2019 January

Golf is a game that we all love to play or you would not be reading this article. Golf is a challenge that we all enjoy because we have the mental and physical power within us to master our own minds to play a wonderful round of golf every time we play. We know this because we have all pared or birdied many holes in our lives. If we can do this on one hole why can’t we do it on every hole? That’s the challenge and that’s why we love this game. It really is a mental game so don’t forget your brain when you go golfing.

Every time we start a round of golf, we start with a different physical body condition and a new set of historic memories. Our physical activities and memories in the previous 24 hours, will impact the way our bodies and minds react for every new round of golf. That’s why you may often hear your golfing friends wonder out loud: “I wonder who’s going to show up today.” Or after an amazing first drive they say: “Who is that guy.”  Exercise or lack of exercise, mishits on the range or no range preparation and problems with your family or at the office are all baggage that you carry to the first tee. 

Ideas to Keep your Brain in GOLF MODE:
Build Confidence on the Driving Range: Start with a 60% swing speed with your short irons to feel your rhythm and your club head. Then increase your speed to 80% to build confidence in your swing. [Even if you don’t have time for the range, practice your iron swing and your driver swing as they really are 2 unique swings but both must be controlled with their own unique cadence.]

Sam Snead was so right. Get positive and make the shot.

1. Calm and Relaxed: User words like “Calm and Relaxed” to prepare your mind for the perfect swing cadence as you line up your shot.

2. Tense arms and wrists will only kill your shots: A relaxed mind and body are the only way to make a perfect golf shot. Use your setup time to drop your tight shoulders, focus on the shot that you want, take a deep breath & exhale and swing with a 2:1 cadence (with a backswing which is twice as long as your downswing).

3. Count Your Cadence: You may need to count 1, 2 during your backswing and 3 during your down swing. Saying words in your mind will prevent you from thinking any other thoughts. [I use the words: “Sweep-In-Pose” to anticipate the next movement in my swing: Sweep wide as I loop and lag my club from the inside and up my target line to a balance pose.]

4. Play Your Game: Remember that this is only a game between yourself and the course. Performance by others in your foursome can be impressive but you need to setup for the shot that you know that you have completed perfectly in the past. Make it YOUR shot.

5. Consistent Swing Tempo: It’s the only way to keep your shots consistently under control. Swinging with one speed for all of your longer clubs will allow you to keep your arms stretched to the same length at the point of impact.

Why not print this blog and take it with you for a quick review before you play or even when your game is going sideways. Get back on track. Have fun and enjoy those wonderful shots. Practice with GOLFSTR+ for every shot in your game. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

It’s surprising that the new golf rule allowing players to leave the flag-stick in or out, is causing some soul searching for all golfers. Ultimately the decision is a preference for each golfer but you may want to consider the scientific facts to improve your score. On the other hand putting is a game of feel for the break. That flag stick in the hole may distort your mental feel for putting firmly to minimize break. Leaving it in or taking it out is a serious decision for every golfer.

A recent “Morning Read” blog by By Mike Purkey provided these comments:

Bryson DeChambeau is one of the few professional golfers who is keeping the flag-stick in for most of his longer putts.

1/ “Bryson DeChambeau raised eyebrows when he said that he would leave the flagstick in the hole almost always. He said it is an advantage. While he didn’t use the flagstick all the time at Kapalua, Sentry Tournament of Champions,.he still led the field in strokes gained putting that week.” [Of course his semi-anchored putter up his leading arm is helping too.]

2/ “Recently, European Tour player Edoardo Molinari did some research with three pros from his golf academy in Italy. They used a Perfect Putter training device and rolled putts with three different speeds and three different entry points into the cup, with the flagstick in and out, 100 putts with each combination. Their conclusion was that with slow speeds, there was no difference; medium speed was better with the flagstick out and; and with fast speeds, it was better with the flagstick in.”

Putting is Personal
Brandt Snedeker likes to use his caddie to hold the flag-stick in the hole for most putts as it gives him the feeling for distance and a stopping point.

Jack Nicklaus always tried to “die the ball into the hole” on lag putts. [Unfortunately 100% of his putts that were short, never sank.] On the other hand his short putt strategy was to putt through the hole to give every putt a chance to go in.

You really need to give every putt a chance to sink in order to lower your scores. Putts that are dead on line and stop short of the hole are very frustrating.

Any putt on a slope will break more as it slows down and the slower the putt the more the flaws and minor indentations near the hole will deflect your putt. A high percentage of golfers use their putters for balance as they bend to remove their ball from the hole and that unseen flaw remains near the hole all day long. Some ball speed at the hole gives you the best opportunity to keep your ball rolling with speed over a depression and into the hole.

I subconsciously putt to stop at the flag-stick when I leave the stick in the hole. I know that my short putts are missing because I hit for the flag-stick and not for the break. I need to putt with enough speed to past the hole by 10- 15 inches and plan for a less break at the hole.

In general you can benefit by keeping the flag-stick in for long putts and taking it out for the short ones. Downhill putts can really benefit with the stick in. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ to lock your wrists during your putting stroke to hit more consistent straight putts. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

We all know that a long tee shot will shorten our approach shot to the green. That’s why we pull out the big dog and prey that our planned draw will draw or fade will fad. Unfortunately it’s starting to look like the driver is the riskiest club in our bag. The pros know this and that’s why they drop to a fairway wood or an iron on most narrow holes. If the length of our driver shaft may be killing our drives, you may want to shorten up on the grip by 2 inches for better control.

Shorten Your Grip for Control and Speed:
I got this idea when I saw a Top Speed Golf Blog with suggestions to use when your game is falling apart. Clay recommended that we should choke-down on our driver by about 2 inches to create more consistent drives with better control. I know that golfers are using longer driver shafts to get more power and distance and that would be the opposite to sliding our hands down to shorten our shaft length.

PAY ATTENTION ! This is EARTH SHATTERING STUFF!
1/ Clay then demonstrated that he thought he would lose distance by gaining more control as he gripped down on his club. On the shortened grip his Trackman distance was over 300 yards. When he changed back to his normal grip near the end of the club, his club head speed increased by about 5 miles per hour but he lost 15 yards in distance. He chalked this up to a slight mishit on the face of the club. He did not reshoot the video which illustrated the opposite of what he expected. Better control of your impact point definitely give you more distance with your driver.

Rickie Fowler and many other pros choke down on their clubs for more control. You should too.

In reality, we should understand that finding a balanced rhythm using about 80% of our swing strength will most likely produce the best results for our driving distance. The pros on the Tour always keep about 15%-20% in “reserve”. Average handicappers tend to swing too hard and rarely catch the ball flush on the center line of the club face. [ALERT: Rory McIlroy was chocking down on his driver in the Kailua Tournament of Champions last weekend — for better control. ]

2/ John Richmond, a teaching pro on the Golf Channels Golf Academy demonstrates how he choked down on his driver grip; generated more club head speed; got better direction control and more distance. Again, this is contrary to the thinking of most professionals but as recreational players, you will really improve your game using a shorted grip on your driver by hitting more consistently on the center of your driver face.

Copy and paste his video in your browser:  https://www.golfchannel.com/video/richman-choke-down-more-distance

Case in Point:
Why do you think we often hit worse shots into the wind? The more wind we feel in our face and hear in our ears, the more our adrenaline increases. Our minds go into panic mode and we swing faster and harder. You don’t want to do this. It just happens. It’s a human reaction. Big mistake!

When hitting off the first tee or when playing into a strong head wind or cross wind, avoid over hitting by choking down on your club and making a nice controlled swing. It’s so much easier hitting your next shot off the short stuff. The next time you go to the driving range, loosen up, relax your shoulders, grip down 2 inches on your driver and swing at 80%. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ for every shot in your game. Enjoy controlling your shots and staying in the fairway. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Golf is a crazy game. It looks so simple but it’s so frustrating. You are only trying to swing a club at a stationary ball. That really should be easier than playing tennis or baseball where the ball is flying at you with different speeds and unexpected curves. Golf gives you as much time as you need to prepare for a shot. You can relax your mind and muscles and take full control of your body so why is it so damn difficult to consistently hit that stupid little ball?

Of course we all know that our personal emotions play a big part in our ability to consistently hit a perfect shot for every unique location of the ball. Practicing with GOLF TRAINING AIDS appear to be the best solution to improve our performance. So why is it that they turn out to be the MIRACLE CURE for some and a DUD for others?

Why buy 6 training aids to fix every swing in your game when GOLFSTR will do it all.

1/ Unique Designs to Solve Specific Problem: Every Training Aid has been developed and tested by someone to create a more consistent swing. I designed GOLFSTR+ to remind me to keep my leading arm straight in the back swing. I immediately learned that I did not have the physical ability to rotate my body and arms like Rory McIlroy but I learned that by limiting my backswing AND KEEPING MY LEADING ARM STRAIGHT (WITH WRIST LAG), I was able to generate more powerful, consistent shots.

2/ Commitment to Succeed: Over time you may be able to develop more flexibility in your body but I quickly learned that flexibility in my shoulder and spine rotation does not happen overnight. You have to work with the physical limitations of your body. I have learned to accept the fact that I will never generate the power of those young bucks that we admire every week on the PGA Tour.

3/ Exercise to Improve Performance: We lose flexibility as we age but we can exercise to improve our performance. Golf-Info-Guide by Thomas Golf provided a simple stretch exercise at the end of this video: Right Way to Keep YOUR Left Arm Straight.  Copy this URL and paste it in your browser:  http://golf-info-guide.com/video-golf-tips/the-right-way-to-keep-your-left-arm-straight-video/

4/ Endorsement by a Professional: Anyone can pay enough money to get a professional to endorse a golf training aid. Pros don’t need to use GOLFSTR+ to remind them to keep their leading arm straight. They do it naturally. Fortunately pros RECOMMENDED 5 MORE USES for GOLFSTR+ to improve putting, chipping and lag training to generate more power and distance. Michael Breed (a PGA Certified Trainer on the Golf Channel) complimented me personally for developing a training aid with “6 swing fixes that you can just slide in your pocket”. GOLFSTR+ really is the Swiss Army Knife of golf training aids.

5/ Pay Attention to Testimonials by Real Users: Rich Gula, a 70 year old golfer from the Boston area with a handicap index of 11 responded to my recent weekly blog “Get Your Game Back on Track!”

“Great stuff to start the New Swing Year! Bought your device some time ago and love it! It’s a very worthy successor to “The Bickler” of many years ago and “The Secret” of The Shark! Your support online however is superb! Your emphasis on fundamentals with the GOLFSTR+ keeps the ball in the fairway. The device is truly helpful for improving shots 50 yards or less as well. Thank you! “ Rich Gula

The Bickler was endorsed by Ken Venturi and John Cook to lock your wrists in a V shape for every putt. Greg Norman’s “The Secret” controls the angle of your trailing wrist for every shot in your game. GOLFSTR+ gives you both of these training solutions and so much more. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

CORRECTION NOTICE FOR RULES UPDATE PUBLISHED DECEMBER 24

5/ Imbedded Ball in a Bunker: You can move the ball back and drop it in the bunker for a 1 stroke penalty or out of the trap on a line to the green for a  2 stroke penalty.

6/ Yellow Penalty Area (stream or canyon): drop ball back on a line to the green from the point of entry (1 stroke). Red Penalty Area (woods and water):  If the ball is lost, estimate the point where the ball was lost, return to the fairway an equal distance to the hole from the point of entry and drop within 2 club lengths of the edge of the fairway as far back as you want to go. (2 stroke penalty).  Ideally you should hit a provisional ball whenever you think your ball could be lost in a Red Stacked Penalty Area. (Your provisional ball, if needed, is lying 3 off the tee or take a stroke and distance at the point where you last hit.)

When you are playing a wonderful round of golf do you ever wonder when the wheels will fall off? And then it happens! Or have you ever played a great first nine holes and someone points out that you are playing over your head and it does go right to your head. You just can’t get back on track.

Here are some great ideas to get back on track DURING YOUR ROUND OF GOLF. Try these ideas before you step up to the next tee.

WAKEUP and get back on track.

1/ Flip your club and swing with your grip at the end to feel the club release and hear the whooshing sound at the point of impacts. Then flip your club and do the same with your normal swing.

2/ Choke down on your grip by 2 inches. You may hit a shorter distance but controlling your swing will make it easier to impact your ball on the center of your club face. Take some practice swings to adjust.

3/ Make sure that you are controlling for your natural fad or draw. For a Fade: Setup with a slightly open face and a lower tee height. For a Draw: Setup with a slightly closed face and a higher tee.

Recognize when your game is going sideways. Take action to get back on track.

4/ If you are falling backwards at the end of your swing, you are not shifting your weight properly. You are swinging too fast with your arms before your weight can shift to your leading foot. Try the Step Drill. Put your feet together and start to step forward (like a baseball player), as you reach the top during your swing. Do this just to get the feeling for your weight shift.

Another solution is to setup with a little more weight on your leading foot.  Avoid swaying back during your backswing, just rotate your shoulders and finish your swing on you leading foot.

5/ When you are tense, a tighter grip will close the face of your club and generate more draw or even a duck hook. Loosen up! Keep your grip at a nice light 4 out of 10.

You can get back on track in the middle of your round. Take control of your mind and your game. You can also practice these suggestions on the practice range before your round with your GOLFSTR+. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com