I read a fascinating research paper a few weeks ago about external vs. internal focus in learning motor skills, especially related to golf. It goes right to the core of what you need to think you’re doing when you are taught something, learning it by yourself, or even practicing something you already know how to do.
The difference between internal and external focus is simple. Internal focus involves instructions for moving body parts--what you need to do. External focus, in golf, revolves around what the club needs to do. Then you do what ever you have to to get that result. (The ghost of Ernest Jones is nodding his head.)
Subjects who had never hit a golf ball before were taught grip, stance, and posture for a pitch shot. Then the subjects were split into two groups.
The internal focus group (IFG) was taught how their arms move, bend, and straighten at various points in the swing. The external focus group (EFG) was taught how the club swings like a pendulum. When swinging the club they were to “focus on the weight of the clubhead, the straight-line direction of the clubhead path, and the acceleration of the clubhead moving toward the bottom of the arc.”
After practicing what they were taught, all subjects hit blocks of ten golf balls each to a target 50 feet away. Outcomes were measured by how close the ball landed to the center of the target.
The results were that the (EGF) performed significantly better than (IFG). As the trials proceeded, both groups improved, but the IFG never caught up to the EFG. The EFG recorded good scores more frequently, and lower scores less frequently, than the IFG.
What does this mean for you? Everything. It means you’ll learn faster when you practice like this--working on what the club is supposed to do, not what you’re supposed to do. It means when you play, if there is a swing thought in your head (which I don’t recommend at all), it needs to be about what the club is doing and not about you.
Showing posts with label practicing golf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label practicing golf. Show all posts
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Monday, April 24, 2017
A Few Swing Things
Not a very catchy title, is it? I couldn’t think of what else to call this post and still build in a little SEO. So no great ideas this week, just a few things I’ve been fiddling with, and a story.
1. Practice your putting stroke at home, maybe ten or so strokes a day. Not a lot, just enough to keep the feeling of how you do it from slipping away. Putt a ball to a target while doing this. I use a jar opener for a target. You can get one at a grocery store. It’s a thin sheet of rubber about five inches on a side, with a lot of raised bumps. If you trace out a circle on it using a 24-oz. can of tomatoes as your guide, you can cut out a “hole” just about 4¼” in diameter. You can also take this ersatz hole to the practice green and drop it where you want a hole to be, if the ones already cut out aren’t where you want to putt/chip to.
2. Lately I have taken to swinging a 7-iron in my living room late at night with the lights out. Don’t worry, you won’t hit the ceiling. Just make sure you’re clear of ceiling-mounted light fixtures. Swinging in the dark will improve your balance, since you don’t have the visual cues you normally use to stay in balance. It also slows down your swing so you’re actually swinging, not clobbering.
3. A little thought I’ve been using for a while concerning the driver is a way to make sure the clubhead is moving upward when it contacts the ball. Before I address the ball I think not about hitting it square on the back, but a bit below that, on the underside. Now I know that’s not possible, but it does give the unconscious mind a way to tell the body how to hit the ball with the clubhead on the rise. Make sure as well your hands lead the clubhead. By all means turn off the conscious mind when you swing. Just a smidgen of thinking about hitting under the ball will ruin the effort.
4. Once at the range my son asked me to hit a ball as hard as I could. I think I had a 6-iron or so in my hand. So I did, and it went a long way. Then, I said, “Watch this.” I put my normal swing on the ball, which doesn’t have any “hit” in, and the ball went five yards less. How much can you slow down your swing with a particular club and still get the same distance out of it? Try it.
Actually, I didn’t really hit the first ball as hard as I could. I did that another time while playing in a 4-club tournament. I was 170 yards from the green. I had a 7-iron, my 140-yard club, and a 19* hybrid, my 200-yard club, in the bag. I didn’t want to ease up on the hybrid, because you can really hit a terrible shot that way. So I had to clobber the 7. I stood beside the ball for about a minute, psyching myself to swing as hard as I could, yet still control the strike. I swung, connected, and the ball took off and landed on the green. I put the 7-iron back in the bag and promised myself I would never, ever do that again.
1. Practice your putting stroke at home, maybe ten or so strokes a day. Not a lot, just enough to keep the feeling of how you do it from slipping away. Putt a ball to a target while doing this. I use a jar opener for a target. You can get one at a grocery store. It’s a thin sheet of rubber about five inches on a side, with a lot of raised bumps. If you trace out a circle on it using a 24-oz. can of tomatoes as your guide, you can cut out a “hole” just about 4¼” in diameter. You can also take this ersatz hole to the practice green and drop it where you want a hole to be, if the ones already cut out aren’t where you want to putt/chip to.
2. Lately I have taken to swinging a 7-iron in my living room late at night with the lights out. Don’t worry, you won’t hit the ceiling. Just make sure you’re clear of ceiling-mounted light fixtures. Swinging in the dark will improve your balance, since you don’t have the visual cues you normally use to stay in balance. It also slows down your swing so you’re actually swinging, not clobbering.
3. A little thought I’ve been using for a while concerning the driver is a way to make sure the clubhead is moving upward when it contacts the ball. Before I address the ball I think not about hitting it square on the back, but a bit below that, on the underside. Now I know that’s not possible, but it does give the unconscious mind a way to tell the body how to hit the ball with the clubhead on the rise. Make sure as well your hands lead the clubhead. By all means turn off the conscious mind when you swing. Just a smidgen of thinking about hitting under the ball will ruin the effort.
4. Once at the range my son asked me to hit a ball as hard as I could. I think I had a 6-iron or so in my hand. So I did, and it went a long way. Then, I said, “Watch this.” I put my normal swing on the ball, which doesn’t have any “hit” in, and the ball went five yards less. How much can you slow down your swing with a particular club and still get the same distance out of it? Try it.
Actually, I didn’t really hit the first ball as hard as I could. I did that another time while playing in a 4-club tournament. I was 170 yards from the green. I had a 7-iron, my 140-yard club, and a 19* hybrid, my 200-yard club, in the bag. I didn’t want to ease up on the hybrid, because you can really hit a terrible shot that way. So I had to clobber the 7. I stood beside the ball for about a minute, psyching myself to swing as hard as I could, yet still control the strike. I swung, connected, and the ball took off and landed on the green. I put the 7-iron back in the bag and promised myself I would never, ever do that again.
Sunday, December 25, 2016
What to Work on during the Winter
If you live in a place where you can’t play during the winter, like I do, spend your time these next few months working on these things that will make a world of difference in your shot-making.
Grip: Whatever your grip is like, practice to make it be the same every time you pick up a club. Little changes in how you place your hands on the club make a big difference in how the clubhead meets the ball.
Ball position: For balls hit off the round, and hit off a tee, find the position that lets you hit your best shots. That position might be farther back in your stance than you think it should be.
Rhythm: The ratio of the backswing to the downswing is 3:1. Practice to make this your habit. This is the same as learning to be patient when you swing. What gets rhythm out of whack is rushing.
Impact: Your hands must get back to the ball before the clubhead does. See my video lesson for a drill that shows you what that means and shows you how to teach yourself to do it.
Putting: Yes, putting is shot-making. Practice at home to find a stroke that brings the clubhead into the ball square to the starting line and makes contact off the sweet spot of the putter’s face -- every time. It will take daily practice and a lot of experimentation to figure this out. By the time you finish, you will likely have a very different stroke than you had before.
You can practice all of these things at home, except the second one, which you should be able to figure out after one trip to the driving range. Then practice at home by taking an address with the ball in that exact spot.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas.
Grip: Whatever your grip is like, practice to make it be the same every time you pick up a club. Little changes in how you place your hands on the club make a big difference in how the clubhead meets the ball.
Ball position: For balls hit off the round, and hit off a tee, find the position that lets you hit your best shots. That position might be farther back in your stance than you think it should be.
Rhythm: The ratio of the backswing to the downswing is 3:1. Practice to make this your habit. This is the same as learning to be patient when you swing. What gets rhythm out of whack is rushing.
Impact: Your hands must get back to the ball before the clubhead does. See my video lesson for a drill that shows you what that means and shows you how to teach yourself to do it.
Putting: Yes, putting is shot-making. Practice at home to find a stroke that brings the clubhead into the ball square to the starting line and makes contact off the sweet spot of the putter’s face -- every time. It will take daily practice and a lot of experimentation to figure this out. By the time you finish, you will likely have a very different stroke than you had before.
You can practice all of these things at home, except the second one, which you should be able to figure out after one trip to the driving range. Then practice at home by taking an address with the ball in that exact spot.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas.
Monday, December 12, 2016
Going From the Range to the Course
The driving range is about hitting shots. The golf course is about scoring. Here’s how to make the first one easier to bring to the second one.
1. Pick a target for every shot. Not a direction, but a spot on the ground where you want the ball to land.
2. Go through your entire pre-shot routine before you hit the ball. Don’t swing at the ball until you have the feeling that this will be a very good shot.
3. For the next shot, pick a different target.
4. Change clubs after every three shots.
5. Take a break every now and then. Get out of your groove before you resume.
6. Hit some fades and draws. Hit some high shots, some low shots.
7. Develop a shot for when you just can’t go right. Same for when you can’t go left. Same for This one has to go straight, distance be hanged.
8. Make it fun. Make hitting golf balls something you enjoy, not something you work at.
1. Pick a target for every shot. Not a direction, but a spot on the ground where you want the ball to land.
2. Go through your entire pre-shot routine before you hit the ball. Don’t swing at the ball until you have the feeling that this will be a very good shot.
3. For the next shot, pick a different target.
4. Change clubs after every three shots.
5. Take a break every now and then. Get out of your groove before you resume.
6. Hit some fades and draws. Hit some high shots, some low shots.
7. Develop a shot for when you just can’t go right. Same for when you can’t go left. Same for This one has to go straight, distance be hanged.
8. Make it fun. Make hitting golf balls something you enjoy, not something you work at.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Slow-Motion Golf Swings
Golf is a game of constant maintenance and correction. Once something works, we want to find a way to keep it working. We also know that eventually we will ease out of our groove, and we have to find the way back in.
One very good way to do both of those things is with slow-motion golf swings. The golf swing happens so fast, and out of our sight, that it’s not really possible to know exactly what’s going on. By slowing down, we can feel clearly what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong.
And that’s the whole point - to feel what is going on. We can’t see what we are doing, but we can feel it.
The feels we are looking for are the ones that bring the club back square and on plane, and return the clubhead to the ball with the desired impact geometry, and, hopefully, with a good amount of speed.
The best way to teach your unconscious mind* what those feels are is to practice swinging slowly.
The slow-motion swing allows you to verify the feels of what you are doing right.
If anything gets out of whack, you can sense it right away. That is feel of the wrong movment. Even though it might be your habit, it needs to change.
If you need to make a correction, its feel might be odd, but because the slow swing allows you to carefully monitor what is going on at all times, you’ll know it’s right.
Maybe you’re working of a slight change. Practice it in slow motion first, to make sure you’re doing it the way you want to, and you’re not still doing what you’re trying to get away from.
I’m not saying that there is now no reason to have a lesson, but there is a lot you can diagnose yourself so that when you get that lesson, it will be fine tuning, rather than going back to basics.
Pay your money to learn what you can’t figure out by yourself.
The first time I heard about this trick was on a Golf Channel Playing Lessons With the Pros episode featuring Brad Faxon. He said he, and other touring pros, did this all the time at the range, for the very purposes I described above.
Now that it’s rainy weather and you don’t get to play much, and it gets dark early so going to the range after work isn’t really an option, try working on slow swings at home. Get a lesson and spend the winter getting everything in your swing lined up right.
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*Most people use the term “subconscious mind”, but my psychologist friends say “unconscious mind” is correct.
One very good way to do both of those things is with slow-motion golf swings. The golf swing happens so fast, and out of our sight, that it’s not really possible to know exactly what’s going on. By slowing down, we can feel clearly what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong.
And that’s the whole point - to feel what is going on. We can’t see what we are doing, but we can feel it.
The feels we are looking for are the ones that bring the club back square and on plane, and return the clubhead to the ball with the desired impact geometry, and, hopefully, with a good amount of speed.
The best way to teach your unconscious mind* what those feels are is to practice swinging slowly.
The slow-motion swing allows you to verify the feels of what you are doing right.
If anything gets out of whack, you can sense it right away. That is feel of the wrong movment. Even though it might be your habit, it needs to change.
If you need to make a correction, its feel might be odd, but because the slow swing allows you to carefully monitor what is going on at all times, you’ll know it’s right.
Maybe you’re working of a slight change. Practice it in slow motion first, to make sure you’re doing it the way you want to, and you’re not still doing what you’re trying to get away from.
I’m not saying that there is now no reason to have a lesson, but there is a lot you can diagnose yourself so that when you get that lesson, it will be fine tuning, rather than going back to basics.
Pay your money to learn what you can’t figure out by yourself.
The first time I heard about this trick was on a Golf Channel Playing Lessons With the Pros episode featuring Brad Faxon. He said he, and other touring pros, did this all the time at the range, for the very purposes I described above.
Now that it’s rainy weather and you don’t get to play much, and it gets dark early so going to the range after work isn’t really an option, try working on slow swings at home. Get a lesson and spend the winter getting everything in your swing lined up right.
------
*Most people use the term “subconscious mind”, but my psychologist friends say “unconscious mind” is correct.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Getting Good Around the Green
Lately I’ve been going to the range about three times a week. I hit my bucket of balls, but what I really want to do is practice around the green.
This is a practice green where you’re allowed to chip, and I do it. One wedge, a putter, and one ball. Chip the ball, putt it out -- just like you do on the course. No do-overs with the chip, either. Not wanting to have to leave a ten-foot putt for an up and down gets me to focus.
How am I doing? I get up and down almost every time. I’m not trying to brag here, to tell you how great I am. I’m trying to tell you that if you practice something often enough, you learn and you get good at it.
All that putting I have been doing at home the past few months, and the chipping I do at the range, is paying off.
And there’s this -- chipping is the easiest stroke in the game, the easiest one to get good at. There is no reason not to be good at it. Just put in the practice. Getting a lesson won’t hurt, either. Chances are your chipping stroke could stand a little fixing.
If you practice regularly starting now, by springtime you can own the green. All you have to do is put in the work.
Let me say one thing to inspire you about getting good.
An amateur will practice until he (or she) learns to do it right. A professional practices until he can’t do it wrong. No one is stopping you from practicing that much, and if you do, it will pay off like you won’t believe.
This is a practice green where you’re allowed to chip, and I do it. One wedge, a putter, and one ball. Chip the ball, putt it out -- just like you do on the course. No do-overs with the chip, either. Not wanting to have to leave a ten-foot putt for an up and down gets me to focus.
How am I doing? I get up and down almost every time. I’m not trying to brag here, to tell you how great I am. I’m trying to tell you that if you practice something often enough, you learn and you get good at it.
All that putting I have been doing at home the past few months, and the chipping I do at the range, is paying off.
And there’s this -- chipping is the easiest stroke in the game, the easiest one to get good at. There is no reason not to be good at it. Just put in the practice. Getting a lesson won’t hurt, either. Chances are your chipping stroke could stand a little fixing.
If you practice regularly starting now, by springtime you can own the green. All you have to do is put in the work.
Let me say one thing to inspire you about getting good.
An amateur will practice until he (or she) learns to do it right. A professional practices until he can’t do it wrong. No one is stopping you from practicing that much, and if you do, it will pay off like you won’t believe.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
A Few Little Things
No essay today -- just a few thoughts for you, in no particular order.
1. At the range, hit one ball at a time. Put your bucket in a place where you have to walk to it to get another ball. This will force you to set up all over again for each shot. This is how you practice your setup: grip, stance, posture, aim, ball position. Most of your bad shots are the result of a bad setup, not a bad swing.
2. Make your first read of a putt standing 50 feet from the hole. Only from that distance can you see the overall tilt of the green. Do you want to know why you missed that straight-in 3-footer? Because you couldn’t see from just a few feet behind the ball that the entire green was tilted to the left.
3. Have you figured out which club you want to hit from the fairway? Factored in lie, wind, green firmness? Good. Now take one more club and grip down an inch. Otherwise, you’re relying on a perfect strike.
4. Hit a few stock 9-irons. Your swing with a driver should take just as long, from start to finish, as those.
5. Unless you’re hitting a specialty shot, use the same ball position for all shots off the ground. Thus the ball will always be in the same place relative to the bottom of your swing.
6. You can’t generate clubhead speed by turning your hips at 100 mph. The calmer your center stays, the more speed will be built up at the outside -- the clubhead.
7. Never hit over water unless you have no choice. Bad things happen when you challenge a water hazard needlessly.
8. Make it your rule from close in to get the ball on the green in one shot. Even if you leave the ball 30 feet from the hole, you’ve done your job.
9. The conventional advice when playing a par 3 from an elevated tee is to take less club. Actually, you should take more club and punch the ball off the tee. This is a more secure swing, and keeps the ball down to get the ball on the green quicker.
10. At the range, practice as long as your mind is sharp. If you feel your mind is losing focus, that’s enough for the day. Give the rest of your bucket to another golfer and go home. You don’t learn anything when your mind is tired.
1. At the range, hit one ball at a time. Put your bucket in a place where you have to walk to it to get another ball. This will force you to set up all over again for each shot. This is how you practice your setup: grip, stance, posture, aim, ball position. Most of your bad shots are the result of a bad setup, not a bad swing.
2. Make your first read of a putt standing 50 feet from the hole. Only from that distance can you see the overall tilt of the green. Do you want to know why you missed that straight-in 3-footer? Because you couldn’t see from just a few feet behind the ball that the entire green was tilted to the left.
3. Have you figured out which club you want to hit from the fairway? Factored in lie, wind, green firmness? Good. Now take one more club and grip down an inch. Otherwise, you’re relying on a perfect strike.
4. Hit a few stock 9-irons. Your swing with a driver should take just as long, from start to finish, as those.
5. Unless you’re hitting a specialty shot, use the same ball position for all shots off the ground. Thus the ball will always be in the same place relative to the bottom of your swing.
6. You can’t generate clubhead speed by turning your hips at 100 mph. The calmer your center stays, the more speed will be built up at the outside -- the clubhead.
7. Never hit over water unless you have no choice. Bad things happen when you challenge a water hazard needlessly.
8. Make it your rule from close in to get the ball on the green in one shot. Even if you leave the ball 30 feet from the hole, you’ve done your job.
9. The conventional advice when playing a par 3 from an elevated tee is to take less club. Actually, you should take more club and punch the ball off the tee. This is a more secure swing, and keeps the ball down to get the ball on the green quicker.
10. At the range, practice as long as your mind is sharp. If you feel your mind is losing focus, that’s enough for the day. Give the rest of your bucket to another golfer and go home. You don’t learn anything when your mind is tired.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
What I Learned at the Range - 12
I've been spending my time around the practice green lately. Here are a few things I reminded myself of.
1. Slow down your swing. This advice is generally stated in the context of the golf swing, but it applies with equal force to short shots. Poor contact on chip shots is too often caused (in my game) by making the stroke too brisk. Slow it down. Try practicing a few chips with a stroke that takes as long to make as your full swing does.
2. Chipping is pretty complicated. To get good at it, give yourself as many different shots as possible and figure out which club and stroke gives you the best results.
At the most basic, you can vary the distance from ball to green and green to hole. Mix and match long and short distances for both. You might be forced to hit over an obstacle. You can chip into a downhill slope or an uphill slope. You can have a cushy lie, a tight lie, or be in the rough. You can chip to a green that it elevated (common) or a green that is lower than the level of your ball.
3. From outside 10 feet, all that matters is speed. You can read the line well enough to get the ball close, but more important is to get the ball cozying up to the hole speedwise. That's how those 20-footers fall in.
4. When you address a putt, let the sole of the putter rest very lightly on the top of the grass. That way you can start the club back smoothly. If the putter rests with its weight on the ground, you have to subtly lift up the putter, then swing it back. That is enough to disrupt your stroke.
5. You get a better feel for how hard to hit a long putt by standing about 10 feet off the low side of the line, halfway between the ball and the hole, and taking practice strokes while looking at the ball when you swing back, and at the hole when you swing through. Your subconscious mind will give you the length of stroke that is right. This sounds vague, but play with it and you will see that it works.
1. Slow down your swing. This advice is generally stated in the context of the golf swing, but it applies with equal force to short shots. Poor contact on chip shots is too often caused (in my game) by making the stroke too brisk. Slow it down. Try practicing a few chips with a stroke that takes as long to make as your full swing does.
2. Chipping is pretty complicated. To get good at it, give yourself as many different shots as possible and figure out which club and stroke gives you the best results.
At the most basic, you can vary the distance from ball to green and green to hole. Mix and match long and short distances for both. You might be forced to hit over an obstacle. You can chip into a downhill slope or an uphill slope. You can have a cushy lie, a tight lie, or be in the rough. You can chip to a green that it elevated (common) or a green that is lower than the level of your ball.
3. From outside 10 feet, all that matters is speed. You can read the line well enough to get the ball close, but more important is to get the ball cozying up to the hole speedwise. That's how those 20-footers fall in.
4. When you address a putt, let the sole of the putter rest very lightly on the top of the grass. That way you can start the club back smoothly. If the putter rests with its weight on the ground, you have to subtly lift up the putter, then swing it back. That is enough to disrupt your stroke.
5. You get a better feel for how hard to hit a long putt by standing about 10 feet off the low side of the line, halfway between the ball and the hole, and taking practice strokes while looking at the ball when you swing back, and at the hole when you swing through. Your subconscious mind will give you the length of stroke that is right. This sounds vague, but play with it and you will see that it works.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
A New Way of Practicing
Does this happen to you? You go to the range and get loose. You hit a few balls and they’re perfect. Or you go to the practice green and the first few chips you hit end up right next to the hole, or the first few putts go right in.
And after that, you can’t do a thing right. You hit ball after ball, trying to get back the magic you had at the start, and you never quite get there. Well, maybe you shouldn’t try.
James Sieckmann has a new book out, titled, Your Short Game Solution. In addition to invaluable short game advice, Sieckmann spends a little time talking about the difference between block practice, which you do a lot of, and random practice, which you probably don’t do at all.
Block practice is hitting the same shot over and over again. Random practice is where you have a shot for the first time, and you hit it. Then you pick a different shot and hit that one.
Sieckmann suggest that you spend a only few minutes in block practice, then the rest of the time in random practice - hitting different shots to different targets with different clubs. The reason is that you train your brain much better that way.
He refers to an article in the blog, The Bulletproof Musician, that says our brain is wired to respond to change. It gets dulled by repetition.
What about practicing to perfection? Again, that’s not how our brain works. It was designed to improvise, not do the same thing over and over again, according to the work of Stanford engineer Dr. Krishna Shrenoy.
Sure, you do have to practice a golf technique (the RIGHT technique) enough to have learned how to do it. That means a lot of repetitions. But you don’t pile up those repetitions. You do them over time, along with other techniques you’re learning.
Along the way you spend lots of time giving yourself problems to solve with each technique, even as you’re learning it.
So here’s what I would recommend. It’s how a practice session goes for me.
I get a small bucket of balls, 33. I’ll warm up with dry swings (no ball), then hit a few 9-irons, a few 7-irons, a few 5-irons, a few hybrids, and a few drivers. Back to the 7 or 5 and hit few fades and a few draws. I’ve hit about half the bucket.
This part is just to remind me how my swing works, to keep the feelings fresh.
Then I take out my wedges and hit to random distances. I’ll play with trajectory next. When maybe three or four balls are left, I’ll go back to the long clubs and hit a driver and a few irons. Done.
At the practice green, I’ll drop four balls and chip them to different holes. Or, I’ll pick one hole and chip to it from four balls different places around the green. This goes on, hitting different shots all the time, until I’ve gotten all four balls up and down twice in a row.
Finally, putting. Eight three-footers in a circle drill to a cup that is on slanted ground. Then a dozen or so 20-footers to different holes and from different directions -- never hitting the same putt twice. Four balls to the same hole on the same line from 35, 15, 45, and 25 feet (in that order) until all of them go down in two. End with five straight-in two-foot putts, to go home with success in mind.
And after that, you can’t do a thing right. You hit ball after ball, trying to get back the magic you had at the start, and you never quite get there. Well, maybe you shouldn’t try.
James Sieckmann has a new book out, titled, Your Short Game Solution. In addition to invaluable short game advice, Sieckmann spends a little time talking about the difference between block practice, which you do a lot of, and random practice, which you probably don’t do at all.
Block practice is hitting the same shot over and over again. Random practice is where you have a shot for the first time, and you hit it. Then you pick a different shot and hit that one.
Sieckmann suggest that you spend a only few minutes in block practice, then the rest of the time in random practice - hitting different shots to different targets with different clubs. The reason is that you train your brain much better that way.
He refers to an article in the blog, The Bulletproof Musician, that says our brain is wired to respond to change. It gets dulled by repetition.
What about practicing to perfection? Again, that’s not how our brain works. It was designed to improvise, not do the same thing over and over again, according to the work of Stanford engineer Dr. Krishna Shrenoy.
Sure, you do have to practice a golf technique (the RIGHT technique) enough to have learned how to do it. That means a lot of repetitions. But you don’t pile up those repetitions. You do them over time, along with other techniques you’re learning.
Along the way you spend lots of time giving yourself problems to solve with each technique, even as you’re learning it.
So here’s what I would recommend. It’s how a practice session goes for me.
I get a small bucket of balls, 33. I’ll warm up with dry swings (no ball), then hit a few 9-irons, a few 7-irons, a few 5-irons, a few hybrids, and a few drivers. Back to the 7 or 5 and hit few fades and a few draws. I’ve hit about half the bucket.
This part is just to remind me how my swing works, to keep the feelings fresh.
Then I take out my wedges and hit to random distances. I’ll play with trajectory next. When maybe three or four balls are left, I’ll go back to the long clubs and hit a driver and a few irons. Done.
At the practice green, I’ll drop four balls and chip them to different holes. Or, I’ll pick one hole and chip to it from four balls different places around the green. This goes on, hitting different shots all the time, until I’ve gotten all four balls up and down twice in a row.
Finally, putting. Eight three-footers in a circle drill to a cup that is on slanted ground. Then a dozen or so 20-footers to different holes and from different directions -- never hitting the same putt twice. Four balls to the same hole on the same line from 35, 15, 45, and 25 feet (in that order) until all of them go down in two. End with five straight-in two-foot putts, to go home with success in mind.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
The Fastest Way to Get Better
The November 2015 Golf Digest has a cover article by Tony Finau with the same title as this post. The article reveals his opinion that the fastest way to get better is to get good with your driver and your putter.
Good advice. Even Byron Nelson once said, "If you can drive and you can putt, you can play this game."
The driver part won't do you any good, though if you can't hit the green with your 7-iron. If you can't hit the green with your 7-iron, you won't hit many fairways with your driver. Might as well leave it home.
Change your swing so you can hit the green with your seven-iron, say, eight out of ten times. Then you can haul out a driver.
As for putting, the ones to practice are the 30-footers and the 3-footers.
Learn to get the ball close to the hole from a distance. Not doing that is the major cause of three-putt greens.
Then learn to get the ball in the hole from close in. Missing the short putts is the other cause.
Those two things sound obvious, but surprisingly they're not.
The way to get better at golf is to be real good on the basics. The 7-iron and putting are the basics. Go get 'em.
Good advice. Even Byron Nelson once said, "If you can drive and you can putt, you can play this game."
The driver part won't do you any good, though if you can't hit the green with your 7-iron. If you can't hit the green with your 7-iron, you won't hit many fairways with your driver. Might as well leave it home.
Change your swing so you can hit the green with your seven-iron, say, eight out of ten times. Then you can haul out a driver.
As for putting, the ones to practice are the 30-footers and the 3-footers.
Learn to get the ball close to the hole from a distance. Not doing that is the major cause of three-putt greens.
Then learn to get the ball in the hole from close in. Missing the short putts is the other cause.
Those two things sound obvious, but surprisingly they're not.
The way to get better at golf is to be real good on the basics. The 7-iron and putting are the basics. Go get 'em.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Don't Let the Golf Ball Distract You
We all have a practice swing that is sheer poetry, but put a golf ball in front of us and we become our old selves again. How do we stop doing that?
First of all, why do we do it? It’s because we get too caught up in results instead of process. If we do the right things, and the ball is in the way, it will go where we want it to go.
We just can’t resist adding a little extra, trying to make the ball go where we want it to, just to be sure. We can’t believe it is as simple as just swinging the club correctly.
But it is.
So here’s my advice on how to re-train your brain not to get distracted by the ball -- how to see your swing at a ball in the same way as you take your practice swing.
Put a ball on the ground in front of you, and address it. Now back away from it about six inches so when you swing you won’t hit it.
Make some swings, five or so, heck, ten, but as you swing, look at the ball. Don’t ignore it as you do with a practice swing. Look at that ball head on.
After a time, your mind will start associating the ball in front of you with a smooth swing that does not contact the ball in funny ways. Funny peculiar, not funny ha ha.
Because there is no result with this swing, your mind stops thinking about results, and focuses just on swinging.
Your conscious mind is in on the deception, but your unconscious mind is not at all this subtle. All it knows is that when you swing at the ball, nothing happens. There’s nothing to worry about. Your fears never arise, and it’s from the unconscious mind where they originate.
Since you’re re-training your brain, you have to practice this exercise a lot. You can’t just give yourself a suggestion. That’s working with your conscious mind. Habits are formed in the unconscious mind.
Doing this drill over and over is how you build a new habit, one that leaves you feeling like hitting the ball is doesn’t add anything to what you’re already doing. That’s how you keep the ball from distracting you.
First of all, why do we do it? It’s because we get too caught up in results instead of process. If we do the right things, and the ball is in the way, it will go where we want it to go.
We just can’t resist adding a little extra, trying to make the ball go where we want it to, just to be sure. We can’t believe it is as simple as just swinging the club correctly.
But it is.
So here’s my advice on how to re-train your brain not to get distracted by the ball -- how to see your swing at a ball in the same way as you take your practice swing.
Put a ball on the ground in front of you, and address it. Now back away from it about six inches so when you swing you won’t hit it.
Make some swings, five or so, heck, ten, but as you swing, look at the ball. Don’t ignore it as you do with a practice swing. Look at that ball head on.
After a time, your mind will start associating the ball in front of you with a smooth swing that does not contact the ball in funny ways. Funny peculiar, not funny ha ha.
Because there is no result with this swing, your mind stops thinking about results, and focuses just on swinging.
Your conscious mind is in on the deception, but your unconscious mind is not at all this subtle. All it knows is that when you swing at the ball, nothing happens. There’s nothing to worry about. Your fears never arise, and it’s from the unconscious mind where they originate.
Since you’re re-training your brain, you have to practice this exercise a lot. You can’t just give yourself a suggestion. That’s working with your conscious mind. Habits are formed in the unconscious mind.
Doing this drill over and over is how you build a new habit, one that leaves you feeling like hitting the ball is doesn’t add anything to what you’re already doing. That’s how you keep the ball from distracting you.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Good Golf Takes Dedication
A few years ago, I published a blog post that was a reprint, with permission, of the best piece I have ever read about how much practice it takes to get good at golf.
The answer is essentially what Ben Hogan told Gary Player when Player said he practiced all the time. Hogan said, “Good. Now practice more than that.”
I read an obituary a few years ago of Bob Kurland, who played professional basketball in the 1950s. He was one of the first truly big men in the game. Kurland realized if he developed a hook shot from close in, no one would be able to stop it.
So the story goes that he went to the gym and started practicing. The first 100 or so shots didn’t come close. The next hundred showed promise. By about 300 shots, he started to connect.
That’s not too much for you to do, either, if you want to.
A few days ago I was cruising around Wikipedia, reading the entry for Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. He worked his butt off to get where got to.
He said, about composing, “Well, I can do that. Because you just don't know. You think it's a talent, you think you're born with this thing. What I've found out and what I believed is that everybody is talented. It's just that some people get it developed and some don’t.”
You have the talent to be good at something in golf. Very good. Decide what you’re going to be good at, and put in the work to get there.
How much work? One more time.
I picked up this line recently, but I can’t remember from where. It goes like this: An amateur will practice until he (or she) can do it right. A professional will keep on practicing until he can’t do it wrong.
The next time you practice chipping for ten minutes and a few shots get close to the hole and you’re about to call it a day, think about how good could you be vs. how good are you allowing yourself to be.
The answer is essentially what Ben Hogan told Gary Player when Player said he practiced all the time. Hogan said, “Good. Now practice more than that.”
I read an obituary a few years ago of Bob Kurland, who played professional basketball in the 1950s. He was one of the first truly big men in the game. Kurland realized if he developed a hook shot from close in, no one would be able to stop it.
So the story goes that he went to the gym and started practicing. The first 100 or so shots didn’t come close. The next hundred showed promise. By about 300 shots, he started to connect.
That’s not too much for you to do, either, if you want to.
A few days ago I was cruising around Wikipedia, reading the entry for Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. He worked his butt off to get where got to.
He said, about composing, “Well, I can do that. Because you just don't know. You think it's a talent, you think you're born with this thing. What I've found out and what I believed is that everybody is talented. It's just that some people get it developed and some don’t.”
You have the talent to be good at something in golf. Very good. Decide what you’re going to be good at, and put in the work to get there.
How much work? One more time.
I picked up this line recently, but I can’t remember from where. It goes like this: An amateur will practice until he (or she) can do it right. A professional will keep on practicing until he can’t do it wrong.
The next time you practice chipping for ten minutes and a few shots get close to the hole and you’re about to call it a day, think about how good could you be vs. how good are you allowing yourself to be.
Monday, November 3, 2014
2014 Winter Improvement Plan
The rainy season has landed on the Pacific Northwest with a vengeance. The last good day to play golf was a week ago. We’ll have a few good days here and there, but if you’re in a rainy climate, too, spend your golfing getting better for next year.
Here is a practice program for winter of 2014-5.
Swing. Learn to hit the ball straight. All good golf depends on this. My Six Fundamentals show you how to do that.
Chipping. If your ball is three feet off the green and the pin is 30 feet away, do you routinely leave the chip tap-in close? There’s no reason you can’t learn to.
This is the easiest shot in the game and expectations are so low. You don’t have to get the ball in the hole, just close to it.
I’m serious about this now, get a lesson and have the pro teach you the shot from start to finish. I did a few years ago. I was a pretty good chipper, but I told the pro, “Pretend I’ve never chipped before. Teach me how to do it.”
What he showed me was entirely different than what I had been doing, and much more effective. It will be for you, too.
Pitching. If you’re from 30 to 90 yards from the green, can you guarantee getting the ball on with one shot? You might be surprised, if you counted, how many strokes you lose if you can’t guarantee that simple result.
This winter, when you’re at the range, buy two buckets. One is for your full swing, the other is for pitching. Only for pitching. Learn the shot, calibrate your wedges to hit the ball to pre-determined distances. Pitch every time you visit the range.
Do not take this shot for granted. When you get up and down from 60 yards, you’ll thank me.
Trouble shots. Learn how to hit the ball off uneven lies. I have YouTube videos on all of them.
Learn how to hit the ball low, and how to hit it high. Learn how to draw the ball, and fade it, intentionally. Learn how to hit out or rough.
I’ll be making videos of those skills come the first sunny day. Once you have the idea, they don’t take much practice at all.
Putting. Learn to make 3-foot putts by doing the circle drill. Go all around the hole hitting 3-footers, the length of your putter. Take ten putts to get around the circle.
Memorize the feel of hitting a 30-foot putt. Learn how to adjust for an uphill putt and a downhill putt. Do this every time you visit the range.
Then go play putting games that you make up. I won’t tell you what mine are. Have your own fun on the practice green, and stay on it putting for at least twenty minutes.
Thinking. All those skills won’t help you as much as they could if you can’t use them effectively on the course. That comes down to your state of mind when you’re hitting the ball. My book, The Golfing Self, shows you how to make sure you are mentally ready for every shot.
You spend lots of time training your body, why not train your mind as well?
Here is a practice program for winter of 2014-5.
Swing. Learn to hit the ball straight. All good golf depends on this. My Six Fundamentals show you how to do that.
Chipping. If your ball is three feet off the green and the pin is 30 feet away, do you routinely leave the chip tap-in close? There’s no reason you can’t learn to.
This is the easiest shot in the game and expectations are so low. You don’t have to get the ball in the hole, just close to it.
I’m serious about this now, get a lesson and have the pro teach you the shot from start to finish. I did a few years ago. I was a pretty good chipper, but I told the pro, “Pretend I’ve never chipped before. Teach me how to do it.”
What he showed me was entirely different than what I had been doing, and much more effective. It will be for you, too.
Pitching. If you’re from 30 to 90 yards from the green, can you guarantee getting the ball on with one shot? You might be surprised, if you counted, how many strokes you lose if you can’t guarantee that simple result.
This winter, when you’re at the range, buy two buckets. One is for your full swing, the other is for pitching. Only for pitching. Learn the shot, calibrate your wedges to hit the ball to pre-determined distances. Pitch every time you visit the range.
Do not take this shot for granted. When you get up and down from 60 yards, you’ll thank me.
Trouble shots. Learn how to hit the ball off uneven lies. I have YouTube videos on all of them.
Learn how to hit the ball low, and how to hit it high. Learn how to draw the ball, and fade it, intentionally. Learn how to hit out or rough.
I’ll be making videos of those skills come the first sunny day. Once you have the idea, they don’t take much practice at all.
Putting. Learn to make 3-foot putts by doing the circle drill. Go all around the hole hitting 3-footers, the length of your putter. Take ten putts to get around the circle.
Memorize the feel of hitting a 30-foot putt. Learn how to adjust for an uphill putt and a downhill putt. Do this every time you visit the range.
Then go play putting games that you make up. I won’t tell you what mine are. Have your own fun on the practice green, and stay on it putting for at least twenty minutes.
Thinking. All those skills won’t help you as much as they could if you can’t use them effectively on the course. That comes down to your state of mind when you’re hitting the ball. My book, The Golfing Self, shows you how to make sure you are mentally ready for every shot.
You spend lots of time training your body, why not train your mind as well?
Monday, August 4, 2014
Getting the Most Out of a Visit to the Driving Range
You go to the range to learn how to play on the course better, not to hit range balls better.
That sounds obvious, but from what I see at the range, and what I catch myself doing there, range golf and course golf are two different things. They shouldn’t be.
As you stand over a range ball, remember how you hit the ball on the course, with the club you’re holding, when you have one chance, and it has to count. I’ll bet you make a careful, controlled stroke. That’s the kind to make with this range ball.
Back on the range, seeing how far you can hit it, or trying a new swing thing just this one time, all that moves you backward in your progress, not forward.
Use your golf course swing at the range. Which one is that? When I’m hitting the ball well during play, I have the feeling that I’m just chipping the ball around the course. It’s that effortless and that controlled. I get into trouble when I try to do more. More than perfect isn’t perfecter.
You’re there to perfect that controlled swing. By that I mean learn to do it over and over, the same way every time. Don’t try to keep getting more out of it. Teach yourself to get the same thing out of it every time.
Have you ever seen a good player at the range hit one great shot after another, with the same easy swing? That’s what those golfers are doing, learning how to repeat THAT swing. That’s what I want you to do.
So on the practice tee, take your time between shots. Pick a target, line up the shot, go through your pre-shot routine, every time. Then use your golf course stroke.
Around the green, whether chipping or putting, go through all the preparations you make on the course, before every chip or putt. Hit the shot like it’s on the course.
There will be more time between shots, so don’t get impatient. You’re learning how to make quality shots, and that’s the way to improvement.
That sounds obvious, but from what I see at the range, and what I catch myself doing there, range golf and course golf are two different things. They shouldn’t be.
As you stand over a range ball, remember how you hit the ball on the course, with the club you’re holding, when you have one chance, and it has to count. I’ll bet you make a careful, controlled stroke. That’s the kind to make with this range ball.
Back on the range, seeing how far you can hit it, or trying a new swing thing just this one time, all that moves you backward in your progress, not forward.
Use your golf course swing at the range. Which one is that? When I’m hitting the ball well during play, I have the feeling that I’m just chipping the ball around the course. It’s that effortless and that controlled. I get into trouble when I try to do more. More than perfect isn’t perfecter.
You’re there to perfect that controlled swing. By that I mean learn to do it over and over, the same way every time. Don’t try to keep getting more out of it. Teach yourself to get the same thing out of it every time.
Have you ever seen a good player at the range hit one great shot after another, with the same easy swing? That’s what those golfers are doing, learning how to repeat THAT swing. That’s what I want you to do.
So on the practice tee, take your time between shots. Pick a target, line up the shot, go through your pre-shot routine, every time. Then use your golf course stroke.
Around the green, whether chipping or putting, go through all the preparations you make on the course, before every chip or putt. Hit the shot like it’s on the course.
There will be more time between shots, so don’t get impatient. You’re learning how to make quality shots, and that’s the way to improvement.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
The Most Important Golf Shot
I wrote a Facebook post the other day about how you should allocate your practice time. It went like this:
“The reason why you should spend more time practicing your short game than your swing is not because the short game is more important. It's because the short game is more complicated. You have short chips, long chips, pitches, and they're all different kinds of shots. On the other hand, you have one swing. So spend an equal amount of time on each kind of shot, and you'll have it right. (Then there's putting.)”
What I’m saying is that you should practice shots, not phases. Then I got to thinking, how would you allocate your time between these shots? You would certainly want to spend more time on the ones that are most important. But which ones are the most important?
So I listed six shot types (swing, long pitch, short pitch, chip, sand, putt) and compared each one with all the others. That’s fifteen comparisons. In the spreadsheet below, I wrote in the cell the most important shot, in my opinion, between the one in the column head and row head.
You can see that “swing” came out on top all five times. You have to jump around a bit, but chip came out on top three times. The list below the table shows how many times each shot type won a comparison. Because “sand” is 0 does not mean it has no importance, but that it is the least important shot of the six.
This list tells me how I should prioritize my practice: swing first, putting second, and so on. It does not tell me how much time I should spend on each shot type. I would suggest working on all of them at least a bit, and spend extra time on the one(s) you are having trouble with at the moment.
This is my take based on how I play right now. Ten years ago, when my swing was less accurate, I was hitting more short pitches into greens than chips, so those shots would have been in different order. As far as sand goes, I’m hardly ever in a bunker.
You might want to make up your own shots type and run your own comparisons. It would show you how to spend your practice time wisely.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com.
“The reason why you should spend more time practicing your short game than your swing is not because the short game is more important. It's because the short game is more complicated. You have short chips, long chips, pitches, and they're all different kinds of shots. On the other hand, you have one swing. So spend an equal amount of time on each kind of shot, and you'll have it right. (Then there's putting.)”
What I’m saying is that you should practice shots, not phases. Then I got to thinking, how would you allocate your time between these shots? You would certainly want to spend more time on the ones that are most important. But which ones are the most important?
So I listed six shot types (swing, long pitch, short pitch, chip, sand, putt) and compared each one with all the others. That’s fifteen comparisons. In the spreadsheet below, I wrote in the cell the most important shot, in my opinion, between the one in the column head and row head.
You can see that “swing” came out on top all five times. You have to jump around a bit, but chip came out on top three times. The list below the table shows how many times each shot type won a comparison. Because “sand” is 0 does not mean it has no importance, but that it is the least important shot of the six.
This list tells me how I should prioritize my practice: swing first, putting second, and so on. It does not tell me how much time I should spend on each shot type. I would suggest working on all of them at least a bit, and spend extra time on the one(s) you are having trouble with at the moment.
This is my take based on how I play right now. Ten years ago, when my swing was less accurate, I was hitting more short pitches into greens than chips, so those shots would have been in different order. As far as sand goes, I’m hardly ever in a bunker.
You might want to make up your own shots type and run your own comparisons. It would show you how to spend your practice time wisely.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Practicing golf in cold weather
It's cold where I live, too cold to even go outside for much time at all. Forget about playing, how do we practice? Well, it's not too hard, and you can end up practicing some things you should have been practicing, but never do.
Putting on the carpet. Everybody knows that one. I like to putt at a tin can lid. You need something to align the putt to, to know that you're not pushing or pulling the putt, but hitting the lid isn't the important point. Making a smooth stroke is. In fact, don't even watch the ball until you know it has gone past the lid.
You can practice your chipping stroke, off a carpet remnant so you don't damage the good carpeting. Plastic golf balls make good targets, and you're practicing making good contact with a consistent stroke. Chip with a number of clubs, too, from you 5-iron to your lob wedge.
Your swing? You can swing inside the house. You won't hit the ceiling. Use a 7-iron or less, and there won't be any problem.
As for those things you should practice, but don't? Get a block of wood to practice your takeaway. The club should start back straight for the first few inches. Toe the club against the block of wood and take the club back. You should hear a quick scraping sound, like striking a match. No sound, you're taking it back inside. Long sound, you're trying to take it back outside.
Practice keeping your hands ahead of the ball at impact. My YouTube video on this point shows you how.
Invent. Think of something. There's lots you can do.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Putting on the carpet. Everybody knows that one. I like to putt at a tin can lid. You need something to align the putt to, to know that you're not pushing or pulling the putt, but hitting the lid isn't the important point. Making a smooth stroke is. In fact, don't even watch the ball until you know it has gone past the lid.
You can practice your chipping stroke, off a carpet remnant so you don't damage the good carpeting. Plastic golf balls make good targets, and you're practicing making good contact with a consistent stroke. Chip with a number of clubs, too, from you 5-iron to your lob wedge.
Your swing? You can swing inside the house. You won't hit the ceiling. Use a 7-iron or less, and there won't be any problem.
As for those things you should practice, but don't? Get a block of wood to practice your takeaway. The club should start back straight for the first few inches. Toe the club against the block of wood and take the club back. You should hear a quick scraping sound, like striking a match. No sound, you're taking it back inside. Long sound, you're trying to take it back outside.
Practice keeping your hands ahead of the ball at impact. My YouTube video on this point shows you how.
Invent. Think of something. There's lots you can do.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Approach putting - refining your touch (video tip)
I use these two drills to keep my sense of touch in approach putting in good shape. They're easy to do and have an incredible payoff on the course.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Friday, September 13, 2013
Concentrated practice
There's so much to practice in golf, and you need to do all of it at some time or another. But try this concentrated practice routine and see if it doesn't pay off real soon in lower scores.
1. Hit range balls only with your driver and sand wedge. Go through your bucket in a six-shot pattern: hit five wedges, then one driver. That will tighten up your short game, and bring a controlled swing to a club that you just have to hit well to have a chance to score.
2. Go to the practice green, with one ball, and chip up to a hole and putt it out. Do this thirty times, hitting to a different setup every time. Maybe you don't chip with a sand wedge all the time, but that's OK. You'll learn to get the ball close enough. You'll learn to putt by making real putts: the back end of an up and down, which is golf's major scoring skill.
I know there are a lot of shots and clubs this scheme doesn't address, but it does address the important ones. The skills you learn here will carry over into the rest of it, believe me.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
1. Hit range balls only with your driver and sand wedge. Go through your bucket in a six-shot pattern: hit five wedges, then one driver. That will tighten up your short game, and bring a controlled swing to a club that you just have to hit well to have a chance to score.
2. Go to the practice green, with one ball, and chip up to a hole and putt it out. Do this thirty times, hitting to a different setup every time. Maybe you don't chip with a sand wedge all the time, but that's OK. You'll learn to get the ball close enough. You'll learn to putt by making real putts: the back end of an up and down, which is golf's major scoring skill.
I know there are a lot of shots and clubs this scheme doesn't address, but it does address the important ones. The skills you learn here will carry over into the rest of it, believe me.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Monday, September 2, 2013
Practice is hard work
Practice is not play. By that, I mean it's not playtime, where you can knock around some golf balls and call it good. It's serious business, if you want to improve.
A few days ago, I took my grandson to the range to practice his short game and putting. This is the phase of the game were he's losing too many strokes, and can get them back the most easily. I gave him a challenge: get a twenty-yard chip up and down, and not quit until he did it.
He had four golf balls that he hit with his 6-iron. Two of them ended up way out of one-putt range, but two gave him makable putts. He missed them both, so back to the start. Four more chips. Just get one of them up and down.
Well, this was taking longer than I thought it would. After four rounds of this exercises, with no luck, I just stood out here and tossed the ball back to him if it ended up too far away. Finally, he got one to five feet. I helped him read the putt and line it up. He missed. Back to chipping, and he was getting pretty discouraged.
About six chips later, he hit one to four feet. OK, I thought, this is it. He missed. Back to chipping. We had to be getting to the 40th chip by now, and I was wondering how long this was going to take. He was getting pretty discouraged. I stayed calm, though, and told him that if we quit, we would have walked away and learned nothing.
So here we go again. The next chip he hit was running a little too fast, but had a really nice line, and it went in. We're done. If the up goes in and you don't need the down, that's OK, too. He was so happy.
But one thing he was so happy about is that he had stuck with it (with some help) and met his goal. Anyone can quit. He left the range with a feeling of achievement rather than failure. That's serious business.
I'm a good chipper. My exercise is more demanding. I chip four balls to one hole and don't quit until I get all of them up and down. Then I hit four balls to four different holes and don't quit until I get all of them up and down, too. Sometimes I get both parts right away, so I start over with more difficult chips. I make myself work for success.
You won't get good on the course until you make yourself be good in practice. That's my habit, that's a habit I'm teaching my grandson, and I hope this post inspires you in that regard if you're not doing that already.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
A few days ago, I took my grandson to the range to practice his short game and putting. This is the phase of the game were he's losing too many strokes, and can get them back the most easily. I gave him a challenge: get a twenty-yard chip up and down, and not quit until he did it.
He had four golf balls that he hit with his 6-iron. Two of them ended up way out of one-putt range, but two gave him makable putts. He missed them both, so back to the start. Four more chips. Just get one of them up and down.
Well, this was taking longer than I thought it would. After four rounds of this exercises, with no luck, I just stood out here and tossed the ball back to him if it ended up too far away. Finally, he got one to five feet. I helped him read the putt and line it up. He missed. Back to chipping, and he was getting pretty discouraged.
About six chips later, he hit one to four feet. OK, I thought, this is it. He missed. Back to chipping. We had to be getting to the 40th chip by now, and I was wondering how long this was going to take. He was getting pretty discouraged. I stayed calm, though, and told him that if we quit, we would have walked away and learned nothing.
So here we go again. The next chip he hit was running a little too fast, but had a really nice line, and it went in. We're done. If the up goes in and you don't need the down, that's OK, too. He was so happy.
But one thing he was so happy about is that he had stuck with it (with some help) and met his goal. Anyone can quit. He left the range with a feeling of achievement rather than failure. That's serious business.
I'm a good chipper. My exercise is more demanding. I chip four balls to one hole and don't quit until I get all of them up and down. Then I hit four balls to four different holes and don't quit until I get all of them up and down, too. Sometimes I get both parts right away, so I start over with more difficult chips. I make myself work for success.
You won't get good on the course until you make yourself be good in practice. That's my habit, that's a habit I'm teaching my grandson, and I hope this post inspires you in that regard if you're not doing that already.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Monday, July 1, 2013
Consistently good golf
Most golfers say they want to be consistent, little realizing that they are. What they want to be is consistently good, a claim few golfers can make.
Today's post was written twelve years ago by Bob Madsen for the defunct website, lessonsingolf.com. Madsen is a PGA pro and currently Director of Instruction at the Sycuan Golf and Tennis Resort in El Cajon, California.
It is the best piece I have ever read on what it takes to become a consistently good golfer. Honest, straightforward, and valuable.
Here is "Do the Reps and Work Your Way Up," by Bob Madsen:
"One of the many things my students are asking for is more consistency. 'I just want to be more consistent' comes the cry.
"Well, this seems a valid request as we all know how much fun it is to do well repeatedly. Better worded though, we might all be asking for more 'repeat ability.'
"Repeated success gives us a feeling like, “Hey. I can really do this!” Isolated success does not. Being able to repeatedly, for example, hole out putts from four feet brings joy and refreshment, not to mention lower scores.
"Anytime we can really do it and do it over and over and over again it feels good. And isn't that what we all want - to feel good?
"Repeat ability is therapeutic. As you gain in your ability to repeat a skill - like being able to get out of a bunker - you will just plain be better off out there. You will be more relaxed, friendly, fun to be around and full of confidence. Repeat ability really is the source of trust.
"So, we have a few concepts here that I urge you to get a grip on. Consistency really is just repeat ability. And repeat ability will give you trust and confidence.
"Now for the kicker. How do you get more repeat ability? There is only one way and that is by repetition. You must spend time doing the reps. You will not become more consistent while reading Golf Digest or watching the Golf Channel.
"You are not going to be more unfailingly skilled by going off of the latest tips and pointers, band-aids, and quick-fixes. You will not find more consistency while you are in line at Starbucks. You will also not get better if you are out there on the range flailing and failing over and over again with the latest big head driving club.
"The only way to get more consistent and really be able to repeat success is with lots of repeated success in practice. For example, if you want to hole more putts, you have to go spend hours and hours sinking putts. I am talking about starting six inches from the hole if you have to. Hole 100 in a row. Then, move back an inch.
"Here is the recipe. Find something you know you can do and do lots and lots of it. Then, go for a LITTLE, tiny bit more.
"If you want more repeat ability so you can dazzle your friends and really leave the golf course refreshed, practice succeeding. Succeed over and over and over again.
"I promise, before you will ever be able to hit the driver consistently, you will have to be almost tour caliber with a seven iron. You've got to work your way up. You've got to earn consistency. It is well worth the effort."
Thank you, Bob, for your permission to reprint this tip.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Today's post was written twelve years ago by Bob Madsen for the defunct website, lessonsingolf.com. Madsen is a PGA pro and currently Director of Instruction at the Sycuan Golf and Tennis Resort in El Cajon, California.
It is the best piece I have ever read on what it takes to become a consistently good golfer. Honest, straightforward, and valuable.
Here is "Do the Reps and Work Your Way Up," by Bob Madsen:
"One of the many things my students are asking for is more consistency. 'I just want to be more consistent' comes the cry.
"Well, this seems a valid request as we all know how much fun it is to do well repeatedly. Better worded though, we might all be asking for more 'repeat ability.'
"Repeated success gives us a feeling like, “Hey. I can really do this!” Isolated success does not. Being able to repeatedly, for example, hole out putts from four feet brings joy and refreshment, not to mention lower scores.
"Anytime we can really do it and do it over and over and over again it feels good. And isn't that what we all want - to feel good?
"Repeat ability is therapeutic. As you gain in your ability to repeat a skill - like being able to get out of a bunker - you will just plain be better off out there. You will be more relaxed, friendly, fun to be around and full of confidence. Repeat ability really is the source of trust.
"So, we have a few concepts here that I urge you to get a grip on. Consistency really is just repeat ability. And repeat ability will give you trust and confidence.
"Now for the kicker. How do you get more repeat ability? There is only one way and that is by repetition. You must spend time doing the reps. You will not become more consistent while reading Golf Digest or watching the Golf Channel.
"You are not going to be more unfailingly skilled by going off of the latest tips and pointers, band-aids, and quick-fixes. You will not find more consistency while you are in line at Starbucks. You will also not get better if you are out there on the range flailing and failing over and over again with the latest big head driving club.
"The only way to get more consistent and really be able to repeat success is with lots of repeated success in practice. For example, if you want to hole more putts, you have to go spend hours and hours sinking putts. I am talking about starting six inches from the hole if you have to. Hole 100 in a row. Then, move back an inch.
"Here is the recipe. Find something you know you can do and do lots and lots of it. Then, go for a LITTLE, tiny bit more.
"If you want more repeat ability so you can dazzle your friends and really leave the golf course refreshed, practice succeeding. Succeed over and over and over again.
"I promise, before you will ever be able to hit the driver consistently, you will have to be almost tour caliber with a seven iron. You've got to work your way up. You've got to earn consistency. It is well worth the effort."
Thank you, Bob, for your permission to reprint this tip.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
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