The Golf Swing Blog - Golf Instruction and Golf Lessons for Golfers
A Golf Blog for Golfers that are frustrated with the endless stream of Golf Tips from the Golf Instruction Magazines. This is beneficial for Golfers that haven't improved their golf swing after investing in the typical 30 minute Golf Lesson. Golf Improvement Weekly is brought to you by Golf Schools by Golf Made Simple. So if you liked this article - there are many more like this on the website is http://www.GolfMadeSimple.comTuesday, July 28, 2009
"Why Not A Consistent Golf Swing On The Course?" - Golf Improvement Weekly - July 28thy, 2009
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Labels: Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, top golf school
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
What Causes Poor Golf Swings?
"Does Poor Balance Cause Poor Golf Swings?"
Would a Golfer with poor balance have a better or worse chance of having a consistent golf swing?
The obvious answer seems to be that the Golfer that doesn’t have good balance would have a more inconsistent golf swing than the Golfer that employs good, solid balance. So if that’s true – why haven’t you worked on your balance? If true – should you be spending your time working on your swing path and swing plane or should you be working on your balance skills? Could poor balance be causing your swing path, swing plane and clubface issues?
We believe that much of the golf instruction (not all, but much) is seriously flawed and backwards in the way Golfers are taught. Meaning, for example: Many Golfers go to get a golf lesson (or read in a magazine or see on television) and are immediately admonished that their backswing is being taken too much to the outside. And that you need to work on taking it more inside.
Now, I’m not saying that your backswing shouldn’t go outside (and I’m not saying it shouldn’t come inside or straight back), however – maybe that flaw could be caused by something else. Maybe taking the club too far outside could be a compensation for another swing flaw.
For example: could poor balance cause you to take the club too far outside?
Unfortunately, many Golfers and Instructors only look at the effect (taking the club too far outside) and then teach you a compensation (taking the club more inside) to compensate for that first compensation (taking the club too far outside). So basically, you’re working on fixing one compensation with another compensation. And then you wonder why you can’t consistently take the club more to the inside while hitting a golf ball. Well maybe, just maybe – the club is going too far outside for a reason – maybe it’s compensating for poor balance?
To use the “taking the club more to the inside” example as an example – could bad balance cause you to take your club too far outside? Absolutely! If you’re not balanced at set-up – if your weight is too much on your heels – it could cause you to take the club too far outside in that Instructor’s eyes. Now, I’m not saying that taking the club too far outside is a bad thing (I’m not saying it’s a good thing either) – it’s just an example of something a lot of Golfers are corrected on.
The basis here is to talk about how bad balance could be affecting many of your so-called golf swing flaws. And how many Golfers are misdiagnosed - causing them to have to learn even more compensations to cover up other compensations. For example – learning to swing more inside to correct the outside swing path – yet never correcting the cause of the outside swing path (which could be bad balance).
If your balance at set-up is off – meaning too much on your heels – it could cause you to compensate by pushing your hands and arms away from your body because if they did come back more naturally – it might cause you to fall backwards. So to counter balance having too much weight on your heels – you push your arms away from your body on the backswing to maintain balance. So now you’re compensating for bad balance (which you need to do to remain standing), by taking the club outside.
Now, because of your bad balance – you’re told to change your swing path. Yet, the problem isn’t your swing path – your “poor” swing path is just an effect of your poor balance. Now a big problem arises when you start trying to bring the club more inside without correcting the bad balance. This will cause you to struggle on the golf course by hitting shanks and pulls and killer slices as you work on taking it more inside – which will cause you to add even more compensations to your swing to counteract those bad shots.
So now, when you go back for more help on your golf swing – you’re told that you’re now bringing the club in a little better – but to stop the shanks and pulls and killer slices, you need to stop coming over the top. You need to drop the club from the top of your golf swing into the slot so that you can bring the club more from the inside as you approach impact.
Yet, this happens even though you still haven’t perfected the more inside takeaway (which you can’t because your balance still hasn’t improved). And now, even though you don’t have the backswing, you have to learn how to bring the club down more on the inside as opposed to over the top. Yet, how can you bring the club more from the inside when you’re still don’t have good balance. With the weight too far back on your heels – you have a choice – throw the club to the outside on the way down (what you’ve been doing) or starting at the top of your backswing, move your weight to your toes for a counter balance so that you could drop the club down behind you (where your Instructor says it “needs” to be).
Regardless of which you subconsciously choose – you’re just adding another compensation on top of the other compensations that’s going to cause more problems in your golf swing. Without good balance, you’re like the people in a 10 story building with a wobbly foundation – when the building starts to lean to the front, you all run to the back of the building to counter the forward motion. And when the building now moves to the back, you all run to the front. Yet, nothing gets done in the office because everything is being affected by the bad foundation.
To give you a simple picture on how balance can affect your body’s movements – picture this: If you’re standing up straight, then lower your left arm down the side of your body to pick-up a heavy briefcase positioned to the outside of your left foot. How would you pull that bag up? Most likely by lifting it as you lean your upper body to the right – counter balancing the weight on your left. Then, as you walk with the heavy briefcase in your left hand (with your Blackberry held against your ear with your right hand), which way is your body leaning? Obviously to the right to counterbalance yourself.
Well, a similar thing could happen if you don’t have good balance in your golf swing. If your weight is too much in one direction – your body will compensate for it by moving in another direction. Yet, when similar balance issues happen with Golfers, they are often told that the compensations that they have created (because of the poor balance) are the problem with their golf swing. When in fact, that so called problem is just a compensation you created because of a far bigger issue. So now you’re taught another compensation to fix the compensation that was created by the cause. Yet, you never fixed the cause. And if you never fix the cause – you’re just going to start creating more and more compensations – so that your golf swing just becomes one big compensation.
And remember that - ‘Compensations equal Inconsistency’.
I can’t tell you how many thousands of Golfers unfortunately have to go through this every year – never getting to the cause of the problem, only being told how to fix the effect. Which is backwards because you should be working to fix the cause – yet most Golfers are only taught how to fix the effect by being given compensation after compensation. And that’s a big reason why so many Golfers never get better and swear never to take another golf lesson again because they only get worse afterwards.
Thank goodness for GMS!
How can you work on your balance? It’s easy. Get set-up like you’re ready to hit a golf shot, then pick-up your left foot so that you’re balanced on your right foot. Now to do this – you’re going to have to move your center of gravity over your right leg. See how long you can stay balanced on your right foot (while in set-up). And as you’re doing this – try to move your weight around your foot to feel where you’re the most balanced. After you can hold your balance for 30 seconds without having to put your left foot down or grab onto something – try it with your left foot.
Please remember, this isn’t as easy as it may sound – so don’t try this next to a glass table or at the top of a staircase – make sure you’re in a safe place. If you can only stay balanced for a few seconds on your first attempts – what is that telling you? It could be telling you that you don’t have great balance and that bad balance could be causing compensations in your golf swing that are causing you to create even more compensations and making you even more inconsistent.
The Monkey will continue to work on the effect by practicing taking the golf club to the inside without fixing the cause
The Player is always interested in fixing the cause because they know that if they fix the cause, they also fix the effect
Go ahead, Be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com
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At the PGA Tour event in San Antonio a couple of weeks ago, an interesting thing happened. In round 2, one Tour Pro beat another Tour Pro by 18 strokes in that one round. For the mathematically challenged – that’s 1 stroke per hole. Now, that’s about the equivalent and what you might expect to see when a 2 handicap plays with a 20 handicap. Not when 2 PGA Tour Players are playing.
In the second round, JP Hayes scored an impressive 62; while Trevor Dodds endured through an 80. Nonetheless – that’s a 1 stroke per hole difference in score – not something you’d expect to see on that high a level of golf. I guess it just goes to show how consistency is tough for the best Players in the world to grasp day after day and week after week.
What also illustrates this point is that Dodds isn’t a hack. In the first round he shot a very nice 70 – which was one shot better than Hayes’ 71. Which highlights even more inconsistency: Dodds played 10 shots worse on Friday than he did on Thursday. And Hayes played 9 shots worse on Thursday than he did on Friday.
So if the best Players in the world have scores that have 9 or 10 shots swings from Thursday to Friday – I guess for a regular Golfer, it shouldn’t be a big deal if you shot 92 on Saturday and 102 on Sunday! Because these guys have much more consistent golf swings than rest of us – and their scores vary 10 shots from round to round – how can you expect yours to have less of a variance?
GMS Bonus Material
For Anyone Considering Video Analysis - We have added our report on: "Using Video Analysis To Improve Your Golf Swing" to the Golf Made Simple website for you to download and view.
Just click here to be taken to the download page on the http://www.GolfMadeSimple.com website. It's easy, it's free and it's a pretty extensive report on our findings.
Indoor Putting Drill - If you'd like for us to email you a special Indoor Version of an excellent GMS Putting Drill that you could spend hours on - email us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put 'Blog' in the subject line.
Tour Putting Square - Use the Tour Putting Square inside your home to improve your scores. Just send us an email at TourPuttingSquare@GolfMadeSimple.com with the subject: 'Blog' – and we'll email you how to use this game changing drill.
Swing Drills & Core Training - To view a segment that covers 2 swing drills you can practice inside, plus 3 exercises to strengthen your core - email us at: PushUp@GolfMadeSimple.com with the words 'Blog' in the subject line to receive a link and password to access the video segment from our DVD - 'How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors'
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"My Drives Are Longer And Where I Want Them!"
GMS,
I had my most consistent game ever two weeks ago and had an 87 to top it off (that's good for me).
My time in St. Augustine was well worth the money, plus I had a great time. My drives are longer and most important; they are where I want them to be. I am using my game plan, and it is helping. My short game is vastly improved, and I am having fun.
GMS has made a difference to my golf game and to my outlook on golf.
Thanks,
Warren V - Huntsville, Alabama – Sent May 16th, 2009
Attended St. Augustine location in February 23rd to 25th, 2009
"I Kept Thinking About My PLAN And Stuck To It!"
It's been 10 weeks since my foot fracture and played my first round last Sunday. The wind was blowing a steady 30 MPH so I had no expectations.
I kept thinking of my plan (the one I mapped out while I was recuperating) and stuck to it. Several bogeys, a couple of double bogeys, several pars and one birdie. When I added it all up, I had carded a 90. Which I thought was pretty good considering the conditions, and not being able to swing a club (because of a foot fracture) for almost 10 weeks.
I asked the pro what he thought the equivalent to par was considering today's conditions – he said he thought par was about equal to a 78. So my 90 began looking even better. I’m very happy with my 90 considering the conditions!
I had only 1 three-putt and 6 one-putts. I'm looking forward to playing again on a regular basis and sticking to the plan. I'm sure I'll be emailing or calling with some questions down the road. I'm actually looking forward to hitting the range and getting back to practicing my drills.
Regards,
Ben P – Brooklyn, New York – Sent May 13th, 2009
Attended Phoenix location on February 20th to 22nd, 2009
Share Your Golf Made Simple Testimonials | Click Here
"Are Double Bogeys In Your PLAN?"
Excerpted from Classic GIW Issue 241 from May 28th, 2008
"It's so easy to lose your focus and PLAN after making a Double or Triple Bogey on the golf course. For most Golfers, a Double or Triple is often followed on the next hole with another Double or Triple. And that's precisely why you constantly hear Golfers saying things like - 'Ohh, I could've broken 90, but I had a 3 hole stretch where I went Double, Triple, Double. If I could've just limited those to Bogeys, I'd have scored in the 80's!'
"Yet, with the Player - when they experience a Double or Triple - they often follow it up with a Birdie, Par or at worst a Bogey. Why is this?
Well, I believe it's easier ....."
Continue reading the rest of this Classic GIW - Click Here
Is it almost June already? There’s no way! Wasn’t it just March … like just 2 weeks ago? I don’t know about you – but it’s been so busy around here. Time is just moving too fast.
And when I say busy, I mean busy. It’s been borderline crazy with all the inquires and sign-ups we have for our new Virginia location just outside Washington DC at Lansdowne Resort. Wow, we knew this was going to be a popular location. How could it not be with over 25 million people living within a 4 hour drive or 45 minute flight away.
And with 45 holes of phenomenal golf in the Virginia countryside – right on the Potomac River and just about smack in the middle of Virginia wine country – and the accommodations right on property at Lansdowne Resort – how could it not be successful? As I say this – June dates are just about sold-out. We have two spots available on June 16th to 18th; only two spots for the 19th to 21st – yet besides that, there’s not much more available for June. If you’re thinking about July – start thinking hard – because it’s right around the corner.
Regards,
Alex - Director
Toll Free - 1-888-580-3635<
International - 001.904.460.8355
Email: IWantToBe@GolfMadeSimple.com
Labels: Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, swing plane, Tiger Woods, Video Analysis
Friday, April 17, 2009
Missed Greens In Regulation On Golf Course
You do have a practice schedule – don’t you?
You know, a couple of weeks ago, our Stat of the Week in Golf Improvement Weekly was entitled – “If He Putts Well – He Might Win The Masters.” It was about Vijay Singh and how well he has been hitting the golf ball, yet how “poorly” compared to the other top PGA Tour Players he has been putting. If you missed that Stat – we reused it as the The Stat of the Week in this issue of GIW for you to read it.
The point of the Stat was to show that regardless of how good your golf swing is and how well you strike the golf ball – 35 to 40% of those total strokes can be attributed to your putting. And then if you’d like to get deeper into it (and you should get deeper into it if you want to improve your score), at least another 10 to 20% of your strokes are with clubs you use from 1 yard to 35 yards off the green.
So why do I bring this up? I’m not going to try to bore you with another “Short Game, Short Game, Short Game” rant. I mean what’s the point - from what I’ve seen – that advice just falls onto deaf ears.
However, being a stubborn Golf Pro that is attracted to controversy and debate – along with always wanting to be correct about my predictions – I must say – Vijay Singh hit the golf ball just as well as anyone in the Masters. And actually hit the golf ball better than the Champion – Angel Cabrera. And if Vijay did putt as well as the average Player in the Tournament – he probably would’ve won.
Is this the start of the Vijay Fan Club?
No, don’t take what I’m writing as the official fan site for Vijay Singh – it’s not. However, Vijay could be the official poster child for an organization entitled “If I Could Putt As Well As I Can Hit A Golf Ball – I Would Be One Of The Best Who Ever Played”.
And this isn’t a rant on Vijay or Professional Golf. This is a rant about your golf game. Please continue reading to see how this ties into your golf and improvement.
Vijay hit 52 out of 72 Greens in Regulation – Cabrera hit 50 out of 72. Now as far as ball striking statistics – Greens in Regulation is King. There’s not another stat (that I know of) that tells you how well you’re hitting the golf ball. Meaning, if you’re hitting your tee shots into the trees – you’re not hitting Greens on your second shot on Par 4’s. If you’re not swinging your irons well – you’re not hitting Greens from anywhere on the golf course. If you don’t hit your Driver far enough – well … nobody hits many Greens when they’re always hitting hybrids and fairway woods to the green.
So the number of Greens in Regulation you hit basically tells you where you stand as far as your ball striking skills. Or another way of saying it - it tells you how good (or not good) your golf swing is.
And tournament after tournament – Vijay is near the top, along with Tiger as far as Greens in Regulation.
However, Vijay had 122 putts for the four rounds at Augusta National. While Cabrera only had 112. Which, almost coincidentally aligns with the fact that Vijay ended up 11 strokes behind Cabrera. And although this doesn’t perfectly align with the margin of victory by Cabrera over Vijay – it’s pretty darn close and it does show that even though you might have one of the best golf swings in the world – the best golf swing doesn’t guarantee the best score.
As a side note – Tiger also hit 2 more Greens than Cabrera, but he also had 122 putts – the same as Vijay.
Now this isn’t to say that putting is more important than ball striking. Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. It all depends on what your Strengths and Weaknesses are. If you have a very good golf swing like Vijay – putting is more important at this point. If you had only 109 putts like Sandy Lyle (2 under par for the tournament and 1 stroke ahead of Vijay) – your golf swing is more important at this point.
The funny thing is that if Vijay and Sandy Lyle had a child – that kid would be sporting a Green Jacket.
So how do you know which is your Strength and which is your Weakness? I ask this even though I know that 7 out of every 8 Golfers believe that their wedges and putting is their Strength. And with me going back to the statement that I don’t mind debate and controversy – Trust me – for most of you – your wedges and putting aren’t even close to being a Strength of your golf game.
And as I know – most of you are probably saying something like – “That Solomon, he’s an idiot – he has no idea how good a putter I am. And how bad my Driver is.” I say to these Golfers – then prove it by doing the test below.
Prove it by finding your ‘Putts Per Missed Green In Regulation Stat’. Meaning most Golfers hit between 0 and 6 Greens in Regulation per 18 holes. So even though it would be great to see you raise your Greens in Regulation to 10 or 12 – which is comparable to a PGA Tour Player – you’re not a PGA Tour Player and you don’t have their skills. So it would be more beneficial for you to focus on Reality.
Reality says that you’re going to miss more Greens than you’re going to hit – so don’t fight Reality. Turn Reality into a Strength. Here’s how:
For every Green you miss – keep count of how many putts it takes you to get the ball into the hole. For example: You’re on a Par 4. Your second or third shot stops 15 yards from the green. You hit your next shot onto the green and 2 putt. That would mean that your ‘Putts Per Missed Green’ (PPMG) stat is 2. If on the next hole, a Par 3, your tee shot lands 5 yards from the green. Then you hit your next shot on the green and 3 putt – your ‘PPMG’ is now 5 (for the 2 holes) or 2.5 per hole. Which isn’t very good.
How should you follow this stat? Every time you play. How do you know if you’re doing well? Let me put it this way – averaging 2 PPMG is not good. If you want to score better – you need to be below 2 PPMG. If you’re above 2 PPMG – you need to spend more time on your wedges and putting. Because as much as you work on your Driver and your irons – 7 out of 8 Golfer won’t hit more than 6 Greens in Regulation. And even if you hit 6 Greens – you still have missed 12 Greens.
And I’ll tell you something else that you might not have ever thought of – The Golfer that hits 0 Greens in a round of 18 holes, yet averages 1.5 PPMG will have a lower score than a Golfer that hits 6 Greens in Regulation, yet has an average of 2.5 PPMG. And that includes if you1 putted each Green you hit and had 6 Birdies!
Here’s an example of the above scenario for the mathematically challenged –
1.5 PPMG: 1 wedge shot per hole + 1.5 Putts per hole multiplied by 18 holes = 45 strokes.
2.5 PPMG: 1 wedge shot per hole + 2.5 Putts per hole multiplied by 12 holes = 42 strokes + 6 putts (the 6 Birdie putts) = 48 strokes.
The 1.5 PPMG Golfer would still beat you by 3 strokes. And that’s if you 1 putted each Green in Regulation (no 2 putts or 3 putts on the greens you hit). And to further show how powerful this statement is - when’s the last time you had 6 Greens in Regulation and one putted each one for 6 Birdies?
Now – don’t take your PPMG lightly. And don’t think of it as being a 100% putting stat. Because a big percentage of your PPMG is based on how skilled you are with your wedges around the green. Obviously – the more skilled you are with your wedges – the closer your first putting attempt will be from the hole.
Also – don’t start to think that your PPMG is 100% based on your putting and wedges. A lot of this stat has to do with your PLAN. Meaning – when you were hitting your approach shot to the green – were you cognizant on where you shouldn’t miss the green. Did you fail to PLAN a ‘what if’ – meaning what if you did mis-hit the golf ball – would it leave you with a tough wedge shot that would be difficult to get close to the hole?
Track your PPMG and see if your average is 2 putts or above. Then if so, figure out why. Was it your putting? Was it your wedges around the green? Was it your PLAN that left you in tough positions around the green? Was it a combination of all three? My prediction is that it's a combination.
Nobody except GMS is talking about how much better Vijay hit the golf ball than Cabrera. Why? Because Cabrera outplayed Vijay. Would you rather be a one dimensional Player like Vijay was in this past Masters or a multi dimensional Player like the 2009 Masters Champ from Argentina?
You want to score better? Find your PPMG. You want to keep scoring how you’ve been scoring? Keep doing what you’ve been doing. It’s your choice.
The Monkey is still spending hours at the driving range fiddling with their golf swing and hitting golf balls even though their PPMG is over 2
The Player is tracking their PPMG, finding why it’s so high and then working to improve it
Go ahead, be a Player!
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
GMS Bonus Material
For Anyone Considering Video Analysis - We have added our report on: "Using Video Analysis To Improve Your Golf Swing" to the Golf Made Simple website for you to download and view.
Just click here to be taken to the download page on the http://www.GolfMadeSimple.com website. It's easy, it's free and it's a pretty extensive report on our findings.
Indoor Putting Drill - If you'd like for us to email you a special Indoor Version of an excellent GMS Putting Drill that you could spend hours on - email us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put 'Facebook' in the subject line.
Tour Putting Square - Use the Tour Putting Square inside your home to improve your scores. Just send us an email at TourPuttingSquare@GolfMadeSimple.com with the subject: 'Facebook' – and we'll email you how to use this game changing drill.
Swing Drills & Core Training - To view a segment that covers 2 swing drills you can practice inside, email us at: PushUp@GolfMadeSimple.com with the word 'Facebook' in the subject line to receive a link and password to access the video segment from our DVD - 'How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors'
Contact us:
1-888-580-3635 (US & Canada)
001-904-460-8355 (International)
IWantToBe@GolfMadeSimple.com
Labels: Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Marc Solomon
Missed Greens In Regulation on Golf Course
Missed Greens In Regulation
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With the completion of the Masters – Golf is now officially “In-season”. And it may just be my imagination, but it always seems that Golfers gain motivation to playing better golf after watching the Masters of the Golf Universe playing the best golf imaginable. Now your goal should be to let your enthusiasm motivate you to work hard using your practice schedule. You do have a practice schedule – don’t you? You know, a couple of weeks ago, our Stat of the Week in Golf Improvement Weekly was entitled – “If He Putts Well – He Might Win The Masters.” It was about Vijay Singh and how well he has been hitting the golf ball, yet how “poorly” compared to the other top PGA Tour Players he has been putting. If you missed that Stat – we reused it as the The Stat of the Week in this issue of GIW for you to read it. The point of the Stat was to show that regardless of how good your golf swing is and how well you strike the golf ball – 35 to 40% of those total strokes can be attributed to your putting. And then if you’d like to get deeper into it (and you should get deeper into it if you want to improve your score), at least another 10 to 20% of your strokes are with clubs you use from 1 yard to 35 yards off the green. So why do I bring this up? I’m not going to try to bore you with another “Short Game, Short Game, Short Game” rant. I mean what’s the point - from what I’ve seen – that advice just falls onto deaf ears. However, being a stubborn Golf Pro that is attracted to controversy and debate – along with always wanting to be correct about my predictions – I must say – Vijay Singh hit the golf ball just as well as anyone in the Masters. And actually hit the golf ball better than the Champion – Angel Cabrera. And if Vijay did putt as well as the average Player in the Tournament – he probably would’ve won. Is this the start of the Vijay Fan Club? No, don’t take what I’m writing as the official fan site for Vijay Singh – it’s not. However, Vijay could be the official poster child for an organization entitled “If I Could Putt As Well As I Can Hit A Golf Ball – I Would Be One Of The Best Who Ever Played”. And this isn’t a rant on Vijay or Professional Golf. This is a rant about your golf game. Please continue reading to see how this ties into your golf and improvement. Vijay hit 52 out of 72 Greens in Regulation – Cabrera hit 50 out of 72. Now as far as ball striking statistics – Greens in Regulation is King. There’s not another stat (that I know of) that tells you how well you’re hitting the golf ball. Meaning, if you’re hitting your tee shots into the trees – you’re not hitting Greens on your second shot on Par 4’s. If you’re not swinging your irons well – you’re not hitting Greens from anywhere on the golf course. If you don’t hit your Driver far enough – well … nobody hits many Greens when they’re always hitting hybrids and fairway woods to the green. So the number of Greens in Regulation you hit basically tells you where you stand as far as your ball striking skills. Or another way of saying it - it tells you how good (or not good) your golf swing is. And tournament after tournament – Vijay is near the top, along with Tiger as far as Greens in Regulation. However, Vijay had 122 putts for the four rounds at Augusta National. While Cabrera only had 112. Which, almost coincidentally aligns with the fact that Vijay ended up 11 strokes behind Cabrera. And although this doesn’t perfectly align with the margin of victory by Cabrera over Vijay – it’s pretty darn close and it does show that even though you might have one of the best golf swings in the world – the best golf swing doesn’t guarantee the best score. As a side note – Tiger also hit 2 more Greens than Cabrera, but he also had 122 putts – the same as Vijay. Now this isn’t to say that putting is more important than ball striking. Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. It all depends on what your Strengths and Weaknesses are. If you have a very good golf swing like Vijay – putting is more important at this point. If you had only 109 putts like Sandy Lyle (2 under par for the tournament and 1 stroke ahead of Vijay) – your golf swing is more important at this point. The funny thing is that if Vijay and Sandy Lyle had a child – that kid would be sporting a Green Jacket. So how do you know which is your Strength and which is your Weakness? I ask this even though I know that 7 out of every 8 Golfers believe that their wedges and putting is their Strength. And with me going back to the statement that I don’t mind debate and controversy – Trust me – for most of you – your wedges and putting aren’t even close to being a Strength of your golf game. And as I know – most of you are probably saying something like – “That Solomon, he’s an idiot – he has no idea how good a putter I am. And how bad my Driver is.” I say to these Golfers – then prove it by doing the test below. Prove it by finding your ‘Putts Per Missed Green In Regulation Stat’. Meaning most Golfers hit between 0 and 6 Greens in Regulation per 18 holes. So even though it would be great to see you raise your Greens in Regulation to 10 or 12 – which is comparable to a PGA Tour Player – you’re not a PGA Tour Player and you don’t have their skills. So it would be more beneficial for you to focus on Reality. Reality says that you’re going to miss more Greens than you’re going to hit – so don’t fight Reality. Turn Reality into a Strength. Here’s how: For every Green you miss – keep count of how many putts it takes you to get the ball into the hole. For example: You’re on a Par 4. Your second or third shot stops 15 yards from the green. You hit your next shot onto the green and 2 putt. That would mean that your ‘Putts Per Missed Green’ (PPMG) stat is 2. If on the next hole, a Par 3, your tee shot lands 5 yards from the green. Then you hit your next shot on the green and 3 putt – your ‘PPMG’ is now 5 (for the 2 holes) or 2.5 per hole. Which isn’t very good. How should you follow this stat? Every time you play. How do you know if you’re doing well? Let me put it this way – averaging 2 PPMG is not good. If you want to score better – you need to be below 2 PPMG. If you’re above 2 PPMG – you need to spend more time on your wedges and putting. Because as much as you work on your Driver and your irons – 7 out of 8 Golfer won’t hit more than 6 Greens in Regulation. And even if you hit 6 Greens – you still have missed 12 Greens. And I’ll tell you something else that you might not have ever thought of – The Golfer that hits 0 Greens in a round of 18 holes, yet averages 1.5 PPMG will have a lower score than a Golfer that hits 6 Greens in Regulation, yet has an average of 2.5 PPMG. And that includes if you1 putted each Green you hit and had 6 Birdies! Here’s an example of the above scenario for the mathematically challenged –1.5 PPMG: 1 wedge shot per hole + 1.5 Putts per hole multiplied by 18 holes = 45 strokes. 2.5 PPMG: 1 wedge shot per hole + 2.5 Putts per hole multiplied by 12 holes = 42 strokes + 6 putts (the 6 Birdie putts) = 48 strokes. The 1.5 PPMG Golfer would still beat you by 3 strokes. And that’s if you 1 putted each Green in Regulation (no 2 putts or 3 putts on the greens you hit). And to further show how powerful this statement is - when’s the last time you had 6 Greens in Regulation and one putted each one for 6 Birdies? Now – don’t take your PPMG lightly. And don’t think of it as being a 100% putting stat. Because a big percentage of your PPMG is based on how skilled you are with your wedges around the green. Obviously – the more skilled you are with your wedges – the closer your first putting attempt will be from the hole. Also – don’t start to think that your PPMG is 100% based on your putting and wedges. A lot of this stat has to do with your PLAN. Meaning – when you were hitting your approach shot to the green – were you cognizant on where you shouldn’t miss the green. Did you fail to PLAN a ‘what if’ – meaning what if you did mis-hit the golf ball – would it leave you with a tough wedge shot that would be difficult to get close to the hole? Track your PPMG and see if your average is 2 putts or above. Then if so, figure out why. Was it your putting? Was it your wedges around the green? Was it your PLAN that left you in tough positions around the green? Was it a combination of all three? My prediction is that it's a combination.Nobody except GMS is talking about how much better Vijay hit the golf ball than Cabrera. Why? Because Cabrera outplayed Vijay. Would you rather be a one dimensional Player like Vijay was in this past Masters or a multi dimensional Player like the 2009 Masters Champ from Argentina? You want to score better? Find your PPMG. You want to keep scoring how you’ve been scoring? Keep doing what you’ve been doing. It’s your choice. The Monkey is still spending hours at the driving range fiddling with their golf swing and hitting golf balls even though their PPMG is over 2 The Player is tracking their PPMG, finding why it’s so high and then working to improve it Go ahead, be a Player! Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
GMS Bonus Material |
Labels: Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, Video Analysis
Friday, April 03, 2009
Two New GMS Locations!!
GMS has primarily been based in
Two New GMS Locations
Why have we chosen these two locations? You mean besides having the best practice facilities around, excellent golf courses and having a hotel either on property or within just 2 miles away (with free shuttle service)? Or that both are just 15 minutes from major airports or within just a few hours drive from areas with many Golfers?
Maybe the details below can answer some of these questions for you:
Washington DC - Lansdowne Resort
First - Accessibility: Lansdowne Resort is 15 minutes from Washington/Dulles Airport. Right on the edge of
Second - The Golf Courses: Lansdowne Resort has 45 holes of golf (27 holes by Greg Norman and 18 by Robert Trent Jones Jr.) and an excellent practice facility. And what's also great is that each hole is bordered by nature and the
Third - The Accommodations: Lansdowne Resort has been named a AAA 4 Diamond Resort with 296 rooms on property, 5 restaurants, a full service spa, 5 swimming pools, tennis courts and an excellent exercise facility, etc. So once you're there - there's no reason to step off property.
Fourth - Additional thoughts: If you're a Golfer, it's obvious why this is such a great facility to have a GMS program. However, an additional bonus is what's available if you want to bring a non-golfing spouse or children. With the fantastic pools on property, the historic sites of the nation’s capital just down the road, full service spa, wineries, Friday Night Concerts on property, etc., etc. The rest of the family will have plenty of activities to occupy their time.
Denver , Colorado - Green Valley Ranch Golf Club
First - Accessibility:
Second - The Golf Courses: Green Valley Ranch has 27 holes - an excellent 18 holes by Perry Dye (it’s the site of the Colorado Open), and it also has the coolest 9 hole short course I've ever seen, along with having the best practice facility out of all our GMS locations. First, to hold the State Open Championship tells you it's a great golf course. Second - you're in
The practice facility is as good as it gets. Private range area, an excellent private short game area and a dedicated instructional building. This really is a first rate facility - it's no wonder it was voted as the best practice facility in
Third - Accommodations: At Green Valley Ranch, we're using two hotels - the brand new
Fourth - Additional thoughts: Again, if you're a Golfer, it's obvious why this is such a great facility to have a GMS program. Plus, just look a few miles to the west and you're in the
More information and pictures:
http://www.golfmadesimple.com/Washington-DC-Golf-Lessons.html
http://www.golfmadesimple.com/Denver-Colorado-Golf-Lessons.html
And as part of the 10 Year Anniversary of GMS, along with the opening of these 2 new locations – we’re holding 2 Special Programs to celebrate. Do you want to be a part of the action – then read more in The Buzz.
Regards,
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
http://www.GolfMadeSimple.com
GMS Bonus Material
For Anyone Considering Video Analysis - We have added our report on: "Using Video Analysis To Improve Your Golf Swing" to the Golf Made Simple website for you to download and view.
Just click here to be taken to the download page on the http://www.GolfMadeSimple.com website. It's easy, it's free and it's a pretty extensive report on our findings.
Indoor Putting Drill - If you'd like for us to email you a special Indoor Version of an excellent GMS Putting Drill that you could spend hours on - email us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put GIW in the subject line.
Tour Putting Square - Use the Tour Putting Square inside your home to improve your scores. Just send us an email at TourPuttingSquare@GolfMadeSimple.com with the subject: Tour Putting Square – and we'll email you how to use this game changing drill.
Swing Drills & Core Training - To view a segment that covers 2 swing drills you can practice inside, email us at: PushUp@GolfMadeSimple.com with the words 'Golf Improvement Weekly' in the subject line to receive a link and password to access the video segment from our DVD - 'How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors'
Labels: driving range, g, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, swing plane, Tiger Woods, top golf school
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Has Your Golf Swing Been Built On Compensations?
What’s Compensation Overload? It’s the act of having multiple compensations in your golf swing that you use to correct previous compensations. In other words, you developed a compensation that would sometimes eliminate a bad habit, but occasionally you’d overdo that compensation. So you had a choice – get rid of that compensation and go back to hitting bad shots or keep that compensation, but find another compensation that would help you to use that first compensation more effectively.
Don’t be embarrassed if you have to read that paragraph again – I had to reread it about 16 times to understand it myself!
Sometimes that second compensation will work, however many times it won’t. So once you find that compensation isn’t working as well as you had hoped – it’s off to the driving range to find another compensation that will allow that compensation to work more consistently.
Now, where this becomes frustrating is when that compensation that’s helping the other compensation works for a few holes – but then, without warning that compensation abandons you just as fast as it appeared. So now you’ll have to find another compensation that will allow this compensation to compensate for your first compensation.
To give you a clearer picture of how this might relate to you and to see if you’ve been through a similar experience, read below:
The very first time you tried to hit an iron off the ground - you most likely hit behind the golf ball, missed the golf ball or topped the golf ball. Let’s just say you missed the ball. So after missing, you probably thought to yourself or were told by someone else to “keep your head down” (Compensation #1).
Now trying to keep your head down is the ‘Mantra of the Monkey’. Yet, shockingly to many - it’s just about the worst thought a Golfer can have in their head when going to hit a golf ball. Yet, the Monkey is constantly using it as an excuse for a bad shot. So on your next swing, because you’re trying to keep your head down, you’re not able to move your body athletically – so you become armsy (Compensation #2). Which will most likely cause you to hit straight into the ground behind the golf ball creating a crater big enough to bury a small animal.
Which influences you to think or be told by someone else that you need to use your legs to shift your weight (Compensation #3). So on your next shot; you try to keep your head down while shifting your weight. However, this thought will most likely cause you to shift too much weight onto your back foot on the backswing, yet you won’t move it forward to your front foot because you’re trying to keep your head down (or still). This most likely would cause you to hit behind the golf ball again - yet, maybe not as drastically as on your previous effort.
"You know what you're not doing? You're not turning your hips. You need to turn your hips" – Compensation #4. So on your next shot, you try to keep your head down, shift your weight on the way back and then turn your hips on the way through. Causing you to move into a position that would make a Chiropractor smile. However, you're still keeping your head from moving and you still have too much weight on your back foot - though having your hips turn through helps a little because at least it allows you to end up catching the golf ball on the way up – hitting a topped shot that rolls across the ground.
Which is better than hitting behind the golf ball and having it go nowhere. So you continue to use those compensations, but after a few shots that are just rolling and not getting into the air – you need to figure out what you need to do next.
You then think or are told by someone else that you need to try to get underneath the golf ball (Compensation #5) so that you won’t top it anymore. Now, because you don't know any better and don't understand that it’s almost impossible to get your club underneath the golf ball to help it up in the air – you try it. And even though it's not perfect - you do come close. The ball does start to go up in the air a little, albeit on a line drive. But, at least it’s starting to go up.
Which prompts some Monkey to tell you that “you need to hit down on the golf ball” – Compensation #6.
Yet, because your weight is still too much on your back foot as you’re swinging down and because your hips are turning through with your weight on your back foot and you’re still trying to get underneath the golf ball at the same time that you’re trying to hit down on it – you develop the 'Compensation that launched a million training aides' - Compensation #7: Coming over the top. Or as it is often referred to as an outside to in swing or casting or whatever you want to call it. This 'flaw' was developed because this Compensation will at least allow you to hit the golf ball first before hitting the ground.
And the beauty of this compensation is that it allows you to keep your head down, shift your weight, turn your hips, as well as it allowing you to try to get underneath the golf ball as you try to hit down on it. This infamous compensation (Compensation #7) allows you to do all these wonderful compensations as you start getting the golf ball into the air.
So because you're finally happy that the golf ball is getting up - you start to groove this swing because you like the results that you’re seeing a lot better than your prior results.
However, (and this is a big 'however') although you’re starting to hit the golf ball more solid and starting to get the golf ball into the air with a greater frequency – the golf ball isn’t always going in the direction you were hoping it would go. So you’re told that you need to swing ....
Since Compensations are such a huge aspect of your golf swing and are unfortunately masqueraded as common golf tips that you're taught – we have decided that this needs to be a 2-part Golf Tips Are For Monkeys article. Because many of the golf techniques you're taught as being the "Basics" are really just band-aids to cover other band-aids that you have applied previously. Or in-other-words: Your Golf Swing Was Built Using Compensations.
And Compensations Equal Inconsistency - the more compensations you have in your golf swing, the more inconsistent you'll be when hitting the golf ball. The faster you eliminate compensations from your golf swing - the sooner you'll become more consistent.
So we’ll continue with Compensations next week by talking about the Mantra of the Golf Instructor - "when all else fails - teach Compensation #8". Which unfortunately is something you’re most likely trying to do on every golf swing.
Go ahead, be a Player (and get rid of your Compensations!)
Regards,
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com
New Bonus Material For Anyone Considering Video Analysis - We have added our report on: "Using Video Analysis To Improve Your Golf Swing" to the Golf Made Simple website for you to download and view.
Just click here to be taken to the download page on the website. It's easy, it's free and it's a pretty extensive report on our findings.
Past Indoor Practice Drills
If you'd like for us to email you a special Indoor Version of an excellent GMS Putting Drill that you could spend hours on this Winter - email us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put World Golf in the subject line.
To view a segment that covers 2 swing drills you can practice inside, email us at: PushUp@GolfMadeSimple.com with the words 'World Golf' in the subject line to receive a link and password to access the video segment from our DVD - How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors.
Labels: Arizona, California, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, Tiger Woods, top golf school, Video Analysis
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Hit Your Driver Like A Top Tour Player
Here we go again with Driving Accuracy. As this may come as a shock for any Golfer that has been diligent in trying to keep their golf ball on the short grass – Driving Accuracy when it comes to simply hitting Fairways is the most overrated stat in all sports. Now, I know that reading this information probably upsets many Golfers whose battle cry on the links is simply – "if I could just hit more fairways I could …!"
And I know that I risk you canceling your subscription to GIW if you read this and say – "Marc, you're a complete idiot. Hitting Fairways is the most important thing in golf." But if you could just leave your preconceived notions in the next room for a few minutes – you might actually see something you've never thought of before.
When we're speaking about Driving Accuracy – yes, you need to keep your golf ball in play to have fun on the golf course. There's nothing worse than hitting your tee shots into the trees or water or losing golf balls. It's incredibly upsetting to always be taking penalties or having to chip out of the trees.
We all want to be in position to have our next shot have a chance of getting on the green – so being out of play with your tee-shot is down-right frustrating. And frankly – I've seen Golfers quit the game over the agony of not being able to keep their tee shots in play. I'm sure we're all in agreement that nothing causes more frustration than errant tee shots.
Though, as you'll see - the top Golfers aren't worried about hitting Fairways and if you watch their games and then look at their stats – this can be backed up. The top Golfers keep their golf balls in play, hit the golf ball far, are very good around the green and make putts. Whereas the average Golfer trying to break 90 or 100 is overwhelming consumed with hitting Fairways (and is often not happy hitting 8 out of 14) – the best Players in the world (that score in the 60's) hit the same 8 out of 14 Fairways you're not happy with.
We see it week after week, year after year, Tiger win after Tiger win. What do we see? We see that the winner is "almost never" the most accurate Driver. And the only reason I say "almost never" is because it will happen once a decade – so I can't just say "never" because someone will send me an email saying – "Well, Harvey Bufufneck won the 1998 Camden Society of Urologists Tournament and he led the field in Fairways Hit."
I'm not just saying this because it's my opinion. I'm stating the facts based on Results. GMS is a Results Based Program. Everything we do is based on having our Golfers see Results – as opposed to most Instruction that's built on Theories and Assumptions. We determine if a Golfer is doing better based on their Results and we have found that Golfer Results don't improve even 1 stroke solely based on hitting Fairways.
Yes, Golfers will improve dramatically by learning how to keep the golf ball in play – but they don't improve one stroke by hitting more Fairways. We have conducted tests with Golfers that have backed this up. For example: We have a test where we play the 220 Yard Game. We assume the Golfer hits a 220 yard drive on each Par 4. We put one ball 220 yards from the tee in the middle of the fairway and we put another golf ball the same distance, but to the side of the fairway.
The Golfer then plays each ball until they get it into the hole. The Results show that the scores stay the same regardless of whether the ball was hit from the Fairway or from the rough. Yes, sometimes the Golfer's score on one hole will be better from the Fairway vs. off the Fairway – but on the next hole it maybe the opposite. All in all – the scores after playing 12 Par 4's come out to be the same. Try it yourself.
Now let's go to the Pro's on Tour. Let's start with the Nationwide Tour – at the Nationwide Tour Championship a couple of weeks ago: The winner (1st) was ranked 39th out of 58 Golfers in Hitting Fairways. The guy in last place (58th) was ranked 6th in Hitting Fairways. The Winner was ranked 12th in Greens in Regulation. The guy ranked 6th in Hitting Fairways was ranked 45th in Greens in Regulation.
This goes against the beliefs of many struggling Golfers. The struggling Golfer wants to hit Fairways because they believe it will lead to more Greens. The Results show that's not the case. Read the above stats again to get an even clearer picture. This is happening week after week, year after year, Tiger win after Tiger win.
Which just shows that hitting Fairways has very little to do with hitting Greens. Though, to clarify – missing the Fairway and being in the rough is very different than hitting into the trees or water or losing golf balls. But, this is to show that the Golfer with the singular thought on the tee being Fairways, Fairways, Fairways – might be holding themselves back from better scores.
More proof? The guy leading the PGA Tour in Driving Accuracy (Olin Browne hitting 80% of the Fairways) is ranked 165th in Scoring Average. While the guy leading in Scoring Average (Phil Mickelson) is ranked 181st in Fairways Hit (hitting just 55% - meaning Browne is hitting 25% more Fairways). The difference in the amount of Fairways hit is staggering, but so is the difference in their winnings (which tells the story of how well they score week after week).
We're not saying for you to be wild off the tee. You need to keep your golf ball in play. But, too many Golfers are so worried about hitting Fairways that they don't allow themselves to make a free flowing swing. The tension that you're creating (by feeling you need to hit your shot in the Fairway) is doing more damage than good. The tension you're creating is actually causing you to hit drives out of play. The worry you're creating about hitting your tee shots in the Fairway could be causing you to lose 20 to 50 yards off your tee shots!
On the other hand – take Mickelson – there's little regard in his game for hitting Fairways. His game is about keeping it in play (with the occasional ball out of play), getting good distance from his tee shots (to allow for easier clubs to the green), having a strong wedge game and then making putts. And as much as Golfers believe that Mickelson and Woods have different styles of play – they don't. They both use the same PLAN mentioned above!
I'm not saying that your style should be like Tiger's or Mickelson's style, but look at the top Players in the game according to best Scoring Average: Mickelson, Garcia, Singh, Harrington, Kim and Villegas. They're ranked: 181st, 153rd, 150th, 154th, 159th and 166th respectively as far as hitting Fairways. While all these phenomenal Players are averaging only hitting around 55% of the Fairways – they are still achieving better scores than other Golfers hitting 80% of the Fairways.
Yet, you're styling your game around 80% of Fairways. If so, you're playing golf like the bottom half of the Players on Tour. Golf Made Simple believes that your PLAN should be based on the Top Players on Tour – Keep your ball in play, improving the distance you hit the golf ball (without causing anymore inaccuracy), having a strong wedge game and then making putts. This formula works – we have the stats from our Golfers to prove this.
Why anyone would even consider taking any other Instruction is mind boggling to me!
GMS would like you to improve your scores by helping you to improve your golf swing to strike the golf ball better. This will help you to keep more golf balls in play as well as hit your Drives farther. Which will help you to have shorter clubs to the green. Which will allow you to be more accurate and have shorter putts. Which will allow you to have better scores.
That's how the top 6 Golfers mentioned above do it year after year. Oh, and that other guy seems to be doing the same thing – you know who I mean – some guy named Eldrick. Or better known as Tiger Woods – the guy that this year was ranked 169th in Driving Accuracy and 1st in Greens in Regulation.
Improve your golf swing so that you hit the golf ball more solid and keep it in play. Don't improve it just for the sake of hitting Fairways. The Results show that Fairways Hit is extremely overrated. The Results show that the stat of "Keeping Your Golf Ball In Play" is far more important for you if you want to play consistent golf.
The Monkey is so worried about hitting the Fairway that tension leads to inconsistent golf swings
The Player is too focused on their Tick Tock to worry about the Fairway
Go ahead, be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com
By the way, last week’s offer for the GMS Indoor Putting Drill was a major success. With over 1,000 requests last Tuesday alone – as well as 100’s of requests each day through the weekend - including many from people who weren’t even subscribed to GIW (the offer was forwarded from Friends). It has been both borderline overwhelming as well as very rewarding to be able to have so many requests – as well as GIW readers forwarding the offer to friends.
So, just in case you missed last week’s GIW or are new to GIW – you can still receive the Indoor Putting Drill by emailing us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put GIW in the subject line.
We hope you enjoy the drill – but more importantly – we hope you practice the drill.
Labels: Arizona, driving range, Florida, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Marc Solomon, swing plane, Video Analysis
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Golf Practice In The Winter
Working on your golf swing in your house without hitting golf balls or let me rephrase that by saying - without hitting golf balls and being able to see the flight of the golf ball - isn't going to help you. Or worse - it could be the start of the infamous "Fiddling Disease!" Have you ever had "Fiddling Disease"?
"I'm working on sliding my left thumb over to the right about a 1/2 inch and extending it a little" - "I'm trying to come through impact with a straighter left knee so that I hit against a strong left side" - "I'm trying to block the water hazards out of my mind. If I can close my eyes and click my heels together three times and say there's no water, there's no water, there's no water - I think it will stop the ball from going into the water."
Listen – you and I know that once Spring weather comes around, you won't spend as much time as you should on the practice putting green. You're going to be either out on the golf course or hitting golf balls on the driving range. Now, I'm not saying that's what you should be doing – I'm saying that that's reality.
So use the time you have during the winter to do some putting practice. In our bi-weekly GMS Alumni Bulletin that we send out only to GMS Golfers – we asked everyone to email us if they wanted for us to send them a great putting drill/game they can use inside. The response was spectacular.
Now, we can't offer the same drill here – but we do have another Putting Drill we'd like to offer you that will help you with your distance control. Because believe it or not – 3 putts are caused by not being able to control your distance more than they're caused by directional problems. Additionally – making more 1 putts is based more on Distance Control than Directional Control - but that explanation will be left for my Instructors in our GMS 3-day Program.
So, if you'd like for us to email you a special Indoor Version of an excellent GMS Putting Drill that you could spend hours on this Winter - email us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put GIW in the subject line.
Spend your time on this drill during the Winter and your putting will improve dramatically. And if your putting improves – your scores improve!
The Monkey spends their Winter at a golf dome or heated driving range working on their Driver
The Player spends their Winter improving their scores by working on their putting stroke
Go ahead, be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com
Labels: California, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Hit The Golf Ball Farther With Your Driver
The old joke goes that if you want more distance with your Driver – move to Denver, Colorado. Where the air is thin and you get an extra 10% on your drives because of it.
Yet, that's not reality for most of us – plus the golf course architects have gotten smarter lately by making the golf courses out there – 10% longer. So the old joke doesn't work anymore – it all equals out in Denver nowadays.
What can you do to hit your Driver farther?
You can learn to speed up your golf swing. The faster your golf club is moving as it hits the golf ball – the more potential you have of hitting the golf ball farther. Please note that I say ‘potential' because faster club head speed doesn't guarantee farther golf shots.
You can learn how to hit closer to the center of the club face on your golf club. The closer the golf ball makes contact with the center of the club face – the farther the golf ball will travel. To see for yourself, you can do the test by bouncing a golf ball on different areas of the club face of a Driver and see how high it bounces from each spot.
You can change the characteristics of the Driver you use. Meaning you can purchase a Driver with a longer shaft, more or less loft, or one that's more forgiving than your current Driver.
All three of these Result Based Approaches can and will help you to hit your Driver farther.
Now you must decide which to work on because you shouldn't work on all 3 at once. That's just too much to do at one time. Jack of all trades – Master of none. Become a Master of one before you try to become a Master of all.
Or in other words – You might be able to multi-task in the office, but you can't multi-task with your golf swing!
So which one will you work on first? That's up to you to decide. Though if you're going to do it on your own - be careful. Because I know many Golfers that have tried to work on increasing the distance they hit the golf ball that have botched up their golf swing beyond belief. You must do it correctly or there are consequences.
Swing speed isn't just about swinging harder. Yet most Golfers that try to hit their Driver farther on a long par 4 or Par 5 – usually try to swing harder (most of the time with poor results). And along those same lines - more club head speed isn't about trying to swing the club head faster. There's more that goes into increasing your club head speed than those two thoughts.
Saying that, even if you did increase your club head speed, but you're not hitting the golf ball closer to the center of the club face more consistently – increased swing speed isn't going to help that much. Actually, increased club head speed without better control over your club head will create worse golf shots.
The first thing you should really be working on is improving your Centerness of Hit.
This is how GMS does it: GMS Level 1 is about Centerness of Hit. Learning to control your golf swing so that you hit the center of the club face more often. GMS Level 1.5 is about continuing to improve the consistency of hitting closer to the center of the club face by reviewing and perfecting Level 1 drills, along with adding more advanced drills to increase your feel of the golf swing. GMS Level 2 is about further improving the results you see in your golf swing by helping you to increase club head speed (while maintaining and increasing your control of the club head) which is possible because of the improvements you made in GMS Level 1 and GMS Level 1.5.
Why does this process work so effectively?
Let me answer that by describing what the normal Golfer does to improve. They try to work on everything at once. They try to turn their shoulders more, they try to turn their hips faster, they try to shift their weight with more aggression, they try to increase the lag of their club head on the downswing, they try to swing harder on their follow-through. They try kooky Theories like trying to decide between a one plane golf swing and a two plane golf swing; they then get so confused while working on which plane or planes to swing on, that frustration carries them over to trying something called a stack and tilt. A stack and what?
Frustration can be the greatest motivator for a Golfer to try something new and there’s not a better merchant of the latest, most outrageous swing Theories than the golf magazines that prey on the weak.
Bad Golfers are like sheep – they flock together on the driving range and have conversations such as – “What are ewe working on?” “Oh, I'm working on trying to bah, bah, bah as I bah, bah, bah.”
There's no PLAN in any of the above. It's like these Golfers use the ‘throw it all against the wall and see what works' Theory. No wonder so many Golfers never improve – even after taking the typical run of the mill golf lesson. Because regardless of all the Theories and Assumptions they attempt, there's still never any consistency or there's the once in a while magic you get from that lesson that sticks around for two weeks and then mysteriously disappears just as fast.
GMS has so many Golfers that instantly see success and because of the PLAN we use – that success continues and their improvement will actually accelerate once they get back home!
Or you can be like 98% of the Golfers that are playing golf that haven't improved their handicap in 5 years because they either have given up trying to improve because of frustration or are still jumping from tip to tip and from one plane swing to two plane swing to stack and tilt to who knows what's next.
The Monkey wants more distance and will try anything to achieve it
The Player wants more distance also, though they focus on a PLAN that's based on proven Results
Go ahead, be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com
*Look below this week's poll for last week's results.
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Turning Your Slice Into A Draw
What's the best way for someone who continually ‘Slices' the golf ball to learn how to ‘Draw' the golf ball? Or in other words – how can a right handed Golfer whose ball curves right learn to curve it left?
- CLICK ON THE BEST ANSWER -
A. Roll your wrists (or forearms) over at impact
B. Set-up with a closed stance
C. Swing from the inside to outside
*Please note: The results of this poll will be announced in next week's issue!
Last Week's Poll Question Results:
Who won the 2008 PGA Tour Event played on the Copperhead Golf Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club?
The answer was B – Sean O'Hair won his 2nd PGA Tour Event over a golf course that played very tough against an excellent field of PGA Tour Players ... click here »
Votes received by the readers of GIW:
A) Boo Weekly – 962 votes (45%)
B) Sean O'Hair – 931 votes (44%)
C) Ernie Els – 181 votes (8%)
D) Retief Goosen – 43 votes (2%)
E) Davis Love III – 16 votes (.7%)
Maybe Davis Love III saw the early returns (exit polls) and became motivated by only having 16 people out of over 2,000 thinking he could've won a tournament in early 2008. I say this because he went out this past weekend and won the last PGA Tour event of the year - which just so happens to be the first tournament he's won in two years. To read more about this past weekends PGA Tour Event - check out the Stat Of The Week in this issue.
Labels: Golf, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, swing plane, Tiger Woods, Video Analysis
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Wrists Or No Wrists When Chipping?
Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly
Should your wrists be used when chipping around the green? Most Golfers advocate not using any wrists – though some Golfers do encourage a limited use of the hands and wrists. So the question that many Golfers often ask themselves –
"How should I do it? Wrists or no wrists?"
There are so many different Theories and Assumptions on how to play a shot when you're around the green such as 'wrists or no wrists'. For example, you have to make the choice whether to use 'multiple clubs depending on the shot' versus the idea of 'becoming a master of one club around the green'. Then we have the debate of whether you should 'get the ball rolling as soon as possible' versus if you should 'keep it in the air half the distance and let it roll the other half'.
Why do Golfers have such a hard time agreeing on techniques?
Regardless of the situation - everybody and their mother (or father in this politically correct era) is more than eager to enlighten you on how you should play your shots around the green. And as one fed-up PGA Professional said after he was schooled by a Golfer he was trying to help, that matter-of-factly told him that a friend taught him a better way to play the chip shot than the way the Professional was advising – ‘There are around 26,000 PGA Professionals in America, but unfortunately there are around 10 million Instructors.'
"The only way you should chip is the way I chip. I use a putting stroke and make sure I don't use any wrists at all. You need to keep your wrists completely out of the chip shot. That's the way I do it! Rock your shoulders, rock your shoulders, rock your shoulders. You don't want to use too much right hand – if you do, you'll start scooping. And never forget - DON'T MOVE YOUR HEAD!!! If you peek too early, you're going to take your eye off the ball. So keep your head still"
Listen, I can't even remember to take the recyclables out to the curb on Thursday morning and that's with constant reminding from my wife which includes (but isn't limited to) – reminders at dinner on Wednesday night and an under the breath "recyclables in the morning" after she gives me a kiss before turning out the lights; and if that isn't enough, she still lives me the infamous post-it note on my steering wheel every Thursday morning. So if that gives me trouble - how am I supposed to keep track of all these chipping tips?
So what's the true story about chipping around the green? How is it that the best Players in the world look so relaxed over the ball, make it look so easy and get just about everything into tap-in distance? While the Golfers at your local golf course set-up to the golf ball with a confused look on their face – almost as if they're going through my recycling checklist (newspapers in the green container, plastic in the blue container, do the cans go in the white container and glass in the yellow container or is it glass in the white and cans in the yellow?)
And I believe that a lot of the mechanical swing thoughts that many Golfers wrestle with every time they're around the green can be eliminated if you understood wrists or no wrists. If you watch a lot of great Players around the green – I believe that you'll see more hand and wrist movement than a lot of Golfers think should be employed. Because the philosophy of having Firm Wrists has morphed into Tight Wrists for the majority of Golfers you see at your local golf courses. And Tight Wrists translates into ‘No Feel'. And ‘No Feel' is the beginning of mass frustration.
Now, there always will be someone that writes to me saying – "I can't believe you're telling Golfers that they need to use their wrists! How can you call yourself a Golf Professional?" Now, I didn't exactly say that the Golfer needs to use their wrists, but I'm not saying that you shouldn't use them either. This is not an issue of it having to be "either black or white". There can be a skillful combination of your hands, arms and body combining to produce a nice stroke.
We have found that there are two types of Golfers that struggle around the green – if you struggle around the green, you probably fit into one these two groups below:
Golfer 1: has the problem of trying to scoop underneath the golf ball. Often times hitting the ground before the golf ball and chunking or catching the top of the ball (because they're scared of chunking) and skulling it across the green.
Golfer 2: used to have the problem of scooping under the golf ball, but was told they need to chip with no wrists. They were told that they need to keep their wrists locked as they make a pendulum stroke while being focused on making sure they swing the same distance back as they will swing forward.
Most Golfers start out as Golfer 1 and then are influenced into becoming Golfer 2. Though Golfer 2 will initially see success with this style of chipping - it may only be short-lived success. Because each time this technique works – Golfer 2 starts to focus more and more on locking their wrists tighter and tighter. And as tighter and tighter becomes the focus – the ‘Feel' of your stroke begins to deteriorate as each chip becomes worse and worse.
Though after each subsequent bad shot, Golfer 2 will stay adamant about having to lock their wrists more and more – "I need to keep my right hand out of this shot!" – as they believe "that it has to be the wrists that are screwing me up". So the next shot they'll put their complete focus on holding the club tighter than their last shot. And after a few more unsuccessful chips – this Golfer's grip on the golf club starts to resemble the hands of Hulk Hogan as he tightens his death grip around The Iron Sheik's throat as the crowd pumps up and encourages Hogan with chants of "USA, USA, USA!"
This is an unfortunate scenario because by getting your grip too tight and locking your arms to the point that ‘Feel' has nothing to do with the golf shot about to be played - you start to struggle more than you did when you were Golfer 1. Which then leads you down the path of no return. What's that path? It starts with going on Amazon.com and ordering the latest Dave Pelz book.
By the way – there are over 270 used Dave Pelz books available for purchase on Amazon.com in addition to the thousands more available every Saturday at garage sales across North America – which maybe the best illustration to how unvaluable (not invaluable – unvaluable) they were to their original purchasers.
And as I climb down from my soap box, I'd like to say ---
Let's go back to the beginning of your problems around the green. How did you become too wristy in the first place? It most likely has to do with thinking you need to get underneath the golf ball to make it go up in the air. So you resort to trying to scoop the golf ball off the ground with the finesse of a short order cook in a New Jersey diner flipping silver dollar pancakes.
But alas, someone sees you struggling and shuffles over to you to allow you to bask in their knowledge of the golf swing. "You know, you're using way too much wrists in that swing. You need to keep your wrists locked like I do and make a pendulum like swing."
If you watch some of the great Players that play this game, you won't see many use an excessive amount of wrist around the green, though at the same time – you won't see many that have their wrists locked. Watch the best Players in the world and you might see them using more of their hands and wrists than even they'd like to admit they do. No, you won't see them scooping under the golf ball where their wrists curl up after impact like many of the Golfer 1's you see at the local golf courses. Though, you also won't see the Hulk Hogan death grip, wrist lock, arms stiff as a 2x4 swing that you might see with many of your fellow Golfer 2's at the local golf courses.
The Monkey has a chipping stroke that has all the finesse of a battle for the World Wrestling Federation World Championship
The Player knows that there needs to be a blend of feel and mechanics
Go ahead, Be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com
Labels: driving range, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, Toronto, Video Analysis
Thursday, September 18, 2008
On The Golf Course – Winners and Whiners
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
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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
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Your Best Summer of Golf Ever!
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
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Who's Your Caddie ... On The Golf Course
Come on, tell me - Who's Your Caddie? I can't tell you how many times I've heard a Golfer tell me that they played better when they've had a chance to play 18 holes with a Caddie. Why is this? And how can you incorporate these same strategies and techniques into your game all the time?
Is it because they're cleaning your clubs after each shot, raking your bunkers or even carrying your clubs? That may be a small influence. Or can it be that after a couple of holes of watching you play, they know more about your game and your abilities than you may know about yourself?
Now, can you learn how to develop this talent and apply it to your game?
I believe that your good rounds with a Caddie are because the Caddie is giving you the correct club for each shot, along with making a PLAN for you. The Caddie isn't allowing you to play shots that you don't have the ability to play consistently. The Caddie is forcing you to play to your Strengths and away from your Weaknesses.
"Mr. Smith, it's 135 yards to carry the bunker on the right, but there's nothing to carry on the left – it's a wide open approach. So aim left and make a smooth swing with your 8-iron." Though, if you were playing without a Caddie, it might've turned out to be you trying to hit the ball over the sand bunker with your 9-iron.
Maybe you need to be your own Caddie on the golf course. Not just doing the usual Caddie duties of taking care of the clubs, sand bunkers and tending the flag – maybe you can learn to PLAN your game around the golf course like a high ranking Caddie would help you do.
When a Golfer is playing on the golf course – they can't see themselves play. And I'm not talking about watching your swing on video. I'm talking about how you play and the decisions you make on the golf course. When a talented Caddie watches a Golfer – that Caddie can see within a couple of holes what distance you should be hitting your 7-iron from. Or I should say – they know the distances you can consistently hit all your clubs.
Yet, many Golfers go for years, hundreds of rounds, thousands of shots without knowing as much about their game as a Caddie would by just watching you for two holes. Now this isn't an advertisement for you to get a Caddie your next round. This is to say – Most Golfers don't have a PLAN based on what truly are their Strengths and Weaknesses.
Are the yardages you can hit your golf clubs - on a consistent basis - important to know?
Absolutely! Because 99% of the time – you have to be your own Caddie on the golf course – and I'm not talking about just the club cleaning and raking the bunker tasks – you need to determine what your abilities are. You need to understand the yardage you can consistently hit your 7-iron as opposed to the yardage you can hit the ball when you hit it your best – "I can hit my 7-iron 155 yards when I hit it well."
Yet, how many times out of 10 can you hit it well? If you hit your 7-iron 155 yards only 3 times out of 10 – what distances and directions are you hitting it the other 7 times? I don't know – maybe 147 yards, but I guarantee that there isn't a Golfer on the Planet that hits the ball the best they can more than 3 times out of 10. And most Golfers are basing their distances on only what they can hit it on their best shots.
Again, this example can be made with any club or any distance that pertains to your game. Let's just make this simple by sticking with a 6-iron and 7-iron, along with a 155 yard shot.
Though, many Golfers blame bad shots primarily on their golf swing – yet, maybe you make a lot of bad golf swings because you continually have the wrong club and an unrealistic PLAN for many of your shots? On the other hand, if you were able to make your PLAN based on how your Caddie would be doing it - by watching you and understanding what your abilities are – maybe you'd come to the realization that if you played your 6-iron from 155 yards that you might hit the ball well 6 times out of 10.
If you could instantly double your consistency by going from one club to another – would you do it?
Though, I'm sure that there are some Golfers that are now saying – "Yea, but what would happen if I hit my 6-iron really well? I don't want to hit the golf ball over the green." Yet, you wouldn't hit it over the green because if it were 155 yards to the center of the green – it's most likely at least 170 yards to the back of the green. And if you hit your 7-iron 155 yards on your best shot – trust me, you're not hitting your 6-iron more than 170 yards on your best swing.
So, if it's true that you should take your 6-iron as opposed to your 7-iron in the example above – and most people don't ever consistently switch to a longer club and swing smoother; usually most Golfers switch to the shorter club and swing harder – but if it's true that you could hit the golf ball better - twice as often: Why wouldn't you do it consistently?
I can't tell you how many times during our GMS 9 hole On-course Training that a Golfer would say that they were going to hit a club from a distance that I knew they couldn't hit the golf ball well - consistently enough. So after a discussion, I'm often able to convince the Golfer to hit their 6-iron as opposed to their 7-iron. And then after they hit the green with their 6-iron, I'd ask them to hit the same shot with their 7-iron.
How many times do you think the person that successfully used their 6-iron was able hit the ball on the same green from that same distance with their 7-iron?
Exactly, less than 10% of the time. Because the Golfer knew that they'd have to swing just a little bit harder ‘to get it there' – and because of that they wouldn't hit the golf ball as solid and they'd end up missing short of the green or flaring the ball off to the side into the sand, water, trees or otherwise.
Why were so many Golfers that took their 6-iron able to hit the green much more often? My belief is that they knew that they had the correct club in their hands and were able to make a smooth, natural swing that had all the parts of their body working together to produce a solid ball strike. Which are exactly the kinds of swings we like to see at GMS.
Why did they miss so frequently with their 7-iron? My belief is that because you know you have to be absolutely perfect, while at the same time giving it a little bit extra to be able to ‘get the ball there' - was enough to throw off your golf swing.
The Monkey just goes out and hits the clubs they always hit because "if I hit it well, I can get it there"
The Player makes a more consistent swing because their PLAN is based on what their Caddie would tell them to do
Go ahead, Be a Player!
Be your own Caddie.
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: Boca Raton, California, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, Video Analysis
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
On The Golf Course With Tiger Woods
Was Tiger Woods the best ballstriker last week in the tournament at Bay Hill? Was Tiger the best putter in the tournament?
No, surprisingly enough – he wasn't even close in either category!
Over the 4 Rounds of Golf:
13 Players had more Greens in Regulation than Tiger Woods. In fact, Cliff Kresege hit 7 more Greens than Tiger. Cliff who?
18 Players had fewer Putts per Round than Tiger Woods. In fact, Frank Lickliter had 8 less putts than Tiger.
37 Players hit their average Drive farther than Tiger Woods. In fact, Bubba Watson averaged 22 yards more distance off the tee than Tiger.
46 Players hit more Fairways than Tiger Woods. In fact, Brian Gay hit 10 more Fairways than Tiger.
So what's the point of these stats? The point is that these Players listed above, along with a bunch of other Players, although not necessarily household names – hit and putted the golf ball better than Tiger. And in fact, Tiger wasn't even in the Top 13 in any of these categories!
And if I had taken a poll asking who was the best ballstriker on the PGA Tour – would anyone leave Tiger out of their Top 5?
How is it possible that Tiger wins as much as he does, when he's not the best ballstriker (or according to the stats, not even in the top 13) or in the top 17 best putters? What's the secret to Tiger Woods? Is there any category that he's ranked #1?
Yes, there's one category that he's always #1 – Scoring Average and Winning. Or as GMS prefers to say -- he's #1 in Cashing Large Checks! How is it possible that Tiger is the best at winning Tournaments, but not close to the best in any of the ballstriking or putting categories? Simply put - there's nobody on this Planet that's better at sticking with his PLAN.
How good are you with sticking to your PLAN? Or do you not even have a PLAN?
What's the first aspect in having a PLAN? Knowing your Strengths and Weaknesses. What's the second aspect of your PLAN? Playing to your Strengths on the golf course and staying away from your Weaknesses. And nobody does this as well as Tiger Woods!
Now I've received emails in the past that have said – "Marc, it doesn't matter how I PLAN if I can't hit the ball where I want to." Well, that's the point of your PLAN. Do you think Tiger intentionally tried to miss 27 Greens at Bay Hill?
Of course not, but because he knows what his Strengths and Weaknesses are, he can PLAN for his misses. He can PLAN that if he misses the green, he won't be in a spot near the green that he'd have to play a shot that's a Weakness. He makes a PLAN to only hit shots that he knows won't get him in trouble if he hits that shot bad.
In essence - he makes a PLAN so that he knows that either he's going to hit a good shot or if he hits a bad shot, it won't end up in a place that he'll have to play a shot he can't execute well. Now obviously, every once in a while, we're all going to hit a horrible shot that no PLAN can help – but this doesn't happen as much to Golfers as they might think it does.
Unless of course - they continually attempt to hit a golf club that they're not skilled enough to hit.
Does Tiger hit a 3-wood on every Par 5 when the only club that could get him to the green would be a 3-wood? No. Why? Because the set-up of the hole might mean that if he doesn't hit his 3-wood well – he possibly could end up playing a Weakness the next shot. So, many times he'll play a Strength for his second shot (possibly a 5-iron) that'll put him position to play another Strength (possibly a wedge). And probably make birdie!
Do You Have Any Weaknesses?
Do you have a club in your bag that you only hit well 50% of the time – yet you still play it on the golf course? Do you think Tiger would ever hit a shot that he hits well only 50% of the time? If you only hit a shot well 50% of the time – I'd consider that a Weakness. And a Weakness shouldn't be played on the golf course unless you enjoy hitting bad golf shots and making double and triple Bogey's.
I don't know a Golfer that scores above 80 that hits their 3-wood off the ground well more than 50% of the time. Yet, I know thousands of Golfers that score above 80 that hit it on every Par 5 and a high percentage of Par 4's because as they say – "I'm trying to get close the green." Yet, 50% of the time you hit it bad. And 99% of those bad shots don't get close to the green!
In fact many of those shots end up closer to the trees and/or water than they do the green!
The reason you should have a PLAN is not for your good shots –- the reason for your PLAN is so that your bad shots won't hurt you as much. What are your Strengths? What are your Weaknesses? Have you ever written them down and then made sure that the next round you play that you didn't hit one shot that was a Weakness?
Sadly, that's not the case for most Golfers. Sadly, most Golfers don't even consider their Weaknesses. And sadly, most Golfers end up with scores that reflect that.
The Monkey continually plays their Weaknesses as they wish that magically, one day they'll find the secret of hitting their 3 wood
The Player avoids their Weaknesses regardless of what the other Golfers in their group are wishing for
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: Boca Raton, California, Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Golf Video, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Is Your Golf Swing As Consistent As Tiger Woods' Golf Swing?
Continuing from last week's Golf Improvement Weekly about the length of your drives ….. Tiger Woods only hits a drive over 300 yards 24% of the time. Or in other words - only once in four drives. So if his drives over 300 yards can be considered his best drives – then 3 out of every 4 drives the 'Best Player On The Planet' hits would have to be classified as either average or below average for Tiger.
Yet, if the 85, 95, 105 or 115 Golfer doesn't hit their best drive at least 3 out of every 4 drives – you're disappointed. If Tiger is hitting his best drives only 24% of the time – what percentage of time can you expect to hit your best drives?
Well, to help you answer this question, I've come up with a complex mathematical formula (or if I wanted to sound smart – an algorithm) to give both you and Tiger a Consistency Rating to see if your Expectations match Reality – Let's take the years you've been playing golf, add that to the number of days each week you're on the golf course (playing in front of millions of people and/or playing regular rounds of golf), add that number to the hours each week you're on the practice range, then multiply that by the number of PGA Tour Events you've won.
So Tiger's Consistency Rating would be: 30 (years of playing golf) + 6 (days a week playing on the golf course) + 24 (hours of practice each week) x 63 (PGA Tour wins) = 3,780 (Consistency Rating).
Now it's your turn. Take your time and add it up. You probably won't need a calculator like I needed while figuring out Tiger's rating.
Though, based on what my 9th grade math teacher Mr. McNamara taught me – any number times zero equals zero. So since you haven't won a PGA Tour Event – you can't even compare your game to Tiger's. But, even if we blur the lines of Reality a little and give you 1 PGA Tour win – would it make that much of difference?
Tiger plays a completely different game than you and I play!
And although situated in the gap between the Consistency Rating of you and Tiger there are 720 Players playing on the PGA, LPGA, Nationwide and Senior Tour. Along with thousands of Golfers playing on the smaller Tour's (trying to make the big tour), 24,000 PGA Professionals (like myself) and thousands upon thousands of low single digit Players that could probably give you 9 shots a side and still squash you like a grape – there still are many Golfers that have Expectations that they should hit their best drive at a higher rate than not just all these ten's of thousand's of Players above, but also more consistently than the Best Player On The Planet's current rate of 24% of the time!
Tiger's 'only' hitting his best Drives 24% of the time. So in order for you to start playing to your PLAN and your potential on the golf course – it needs to be time to stop thinking you can hit your best Drive a higher percentage of the time than Tiger does.
Once you can move away from 'Unrealistic Expectations' and embrace 'Reality' to accept that as a 95 Golfer that your average drive maybe 210 yards (85 Golfer - 240 yards; 105 Golfer - 180 yards) – your golf swing, ball-striking and scores will improve. The Golfer with 'Unrealistic Expectations' will never be happy with the progress they're making and will continually start to "Fiddle" with your swing in the middle of every round trying to hit that 250 yard drive that in Reality should 'only' happen 12% of the time.
Though, if you're not happy or disagree that you should hit your best shot 'only' 12% of the time? Let me ask you - if Tiger is hitting his best drives only 24% of the time – do you think you should be able to hit yours the same percentage of time as Tiger? Do you believe that your golf swing is as consistent as Tiger's? Or think about it this way - do you believe that you should hit your best shot once out of every 6 Drives which equates to 17% of the time? If so, then you must believe that Tiger is only 29% more consistent than you.
How much more consistent is Tiger than you?
Can this be determined? I'm not sure – I'm definitely not smart enough to figure something like that out. But, I don't believe that I'd be going out on a limb if I said that Tiger is at least 100% more consistent than you or me. And if that's the case – it puts you at hitting your best drives at 12% of the time. Once out of every 8 drives.
And considering that during an 18 hole round, you most likely are using your Driver on 14 holes – it says that you should 'only' hit one or two great drives a round. And just as importantly, it means that need to accept 11 or 12 average to below average drives per round.
Yet, I've seen Golfers on the golf course complain when every other drive isn't their best drive. And because of these 'Unrealistic Expectations' – your game gets worse and worse every shot – sometimes to the point of such disappointment, that you just don't enjoy golf anymore.
Are you expecting too much from yourself on the golf course. Do you have 'Unrealistic Expectations' on the golf course that's causing you to always 'Fiddle' with your golf swing because you're not hitting your golf ball the best you can on every shot? And before you automatically say – "No that's not me!" – you might want to think about it. Because I can't tell you how many Golfers we see each year that don't have a 'Realistic PLAN' and are making it harder and harder for themselves to improve because of it!
The Monkey gets disappointed and starts to 'Fiddle' with their swing if they don't hit their best drive 50% of the time
The Player understands that the 'Best Player On The Planet' (Tiger Woods), only hits his best shot once out of every 4 Drives
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.
Click here to purchase our new DVD! or call us at 1 (888) 580 - 3635.
Now Available on
Click here to read what people are saying about the new DVD on Amazon.com!
Labels: Florida, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, Video Analysis
Friday, February 29, 2008
Can Your Golf Swing Produce A 300 Yard Drive?
Understanding the true distance you hit the golf ball might be one of the top 5 factors in improving your golf swing. Most Golfers have no idea what distance they hit the golf ball and because of that ….. well, bad things happen.
I can’t tell you how many 90 and 100 Golfers I’ve met that believe they can hit the golf ball 270 to 300 yards. This may come as shock to you, but 270 to 300 yards is a long way! The average drive on the PGA Tour isn’t 300 yards.
Yet, there’s a group of Golfers – a massive group of 90 and 100 Shooters – that believe they can hit the ball 270 to 300 yards. Let me put it bluntly – No You Can’t! If some guys on the PGA Tour can’t hit it 300 yards – you can’t either.
Understanding the ‘true distance’ you hit the golf ball is more important than the ‘bragging distance’ you can hit it. Success on the golf course has more to do with knowing your distances so you can PLAN on the golf course rather than just relying on the distances that you think you can hit the golf ball. It’s about knowing what trouble on the golf course is within reach of your tee shot and which trouble is out of reach.
In addition to the total length you hit the golf ball – I find it possibly even more important to understand how far you carry the golf ball in the air. Because if there’s a fairway bunker at about 225 yards down the fairway and you hit the ball 250 total yards on your tee shot – odds are that you’ll land your golf ball in the bunker.
Or if you hit your tee shots 195 yards and there’s a fairway bunker about 190 yards away from the tee – same thing.
Though, what’s troubling is when a Golfer thinks they hit the golf ball 30, 40, 50 and in some cases 80 yards farther than they actually can. In this case – it’s impossible to PLAN correctly around the golf course.
So why are there so many Golfers that think they hit the golf ball farther than they can?
Take the story of Paul – On the 4th tee, a Par 5 that doglegs (curves) to the right – that’s listed as playing 530 yards from the white tees, Paul hits a pretty good drive down the right-side. Now, as Paul feels good about this ‘better than normal drive’ – he finds a sprinkler head within a few yards of his ball that says 230 yards to the center of the green. He then checks the scorecard to see that the white tees were listed at 530 yards.
"Oh yeah, I hit that drive 300 yards!!"
What Paul failed to notice was that the white tees were playing ‘a little up today’ - meaning that the greens crew moved the white tees from the normal position. So instead of a 530 yard hole – it was a 500 yard hole today. Which you might feel is an unusual occurrence, but I can tell you from working at golf courses for many years – this happens on a daily occurrence as Greenskeepers often find it necessary to ‘rest a tee box’.
Now, you may be saying – "oh, so Paul hit a 270 yard drive, that’s still a big drive." Well, maybe he didn’t even hit it 270 yards - Paul might’ve gotten a few more yards on a technicality because the hole doglegs to the right and hit his ball to the right. I say a technicality because the distances to the green from the sprinkler heads on the right-side of the hole are shorter to the green than the sprinkler heads in the middle of the fairway and the left side of the fairway.
For example – if Paul hit his drive the same exact distance, but it ended up on the left-side of the fairway, he might have a 280 yard shot to the green as opposed to the 230 yards to the green on the right side. Which, if all he did was subtract 280 yards from the 530 yards the white tees are listed at on the scorecard, he would have thought that he'd ‘only’ hit a 250 yard drive.
So even though Paul might’ve hit two drives the same exact distance – he would’ve miscalculated them as being different distances based on which side of the fairway his ball was on.
So in reality, the length of Paul’s better than normal drive was probably 250 yards or half of a football field shorter than his ‘300 yard drive’. And this doesn’t take in consideration if the hole is even slightly downhill, or the ground was a little harder because it hasn’t rained in a week, or if there was a slight breeze helping.
Which brings me to conclude based on my professional opinion that Paul’s best drives are possibly 240 yards, his average drive might be around 210 yards and his bad drives are around 180 yards.
Why is this important for Paul to know? Because now he can realistically PLAN around the golf course. Now he knows that his drives will end up between 180 and 240 yards away from the tee on 9 out of 10 tee shots. Now he can look-out at the golf course to see where the trouble is and PLAN whether that trouble is actually reachable or if he can realistically hit over the trouble. This will allow Paul to hit away from the trouble based on his yardages.
Because if Paul believed that he could hit the ball 300 yards ….. well, maybe that’s one reason why he’s been stuck in the mid 90’s to 100’s for 8 or more years. He probably hasn’t allowed himself to realistically PLAN his way around the golf course.
Do you truly know the yardages of your best, average and worst tee shots? Or do you only know the yardages of your ‘supposed’ best shots?
The Monkey hits one or two ‘supposed’ 300 yard drives and believes they should always hit drives over 280 yards
The Player doesn’t care about 300 yard drives as much as they care about knowing the distances of their best, average and worst drives
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.
Click here to purchase our new DVD! or call us at 1 (888) 580 - 3635.
Labels: Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Golf Video, Marc Solomon, Skins Game, Video Analysis
Monday, February 25, 2008
Who Has A Better Golf Swing - Phil Mickelson Or Joe Durant?
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
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Get Your Golf Swing On A Good Streak
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
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
How To Play Your Worst Golf All The Time
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
Friday, January 25, 2008
Better Golf Swings For Better Scores On Par 5's
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
Monday, January 21, 2008
Improve Your Golf By Watching John Daly
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
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Your Golf Swing On Vacation
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
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Your Golf In The New Year
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
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Is Your Golf Game In Season or Off Season
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
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
Monday, December 17, 2007
Golfers Are Funny
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
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Are You a Monkey or a Player?
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
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Your Golf Game in 2008
Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly
Did you achieve the goals you set for yourself on the golf course this year? Was your goal to break 100 or 90 or 80 or 70? Or maybe you didn’t set a goal?
Unfortunately, year in and year out – I hear Golfers that aren’t happy with their golf game say that they get stuck within a range of scores that regardless of what they try – they can’t get out of that range. You have the 100 Golfer that can’t seem to get lower than 102. You have the 95 Golfer that every once in a while is so close to breaking 90 – but something happens on hole 13 or 14 that causes you to make an 8 on an easy Par 4 that stops your momentum and bumps you up back into your scoring range.
And you have the Golfer that can break 90 once in a while – but usually finds their score hovering between 88 and 95 – thus labeling themselves as the infamous ‘Bogey Golfer’.
To break through to the next level of Golf, you need to make a goal and commit to it. Now, when I say goal, I don’t mean that it’s as easy as you saying – ‘My goal for 2008 is to break 90 every time I play.’ And as popular a goal as this is for millions of Golfers every year – what percentage do you think actually achieve their goal? Unfortunately, not too many because your goals shouldn’t be score influenced.
The goal could be – ‘Well, in the past, I’ve spent 95% of my practice time on the driving range. This coming year I’m going to spend only 50% of my time on the driving range and 50% of my time on and around the green.’
Why is this a good goal?
Because if in the past you’ve been stuck with the same scores - though, you continue to practice the same way you’ve always practiced (spending the majority of your time on the driving range) – why would your scores be any different next year? If you’re scores are the same from year to year and you practice the same way year to year – it’s no wonder you don’t see the improvement you’re looking for year to year.
Maybe it’s time to switch things around because as Albert Einstein said – ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results’. Golf Made Simple has adapted that saying to say – ‘The definition of an insane Golfer is doing the same thing over and over again hoping for better results’.
Do you know any insane Golfers?
So maybe your goal shouldn’t be about score. I don’t believe that Tiger Woods has a scoring goal. I don’t believe he’s saying that his goal in the Masters is to break 65 each round. I would believe his goal is to win the Masters – but I don’t believe he’ll be focused on score. He’ll be focused on his PLAN.
Most likely he’s saying – ‘Well my goal is to work to improve my performance in the sand bunker. Because in the 2007 Masters I only got out of the sand and made my next putt for par on 2 out of 7 chances. And considering that I was only 2 shots away from being in a playoff or 3 shots from winning – I only really needed to have made 2 or 3 better shots out of the sand to have won another Masters Title. So my goal this winter is to become a better player out of the sand.’
Now, how’s that different from your goal of breaking a certain score? Well, I can guarantee that Tiger will make Par from the bunker at the 2008 Masters at a higher rate than the 28% he made in 2007. Anyone want to bet me on this?
Your scores on the golf course – meaning the 100 or 90 or 80 that you’re using as a measuring stick are determined by how you Drive the golf ball, hit your iron shots, putt the golf ball, hit your wedges, play out of the sand, stick to playing to your Strengths and away from your Weaknesses on the golf course, along with how you control your emotions on the golf course.
So instead of making your goal based on score – why not make your goal to improve one of the above.
At the 2007 Masters, Tiger scored 73, 74, 72, 72 - to end his 4 rounds at 3 over par – whereas the winner Zach Johnson was 1 over Par. If Tiger now makes his goal in 2008 about improving his score to scoring 72 each round (which would’ve won the 2007 Masters), will that goal help him to succeed as much as if he made his goal to improve his sand shots around the green?
‘Play to your PLAN – don’t plan for your score’
If your goal for 2008 is score oriented – you might see the same results you’ve seen in years past. Though, if your goal is focused on improving your weaknesses (like Tiger’s PLAN in the sand bunker will be) – then your scores will improve.
Are you score oriented or PLAN oriented? Make your goals about improving your PLAN and your scores will improve. Make your goals about improving your scores and your frustration will continue.
The Monkey is focused on their score and more times than they’d like to admit, they find a way to mess up during the round and not achieve that score
The Player is focused on their PLAN and usually doesn’t know that they’ve accomplished a better score until the round is complete
How are you going to accomplish your goals in 2008?
Go ahead, Be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com
Labels: Boca Raton, California, Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Marc Solomon, Palm Springs
Sunday, November 11, 2007
How To Hit The Golf Ball Farther
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
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Do You Hate Blow-up Holes on the Golf Course?
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
Monday, October 15, 2007
GMS in Palm Springs, California
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
Monday, October 01, 2007
Hard, Smooth or Easy - How Do You Swing Your Driver
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
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
South Florida Golf Schools
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
Friday, September 07, 2007
Try This New Golf Swing!
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
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Interview With A Player
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:
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
Thursday, August 16, 2007
How To Achieve Your Golf Goals
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
To Read More articles from this Issue of Golf Improvement Weekly - Click Here
Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Halfway Through Your Summer Golf Season
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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
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The Complex Golf Swing
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
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
How To Score An 81 On The Golf Course
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
Thursday, June 28, 2007
How To Draw The Golf Ball
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
Labels: California, Clubs, Driver, Florida, Golf, Golf Instruction, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, Lake Tahoe, Marc Solomon
Hit Your Driver Straight
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