Patience

Recentley, it has come to my attention that most golfers are not patient with their golf swing. It seems that once a player has reached the top of the back swing they become very rushed to move the club forward. I believe the reason for this is different for everyone, however the emotion that presents itself because of the underlying reason appears to be anxiety. I could go into a hundred things that the emotion of anxiety will create in the golf swing, but two of the biggest things are distraction and tension. Consider the possibility of allowing the club to transition at the top of the swing instead of making it transition and you will find a higher level of focus, trust, and I have found...enjoyment!

Get On A Roll

The other day I was fortunate enough to play with some gentlemen at one of our local golf courses. As we left the eighth green I began to observe something very interesting, they weren't rolling the ball. A key component to making putts is one, being aware of the target and two, rolling the ball effectively toward your target. I also recognized that the closer the putt the less effective they were at rolling the ball. You may be asking, if it's not rolling then what was the ball doing when it left the club face. I found that on their longer putts the ball jumped or skipped, and usually on the shorter putts the ball skidded. One of the great things about golf is that there is no right or wrong way to do things but how you get the ball to the target in the most effective manner and this seems to be especially true with putting. Next time you are on the practice putting green, raise your awareness of how the ball is coming off the club face. Play around with ball positions, shaft tilts, grip pressures, stances, spine angles until you find the most effective way for you to roll the ball, and then you will find that during your next round you might just get on a roll!

Any Reason for Golf

On May 24th , I co-hosted on a local radio show called Golf Talk and was lucky enough to interview the President of the Shivas Irons Society, a charitable foundation started by Michael Murphy who wrote "Golf in the Kingdom" and founder of the Esalen Institute. The members of the Shivas Irons Society are a very interesting group of golfers, they view golf as and artistic endeavor or a creative outlet rather than a result based activity. Make no mistake, they still keep score and recognize that scoring is the basis for the game of golf, however, score is a result of a creative process and not necessarily the reason for playing the game. The next time you hit the links, take a page from the Shivas Iron Society and change your prospective on playing the game and make the score an end to the means and not the means in itself.

Don't Make the Adjustment

I've had many players lately ask me about proper ball position. My answer to them is always there is no proper ball position, and I like to tell them a story about an interview I was apart of during a local radio show. We interviewing Don White a famous club maker who worked for MacGregor and has fitted and made clubs for some of the greatest players to have played the game. During the interview the questioned was raised, "who was the most difficult player to make clubs for?". He answered, "Jose Maria Olazabal", he went on to tell us that Jose wanted a particular shot, a high fade, and wanted his clubs to provide that shot with the way he swung the club. Jose did not want to have to hit a high fade, he wanted to swing the club the way that was natural to him and have the club produce the desired effect. By adjusting the club for his swing instead of adjusting his swing to hit the shot, he could rely on the shot and be more consistent. I tell the players I coach to place the ball where it will get in the way of your swing instead of adjusting your swing to a particular ball placement. By doing this, you can now rely on consistent contact and enable you to place your focus away from the ball and onto the target. Next time your out on the range raise your awareness of where your club bottoms out and adjust the ball placement accordingly, DON"T MAKE THE ADJUSTMENT to the ball!

Speed it up by slowing down

At last weeks Golfer Development Academy, relaxation became one of the topics for exploration. We talked about why Olympic sprinters when they were interviewed after races regularly judged their performance by their ability to be relaxed. When the muscle becomes tense two things happen; first, tension is using the muscle for something other than its intended use. In the case of the sprinter the muscle is being used by tension instead of sprinting. In the case of the golfer the muscle is being used for something other than swinging the golf club. Secondly, tension changes the way movements would naturally happen. We talk to many players about allowing the club to move forward instead of making the club transition at the top of the swing. By allowing the club to make the transition you will allow the club to pick up speed and thus pick up some valuable yards. Raise the awareness of the tensions in your body and you will be taking a page from the great Olympic athletes as well as the great golfers.

Ready, Set, Go!

I was coaching a player today and notice something that made me reflect on a observation made about Masters winner Angel Cabrera over the weekend. I think everyone noticed how fast Cabrera played once he addressed the ball. When I was coaching today I noticed how fast this player prepared but than sat over the shot once he addressed the ball. I then asked the player to switch his process, or stand over his practice swings and think about all those things he was thinking about when he addressed the ball, and just make a swing once he addressed the ball. After a few times going through the new process he experienced some amazing breakthroughs. Angel Cabrera is definitely one who has benefited by not getting in his own way by taking lots of time over the ball. Tim Gallaway wrote in his book The Inner Game of Golf, "...this is the hardest game of all because it allows you the time to think..." Next time your on the range or out playing a round you might explore taking the time over your preparations instead of the ball.

Ding..ding..tilt...tilt..ding..ding!

Its been a while since my last blog so there's definitely a lot of golf to discuss. Last week we finished the first Golfer Development Academy and out of those three days came some very interesting discoveries. I want to talk about one thing in particular that came to light with several different students and that is raising awareness of shoulder tilt. Back in the late 90's, I was a ski instructor and something we always talked about was the technology and how the equipment works. This is something I think gets missed with golf and today's golf coaches. When discussing the tilt of the shoulders at impact it is critical for amature players to understand that irons are designed to strike the ball on a descending angle. I observe many players tilting their shoulders back or what might be seen as a dipping which changes the angle of approach on the forward swing. When I talk to players about this some of the reasons for this might be a effort to get the ball in the air or many times looking for the result before contact is made. Next time you go to the range or out to play, raise your awareness of how your shoulders are tilted at impact. Remember that irons are designed to impact the ball on a descending angle. When you address the ball notice that your shoulders are tilted enough just by the way we grip the club and if we allow ourselves to maintain the natural tilt we will begin to see consistent solid contact.

Map It Out.

I was coaching a player yesterday who really knew what he wanted, and before each swing he gave himself a great intention in fact he performed his intention several times in slow motion. After I watched for several swings, I complimented him on creating such great intention and then asked him where he currently was in his golf swing. His answer, "I don't know." His intention was to get his swing on a plane with the target but had no idea what plane his club was on durring his current swing. I hope I didn't beat that point to death, but let's go on.
If I had a road map, I would need two things out of that map, a starting place and a ending destination. Having one without the other the map is useless. This player had a swing map with a destination but no starting place. Once we were able to become aware and able to observe the plane of his club, well then the way of getting to his destination or the intention became much clearer. To continue with the analogy, we came upon a few detours but we never left the road and he was able to experience the trip from start to finish. If you have a good map for your swing, then your practice will be in service of learning, and the outcome will just be another part of the journey.

Is Your Handicap a Handicap?

Last Friday I overheard a couple of players checking in for their round and it was apparent that this was the first time they were playing together because one of the players asked the other, "what's your handicap?". The response was very typical, "I'm a 15". Normally this wouldn't grab my attention, but it seemed to me that this player defined himself as a golfer (I am a 15) by his handicap. I turned to the Associate Professional who was also in the shop and said that I would be very surprised if that player scored better than his handicap. I think that many players define themselves as a golfer by their handicap or scores they have shot in the past. I hear so many stories about playing great golf only to double bogey 17 and 18 and end up playing right to their handicap. At a certain place in many players games there seems to be a spot where we get out of our comfort zone and begin playing with fear. I find, and have observed in other players, that defining ourselves in relationship to our golf game and playing with fear pose limits on what we can achieve. Are you your handicap? Ask yourself that question before your next round, and maybe even during the round if you feel your grip slightly tighten.

Nervous? Bring It On!

Of course today I want to talk about Tiger Woods. If you heard his press conference today you may have heard something that surprised you, Tiger gets nervous! When most players get nervous I think most would agree that they don't play as well. Just think about your last four footer for all the skins on the eighteenth green, not your typical optimum performance situation. So how does Tiger play so well with all the nerves firing (72nd hole of last years U.S. Open comes to mind). I don't claim to know Tiger or whats on his mind in these situations but he also said today that being nervous is great and that if he didn't get nervous he would probably quit. Tiger embraces these situations which I believe allows him to play at such a high level in the biggest spots. Most of the players I coach and play with try and avoid these situations at all cost and do their best to push nervousness and other related feelings away. It would seem to me that if you had the ability to push them away, well you wouldn't have allowed them in the first place. In other words they're going to be there whether you like them on not. Take a page from Tiger's book, after all its a pretty good book, and be aware of your feelings on the golf course, embrace them, and take back control with your original intentions.

Get Yourself Connected

I was asked today while coaching a player, "what should begin the forward swing?" Many players have been told to begin the forward swing with their lower body, however I have observed that when most armatures start with their lower body, their shoulders move with the hips and tend to over rotate taking the club outside and off plane. My suggestion to this player was to begin with moving the club to the target (be sure to maintain your awareness of target) and ALLOW your lower body to begin rotating. "Allow" being the key word. Placing your focus on the club will let your body make natural movements in stead of forced movements which I have seen to promote connection in the moving parts. Raise your awareness of the club and get yourself connected.

Under Pressure

Many of the players I coach ask me, "what is an important part of the golf swing that I can make some simple adjustments and improve the swing I already have." One area to raise your awareness and positively effect your swing is the grip. The first thing that I might tell them is to stop referring to it as a grip but rather a hold. Don't grip the golf club, hold it in your hands. The pressure you apply to the golf club can effect club face angle, plane of the club, angle of the shaft at impact, and probably most drastically the speed of the club. The next time you go out to play, observe the pressure you apply to the club at address and observe the pressure you apply during the swing. Does it change, are you aware of the changes, and are you aware of where the changes take place in the swing (top of the swing, at impact, on the forward swing)? I have observed that if you raise your awareness of grip pressure consistency is not far behind.

Let's talk golf

My name is Mark Gouger. I am the Head Golf Pro at Timber Creek & Sierra Pines Golf Courses and the Director of the Golfer Development Academy. Over the past few years it has been brought to my attention that golfers are not getting better, and I'm sorry to say that this included my students. However, my assistants and I, with the help of some great coaches across the nation, are starting to see a change in the learning curve of our students due to one small adjustment. Coaching to raise AWARENESS! Most golfers are not aware of what is happening in their golf swing while they are swinging the club. What is happening with the plane of their swing, what is happening with face of the club, what is happening to the muscles in their body, and probably most astonishing, awareness of target. The answer I most commonly get from my students is "I don't know what's happening." What we have found at the Golfer Development Academy (and through regular coaching engagements with two of today's great coaches, Gary Lester & Bill Condaxis) is that a large part of learning comes from the sharing of students experiences. As we come across these experiences in the future I will share them on this blog in an effort to raise awareness and continue forward in development and enjoyment of swinging a golf club.