My AimPoint Certification Weekend Recap

February 27, 2012

Mark Sweeney and the Guru

 

 

The cool thing about a blog is that I get to write about life changing experiences and hopefully inspire others to join you in things that just don’t come along everyday. In this case it was my AimPoint Green Reading final certification weekend. Officially there are 18 more golfers on the planet that don’t have to wonder,”What the heck is this AimPoint stuff I keep hearing the Guru talk about? For the rest of you, AimPoint is a unbelieveable green reading system developed by Mark Sweeney that allow you to gather information, plug them into  a chart and know “EXACTLY” where to aim in order to make every putt on the putting green. The cool thing is that anyone can do it with a bit of coaching and some practice of some basic skills. You may have seen the green line on Golf Channel that represents where the ball must roll at the correct speed in order for the ball to go in. Well now there is a teachable system that Mark has developed that can be applied to the average golfer to the tour player alike. I was introduced to this by my good friend John Graham and I am happy to say that I am officially a Certified Instructor to teach this phenomenal system. Mark came down this past weekend and spent some valuable time working with me on the fundamentals and  how to apply it to the lesson plan for the students. Watching Mark read putts was like watching Picasso paint a picture. He was reading putts up to 60 feet in less than 25 seconds which is faster than most tour players read a simple 15 footer which sold me and my other teachers that with practice and some repetition, you can not only read putts with perfect accuracy but also faster than the old fashion squatting, plumb bob, walking around the hole procedure. Working with Mark was great as he was very willing to share any information that will help us teach this system to be the best of our ability. As he did the first clinic with my members, I soon found out why he is so successful. everyone had a great time and they were always engaging with so many good questions. As the putts started to drop, they were hooked and excited. After I did my best Mark Sweeney impersonation in the second clinic, which was not even close I was so excited to be a part of this new and growing group of AimPoint Instructors. It is amazing that after so many years that this great game has been around that no one has even come close to developing a system that takes all of the guesswork out of one of the most mysterious parts of the golf, Green Reading! We should all be thankful to alive and have the opportunity to take part in such a game changing process. I am confident that you will start to see more of the games great players adopt this system in the near future. All I know is that we have 18 very excited golfers that will soon be #makingeverything. Feel free to contact me to come to your club to do a  clinic by emailing me @jsutton@carmelcountryclub.org or hit me up on twitter @twitter.com/golfgurutv. ps. I think 7 or 8 of the participants in the clinic signed up because of my interaction on twitter. There is some ROI in there somewhere, lol.

Special thanks to Mark Sweeney for allowing me to be a part of this prestigious group of coaches and to my friend, John Graham for all the training and extra time that he has spent with me over the last year. I promise to share the information as we are truly doing something that will grow the game.

See you on the putting green at Carmel,

Guru

Meet The Mastermind Crew “The Next Generation of Great Teachers”

February 9, 2012

Just in case you missed it. I got the mastermind crew together, (Charlie King called us the next great teachers) for a little roundtable discussion at the PGA Show. There were two members missing, Sara Dickson and Switzerland (JG) but they were not forgotten as they were involved in many sidebar discussions during the week. Stay tuned for the next twitter academy. You have to watch the last episode to find out what is next for the group. There is talks of a major group golf school that could pop up later this year. Who would sign up for that? What a great mix of talent would be assembled and big things are coming for 2012. I hope you enjoy the #Roundtwitter Golf Discussion with Jason Helman, Rob McGill, Andrew Marr, Dennis Sales and Kirk Oguri (listed as seated). Thanks again for our good friend Ricky Lee Potts for moderating and Eric Ballard for filming it.  Follow these guys on twitter for more #banter and knowledge than you can stand

Follow me on twitter @golfgurutv and I will see you on the lesson tee @ Carmel CC

Guru

 

2012 PGA Show Recap (A Twitter Experience)

February 6, 2012

"The Mastermind Crew"

So many of my counterparts have already finished their recap of this years PGA Merchandise show so here is my take on this years haps. In my opinion this years show was the best ever. As I have written in the past, the PGA show is what you make of it. The people you choose to be around, the seminars you attend and the products you are interested in. The PGA of America is starting to get the fact that it is a social media opportunity to connect with the members and the experience is getting better and better. As always, I had a definite plan to get around as many top coaches and to see as much of the show as I can which can be difficult in a very short stretch so I went for it. I can break this post down into 2 parts: 1)The networking and spending time with good friends and  2)the products that I thought were new and innovative and would help your game.

Part 1 (Networking)

I was very excited to hang out with and spend time with my good friends John Graham, Dennis Sales, Jason Helman,  Rob McGill, Andrew Marr, Sara Dickson, Kirk Oguri and Ricky Lee Potts which you have heard me call my mastermind crew. We have all become very close and the side bar conversations are so valuable and I always come away with new information on how to teach better. For those of you who could keep up with our twtter feeds would know that we had a Pre Tweet up on Wednesday where we got together for dinner and then John Graham’s and Richie Hunt’s Big tweet up on Thursday which was awesome. I got to meet so many new people who I had talked to on twitter like Steve Mitchell, Nick Starchuck, Megan Pudua, James Hong, Michel Mennard, Travis Lloyd, John Randle, Zach Baron. I even got to stay with Aaron Olson, one of the bright young stars in the business from Arizona. He works with Megan Pudua, Jeff Rittter and Martin Chuck at the Raven. You will be hearning great things from this young man as he was very impressive for sure. There were so many people who I met I am sure I am leaving someone out. As for the tweetup, it did not disappoint as the swing discussion and demonstration was led by good friend and one of my favorite people, John Dochety as he turned Andrew Marr into a pretzel demonstrating the multiple tilts in the golf swing. Doc, you are the best my friend and I always learn so much when we get together. Thank you to John Graham for putting it together and I know it is going to make a difference in our industry for such a group of coaches to come together from all different philosophies and theories to share and enjoy one another’s company. Trust me, the teaching summit had nothing on what went on this evening. I have included a short montage put together by Nick Chertock (who better be in attendance next year) which was awesome. Thank you my friend. One of my big goals while I was there was to take the opportunity to shoot some video of all the mastermind crew. So I put together our team and how had a round table discussion the next morning that lasted about 40 minutes. I think you can get the feeling of how much we care about one another which for me has been life changing. The only bummer was that Sara Dickson and Switzerland (JG) could not be a part of it but there will be a next time. Big thanks for my friend, Ricky Lee Potts for moderating the discussion and my friend Eric “LaFama Blanca” for the excellent camera work. We will step it up with some wireless mics next time (Nick C). I hope you enjoyed it as much I we did filming it. I could go on and on about all the side bar moments that I had discussing Aimpoint and the importance of ankle mobility with John Graham and Dennis Sales or watching one a teaching legend like Jim Hardy give a lesson in the garage with a broom or how Kirk Oguri has better hair than Robert Rock but I don’t have enough time. You will have to hit me up another time. Now to part 2

Equipment and training aids:

Best Booth : Taylor Made City. You could even get a picture with Dustin Johnson, very cool. It took up the entire end of the show.

Training Aids that I liked :

Guru training system  www.gurutrainingsystem.com 3D training with no wires or sensors. Very cool. (still looking for my royalties)

Swing byte – http://swingbyte.com/ I bought one of these as it gives you 3d motion of the club from different angles and connects to your ipad or phone so it is portable. It also gives you data from each shot. Looking forward to playing with this for sure.

ES 12 digital golf assistant – great for gap training and tells you how far each shot travels. here is a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF6HSrdlkD8 I bought one of these too. I will be doing wedge schools and on course training with this guy.

Shotstothehole.com – a very good stats tracker that i may use this year.

Trackman 3 –  www.trackmangolf.com This would be the final piece to my teaching academy as I would love to get one of these. The new one is more portable and now has a short game feature that will track down to 2 yards. I met with the rep and was very impresseed.

True Links Shoes – A low profile golf shoe that was very comfortable and allowed you to feel the ground. Mark Sweeney calls them AimPoint green reading shoes. JG, Dennis and I bought a pair.

I also want to thank Lorin Anderson from GBN for putting together such great education seminars. I attended Brian Manzella, Charlie King and Jeff Ritter which was a great way to start the show. I could say so much more but I will leave you with this:

It was great to spend time with my crew and meet so many top coaches and great people who have influenced my career such as Chuck Evans, Charlie King and Todd Sones which is what the PGA show is all about. As I said before, it is all what you make of it. If you didn’t get anything out of it, It no fault but your own. See you next year.

Guru

Guru TV – Lesson With Tour Player Chelsea Bach (my 2000th Follower)

January 23, 2012

I know its been awhile since I shot a Guru TV episode but here is a special edition that I hope you enjoy. I recently reached 2000 followers on Twitter and I wanted to do something special for that person. I was willing to give away some Guru Swag but come to find that this young lady did not need that since she was already a professional golfer and had a sponsor. So I offered to do a video swing analysis (A mini-Guru Project) since she is in Arizona and she kindly agreed to let me have a look at her golf swing. Chelsea is playing the mini-tours and is working toward to LPGA tour. Her coach has done a fantastic job with her so I thought I would give her my ideas to add to an already fabulous golf swing. I had to break up the video into 2 parts due to my lengthy analysis so click on the second one to see the finished product.

Follow Chelsea On Twitter @CB_Golf

See you on the lesson tee @ Carmel CC

Guru

I Want To Talk To You About Your Flare (not flair)

January 17, 2012

As I strive to learn more about the golf swing and ultimately help my students play better, I often turn to my golf pro friends through my social media connections. Whether it is one of the many groups that I am in on Facebook or my favorite way to exchange ideas,Twitter.com. So I was curious about what everyone thought about FOOT FLARE or the positioning of the feet at address and how it impacted a golfers swing. As I write this post I will tell you that I don’t have all the answers but experience and reasearch have their place because I can tell you what has worked for me as I will give you my opinion on this subject and give you some options that might help. But I want to share with you first what my colleagues answered when I posed the question: How much foot flare (with both feet) do you teach and feel is important and why? Here is what I got:

mikesparkspgamike sparks

@
@golfgurutv depends on body type. Barrel chested unflexible person needs more right foot flare to get behind the ball
andrewmarrgolfAndrew Marr, PGA

@
@golfgurutv yes – encourages more pivot and takes pressure off joints – not sure there is a standard but
KIRKOGURIKirk Oguri

@
@golfgurutv for golfers with average hip mobility, feet flared 20-30* with narrower stance works best. Reduces knee and back stress
 
golfwithgregGreg Baresel

@
@golfgurutv 15 to 20 degrees. Stability and rotation.
 
Sara_PGASara Dickson, PGA

 
@golfgurutv was just at Stack & Tilt academy 2 days ago. Always about 30* w/ lead foot & we also increased my back foot from little to 20*
 
Sara_PGASara Dickson, PGA

@
@golfgurutv Front foot flare allows hip slide. Back foot flare helps hip rotation on Bs and for me slower body rotation on Ds for faster pa4
 
mattdgolfMatt Diederichs

@
@Sara_PGA @golfgurutv Less lateral shear force on knee joints IMO as well. Big difference!
 
BradReddingGolfBrad Redding

@
@golfgurutv OK back to original question. Trail foot square lead foot flair towards target.
 
So it seems that most are in favor of some foot flare. 10 to 30 degrees seems to be the consensus on the front foot. The back foot seemas to be mixed a bit.Some want it square and some flared.  So here is how I see it. I would love to hear from more coaches and players with their opinions as I am just trying to learn what is the best way for the player. From my experience:
1. One of the most consistent swing errors that I see is the trail hip moving lateral in the backswing (sometimes even moving the weight to the outside of the rear shoe). This can cause you to limit your shoulder rotation and throw off your timing and sequence in the downswing. It often happens when the player is trying to keep their hips still (X Factor). With a limited shoulder turn, your hands/arms and the club cannot get deep (more behind you) enough to have a chance to returning the club on plane or from the inside without a huge plane shift.
2. Secondly, I see so many golfers that have been drilled into their heads the importance of turning through the downswing that they don’t have enough lateral slide toward to target to allow the hands/arms club shaft to drop to the inside enough. They spin the body, keep their weight back too long and end up cutting across the ball. I call these players, “BACK SIDED SPIN DOCTORS”
So how will foot flare help these problems and why?
I would suspect that it has a lot to do with knee, hip and ankle mobility for sure so this should be checked. I work with som many golfers that have had knee and ankle injuries and foot positioning is crucial for these folks.
RIGHT FOOT FLARE: Angling your rear foot out 10 to 20 degrees will increase your ability to extend your rear leg and rotate your hips more. More hip rotation will increase your shoulder rotation. If you don’t think you turn your shoulders enough, check this and you will see what i mean. The right knee will change flexion on the backswing. Look at any good player and you will see this. I didn’t say straighten but change, very important. If you try to keep your right knee flexed and don’t let your hips turn……Unless you are extremely hypermobile….I would expect you to shoot somewhere in the low 200’s.

Both Feet Square "Blocked"

SQUARE FOOT: You will see golfers with this back foot position and you can do it if you have good hip/knee/ankle mobility. It is easier to roll to the outside of your rear foot with your weight in this position so be careful.

 
LEAD FOOT FLARE:Probably the most important foot position in the golf swing: Teachers like Mac O’Grady

Lead Flare back Square

and many others have spoken of the importance of left foot flare. So what benefit will you have by flaring your foot 10-30 degrees.

1. It allows for the hips to slide laterally longer in the downswing which slows down the shoulder rotation (keeps you spin doctors at bay). This allows time to drop the club to the inside much easier. So If you are a cut across slicer, you probably need more slide and less turn for sure.
2. It takes pressure off of the left knee as it allows the knee to get over or slightly outside the ankle joint before starting to straighten (or post)……Does Tiger Woods come to mind? His new more centered pivot requires more hip and knee slide toward the target which is easier on his bad knee…hmmmm? And he has more foot flare as well.  Less injury to the knees and ankles can’t be bad, right?
BOTH FEET FLARED = DUCK STANCE (best of both worlds)

The Duck Stance "My recommendation"

 

I see so many of my students that start with a square lead foot and pick it up and turn their toes toward the target and wonder why….Because it should have been there to begin with.
When you are watching football this weekend, pay close attention to the position of the place kickers lead foot and how that affects his ability to slide forward, swing his leg from the inside and turn his hips through the strike.
Ok, so that’s my take on foot flare. Would love to hear what you think as I am trying to learn and the more I look at players on the PGA tour the more different everyone looks so we need to make some sense of it all. Until then…..
Follow me on twitter @twitter.com/golfgurutv
 
See you on the lesson tee at Carmel,
 
Guru
 

AimPoint Clinics At Carmel CC : Learn To #Make Everything!

January 9, 2012

I will be hosting (2) AimPoint Green Reading clinics at Carmel Country Club on February 25th. There will be a 10:00 a.m. and a 2:00 p.m. session. I will be joined by Owner of AimPoint Technologies, Mark Sweeney so it will be a memorable day for everyone. Each session lasts about 2 1/2 hours and the cost is $200.00 per person. This would be a great way to get your year started out by learning the revolutionary green reading system that will change the way you look at green reading  forever and help you make everything. Contact me at jsutton@carmelcountryclub.org to hold your spot.

See you on the putting green,

Guru

 

 

 

2011 in review

January 1, 2012

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 28,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

PRACTICE? What Do You Mean I Have To Practice?

December 29, 2011

Big Thanks to @LiamPGA for the topic tonight. Be sure to follow Liam’s tweets on twitter. I was listening to XM radio the other day and the topic was, “What are the top reasons why golfers don’t practice?” I would love to hear your top 5 if you would leave them in the comment section. Some of the answers were 1. I only have time to play not practice 2. My wife complains if I am at the golf course for that long etc. You get the idea. I think it is primarily because 1. It takes commitment to change 2. Players don’t have a plan for improvement so they are just cementing bad habits and 3. Most people are impatient and quit trying if it they don’t see results right away.

This just in……..ready! GOLF IS HARD PEOPLE! ok, don’t stop reading. In my opinion, this is what makes golf so great…..the challenge. The fact that we will never be satisfied with the level we are playing to makes it the greatest game in the world.  So here is a few nuggets on how to build a practice plan

1. know what you are trying to accomplish get with your coach and discuss the keys until they are clear. If your coach can’t explain it so you can understand the what, why and how…….find another coach!

2. Use your mirror if it’s too cold or the weather is bad. Rehearsal swings with your eyes on it is the next best thing to a video. I caution you to not hit too many balls into a net without ball flight validation. Could be more harmful than good.

3. spend 60% of your time inside 60 yards and include putting. Search my archives and find the putting post I did on Putting Boot Camp for drills to include in your time..

4. Spend half of 50% of your time in mechanical mode which includes your workstation (see video) and working on changing your pattern. The other half should be practicing like your play which should include (a pre-shot routine, lining up to different targets, changing clubs and learning to hit different shots ( the 9 ball drill )…..Playing par 2 on the practice green with one ball to see what you can shoot. This is an area most golfers don’t spend enough time in so you can successfully transfer the skill to the golf course……Any Ranger Rick’s out there?

Bottom line is that you can get some work done even if the weather is bad. Let me know if this helps motivate you to take a lesson and then go practice. There are No shortcuts to improving at golf. Talk to you tomorrow night.

Follow me on twitter @twitter.com/golfgurutv

Share this post with your friends and leave your comments below. Give me your top 5 reasons that you don’t practice

See you on the lesson tee at Carmel,

Guru

GURU TV Archive: The Value Of Proper Rehearsal Swings

December 28, 2011

This is one of my favorite shows that I did before I left DRGS because I think it can really help you if done correctly. For those of you who have worked with me know how much I like to manipulate the students into what I want them to feel as I explain to them what I am doing. It is the best way to connect the feel with the real and hit multiple senses that will create long-lasting pattern changes. The first key is knowing what you don’t want to do (the major error) and secondly, being able to make meaningful rehearsal swings that go opposite of the error. All the great players do this. Lately, Tiger Woods has been see making an exaggerated outside to in downswing rehearsal that people are wondering what he is doing. He has finally figured out that his pattern is creating a swing path that is too much inside out or to the right. He is creating an opposite feel of the error and it has obviously helped his ball striking which should worry the rest of the PGA tour because I think he’s got it. So my tip of the night is………..Dont be afraid of exaggerating the opposite move that you are trying to get rid of, check it on video for validation and imprint the feel and hang on to for dear life because as they say in this crazy game of golf, we never really own it! We just borrow it for a while, just kidding but it feels that way sometimes.

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru

Students Of The Game…..Consistency Is Not A Goal!!

December 27, 2011

Tonight I want to speak to the students in the room. Specifically the ones here that are interested in getting better. Who really wants to improve their scores? Raise your hands high! Is that your real objective? You would be surprised to find that it isn’t always the case. At the beginning of every lesson or golf school, I always ask the student what is your goal for today and where do you want your game to look like in a years time? Anything past that is for tour players. You would be surprised by some of the answers that i get from such a simple question. (or is it). I enjoy asking the goal question and telling them that their answers cannot include the word CONSISTENCY and you wouldn’t believe the look on their faces because they were all going to say it….”I just want to be more consistent”. As a golf coach, that phrase means very little to me as I attempt to gain valuable information about your game that will help direct me towered helping you play better. Players, you have to be more specific. As I watch a new student warm up and hit every shot to the right, i might joke that you are incredibly consistent………..smile 🙂 the point is, you have to be more specific when setting your goals and a quality coach should be able to help you with this. The first step is with an accurate assessment of your current condition. Now I understand that there are goals that apply to different level of players and this important because the only thing worse than not setting goals is to set them too high only to get frustrated. For example, a beginning golfer might set a goal of getting the ball airborne every time and that is ok. There is nothing worse than a new golfer thinking that they should hit it perfect (just like their friend who has been playing for years) and getting frustrated and quitting the game. Here are some examples of specific yet simple goals and I will give you an easy way to organize your plan for next season.
1. Stop slicing or hooking

2. To hit the ball more solid instead of hitting the ground behind the ball or catching it thin 

3. To hit more fairways or greens

4. To hit my pitch shots the right distance

5. To stop 3 putting

6. To hit my fairway woods off the ground 

7. Gain distance (very popular) but a good goal 

8. To understand my golf swing and what to work on

9. I want to get the ball out of the bunker every time

These examples are what I call skill building goals. As a coach,  I can work with these answers and build a plan to improve these skills which will ultimately lead to the second kind of goal (Outcome Goals). These are good guidance to get started and keep you focused. Examples of outcome goals would be to win the club championship or your flight in the member guest. To lower your handicap from 15 to 9. to qualify for the state amateur or to break 80 for the first time.
These are great starting points but it’s only the beginning. I understand that there are two types of golf 1) ego Golf and 2)scoring golf
Ego golf is the player that doesn’t care what they shoot as long as they hit the ball farther than their golfing buddies so that they can talk about you in the bar after your round. These players look great on the range but can’t post a score.  These are the types of players that drive coaches crazy because we feel that the ultimate goal is to score lower and we don’t care how you do it. If I have to hear,” I shot my career low……buttttt I really putted well on that day,” So What! Its part of the game. The same player goes out and hits 15 greens and shoots worse but is happy with it.

Start by keeping basic stats (gir’s, fir’s, putts, up and downs, penalty strokes) or get a software program that does it for you. My favorite is www.shotbyshot.com. This will help you to establish a pattern to see where you are actually weak and where you are strong. After you chart 10 rounds, share it with your coach and you can start to set some goals. Here is an example: Lets say you set a goal to lower your handicap from 15 to 9. You chart your rounds and you are hitting 8 greens in reg. 9 fairways with no penalty shots, your up and down % is less than 30 and you are averaging 38 putts per round. If you are like most golfers you are still trying to hit the ball better to get your greens in reg up to 14 because that is what the top tour player is doing. Wrong! Your coach is going to say hop in the cart and lets introduce you to the short game area and putting green. He may even sign you up for an AimPoint clinic, if you are lucky! Build the skills that will help you reach your goals. Be honest with yourself and don’t worry so much about what others think when you are practicing your weaknesses. Pretty soon they will be asking you what has changed when you are thrashing them)  which is the greatest compliment as a golfer…..and the most rewarding.

Be smart this winter and you will thank me later. Dont let your ego keep you from reaching your goals this upcoming season. See you here tomorrow night!

Follow me on twitter @golfgurutv

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru