Tag: charlotte golf lessons

A Guest Blog Post From The Golf Geek: Conviction

July 29, 2010

Not the type that follows a “guilty” verdict, but instead the virtue. Having the courage of one’s convictions is indeed laudable, but perhaps not something a casual observer would identify as a core requirement for a golfer who intends to improve.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as I’m starting to discover. It manifests in so many ways, and even if you’re a confident, determined and positive person, you have to be on guard at all times as the fear and negativity of others can be both pervasive and persuasive.

I recently completed a round with a new playing partner, there had been a space on the board, and we both took advantage. I admire this player- he plays off 13, despite being of senior age, and despite a swing that could be charitably described as idiosyncratic, and a resultant ball flight that, remaining in charitable vein, was a bit of a slice. He golfed his ball in excellent fashion around the course, and had at least 7 up & downs throughout the round. I learned a lot, not least that whatever I think about my swing, it’s not what is currently limiting my scoring. Short game, putting and strategy (I’ve been working on my putting, so this is the correct order of descending importance at time of writing), and forgetting about trying to think technically on the course. I’ve also realised that, while a good looking golf swing would be nice, an effective, repeating and above all predictable swing would be nicer.

The last few sentences are all very well, but what do they have to do with conviction? Not a lot, in themselves. But this player, who sets up with all clubs like he’s about to play a forward defensive stroke to an in-swinging yorker and before starting his swing rotates his left hand through 70 degrees to a much “stronger” position, saw fit to critique my swing all of the way around the course. I must admit it amused rather than irked me, as although I started a bit disappointingly I settled into my rhythm and felt happy with my swing. It’s a funny situation after all- one might think that a player with such an individual style might have enough experience of unsolicited swing critique by “Expertise-less Experts”- but no. And he’s by no means the only one, the most voluble or the highest handicapper doing this. Marc Solomon, the uncompromising New Jersey pro behind Golf Made Simple, frequently disparages this, and divides golfers into “players” & “monkeys” ( the former reserved those who have a plan, the others following latest fad or magazine craze like the “Tilt into the Xfactor Stack Square to Toe up”) An amusingly vitriolic rant of his can be found here , with many more here. It takes a strong person to withstand this constant barrage of well intentioned mostly unhelpful advice, and even if we were to stumble across that which we need to improve consistency, we wouldn’t have the requisite faith or conviction and we would be likely to discard it when we’re offered still more advice at the first signs of struggling.

It’s also difficult to maintain the requisite conviction in one’s long-term plan. Golf clubs are full of those who have been at the same level for years, and they don’t want to acknowledge that improvement is possible, as this then reflects poorly on them for not having managed to do it themselves. This is their own judgement; I’m well aware that my interest in golf borders on obsession, and others may not be so driven, or have so many commitments that their weekly round and beer afterward is all the time they can spare. The idea of players they can beat comfortably beating them interferes with their sense of self, and they react with negativity to try to dissuade you from your lofty ambitions.

Conviction is also necessary in practice and preparation. I’ve read a lot about golf, and particularly on how to practice (the answer to this is to practice deep and deliberate practice- see The Game Before the Game and Neil Plimmer’s Open Mind Golf blog and in particular his ideas on driving range practice for long game), but it’s very difficult to do this when everyone around you is doing very different things, and when you’re unconvinced, it affects your motivation & you’re therefore much less likelyto practice. This happened to me when I first started stretching, I wasn’t convinced it was helping until I saw Karen Young. As soon as I had faith, I regained my motivation.

Conviction is therefore necessary, and can be difficult to come by and easy to misplace. I’m countering this by making sure my coaches and mentors are people I hold in high regard who are happy to be consulted, and by resolving never to follow blindly unsolicited advice. In fact, I’m going to pretend Mrs Geek is talking about wall coverings & soft furnishings, which ought to ensure absolutely none of this information will make it into my brain.

I’m hopefully playing again on Saturday, so normal service should be resumed! Let me know if you enjoyed this, and whether more like this to supplemnent my round reports would interest you.

Posted by The Golf Geek at 15:27
 
Thank you for your outstanding blog post “Golf Geek”. He is one of my good friends from the UK and can be found on twitter @The_Golf_Geek@twitter.com.  To read more from the Geeks blog go to http://thegolfgeek.blogspot.com
 
Let me know if you want to see more of these guest posts or if you want to be a guest blogger…..contact me at jasonsuttn@aol.com
 
See you on the lesson tee,
 
Guru

Alan White: Guest Blogger and Member Of Guru Nation

July 28, 2010

I thought I would do something different for this follow-up post on MISCONCEPTIONITIS. We have a guest poster today. Alan is one of my students that has been working hard on his game and has improved a lot. I thought I would share his thoughts on an experience that he had that might help you guys out there.  

Guru Nation Heed The Advice.
After a quick chat with the Guru I thought I would share a recent example of the pitfalls of misconceptions. The driver has been my Achilles Heel for quite some time. About 3 months ago we started to focus on my Driver and the GURU quickly found a flaw in my takeaway that had developed over time. While I was able to get away with the flaw on most of my iron play it quickly compounded issues as the clubs got longer……

Great, Thanks GURU now I’m off to the range to practice.

Day one at the range when well-meaning friend shows up. “hey man that backswing looks a lot different remember keep it low, slow and inside on the way back”. So he demonstrates a backswing that could brush a tee placed 5 feet behind the ball. Oh yes you are right my well-meaning friend what WAS I thinking???? I have always heard that, I MUST be doing it wrong.

Fast Forward 3 Months and 9,284 range balls……….GURU my Drive is still killing my game what is going on?…..I don’t know Alan lets take a look….. Slice, pull, slice, pull, push, hook….. Alan, I though we talked about working on the backswing last time you were here…..We did GURU watch me brush this tee 5 foot behind the ball…… Alan that is not what we talked about………………………Ahhhhh you are right GURU. Lets start over. This oversight (i.e. stupidity) on my part cost me 3 months and a lot of wasted effort on my road to improvement.

This was on a Wednesday. On Thursday I worked very hard on the range with my notes from the GURU not listening to anyone or anything. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday I shot 4 of my best rounds ever with the Driver doing it’s fair part.

Moral of the story
Be very careful of friendly advice about the golf swing. Remember most people will never break 80.
If you are fortunate enough to be able to get advice from an expert. USE IT…..

See you on the course!!!!

Thanks Alan for that great take. If anyone else wants to do a guest post, please send it to my email address @jasonsuttn@aol.com for review.,

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru

Sticks and Stones Will Break Your Bones But Misconceptions Will Kill Your Game: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

July 26, 2010

I was giving a lesson the other day to a first time student and in the process of watching him warm-up, the commentary began at a fever pitch. He would top one or hit it thin…..”Oh, I lifted my head.” He would hit a slice to the right……”Oh, I need to tuck my right arm on my backswing.” Over the years I have learned not to respond right away to these outlandish ideas or misconceptions. It is easy to jump right in and tell the student,”You are wrong or give them the correct answer contradicting everything that they thought they should be doing in their golf swing, but that for one doesn’t make the student feel very good about being with me and too it is just not the time. Golfers typically start golf without much knowledge and direction (with the exception of their buddies or husbands). Let’s face it, there are far more teachers out there than players, which leads us to our problem, MISCONCEPTIONITIS…….defined as – human beings ingesting false information from other humans that have done the same thing. Golf has to be the leading sport of bad information that is passed down through the years…….starting in the late 1800’s. I am a firm believer that it was definitely a teaching pro that coined the phrase “KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN”, There isn’t another 4 words that have made me more money over the years, that is for sure. Thank you Henry Cotton. So here is my list of common misconceptions that we need to address in the upcoming Guru TV Shows that may be holding you back . If any of these are your swing thoughts, please call 1-800-GURU…….Quickly. So here we go……..

1. Keep your head down – The head must be allowed to move somewhat during the swing. A steady head might be more appropriate. The amateur eyes might see the head raise up but remember it is attached to the body. Maintain a consistent spine angle and let your head follow your ball flight to create freedom in your follow through. Otherwise you will be looking at the ground and still killing worms.

2. Tuck your rear elbow on your backswing – This one started with someone watching Hogan swing. Even he had some space under his right arm in the backswing. Tell Fred Couples, Jack Nicklaus, Angel Cabrera or our recent PGA Tour winner, Carl Pettersen to tuck their right elbow and you will ruin their career. Width in the swing is created with a wide right arm in the takeaway. Save the tucking for the downswing when the swing gets narrow.

3.  Keep your left arm straight – Tension is the one of the most damaging things to a good golf swing and trying to lock your lead arm can cause this very quickly. Comfortably extended is better terminology. Keep it extended but soft. A little bend will not kill you. Once again, width is created by the right arm. If you are collapsing, try pushing out slightly with the rear arm and you will thank me later.

This is enough for you to chew on for the time being. There are so many more that I will discuss and probably do a show about in the near future. My advice to you is to make sure that when you get a tip that it 1) makes sense in a sound golf philosophy and 2) applies to your error tendencies. An educated student should know what these are. If you don’t, please see a reputable teacher/coach that can help you organize and understand your errors and put together a plan to fix them. Until then….. Don’t Forget To Breathe (the best place is when you get ready to take it away)

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru

King Louis Dominates The Open: His Classic Swing and The Red Dot

July 20, 2010

Louis Oosthuizen, the young South African, dominates the 2010 British Open with some steady driving and unbelievable ball striking. How about the live pro tracer that they used on the 17th, now that was cool technology. I have had some questions about the red dot on Louis’ glove and what I thought he used it for and what he was thinking….I will get to that in a minute. Let’s see what we can learn from his very simple looking golf swing as I have cued up a slow motion video of Louis hitting a driver.in driving. 1) He has a very solid set-up with excellent posture and balance to start from. 2)Copy his one-piece takeaway with the arms, shoulders and chest move at the same speed into the waist-high position. Notice how the club head stays outside of his hands and in between his forearms. This creates plenty of width for his backswing. The club is right online at the top of his swing which makes it easy to transition into his forward swing. 3)He has a very smooth transition in which he separates his lower body and his upper body which allows the club to drop into the slot and stay right on plane. 4. He delivers the club from the inside which allows a free release of the forearms, hands and clubhead. He made great swing after swing the entire tournament which is why he led the field

Full Release

What Was The Deal With The Red Dot Guru?

It’s no secret that the greatest players have a pre-shot routine that doesn’t vary too much from shot to shot. The initial part of every routine is what is called a “trigger” or “a call to action”. Some players use the hitching of their pants like Palmer, Couples, Furyk. Some use a club raised over head like Mediate or the velcro on their glove like Els. A raise of the left shirt sleeve like Tiger Woods. You can’t expect to focus for the entire round and you shouldn’t try. You must be able to turn it on and off when it is your time to play, maybe 30 seconds at a time. Louis used a red dot on his glove that he and his mental coach, Karl Morris came up with to bring him back to the present when his mind wandered. It helped him enter “the zone” when it was time to play each shot. I have often used a word or a phrase for my players like “no fear” or “focus” but anything will work if you will stick to it. Try something like this the next time you play that will allow you to get into every shot as it was the only one that you will hit, afterwards……Accept and let your mind wander until the next shot. This was how King Louis kept so calm and was able to not picture himself holding the trophy too early as many of us do when we are having a career round. Here is a short article that I found that explains it further…..The Red Dot.

I hope this explains the red dot and thanks for your question Steve. Feel free to comment on the Open championship as I have heard mixed views on how the fans liked. I think it was great and we just may have seen a star born.

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru

The Open Championship Preview and Predictions

July 14, 2010

Oh, the old course at St. Andrews. It is in the top 5 of my bucket list of places to play for sure. Not because of its lavish beauty or scenic views but because of its history. As a student of the game, you must have aspirations of playing here someday and I am very disappointed that I haven’t been able to make it over the pond yet. I have seen it so many times on television that I feel like I know it so well. How I yearn to walk out of the historic club house and down to the first tee and stripe a fairway metal down the fairway, narrowly avoiding the burn in front of the green. I want to take an aggressive route off the tee and just miss the principals nose. I want to stand on the “road hole #17” and take it over the “O” and find the fairway. And lastly, try to drive the green and hopefully not get stuck in the valley of sin just short of the green. If I do, I would use the putter and play the low shot as Constantina Rocca did some years ago. Someday I will do this. So as we approach the championship, I thought I would give you a few things to look for and my predictions on who I think will play well. There is nothing better than waking up to championship golf, am I right? So here goes………………….

1. The weather looks bad for the week, so we will see a lot of wind and rain which will make the scoring very difficult. I expect to see a lot of knock downs and punch shots that will be played low to the ground. Here are the keys to a knock down and I will shoot a video for you later in the week.

1. Take at least 2 clubs more than the yardage to ensure that you won’t swing too hard.

2. Place 60 percent of your weight on your forward foot as you would a pitch shot.

3. Even though this is a shorter swing, make sure you complete your shoulder turn to the top.

4. As you rotate through impact, bow your left wrist toward the target to take loft off of the club.

5.  Finish low and abbreviated to keep the flight down

########KEY: Swing 80%……The biggest error that amateurs make is to swing too hard which imparts more spin and makes the ball go too high.

Here are my picks for the 2010 Open Championship

1. Tiger Woods: Let’s face it, he is bound to win soon and he always plays great winning the last 2 held at St. Andrews.

2. Rory McIlroy: He is used to bad weather and has never shot over 69 in a tournament round at the old course

3. Justin Rose: How can you not put him on the list. Maybe the hottest golfer on the planet…..enough said

4. Lee Westwood: It could be his time and he has been so close.

5. Franscesco Molinari: His brother won last week, could be his turn this week

Euro dark horse: Shane Lowry

US dark horse: Steve Stricker…….anyone who can make that many birdies you have to put on the list

It will be a grind fest for sure and I look forward to seeing the replays as I will be on the lesson tee for most of it…….

See you on the lesson tee and don’t forget to breathe,

Guru

Your Golf I.Q. Part 2: How To Raise It

July 4, 2010

As my previous post on how to raise your golf I.Q. got a tremendous amount of feedback from my peeps from Guru Nation and Twitter, I know that you have been patiently awaiting the follow-up post. You may have found yourself in a one or a few of the categories that were included in the former post and you are thinking,”Hey Guru, I want to change. How do I raise my Golf I.Q.? I have bought into the “As If” philosophy and am ready to start thinking above my current level of play. Help me help you! How many of you googled Boiler Room? Organized your clubs or Burned your iron head covers? That’s what I am talking about, so who’s coming with me? As I write this post, I am watching Justin Rose trying to hang on to win his second P.G.A. Tour event and just shows you how hard it is to win at the highest level. Did he lose his swing or did he just lose his mind last week. We will see how he does coming in. Back to this post. Here is my list to help raise your golf I.Q. and get  you in the mindset that “You are the Best Player in the World” (thank you Alan for that wonderful comment)

1.  Learn to dress like a player: Don’t be afraid to wear a white belt and/or white pants. If we are emulating the best players in the world this is important. If you dress like a player, you just might play like one. I have not seen anyone on the tour that has a belt with a sailfish or your club logo on it…..I’m just sayin. Dress as If and no high socks either. I don’t care if they have a swoosh on it….save that for the basketball court. You know who you are! Get a white belt.

2.  Put a hybrid in your bag: Don’t be afraid of technology. Next to the golf ball, the hybrid is the biggest jump in technology in the last 5 years. Take the 2 and 3 iron out of your bag and insert hybrid. You will thank me later.

3.  Read up on your golf history. How many majors has Jack Nicklaus won? 18 people. To have a passion for the game, you must know some history. I suggest you learn about the greats of Hagen, Hogan, Trevino, Ouimet, Old Tom Morris etc.

4. Take at least 4 lessons per year. I don’t care is Tiger thinks he can get better without a coach. Golf is a sport where feel isn’t real and even the best players need another set of eyes and some motivation to get better. Do your research, find a coach and stick with him/her. If you don’t you can’t complain that your game is  getting worse.

5.  Get fit for a new driver on a launch monitor. It is amazing what the correct fit will do to maximize your driving. The numbers don’t lie and an expert fitter can get you twenty yards in a heartbeat. Is your driver holding you back, go find out. I recommend Stan Roach at www.danarader.com.

6.  How are your wedges and putter? In the year of the last year of non-conforming grooves, buy a new wedge of at least 58 degrees. If you don’t own or can’t use a lob wedge you may as well add 5 shots to your score before you tee off. Aside from putting, pitching is the most important part of the short game………learn to pitch it and you can’t with your pitching wedge….just saying. recommend the Callaway X/Jaws or Cleveland with zip grooves. This is the last year that they will make them with non conforming grooves.

7.   Be a stat keeper: If you are not aware of your basic stats, how do you really know your strengths and weaknesses. Take inventory of your game so you know what to work on. The educated golfer works on the things that they do well so get out of your comfort zone and start to work on your weak areas like putting. I recommend www.shotbyshot.com. Let’s be smart about our golf games and where to practice.

8. Understand the physical basics of the golf club. An educated student understands that you must do two things with the golf club. 1) swing the club on or parallel to the plane that is created at address. 2)strike the ball with the shaft leaning toward the target…..Impact people. Any other philosophy is not golf!

9.  Do Not Fall Victim To Golf’s Misconceptions: Head down, left arm straight, tuck the right elbow…..NO! Here is are thoughts of an educated student: swing the club on plane (see #8), hit the inside quadrant of the ball, release the head with the body, the low point of my swing is even with my front shoulder, flat lead wrist/bent rear wrist, swing to right field, stay connected, find the slot, hit the lowest shot possible around the greens, I practice my putting because it IS important.

10. Be your own best friend: I can’t believe what you just said to yourself! In an recent excercise that I did with one of my elite juniors, I said,”Imagine that you are on playing lessons with the pros and you are the pro.” “Describe what you are going to do with this shot.” I heard him say that he was going to kinda hit it over there and sorta let it land at this spot and hope it trickles down to the hole……No, No, NO. You have to be committed and exact with what you are telling your brain and body to do. Let’s be committed to every shot. If you talk like this to yourself, stop. Justin Rose did and he just won for the second time this year. I suggest reading the 30 second golf swing by T.J. Tomassi.

Good Luck and don’t forget to breathe. The fact that you are reading this blog, raises your I.Q. already…..thanks so much.

See you on the lesson tee and I hope you had a happy 4th,

Guru……………..704-542-7635

Do You Really Want To Improve Your Game? What Is Your Golf I.Q.? Does It Matter?

June 29, 2010

What is your golf I.Q.? How do you improve it? What does it mean to be an educated student? As a golf instructor, I talk and interview new students every day. As I get to know them, their golf background and their golfing goals and aspirations, I like to explore what I call their “Golf I.Q.” It starts as I observe the way they walk. The way they stand. The way they dress. The way they organize their equipment and the way they go about addressing the ball as they warm up. How much golf do they or have they played is a big part of it. How passionate is the student about the game is important. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with their handicap. I have seen mid to high handicappers with higher golf I.Q.s than better players. As you know, I am a list guy…..so here is my list of things that will raise of lower your Golf I.Q. See if any of these things apply to the way you go about playing this great game. I hope this makes you a more educated student of the game and helps raise your Golf I.Q.

Things that will lower your golf I.Q.

1. If you have iron covers (don’t be that guy….total bush league) or a rain cove unless you are traveling (nice one Jackie)

2. If you are playing with clubs that are more than 15 years old, saying “I will get new clubs when my swing improves yet you are swinging Taylor Made Bubble copies with the original grips. Don’t be afraid of technology, it will truly help you and your instructor is you have clubs that are fitted and include some forgiveness” : Please see Stan Roach at the Dana Rader Golf School for a correct fitting….http://danarader.com

3. Are your clubs out-of-order? The short irons go in the front and progress to the back and the woods go in the back with the putter. This way you won’t mistake your 9 iron for a 6 iron. Be organized and clean your grooves more than once a year and you can’t complain that you get no spin on the ball.

4. If you stand on the target line and aim your club face, whether it is putting or full swing, and then walk to the side and try to line up. Please Stop. this doesn’t work. Do you see any of the tour players doing this? By the time you get around to aiming your body, you are lost. This goes for you players that are putting the club shaft across your thighs to line up too. (You know who you are!), Guru Nation knows that you aim the clubface and then align your body. Don’t be that player!

5. Don’t be the student that asks the coach after every shot,”What did I do?”. Everyone has their swing tendencies and they usually don’t change. If the coach has explained to you why the ball is doing what it is doing, you should focus on what you need to do to change it.

6. Do you carry a ball retriever in you bag and it needs regripped? (subtract 100 points)

7. If you go to a tour event and yell “You are the man or get in the hole”………Please don’t be that guy. **Also, don’t wear your golf shoes to a P.G.A. tour event unless you are playing. (you know who you are)

8. If you practice full swing shots without sticks or clubs on the ground and complain about not being able to line up (dowel rods are $1.98 at Lowes)

9. If you buy a putter off the rack that is 35 inches long and you are not at least 6 foot 3. The only reason they make putters 35 inches is that is the height that will hang out of your golf bag. Custom fitting is not a joke….I recommend www.coutourgolf.com to get you started. Todd Sones is great.

10. When you describe your golf swing, you use terms like….”swing down the line, trying to keep my head down, keeping my left arm straight, hitting the back of the golf ball, I must have looked up, I didn’t get under the ball enough. If you are trying any of these ideas, you are NOT PLAYING GOLF, CRICKET MAYBE

I know, I know…..you are saying, this is pretty harsh BUT I live by the philosophy of “ACT AS IF.” (For all of you that have seen Boiler Room)If you want to be a lower handicap player, look at what they are doing and emulate them. Play with better players.  Mentoring really works (ask Tony Robbins which I am a big fan). If this resembles you in any way, stay tuned for the list that will help you to RAISE YOUR GOLF I.Q.  Stay tuned and lets work on you game in an intelligent and effective way that is going to make you better. Get out of your own way and start to see yourself as the player that you want to be.

Until next time, don’t forget to breathe and start by organizing and cleaning your clubs,

Guru

D-Plane Makes It To Golf Illustrated: June Issue

June 28, 2010

It has been awhile since I have mentioned the D Plane for golf. Look into my archives to get the entire explanation but basically it is a three dimentional look at acutal ball flight. The D Plane was coined in Theo Jorgensen’s book “The Physics of Golf” which ultimately dispelled the belief of what created actual ball flight. It directly contradicts what we were originally taught about the correlation and the effects of path and club face. Recently I wrote an article in Golf Illustrated that referenced the D-Plane called “Same Swing, Different Ball Flight.” Trackman, which is the most accurate launch monitor on the market has brought true ball flight to the forefront and has educated many of us on how and what creates different ball flights. Thanks to John Graham, ,my twitter buddy from New York and one of the most underrated coaches in the business, have helped educate me on this subject of the D-Plane and I am a much better teacher/coach because of it. Here is an article from Trackman that is worth a read:          the secret of the straight shot, In the meantime check out my latest column in Golf Illustrated’s June Issue.  I have many great Guru TV ideas for the upcoming summer months so stay tuned. Federico Celano is starting to heat up and is very close to breaking through on the EGolf Tour, I appreciate all the kind remarks and encouragement that you have given him on the range as he is working very hard on his game. I will be doing more shows with Fed and other students in the Guru stable very soon.

Friend me up on twitter @ twitter.com/onplanegolf.com or facebook.com and get to know me better

If you want to work with the Guru……….call 704-542-7635

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru