Unfortunately for Na he was uncomfortable with something – not sure what – maybe his swing or the position in the tournament. Whatever it was he had rabbit ears and appeared to be able to hear an ant pass gas from 100 yards away. He pulled on his shirt, tugged on his pants, etc.  The crowds were bothering him, he couldn’t get himself through the physical part of his routine, causing him to have to “reset” himself and start his routine all over again – which means he wasn’t really ready to hit it – before he started is physical routine. Of course all this took a lot of time and was painful to watch, so he was given a warning for slow play, and put “on the clock”, meaning if they had to warn him again he would be assessed a penalty shot.

You have to give credit to Na for really being much better with all of this on Sunday – he kept up with the group in front of him and seemed to settle in much quicker – but I’m not sure if he was really settled in or he was just trying to play faster? Or was it the pressure of leading the tournament? I just find it hard to believe in one day he was able to get all
those demons out of his head – the ones that were causing him to have the painful pre-shot routine we all – including his playing partner – had to witness.

When you write a book, you are putting your thoughts into words – something you then own – based on your believe system at that time. Sometimes someone or something comes along to prove you wrong. Such is what happened since I wrote my book with the theory of impact and separation. This theory is in essence the idea that to hit the ball straight the club most contact the ball on the inside quadrant, the ball is compressed, then when it separates from the clubface it is pointing at the intended target. The image below explains the theory a little better. With impact and separation, and using a clock on the ball to illustrate – the clubface would contact near 4:00 and separate at 3:00.

This has now been proven, through technology such as Trackman and FlightScope, to be false. Impact and separation most definitely exists, but its impact is negligible. Basically the point of contact and separation is the back of the ball – which in the above illustration is 3:00. This means I get to eat my words – as I put them in print in my book. I feel bad about that, but I understand that over time theories are proven wrong and change.

But the theory, as it is in the illustration, has helped so many golfers on my lesson tee. How is that possible? Well the reason is the visual still works. The vast majority of golfers slice the ball, which means that they come from outside-in with their clubhead path and leave the clubface open – the combination causes a pull or straight-slice. If the golfer tries to correct the slice by swing more inside-out and leaves the face open, he or she would then hit a push slice. This image works because the golfer envisions hitting toward 4:00 and closing the clubface through impact – both things they need to do to start hitting the ball straight or with a slight draw.

So the theory of impact and separation, at least as far as its influence on ball flight is concerned, no longer holds true. But the visual of it happening lives on as a great aid to help the slicer hit the ball straight and possibly hit that illusive draw shot.

It’s a good idea before you hit balls to make sure you warm up slowly starting with small swings with the wedges, work your way to full swing wedges, then work your way up the bag. You only need to hit a few short irons, mid-irons, hybrids, and drivers.

Once you have warmed up it’s time to go to work. The fist thing you should do is pick a target and put s tick down parallel to the target line. Then put another one perpendicular to that one so that you can monitor your ball position. After every ten balls change your target, that will help get your alignment more consistent. During this time you should spend the bulk of your time working on you ball flight. For example, if you slice the ball work on trying to hit hooks and if you hook the ball, work on hitting slices.

Then take a few balls to try and vary your trajectories. Hit a few punch shots for out-of- the-woods shots or a shot in heavy winds. Work on hitting some high shots and so on. The idea here is you never pace the same shot twice during a round of golf. Another exercise is to hit one driver, then an iron, then a wedge shot so your constantly changing clubs. You can also play an imaginary version of a golf course you know well.

Lastly, and this is especially good to mix up the clubs with this, is to practice your pre-shot routine so that you can perfect it and make it as consistent and repeatable as possible. If you don’t have one, this is a great time to build one. Every great player has one and you are really doing your game an injustice.

Practice efficiently and effectively and make good use of your full-swing sessions and you will see some great results on the golf course.

But this blog is about how to be more effective with practicing these shots. There’s no mystery that you can hit the ball great, but without a good short game, you’ll never be able to take advantage of the great ball-striking days.

The biggest error I see golfers make is to stand in one spot and hit the same shot over and over again. The only time you get to hit the same exact shot twice on the golf course is after you hit the ball O.B. However, it is good to stay in one place when learning a shot or learning basic technique to strike the ball consistently. Consistent contact is paramount to possessing good distance control and a great short game.

Once your contact and technique is good, it’s time to vary the types of shots you hit. Try not to hit the same shot twice in a row, unless it’s a shot you are really struggling with. Even then just hit a half dozen or so and vary things up. Let’s say the practice green has three targets. Hit one to each target all from a similar lie – say a tight fairway lie – changing targets with each swing. Do this about 6 times to each flag. Switch up clubs and trajectories – even vary trajectories with the same club. The go in the first cut and do the same. Then into the rough and do it again.

The idea is to keep mixing it up so you are not hitting the same shot over and over again and at the same time building a repertoire of all the shots you will face on the golf course.

Now before I get into practice putting, I would like to note that I don’t think the most effective way to build a sound putting stroke on a putting green. Why? Because it’s an imperfect system and if like most you can only find time to practice later in the day – it only gets worse. A controlled environment with good feedback can be very helpful. What I do recommend is practicing on a smooth carpet at home or in your office and using a couple of devices that give really good feedback. Since I believe golfers should work on hitting their putts very solid and get them rolling on the intended line, the two “training aids” I really like (I’m not an endorser nor do I sell these devices) are the DAVE PELZ PUTTING CLIPS and PUTTING TUDOR. You can get more details on them at www.DavePelz.com. Work in the distance range, with a straight putt, from 4 to 15 feet, and you will become amazing in this zone.

Now do most of your work at home or in your office (get a second putter), then when you want to practice the much-improved stroke you developed inside, go to the putting green and start by hitting some mid-range of putts of about 15 feet or so. Then start working on some longer putts – say 30 to 40 feet, but I like if you find a putt that is between two holes and on a slope so you can hit them downhill, and then turn around and hit them uphill. By doing extreme opposites this will help you with your speed control. Then you need to do some work in critical-make zone; inside 6 feet. Phil Michelson made this exercise fairly popular and I think it’s a great one. Find a fairly pitched slope and put 8 balls equal distances apart from about six feet so you are creating a circle of balls around the hole. Try to get two of the balls to be positioned straight uphill and straight downhill. Then go, one ball at a time, from ball to ball. This will give you every conceivable type of putt, from a straight uphill putt to a downhill left to right putt. The more severe the slope is, the more challenging this exercise is. Then finish it up with 12 straight putts from a choice of your distance and work on making your pre-shot routine as repeatable and as sound as possible.

There are many other exercises you can do to help you become a better putter – they’re all over the net. But if you do these things, trust me; you’ll become a very good, if not great, putter.

15 minutes on putting

15 minutes on chipping/pitching

5 minutes on wedge play (less than full swings, say 70 – 100 yards)

5 minutes on bunker play

20 minutes on the full swing

Notice how I put the short game first. Why? Because most golfers go over to the range with the intention of working on their full swing and they get caught up in that – whacking a lot of drivers – and the next thing they know they are out of time and never get to the short game. And if you don’t have a really good short game, you’ll never reach your scoring potential.

Ideally you would follow this practice session by playing nine holes. So maybe instead of going out for 18 holes, you can practice for an hour or so, then go out and play nine holes, this way you can do both on the same day as opposed to having to find time on multiple days to practice AND play. Or you could go play nine first, then practice, but I don’t think most golfers have the energy or desire to practice after they play.
In a world where we are constantly filling our cell-phone calendars and over-booking our days, try to slot in some time for yourself and improving your game.

In my upcoming blogs, I’ll breakdown each section and give more specific ways to practice each of them.

Wow, was I blown away with what I saw. Let me start by stating that this student is not an advanced player (does not break 100), has limited time to practice, is not a “student” of the golf swing, and takes lesson sporadically – all of which, in my opinion, needs to be taken into account. The instructor basically took the student from setup through the entire golf swing, stopping along every step of the way, to show every flaw, talking about plane path, lag, arms straightening through impact, etc, etc, etc. And I’m not exaggerating with the etc’s.

Let me say this – the instructor was spot on with his diagnosis. But let me also say that having a clear understanding of the golf swing and coaching golfers is not the same. If you study a bit, you don’t need a pro to be able to understand the golf swing. Now in defense of the pro, I did not see any of the drills that were prescribed to “fix” these flaws, although those probably were more important for the student to review.
Here’s my point, and it’s in defense of the instructor – however it doesn’t help the student. No student would ever need to see, albeit it’s an overview of the entire motion, that amount of information. That amount could never be absorbed and integrated by any student. More than likely, a student would be walking away thinking their swing is a mess – an idea and feeling that is never good to leave a lesson with. Again, part of the problem is that some instructors feel compelled to tell student everything that is flawed with their swings, maybe because the instructor feels a need to give “value” to the lesson or because they know that the student is only coming one time, so they can’t set out a plan for improvement that would be shared and integrated in smaller pieces.

Beware of the lesson with lots of information – the chance for success is dramatically reduced. In this case I think it was just the style of the instructor, compounded by the fact the there was only one lesson without the chance for a follow-up lesson. Which is a lesson in and of itself – if you decide to take lessons, at least take a few of them to give the instructor a chance to coach you more than once – thereby giving him or her, the chance to share ideas with you in smaller pieces, thereby giving you a great chance for success.

As of recent my son is still not incorporating his new techniques in games situations and I have been continually puzzled by that. So I decided to ask him why and his response was “I’m not yet comfortable doing those things in games.” Ah, so it’s all about TRUST. The trust that someone needs to take what they learn and use it in game situations. And of course it’s the same for many golfers, with every aspect of their game from driving, iron play, short game, bunker game, etc.

So we can say that there is a bridge between playing and practicing, and in order for improvement to take place that bridge needs to be crossed. But we need to first explore why these places – the practice area and golf course – are so different from each other. Now granted the “playing” conditions on the range are constant – a good level lie – and it’s certainly not always the same on the course (although they are for tee shots and putting). But that’s not the main point I’m trying to make.

The biggest reason is that we place greater values on results in game situations than we do during practice. For my son, doing it in clinics and even scrimmages (which he has just started to do) is one thing – but a real game is an entirely different animal. And for most golfers it’s the same. On the range when there are dozens of balls to hit with no consequence they can swing freely, or make those 3 foots putts with ease – all because there is no fear of failure – there’s always another ball to hit or chip and another one to putt. There are a couple of things you can do to help you make the transitions from range to golf course.

The first is that you practice the way you play. Imagine playing your favorite course and going through each shot the way you would on the course. For example, you imagine the first hole, take out your driver, pick a target, go through your per-shot routine (I hope you have a consistent one, otherwise this is a good time to develop one), then hit what would be your next shot and so on, constantly changing clubs and going through your routine. You’re goal is to try and place more “value” on each shot creating more of a game situation feel.

The other way is to go to the course and just imagine it as a practice round. In other words, you can’t get caught up in results and score. It’s easier said than done, but one way you can look at it is a part of the investment you have to make so that your hard work pays off.

Update – My son used his “butterfly” goalie technique FIVE times in the last game – most times with success. He’s taking the leap – so can you.

So after 9 months of taking private ice skating lessons and going to some hockey clinics, and in the past couple of months, he has now decided on a position; goalie. Playing goalie is a parent’s worst nightmare, both from a financial and stress standpoint. Anyway, I can obviously only help him learn this position so much, but it’s amazing how much he has learned and mimics what he sees from watching NHL goalies. So there appears to be a value in “modeling” of experts. Of course he’s got much of the pro moves down, but he needs to work on the most important one – stopping the puck.

I found several clinics specifically for goalies and where he can scrimmage. Most recently I took him to the Ferraro Brother”s clinic at Iceworks – the facility where the Islanders practice. The Ferraro brothers, both Chris and Peter, are both former NHL players. He learned a lot in the first hour working with Chris. Chris reinforced his “ready” position and much of the basics – some things Quinten had learned already, but had become sloppy or forgetful about, and some new techniques. After an hour I couldn’t believe how good he looked and how much better his technique was.

So I was excited to see how much better he would do once they started scrimmage part of the clinic. But much to my surprise, and disappointment, he started doing the things that had become, what appears to be, habitual and let’s just say, less than effective. I continued observing him over the next couple of clinics with very little of what he learned, and understands, being incorporated into his playing in game situations. I’ve done my best to not become the farther/coach that’s constantly on top of his child – telling him “do this” and “don’t do that”. So along the past couple of clinics, I’ve gently mentioned a couple of things I observed him doing – after the clinics were over – and he was somewhat receptive to my comments.

Most recently, we registered him to play on his first recreational ice hockey team and he needed to go for an “evaluation” so the coaches can draft the players and keep the teams fairly even – as far as talent goes. So before the evaluation I said to him “I just want to remind you of a couple of things” – he said “I already know – keep my stick down, my catcher out and use my butterfly”. He did great while incorporating the things he’s been working on.

I believe this is further evidence that golfers, who sometimes struggle – in game situations – taking the changes they are working on to the golf course game and reverting back to “old habits”. But like my son, you may initially need to use more conscious thought on the course, to help integrate those ideas. Of course if you practice enough, in theory, the changes should just become automatic and go to the course with you, but some golfers will need some conscious thought and focus on those changes (practice mode), in a sense bridging and learning to TRUST those new changes on the course. This may at first hinder your performance on the course – because of being in a practice mode instead of a playing one – but in the long run, it may pay much bigger dividends for all your hard work and practice.