"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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Are You As Consistent As A PGA Tour Player?

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?

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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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"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

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Almost Halfway Through 2009?

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

Regardless of whether you’re thinking about your golf game or Tiger Woods’ golf game – it’s all about realistic expectations. So since Tiger is a hot topic right now – let’s talk some Tiger.

There’s so much babble out there about “What’s wrong with Tiger? Why didn’t he win at the Masters or the Players Championship? What’s wrong with his golf swing? Why isn’t he making any putts?”

I gather that all this gibberish is being tossed at you because he’s "only" won one paltry tournament this year. Yet, let’s put things in perspective - there’s not a Player in the world that wouldn’t take his golf game or golf swing or putting stroke right this second. Right now he’s the most consistent Golfer in the world – his results this year prove it: Tiger has played in 5 PGA stroke play tournaments in 2009 – placing in the Top 10 each event. His worst finish was his first stroke play tournament back after surgery on his left leg, where he came in 9th place. And on top of that - he’s a collective 38 under par for those 5 tournaments – which I believe means he’s averaging better than 7 under par for each tournament.

Have I mentioned he's averaging 69.7 shots per round playing some tough golf courses?

I feel obligated as a Golf Instructor to show how unrealistic (and some might say uninformed or even Monkey) many (certainly not all) in the Golf Media are as it pertains to the sport they’re reporting on. So let’s take a look at Tiger's results compared to the other top Players on the PGA Tour.

Results from 5 excellent Golfers and 1 incredible Golfer in 2009:

Phil Mickelson – 9 tournaments: 4 times in the top 10; failed to make the cut in 2 tournaments, tied for 55th place in 2 tournaments – meaning he finished worse than 50th place, 44% of the time

Anthony Kim – 8 tournaments: 1 time in the top 10; failed to make the cut in two tournaments, actually in the Top 25 only once in 2009.

Sean O’Hair – 10 tournaments: 6 times in the top 10; failed to make the cut in 2 tournaments

Kenny Perry – 11 tournaments: 6 times in the top 10 – 54% of the time; tied for 59th in 2 tournaments

Padraig Harrington – 9 Tournaments: 0 times in the top 10; in top 20 “only” 2 times, failed to make cut 3 times in 9 tournaments

Tiger Woods – 5 tournaments: 5 times in the top 10 – 100% of the time; worst finish was 9th

Hmmmm, kind of puts Tiger’s “troubles” in perspective doesn’t it? Let’s see – the 2nd best Golfer in the world (Mickelson) has less top 10’s in almost twice as many tournaments as Tiger, has been cut twice before the weekend, in addition to coming in 55th place two times – yet Tiger isn’t playing well? Well, if Tiger isn’t playing like the #1 Player in the World – who is? Maybe the expectations we place on Tiger are out-of-whack?

Or how about the 3rd ranked Player in the world – Sergio Garcia? 6 tournaments and his best finish is 13th. Or the 4th ranked Golfer, Geoff Ogilvy? 9 tournaments with “only" two top 10 finishes. Wow, Number One, Two, Three and Four really stink! These guys are terrible! Or maybe it just shows how good Tiger is. Maybe it shows that what’s truly brilliant about Tiger is not the number of times he wins – but his consistency throughout his game. So that every week, even when he’s not playing his absolute best – he’s as good or almost as good as others when they’re at their ... absolute best.

Again – this isn’t to point out the inconsistency of these other Golfers, they’re phenomenal Golfers – this is to show that there isn’t anything wrong with Tiger. It’s just to show how awesome a Golfer he is. We’re talking about the best Golfers in the world besides Tiger – yet look at how far ahead he is compared to them – even coming off a major surgery. This isn’t a put down to Mickelson or Garcia – these guys are phenomenal Golfers – it’s to point out the 'ridiculousness' of many individuals (certainly not all) in the Golf Media.

Or to put even more perspective towards how many get it so wrong: besides 2008 and 2009, Tiger has never finished in the Top 10 of each of his first 5 tournaments in any year! And that includes the year 2000 when he won 9 PGA tournaments and came in the Top 3 in 14 of his 20 tournaments!

Do you realize that Tiger’s 8th place finish this year was his best finish at TPC at Sawgrass since way back in 2001 when he was the winner? Yet, he’s not playing well according to the experts. Who hired these people?

Let’s get more in depth when talking about Tiger's “woes”. Because as every “expert” knows – Tiger’s troubles are starting on the tee with his Driver. However, Mr. and Mrs. Monkey - in 2008 (just an incredible golf year for Tiger before his leg incident) – Tiger hit 57% of his fairways – in 2009 he has hit 56% of his fairways.

So that 1% difference is what’s starting all the talk from the “experts” about what Tiger is doing wrong in his golf swing? Yet, when he was 1% better – they were showing you all the great things he was doing in his golf swing. Is there that much of a difference in that 1% from when he went from the best golf swing in the world to having so many troubles with his swing?

Well ….. considering that Tiger had 280 possible fairways he could hit in 2008 and that he’s had the same amount this year – it’s a good place to start to show you how Monkey many (certainly not all) in the Golf Media are when talking about what's wrong with Tiger’s swing. Why do I say this? Because in 2008 Tiger hit 162 out of 280 fairways. This year Tiger has hit “only” 159 out of 280.

So all these supposed “gurus” that are talking about what Tiger needs to fix in his Driver are talking about this because Tiger has hit 3 less fairways out of 280 attempts than he did in 2008 when he was undisputedly - The Man.

Who are these “experts” and how did they get appointed “experts”?

I need to get out of the golf business – it’s getting too frustrating having these “experts” tell the golf world what’s wrong and having everyone believe them just because they’re on television! Does anyone want to buy a golf company that had record revenue in 2008 and record profit so far in 2009? I need to get as far away from this lunacy of making people golf experts for no reason at all except that they can talk a lot. Maybe I could get into another industry that has fewer “experts”than golf has – something like politics or the stock market.

How about Tiger’s Driving Distance? I mean because the “experts” say he’s not driving the golf ball that great – I guess we should talk about Driving Distance – shouldn’t we? In 2008 he averaged 294 yards a drive. This year he’s “much” shorter at “only” 292 yards.

“In my opinion, it has to be his putting that’s killing him. Tiger is just not making the crucial putts. Where last year he made everything – this year he’s not really making that many putts. Hey, who took my banana?”

In 2008, Tiger averaged 1.7 putts per Green in Regulation. In 2009, Tiger is averaging an “atrocious” 1.7 putts per Green in Regulation.

In 2008, Tiger made a birdie or eagle an incredible 88 times in 360 holes (24% of the time). In 2009, he’s made a birdie or eagle 84 times in 360 holes (a pathetic 23% of the time).

In 2008, Tiger averaged getting up’n’down from the sand for par 48% of the time. In 2009, he’s averaged 54%.

So is Tiger’s game really that terrible? Or have the Monkeys set unrealistic expectations on Tigers game – just like they may have done to their own games?

Yet, if someone is telling you all the things Tiger is doing wrong in his golf swing when compared to the level he played in 2008 – a level that may never have been matched by any Golfer that ever lived – the person isn’t just a Monkey, that person is a(n) …… well, I’m not even going to say it.

Why was this Golf Improvement Weekly written? Does Tiger need me to 'watch his back'? Or course not. Am I such a rabid Tiger fan that’s bordering on stalker that I feel a need to defend my hero? “Mr. Tiger, ahhhh, yeah, um – you know I’m your biggest fan. I have posters of you all around my house. I named my cat after you – Little Tiger”

This Golf Improvement Weekly was written for one reason - to let you know that the Monkeys are everywhere. This doesn’t just apply to speaking about the PGA Tour or LPGA Tour – the same can be said about the so called “gurus” you see on TV speaking about the golf swing. They can be just as far off with the Theories and Assumptions they’re giving you about the golf swing – as they are with the “What’s Wrong With Tiger” schtick they’re throwing at you this week. And will continue to throw at you until he wins again – when they’ll tell you all the improvements he made in his golf swing and putting stroke.

The Monkey watches a show devoted to asking what’s wrong with Tiger as the “experts” breakdown his golf swing and show you what he’s doing wrong. Then after you finish your bowl of ice cream – you stand-up to try to implement the same changes into your golf swing

The Player ignores many (certainly not all) in the media and just plays golf

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

Golf Made Simple, Inc.

3 Day Golf Improvement Programs With Locations in:

Florida - California - Arizona - Colorado - Washington DC

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

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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, plus 3 exercises to strengthen your core - email us at PushUp@GolfMadeSimple.com with the words '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'

Labels: Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Tiger Woods

Labels: Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, swing plane, Tiger Woods, top golf school, Video Analysis

We interrupt our regularly scheduled golf instruction to make a special announcement. GMS is proud to announce the opening of 2 new GMS locations. We normally reserve this space to speak about ways to improve your golf game (and we’ll get back to that next week). However, every once in a while we need to make a special announcement.

GMS has primarily been based in Florida (4 locations), California (2 locations) and Arizona (1 location). 6 of those locations could be called Winter locations for Golfers coming south to escape the cold – the exception being our Lake Tahoe location – which is open from June 8^th to October 15^th.

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 Virginia wine country. With shuttle service available from the airport - there's no need to even rent a car - you don't need to leave the resort. And it's within a few hours drive of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, etc.

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 Potomac River - not houses - it's absolutely beautiful! A double-sided practice range and dedicated short game facility. Although it's all about the golf - I have to say that the clubhouse is also fantastic!

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: Green Valley Ranch is 15 minutes from Denver International Airport. And our two hotels - The Hyatt Place and the Marriott are just 2 miles from the golf course. Plus, both hotels provide complimentary shuttle service from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the golf course each day - with restaurants at or next to the hotels, there's no need for a rental car.

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 Colorado. Of course it's a beautiful setting. Third - It was voted the best practice facility in Colorado!

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 the state.

Third - Accommodations: At Green Valley Ranch, we're using two hotels - the brand new Hyatt Place and the Marriott. Both are pretty much right next to each other and are just 2 miles from the golf course. Both hotels offer free transportation to and from the airport, along with to and from the golf course, free wireless internet, both have pools, exercise facilities and the Hyatt has complimentary continental breakfast (at the Marriott you can upgrade your room to the Concierge Floor for $20 a night which gives you access to the Concierge Lounge and includes breakfast, night time appetizers, etc.)

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 Rockies. You can actually see Pike's Peak from the golf course. During your GMS program, there won't be much time for exploring the area - though if you have a couple extra days, go and enjoy the Rockies and all the activities they provide.

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

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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

Every Golfer that has ever swung a golf club has at least one compensation in their golf swing. Though, to be more blunt and honest - most Golfers have a lot more than just one compensation – they have what we call Compensation Overload.

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

How may Golf Instructors does it take to screw in a light bulb? If it’s the same amount that it took for me to get my golf swing consistent enough to think about becoming a PGA Professional – it’s a lot more than 1 and little less than 100.

In order to screw in the light bulb - one Instructor will tell you that first you need to position the ladder, then climb up to see what type of light bulb is already being used, then climb back down to get the replacement bulb, then climb back-up to take out the old bulb and put the new one in.

The second Instructor will have you position the ladder and carry up the new light bulb with you before you take out the old bulb – but before you do start to climb up another Instructor will stop you and tell you you’re doing it all wrong because you can’t bring up a new bulb before taking out the old bulb – “you might drop the new one while unscrewing the old bulb. And you DON’T want to drop a light bulb onto the kitchen floor!”

Now the next Instructor will tell you that you can’t replace the bulb yet, you need to go to the store because that incandescent bulb you’re going to put in is not very energy efficient – “you need to use a fluorescent bulb – it’ll save you money over the long haul. So stay in the dark a little longer until you can use the latest in technology."

And the next Instructor tells you that you shouldn’t evenhave a light fixture there. You need to move that light away from the center of the room. You should have it a little more near the corner of the kitchen where the table is. But that would require you to get an electrician to come in and rewire the kitchen – you tell the Instructor: ok that sounds great, but my light bulb is out today and I’d like to have light in the kitchen tonight so we could eat dinner and it might be days before you can get an electrician in to rewire.

Which prompts the Instructor to say – “Yeah, but don’t you want to do it the right way? Just switching the light bulb isn’t going to help – you’re wasting your time. What’s a little darkness for a week or so if you can have better light down the road?” (Kind of like the – ‘You have to get worse before you get better theory’).

While the next Instructor tells that you as you’re unscrewing the bulb that you need to use less wrist. “Bend your elbow at 90 degrees and turn your forearm like you’re using a screwdriver. I’ve never seen a successful light bulb changer use their wrist when changing a bulb!”

Light bulb changing of course isn’t the only activity on earth that people have varying opinions on how to accomplish simple tasks – yet at the same time having a perverse fascination of making it much more complicated than it needs to be so that they can appear intelligent in front of others.

I recently witnessed a poor lady at the driving range that was there to hit golf balls. I was forced to watch in shame as she was approached by what seemed like an endless stream of Instructors – (Professionals and Joe Pro Wannabes), that offered so much advice to her about what she was doing wrong that I thought I was back in 4^th grade Art Class with my teacher Mrs. Older’ndirt. I can still remember how Older'ndirt was trying to teach me how to draw an abstract of an apple. ‘Abstract? Lady, I’m only 9 years old. I don’t care about abstract – let me draw a picture of my GI Joe action figures in hand to hand combat!'

And just as I was (and still am) completely turned off from drawings of apples – the lady at the driving range was getting more and more upset with her golf after each Instructor gave her their sage, magical, foolproof, you-have-to-do-it-this-way advice.

Here’s a question for you –

If you had to teach a newcomer to golf, what would be the most important thing they need to do to learn to hit the golf ball – what would you tell them? Which "tip" below is of the most importance and what would be the order you would place the other "tips" from most important to least important: A. grip; B. stance; C. weight shift; D. left arm straight; E. eye on the golf ball; F. keep your head still; G. ball position; H. turn your shoulders; I. turn your hips.

Did I miss something?

Ok, now that you told the Golfer one of the above is the most important and they start working on it - what will most likely be the adjustments you need to make: A. you’re holding the club too tight; B. your feet are too far apart; C. no, you can’t sway like that, feel like you’re swinging in a barrel; D. your left arm is too rigid – you can’t cock your wrist with it that straight; E. didn’t you hear me – you have to keep your eye on the ball, don’t peek till you finish your swing; F. don’t move your head on the backswing – it needs to stay over the ball or you’ll sway; G. your ball position is too far forward – it needs to be in the middle; H. your shoulders need to go 90 degrees on the backswing – you’re not turning enough; I. your hips are turning too much and causing you to reverse pivot.

And then the next Instructor this Golfer comes across will tell this person – A. you’re holding the club way too loose – you need to hold it tighter than that; B. your feet are much too close together; C. you’re not moving your weight enough – you have to shift your weight back, you can’t just turn side to side; D. you’re bending your left arm too much – you need more extension; E. your eyes are fixated on the golf ball too much – let your head move with your weight; G. your ball position is too far back in your stance – you need to move it forward closer to your left foot; H. you’re over-rotating your shoulders on the backswing – use more of your arms to swing the club back; I. your hips need to move – you’re not moving them at all, they need to turn 45 degrees in your backswing.

If you read the instructions on the light bulb box on how to change a light bulb – you’d know enough to effectively change the bulb. And if you followed those same instructions when the next light bulb goes out – you’ll improve your light bulb changing skills with this bulb over your performance with the first bulb. And then if you followed the instructions with the next bulb – what took you 3 minutes the first time will take you less than 30 seconds the third time.

Yet, if you got new instructions each time you changed the light bulb – by the third time it wouldn’t take you the 3 minutes it took you on the first bulb. It would probably take you a minimum of 5 minutes because you’d have to think about the new instructions you just received, in addition to the instructions you had from your 2^nd light bulb screwing Instructor and on top of that - you'd also have to worry about breaking all those ‘bad habits’ that your 1st light bulb screwing Instructor told you that you absolutely needed to stop doing.

If you don’t believe me that in the past this is exactly what has happened in Golf Instruction and is still happening today – step into the shoes of one of my Instructors for a day. Because although we do have people that have never taken a golf lesson before – we have enough people that have spent enough money on golf lessons that they could’ve funded the U.S. Economic Stimulus themselves.

How good are our Instructors? Well, watch them work with Golfers that have 52 thoughts going on in their mind every shot because they’ve read too many Monkey Digest’s or spent too much time around light bulb screwing Instructors. Watch them work and you’ll be amazed at how talented they are. Because golf might be the most frustrating thing a person can experience – and people are spending a lot of money to come see us to see improvement and get answers. Come watch them work with a Golfer that's frustrated and confused and you’ll see why they're the best in the world (bar none) at helping Golfers brighten their light bulbs more efficiently and brighter than they have ever seen them before.

The Monkey never has the light come on because they're always changing light bulb screwing Instructors

The Player keeps their light bulb the brightest by staying consistent with what they're working on with their golf swing

Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life
http://golfmadesimple.com/instructor-4life.html

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 http://www.golfmadesimple.com/ 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 GIW 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 '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.

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This Week’s Poll - Avoiding Errant Golf Shots From The Fairway

Which club causes more penalty shots from the fairway; i.e. errant shots into the water, trees and any place considered to be a Danger Zone?

A) The 5 iron

B) The 3 wood

C) 4 hybrid

D) Sand Wedge

Results of this week's poll will appear in next week's Golf Improvement Weekly.

Labels: driving range, g, Golf, Golf DVD, Golf Instruction, golf instructor, Golf Lessons, Golf practice, Golf Schools, Golf Swing, Golf Travel, golf vacation, Golf Video, Tiger Woods, top golf school

Everybody wants more distance with their Driver. How can you get more distance?

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

D. Become more connected

*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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Player chants ‘Rocco, Rocco, Rocco’

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Here We Come Toronto, Canada

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

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

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

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

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