about your struggle. And the funny thing is that all that could be avoided and good golf swings could be created by understanding impact.

The Monkey jumps from compensation to compensation because each compensation they add to their golf swing to fix another compensation leads to more bad swing habits that cause you to add more compensations

The Player understands the motion involved with impact

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: California, Clubs, Driver, driving range, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Golf Video, Lake Tahoe

Who would you rather play golf like – Phil Mickelson or Joe Durant? Now Joe Durant is a fine Player or he wouldn’t be on the PGA Tour – though I’m sure that Joe Durant wishes he could play like Mickelson. So unless you’re Joe Durant’s mother, I’m assuming you’d pick Mickelson.

Yet, from what I’m being told by many Golfers – they’d rather hit the golf ball like Joe Durant, as opposed to the 2nd ranked Player in the world – Phil Mickelson. In fact, I’d say that 7 out of every 8 Golfers I speak to rather hit the golf ball like Joe Durant.

Is that hard to believe? Maybe it’s the crowd I hang with?

I say this because struggling Golfers are obsessed with hitting the fairway with their Driver. Obsessed to the point of judging their entire round on how many times they hit the fairway. It doesn’t matter if they putted well, hit their irons well or got out of the sand well – after the round it’s always: ‘I need to hit my Driver straighter!’

So if how well you hit the fairway is important to you – then you must aspire to be more of a Joe Durant type of Golfer – he’s the Golfer that’s hits loads of fairways, but doesn’t score as well as they should. I say this because even though Durant was the 5th most accurate Driver of the golf ball in 2007, he was 129th in Money made.

While Mickelson was 2nd in Money made in 2007 – though was ranked 181st in Fairways hit. As we like to say at GMS – ‘The Fairways are clogged with short hitters that can’t score. So why not learn to hit the ball long and make putts?’ A la Mickelson and Woods.

It’s funny because almost every Golfer out there will talk about how Golf has become a power game and how important it is to hit the golf ball long. For example, you’re constantly talking with friends and golf buddies about how the best Players in the world are the ones that hit the ball long and make putts. Yet, when it comes to your golf game – all you talk about is accuracy off the tee.

So you’re constantly on the driving range ‘fiddling’ with your swing trying to hit the golf ball straight as opposed to trying to improve your swing for more distance, along with taking a few minutes away from trying to hit the ball straight – and using it on the putting green. Because as the best Players in the world are showing: The formula for success on the golf course is to hit it long and make putts.

Yet, you’re spending all your time on the range practicing to hit the ball straight! Let me ask you – has this strategy been successful for you? Have you improved 6 to 11 strokes in the last year using the strategy of trying to hit the golf ball straight?

There’s a huge difference between missing fairways and hitting trees!

If you’re hitting the golf ball into the trees – yes, you need to become more accurate off the tee. Having to hit out of the trees often or losing your golf ball isn’t conducive to scoring well. Though, is hitting into the trees every once in a while – acceptable? Yes, of course it is – The best Players in the world go into the trees every once in a while and you’re not even close to having their skill.

So it’s expected of you to hit into the trees more often than Tiger Woods or Mickelson does. The sooner you accept that – the sooner you’ll free yourself up to hit better, longer tee shots more often.

If you don’t want to ever hit into the trees, I’ve got a solution for you – hit your wedge off the tee. Is that a stupid idea? Why? Because it goes back to the distance thing. You’ll score better if you’re more focused on maximum distance and moderate accuracy as opposed to moderate distance and maximum accuracy!

Woods, Mickelson and Durant back that up in their respective ways every week.

Most Golfers will cry after a tee shot – ‘Why didn’t that one go straight? See how it curved?’ Although their golf ball went 30 yards farther than usual and is only a yard or two off the fairway. Yet, when they hit a straight shot that goes their ‘normal’ distance – they cry: ‘I need to hit the ball farther!’

It’s this dilemma that’s holding 7 out of 8 Golfers from improving. They believe that a good tee shot is a shot that flies straight in the air – that if it curves a little bit (or more than a little bit), that it’s not a good shot. So the next time on the tee, you try to swing slower, concentrate hard on keeping your head down and left arm straight to hit the golf ball straighter.

Yet, you end up hitting the golf ball 30 yards shorter than the longer shot that curved a little and missed the fairway by a yard. And this shorter, though straighter tee shot will often times leave you with a 3 iron off a tight fairway lie to the green as opposed to a 7 iron sitting up in the rough.

‘The Fairways are clogged with short hitters that can’t score.’

From what I’ve seen and from what Woods, Mickelson, Singh and Durant have proved – how many times you hit the fairway has little bearing on your score. In 2007 - Woods ranked #1 in Money, #152 in Driving Accuracy; Mickelson #2 in Money, #181 in Driving Accuracy; Singh #3 in Money, #155 in Driving Accuracy; Joe Durant #129 in Money, #5 in Driving Accuracy.

So who do you aspire to swing like: Joe Durant – the guy that hits the golf ball as straight as any Golfer alive or Woods, Mickelson and Singh – 3 Golfers that can’t hit the ball straight off the tee and are showing it by winning all the money.

The Monkey complicates their whole round by obsessing over hitting straight tee shots

The Player simply hits it long and makes putts

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 for Players, 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.


Click here to purchase our new DVD!

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs, Video Analysis

If there's one trait that the most successful Players have, it's coming back after a bad hole. Often times the biggest disappointment a frustrated Golfer can have is a 'good streak' of 4 or 5 holes followed by the infamous triple bogey.

Every Golfer in the world is going to experience a triple bogey every-once-in-a-while – it's just part of the game. The difference is whether you bounce back to a 'good streak' or you let a triple bogey become the entry point for a 'bad streak'.

I believe how the losers of the Super Bowl (in American Football) come back from a disappointing loss is a great analogy to how you may or may not come back from a triple bogey on the golf course. There are certain Football coaches that you know will bring their team back ready to play great the next year after a disappointing loss in front of millions of people. And there are coaches that won't be able to bring their team back – starting what may be a 'bad streak' for the team.

Let's start in recent history: The Giants just beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. To many followers of American Football, it was a major surprise (except to some Giant fans I know). The question now remains – will the Patriots be a successful team next season or will they fall like so many Super Bowl losers have in the past?

History shows that often times, the losing team can't comeback from their 'triple bogey': the Chicago Bears lost in the Super Bowl last year – and had what could be classified as a disappointing season this year. The Seattle Seahawks lost two years ago in the Super Bowl – and they followed it up with a disappointing year.

My bet: The Patriots will comeback and start a new 'good streak'. Why? Because their coach has a PLAN that he believes in regardless of one bad game (hole). While other coaches may have panicked after a big loss and moved away from what made them successful – I believe they'll start a new 'good streak'. Just as many successful Players will do after a Triple Bogey.

Take Phil Mickelson as an example – in the 3rd round of this past week's tournament he was 1 under par for the first 13 holes. He was playing very steady – he had 1 Birdie and 12 pars. Then 'wham' he takes an 11 on the par 5 - 14th hole.

I'd call that a 'blow-up hole'!

The key is what he did from there: he made Par on the next 3 holes. He started a new 'good streak'. What would have the average Golfer done? The 95 Golfer that might've made 1 Par and 12 Bogeys over the first 13 holes – what would've they done on the 15th, 16th and 17th hole if they made an 11 on the 14th hole?

Could you start a 'good streak' on the 15th hole? Would you be able to shake-off the 11? Or would you be the Golfer that exclaims – 'That's it; I always do the same thing. I always find a way to mess-up my round.' Then proceed to make a few unenjoyable double bogeys to end the round.

Or do you have a PLAN?

A PLAN that says that you played good, steady golf for 13 holes. Would you understand that you had 'a brain fart' on the 14th, but it was just that: 'a brain fart'. Could you now continue your 18 holes by making 2 Pars and 2 Bogeys? Or 1 Par and 3 Bogeys?

Or would your PLAN go out the window and either play the self-pity game or now try too hard to make a Birdie and end up with more Triples?

The Monkey goes on a 'bad streak' the first chance they get

The Player understands that one hole (or one shot) doesn't make a round

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 for Players, 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.

Labels: California, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Marc Solomon

Have you ever heard someone on the golf course exclaim – 'This is the worst I've ever hit the golf ball!' or 'this is the worst I've ever played, I've never hit the golf ball this bad!'

I've been fortunate enough the last couple of months to have played more golf than usual – some rounds at very high-end golf clubs, some rounds at municipal clubs, even a round or two at a golf course that hasn't even opened yet – though there's at least one common trait amongst Golfers regardless of the price of the green fee: Exaggeration!

Man, Golfers can really exaggerate the negative aspects of their game. Though on-the-other-hand you rarely hear a Golfer exaggerate positive information.

I'm sure you've heard more than one Golfer who has uttered the comment 'this is the worst I've ever played' – but how many times have you ever heard the reverse: 'This is the best I've ever played'? Now we usually hear that positive comment during our 3-Day GMS Programs – but you rarely hear a Golfer saying that during a casual round of Golf.

Yet, there are more Golfers than I can ever count that have the habit of letting everybody know they're 'playing my worst round ever'. And it's usually those people that have this supposed 'worst round' - every round they play.

They're habitual 'Worst Rounders'.

It's like the Golfer that tells you that 'I'm a mid 80's Golfer'. Then when you play with them and they score a 97 – they say, 'that's the worst I've ever played'. Yet, the next time they play and score a 95 – guess what they'll be telling their foursome?

Yeah, probably the same 'worst ever' comment even though he scored higher the round before!

But to dig even deeper – do you really think this Golfer's a 'mid 80's Golfer? Maybe in their mind, but most likely they had a couple of good rounds a few years ago where they scored an 86 and 87 – so in their minds, they're a 'mid 80's Golfer'. When in reality, each of the last 53 rounds they've played have been they're 'worst ever' with scores ranging between 94 and 104.


Though, this Golfer is doing a disservice to their golf game because by believing that they're a mid 80's Golfer when they're really a mid 90's Golfer – they often feel defeated by the 7th hole. Because after 7 holes they might only be 7 strokes over par on their way to scoring a very respectable 45 – though because they don't believe that Bogey Golf is up to their standard (because in their mind – they're a mid 80's Golfer), they start to become disappointed and start convincing themselves 'that I'm playing my worst round ever' – which leads them to making a double bogey on hole 8 and a triple bogey on hole 9 to score their typical 48 for the front 9.

Have you ever seen this happen to somebody? Or maybe, just maybe – you're doing it yourself?

The more you're around Golfers like I'm around Golfers – the more you see this self-defeatist mentality. Golfers are often their own worst enemy – which is an unfortunate event. Because it pains me to hear a Golfer say – 'I'm playing worse than I've ever played before.' I don't feel bad for this Golfer beacuse they're playing bad – I feel bad because they're lying to themselves. Yes, you have played this bad in the past – and once you admit this to yourself – you'll be able to make the next step towards improvement.

For example – for the Golfer a couple paragraphs above: if they accepted that they were a mid 90's Golfer, they'd be very happy being 7 over after 7 holes. And because of that – they might even par the last two holes to score 43 on the front 9 (although if they Bogeyed and shot 45 it would also be good). But because they pressed too hard because they're on track to play Bogey Golf (which isn't good enough for them), they end up finding a way to score the same old 48 (or worse).

The Monkey remembers one time that they shot a career round and believes that they should always shoot that score. Which isn't the best way to think about it because if Tiger looked at his 65 last Friday and carried the same attitude as the frustrated Golfer on Sunday during his round when he shot 6 shots higher – he might've done what many frustrated Golfers do every day by telling himself 'this is the worst round I have ever played'.

And guess what? He might've ended shooting an 84 like Mike O'Meara last Sunday.

The Monkey is constantly shooting their worst round ever

The Player knows that they're going to have some very good rounds and some very bad rounds

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 for Players, 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.

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs, Video Analysis

As we were reviewing some past articles from Golf Improvement Weekly, we came across this ‘gem’ from January 18th, 2005 about playing better on the Par 5’s. As many of the people reading this weren’t subscribers 3 years ago and I doubt the people who were subscribers would remember this article – we’re repeating it. Not because we’re lazy – but because it has some excellent points that’ll help you eliminate your ‘Blow-up Holes’.

Why is it that the majority of Golfers that we see are more over Par on the Par 5's and the Pro's are more under Par on the Par 5's. It’s primarily based on 2 factors: Hitting the ball farther off the tee and playing smart.

75% of the Golfers we see average more over par on the Par 5's than on the Par 3's or 4's.

Yet, the Pro's are far, far more under Par on the Par 5's than the Par 3's or 4's. It's completely opposite between the best Players in the world and the regular Golfer. Maybe there’s something we can learn from the best Players?

Now many people will say - "well the Pros are probably getting on the Par 5 greens in 2-shots a lot". Yes they are getting on in 2-shots once in a while, but most likely not as much as you think. Vijay Singh was 125 stokes under Par on the Par 5's in 2004 (that’s not a misprint - 125 strokes under Par - INCREDIBLE), yet he only had 17-Eagles. I say "only 17-Eagles" not because I belittle his accomplishment (that’s an incredible number of Eagles, more than most people get in a lifetime), but it's such a small percentage of the 125 strokes under Par. Even without the 17 Eagles, he was 91 under Par!

Contrast that with Mark O'Meara who hit more Fairways than Vijay, but hit the ball 30-Yards less on average with his Driver and was only 57 under Par and had only 2 Eagles on the Par 5's. Again I say only not because 57 under Par is not good, but because it’s such a huge difference between the #1 Money Earner on the PGA Tour and the #135 Money Earner on the PGA Tour.

And O'Meara was more accurate off the Tee, had less Putts per Round and was better out of the Sand.

When we see Golfers ready to hit their second shots on Par 5's, it doesn't matter what the situation is, they always have their 3-wood or 5-wood or 3-iron in their hands ready to go - even before they size up the shot they're about to play. They get out of their cart, walk right to their bag, pick out their 3-wood, go to their ball, look for the middle of the fairway and then hit the ball.

And they end up taking 2-Double Bogeys and 2-Triple Bogeys every round that account for 10-shots over Par.

So most Golfers are 10 over Par on what should be the easy holes and still have to play the 14-hard holes that are left - where they’ll have to score only 7 over Par if they want to break 90. I say the 14-hard holes because Vijay Singh averaged just under Par - 3.96 shots on Par 4's and over Par 3.02 on the Par 3's. So if the Pro's are scoring Par or over on the 3's and 4's - what do you think is happening to you?

So to see if we could help Golfers to start making more Pars and (at worst) Bogey's on the Par 5's - we now go out on the golf course and force you to think through every shot like a Pro. And we do this by allowing you on the first day of Golf Made Simple to only use 4-golf clubs on the golf course, your Driver, 7-Iron, Sand Wedge and Putter. And you know what has happened using these clubs? The average score on the Par 5's has improved, not just a little, but dramatically! Where we used to see a lot of "blow-up holes" of 7's, 8's and devastating 9's - now we see 4's, 5's and 6's. Yet, when most people hear that after they hit their Driver, that they’ll rely on their 7-Iron to get them down the fairway, they often say "How are we going to play the Par 5's?"

This isn’t to suggest that you should always play your 7-Iron for your 2nd shot on the par 5's. This is to say that instead of doing the "same old, same old" on the Par 5's - there might be a better way. Maybe after an OK Drive, you could take your 6-Iron, get the ball 150-yards down the course, and then take another 6-Iron and an end up 20-yards short of the green. From this spot - hit your Sand Wedge onto the green and 2-putt for Bogey or maybe 1-putt for Par.

And some Monkeys will say "Bogey, I don't want to make a Bogey on a Par 5 - I'm trying to make Birdies!" And I say - OK, keep the same strategy you've been using of trying to make Birdies (and ending up with Double's and Triple's) and I’ll wager a good sum of money that you'll make more Double Bogeys than you'll make Birdies on the Par 5's. I'll also wager that you'll make more Double Bogeys than you'll make Pars. Guess what, I'll even wager you that using the strategy of going for it with your 3-wood in order to make Birdie is causing you to make more Triple Bogeys than you make Birdies, Pars and Bogeys combined.

So why is Vijay the #1 player in the world right now, why is he playing the best golf of his life? My vote is that he's hitting the ball longer and he's matured as a Player. He's playing smarter than he did in the past - I'm not saying he was playing un-smart in the past - he's just playing smarter now.

So have your best year of golf and step off the "I've gotta get the ball in the fairway" bandwagon. Hit the ball long off the tee and then play smart to the hole! And if you still think that hitting the ball in the Fairway is more important than Distance ….. then what do you think would happen if we had a match between Vijay Singh (hitting only 60% of his Fairways), Allen Doyle (the most accurate Driver on the Senior Tour hitting 84% of his Fairways) and Seol-An Jeon (the most accurate Driver on the LPGA Tour hitting 84% of her Fairways) - and had them all play from the same distance of 7,000 yards. Who would you lay your money on winning that match? I tell you what - I'll give you both Allen Doyle and Seol-An Jeon, plus 1000 to 1 odds and I'll take the long but inaccurate Vijay. Any takers?

Hit the ball long and play smart - the Fairways are clogged with short hitters that don't score!

The Monkey’s favorite club on a Par 5 is their 3 wood

The Player’s favorite club on any hole is whatever puts them in position to play to their Strengths

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 for Players, 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.

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, La Quinta, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs, Video Analysis

Can you improve your golf game by watching John Daly? Yes, you absolutely can. You just have to know what to look for.

As much fun as it used to be to watch John Daly hit a golf ball – it’s sad to see him now. It doesn’t look as if he’s having a fun time on the golf course – well, I guess the same can be said of most Golfers that are struggling. If you only were able to see Daly during his prime on television when he – ‘Gripped it and Ripped it’, you missed something special because there was nothing like seeing him live and standing next to him as he hit a golf ball. It was incredible!

Nobody in the history of the game – well, at least for as long as I’ve been around – has captured the imagination of Golfers as Daly did in the early to mid 90’s. He didn’t win many tournaments – though nobody has won a more memorable Major Championship (in my opinion) than John Daly at the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick.

Come on – he was like the 14th alternate on the list! The chances of him getting into that tournament were the equivalent of the Arizona Cardinals winning the Super Bowl.

Yet, he’s now golf’s version of Brittany Spears – and is nowhere near either his 1991 PGA Championship or his uber-dramatic win in the 1995 British Open Championship. And maybe 12 ½ years is a long time ago - but boy could that guy hit the golf ball and make golf an exciting game to watch.

But, getting back to your golf game -

Compare the progress (or lack of progress) of John Daly’s golf game to the way your golf game has been going the last few years. Have you been on the John Daly training program where your game has gotten worse (or stayed the same) over this time as others around you are passing you by? Or have you been on the Tiger Woods training program where your game has improved each year and you’re doing the passing?

Two of Golf’s most famous Golfers – one struggling more and more each year; one dominating more and more each year. Who would you want to be at this point?

Do you prepare for the golf course like Tiger or do you prepare like Daly?

If it’s Monday and you know that you’re going to be playing golf on Saturday – what do you do to prepare? Are you like John Daly or are you like Tiger? How much more do you think Tiger prepares for a round of golf versus how much John Daly does?

Now, I know you’re not a Professional Golfer – your income isn’t based on how well you play golf. So you don’t have to prepare as extensively as Tiger does, but if you want to play well on the golf course – you should do a little more than Daly does!

Seriously – if you did some push-ups on Monday, sit-ups on Tuesday, 10 minutes of swing drills (without a ball) on Wednesday, push-ups on Thursday and 5 minutes of swing drills and some sit-ups on Friday – would you be more prepared to play golf on Saturday than if you hung out at Hooters and drank beer each night.

Please know this isn’t an attack on John Daly. I like John Daly. I’ve met him and know people that know him and he’s a great guy. This is more about how someone’s not living up to their potential to play better golf. And although, you might not be parking your RV at Hooters – are you preparing well enough to play your best golf?

Most Golfers that play on Saturday at 9:07 AM – prepare for their round on Saturday morning at 8:37 AM when they get their bucket of balls to bring to the driving range. Yet, Tiger is preparing for his next round everyday.

Are you preparing for your next round yet? Or are you saying – “Well no. It’s winter where I live and I won’t be playing golf for a few more months.”

If that’s you – you’re in luck because you couldn’t be in a more perfect situation - you have about 90 days of push-ups, sit-ups and swing drills to prepare for that first round.

The Monkey prepares to play the morning of their round.

The Player is preparing everyday.

Go ahead, start preparing today and 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 for Players, 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.

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs, Video Analysis

As it is the New Year, there are always Golfers with Resolutions to play better Golf. Have you made yours already or are you just recycling the same Resolution you used in 2007, which you might’ve recycled from your Resolution in 2006.

As Vince Lombardi most likely said at one time or another – ‘Talk is cheap. First you need to prove that you want to play better.’

I wish there was a way that I could list all the Golfers that came to GMS in 2007 and then list what they accomplished after seeing GMS. This would be virtually impossible to do in this newsletter as we had over 1,000 Golfers and I’m sure you’d stop looking after about 10 or so names.

Though, I’d like to list just 10. Why? Because these Golfers had Resolutions to improve and they showed more action than talk. Are there more than 10 GMS Golfers that improved this year? There’s 100’s and 100’s more. Some may have improved at the rate of the 10 Golfers below – some may have simply improved their handicap a mere 5 strokes.

Though, here are just 10 off the top of my head that I can write down without having to look at our records - Name, Date Attended - Home - What They Accomplished:

Roger Irwin, May 2007 – Ontario, Canada – Shot his best round ever of 82 in the final round to win Senior Club Championship. Mid 90’s Golfer before GMS.

Jim Cedrone, January 2007 – Massachusetts – Shot 89 and is consistently in the mid 90’s. Before GMS shooting 125 – 130.

Linda Arns, November 2007 – South Carolina – Shot 81 and 82 to win Women’s Club Championship at Berkley Hall C.C. by 10 strokes. Before GMS was shooting mid-90’s.

Chris Stevenson, January 2007 – North Carolina – Shot 79 and achieved goal of breaking 80. Before GMS was shooting in the mid 90’s.

Gary Shaver, June 2007 - Florida - Broke 100 several times and has made it down to the mid 90’s. Before GMS average score was 108 and had never broken 100.

Mike Donahue, February 2007 – Massachusetts – Shot 76 and several rounds in the low 80’s. Before GMS average score was 95.

John Murphy May 2007 – California – Shot ‘best score ever’ of 87 and now averages low 90’s. Before GMS typical score was 105 to 110.

Ivan Carrillo, January 2007 – Switzerland – Achieved goal of breaking 90 (shot 88). Before GMS scored between 105 and 115.

Jacqui Langdon, March 2007 – Manitoba, Canada – Broke 100 several times and improved handicap by over 10 strokes. Before GMS scored between 110 and 120.

Greg Rowe, January 2007 - California - Broke 100 for the first time with a 94. Before GMS average score was 109.

These are real people that have made nice improvements with their golf games. And you can do the same. How did they do it? I believe the main factor in their improvement was their commitment to sticking with their PLAN.

Too many Golfers get excited about some new swing they’re working on and then after not seeing improved Results after a couple of weeks – they become disappointed and then begin ‘Fiddling’ with another new golf swing. Then once that next new swing doesn’t produce improved Results …. well, it’s on to yet another golf swing.

And this process seems to repeat itself year after year – and before you know it, you’ve been playing Golf for 10 years without seeing much improvement. Has that happened to anyone you know?

Yet, the 10 Golfers above and the over 1,000 Golfers that came to see GMS this past year have all improved and will continue to improve using their PLAN.

What's your PLAN for 2008?

And as long as I’m listing names, I can’t forget – Rick Darst who won the Super Senior Division of the Pacific Amateur Classic by 12 strokes – Bob Sewell who won his Club Championship – Brenda Acker who won the Lancaster County Championship – Charles Eaton who shot his age of 73 - etc., etc., etc.

Well done everyone!

From our GMS Instructors: Hayden Lewis, Wataru Tomita, Jeff Seigler, Scott Wittosch, Paul Moore, Chuck Williams, Trevor Harvey, Javier Rivera – our office crew: The Queen Bee, Scott Herlihy, Manley Branham, Alex Ortega – and myself (I'm not sure what category I fit in); we all wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

The Monkey will make a Resolution to improve their golf swing in 2008

The Player will say that a Resolution is only meaningful if you take action to make it happen

How can you accomplish your goals? Do what the above Golfers did at this time last year – sign-up for a GMS class – take action and 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 for Players, 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.


To order: Either call us 1-888-580-3635 (Internationally 011 904 460 8355) or go to www.GolfMadeSimple.com/dvd.html

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs, Video Analysis

The Answer is - not the middle of July. The Question – When should you be practicing to get better so you play your best Golf in July? For many Golfers, the next few months are the time you should be working on your golf game to improve. Unfortunately, many Golfers in the US, Canada and Europe don’t use this time effectively.

If you’re waiting for your season to start – you’re waiting too long. Players have two seasons – Off Season and The Season. Monkeys unfortunately have just one season – The Season.

Now this might not make much sense to a lot of Golfers because The Season is the only way they know how to do it. The frustrated Golfer is trying to improve too much at the same time that they’re trying to play. And because of this – more frustration is produced every year during The Season. Yet, even though this frustration is repeated yearly – the Monkey continues to do the same routine over and over expecting to eventually see – different, more improved Results.

The Player isn’t trying to learn anything new during The Season – they did most of their learning and improving during the Off Season.

The Monkey is putting too much pressure on themselves to improve from round to round by trying to combine learning, practicing and improvement in each round of golf. The Monkey is going from swing to swing hoping and wishing to improve something they could’ve improved during the Off Season. That’s why the Frustrated Golfer is continually finding inconsistency on the golf course round after round and year after year.

The Player has spent their Off Season learning, practicing and improving so that all they need to do each round during The Season is to make their PLAN to play to their Strengths and away from their Weaknesses. By being able to focus primarily on their PLAN, as opposed to thinking about their golf swing on every swing – the Player is free from tension, anxiety, and the pressure of trying to do everything correct on every golf swing. And without all these swing thoughts - the Player becomes more consistent.

Think about it this way - Why would you start practicing your game during the time you should be maintaining your game? And that’s a statement many Golfers won’t understand because they’ve never thought of it that way. In other words – Is spending The Season learning and practicing to play better going to help you to play better during The Season?


No, all it will do is frustrate you like it has in the past. The best way is to learn and practice in the Off Season so you just need to maintain during The Season. And when you’re focused on maintaining during The Season – you’ll actually be improving because all you’re worried about is repeating the swing you worked on. As opposed to the Monkey that’s trying out new things every round of golf.


Take Professional Baseball for example. Before their season starts, they have Spring Training for a couple of months so that they can get ready for The Season. This is where all the teams come down to Florida or Arizona to practice and play exhibition games to get ready.


Though, even before Pitchers and Catchers report – the majority of the Players are learning, practicing and improving at home during the Off Season. Not every Baseball Player lives in Florida, Arizona or California, where they can go outside to practice every day. Yet, they find ways to improve before their season starts. Then during The Season – Players are just maintaining what they have – which actually helps them to improve as the season goes on.


A Rod (Alex Rodriguez of the NY Yankees and the best Baseball Player on the Planet), doesn’t work on or try to learn his swing during The Season. He does that work during the Off Season – so that during The Season, he can concentrate on just swinging the bat without thought. You should do the same with your golf swing.


‘Thinkers are Stinkers’


How should you practice during the Off Season? When’s the last time you did 5 push-ups? When’s the last time you did a putting drill in your house? When’s the last time you practiced your swing using Swing Drills in your house? Or are you waiting until your golf season starts?


Which way do you think the Player does it? Do you think they wait until The Season to improve? Or do you think that they use the Off Season to improve so that they’re playing their best golf all summer?

Which way do you think the Monkey does it?


The Monkey keeps their clubs in the closet until late Spring or until they make a Golf Trip to Florida or Arizona for 4 days of golf. Then once late Spring arrives – they start to practice and play. Unfortunately, many Golfers don’t have the time to go practice, so they combine their learning, practicing and playing into the same round of golf. Can you say – ‘Huge Mistake’?


This is where the Monkey continually runs into trouble – Learning, Practicing and Playing can’t be combined to produce a good round of golf. Many of the Golfers frustrations come from the fact that on the golf course you’re trying to practice your swing. Yet, any successful Player will tell you that the less you’re practicing your swing during a round of golf – the more successful your shot will be.


‘If you Think, you’ll Stink’


The Player is successful because they practice during the Off Season and then once the season starts – they just PLAN. Their golf game is ready; they don’t need to continually try to improve from game to game. Sure, from time to time, they need to conduct some routine maintenance on their golf swing – but it’s nowhere near the battle that the Monkey is going through every time they hit the golf course.


Why is Tiger so dominate? How can he “not play” for weeks at a time and then come back to tournament play and look at the rest of the Players as if to say “Who's Your Daddy?” Do you think he’s just sitting around the house drinking beer? Trust me; he’s practicing so that when he goes to play a tournament – he doesn’t have to practice – he can just play to his PLAN.


He’s now taking “a few more weeks off”. Which translates into – I may not be in the public eye playing in tournaments – but you can bet that I’m still practicing and working on my body so that I can be even more dominate when I come back.


The Monkey spends their Off Season reading Golf Digest


The Player uses their Off Season to get ready for The Season


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 for Players, 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.


And as a bonus – we’re including free shipping thru December 31st, 2007

Click Here To Order DVD

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs, Video Analysis

And I Don’t Mean The Good Kind Of Funny

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly


‘I’m going to try to the Stack and Tilt. I’ve tried the 8 Step Swing, The X Factor, Slow and Low, Square to Square, along with every other new swing that has come out.


‘I’ve tried video analysis, I’ve tried the new Matt System, I’ve tried Golf Tec, I’ve even tried getting down on my hands and knees to pray.


‘Yet, I still have the same inconsistent golf swing. I’ve spent hundreds – well, thinking about it …. I’ve spent thousands …. well, let’s just put it this way …. my kids inheritance isn’t what it used to be – trying to find something to help me become more consistent.’


We live in a society that thrives on making things simpler. Perfect example: Would you rather use Microsoft Word or go back to loading the paper into a typewriter and then having to go through the hassle of making a simple mistake. (Really, I tried to type mistake wrong to illustrate my point, but Microsoft won’t let me make a mistake even if I wanted to).


Make Life Simple


Yet, the Golfer that’s having a hard time on the golf course seems to be looking for more difficult. We’re actually thinking of changing our company name to Golf Made Difficult, but we feel if we did – there would be too much demand and we wouldn’t be able to keep up with number of Golfers calling and emailing us to help them make complicated swing changes.


So we’ll keep it Golf Made Simple


Why do most people today have their automobiles shift gears automatically as opposed to manually shifting? Why don’t you have a rotary telephone in your house anymore? Do you know anyone that still fiddles with an answering machine that’s hooked up by a cord to your telephone as opposed to voice mail?


Yet, the Golfer isn’t happy until your Instructor sits you down to analyze every movement of your golf swing. The Golfer wants to know everything they’re doing wrong in their swing. ‘You see my right elbow at the top of my swing, is that where it’s supposed to be?’ “Well Mr. Lewis, you’re right, according to our highly advanced technology that can analyze every movement in your golf swing, along with determining if you’re getting enough calcium in your diet – shows that your right elbow is about 2.394 degrees out of place.”


In every aspect of our life, we’re trying to make things ‘Simpler’. We’re trying to use less thought to accomplish difficult tasks. Yet in Golf – the so-called Swing Guru’s are trying to make things more difficult!


An 8 Step Swing? I have difficulty walking and chewing gum at the same time.


To give you an idea on how embarrassed I am about this ‘complicated is better philosophy’ that has hooked Golfers to the point of me relabeling it as ‘Crack for Golfers’ – somebody sent me this amazing comment they found on the Golf Tec website – ‘By primarily working in an indoor, controlled environment, clients can focus on the swing process as opposed to simply relying on ball flight. By ignoring ball flight in some of (the) lessons, clients can avoid reinforcing bad habits.’


Ignoring your ball flight can avoid reinforcing bad habits? Is that a joke? Are they trying to be funny? Don’t tell me they’re serious. That comment may be the #1 reason that company will really mess up your golf swing!


Do I smell Snake Oil?


Technology has helped us create better golf clubs and golf balls. It’s helped to make the golf club out of better materials (from Persimmon Wood and Hickory Shafts to Titanium and Graphite Shafts), along with allowing us to fit you to the correct equipment to match your golf swing.


All these other complicated swing techniques that are based upon you copying Jim McLean’s 8-Step Swing or the Golf Tec model swing or the Stack and Shank … ahhh, I mean the Stack and Tilt swing - hasn’t helped anybody (I have ever met) swing better. It might make a Golfer feel better that at least they’re doing something to try to improve – but has it helped your swing to improve to the point that your scores have gotten better?


So why over the last two weeks have I gotten into the whole gimmick swing, video analysis, you better be careful what you do next to improve your golf swing - rap? Because it’s that time of year that millions of Golfers can’t go outside to play – so they feel the next best thing is to sign-up to take golf lessons at one of those video simulator places that you can get your swing analyzed, or wile away your time with a book that explains 8 different swing moves you need to master or get on a Golf Internet Chat room that’s filled with closeted, anonymous Golf Gurus with nicknames such as Golf Genius that are looked up to like Rock Stars to frustrated, desperate Golfers that will do anything not to be frustrated anymore.


My question is – Do you know anyone that has signed up for a 6 lesson Golf Tec series and taken all 6 lessons? On the other hand – Do you know anyone that has signed up for a 6 lessons series and only taken 4 or 5 lessons? Why is that so commonplace? Well, they bait you in with promises of Glory – and after the 4th week, when you’re so confused that you’re scared to swing the golf club back because you’re thinking about everything you’re doing wrong and how you want to make sure that you do it correct – something deep down inside says to you – ‘this stinks!’


‘This is too complicated, why am I making it so hard on myself?’


The Monkey is constantly swinging from vine to vine looking for answers – unfortunately they believe that the more difficult the vine is – the better it is for their golf swing


The Player just Tick Tocks and smiles


Are you swinging vine to vine as you grit your teeth or are you smiling?


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 for Players, 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.



And as a bonus – we’re including free shipping thru December 31st, 2007

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, La Quinta, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs, Video Analysis

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



So the Golfer said to me – “I want to get my swing on video so I can see what I’m doing wrong. I want to compare my swing side by side to a PGA Tour Player’s swing to see what I need to correct.”


And I said to myself – Here’s another Golfer that’s about to take a drive down the infamously long road of Frustrated Golfer Lane. For some Golfers this road never ends – it just goes on and on and on until they either quit or just accept their fate of not being a good Golfer (or as some frustrated Golfers would call themselves – I’m just a hack).


The use of video is like the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes – nobody has the guts to stand-up and say that they actually got worse using video analysis. Though in reality – I have yet to see a Golfer improve their score after having video analysis – yet have seen hundreds of Golfers that have gotten worse. Golfers are scared to tell others that, gasp – I didn’t improve afterwards. They think that everybody must improve with video and if you don’t – well, you must be an inadequate, untalented Golfer that has no hope of improving.


Why is video bad for you?


Think of it this way – Instead of wanting to hit your Driver like Tiger Woods, you desperately wanted to be able to dunk a basketball. So you signed up for the Michael Jordan School of Dunk, to learn how to slam dunk a basketball through the hoop like the greatest of all time.


So you’re off to go to The School of Dunk to learn. They start off by watching you dribble the basketball, do a few lay-ups to the basket and then test your jumping skills. Next, they video you trying to dunk a basketball through a hoop 10 feet from the ground; – just like a Golfer getting a video of themselves trying to hit their Driver 300 yards. And on your first attempt, you’re not able to dunk the ball, though you do catch the bottom of the net.


Now you begin the comparison – So they split the television screen with one side having a picture of you and the other side being a picture of Michael Jordan. They then start running the tape and we see some major differences – as you’re stepping towards the basket, the strides of your steps are 4 feet apart; while Jordan’s are 7 feet apart. As you jump to the basket, you jump from 3 feet away; while Jordan takes off from 12 feet away.


You then get into the mechanics of the dunk. When you jump, you bend your knees at a 65 degree angle and Jordan at a 90 degree angle. They have also found that as you jump that your posture is bent over about 10 degrees more than Jordan. So they tell you that you need to bend your knees more when you jump, along with thinking about your posture while you’re thinking about your knees.


So you spend hours upon hours practicing what you saw yourself doing wrong on the video. And then you go to the local basketball court to try and dunk the ball. You line-up with the ball in your hand, you look at the basket, you start to move towards the basket concentrating on doing it exactly as Michael Jordan had done, and as you get towards the basket, you start to jump from 12 feet away just as Jordan had and ….. you don’t even come close to dunking. You actually don’t even come close to reaching the bottom of the net.


Why didn’t you dunk?


Why couldn’t you even reach the bottom of the net this time? You watched what you did wrong on the video, you watched what Jordan did correct, and you practiced. Well, you’re 55 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, spend most of your day sitting behind a desk, spend more time on your Blackberry than you do on the court, have a bad back and just started playing basketball about 4 years ago. While Jordan is 6 feet 6 inches tall, has spent 41 of his 44 years devoted to the game of basketball, is a 6 time MVP and could be the greatest Athlete ever.


What makes a Golfer think that if they can watch Tiger, or as the brilliant marketers of video analysis put it: ‘we’ll compare you to someone that has a comparable body type as you’ – what makes you think that’s going to help you?


Listen, you could join the Spud Webb School of Dunk – Spud Webb was a real Professional Basketball Player that was 5 feet 6 inches tall that could dunk a basketball – try to copy Spud’s dunking movements and still fail. You could be the same 5 feet 6 inches tall and still not be able to jump as high as Spud. So having a video comparison with a PGA Tour Player of similar size is just as ridiculous.


The thought of video analysis helping you to swing better is absurd. If you’re being compared to Tom Kite and trying to do the things he’s doing – how’s that going to help you? Why won’t you hit the golf ball better? Well, even though you’re the same height, weight, physique as Tom – he’s been playing golf for 40 something years on a competitive level. He’s practiced 7 days a week for 8 hours a day over those years – what makes you think that by watching a video of him swing next to your swing will allow you do the same as his body?


You can practice getting into the same swing positions as Kite for hours upon hours – yet there are more factors that go into hitting a golf ball any where near his level. One – practicing swing positions has nothing to do with improved swing motion – you can’t practice positions and think that it’s equivalent to swing motion; Two – are your golf muscles as trained as Tom’s – he may not look like an athlete, but his muscles have been conditioned for the last 40 years to work with his swing; are your golf muscles going to learn to work like Tom’s by watching a video of his swing; Three – Tom has hit millions of good shots that has given him true confidence that he can hit the golf ball well on a consistent basis – you’ve hit millions of bad shots that has had the opposite effect.

Video Analysis is really a silly concept when it comes to Golf Improvement!


Does seeing everything you’re doing wrong in your golf swing help you to hit the golf ball better? No, it actually helps you to hit the golf ball worse because now you’re thinking of everything you’re doing wrong in your swing on every swing. Video Analysis is the negative approach to improvement. Video Analysis is the ‘I have to get worse before I get better approach’ – which in reality is: ‘I got worse and as of yet, have not gotten any better!’

So how is video analysis negative if so many Golfers are trying it? Well, I’m still waiting to hear from a Golfer that has gotten their swing analyzed and then improved 6 to 11 strokes. Yet, on the other hand, I’ve heard from 100’s of Golfers that have had their swing analyzed and have promptly had their scores get 6 to 11 strokes worse.



Theories and Assumptions (which is the marketing mumbo jumbo that Monkey Digest and the Monkey Channel use to lure desperate Golfers to sell magazines and attract viewers) say’s that if you get video analysis – you’ll improve. Though, Results (which is reality) show that Golfers are getting worse after video analysis. Would you rather depend on Results or Theories and Assumptions to help you to finally have a consistent golf swing that will have you feeling more confident on the golf course?


The Monkey believes others have improved with video because other Monkeys are too scared to say that video didn’t help them because they don’t want to be scorned by other Monkeys by saying that the Emperor is standing naked in front of you


The Player looks at Results and actually doesn’t care what the Monkeys think – they’d rather think like a Player


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 for Players, 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.



And as a bonus – we’re including free shipping thru December 31st, 2007

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Palm Springs, Video Analysis

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



Why do we call a frustrated Golfer a Monkey? It has nothing to do with one’s ability. It has to do with how a Golfer goes about learning. I’ve seen Monkey’s that shoot in the low 80’s and I’ve seen Players that are just starting to break 100. The difference is that the Monkey will become frustrated because they’re in the same scoring range for an extended period of time – while the Player is excited because they’re seeing improvement every time they step on the golf course.

The Monkey uses the same bad habits over and over expecting to improve. The Monkey continually goes to the practice range without a PLAN banging ball after ball in rapid fire succession expecting to hit straighter shots. The Monkey hits their 3 wood for their second shot on every Par 5 regardless of the situation expecting to get closer to the green. The Monkey tries every new tip and gimmick hoping to find something magical.

The Player on the other hand has a PLAN. They know what the Strengths and Weaknesses of their golf swing are. They know how to practice their Driver. They know how to practice their fairway woods. They know how to practice their wedges to create backspin. They know how to practice their putting for 45 minutes without it becoming as boring as watching paint dry.

What’s the difference between a Monkey and a Player? It’s how they go about learning to play better. The Monkey gets stuck in a scoring range and then will try anything in desperation to start improving again – though often times they become more and more frustrated. The Player sees and feels continual improvement – the Player often has other Golfers asking them how they’ve improved so fast.

For example: when the Monkey wants to improve their Driver; they go to the driving range to hit ball after ball towards the middle of the range. And this Golfer will often hit the ball well enough to feel that they had improved. Yet, the next time on the golf course – reality sets in – and you’re not hitting youir Driver as well as you did on the driving range.

Why does this happen so frequently to the Monkey? Why can the Monkey hit it so well on the range and then when they go to the golf course ….. well, let’s just say it doesn’t go as well. While the Player often hits their Driver as well and in fact, many times they even hit their Driver better on the golf course.

When the Player wants to improve their Driver; they also can go to the driving range. Though, they have a PLAN that they’ll stick with. Part of that PLAN is that the middle of the range isn’t a target. Why? Because the middle of the driving range isn’t as defined as the golf course. When’s the last time you saw a fairway with the middle as wide as the middle of the driving range? Also, when have you ever seen the middle of a driving range include water, trees, fairway bunkers and other assorted distractions such as houses?

The Player hits their Driver to different targets just like they do on the golf course. And the Player that’s really taking their game to the next level is the Player that makes their targets on the driving range – smaller than the targets that they’ll see on the golf course. The Monkey does the complete opposite by making a target on the driving range that’s over twice as big as the target they’ll have on the golf course.

No wonder the Monkey gets frustrated on the golf course!

The Player uses a PLAN to make ‘fairways’ on the driving range. I say ‘fairways’ as opposed to the ‘fairway’ because as the Monkey just keeps hitting to the middle of the range – the Player is constantly changing their targets. Why? Well, is every golf hole straight and over 100 yards wide like the driving range?

You have the talent to be a Player. You know it and I know it. The problem is that you might be going at it like a Monkey.

The Monkey will read the above and say ‘I know what I’m doing, I’m so close to improving – I just need to hit more balls and I’ll improve’

The Player knows that Tiger, Annika, Jack, Lorena and every successful Player has a PLAN that doesn’t include just banging golf ball after golf ball into the middle of the driving range.

Are you happy with your progress? Do you have a PLAN other than just banging ball after ball into the middle of the driving range?

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 for Players, 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.

This program was designed for Golfers that might not be able to get to the practice area as much as they want. And with Winter coming up for many Golfers – where you might not be able to go outside to practice – this program is perfect.

If you’re frustrated with such Monkey Problems such as ‘coming over the top’, ‘swinging outside in’, ‘casting’, falling back when you swing, 3 putting or not making enough 1 putts, coming out of posture, along with losing control of your club as you swing – then this DVD is for you!


Click here to order our new DVD - How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors


The DVD is divided into 3 parts: First, we go outside and speak about a swing fault that you might be experiencing; Second, we move inside and talk about why that swing fault is happening, along with prescribing a drill that you can practice inside to improve your golf swing; then Third, we stay inside to work on an exercise that will make you stronger so that you'll be more able to fix this swing fault, along with gaining better control of your golf swing.

As good as the Drills are – and they are good – the exercise portion is what makes this DVD shine even more. Each exercise is paired with a swing fault and swing drill so that you can work on the part of your body that might be causing the swing fault to happen.

All the exercises are divided into 3 categories – 1st category: for people that really haven’t been physically active in a while, but want to start so that they can improve their golf swing; 2nd category: for people that have done some training, are in pretty good shape, but want to get into more golf specific workouts; and the 3rd category: for serious athletes that want to take their workouts to the next level.

The beauty of the program is that you can work at your level and then when you start to see progress – you can progress to the next level. Click here to order our new DVD - How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors.

And as a bonus – we’re including free shipping thru December 31st, 2007

Labels: California, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, La Quinta, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



What’s the percentage of time that you take out your 3 wood for your second shot on a Par 5 hole? If you’re like most Golfers, the answer could be 80% or higher. Though, the Players on the PGA Tour aren’t even close to that high of a percentage.


So why are you using your 3 wood more than the PGA Tour Player? And please don’t say because the PGA Tour Players hit their Driver so much farther than you - because they play a golf course that’s much longer than the course you play – so things balance out.


I feel this is an important question to ask since we’re always working to help Golfers with their personal battles to combat the ‘Blow-up Hole’. I believe that the number one culprit in holding you back from playing more great rounds of Golf maybe the occasional ‘Blow-up Hole’.


For example: You’re going along – playing a pretty good round of Golf after 7 holes and then all of a sudden ….. ‘Blow-up’. How did this happen? You were playing so well and then out of nowhere you make an 8 on a Par 5 and now your score is back to what it always is after 8 or 9 holes. If you do this once on the front nine and once on the back nine - it’s the difference between the 89 you want and the 95 you keep getting. Or the 99 you want and the 105 you keep getting.


You look back after the 9 holes and say to anyone that will listen (even though they’ve most likely heard you say it after every 9 holes), “If I could just get rid of those ‘Blow-up Holes’, I’d have a good score.”


Let me ask you a few questions – How many ‘Blow-up Holes’ have been caused by your 5 iron? On-the-other-hand, how many ‘Blow-up Holes' have been caused by your 3 wood? Has your 3 wood caused more or less 'Blow-up Holes' than your 5 iron?


Now, there will always be one person out there that’ll say that they make more ‘Blow-up Holes’ because of bad shots with their 5 iron than their 3 wood. Though, I’d probably need to see it to believe it – but I guess it’s possible.


Now what causes most ‘Blow-up Holes’? Does a bad tee shot into the trees automatically cause you to take an 8 on a par 5? No, not at all!


Just yesterday, I was with a Golfer on a par 5 that hit a good drive that had a little hook to the left. The ball took a big jump to the left when it hit the ground and went into the trees about 250 yards from the center of the green with no shot to advance the golf ball closer to the hole. The Golfer hit it out onto the fairway and had 260 yards left to the center of the green after two shots.


What would’ve you done from here?


I feel that if you would’ve gone on to make an 8 or more on this hole, that the bad Drive would’ve had very little to do with your bad score. I believe that the 3 wood that you would be trying to get as close to the green as possible for your 3rd shot – but ended up half-topping into the fairway bunker 200 yards away from the green, that led you into hitting your 4th shot with a 3 iron that hit the sand a little behind the golf ball (in your attempt to get close to the green); that led into your 5th shot being a 180 yard shot to the center of the green with your 4 iron which you hit pretty well and ended up only a few yards left of the green in another sand bunker - did more to influence your ‘Blow-up Hole’ than the bad drive did.


Have you ever - “been there, done that”?


Look at the Stat of the Week below in this Golf Improvement Weekly to see where the Players on the Nationwide and PGA Tour have their worst scores. It isn’t on the Par 5’s where they use their 3-woods less than you do even though the Par 5’s they play are often well over 575 yards.


Well, the Golfer that I was with yesterday took out his 5-iron from 260 yards for his 3rd shot and hit the golf ball to about 110 yards to the center of the green. Then hit his Pitching Wedge to about 20 feet of the hole and made the putt for Par.


And you know what? He made it look simple. And even if he didn’t make the putt – he would’ve got out of the hole that had the potential to ‘Blow-up’ - with a Bogey that wouldn’t have hurt his score.


‘Blow-up Holes’ don’t happen just because of bad tee shots – ‘Blow-up Holes’ happen because you’re not playing to your Strengths. ‘Blow-up Holes’ happen because you’re playing to your Weaknesses.


The Monkey doesn’t play to their Strengths or away from their Weaknesses – they just hit ‘whatever’


The Player plays to their Strengths so that they’ll never even have to consider their Weaknesses


When’s the last time you played like a Player and made a conscious effort to have a PLAN for all 18 holes?


Go Ahead Be A Player!


Regards,


Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life


www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: Boca Raton, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, La Quinta, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



The thought of swinging too hard is enough to make even the best Golfer stop to take a deep breath. For as long as many of us can remember, it’s been beaten into our brains that swinging too hard is one of the 3 Golf Commandments never to betray.

And so it is that whenever you hit a bad drive – the first thing that pops out of the mouth of anybody within a half-wedge away is: ‘Man, you looked like you were really trying to kill that ball!’ And your reply is most likely: ‘Yeah, I tried to hit that one a mile.’

Yet, have you ever taken into consideration that the fear of swinging too hard could actually lead to more lost golf balls than the actual act of swinging too hard?

‘Huh? Marc, what are you talking about?’

As most Golfers are so worried about swinging too hard and hitting a bad golf shot – the best Players in the world are swinging close to 30 miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour) faster than you. Yet, nobody is telling them that they’re swinging too hard – and by the looks of things – they’re hitting some pretty decent golf shots that are translating into some pretty good scores. Would you agree?

“Excuse me, excuse me – Mr. Woods, I think you’re swinging too hard with your Driver. I think you should try to slow your swing down a little.”

“I’ve just won 4 out of my last 5 events and 7 out of the 16 events I’ve played this year – I think my swing speed is just fine, thank you.”

From the research that I’ve seen, the average Male is swinging his Driver at 85 miles per hour (137 kph) and the average Female is swinging her Driver at 75 miles per hour (121 kph). Yet, Ernie Els, who’s often envied for how smooth he can swing – swings his Driver at 118 miles per hour (190 kph). While Tiger swings his Driver upwards of 125 mph (201 kph).

So it’s funny to hear a Golfer that says – “I wish I could swing as smooth as Ernie Els. He swings so nice and slow. I wish I could swing as slow as he does.”

Ah ha, nice and slow? There’s nothing ‘nice and slow’ about 118 mph. Frankly, he’s swinging his butt off! And what’s funny is that when you’re trying to swing your hardest – you’re still more than 30 mph slower than what you might call a ‘slow’ Ernie Els swing!

Yet, the fear of you swinging too hard, even though you’re swinging 33 mph slower than Ernie – is most likely causing you to hit more bad shots than when you do actually swing too hard. Meaning – because of this fear of swinging too hard, you’re most likely decelerating with your Driver. Which could lead to such horrible effects such as slicing and loss of distance. Have you ever experienced either of those?

And the Golfer gasps – ‘Decelerating with my Driver? Are you kidding me? I’ve never decelerated with my Driver. I’ve might’ve picked up my head once-in-a-while, but I’ve never decelerated with my Driver!’

The next time you’re standing by the first tee waiting for your tee time – watch the group that’s teeing off. And I believe you’ll see most Golfers decelerating their golf swing to the point that they actually have most of their weight on their back foot at impact with the golf ball. Have you ever ended up with your weight on your back foot?

Meaning that because they’re (you’re) trying so hard not to swing too hard, that they (and possibly you) are using their (your) body to slow down their (your) swing by leaning back on your back foot. Again, have you ever caught yourself on your back foot after a Drive? Deceleration!

Believe me; on and around the greens aren’t the only places you’re decelerating. You’re also most likely doing the same with your Driver. Though, deceleration is often not blamed for the bad tee shot – it’s often mis-diagnosed by the ‘swing experts’ that you may be playing with as “picking up your head, swinging too hard, swinging over the top, bending your left elbow, not turning your shoulders, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

Yes, being able to swing smooth can help you to hit a better golf shot. Though, trying to swing slow will actually cause you to hit a bad golf shot just as frequently as when you’re trying to swing too hard.

The Monkey is trying to swing slower and slower after each bad shot and then when they do hit a good shot – they complain about not hitting the golf ball far enough

The Player just makes a smooth “Tick Tock”

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

GMS Location#6 - South Florida!!

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly


Wow – do we have some exciting news for you! Today we’re proud to announce Golf Made Simple’s newest location at Heron Bay Golf Club in South Florida right between Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale!

After years of being in Northeast Florida, followed 4 years ago by an expansion of GMS to Southern California, then last year with the opening of our Gulf Coast of Florida location in the Tampa area, and then earlier this year into Lake Tahoe, California – we’re now ready to give you South Florida!

If the name Heron Bay Golf Club ‘rings a bell’ – it was formerly known as The TPC at Heron Bay – which held the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic Golf Tournament for 6 years from 1997 to 2002. With winners such as Vijay Singh, John Daly and Lee Janzen – the Honda Classic was a formidable tournament held the week after Doral and the week before Arnold Palmer’s tournament in Orlando! So you know that the quality and conditioning of this golf course, along with the practice facilities - has to be top-notch!

And we’re privileged to have GMS Location #6 at Heron Bay Golf Club as our South Florida home. In addition to this PGA Tour quality golf course and practice facility – we’re also excited to announce that accommodations are available right on the property of the golf course at the beautiful Coral Springs Marriott. This is what you could call a classic South Florida golf resort!

One of the perks of our new South Florida location is basically each morning you can have breakfast and then just walk out the back door of your hotel to meet your GMS Instructor for a day of Golf Improvement. And once you’re day of Golf Improvement is complete ….. it’s just steps back to your hotel room for a shower and some dinner.

Our first class in South Florida will be held Friday, November 30th to Sunday December 2nd and will continue year round with a 3-Day GMS Program held every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – along with Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

If you’re looking to come see us in our newest and possibly nicest East Coast location – sign-up's start right now!

As with every time we announce a new location – dates start to fill-up right away. This is often attributed to Golfers that have been to see GMS before, would like to again take their game to an even higher level and at the same time – try our newest location. And believe me – our locations are getting better and better!

GMS is frequently approached by golf courses and golf resorts around the United States to bring our program to their facilities. And although many of these facilities are really nice – we frequently decline. Though, when we went to the facilities at Heron Bay Golf Club – we were ‘floored’ by this former PGA Tour golf course and the beautiful Marriott property on site. If you’ve been reading (or listening) to Golf Improvement Weekly for a while, you know I have no problem telling you how I feel – good or bad. And I have to tell you – this is as good a golf facility as I’ve seen – and I can’t tell you how excited I am for GMS to be at Heron Bay Golf Club. November 30th can’t come soon enough!

If you want to improve your game; if you want to be in the semi-tropical environment of South Florida; if you want to be able to walk out of your hotel each morning and right onto a golf course that hosted a PGA Tour event – our South Florida location is for you!

2007 and 2008 Rates and Dates are in place – click here to access our webpage for our South Florida location at Heron Bay Golf Club.

For more intimate details about the hotel and facility – take a look below in The Buzz.

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



These days more is written about the golf swing than I can ever remember. It seems as if almost every year there’s a hot new golf swing that everybody is trying. Did you try one of these “new” golf swings this summer? Have you ever been involved in a conversation like the one below?

“Hey, I’ve been using stack and tilt golf swing. Have you ever tried it?”

‘No I haven’t. How’s it going? Are you hitting the golf ball better?’

“No, not yet. But I think it’ll take some time for me to learn this new swing.”

‘How long have you been using this new swing?’

“Oh, I don’t know – maybe 4 or 5 months. I started after watching The Masters this past year.”

‘Four or Five months? And you haven’t improved yet? How about your scores? Are they better?’

“No, not really. I think they’ve actually gotten a little worse. But you have to get worse before you get better. Don’t you? Besides, there are a few guys on Tour that have started using this swing.”

‘Well those guys on Tour were good enough to make it to the Professional level using their own swing before using this new swing. So they must’ve had some talent to even have gotten to the Tour in the first place. Have any of them won a tournament using this new swing that you’re trying?’

“No, I don’t think so. How can they - it seems as if Tiger, Phil, Annika and Lorena are winning all the tournaments.”

Isn’t it funny how the Golfers that are always winning are the Golfers that never get caught-up in these new, goofy, industry changing, everybody needs to try it because it’s the only way to swing – golf swings?

Why is it that the best Players are able to find their swing and then stick with it for years – when the others that have more of a struggle are always trying something new and never getting to the next level because they’re always experimenting with the latest “fad” swing?

Could one reason be that these top Golfers – the Tiger’s and Annika’s of the golf world – know that it’s better to stick with one swing? A golf swing that’s not perfect, a swing that they’ll still need to work on from time to time, a swing that they’re consistent with because they’ve used it for years.

Maybe Tiger’s swing looks a little different now than it did in the year 2000. There’s a lot of talk about how he has changed his golf swing two or three times in his career. And when this news is reported - the shock waves that are sent to the “Legion of the Frustrated” are so strong because the ‘Best Player on the Planet’ is reported to have changed his golf swing – it starts the ‘Million Golfer March’ to the driving range so they can also change their golf swing. And thus the “Legion of the Frustrated” starts their journey into the infamous (and frustrating) – “I need to change my swing” mode.

Though, look at Tiger’s swing when he was 18 years old and look at it now. My belief is that you won’t see much difference – except for his body. The underlying principles of his swing look the same. His body motion is the same. The way the club moves is the same. His impact position is basically the same. It’s all so similar – how can it be so different?

So what’s different about his golf swing?

Without a doubt, he has more control of his golf club when he swings. Besides that, tell me what he’s doing different!

So what’s the point and how does this relate to you?

Tiger has stayed so consistent over the years because he has his golf swing and he doesn’t try a million different things every year like you might have a reputation of doing. And those million different things cause you to have a 1,000,000 different swing thoughts every time you’re standing on the tee box holding your Driver – as you hope to swing perfectly so that you can keep your ball in the fairway.

And the funny thing is that this Golfer that’s trying this new swing (usually without any luck); had probably tried an entirely different swing (with the same unfulfilling results) last year. And possibly has repeated the same process for as long as they can remember.

So why is it that so many Golfers are always jumping from swing to swing? And why is it that even though they don’t ever see results using this style of learning - they continue to use the same strategy year after year?

My belief is that - when you love something so much, yet are so frustrated with your performance – you’ll try anything! Unfortunately, that’s a trap the many Golfers fall into (and also unfortunately, never get out of).

Learn your swing. Learn what the Strengths of your swing are. Learn what the Weaknesses of your swing are. Learn how to improve your Weaknesses. Learn how to take advantage of your Strengths. Once you learn how to do this ……. Happiness and confidence starts the process of allowing you to take your game to the next level!

The Monkey is going to the range to practice the stack and tilt and then next year they’ll probably practicing the tilt and stack

The Player couldn’t care less what the stack and tilt is

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

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Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



This week we have a very special Golf Improvement Weekly. If you remember from last week’s Issue – we wrote about a Golfer named Jim that had set a goal to qualify for the Championship Flight of his County Golf Tournament. In order to qualify for the Championship Flight – Jim needed to have a 3.0 Handicap or less.

Last summer after the 2006 County Tournament – Jim made a goal to qualify for the Championship Flight in 2007. Now, many of you aren’t trying to make it to the Championship Flight or even play in your County Championship. Though, I’d bet a large sum of money that you’d like to continue to improve your golf game. And that’s what we’re going to speak to Jim about.

Jim went from an 8 handicap to a 2.8 handicap – which isn’t an easy task. I believe that an 8 handicap improving over 5 strokes (a 63% improvement) is equivalent to a 105 Golfer improving 19 strokes and a 95 Golfer improving 12 strokes. Too put this in more ‘real-life’ terms – It’s likely going to take the same amount of effort for a person that’s 30 pounds overweight to loose 19 pounds, as it would take a person that’s only 8 pounds overweight to lose 5 pounds.

So if you use Jim as an example and do the things that he did to improve – I believe you can make great strides with your golf in the next year.

Though, because of the length of the interview – it would be hard to fit the whole interview, along with the emotion in Jim’s voice into this written Golf Improvement Weekly. So, to hear the interview in its original form – please click here to have it play on your computer. If for any reason, your computer won’t play the interview – please email us at WhatDoYouThink@GolfMadeSimple.com and we’ll email the interview to you.

I believe that this interview is too valuable for you to miss. For example, just five of the questions that I ask Jim are:

What is the #1 thing that helped you improve like you did?

What do you see other Golfers doing that are causing them frustration on the golf course?

When you used to have rounds in the 90’s, would say that the reason why was because of the ‘blow-up holes’?

How do you now stop yourself from having those ‘blow-up holes’?

What did you do over last winter to get yourself ready for this next year?

If you’re looking for some insight from a Golfer that’s just like you; that has a full time job, along with other interests besides golf – a Golfer that was frustrated with his game, but is now proud of what he’s accomplished – then listen to this interview. It’s too valuable to miss!

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly


Would you be happy if you shot what might be your best score ever in an important event or tournament, then shot a disappointing score the next round? Would you celebrate or would you lament?

This is the story of a Golfer that I’ll call Jim.

Jim has been playing golf for a number of years and generally has played pretty good, though he always wanted to get better – probably just like you hope to do. Jim enjoyed playing and competing in his county’s Amateur Golf Tournament every year. Yet, there’s been this nagging feeling that he desperately wanted to play in the Championship Flight - which wasn’t a terrible stretch since Jim has competed in the First Flight numerous times.

But, there was a formidable barrier standing in his way. To qualify for the Championship Flight you needed to be a 3.0 handicap or less!

So Jim set a goal after the 2006 County Championship to work on his game so that he would qualify for the Championship Flight in 2007. Now there’s two ways you, as the reader, can go from here: One – you could say ‘who’s Jim and why should I care about him. He could be a fictional character for all that I know. Besides, I’m not even close to playing in my Championship Flight (or I don’t even compete in my County Golf Championship), so what does this have to do with me?’

Or

Two – you could say ‘This could be interesting. Marc might give me some strategies that Jim used to improve his golf game that I could use to improve mine. Trying to make it to the Championship Flight or trying to break 90 or 100 for the first time are relatively the same goals – aren’t they?’

Now, fast forward to this past weekend – Jim playing in the Championship Flight played the greatest round of his life. Playing against Golfers that he’s looked up to for years, Jim went out and shot a 2 under par 70! After the round he telephoned the GMS Office and his first words to me where – ‘I now know that I can play with the best in the county.’

Tell me if you think he was excited?

In the coming weeks, I hope to give you more detail on how Jim made this incredible improvement in such a short period of time. I’ll display the techniques and strategies Jim and I used and I believe that you’ll also improve like he did. Maybe not go from scoring 105 to the Championship Flight in one year (Jim was a pretty good Golfer before we started), but I believe that the 105 Golfer should realistically see an 89 within a year and a 95 Golfer should see the low 80’s.

But at this point, I want to illustrate what Jim did on the golf course this past weekend and see if you could do the same.

He was the leader for much of the first day until one Golfer scored 68 and another 69. But still, 3rd place was pretty dang good!

So knowing that he was in third place starting the second round – Jim scored a 46 on the front nine. Now, a lot of Golfers reading this might be happy with a 46. Though, Jim was coming off the round of his life. And 10 over par for the first nine holes pretty much had to be a major letdown.

Have you ever done the same? Played a great 18 holes – then the next day you come out and it doesn’t feel like you can do anything right - nothing feels good and you struggle. Well, there’s two ways you could go at this point. One – you could start “Fiddling” with your golf swing and your PLAN trying figure to out what’s wrong.

Or

Two – you could do what Jim did and say to yourself ‘You know, I’ve been playing really good golf in the weeks leading up to this point in addition to playing better than ever yesterday. So, I played a crappy nine holes. I know if I stick with my swing, with my PLAN – I could turn this round around.’

So what do you think happened on the back nine? He played holes 10 through 16 at even Par before three putting holes 17 and 18 to score a 38. An excellent 38 - not that there ever is a 38 that’s not excellent.

What would most Golfers have done? Would they have chosen number One or number Two above? Which would you have chosen? The Golfer that chooses number One and starts “Fiddling” with their golf swing and PLAN might find something to get back on track, but in my experience of watching Golfers – 7 out of 8 will end up getting more confused and start playing even worse.

However, the Golfers that choose number Two experience more positives. One being that at the very worst they wouldn’t start playing worse like the Golfer that chooses to “Fiddle” with their swing and the other is that they most likely would get over the bad nine holes, smooth out their swing and play much better.

Jim obviously made the best decision. And ultimately led Jim into having a positive attitude going into the third and final round where he scored a very respectable 80. As opposed to the Golfer who might have chosen the other path after the first nine holes of the second round (by “Fiddling” with their swing and forgetting about their PLAN) and continued to play poorly or worse on the back nine. What kind of attitude would they have coming into their next round? And because of that attitude, how much fun would they have had and how poorly do you think they would’ve played?

Jim sent me an email after his 3rd round and I want to highlight a couple of things he said:

One – ‘Sunday I met my second objective of this year (the first of course was qualifying for the Championship Flight), the second was that I teed off with the top 20 golfers on the front side (golfers in 21st to 40th place started their round on #10). I had 4 birdies in the round of 80 and birdied 3 of the 4 par fives. I am totally jacked up.’

Two – ‘You live by the sword and die by the sword.....the putter. I must become an excellent putter, not just a good putter.’

What are you going to do the next time you play a bad nine holes? Are you going to “Fiddle” with your golf swing or are you going to think of Jim?

The Monkey will panic after a bad 9 holes and then search for anything that’ll work

The Player takes a deep breath, clears their mind and stays with what they know

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

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Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

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In many parts of the United States, Canada and Europe, you’re halfway through your summer Golf Season. You might only have a few months of good golf weather remaining until your golf clubs are put-a-way in the basement, garage or wherever you put them until spring.

So tell me (or tell yourself) – what have you accomplished so far this year on the golf course? Lower scores, more consistent ball striking, a better understanding of your golf swing, or did nothing get better? Hopefully the answers are one of the first three options as opposed to the last.

Yet, year in and year out for many Golfers the answer is “I accomplished nothing. I’m still where I was when I began this year and at the beginning of this year, I was where I was when I began last year. I haven’t improved or answered any questions about my golf game in a couple of years.”

If this isn’t you – excellent! Then you’ve been able to do what over 8 out of 10 Golfers can’t do – which is improve. So if you’re the Golfer that has improved their scores or developed more consistency in your golf swing or now have a better understanding of your golf game – how did you do it? What would you tell a Golfer that hasn’t improved in the last couple of years? What’s the key?

Fortunately for us, we get many emails every week from Golfers from every continent besides Antarctica. And of the emails that speak about improvement – the majority of emails point out one of the four points below (and I’m going to paraphrase because these points are described in many different ways):

Point One - ‘I’ve settled on one golf swing - my golf swing! As opposed to fiddling around and trying to adapt someone else’s swing theory to my swing. One plane swing or two plane swing isn’t important to me – I just want a swing that’ll be more consistent and when I do hit a bad golf shot, I can easily self-diagnose what I did wrong and have a drill to correct it before my next shot. As opposed to going 6 or more holes before figuring what I did wrong on just one golf swing’;

Point Two - ‘My putting and short game have improved tremendously. I now know that I don’t have to be on every green with every shot. I have the confidence that if I miss the green that I’ll be able to get the ball close enough that I could one or two putt every time’;

Point Three - ‘I’m now practicing correctly. I used to go out like every other Golfer and just hit balls to warm up. I’d start with my wedge and progress up to my Driver and eventually I’d lose my swing just before I had to go to the first tee. Now I know how to warm-up my swing. Now I know the difference between practicing on days I’m not playing and warming up on days that I am playing. Yet, before I learned the difference between practicing and playing, I did the same thing regardless of the situation.

Point Four and something you’ve probably seen in Golf Improvement Weekly or heard on our Podcast every week – ‘I’ve stuck with my PLAN. I’m not hitting a golf shot without weighing my options. I’m not hitting my 3 iron to the green just because everybody else is. I know when I can go for it or when I should play a little bit safer. I’m now playing smart by playing to my Strengths and avoiding my Weaknesses regardless of what the others in my group think and do. I now know I need to play for me, not for anyone else!’

If you have improved, would you say that one of those four points includes what you’re now doing better compared to what you did in the past when you didn’t improve?

Though, if you haven’t improved:

Would you say that you haven’t settled on one swing that you can make more consistent and that you’re able to easily self-diagnose? Did you try any of the tips in Golf Digest last month? One tip isn’t as innocent as you may think? One tip a month for 12 months is 12 different swing thoughts. And one tip a month for 2 years is 24 swing thoughts – which is 23 too many. And I know Golfers that have had subscriptions for 5 or 6 years!

Would you say that your short game and putting hasn’t improved? I’m not asking if you already do have a good short game or are a good putter. That’s not the question. The question is – Have you improved? Most Golfers believe that their short game and putting is decent enough or even the best part of their game. And this might be true. But, most Golfers that score in the 90’s and 100’s can still improve their short game and putting in a big way. For example: Is your short game and putting as good as a Golfer that averages 83? No, then you’re not going to shoot 83.

Would you say that you never practice before a round of golf? Most Golfers that struggle are still trying to figure out their swing before a round of golf on the driving range. They’re practicing new golf tips, they’re practicing Swing Drills, and they’re working on their golf swing! And with the anxiety of playing a good round (or for some the anxiety of not embarrassing themselves on the golf course) – many Golfers panic on the Driving Range and get themselves into a bad situation with their golf swing before even walking to the first tee. You should know the difference between going to the range and practicing your swing before a round; and going to the range and warming up your swing before a round.

Would you say that you have a PLAN for every shot as opposed to just ‘aiming down the middle’ on your drive or trying to hit the exact yardage to the flag without processing other important information about the shot or aiming for the flag on every shot to the green or hitting your 3 wood for your 2nd shot on every Par 5 regardless of the situation or trying to hit a high shot over the sand bunker and onto the green every time without considering other shots or etc., or etc., or etc!

So tell me (or tell yourself) – what have you accomplished so far this year on the golf course?

The Monkey is waiting for next year to improve

The Player is continuing to work on the four points above

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com


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Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

One of the perks we receive at GMS is that we’re forwarded every email in hyperspace that has a reference to golf. Some are good, some are bad and some are excellent. I’ve now seen two excellent golf emails in the last 6 months.

The first was the JC Anderson email – this is an email that I think we received at least 72 times – but the video is so good, it was worth watching every time. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about – it’s the one that he gives a bunch of golf tips in rapid succession and then hits a trick shot. If you haven’t seen this video; just email us and we’ll forward it to you.

The second email has been sent to us a few times – I guess it hasn’t made it around as much as JC has. This one isn’t a video, but a sketch that has a Golfer’s notes scribbled over the paper. To view the sketch - click here

It’s almost cliché for Golfers to joke about all the swing thoughts they have to think about every time they swing. Some of these swing thoughts are done over-the-top to show the ridiculousness we put into hitting the golf ball. Though, I believe this sketch could be from a Golfer that really is trying to do all this stuff.

Take a look at the sketch and try to pick-out how many of these notes that you’re trying to do on each swing – or have tried in the past.

The Monkey will actually consider using some of these notes

The Player just keeps playing to their PLAN

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life

http://www.GolfMadeSimple.com/

Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



Who would like to shoot 81 for 18 holes? Without a doubt, at least 8 out of every 10 Golfers would love this! If you’re one of the 8, the first thing you need to do is have the correct expectations as far as how well you need to hit the golf ball.


A great example of scoring 81 was demonstrated last Friday at the AT&T Tournament in Washington DC. Tim Petrovic scored 81 in the 2nd round. Now this isn’t a good score for Tim – but it might be a career round for you. So we’re going to use his round as a basis for what you need to do to score 81.


Now, we can start with his score – 9 Pars, 8 Bogey’s and 1 Triple Bogey – but I don’t believe this is the best place to start. Score is a function of how well you’re hitting the golf ball, putting the golf ball and sticking with your PLAN. If you’re trying to make Pars, you’re going to fail. The more you play for score – the more you fail. The more you PLAN each shot by playing to your Strengths – the more you’ll start to see the Pars and Birdies just happen. But, the more you try to make 9 Pars and 8 Bogeys – the more times you’ll end up with 9 Bogey’s, 8 Double Bogey’s and 1 “Other”.


So let’s start with the how Petrovic’s Drives, Shots to the Green and Putting resulted in him making 9 Pars and 8 Bogeys – something that I’m sure you’d be more than satisfied with. And then I believe it’ll be easier for you to picture yourself making 9 Pars in a round if you’re a 90’s Golfer or how you could avoid multiple Triple or Double Bogeys if you’re a mid 80’s, mid 90’s or above 100 Golfer.


And away we go -


Tim Petrovic hit 43% of his fairways. This translates into hitting 6 fairways out of the 14 holes that this stat is taken. Now, I know many 95 Golfers that would look at their stats and be upset that they only hit 6 fairways. Yet, 6 fairways are good enough to score an 81. Yet, when I’ve asked an above 90 Golfer – How many Fairways must you hit to score in the low 80’s? The answer is usually in the area of 11 or 12.


Would you be happy with an 81? Then be happy with 6 fairways!


Tim hit his Driver an average of 304 yards. Now, when the PGA Tour finds the average distance a Golfer hits their Driver, they use just two holes. So this isn’t really an average of all their Drives, but it’s a pretty good indication of how far they’re hitting the ball that day.


Does this mean that you need to hit the golf ball 304 yards? Of course not! They’re playing a Golf Course that’s almost 7,300 yards long. The average male Golfer is playing from 6,200 yards, the average female Golfer is playing from 5,000. So this means that their golf course is 1,100 yards longer than men usually play and 2,300 yards longer than women usually play. So for you to hit the ball an equal yardage each Drive (you playing from your tees and Tim playing from his tees), men would need to hit the ball about 237 yards and women about 168 yards with your Driver.


Now, 304 yards is a good Drive – or in relative terms a man hitting 237 yards or woman 168 yards – these are good Drives also. Though, it’s not absolutely necessary to hit your ball even that far to score 81. Petrovic drove the ball “only” 284 yards in Round 1 when he scored a 72. That 284 yard Drive would be equivalent to a male driving the golf ball 217 yards or a female driving the golf ball 148 yards. So, I would say a male would need to hit the golf ball an average of only 217 yards and a female 148 yards with your Driver to score 81.


Would you be happy with an 81? Then be happy hitting your Driver “only” 217 yards or 148 yards.


Tim hit 33% of his greens in regulation, which translates into 6 out of the 18 greens. A green in regulation (or GIR) is when you’re on a Par 3 in one shot, a Par 4 in two shots, or a Par 5 in three shots). GIR’s are often a macho thing for guys to talk about after their round. “Hey, how many Green’s did you hit today?” “8, but I shot a 92.” “How many did you hit?” “Ah, I hit the ball like garbage. I hit only 6 greens today.”


When you ask most Golfers how many greens in regulation are necessary to score in the low 80’s – most Golfers say about 9 or 10, though I’ve heard 11 and 12 before. So what happens is that after a Golfer doesn’t hit the first 3 or 4 greens in a round, they often get frustrated with their swing. Yet, don’t be in a hurry – your round has just started - you still have 14 greens left to hit only 6. The odds are with you.


Would you be happy with an 81? Then be happy hitting 6 greens in regulation.


Tim had 32 putts for his 18 holes. 32 putts isn’t a difficult thing to accomplish, yet the average Golfer trying to break 90 has around 41 putts. So, if your average score is 95 and you go from 41 putts to 32 putts – you’re instantly scoring 86. That’s not an 81, but you’re more than halfway there.


And by knowing that you’re halfway there and by understanding that you don’t need to hit the golf ball as perfect as you think you need to – you won’t be taking so many risky shots as you have been. Many of your big scores come from thinking you need to hit more greens in regulation (or get very close to the green); many of your big scores come from thinking you need to hit your Driver 40 yards farther; many of your bad scores happen because you think you should be hitting more fairways than you do, so you start to “Fiddle” with your swing on the golf course and it gets worse.


And because of these bad decisions – you become a collector of penalty strokes and lost balls. Some people collect stamps – you collect penalty strokes!


If you add up 6 fairways each round, an average of 217 yards or 148 yards off the tee, 6 greens in regulation and 32 putts – you should score an 81.


Yet, if you were presented with these numbers without going through how Petrovic did it – you wouldn’t believe that it was possible with such “low” standards. Why? Because your expectations are way off. How did you come to the expectations that you need to hit 10 Fairways, 260 yards, 12 Greens in Regulation and 30 putts; to be able to score in the low 80’s?


You’ve been listening to the Monkey!


You have a choice – you can continue to be frustrated with yourself and your game by listening to the Monkey by not having clear, concise, realistic expectations (or in other words, not having your PLAN) or you can start to understand what it really takes to improve your scores. You can start to understand that better scores don’t come by trying to score better – that they come by understanding your golf swing better (and thus hitting the golf ball a little more consistent).


Would you be happy with an 81? Then be happy with 6 fairways, 217 or 148 yards off the tee, 6 greens in regulation and 32 putts.


The Monkey doesn’t use any guidelines on how to improve their score


The Player has a PLAN – do you?


Go Ahead, Be A Player!


Regards,


Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life


www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: California, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

How To Draw The Golf Ball

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My understanding of the game of golf is that you’re trying to get the ball into the hole in the least number of strokes possible. Whether it's for your own personal satisfaction or if you’re in a golf tournament – you’re a winner if you have taken the least amount of strokes.


How you play on the golf course isn't judged by how beautiful your ball flight is. It isn't like American Idol or Dancing With The Stars where you get voted off the golf course if you're not hitting a perfect 1 yard draw.


Do you agree?


If you do agree – then why are you worried whether you draw or fade the golf ball? Does whether your golf ball curves a little to the right or a little to the left make a difference in your score?


Golfers get easily sidetracked from the meaning of the game of golf. Golfers fret over whether their golf ball is going a little this way or a little that way - when the game is based solely on getting the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible.


Have you ever gotten confused about your swing on the golf course? Have you ever been working on a draw on the driving range and then tried to bring that swing to golf course only to hit some terrible shots that left you more confused and frustrated?


Hitting the golf ball better is just as important as putting better in the quest for lower golf scores. You need to work on your golf swing to improve your scores. And when Golfers come to see us - we work very hard on improving your golf swing and helping you to become more consistent. Though, we don't necessarily try to help a Golfer develop a draw.


If a draw develops as you're improving your golf swing - excellent! If it doesn't, but you have developed another ball flight (straight or a fade) that you can consistently rely on - excellent! Golfers that try to rework their swing for the sole purpose of developing a draw are on the road to Frustration City. Have you ever made a trip to Frustration City?


What you should be working on is your golf swing. And whatever ball flight that gives you - take it!


What's going to affect your score more - learning to draw the ball or hitting more greens in regulation?


What’s going to affect your score more – learning to draw the ball or eliminating 3 putts?


What’s going to affect your score more - learning to draw the ball or getting out of the sand onto the green on your first shot?


Did you know that Jack Nicklaus didn’t hit a draw shot (a shot drifting to the left for a right handed Golfer) until the 1970’s – after he had already won 7 Major Championships and the US Amateur twice?


What’s going to affect your score more - learning to draw the ball or hitting the green 10 out of 10 times from 40 yards away?


What’s going to affect your score more - learning to draw the ball or not topping a 15 yard shot over the green?


What’s going to affect your score more - learning to draw the ball or knowing your tee shot is going to curve 15 yards and aiming for it?


Colin Montgomerie – won the European Order of Merit (leading Golfer in Europe) 7 years in a row from 1993 to 1999 – and I don’t believe Colin could draw the ball if you paid him to do so. He plays a slice, but if you want to be politically correct, you could call it a Power Fade.


If you’ve been reading Golf Improvement Weekly for a while, you know that each week we feature two Testimonials from Golfers that have come to see us. And as we have been doing this weekly for 204 Issues – we have yet to have a Testimonial speak specifically about hitting a draw. We have 100’s of Testimonials about Golfers hitting the golf ball better, but no one speaks about learning to draw the golf ball. They just speak about hitting the golf ball better.


What's more important - hitting the golf ball better or learning to hit a specific shot? If you're trying to break 100, 90 or 80 - your thoughts should be on hitting the golf ball better.


Does this mean that Golfers that come see us can’t draw the ball or that we discourage it?


Of course not!


We help Golfers to understand their swing. If your consistent shot is a little to the left – good. If your consistent shot is a little to the right – good. Regardless of whether you draw or fade the golf ball – the key is to know which direction it’s going to go 8 out of 10 times so that you can aim for it. Once you can do that – you’ll learn to care less if you draw or fade.


Make your PLAN, say your “Tick Tock” and swing. Hitting the golf ball well is important to scoring – though whether your predominant ball flight is a little to the left or a little to right has no influence on your score.


The Monkey is trying to change and manufacture a swing


The Player is making their swing better


Go Ahead, Be A Player!


Regards,


Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

How Straight Is Straight?

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How straight is straight? How straight can you hit your golf ball off the tee with your Driver? How straight should you hit it?


Is there anyone in the world who can hit the ball perfectly straight?


The constant cry of the Golfer is that they want to hit the golf ball straighter. For the Monkey – if their tee shot curves more than 10 yards, they’re complaining that they’re not hitting it straight enough. Yet, the Player expects for their tee shot to curve at least 10 yards.


Isn’t that funny? The Golfer that’s not happy with their game gripes when their ball curves more than 10 yards – yet the Golfer that’s happy with their game has no problem with their ball curving over 10 yards.


A lot of it has to do with your PLAN. Now I write constantly about having a PLAN. And some people might be getting tired of hearing about it. Though, your ball striking and how you feel about it is directly affected by how you PLAN.


The Golfer that knows that their golf ball is going to curve 15 yards to the right, yet continually aims down the middle - obviously has no PLAN. They’re still playing golf on the assumption that on one swing something magical will happen and their 15 yard curve to the right will be gone forever. And they end up going 3, 7, 11, 15 years of tee shots with the same hope on every tee shot.


It’s not going to happen!


The best Players in the world – the LPGA and PGA Tour Players all have at least a 10 yard curve on every tee shot they hit. They can’t hit it straight if they wanted to!


For example – if you know that you’re going to hit a golf ball off the tee that’s going to curve 15 yards to the right – why not aim down the left side of the fairway. If you haven’t hit many straight balls off the tee, why force it – play it. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.


The Monkey has this fascination with being in the middle of the fairway. They believe this is the best place to be. Though, on most holes, it might not be the best place. It’s just that they’ve heard other Monkeys talk about being in the middle and they start to believe this is where they need to be.


Tiger Woods is ranked 163rd on the PGA Tour as far as the number of Fairways Hit. He hits just barely over 50% of his fairways – yet out of the 8 tournaments he’s played this year, he’s won 3 times and came in 2nd once while averaging 3 under Par per round.


Phil Mickelson is ranked 153rd on the PGA Tour as far as the number of Fairways Hit. He hits only 1% more fairways than Tiger does – yet out of the 13 tournaments he’s played this year, he’s won 2 times, came in 2nd once and 3rd twice while averaging 2.5 strokes under Par per round.


So these two Players – two Golfers that will go down as legends, two Players that you would give just about anything and everything you have to be able to hit the golf ball half as well as they do – don’t hit the ball anything close to being straight. Yet, the Monkey thinks they should hit their golf ball straight.


So if they don’t hit their golf ball straight – how are they so successful? They have a PLAN to avoid trouble on the golf course. For example – if your ball has a tendency to curve 15 yards to the right and there’s water down the left side and trees down the right side – where should you aim?


The Monkey would possibly say either down the middle to avoid both the water and the trees. Or down the right side to avoid the water. On the other hand the Player would say they’d aim down the left side at the water.


And what might happen is that the Monkey would be so worried about hitting it straight between the water and the trees that they would possibly top the golf ball about 50 yards barely making the fairway. Or they would aim to the right and then watch their ball start down the right side and curve into the trees. On the other hand - the Player will aim down the left side and watch their golf ball start towards the water, but because their golf ball curves 15 yards to the right – their golf ball will end up on the fairway or if it curves a little more than normal, they’ll end up in the right rough.


So as the Monkey only hit their golf ball either 50 yards and now has a long way to go – or has to waste a shot out of the trees (if they can even find their ball) – the Player has kept their golf ball in play and has put themselves in position to score. And this has nothing to do with your ball striking skill. The Monkey didn’t mess-up because they made a bad golf swing. They messed-up before they even put their tee in the ground by not playing to their PLAN. Because they had such an unrealistic PLAN – either hitting it straight down the middle or aiming right and hoping the ball wouldn’t go in the trees – that their chances of success were maybe 10%.


What’s more important – keeping your ball in play or keeping it in the fairway? The answer is neither – and that even goes for the US Open with its notorious rough.


In the 2006 US Open – the winner Jeff Oglivy was ranked 21st in Fairways Hit – hitting just over half the fairways. Colin Montgomerie, who tied for 2nd place was also ranked 21st in Fairways Hit. And Phil Mickelson, who also tied for 2nd place was ranked 51st in Fairways Hit – hitting only 43% of the fairways.


So stop working so hard to hit the golf ball so straight. It’s going to curve and there’s nothing you can do about it! So stop griping and just ‘Play for your PLAN’.


The Monkey is waiting for a miracle – a straight shot – and is racking up strokes waiting for it to happen


The Player has a PLAN


Go Ahead, Be A Player!


Regards,


Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

What's Your PLAN?

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Your ball is in the trees again and you have a couple of options. You could “punch-out” sideways to the fairway or you could try to squeeze the ball between the two trees about 15 yards in front of you.

“But there’s plenty of room between those trees. I can get it through there. Besides, if I hit it out sideways back into the fairway – I’ll still have over 200 yards to the green!”

So what are the next words you usually say after you try to squeeze your shot through the small gap in the trees? “I knew I should’ve just chipped it back into the fairway!”

Double and Triple Bogeys are usually not written on your scorecard unless you do one of the following: Ball in water, ball out of bounds, lost ball or saying ‘there’s plenty of room between those trees’.

Making smart decisions is the first step in developing your PLAN. Your PLAN isn’t easy – nothing important is easy. You’re going to have temptations to get away from your PLAN – like trying to squeeze between those trees. Just like someone on a diet that has temptations to have a chocolate chip cookie instead of an apple.

And just like the dieter that fights temptation and picks up a carrot stick – the Player that hits back on the fairway is going to feel better about how they managed their game. Players are Players because they have strong minds – and as tempting as it can be to go for that shot that you might succeed only once in 4 tries – the Player sticks with their PLAN. As opposed to the cookie eater that will say to themselves after their last bite – “was it really worth it?”

To put it kindly – if you can’t hit your ball off the best lie available (sitting on top of a tee) between two rows of trees that are a minimum of 50 yards apart (the fairway and rough), how can you expect to hit your ball off a bad lie (pine needles, leaves, soft dirt, hardpan, tree roots or limited backswing) through an area that’s only 3 yards wide?

And there are many times that Golfers will try to go through this “squeezed” area for what will amount to as helping you get only 30 yards closer to the green than if you went out sideways. Yet you’re not going to make a triple bogey going out sideways.

I would say that about 10 out of 10 articles I see on improving one’s golf game is devoted to the mechanics of the golf swing (or putting stroke). Yet, the national handicap in the United States is the same as it was in 1972. And this is with better golf clubs, better golf balls and better conditioned golf courses.

Trust me – it’s a lot easier hitting a new Titleist Driver than it was a persimmon McGregor Driver from 1972!

Maybe one reason that there’s no change in scores is that Golfers don’t put enough effort into their PLAN. Maybe they don’t have a PLAN. Though, what’s confusing to me about the national handicap staying the same since 1972 is that I know hundreds of GMS Golfers that have improved their handicaps. Not just by a few strokes – I know hundreds that have improved their handicaps by double digits.

You would think our Golfers would’ve moved the needle a little lower – then again, maybe all those other Golfers that are working on their one plane swing or two plane swing, going through all that video analysis, buying gadgets like the swing jacket or inside approach and/or trying every tip in Monkey Digest are probably more confused than ever with their swing. And when they have a chance to “squeeze” the ball between a couple of trees – well...they’re probably making enough triple bogeys that things balance out.

The Monkey hits and hopes (to get through the trees)

The Player is too focused on their PLAN to even consider hoping

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly


Hitting your Driver is the greatest aspect of golf. There’s nothing I’d rather do more than be able to go on the golf course and hit my Driver. Walking to the tee of a Par 3 is a let down. Why even have Par 3’s? Let’s have only Par 4’s and Par 5’s so that we can hit Driver all the time!

And it’s a shame that there are Golfers out there that are afraid to pick up their Driver. “Oh, I can’t hit my Driver. I miss every fairway. So I just use my 3 wood.”

That’s no way to play golf!

Isn’t it a let down when the other Golfers in your group hit their Drivers and then you come up to the tee with your 3 wood? Or worse – an iron! Yes, there are holes on the golf course where Driver might not be the best club to play – but there shouldn’t be more than 2 or 3 of these holes.

Let’s face it – there are 3 Major aspects of your game that need to be aligned to have your best score ever. Your PLAN, your Putting and your Driver.

Though, if you have any 2 of these 3 working well – you’re still going to have a good score. Maybe not your best score ever, but you’re going to feel good adding up your scorecard after the 18th hole. Let’s say these scores will be in your top 10%.

Yet, if you go out and have only 1 out of the 3 working - you’ll be scoring what you’d consider as an average score. Nothing to be ashamed of, but it’s not improvement. And we want to see improvement!

Where a lot of Golfers go wrong, is in their assessment of how well they hit their Driver during a round. There are too many Golfers that consider themselves to be having a bad day with their Driver if they miss 7 out of 14 fairways.

Fairways hit is the most overrated stat in Golf!

For example – You’re on a 390 yard hole and pop-up your tee shot that goes 105 yards, but lands on the fairway. That counts as a fairway hit, although you’ve got 285 yards to the center of the green. Is this a good thing?

Or for example – Same hole and you bomb the farthest drive you’ve ever hit 285 yards into the right hand rough. This counts as a missed fairway, although you’ve got only 105 yards to the center of the green. Isn't this a better thing?

Let me see - which second shot would you rather have?

The key with driving well isn’t Fairways Hit – the stats on the PGA Tour will show you that. The key is keeping the ball in play. A ball in the rough is in play – a ball in the trees can be trouble. But, as it says above – ‘if you have any 2 of the 3 Major aspects of your game working, you’re going to see a good score.’

So even though you’re in the trees on 3 or 4 holes doesn’t mean that you’re scoring badly. If you’re playing to your PLAN (the 1st Major) – you’ll make the correct decision out of the trees and be on the green in 3 shots. Then with your putting working well (the 2nd Major) – you’ll 1 putt for Par or 2 putt for Bogey – after a drive in the trees.

Though, if you take that same scenario, but you aren’t “Playing to your PLAN” – you might be on the green in 4 shots. Though, if one Major is working (your putting) – you’ll 1 putt for Bogey or 2 putt for Double Bogey – after a drive in the trees. Doing this 3 times a round isn’t going to stop you from having an average score.

Yet, if none of the 3 Major’s are working – you’ll have a bad round!

Every email we receive about one of our Golfers whose playing better than they did before seeing GMS includes at least 2 of the 3 Majors working well. They don’t always say that they’re hitting their Driver better than ever or putting better than ever. Though, they all say that at least 2 of the 3 Majors were working well.

What does this mean for you?

It means you don’t have to be hitting your Driver better than ever to score better than ever. It means you don’t have to be Putting better than ever to score better than ever. It means you don’t have to have your PLAN working better than ever to score better than ever.

Don’t be so hard on yourself to hit the ball better than ever – it’s not necessary in order for you to improve your score. Though, remember – if you’re struggling with your Driver – you can still have a good score if you focus on your PLAN and your Putting.

The Monkey is trying to hit every fairway and if they don’t, they can’t score because they have no PLAN and they don’t practice their putting

The Player knows that if they work hard on their PLAN, that they only have to either drive or putt decent to have a good score

Go Ahead, Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

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"Become The Golfer Of The Year"

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



The story of the year in Golf just might be Zach Johnson. And his game might be a perfect blueprint for you to follow so that you can also have your game get to the next level. I don’t know much about Zach Johnson – but I do know that he’s having a career year having won the Masters and then the tournament last week in Atlanta.



You hear all this talk about Zach being an overnight sensation – coming out of nowhere. But, here’s a guy that turned Professional back in 1998. So I guess that means that in golf terms that overnight equals 9 years of hard work. Oh, but that’s not counting 4 years of competitive college golf and 4 years of high school golf and I’m sure a few years of Junior Golf Tournaments.



Johnson’s story is one of persistence and patience and I believe that’s why he’s now successful.



Now look at the average Golfer – they want it now! They’re always looking for the next gimmick to go from scoring 100 to 72 the next day. And if that doesn’t work – they’re up late at night with credit card in hand watching infomercials on the Golf Channel.



For example – A few weeks ago I was reading an issue of a golf magazine that had a story about these two guys that are now considered the New Swing Guru’s according to ...... I’m not sure who this is according to – well, I guess it's according to themselves. And they have this new concept that’s all the rage on Tour (according to them). They say that you need to do this and that – and if you do, you’ll hit the ball like Jack Nicklaus.



Every couple of years, these new tips come out and Golfers jump on the bandwagon and every couple of years these tips slowly fade away because there was more hype than positive results. I can’t tell you how many Golfers that have signed up for GMS because of their frustration with all these tips. I can’t tell you how many Golfers that were so frustrated from jumping tip to tip and frustrating golf swing to frustrating golf swing – that they’ve said things such as – “That’s why I’m here – to get away from all the gimmicks. I’ve gotten nowhere with them.”



The Golfers that are successful have a PLAN and stick with it. The Golfers that are continually frustrated are the ones that are constantly jumping tip to tip or swing guru to swing guru hoping to find something magical that will instantly transform them into a Player. How many Golfers are going to jump on the tips that these latest Guru’s have come up with?



Probably the same amount that jumped on ‘Toe up to Toe Up’ and ‘Square to Square’ and ‘The X Factor’ and having two Drivers (one for Draws and one for Fades). And it’s funny because it’s always the same people that are jumping from tip to tip – and these same people are probably scoring the same and are as frustrated now as they were before they started their Golf Tip Addiction.



Is that how Zach Johnson improved?



Did Zach Johnson just find ‘a genie in a bottle’ that granted him his wish to win the Masters? Do you think he was reading Golf Digest and came across a tip that he used to win the Masters? Maybe he went out and bought one of those swing vests that you hook up to a computer to analyze your swing. Yeah, I bet that’s what he did!



I’d put my money on hard work and his desire to improve. I’d put my money on his focus to stick with his PLAN. I’d put my money on that it just took him some time to slowly improve his game to get to the level it is now.



For you it’s much easier to improve faster than it is for Zach.



See, when you get to the PGA Tour level – improving one stroke on your average score is equivalent to a 100 Golfer improving 10 strokes. This year, Zach’s scoring average is 70.02 strokes per round. In 2003 (4 years ago for the mathematically challenged), his scoring average was 72.69.



What’s 2.6 strokes difference per round? It’s only about 10 strokes difference over the course of the 4 rounds of a PGA Tour event. Meaning if the winner was 8 under par – Zach would be way down at the bottom of the list at 2 over par.



How did he improve those 2 strokes per round? Do you think he found it in Golf Digest? Or a swing vest? Neither will you!



The Monkey is going to try to find out who these two new Swing Guru’s are



The Player is looking up Zach Johnson’s stats to see where he’s improved the most over the last several years and will use those stats as a blueprint to improve your game





Go Ahead, Be A Player!



Regards,



Marc Solomon -Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon

How to Hit Your Driver

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly



Your Driver might just be the most important club in your bag. If you’re hitting it badly – you’re most likely not having a fun time on the golf course. Or to put it in even sharper terms – When you’re not hitting your Driver well – Golf Stinks!

So how do you hit your Driver better? Ahh, there’s probably been a million articles written about this subject!

I believe the first part of hitting your Driver better is to understand where on the clubface you should be trying to hit the golf ball. So let’s do an experiment to see what’s the best place on your clubface for you to hit the golf ball? And with this experiment I’m going to need you to participate. What I’m going to ask you to do is to get your Driver and a golf ball from your golf bag.

Now, there might be a Golfer or two that might be saying – “I don’t want to do a test – just tell me what I need to do.” I wish it could be that easy.

If you want to hit the golf ball the farthest and straightest you possibly can - you should know where the center of your club is. Most Golfers are just teeing up their golf ball and swinging and hoping it goes long and straight. The Player is using their knowledge of what makes their Driver work at its peak performance to attain better drives as the Monkey swings and hopes! And a lot of this is understanding where the center of your Driver is so that you can select the proper height to tee your golf ball.


So take out your Driver and a golf ball.

Hold the shaft of your Driver in your hand about six to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) from the club head with the club face pointing to the sky. Then using your other hand – drop the golf ball from about 12 inches (30 centimeters) above the club onto the center of the club face. Depending on your Driver, it should be between 3 to 7 grooves from the bottom of the club. What you should be looking and listening for is Centerness of Hit. How high did the golf ball bounce off the club face? What did it sound like? Did it sound solid?

Now do it again; though this time drop the golf ball closer to the bottom of your Driver face - maybe only 1 groove from the bottom. What happened? Did it bounce as high? What kind of sound did it make? Did it sound as solid? Did you feel the club vibrate a little more in your hand?

Next, do the same, though this time drop the ball as many grooves high as you did on your first attempt, but let it land closer to the toe of the club face. And to save my fingers from typing more than necessary – ask yourself the same questions you asked yourself above after your previous attempts.

There might only be a little difference between the 3 bounces – or for some Drivers, there might be a big difference. The key to think about is that you imagine what that difference would be if your club was swinging at 95 miles per hour (153 kilometers per hour) as it made contact with the golf ball in those 3 spots. Try to think about it that way as opposed to just dropping the golf ball a short distance onto the club face – swinging the golf club and hitting the golf ball on your club face from these three spots would be a huge difference in distance and possibly direction.


So how can you use this knowledge to boost your Driving skills?


Well one spot is with the height you tee your golf ball. I can say without hesitation that 7 out of every 8 Golfers will tee their golf ball too low. Not just a little too low – way too low. Now I know the reasoning behind teeing the ball as low as you might be teeing it. I understand that you’re afraid of popping up the golf ball. I understand that you feel you might just go underneath the golf ball and leave one of those nasty little marks on the top of your $399 Driver. Yet, it’s almost impossible to hit the center of your golf club with your ball being teed too low.

And I agree, if I had the choice between pooping the golf ball up or hitting a little low on the club face (but getting at least some distance) – I’d take the latter. Though, if you’re always hitting the lower half of your club face – you’ll never improve your distance. Also think of how many Golfers are teeing their golf ball up different heights every tee shot - sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes medium height. This will breed more inconsistency than you might have thought.

Now if you’re trying to improve the way you hit the golf ball, think about this - I’ve seen countless Golfers that have improved their golf swings dramatically – dramatically – but haven’t improved their distance or direction with their Driver Why? Because it doesn’t matter how great your golf swing is if you don’t allow the ball to hit the proper place on the golf club!


Where’s that proper place?


So let’s use the results of your experiment to try to find a good tee height for your Driver. Again, it’s going take some participation on your part. Set your Driver up like you normally would if you were going to hit a golf ball. Then kneel down so that you’re holding the club head with one hand against the floor. With your other hand, place the golf ball against the spot that we discovered was the center of your club face in our previous experiment (the spot where you want to hit the golf ball). Now I must inform you that this is not the height you should be teeing your golf ball!!!!!!!

Why? Because if you were teeing the golf ball this high – the only way you’d be able to hit the center of your golf club would be to hit the ground first (slowing your club and causing you to hit the ball shorter and off-line) or to avoid hitting the ground first, it would cause you to swing down on the back of the golf ball causing it to pop-up (and in many cases because of other compensations you might make – it will cause a slice). Think about it – as you line-up the golf ball in this experiment to the center of the club face, where’s your Driver? It’s hitting the ground before you hit the golf ball!


So what should you do?


Do our second experiment again – though this time raise the ball about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) higher up the club face. Now I can’t say this is the height everybody should be teeing the golf ball – everybody’s golf swing is different. Though, I don’t believe you should be teeing the golf ball any lower – if anything, it should be higher. And if you do pop the golf ball up from this tee height – it’s not because the tee is too high. It probably has more to do with compensations in your golf swing – but that’s for another Golf Improvement Weekly.

The Monkey usually tees the golf ball too low, yet isn’t happy with their distance

The Player uses the motto – Tee it high and let it fly, tee it low and it won’t go

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon – Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon