Being face to face with a Tiger

After all that has been written and spoken the last 12 months about Tiger Woods. Tiger proved at Pebble that he is a shadow of his former self in a stroke play event. The last day was just too much for him, trying to play against 3 or 4 opponents was hard.

But this week Tiger will only have to play one person at a time, something very different from a stroke play tournament. Tigers first three rounds at the AT&T were pretty flawless, but this I believe was because he only had one opponent, the golf course. And the last day he felt he was playing 3 or 4 (Mickelson, Wi and a few others).

Yesterday Gonzo (Fedez Castano) started really well against Tiger, and arguably should have won.

But I believe the combination of two things made the turnaround possible. Firstly playing head to head with Tiger is difficult, you can't hide in the pack. One on one is going to be very intimidating still. Secondly and more importantly Tiger is only playing against you, he is focused totally on the task of beating you. This sounds a very scary proposition , even though he has lost a huge chunk of his aura around him.

Strangely, both Tiger and Gonzo have won a tournament they have organised in the last 12 months.

Yesterday, he came back to win. Yesterday he beat the only person in front of him. Today he has one man to beat too, Nick Watney is that man. Another man for Tiger to sink his teeth into!

Don't forget the bounce!

Have trouble chipping and pitching? Do you feel like you have the correct set up, and swing?
Hands forward            check
Stance open                 check
Good ball position       check
Hit down at the ball     check
Avoid scooping            check

Sometimes golfers exaggerate the coaching they get (very unusual but it happens) and this causes problems of a different nature.
When a stereotypical bad golfer has problems with a lofted club, normally there is no trust in the club to do the job. So the golfer lifts/scoops the club making it very difficult to slide the club under the ball.

To stop this happening the normal and correct approach is to force the players hands to stay in front of the club head at impact. This should eliminate the scooping technique very quickly.

If a players overdoes this, and his hands are too far forward, the front edge of the club becomes extremely sharp. This forces the player to be very precise about the impact, between the club ball and ground. If the player hits the ground just behind the ball then club digs in like an axe, creating a poor contact.

Exaggerated technique

At the bottom of most lofted wedges is a slightly rounded sole, this area is called the bounce or flange. Held correctly this part or the club helps the club skid under the ball. With a slight downward blow and the hands very slightly in front of the club head, the bounce can skid the club under the ball if the player hits the ground just behind the ball.

So remember, make sure your set up is correct and not overdone.



Good set up

Screening

TPI Screening

Ever wondered why no matter how much your coach asks you to do, or feel something when you’re swinging, it’s nearly impossible to do? Well sometimes your body is not capable of achieving a movement and it is a fruitless task to even try.

David (1 handicap) will be put through a sequence of simple tests which are called a screen, to determine precisely a players range of movement.  This coupled with the video analysis of the swing and an injury history can give a coach a total overview of the player’s profile.  With correct structure the coach can send the player to either a fitness coach at a gym, or if the problem is medically serious to a doctor or sports physiotherapist. With focused information the physical condition is easily worked on with a far better chance of improvement.

In the test David did well but failed on one main area of the tests, the ankle dorsiflexion. Coupled with the information about an old football injury on the left ankle, it makes the video footage of the swing very easy to understand.

From the front view of Davids swing, the downswing towards the ball should start with the left hip pushing to the left, putting weight onto the left foot. David does not do this at all, due to the weakness in his left ankle, and instead of driving his weight onto his left foot, he spins without the sideways weight shift. Asking David if this is a common fault, he says yes and he has been trying to get rid of for a while (since spraining his ankle)

This is a problem where the pupil will go to a sports physiotherapist to give the pupil training and exercises to increase the strength and flexibility in his left ankle.

The Angry Bees!!

I had never heard the phrase "angry bees" before. But on holiday with my friend James it seemed a well used phrase by the time we came home. Standing over a shot and being very uncomfortable, due to feeling awkward, or mentally focusing solely on bad shots. James felt at times like the negative thoughts or feelings were like an angry swarm of bees getting louder and louder in his head before playing a shot. This was seemingly very debilitating and caused him to step away from shots on a number of occasions.

The main reason for a rock solid pre-shot routine, is to hopefully take the quality shots being hit in practice be taken onto the golf course. Poor golfers generally complain about practicing well but losing quality on the golf course. This will be fixed by practicing a pre-shot routine on the range, then repeating it on the course. A pre-shot routine can be a physical thing (picking an aiming point,practice swinging), a mental thing (visualising the shot, imagining what a good shot will feel like) or both.

The other reason for a pre-shot routine is to avoid thinking of negative things, previous poor shots played recently, imagining bad shots. A general feeling of dread when about to play a shot, can be paralysing. It can be a vicious circle, thinking bad will cause bad giving the player more ammunition for them to think about.

Build up the confidence slowly on the range, then take the pre-shot routine on the course, and slowly build up the confidence there too. Confidence is a fragile thing and solid practice on the range and golf course is the only way to build up it up. There are no short cuts. Try to build up your own routine, think positively and comit to the routine every time!

The joy of playing on your own!

It has been a long time, ten years to be exact. Only 9 holes but it felt like a totally new experience. Golf really is a solitary sport, and as I played this morning it became obvious that I had forgotten this over the last decade. Being on my own gave me the time to focus on my game, rather than participate in chit chat or coaching a pupil around the course. At first it felt a little selfish but as the holes went by I remembered more and more the joys of playing on my own.

In a team sport there is a sense of responsibility to your teamates, which is very different to golf. You only have yourself to blame for playing poorly, but in a more positive view, you can soley congratulate you yourself for excelling.

i am a firm believer that golfers play golf for many different reasons, wether it be for the exercise , challenge or the company. And I have rediscovered the joys I felt playing golf as a junior. So go back to a time you remember having fun and recreate the experiance!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Important Make Up Of A Good Set Up

The most common problem I have seen at set up, is with golfers who have a comfortable starting position. From the very beginning of their golfing life, most players get into a comfortable set up position. And comfortable normally means its wrong. The majority of people spend all their lives standing up straight with their shoulders level, which is a mistake that can cause many poor shots.

Poor set up shoulders level!!

Golf is played with the hands at different levels on the golf club, the left hand being higher than the right (for right handed golfers) , and with both arms fairly straight this means that the shoulders can't be level. To allow the arms to be straight with both hands separate on the club, the correct technique is to tilt the spine away from the target. This can feel very awkward for someone who is not used to it. Although to get into the wrong shoulder level position, a player will have to tilt the spine toward the target. This incorrect starting position generally feels more comfortable

Correct tilting spine set up




This is quite an easy correction for a player to check, just a quick look into a mirror, (face on) can give the player enough feedback to create a good set up position time after time.

Make Sure of the Short Putt



Pupils and myself included, often find short putts a little frustrating. For such a short shot it can sometimes involve a huge amount of mental activity, which it really shouldn't. There are a couple of things that should happen when practicing to get better at short putts. The first is to practice what your coach has told you to after a lesson. The sad fact is that 95% of all putting lessons end up with the pupil not practicing anything like the drills or routines that they were shown in the lesson. So to put it bluntly, do what you were told. The second and most important is to make your practice evolve to leave you with a very very simple thought process which can easily repeated. Not a 30 point checklist for each putt, this can never lead to a smooth repeatable stroke.

Here are a few very simple drills you can do that will make you short putting much better.

1.  Aim straight, this sounds obvious, but the majority of players do not. You can put a line on the ball, and putt between two clubs laid on the ground






Aiming Sticks



Line on the top of the ball

 2.  Next you can pose at the end of the stroke with the club face is still pointing at the target
3. You can on short putts keep focused on the ground under the ball until you hear the ball drop in



Head cover, backswing length control



4. For the control of distance it is important you have an accelerating stroke, which means having a shorter backswing than follow through. This will mean the ball will always get to the hole, leaving you to focus on the line of the putt. You can put a head cover behind to control the length.

Hope this helps!!