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RethinkGolf GolfasaGame
Golf as a Game Why golfers stop improving far too soon Golf is a game of miss-hits for everyone Poor results hurt your score more than good results help your score Always striving to hit the ball farther adds strokes to your score Scoring better is not hard, you only have to do two things You are the one who determines how difficult every hole will play
GolfasaGame
The average golfer’s problem is not so much a lack of ability as it is a lack of understanding what he should do. BEN HOGAN • Golfers have been misled into believing that improvement (lower scores) requires that they doat least oneof the following: Develop a better golf swing Buy better equipment Learn how to hit the ball farther Practice more • This belief is the primary reason golfers stop improving . In truth, you can do all four of those things and never lower your average score. • Ball-striking ability is one thing and scoring ability is another. Your average score reveals yourunderstanding of the game, how you think on the golf course, and your self-image . • Significant and permanent Improvement stems from: Expanding your understanding of the game. Believing you already possess the ability to improve. Learning to think like the golfer you wish to become. • Progress is accelerated when the student adopts and maintains agame development mindsetas opposed to the typicalproblem-fixing mindset.
GolfasaGame
I won 12 times in the year 2000, including 3 majors, and I only remember hitting one shot I would call perfect. It was a 3-wood on number 14 in the third round of the British Open at St. Andrews. TIGER WOODS • You have to stop judging your shots against perfection. You need to accept that in a normal round of golf you will not strike the ball perfectly one time. Every shot for you, Tiger Woods, and everyone else, will always be some degree of miss. • Fortunately, great golf does not require perfect ball-striking. You don’t have to hit a perfect drive onto a 50-yard wide fairway, a perfect approach onto a 5000 square foot green, or a perfect putt into a hole that is more than 2 ½ times the diameter of the ball. You can easily shoot the lowest round of your life without hitting one perfect golf shot. • On every shot, you should strive for the perfect outcome while, at the same time, being fully satisfied a result that is ACCEPTABLE . You should maintain the understanding that a series of safeACCEPTABLEgolf shots will always produce a GREAT final score. Regardless of your level of play. PhilsGolf.com
GolfasaGame
The important question is not how good your good shots are – It’s how bad are your bad ones? HARVEY PENICK • Learning how to hit more great golf shots would be a very difficult, time consuming, endeavor. And it would NOT lower your average score to the degree you might think. • On the other hand, learning how to convert a good percentage of your below average shots into average shots is relatively easy. And it will lower your average score FAR MORE than you realize. • Regardless of your level of play, lower scores are most easily achieved through replacing below average shots with average shots; which you can start doing almost immediately. PhilsGolf.com
GolfasaGame
Jack Nicklaus played his entire career by hitting mostly to the center of the green… Amateurs go flag hunting a lot too often, and it severely hurts their scoring ability and enjoyment. JIM MCLEAN • The path to lower is simple and has never changed. You have to learn how to keep the ball in play, and you have to improve your short game skills. • Off the tee and from the fairway, you have to learn how to avoid hazards, trees, and deep rough. You do that through selecting the highest percentage club and target. • You can’t improve what you don’t measure. When playing, keep track of the number of strokes it takes you tohole-out every time you’re within 100 yards of the green. Calculate your average and work to lower it. PhilsGolf.com
GolfasaGame
Before every shot – drive, approach, pitch, chip, putt – ask yourself, I’m trying for a great play here, but what allowance should I make to ‘protect my score’ in case I don’t make my very best swing? JACK NICKLAUS • With poor shot selection the course becomes needlessly difficult and you force yourself to continually hit exceptional shots. First, you’ll need to continuously hit very good shots to avoid penalizing situations. Then, you’ll need to need to hit great shots to get out of the difficult situations you’ll find yourself continuously in. • Average golfers believe they hit the ball a lot farther and straighter than they actually do. That belief leads them to continually select low percentage shots. • Don’t select shots that require exceptional execution. As a rule of thumb, (unless forced) if you’re unable to create the shot a high percentage of time (7 times out of 10), don’t attempt it. PhilsGolf.com
RethinkGolf YouasaGolfer
You as a Golfer If you would like to never improve, just keep recycling the same thoughts. If you don’t change your beliefs, you’ll keep recycling the same thoughts Your game is going to continuously change, regardless of what you do. Of all the obstacles you face of the course, fear (yourself) is by far the worst Great golf requires that you think efficiently, but very few golfers learn how to. You have to view every aspect of your game through the lens of thought.
YouasaGolfer
We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. ALBERT EINSTEIN • We have 50 to 60,000 thoughts a day and over 95% of those thoughts where the same thoughts we had yesterday. Furthermore, 70 to 80% of those thoughts are negative. I don’t know how many thoughts you have during a round of golf, but I’m certain they don’t change much. And I can guarantee the great majority of those thoughts are negative. This is why you keep shooting the same scores – regardless of how much you practice or play. • Jack Nicklaus was an exceptional putter and very long off the tee; but he said that of all his scoring weapons, his strongest was his mind – what and how he thought about the game. Tiger Woods also credits his success not to his immense physical talent, but to his creative mind. • Regardless of your level of play, if you want to score better you have to think better . There is no other way; the same thoughts on the golf course will always produce the same scores. PhilsGolf.com
YouasaGolfer
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so, MARK TWAIN • You have strong core beliefs about golf as a game, yourself as a golfer, and every aspect of your game – putter thru driver. One the golf course, these strong core beliefs continuously generate thoughts that support them. • Unfortunately, many your core beliefs are either false or greatly limiting. And those false, limiting beliefs generate the thoughts that inhibit your ability to improve. • You need to replace negative core beliefs with truthful, empowering core beliefs. Those new beliefs will generate the positive thoughts and emotions that you need to play to your full potential. PhilsGolf.com
YouasaGolfer
It’s a game of adjustments, a game of constant change and adjustment. BEN HOGAN • You’re not a mechanical golf machine; you’re a human golf machine . As a result, your body, emotions, and ability to focus, will change slightly from day to day. • The professional golfer embraces change and learns how to effectively deal with it. The average golfer resists change and struggles needlessly as a result. • Slight daily changes to your swing motion, and therefor ballstriking ability, are just part of golf. Don’t let this surprise or frustrate you. Instead, accept that you’re human, expect your swing motion to continually change, and learn how to effectively deal with it. The ability to score to your potential on a given day requires that you develop this skill. PhilsGolf.com
YouasaGolfer
Of all of the hazards, fear is the worst. SAM SNEAD • With fear, golf is no longer a manageable game . The golfer becomes preoccupied withwhere not to goandwhat not to do. The result being, as famed golf instructor Butch Harmon once said, “…we get so afraid of hitting bad shots that we don’t let ourselves hit good ones ”. • Fear stimulates the release of chemicals and stress hormones into the blood stream that trigger immediate emotional and physical responses. A golfer in a state of fear will suddenly find himself playing with a different mind and different body. He’ll feel tension in his body, the fairway will appear narrower, and the hole will seem smaller. • Fear does not go away through ignoring it. It goes away when you remove the stimulus. While you’re in the present moment, your mind is recounting what happened in the past and what might happen in the future. You have to learn how to continually return your focus to the peace of the present moment. PhilsGolf.com
YouasaGolfer
The human organism performs best in athleticswhen the conscious mind is turned off. DR. BOB ROTELLA The two parts of the brain that play the most central role in producing the swing motion are thePre-frontal Cortex (PFC) and theMotor System. The PFC oversees conscious thought. The Motor System is the part of the brain that communicates directly with the body to produce motion. An effective swing motion occurs when a signal (intention) is sent seamlessly to the motor system. The required (previously learned) sequence of movements is stored in the part of the brain known as theBasal Ganglia . TheCerebellumorchestrates the firing of the fast-twitch fibers needed to produce exact smooth motion. The resulting motion is referred to as being authentic. The PFC (conscious thought) should not be involved in the process. As Tiger Woods often says, “I don’t MAKE it happen (manipulate my swing); I LET it happen (allow my body to seamlessly respond to my intent)”. When the PFC intercepts the signal (when conscious thoughts steps-in and attempts to, in some way, manipulate the swing motion) the resulting motion will be unpredictable, off-balance, and most often undesirable. All sports psychologists agree on one thing, you should not think while you’re swinging . As the Hall of Fame baseball player Yogi Berra once said, “You cannot think and swing at the same time”. PhilsGolf.com
YouasaGolfer
The ancestor to every action is a thought. RALPH WALDO EMERSON • The ball responds ONLY to the club face at impact. The ball is in contact with the clubface for 5/10,000 of a second. What occurs during than instant of time, determines the ball’s spin rate, trajectory, and horizontal launch direction. • Your swing motion will determine HOW you deliver the club face to impact. As the legendary, Hall of Fame golf instructor John Jacobs wrote, “The ONLY object of the golf swing is to deliver the clubface correctly to the ball”. • Your thoughts prior to and during the swing will determine HOW you swing. And therefore, HOW you deliver the clubface to impact. Everything begins with a thought. Jack Nicklaus once said, “Don’t ever try to tell me golf is not 99.9 percent a mental game”. PhilsGolf.com
RethinkGolf OnPLAYINGGOLF
On PLAYING GOLF CREATION starts with INTENTION Creating Plays is a Three Step Process STEP ONE Mentally Creating the Play STEP TWO Stepping into the Play STEP THREE Allowing the Play to Seamlessly Unfold Triggering the Away Swing Focus Exclusively On What You Can Effectively Control Give no Thought to What You Cannot Effectively Control Develop your own Shot Making Routine Understand Your Personal “Cone of Error” Before Every Round Commit to ONE GOAL
OnPLAYINGGOLF
EVERYTHING that happens in the universe starts with an INTENTION. Deepak Chopra • Your intention is the intangible aspect of the shot creation process. Because it can’t be seen or felt, golfers seldom even consider it. That’s a huge mistake because nothing will influence your swing motion more than your intention. • Shot creation becomes significantly easier when we employ the power of intention in a beneficial manner; and that requires nothing more than common sense. A beneficial intention has five traits, it’s: Externally Focused – Related to your target, not your body. Positive – About what you do want to happen, not about the result you’re trying to avoid. Specific – Related to advancing the ball to a specific area of the fairway or green. Single Minded – Not about advancing the ball to point-B, while at the same time avoiding point-C. Comfortable – About creating a play comfortably within your capability on a given day. • Forming an empowering intention prior to every play is a learned skill. You have to continuously work at it. But the rewards will be well worth the effort. PhilsGolf.com
OnPLAYINGGOLF
I feel that hitting specific shots – playing the ball to a certain place in a certain way – is 50 percent mental picture, 40 percent setup, and 10 percent swing. Jack Nicklaus • The term “Play” refers to the entire process of advancing the ball from point-A to point-B. That would include the golfer, his swing motion, the swing of the golf club, the flight of the golf ball, and the ball’s final resting place. • Nicklaus refers to creating the “Play” as occurring in three phases. First, he formed a mental picture. Then, he meticulously setup to the ball. And, finally, he swung. • Nicklaus felt that forming the correct mental picture and properly setting up to the ball was 90% of the Shot Creation Process. He felt that the actual swing was only 10% of the equation. • The average golfer, however, views the Shot Creation Process much differently. He sees the swing motion as being 90% of the equation. PhilsGolf.com
OnPLAYINGGOLF
Jack Nicklaus referred to his visualization process as “Going to the Movies”. He described it as follows… Visualizing the ball’s ultimate resting place forms the opening scene. This is followed by a travelogue in which I imagine how it will get there. The finale in my mind’s eye features the setup and swing I’ll need to effect a happy ending. JACK NICKLAUS • Nicklaus did not merely visualize the flight of the ball, he visualized the entire play – which included himself swinging the golf club (or putter) in the appropriate manner. • Nicklaus said he would not attempt a putt before he first saw it going into the hole. He said he never missed a putt in his mind. • Albert Einstein famously stated, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. It’s a preview of life’s coming events ”. PhilsGolf.com
OnPLAYINGGOLF
If you set up correctly, there’s a good chance you’ll hit a reasonable shot, even if you make a mediocre swing. If you set up incorrectly, you’ll hit a lousy shot even if you make the greatest swing in the world. JACK NICKLAUS • After imagining the play he was attempting to create, Nicklaus would very carefully “step into” the image. • You should set up to the ball (mentally and physically) in a manner that makes it as easy as possible to: Create the desired impact conditions Maintain balance throughout the swing motion • Because every golfer has a different body and swing motion, every golfer should have a different setup position. Furthermore, your own swing is going to change slightly from day-to-day, so even your own setup position may need to change slightly from day-to-day. Golf is fluid, it’s an art. As Ben Hogan stated, “Golf is a game of constant change and adjustment”. PhilsGolf.com
OnPLAYINGGOLF
An effective golf swing is above all else a continuous flow of motion, and the less you need to dissect of direct it while actually playing the game, the better the motion will be – and the better swing you’ll make. JACK NICKLAUS • Of the three parts of thePlay Creation Process , Nicklaus was least concerned with the swing motion itself. He felt that only the takeaway could be consciously controlled. He allowed the remainder of the backswing to unfold freely until he “sensed” it was complete. He considered the downswing to be a purely “reflexive” (subconscious) movement. • Nicklaus felt that a poor swing (poor impact) was most often related to either a poor mental image or a poor setup position. • Nicklaus would allow his swing to unfold freely; allowing it to be guided only by the intent to properly deliver the club face to the ball. He felt that the swing should be a continuous flow of motion – uninterrupted by conscious thought. PhilsGolf.com
OnPLAYINGGOLF
…the very WORST way to start back is from a static, frozen or rigid position. If you do your swing is bound to be either jerky and uncoordinated, or stiff and forced. JACK NICKLAUS • After assuming your comfortable setup position, you should strive to IMMEDIATELY flow into your backswing. Standing over the ball only stimulates unwanted thought and tension. • Accomplished players never freeze over the ball. Instead, they keep moving and employ some sort of simple trigger to initiate the backswing. • Nicklaus would turn his head to the right and gently kick in his right knee. Sam Snead used a very similar trigger. Ben Hogan would trigger his swing with a waggle. Bobby Jones would make a small waggle, followed by the left hip turning back. • Most of today’s touring professionals also employ some sort of trigger to transition into their away-swing. Observe the very noticeable triggers of Matt Wolf, Henrik Stenson, Rickie Fowler, Jason Duffner, and Jordan Speith. PhilsGolf.com
OnPLAYINGGOLF
Do not let what you can’t do, interfere with what you can do. JOHN WOODEN Most golfers struggle with their shot-making because they allow their thoughts to drift into areas that are both beyond their control and irrelevant to the shot at hand. Developing your ability as a shot-maker requires that, during the few seconds of the shot-making process, you focus exclusively on what you can consciously control. There are five consciously controllable aspects of shot-making; I refer to each of them as a playing skill. SHOT SELECTION – you can carefully evaluate the circumstances, consider your options, and determine the highest percentage play. CLUB SELECTION – You can consider your choices and select the club that allows for an appropriate margin of error. INTENTION – You can center your focus and form a singleminded intention to create the exact play you selected. SETUP POSITION – you can take the time to setup to the ball in the manner that will allow you to most easily create the play. SWING FOCUS – you can allow your swing to be guided only by intent, allowing it to unfold without thought or effort. PhilsGolf.com
OnPLAYINGGOLF
Ask yourself how many shots you would have saved if you never lost your temper, never got down on yourself, always developed a strategy before you hit, and always played within your capabilities. JACK NICKLAUS Everyone has their own “Cone of Error”. Your goal is to play as safely as possible within your “Cone of Error”. Visualize your “Cone of Error” before selecting your target and club. Allow its size to positively influence you decisions. Your goal on every shot should always be the same - to minimize the possibility of a poor result. When playing golf, to increasethe number of acceptable results you need to: ALWAYSselecta conservative target ALWAYS select a club that allows for the slight miss PhilsGolf.com
OnPLAYINGGOLF
All I do is stay in my same routine …do everything the same. TIGER WOODS You’ll hit fewer poor golf shots (and lower your average score) when, on every shot, you give appropriate consideration to what you can effectively control – shot selection, club selection, intention, setup position, and swing focus. Because that’s a lot to consider in a short period of time, you need to develop a personal shot-making routine that makes the process almost automatic. Then, you need to apply that personal routine to every play you create – putter thru driver. For most skilled players, the routine is similar to this: Before addressing the ball: • Select the highest percentage shot • Select a club that allows for an appropriate margin of error • Create single-minded intention • Strengthen that intention • Quiet your mind and relax your body Addressing: • Using a personal routine, set up to the ball with the specific purpose of creating the desired impact conditions. Swing: • Employ a personal trigger to start the swing . PhilsGolf.com
RethinkGolf OnGOLFCLUBS
On GOLF CLUBS Don’t over-think golf clubs Professional golfers score better than ever, but it’s not because of their equipment. How the average golfer buys his equipment has changes for the worse. The perfectly fit golf club does not exist. Fit golf clubs do not make you a better golfer. Three club fitting mistakes I see every day. Four things you need to remember about golf clubs. Simple, effective putter fitting Simple, effective wedge fitting Simple effective iron fitting Simple effective driver fitting How to assemble an effective set composition
OnGOLFCLUBS
Some players are never satisfied unless they unless they are buying new clubs…This is not good for the player, but it is quite good for the clubmaker. James Braid Five-time British Open Champion Between 1901 and 1910 Over-analyzing golf clubs and continually changing your equipment makes the game more difficult and permanently inhibits your ability to improve. Golf clubs are not improving every year, so there is no “new technology” that you need to keep up with. Your equipment does not define your ability as a golfer. Your ability as a golfer reflects you understanding of the game and how well you think on the golf course. Once you acquire a properly fit set of 14 golf clubs, you should shift your focus to more important things. If you happen to play poorly, accept that YOU were the cause, not the clubs. Love your clubs, thn learn to better understand the game and think like the player you would like to become. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
You cannot go to the golf shopand buy a better golf game. SAM SNEAD • The best players in the world are better than ever. The primary reason, according to golf club manufacturers, is related to “new technology”. Well, if that’s true, why hasn’t the average golfer improved? He has been faithfully buying this “new technology” every year for ever. • It’s true that the best players in the world are better than ever. Not only in golf, but in every sport. They’re bigger, faster, stronger, and better trained. And, more importantly, they’re continuingly learning how to “play” their respective games better. • Due to the higher level of competition, today’s touring professionals have done what the average golfer has never done – they’ve improved their playing skills. They’ve become better golfers. While better equipment has certainly helped, it’s only been the icing on the cake. The higher level of competition has forced tour players to learn how to lower their average score. If they wanted to stay employed, they had no choice. The average golfer has never been faced with that challenge. So they just keep buying new clubs and never improve. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
Nothing is more endangered in the modern world than the powerful combination of hard work toward meaningful goals joined with an exuberant embrace of the present moment. OLD TOM MORRIS British Open Champion 1861, 1862, 1864, 1867 • In the early days of golf, it was very common for the golf instructor to also be a club maker. Helping the student with the selection of their clubs was thought to be an essential part of golf instruction. The most famous golf instructor/club maker was Old Tom Morris, whose historic golf shop is still open in St. Andrews, Scotland, “The home of golf”. • Through the years, the golf professional has become less involved in the club selection process. He or she has been replaced with a salesperson. • Today, because all major brands of golf clubs are mass-produced, the small golf shop owed by the skilled club maker has also become a thing of the past. • Because most golfers believe that “High-Tech” design is more important than custom fit, most golf clubs are purchased online. Acquiring the newest design at the cheapest price has become the primary objective. Things have certainly progressed in the wrong direction. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content. LEO TOLSTOY • You’re not a mechanical swing machine, you’re a human swing machine. The point being, you’re never going to swing exactly the same way twice. Your brain was created to respond to a continually changing environment. It does not have the ability to produce perfect repetitive motions. You can’t even perfectly duplicate your signature, one second after you write it. After every shot, you’re going to make settle conscious and subconscious adjustments. Furthermore, your weight, flexibility, energy level, and ability to focus are going to change daily. • Regardless of what you’ve been told (or how much you pay!) there is never going to be a golf club that can keep up with your continuously changing golf swing. The perfectly fit golf club does not exist for you, me, or anyone else. • Always remember, you don’t need “perfectly fit golf clubs” (whatever that means) to play the best golf of your life. Golf is a game of misses. All you need, all you will ever need, is a balanced set of fourteen golf clubs built to specifications that complement you size, strength, and basic swing motion. The goal is to play with clubs that are “well fit” not “perfectly fit”. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
Those are the same clubs I used last week. Last week I shoot 80 this week 70. LEE TREVINO • It is your “playing skills” that define your ability as a golfer, not your golf clubs. Unfortunately, even properly fitted golf clubs will not improve your playing skills . • By that I mean golf clubs do not improve your shot selection, club selection, your ability to form a positive intention, your ability to properly set up to the ball, or your ability to maintain a positive mindset throughout the shot creation process. This is what Sam Snead was referring to when he said, “You cannot go into a shop and buy a good game of golf”. • A well fit set of golf clubs WILL make the game easier, but only IF the player does his or her part. If the player keeps approaching each play in the same manner, the player will keep making the same scores – regardless of the golf clubs he or she uses. • While a poorly fit set of golf clubs will DEFINITETLY make the game more difficult, a well fit set CAN make the game easier. This is because a properly fit set will be designed to compensate for the player’s typical miss, making that miss slightly less severe. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
• I believe the most important clubs in the golfer’s bag are the putter, the driver, and the wedges. Yet, these clubs are most commonly either poorly fit or not fitted at all . When customers come to my shop for a set evaluation, these are the three club fitting mistakes I most often find: A poorly fitted putter – During a round of golf, about 40% of your shots will be putts. Yet, most golfers continue to buy expensive putters off the rack with no consideration to the specifications. A poorly fitted set of wedges – About one-third of your “non-putts” will be struck with one of your wedges. These are your scoring clubs. Yet, golfers continue to get fitted for their iron set, but not their wedges. Driver specifications that inhibit accuracy – Hitting your average drive 10 or even 20 yards farther will NOT lower your average score, but keeping the ball in play a higher percentage of time will lower your average score. Yet, when getting fit for a driver, golfers remain fixated only on distance. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
• Golf clubs are not getting better every year. To be deemed legal, all golf club designs have to conform to the strict guidelines established by the ruling bodies of golf – The USGA and the R&A. • The fit is all there is, it’s everything. There is no best brand of golf club, so you can forget about the marketing hype. Try to work with an experienced professional fitter who can help you identify the golf club specifications and set composition that works best for you. Avoid salespersons. • When being fitted, remember my “Three C’s” Comfort – The specifications of each club should complement your size, strength, and sense of feel. And be comfortable to your eye as well. Composition – The combination of wedges, irons, hybrids, and fairway metals should provide you with playable trajectories, functional yardage gaps, and a progressive series of predictable carry distances. Compensation – The specifications of each club should compensate for your most common miss. • If you would like to significantly lower your average score, you’ll need to do more than improve your equipment. Golf clubs do not select shots, form intentions, or swing themselves. Your average score reflects your ball-striking ability and playing skills, not your golf clubs. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
When the shaft length, the lie-angle, and the loft of your putter each complement your setup position and stroke, it’ll become easier to make square and centered contact and launch the ball on your intended line. Therefore, you’ll putt better. Adjusting putter specifications is something I do every day. Here’s what I do: I adjust the shaft length so the student can comfortably get their eyes over the ball. This makes it easier to square the clubface to the aim-line at address. I adjust the lie angle so the putter sits flat on the ground. This makes it easier to make centered contact. I adjust the loft to better complement the student’s stroke. This makes it easier to effectively launch the ball out of its resting place and get it rolling forward as quickly as possible. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
About one-third of your “nonputts” will be struck with one of your wedges. They are your scoring clubs. Yet, most golfers simply buy their wedges without much thought, one at a time, off the rack. This is why I routinely see golfers play with four wedges, each having a different brand-name, lieangle, shaft, and grip. Golfers are always getting fitted for their irons and never their wedges, which makes no sense at all. Your wedges certainly don’t need to be the same brand as your iron set, but their specifications should complement your properly fitted iron set. I believe you should buy your wedges in a set, with a 5 or 6 degree progression in lofts. And, if possible, I prefer that each wedge have the same shaft, the same shaft length, the same grip, and the same lie-angle. The typical golfer needs plenty of loft on his wedges, with no relief on the heel or toe. For this golfer, I like to see at 14 to 16 degrees of bounce on the sand iron, and 10 to 12 degrees of bounce on the gap and lob wedges. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
When hitting an iron, average golfers seldom strike the golf ball in the middle of the club face. They also seldom make contact with the club face square to their intended target. For those two reasons, they should be playing with irons that are both forgiving and compensating. The strong lofted modern irons are designed to maximize distance. Unfortunately, for most golfers, they’re too strong lofted and too long shafted . In an effort to provide added distance, distance control (which is far more important) is sacrificed. The modern game-improvement iron head features a deep cavity back, extreme perimeter weighting, a wide sole, a thick top line, and a significant degree of hosel offset. All great features for the average golfer. Make sure, however, that the shafts are not too long and the lofts are not too strong. The more expensive forged iron heads offer little value to the average golfer. They’re typically a compact design with a higher center of gravity and less offset. While they are said to promote added feel, that is very debatable. When purchasing forged heads, the average golfer is paying more money for a less forgiving design. To me, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
Hitting your average drive 10 or even 20 yards farther will not lower your average score. Furthermore, there is no reason to believe that you’ll hit the newest driver design any further, or even as far, as your current drive. You can, however, lower your average score through hitting a higher percentage of your drives in the fairway. The average golfer hits his tee shot in the fairway less than half the time. His driving accuracy is poor for many reasons, one being that he uses a driver designed to maximize distance instead of accuracy. You should be playing with a driver that provides MAXIMUM ACCURACY and adequate distance. To help my students hit more fairways, here are three adjustments I’ll commonly make to their current driver. I’ll cut the shaft length. Most golfers play with a diver that is at least 1 ½ inches too long. As a result, it becomes overly difficult to make square and center contact. I’ll add loft. This will provide a higher launch, more back spin, and narrow the dispersion. I’ll adjust the face angle. This will immediately compensate for the student’s most common miss. The driver does not, however, swing itself. The student still needs to learn how to swing in a manner that produces better quality contact . This normally involves altering the set up position, grip, and swing focus. PhilsGolf.com
OnGOLFCLUBS
When thinking about how many and what type of golf clubs you should be playing, focus on playable trajectories and functional yardage gaps. You want a least a 10-yard gap in carry distance between each of your clubs, and you want to achieve a playable trajectory with as many clubs as possible. Because of the head design and shaft length, you’ll typically hit the ball higher and farther with a hybrid than you would with an identically lofted iron. Similarly, you’ll typically hit the ball higher and farther with a fairway metal than you would with an identically lofted hybrid. With that basic understanding, you can begin to assemble a functional set of golf clubs. When you are unable to achieve a playable trajectory with an iron, you should consider replacing it with a hybrid. Then you continue using hybrids until, again, you are unable to achieve a playable trajectory. At that point, you should consider replacing the hybrid with a similarly lofted fairway metal. To determine the head designs, lofts, and shaft lengths that would provide YOU with both playable trajectories and functional yardage gaps, you would need to work with a qualified fitter. Not a salesperson. PhilsGolf.com
RethinkGolf OntheSHORTGAME
On the SHORT GAME What you should understand about putting Putting grip, setup and process What you should know about chipping (putting with loft) What you should know about part shots (greenside and fairway)
OntheSHORTGAME
The direction in which the clubface looks is the most important of the four impact elements that determine the behavior of every shot you hit. JOHN JACOBS • When putting, the ball will always launch in the direction the putter face is aimed at impact – not in the direction the putter head is moving at impact. Therefore, to launch your putts on your intended aim-line, your putter face needs to be square to that line at impact. • When you don’t make contact in the center of the clubface, the clubface will turn at impact and less energy will be transferred to the ball. The ball will travel slightly offline and shorter than expected. PhilsGolf.com
OntheSHORTGAME
If there is a key to being a good putter It’s having a deep understanding of how to hit the ball squarely . PAUL RUNYAN • Your putting set-up position should be comfortable , with: Your eyes over the ball The ball positioned slightly forward of center stance. The putter face aligned square to the aim-line A grip that inhibits face rotation • When putting, it’s best to use a grip that that is different than your full swing grip. A grip inhibits face rotation. The most popular putter grip would be the reverse overlap, as preferred by Tiger Woods. The right palm faces the target and the left forefinger overlaps the fingers of the right hand. • Most amateur golfers grip the putter far too tightly and it inhibits their ability to make a fluid stroke. PhilsGolf.com
OntheSHORTGAME
You will derive several advantages on chip shots if you play them with the same address position – eyes over the line – same grip and same firm-wristed stroke that I advocate for putting, rather than the more conventional method. PAUL RUNYAN • Golfers typically over-complicate their chipping. They very often stand too far from the ball, make too long of a backswing, decelerate on the forward swing, and strike the ground before the ball. They struggle to make good contact. • I encourage golfers to think of chipping as being little more the putting with a lofted club. This technique was first popularized by Paul Runyan, who won 29 times on PGA Tour in the 1930s and 40s. He was known as “Little Poison” for his Runyan Putting small statue and deadly short game technique. • Your chipping motion should be very similar to your putting stroke - back-andforth and low to the ground. With the putting setup and grip, your body will “sense” that you intend to employ your putting motion. Your swing thought should be, “Putt the ball to the hole”. Runyan Chipping
OntheSHORTGAME
With a wedge in my hands, I expect to get the ball down in two. ANNIKA SORENSTAM As you move farther from the hole, or need to launch the ball higher in the air, you’ll need added club head speed. You’ll use your regular grip and a modified version of your regular swing. When you work on your pitching swing you’re not only developing one of the essential skills needed to lower your short game scoring average, you’re also building the foundation for your full swing. Luke Donald Greenside Pitch You’re not trying to hit the ball far; you’re trying to carry and roll the ball a very specific distance. Over-active hands and wrists create inconsistent club head speed, leading to inconsistent distance control. So keep your hands relaxed and your wrists relatively firm. While keeping the majority of your weight on your left foot, swing the whole club more back-and-forth as opposed to up-and-down. Have the intent to extend the backswing and create a wide swing arc. Butch Harmon Fairway Pitch You create a specific trajectory and carry distance through first selecting the appropriate club, and then increasing or decreasing the length of your backswing. You increase club head speed through increasing the length of your backswing – not through supplying various degrees of power with your hands and wrists. PhilsGolf.com
Phil’sProShop TrainingAids
Training Aids Orange Whip EyeLine Classic Putting Mirror SKLZ "Accelerator" Pro Putting Mat LongShot Impact Labels (Click on image to order) Divot Board
Phil’sProShop RecommendedReading
Recommended Reading My Books The Mad Science of Golf Understanding Golf Rethinking Golf Clubs By Lynn Marriott & Pia Nilsson Every Shot Must Have a Purpose The Game Before the Game Play Your Best Golf Now Be a Player By Dr. Bob Rotella Golf is Not a Game of Perfect Golf is a Game of Confidence The Golf of Your Dreams The Golfer’s Mind Putting Out of Your Mind Your 15th Club How Champions Think The Unstoppable Golfer Books on Golf that I’ve Really Enjoyed Golf My Way - by Jack Nicklaus The Golf Swing Simplified – by John Jacobs Natural Golf – by George Knudson Five Lessons – The Modern Fundamentals of Golf – by Ben Hogan Classic instruction – by Bobby Jones and Ben Crenshaw The Fluid Motion Factor – by Steven Yellin Understanding the Golf Swing – by Manual de la Torre The Little Red Book – by Harvey Penick The Art and Zen of Learning Golf – by Michael Hebron On Golf – by Jim Flick The Timeless Swing – Tom Watson The Short Game Bible – Dave Pelz Zen Golf – by Dr. Joseph Parent Extraordinary Golf – by Fred Shoemaker
Recommended Reading Great Reads The Legend of Bagger Vance – by Steven Pressfield The Pro – by Butch Harmon Mr. Hogan, The Man I Knew – Kris Tschetter My Story – by Jack Nicklaus Moe and Me – by Lorne Rubenstein The Greatest Game Ever Played – by Mark Frost Zen in the Art of Archery – by Eugen Herrigel Surfing the Himalayas – by Frederick Lenz
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