End of the Week Tip: Take Advantage of Winter Months

We all need to have a certain time of year where we can evaluate our golf game and determine if we are willing to make necessary adjustments to improve it.  For most golfers winter time is that golden opportunity.

So what are some great ways to take advantage of not being able to get outside to play and practice as much as we like?  Below are a few aspects of the game you should be concerned about this time of year.

Fundamentals

Maintaining proper fundamentals is a year round task, but winter months offer an opportunity to get serious about making necessary changes and learning to stick with them.  For example, grip and posture are always two fundamentals I see students struggle with the most.  You can take 5 minutes per day, practicing your grip and getting in front of a mirror to work on the correct posture without having to leave the comfort of your own home.  Even if your grip and posture are already fundamentally sound, do this to keep the “rust” from forming during winter months.

Path and Clubface

Any golf instructor will tell you that if you have good swing path and clubface position through impact, then good things are likely to happen when you hit the ball.  Problem is, changes related to path and clubface aren’t always the easiest to implement into our game midseason.  That makes winter the perfect time to get with a PGA professional and make sure your path and clubface are helping you make the kind of contact you want with the ball.  Several teachers are now using cutting edge technology like Trackman and FlightScope to measure the path of the club through impact as well as the position of the clubface.  With this data, you and your teacher will know exactly what needs to improve, but most importantly, you will have a way to measure that improvement.

Make Solid Contact

Most of our practice during winter months will be indoors, whether it is making swings in your garage, or actually hitting golf balls into a net.  With golf clubs being as forgiving as they are these days, it’s not as easy as you think to guess where the ball is hitting the clubface.  It is very important that you know the quality of the contact you are making, especially if you can’t see how far the ball is going.  Applying impact tape is one way to see this, but there’s a cheaper and easier way.  Use a dry erase marker to make a mark (about the size of a coin) on the back of the ball.  This will leave a mark on the clubface where the ball hit.  Then all you have to do is wipe it away with your finger, and do it again. You can also use Dr. Scholl's foot powder spray to apply to your club face so that the ball leaves a mark where it made contact.

Combine proper fundamentals, good path and clubface positions, with solid contact, and that will be the most valuable practice you can have, no matter what time of year!!

End of the Week Tip: Hit It Close and Make More Putts

Every Friday I will be posting some golf tips here on my blog. If you have any questions about your game, or can think of a good topic for future tips, send it to me in an email at tyrus@hpgolfacademy.com or leave a comment below.

---

Hitting greens in regulation and making putts are constants among winners on the PGA Tour.  Obviously the goal is to get the ball in the hole to make more birdies.  So here are a few thoughts to increase your ability to make birdies by hitting more greens in regulation and sinking the putt:

·       Hit it close.  This one is obvious but many players have an unrealistic expectation for the putts they should make.  From a statistics point of view, any putt outside 8 feet is just as likely to miss as opposed to go in. When you get to 10 feet, more putts are missing than making.  Hitting 18 greens in regulation would be awesome, but if every birdie putt is 20 feet or more, chances are you’re going to miss a lot of putts, and not because you are bad putter.

·       Curve toward the target.  Learning to draw or fade the ball into your target certainly requires a lot of practice. Controlling your swing direction (aka swing path) along with the position of your clubface at impact will create side spin and curve on your shots.  If you find yourself curving the ball too much in one direction, try to intentionally curve the ball the opposite way by swinging in a different direction and changing the clubface position at impact.  A lesson me or another PGA professional will be the most efficient way to make these changes.

·       Discover your putting trends.  When rolling putts on the practice green take note of the putts you are missing.  If the ball keeps missing on the low side of the hole, be sure to play for more break on the course.  If your putts keep coming up short, make a conscious effort to get the ball past the hole.  By quickly identifying your trends, you can just as quickly adjust to increase your chances to make more putts.

---

End of the Week Tip: Improving Contact on Full Swings

Every Friday I will be posting some golf tips here on my blog. If you have any questions about your game, or can think of a good topic for future tips, send it to me in an email at tyrus@hpgolfacademy.com or leave a comment below.

---

Putting and short game may be the fastest way to take a few strokes off your game, but developing a consistent full swing to improve your ball striking can give you lasting results and more consistently lower scores.

One key ingredient that is required to be a good ball striker is the ability to hit the ball in the center of the clubface more often than not.  Here are some tips to help you find the sweet spot more often:

·       Fundamentals at address.  A good golf swing always starts with good fundamentals before the swing.  Grip, aim, stance, and posture are the main fundamentals to focus on before you swing.  If you are unsure about one or more of those fundamentals, find a PGA professional that teaches in your area or contact me and learn to start practicing those fundamentals the right way.

·       Start small.  Most players that miss the center of the clubface can be accused of over-swinging.  It’s easy to watch the club and how far it goes back, but more importantly you should note how far your upper and lower body turns in the backswing.  A great drill is to put your feet together to reduce lower body rotation and make swings focusing on hitting the center of the club face. This will make it easier for you to make contact in the center of the club face. You can then gradually add more lower body turn to increase swing speed.

·       Stay connected.  If your arms move away from your body during the swing it is difficult to hit the center of the clubface.  Take a small towel and place it under your left arm.  Using a short iron and a less than 50% swing, hit balls from a tee without dropping the towel.  By keeping the towel under your arm you should start finding it easier to hit the center of the club face. 

FREE Winter Coaching Seminar for Junior Golfers

Join me on Monday October 19th at 6 pm for a free Winter Coaching Seminar designed to help you learn more about the tools and methods I use to improve junior golfers in the winter months.

This FREE seminar is open to anyone that is interested in learning about the importance of winter training and what it takes to reach the next level of competitive golf. It is ideal for players that are new to the academy and would like to learn more about what we do before committing to a long term coaching plan.

I will give live demonstrations on how I use 3-D motion technology like K-Vest to evaluate and train my students. You will also see how I use Sam Putt Lab to evaluate and train putting ability.

Please RSVP by email, tyrus@hpgolfacademy.com

When: October 19th at 6 pm (seminar will last about 90 minutes)
Where: High Performance Golf Academy
Cost: FREE

For a list of my rates and coaching packages for this winter click here.

A Message to High School Golfers

For those of you playing high school golf in the state of Kentucky, the regional tournament has just concluded. You either find yourself making plans to play in next week's state tournament or your high school season has officially come to an end.

First of all, congratulations to the those that are state tournament bound! That is a huge accomplishment and is one of the tougher things to do in our sport. You have also extended your high school golf season by one week so I hope you make the most of it!

The rest of you are now faced with what to do next. For the seniors, hopefully you can continue playing competitive golf at the next level or at a minimum are excited to take whatever your next step in life may be.

The remainder of this message is for all underclassmen that may be looking to improve for next season.

You may not have made the state tournament, but this does not mean it is time to take "a break" from golf for a while. If you plan to be competitive it is in your best interest to get right back out there and continue to practice and play. 

The next several weeks will bring ideal golf weather in our state (although right now isn't the best, but still playable!). You will have plenty of time to take a break when December, January, and February roll around.

In most cases, the reason you're not going to the state tournament is because the players that made it are better than you. They're going to be practicing and playing for at least one more week so you might as well do the same so you don't fall farther behind!

Just because there are no more matches or high school tournaments, there are still tournaments coming up that are unaffiliated with high school golf. Check kygolf.org for local section events as well as the AJGA, Hurricane Tour, IJGT, and any other junior tours that continue to operate year round.

The last, and most important thing you need to do now that your season is over is settle on a coaching plan for the winter. There are numerous instructors out there that can help you achieve your goals. Golf is an extremely difficult sport and it is even more difficult to improve your game on your own.

Over the last 10 years I have had the opportunity to work with several middle and high school players that have worked hard and gone on to qualify for the state tournament. If you don't have a coach, be sure to check out my coaching plans for this year.

Remember that you can always get to work now and make 2016 your best golf year ever!!