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

I've noticed two types of Golfers on the golf course – Winners and Whiners. Now there's not much difference between the words if you look fast – the only difference is the 'h' in Whiner and an extra 'n' in Winner. What does the 'h' stand for?

It could stand for humility. Meaning, in order to play to your potential, you need to take the good with the bad. If you're too worried what others might be thinking about you after a bad shot, or two or three – you might fall into the trap that many Whiners do. The Golfer often defends themselves by Whining about their golf game – "I usually hit my irons so much better than this. I'm not playing very well today. I usually play better than this."

Everybody is going to have a round where they don't hit their irons well. Or a round that they hit their Drived bad. Or putt bad. This is just part of the game of golf. Though more importantly - other Golfers don't care if you're hitting your Irons bad – they're more concerned with their game and probably don't want to hear your negative talk about your golf game.

A Whiner tells everybody about their problems on the golf course. And what often happens is that their problems get worse and worse as the round goes on. Almost as if they're trying to convince themselves of the problem or prove it to the other Golfers they're playing with.

A Winner just makes their PLAN and plays.

Perhaps the 'h' stands for humble. Because as soon as you think you got it and don't make as thorough a PLAN as you need to make – boom: Triple Bogey, Double Bogey, Double Bogey. Seven over par in three holes.

You must never let your guard down to think – "oh, I just have an easy wedge to the green." Because more times than not, you don't make your best golf swing and the ball ends up in a tough spot around the green. Which often leads to the Triple Bogey that could've - no should've - been a Par or Birdie.

Often times we get on a good streak on the golf course where we start playing our best golf. The game seems easy. You start to hit your stride and play like you feel you should all the time. Birdie, Par, Par, Par – "I love this game!"

"Ok, I have 110 yards to the green. I can make Birdie here. The flags on the left side, there's plenty of room on the right side of the green to get on safely and two putt for another par. No, I know I can get the ball closer to the hole to make Birdie."

"Crap! I pulled it! In the left bunker." Then after taking 2 shots to get out. The second of which rolled over the green. 1 shot to get on the green (that you hit slightly behind the ball) and 2 putts – your decision to go away from the PLAN that was working has cost you big time. What could've (or should've) had a 5 hole stretch of Birdie, Par, Par, Par, Par – which turned into Birdie, Par, Par, Par, Triple Bogey.

"Triple Bogey from 110 yards away. I can't believe it. I stink!" Which may lead you into the aforementioned humility category above or the other 'h' below.

A Whiner forgets how hard they had to work for the easy Pars and Birdies. A Whiner abandons what has been working for them because they become greedy. As they say on Wall Street – 'Pigs get slaughtered!'

The Winner just makes their PLAN and plays.

The 'h' could also represent hot - as in hothead. Have you ever gotten upset over one or two bad shots only to allow those one or two shots to get you in such a mental funk that you lose conscious thought over the next 3 holes because you're so pissed at yourself?

I have witnessed this over and over on the golf course. Yes, everybody gets upset with themselves on the golf course. There's nothing wrong with that. The so called Mental Guru's that say that you shouldn't get upset are pretty much idiots that are selling you on nonsense and are not living in reality.

It's natural to get upset after a bad shot.

Though, the 'hothead' can't let it go. After missing a putt on the 2nd hole, they carry over the frustration to the 3rd tee. Which contributes to a bad tee shot. Then the bad tee shot added to the missed putt is directly involved with the next bad swing – which contributes to another bad swing after that and the one after that and the one...

And for the next 6 holes, the 'hothead' collects Double and Triple Bogeys like my junk mail folder collects worthless emails.

A Whiner is always thinking about their last bad shot. Sometimes it seems that the hothead thrives on getting mad at themselves. Almost as if they're out on the golf course more for the thrill of getting upset over their game – than for the actual enjoyment that golf can bring.

The Winner just makes a PLAN and plays.

How does one Golfer go from scoring in the 100's to scoring in the 80's within a year – while another Golfer stays stuck in the 100's after 3 years? It could be the 'h'.

Would you classify the Golfer that improved from well above Bogey Golf to well better than Bogey Golf as a Winner or a Whiner? It could be the 'h'.

The good news is that the Whiner can turn into a Winner in a short period of time. It's not easy – you really have to watch yourself because the old habits of the Whiner come back pretty fast if they're not watched. All you have to do is take the 3 'h's' above out of your game and add the 'n'.

What's the 'n' stand for? 'Nothing'. You really don't have to do anything else besides getting rid of the 'h' to go from a Whiner to a Winner.

How about you? Are you a Winner or a Whiner?

The Monkey spends more time on the golf course whining about their golf game then they do making a PLAN for their golf game

The Player always seems to be winning in their effort to improve because they focus their energy towards making a PLAN

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com



^ Top of page

Labels: driving range, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Golf Video, La Quinta, Marc Solomon, Tiger Woods

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 3:15 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

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

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 8:59 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

It’s getting to be the time of the year when many Golfers get ‘the itch’. It’s been 2 or 3 months of cold, gray weather that’s not conducive to playing golf – so you get ‘the itch’ for sunshine, warmth and green grass. Your golf group then makes plans for Arizona or Florida to play 36 holes a day for 3 or 4 days in a row.

You make it to your location ‘totally jacked-up’ about playing golf on some beautiful golf courses – if you were born pre-1960, you might not be familiar with the phrase ‘totally jacked-up’ – unless you still have teenagers in the house. You stay up late the night before your first round of golf because your blood is pumping and everyone is excited about playing great golf over the next few days.

That feeling lasts all the way to the driving range the next morning when you don’t just walk up to hit some shots to warm-up – you strut like you’re Tiger Woods. As the line of ‘totally jacked-up’ Golfers are pounding ball after ball as they satisfy ‘the itch’ that they haven’t had a chance to scratch in a few months – you pull out your wedge to start hitting balls because your tee time is in 45 minutes and you need to work on a few things!

After three pretty good wedge shots, you move onto your 7 iron without a care in the world – “this is paradise, I need to do this more often – I work hard, I deserve this.” On your third 7 iron shot, the ball starts to draw to the left a little and you say to yourself – “hey, that’s cool – I haven’t seen that happen very much”. On the fourth shot, the ball draws a little more to the left. And on the fifth shot, it starts to resemble a hook.

“What happened? Why is my ball going so far to the left? I must be turning too much.”

On the next shot when you try not to turn as much – you hit 3 inches behind the ball. Then on the next shot when you try to shift your weight, though without turning too much – you shank the ball. And on the next shot when you make sure that you don’t swing so much outside in (by trying to make a more inside to out swing), while shifting your weight and not turning too much …. Well, let’s just try to forget about that shot because it wasn’t pretty.

Now what?

You look at your watch and see that you have 25 minutes until your tee time and you need to figure out what you’re doing wrong before you get to the 1st tee. So you make a desperate move and look for one of the guys in your group that’s also hitting golf balls to come over and help you. Hoping to spot Jimmy because he’s ‘the swing guru’ of the group – I mean he’s constantly talking about the golf swing, reads all the golf magazines and is always more than happy to give golf advice to anyone that will listen (along with giving advice to those that don’t want to listen).

There he is – “Jimmy, Jimmy – I need your help. Can you watch me hit a couple of shots?”

So as you set-up to hit a golf ball – Jimmy’s standing behind you with his legs crossed and leaning on a golf club like all the great teaching pros do so that they can look studious, yet relaxed at the same time. You hit another bad shot – and Jimmy says “hit one more, I think I know what you’re doing.” You hit yet another bad shot; and then look at Jimmy for his sage advice and hope he can help you get out of your funk.

Jimmy says – “Well, you’re doing the same thing I’m working on. On the way down, your right hand is taking over causing the club to flip. So you need to work on lagging the club – make sure that your hands stay in front of the club head till just before impact and then release it. That’s what Sergio does so well, I’m working on the same thing and I’ve almost got it!”

Now as I mentioned – Jimmy is considered the swing guru of the group, although he rarely breaks 90 – well let me put it out on the table for you: nobody in his group has ever seen Jimmy break 90, though he says he’s scored 78 a couple of times. In fact, Jimmy can be often heard saying – “I’m not playing well because I’m working on something new in my swing.”

But desperate times require desperate measures and Jimmy has a library of golf tips in his head and maybe he can give you a tip that will get you through the round. So with just 10 minutes left before your tee time and Billy yelling up to you – “We’re on the tee in 5 minutes” – Billy’s always in a hurry to get to the 1st tee, he’s often trying to gather everyone by the starter 30 minutes before your tee time in his quirky quest of always trying to tee off early – you try to ignore his plea so that you can work on Jimmy’s tip of taking the right hand out of the swing and lagging the club.

After hitting two or three more shots that have shown absolutely no sign of improvement, Jimmy saying to you after each shot – “that’s better, that’s much closer”, and Billy pleading to you that you’re on the tee – what you thought of as paradise just 40 minutes ago has turned into – ‘Maybe I won’t play tomorrow.”

At which time you say that you want to hit just one shot with your driver before going to the 1st tee. So you stand up to the ball with no expectations, saying to yourself – “forget about everything and just swing smooth” – and hit the best shot you’ve hit in 3 years. While Jimmy says – “See, I told you, that time you took your right hand out of the shot. Like I said, you need to lag the club. Now you need to think about that every shot today.”

And then you look at Jimmy knowing he tried his best, yet he’ll come in with his typical 76 – meaning the 76 times he’ll tell you over the 18 holes that “I’m not playing well because I’m working on something new in my swing” – and you say “Ok Jimmy, I’ll work on that”. Knowing that in reality you should just go out there, forget about all the swing tips, swing smooth and have fun.

The Monkey has a reputation for saying “I’m not playing well because I’m working on something new in my swing”


The Player knows that when they get in a little swing funk that they can often just focus on swinging smooth to get the funk out


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, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, La Quinta, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs, Video Analysis

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 11:56 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

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

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 2:47 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

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

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 1:30 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

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



Hitting the golf ball farther should be a priority of yours. If you look at the top Golfers in the world – the majority of them hit the golf ball a good distance. The problem is that many Golfers continually hit bad golf shots because of their quest to hit the golf ball farther.

For the struggling Golfer – hitting the golf ball longer usually comes down to swinging harder. For the Player – hitting the golf ball longer comes down to having an efficient golf swing so that every part of your body is moving together. There’s a huge difference between these two strategies.

Which strategy for distance do you use?

The coordination of your body so that it moves together is more important than your ability to swing hard. I know many Golfers that can swing harder than Tiger Woods – though, there aren’t many that can hit it farther on a more consistent basis.

If you look at the Professional Long Driver Tournaments – Tiger wouldn’t be able to compete with these guys. Their drives in the competition would smoke Tiger’s drives. Yet, on the golf course – Tiger wouldn’t just smoke them – he’d vaporize them!

Who would you rather model your game after?

So why can Tiger hit it so far, yet so consistent? Because over the years of playing he’s been able to coordinate the movements of his body so that he’s become more Symmetrical. He’s been on a quest to have both sides of his body to become equal. Equal in strength – equal in coordination – equal in talent.

The more a Golfer is right-hand dominate or left-hand dominate – the more this Golfer will need to compensate in their golf swing for the less talented hand. Now when I say hand – I don’t just mean your actual hand. A better way of saying it is right-side dominate or left-side dominate.

Meaning if you’re right handed, it doesn’t only mean you’re doing things better with your right hand. It means you’re doing things better with your whole right-side: right hand, right hip, right foot, right leg, right shoulder, etc. It means that your whole right-side is stronger and more coordinated than your left-side.

So the more right-side or left-side dominate you are – the more compensations will be in your golf swing to make up for the weaker, less coordinated side. What type of compensations will you see, well in Monkey Terms – swinging over the top, outside in, picking up, reverse pivoting, lunging, falling back, losing posture, etc., etc., etc. Though at Golf Made Simple we just take all those Monkey Terms, throw them together in a pot and call them Compensations.

Do you have any of these Compensations? Do you want to fix them?

Hopefully you do want to fix your Compensations because ‘Compensations equal Inconsistency’. The more you compensate in your golf swing – the more inconsistent you’ll be on the golf course.

So as Albert Einstein came up with E=MC2; GMS uses C=IC - Compensations equal InConsistency.

The key to hitting the golf ball farther is not to consciously try to swing your golf club harder. The more you do that – the more you’re dominate side will be compensating for your less dominate side and thus fighting each other. The key to hitting the golf ball farther is to have both sides of your body to become more and more equal.

Then as you use Drills designed to make your sides more equal, you’ll see your weaker side starting to improve – along with you starting to see more and more distance on your shots without trying to swing harder. This will be in direct correlation to you becoming more symmetrical – which will do two things:

One – it’ll coordinate your body so that your swing becomes smoother and without your weaker side of your body getting in the way of your stronger side, you’ll be swinging with more power without trying to swing harder. Second – as your weaker side gets stronger, there’ll be less of a need for you to compensate to make up for the weaker side. And less Compensation will allow you to hit the center of the club more often.

How much distance will ‘Centerness of Hit’ add to your Driver? This could range from 10 to 45 yards of instant improvement in yardage. Instant!! Because hitting the center of your club is the number one way to increase distance – yet look at your Driver. Where are all the markings of where you hit the golf ball? Are they in the center?

This is why GMS uses drills such as ‘The Symmetrical Drill’ on Day One of your 3-Day Program with us. And this is why so many Golfers that come to see us are hitting the golf ball farther and more consistent after just 3 days.

The Monkey will try to swing harder on a Par 5 or long Par 4 to get extra distance, but the only extra they get is extra frustrated and extra penalty strokes

The Player has a PLAN to improve both sides of their body on the practice range so that they don’t need to swing harder to get more distance on the golf course

What are you doing for more distance?

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Clubs, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, La Quinta, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 10:01 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

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

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 5:14 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

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



This could be the biggest announcement GMS has ever made!

GMS is proud to announce that we have reached an agreement to add a new location in the Palm Springs, California area at The Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta.

If the name - The Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta sounds familiar – it might be because it was the host course for The PGA Tour’s LG Skins Game from 2003 to 2006! We’re not fooling around. This was the golf course that held The PGA Tour’s LG Skins Game that featured Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam and Fred Couples competing against each other for some big bucks!

And now GMS is giving you the opportunity to spend 3 days with us learning how to develop a more consistent Golf Swing, along with developing a PLAN for improvement in this fantastic location. You’ll be developing this PLAN each afternoon on the golf course that held one of the most prestigious events in golf for 4-years in a row!

Could you think of another place on the West Coast where you’d rather be playing golf when it starts to get too cold up North? What could be better than the golf course that held The PGA Tour’s LG Skins Game! Are you excited?

Set at the base of the majestic Santa Rosa Mountains of Palm Desert, California, The Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta is a Gary Panks-design that was the home of the 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 PGA Tour LG Skins Game. This 18-hole championship Southern California golf course has been played by Tour Players such as the aforementioned Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam and Fred Couples, along with Phil Mickelson, Fred Funk and Mark O'Meara.

Have you ever been to the La Quinta/Palm Springs area?

If so, then you know why I’m so excited about our newest location! If you haven’t been to this area – now’s your chance. Let me tell you – I’ve always heard how nice this area is and I’ve seen the scenery on television – but you can’t understand it till you’re here. Words can’t describe the beauty of La Quinta – the sunshine, the blue sky and the mountains leaning up against the green golf courses. It’s no wonder why the Hollywood movie stars vacation in this area and why the PGA Tour always comes back to the La Quinta/Palm Springs area!

We have arranged accommodations at a brand new and beautiful Embassy Suites (that you might mistake for being a Ritz Carlton), that also offers additional accommodations in their beautiful casitas. With a pool, fitness center and full breakfast each morning – you can’t go wrong. Then add that you’re right across the street from Old Town La Quinta with Clint Eastwood’s Hogs Breath Saloon – and you’re in good hands.

Our first class at our La Quinta/Palm Springs location will be held Friday, November 30th to Sunday December 2nd and will continue through the end of May with a 3-Day GMS Program held every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – along with Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

So sign-up's start right now and continue through the end of May.

2007 and 2008 Rates and Dates are in place – click here to access our webpage for our La Quinta/Palm Springs location at The Trilogy Club at La Quinta.

For more intimate details about the hotel and facility – take a look below in The Buzz. November 30th can’t come soon enough!

Go Ahead, Join Us in La Quinta and Be A Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Labels: Boca Raton, California, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, La Quinta, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs, Skins Game

posted by Golf Made Simple - Golf Improvement Program  # 8:18 AM 0 Comments Links to this post