Category: Game Improvement

April 26, 2011

Putting Address Position: The Key to Holing More Putts

A simple, repeatable putting stroke starts with the appropriate address position. Many pros suggest a method that is consistent with their performance. As such, you see many grips and address positions being used successfully on tour. However, I have found the proper grip and address position are vital to a fundamentally sound putting stroke.

Putting Address Position

The grip is place in the palm of your bottom hand as then palms contain nearly 22 per cent of your body’s nerve endings below the neck, thus facilitating “feel” or distance control. Both hands are parallel to one another with the back of the hands on a line consistent with the target line.

The back of your forward hand points directly at your intended target and the back of your back hand points directly away from your target. I’ll speak more about the intended target and target line later in “Laser-like Alignment.”

Your feet, hips, and shoulders are on a line parallel to your target line with your eyes directly over the ball and your arms hanging straight down, directly under the center of the shoulders. In other words, your arms are as long as possible and hang straight down from your shoulders. Setting up square to or parallel to your target line allows you to stroke the ball with the best chance of rolling the ball along your target line.

Placing your eyes directly over the ball provide you the optimum position to properly view your target. If your eyes are either inside or outside the ball you will see your target, sometimes the hole, either left or right of where it actually is. I’ll speak more about this in “Laser-like Alignment.”

Finally, allowing your arms to hang naturally from your shoulders so that there is no bend in your elbows allows you to create a putting stroke that follows your intended target line back and through for as long as possible. I’ll speak about this more next time in, “A Simple, Repeatable Stroke” and why this is the most effective way of putting.

When you first try to set up with long arms you may find that your hands don’t grip the putter at the top of the grip – that your putter is too long. That’s ok. Grip down the putter if you have to or do like I did, have your putter shortened so that your hands fit perfectly at the top of the grip. My putter is only 31 inches long. Since we don’t have to hit the ball long distance while putting, a shorter putter does not compromise your ability to putt the ball the correct distance.

If you have any questions please leave them in the comments!

photo credit: Playadura*

March 18, 2011

Three Keys To Playing Your Best Golf After A Break

Yesterday I teed it up for the first time in 2011. In fact it has been over six months since I last played. For some reason my first few rounds after a layoff are pretty good. It isn’t until later in the season that the wheels typically fall off.

Here are three keys to play golf well after a break:

1. Play high percentage shots- One of the simplest things is to play high percentage shots. For example, hit to the center of the green instead of at the pin or use a putter from the fringe instead of chipping. I usually don’t try to take too many risks even if the rewards are great. Sure, it might cost me going low but I hedge against making big numbers.

2. Play with friends- Yesterday I played with two of my best friends. They aren’t great golfers but we have fun doing anything together. This kept the round casual and light. We weren’t grinding over 4 footers or playing a mini-major.

3. Dance with who brung ya’- I know you have heard this one before. I hate hearing it just as much as you do. The truth is, it works. Focus on the basics of hitting golf shots. Your first round back isn’t time to work on new swing changes from SeanFoley. After the round schedule a lesson to get a check up and layout your golf goals for the year.

These keys will help you play better after your layoff. I’m sure there are more. What are yours?

photo credit: mararie

February 4, 2011

Full Swing Simulation Training Part II: The 10-Ball Game

The 10-Ball Game is step three of a 3-part process to help good practice golfers become better players and competitors. After identifying those situations that cause you difficulty and your physical, emotional, attentional, and behavioral response to them, choose one that you would like to work on. Now follow the process listed below. For this example, we will use hitting to tight fairways.

Simulate the situation as best as you can on the range. Try to find left and right boundaries within which to hit. You might have to just imagine a fairway if your range doesn’t have any kind of markings.
Hit 10 balls with whatever club you normally hit in this situation. Be sure to use your pre-swing routine and include the selection of an intended target to direct your mental focus and an intermediate target within 2 feet of the front of the ball to align yourself square to your target line.
Evaluate the effectiveness of every shot. Any ball that finishes left or right of your simulated fairway or one that is not struck solidly is deemed not good.
Do not analyze what mechanical errors cause the errant ball flight.
Instead, close your eyes. This helps constrict the pupils and reduces the amount of visual information unconsciously processed by the brain.
Take a slow, deep breath (or more) to relieve any stress. Ninety per cent of all stress hormones can be removed through deliberate, slow, and deep breathing.
Smile. The simple act of smiling releases hormones into the body that reduce stress. You don’t have to have a reason to smile.
Using, your pre-swing routine continue the process until you’ve hit all ten shots in this simulated condition and then examine the following conditions.
- How well did you hit the first ball? You only get one chance on the course for each tee shot. The better you do on the first ball every time you use the 10-Ball Game to simulate tee shots in practice, the better chance you have when you play.
- How well did you hit the last ball? It’s important to recognize that if you hit one bad tee shot while playing does not mean all your tee shots will be bad. The better you hit the last ball well in practice, the better your ability to recover after hitting a bad tee shot while playing.
- How many shots out of ten did you hit well? Hitting 80% of your simulated tee shots well will give you the confidence to hit any tee shot well while playing or competing.

When you have improved your performance in simulated conditions you will experience more success while playing. Once you’ve eliminated one source of distraction address another problem area with the 10-Ball Game. You may find that eliminating one problem area helps you overcome other problem areas quickly.

photo credit: Reggie Alvey

January 24, 2011

Full Swing Simulation Training

Do you transform from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde when you take that long walk from the practice tee to the first tee? Many golfers do. Others are able to transfer their practice skills to on-course conditions except when the pressure is on. Hitting more good shots on the range won’t necessarily help you play or compete better if you are plagued by internal and external distractions on the course even if you hit every shot perfect on the range. There are two major differences between practice ranges and golf courses that cause attentional and mechanical breakdowns when playing. First, there are physical differences between these two environments. Practice ranges tend to be wide-open fields. Many times there is not a single target with which to develop a target orientation. There is also nothing to distract your attention. In contrast, golf courses are landscaped with streams, lakes, ponds, rivers, trees, bushes, forests, sand bunkers, OB and more. These not only beautify the course, but they distract your mind and trap the ball, especially if you have not developed a strong target orientation. The more these external distractions remain in your attention, the less your focus is directed to your intended target, and the more often your ball will find one of these “hazards.”

The second difference is the consequence of hitting a bad shot. On the range, there is no consequence. All you have to do is put down another ball and re-hit. On the course, every bad shot adds at least one stroke to your score. If score is important – and it usually is – then this can create stress and anxiety that internally distract you from your target orientation. Stress and anxiety are instinctive, unconscious, and primitive reactions to threat and fear that trigger the fight-or-flight reflex that helped our earliest human ancestors survive their hostile environment. Unfortunately, this powerful reflex has not evolved since the time of cave men and women and so the potential for mistakes and failure experienced on the golf course will cause the same kind of reaction as if you were being chased by a saber tooth tiger. Your pupils dilate, bringing in more unconscious information into the brain. That makes it more difficult to focus the mind. Eye movement is increased to help you survey the horizon for danger. That makes keeping your eyes still more difficult. Your muscles tense, interfering with the fine motor control necessary to make a good swing. Ignoring, denying, suppressing, or repressing your awareness of your stress response does not result in good performance. You have to learn to inhibit the reflex or reverse it once you become aware of its presence. What better place to learn this but in practice. I have developed a practice strategy that I refer to as the 10-Ball Game to help you alleviate the external distractions and internal demons that turn good practice golfers into poor players. Its part of a 3-step process that improves your on-course performance.

Identify those situations where you typically make mistakes (i.e., first tee, water hazards, etc).
Identify your thoughts, emotions, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors that may contribute to your performance letdown.
Simulate on-course conditions at the practice range to develop the skill and instill the confidence necessary to perform as well on the course and in competition as you do in practice. This is where the 10-Ball Game comes in.

Next time I will describe the 10-Ball Game process.

December 17, 2010

Developing a Target Orientation

Legendary teacher, Harvey Pennick is remembered for his famous quote, Take Dead Aim. Jack Nicklaus, in Golf My Way, described his pre-swing routine which included visualizing ball flight from start to finish before each swing, whether in practice or on the course. He then looked to his distant target twice before each swing, staring it down for several seconds each time before he swung. This routine imprinted a vivid image in his mind’s eye, keeping him focused on his target throughout the swing even though his eyes were fixated on the ball throughout the swing until just past impact. Every successful golfer has developed the ability to deliberately separate their mental focus from their visual fixation. I refer to this skill as “Visual Separation”. In golf, it is known as a Target Orientation.

Without this skill golfers eyes may inadvertently search for the ball prior to impact causing all sorts of ball flight problems or create a condition known as “being ball bound” in which the golf swing looks more like a series of slashes, lashes, and lunges than one continuous, smooth, flowing swing. Focusing both mentally and visually on the ball is why so many golfers have good practice swings but transform from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde time they have to hit a ball. Lack (or loss) of a Target Orientation creates many on-course ball flight problems. For example, if you fear hitting the ball into the water on a hole with a lateral water hazard, your fear directs your attention away from your target and onto the water hazard. This directs your eyes to move towards the water hazard. Your swing follows the movement of your eyes and so does the ball. Splash! I go into greater detail into Visual Separation and target Orientation in my upcoming book, Training the Eyes, Mind, and Body for Golf. It is also discussed more completely in my other book, Kingdom of the Tiger: A Golfer’s Guide to Playing in The Zone. For now, here is a simple practice strategy to develop Visual Separation and improve your Target Orientation. I refer to it as the “Focused Practice Swing.”

Place a tee in the ground.
From behind the ball select a distant target (if you were hitting a ball) and an intermediate target within two feet of the front of the tee.
Keep your eyes on the intermediate target as you assume your address position, square (parallel) to the line created by the tee and your intermediate target.
Move your head to view your distant target to create a mental image of your target.
Bring your eyes back to the tee.
While maintaining visual contact with the ball, take your mind back to your distant target.
When you eyes are completely still and your mind is one with (focused on) your target, swing.

You will know you were successful when:

The first thing you see after the swing is your distant target. That is, you don’t have to search for it visually.
Your swing is smooth, fluid, and results in your ideal finish position.
The club hits the tee.

Practice this technique for fifteen to thirty minutes daily with all your clubs for thirty days. When your Target Orientation strengthens and happens naturally begin using the technique to hit balls. Start with clubs you have more confidence with. If you have a fundamentally sound swing, your Target orientation will help you hit the ball straight and long. Have you professional video tape your practice swing, Focused Swing, and hitting swing to determine any discrepancies and if you lack a Target Orientation.

phot credit: ogimogi