2018 April

I was hoping to write about Tiger’s success at the Masters this week but Patrick Reed stole the show with his putting on those extremely difficult Augusta greens. He really reminded us that if you can chip it close or putt it close, you can win this game. His 80 foot putt on the 17th green hit the hole to keep his ball at 6 feet for the par putt. He did many things right but that one saved the day. It also reminds us how important putting is for our games.

GolfRX also pointed out a “staggering statistic wrecking golf… 41.6% of your shots are putts.” So you better pay attention.

To help you catch up with Patrick’s game, Golf Tips Magazine released an article by Tom Patri, PGA, TP Golf Schools, Naples Florida about his favorite putting secrets. Following are the jewels of his article:

Confidence
The more you practice, the better you putt and the more confidence you gain. But you do need sound fundamentals and practice routines for direction control and distance control. Putting is a skill developed by FEEL (for the green speed as the conditions change, even throughout your round). With practice, you will learn to adjust for the feel for each putt. Eventually you will believe that you can sink every putt and your skill will improve.

Setup with the ball forward of the center of your stance to hit up on the ball for the right roll. Hit dead center on the putter face using the “Gate Drill”.

There are no short cuts to being a great putter like Jordan Spieth or Ben Crenshaw. Reading greens and then making the right putt will make you a great putter.  More experience will give you the feel for better results.  So learn the right setup and swing and practice with putting games to improve your skill.

Mechanics:
1/ Setup: ball position (forward of middle, under your left breast), eye line-up (over the target line), balanced stance, light grip and a square putter face through impact.
2/ Head and lower body are locked on the ball while the arms swing square through impact.  Then hold for 2 seconds after impact (don’t look up, dummy).
3/ Flat Wrist Locked: Practice with GOLFSTR+ to learn to swing with a locked leading wrist to control your square club face up your target line (not at the hole).

Keep Your Mind Quiet
“A quiet ‘coconut’ ensures contact at the center of the putter face which is vital to the player’s athletic brain calibrating swing speed and distance control.  Speed control, I feel, is the most critical skill to be developed to become a great putter.”

Drills;
Lag Drill: Put 4 tees in a 4 x 4 foot square at about 30 feet from your starting point. Then putt 3 balls at a time from different positions as you move toward the hole. Getting it inside the 4 X 4 square ensures a 2 foot second putt.

Gate Drill: Practice putting through a gate setup with 2 tees spread out a little wider than the length of your putter head. Making every putt from the dead center of your putter is key for straight putts up your target line.   For 5 or 10 foot putts, place a second gate of tees about half way to the hole.

Practice putting using your GOLFSTR+ to keep your leading wrist locked so that you can hit every putt on the dead center of your putter. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

You would think that Tiger could deal with first tee jitters on the first day of the Masters. Well he put his drive into the trees and had to create a  miracle shot to par the first hole.  On the 4th day the final paring of Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy also blew their first hole tee shots . If they have first tee jitters, how are we supposed to take control before every one of our shots? David Leadbetter came up with some pretty sensible ideas that I felt you should consider.

If you have been reading any of the recent GOLFSTR Swing Tips, you should know that your physical and mental preparation is critical for every round of golf.

Jason Day visualizes his shot as he relaxes his mind and body.

A. Getting to the driving range and practice green are extremely important to test out your swing thoughts  for each club and to get a feel for the speed of the greens.
B. Even more important is your ability to warm up your muscles for flexibility. You need a full range of motion before you make your first drive.

Confidence in your swing is only going to happen if you work on it. Know that your straight arm swing and balanced finish will produce the results that you want. But you need 3 keys to make every swing click:
1/ Relax your mind as you select the right club and recall how you have executed amazing results in the past. Focus on what went right for you so that you can make a Calm and Relaxed swing.
2/ Focus on deep breathing techniques in between shots and in your pre-shot routine. This makes your muscles contract and your nerves are instantly calmed.
3/ Maintain a light grip pressure throughout the round. Fear causes you to tense up your grip. David Leadbetter suggests that you should “Try to imagine tension and nerves leaving your body” as you loosen your grip pressure.

Build confidence for every swing in your game with GOLFSTR+. When you feel tension remember to focus on positive swing memories, breathe deeply and loosen your grip. Remember these 3 thoughts and improve the consistency of your swing by practicing with GOLFSTR+. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

It’s a wonderful feeling to watch the Masters and warm up for our Summer golf season. I hope you were trying to glean any tidbits to improve your game this year. If you were paying attention, you would have seen how Patrick Reed (the surprise winner) definitely gave us lessons to improve our putting and patience. I’m going to save the putting story for next week’s blog and will focus on the one skill that every golfer needs: PATIENCE.

More rounds of golf are blown by golfers who lose their patience and turn a mistake into a disastrous sequence of holes. We all focus on the special skills needed to execute each swing or each putt. However, we often forget that patience is probably the easiest skill to apply to anything we do in life but the Impatient Bogie Man  jumps on our back when we least expect him.

Patrick Reed was leading by 3 strokes after 3 rounds. He and his team created a plan to win using patience during the 4th round. How often do you try to make the impossible shot and then end up carding a double or triple bogie on a hole. And then the problem carries over to the next hole.

Patrick Reed won the Masters with the right strategy to win: PATIENCE

Patrick Reed’s PATIENCE Won the Masters
Patrick bogeyed the 11th hole, which opened the door for Rickie Fowler and Jordon Spieth. The pressure was on but he kept his focus and birdied the 12th. The real test came on the par 5, 15th hole when his drive landed within hitting distance to the green but was blocked by trees. He chose to layup, chip close to the hole and make his par.

He could have tried for the hero shot but he may have recalled a story by Ben Hogan when he had the lead on a final day of the Masters and decided to layup. When asked why he laid up, he said “I didn’t need a 3”. On that day Ben chipped his 3rd shot close and sank the putt.

Advice from the Pro
Our club pro gave me similar advice. If your ball is in the rough or blocked by a tree, take your medicine and hit to a safe position for your next shot. You’re playing 18 holes so you have many holes where you can still lower your score. Don’t let one hole destroy your patience and your round.

Patience is probably the most important skill that you need to take to the course for every round of golf. If you don’t have patience you will lose your focus. When your ball is in a bad location, take a deep breathe to clear your brain. Think about the right shot that you have been practicing with your GOLFSTR+.  Make the right decision.  Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

            GOLFSTR Ad as seen in GOLF TIPS Magazine (CALL 905-464-8718 for info)

Wouldn’t you like to know what causes good shots and bad shots? I’ve been trying to figure this out for years and I have finally narrowed it down to 4 factors that make our golf swings click. I now realize that STRENGTH, SKILL, FLEXIBILITY and FOCUS are the critical factors for successful golf. If you miss one or more of them, your swing results will not be pretty. Ideally, to lower your scores, you need to get a grip on all 4 of these factors for every shot to control your game.

I realized this while watching Dustin Johnson in the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play Tournament. DJ is the World Leader on the Money Ranking List. He had also won that tournament last year. So why did he get blown away in the first 3 elimination matches? I don’t have any inside connections but I do know that he has the strength, skill and flexibility to make the shots to win every match. Something must have been distracting his FOCUS.

What Are the Critical Features in Each Factor?
STRENGTH: Strength can be caused by your developed muscles, your energy level, your hyper active reaction caused by the food you are eating or the amount of sleep you are getting. As it turns out, you need a balance of strength. Over strengthening your upper body may be destroying your lower body (the way that Tiger destroyed his back). Building up energy with too much sugar will also change the rhythm of your swing. Focus on balancing your strength each time you play 18 holes of golf.

SKILL: There are as many ways to swing a golf club as there are golfers. We really should try to emulate all of the best golfers but their best shots are consistently caused by the point of impact and direction of their follow-through. Jim Furyk has a lot different swing than Ernie Els but the result can be exactly the same. You have to learn the skill for the perfect impact and release. Repetitive practice with GOLFSTR+ can make all the difference.

FLEXIBILITY: If you want to have a consistent golf swing, you need to warm up your muscles and create the same rotation in your backswing and follow-through for every swing. Couch potatoes are not too flexible. The older you get the more you should be working out with yoga or basic stretch exercises. Sitting on a couch with a good book or watching TV is not doing the trick for you. Completing a full backswing with wrist lag is the only way to compensate for weaker muscles. All the girls on the LPGA circuit can do it and so can you. [Click here to watch a great video on developing flexibility for a straight arm backswing and check out the notes below about PRACTICING WITH GOLFSTR]

FOCUS: You need a sharp mind to plan every shot. The golf swing does not just happen naturally until you get into the “zone”. Your mind has to tune in to that feeling of the perfect cadence for every club and every distance that you know you can achieve. Sort out your success swing with each club at the practice range and keep that thought throughout your round. If you can’t keep your focus, use reminder word like “sweep in and up” (for your driver and irons) or “one, two” for your putts.

Decide on the factors that are messing up your scores. If you don’t make changes you will struggle with golf for the rest of your life. It’s a wonderful game when it all clicks and your scores start to drop. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ and make it happen. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com