Tag: golf lessons

Playful Learning Part 2 – Teaching vs. Coaching

January 18, 2011

In the midst of another P.G.A. Merchandise show, I think for those who don’t participate just don’t know what they are missing. I enjoy seeing the new products and gadgets but that is not why I attend. I make the trip to Orlando to network with other professionals and friends in hopes to find a few nuggets or ideas that will help me guide my students when I get back. My students can’t wait for me to get back because I always have some great information and stories to tell that will enhance their golf games. Information is not just going to jump in your lap. It is not going to knock you down and crawl all over you. You must be a seeker and sometimes it takes courage to learn something new because we are all afraid of being wrong. For all you zen lovers, “You must be an empty cup”. I have attended the top 100 Golf Magazine party with my boss for the last 7 years and I always set a goal to meet a new teacher that I admire and be prepared to ask an intelligent question when you get that opportunity, because it could be a small window. This takes courage (and maybe a few glasses of wine,shh!). Your networking moment may happen when you least expect it. Here is a story: Last year an editor friend of mine asked if I would stop by the Cricket of Arms” pub for a pint because he wanted me to meet his good friend, Craig Shankland. For those of you who don’t know Craig, he is a legend in the teaching and playing game. Top 50 teacher and just a great guy.  In the first five minutes he could tell how passionate about coaching that I was and he was gracious enough to share valuable information about his teaching and great stories about his good friend, Moe Norman which was priceless. We talked for about 2 hours over a few pints of Guiness and it  was awesome. I shared with him my goals and this was the two pieces of advice that I received:

1) Keep writing as much as possible because that is what keeps your ideas fresh and your brain thinking and growing.

2)Pay attention: MAKE YOUR PLAYERS MULTI-DIMENTIONAL (He is very old school and teaches many LPGA players). He said that you have to be able to adjust to every lie and can’t fall in love with just one swing plane. He doesn’t use video very much and takes his students out on the course for the majority of the lessons to greater prepare for all of the different shots that make up a round of golf.  (The Ultimate In Coaching)

The time I spent with Mr. Shankland was the highlight of my trip for sure so keep your eyes open for opportunities for learning and growing. I will be forever greatful for the time that he spent with a nobody teacher like me. I hope that someday I can be that person sharing all that I have learned to a young, hungry professional.

To succeed as coaches we must be versitile and know when to teach and when to coach.

Here are some quotes from Tiger Woods. Maybe he needs to reread these to get back to the days when he was free to self-discover.

“My lie dictates the shot I will play”

“I always listen to my body”

“Some days when I warm up I am hitting the ball low, other days I am hitting the ball high. some days the ball is drawing, other days it is fading. i just play what i am doing that day”

“Today when I practice I like to play games-in fact I like to practice more than play on the course. I still try lots of different things, just like I did with my Pop”

“We always practiced together seeing who could make the most 5 foot putts”

“As a child the club and the ball became my playmate”

“Ultimately golf is a journey-full of learning and discovery”

“On normal shots, I swing 75% of my power, on longer shots I swing at 90%. If I go all out, I do not make solid contact-which is most important.”

“There are no shortcuts- golf requires patience and perseverance, with a yearning for learning. Accepting the fact that it is a game of ups and downs and learning every time you play”

“when I play-it is almost as if I get out-of-the-way and just let it happen. I let it happen, I do not make it happen.”

“I won 12 times in the year 2000, including 3 majors and I only remember hitting one shot I would call perfect. It was the 3 wood on #14 in the third round of the British Open at St. Andrews. AS with every shot I attempt, I visualize that ball flight and the shot turned ou exactly s I had planned. Moments like that stay fresh in my mind, providing a positive image for future reference.”

“I will always be respectful and gracious to opponents-but I want to win, to beat you by a lot, to beat you bad.

I look forward to hearing about your P.G.A. Show learning moments. What are you waiting for……GO FOR IT!

Follow me on twitter @twitter.com/onplanegolf or friend me up on facebook @facebook.com/jasonsuttongolf

See you on the lesson tee,

Jason

Head Move (Or Not)-“So I Married A Teaching Professional” (Archive deux)

December 19, 2010

Something that I have been thinking a lot about lately as I have been giving hundreds of lessons is lOW POINT, HEAD MOVEMENT AND BODY PIVOT. As not to make this a full on debate amongst coaches (although that would be ok), I want to give the students a few ideas about how to improve the consistency of your contact. When we talk about the low point in the golf swing, we are referring to the bottom of the swing circle, just before it starts to elevate up and to the left. This point is typically even with your lead shoulder. This is why when you see a good player take a divot, it is usually 2 to 4 inches long on the target side of the golf
ball. If you are hitting the ball fat or thin, then your low point is not
as it should be so we have to look at a few areas that might give us
some insight into why this is happening. I am going to attempt to convey this in an understandable way for as I have alot of thoughts on this matter. Understanding is the easy part for most, it is application and what to apply that golfers struggle with. So question becomes: Should the head move in the golf swing? If so how much? How does the body pivot affect this idea? and Does head size make a difference? That was a joke.

HEAD MOVEMENT

                                                                                                                                                                           Early in my teaching career, I must have picked up a Jimmy Ballard book and read it (the 7 common denominators) because I allowed my students to shift there weight behind the ball, then turn, shift back to center and swing. As I have seen this method work for many players over the years. Rocco Mediate, Hal Sutton etc. It seems to require a lot of timing. So in the last 10 years, I have allowed no more than 1 half a head to the right as my guideline. To clarify what we mean by head movement: typically most teaching pros will draw a box or a circle around the head when looking at video. Any side to side or up and down motion will be easy to see when this is done. As I have been studying the teaching methods such and “stack and tilt” and “The Golfing Machine”, they like to see the head stay centered. The golfing machine calls it “the tripod”. I always struggled with this idea because I thought it changed the spine angle too much in a reversing manner to achieve an on plane downswing or to create power. After studying massive amounts of video on players that adhere to these methods I found that it these things were achievable. As long as lower center (naval area) is slightly ahead of upper center (sternum) you can find achieveable plane.  You just have to have the right components in place. In order to keep your head completely still or might I describe as “steady”, you must keep your shoulders rotating on top of your hips and a bit steeper than normal. The right hip absolutely cannot slide to the right at all or you will get a reverse spine angle. I more lateral move off of the ball might have a flatter shoulder plane.  So which is the right way? I think it depends on the students characteristics and athletic ability.

                                                                                                                                                                                                       I asked my friend and top 100 teacher, Chuck Evans about head movement and he said,”it must stay still, period. I then asked if it does move, does that change low point and the answer is absolutely. If you head is too far behind the ball, then your left wrist becomes low point. What percentage of golfers, your students, you, yeah you……….have a bowed left wrist at impact? Not as many as we want to admit, right. It can be more on top of the ball and still work.  So this makes the head steady idea make sense to me and has helped my students improve their contact even if impact isn’t perfect. When I move a player into a steeper shoulder plane with a steady head, the first reaction is it feels like a reverse pivot. When I show them on video that they still have a neutral or slightly tilted spine away from the target, they understand. The player with too much head movement to the right will feel this way because it is a big change. When they hit that first shot more solid, they buy into it pretty quick. I will hook up some video examples of my students to help make sense of all this.

MATCHING COMPONENTS

I have always been fond of a lower, flatter arm plane but have some students with high hands if they show the ability to successfully drop the club on plane. When you work with a more neutral pivot, to avoid getting too steep on the downswing, your arm plane should be a little flatter. If you tend to move off of the ball and tilt your spine more away from the target on the downswing, you can use a higher hand position. It is all about your ability to consistently find the plane line and low point that is important.

STEADY BUT NEVER IN FRONT

I think we would all agree that we don’t like to see the head forward of its original position at impact. This typically causes a loss of lag or club head throwaway. Another reason a steady head might be easier. If you shift too far off the ball, you must shift forward to recenter and could slide too far in front.

So in conclusion. Everyone wants more distance. If you load up on your backside and coil, you might give yourself a chance to hit it farther but you might sacrifice a consistent low point and your contact will suffer. I have found that for most players, SOLID CONTACT IS WAY MORE IMPORTANT. I have a saying,”Speed without contact is useless”. Think about it. So if you are struggling with solid contact, try a more neutral, head centered pivot and I think you will find that ever illusive LOW POINT and might even take make a target side divot. I will do a video on this in the near future that will help explain better. I hope this made sense.

P.S. remember these swing ideas are examples of A way to swing a golf club not THE WAY….Good teachers have a few tools, great teachers have MANY.

See you on the lesson tee,

Jason

20 Days With the Guru, Day 13: Feel vs. Real and Pattern Development

December 18, 2010

Video in instruction can be a valuable tool if used correctly. There have been documented cases of video abuse by golf instructors or students that just love to look at themselves. I use video mostly to help my students bridge the gap between FEEL AND REAL. In my opinion, this is a big part of what separates expert golfers from the average ones. Amateurs have much bigger bridges than Professionals. A Pro has a better feel (good or bad) of what is going on with their golf swing than the amateur. For example: If you have been following my blog lately, I posted a list that I wanted for Christmas which included 10 passionate golfers to work with. Well, I found one under the tree today in the likes of JM (he knows who he is). JM had a lot of thoughts about what he was trying to do with his golf swing and (because he follows my blog, hint, hint) most of them were excellent golfing ideas. But until we put his swing on video were we able to 1)see what was actually happening and 2)focus in on a couple of root causes of all the gobbledygook that were effects of these causes. JM was a 95 to 100 shooter with a lot more ability than that (if he is reading this, as I am sure he is ……we already discussed his potential). I feel I can get him shooting into the 80’s fairly quickly. Lets look at feel vs. reality: 1)feel (he thought grip was strong: real: it was neutral at best and too much in the palm. 2)feel (he thought his takeaway was on plane and that he wasn’t flexible enough to turn: real(he was overturning his hips and shoulders which moved the club way to the inside and rolled the club face open. All of these events caused JM to lift his arms up to the top of his backswing and swing outside  to in on the downswing. As a result, a weak face with poor contact occurred. As soon as he saw his swing on video, these errors were very clear as he was even rehearsing a pretty good takeaway. So it was my job to get him to focus on the two ro three things that we would work on (Grip, initial takeaway and backswing shape)and explain how this progression will help his overall shape and contact. Then I gave him a drill to help him solidify the correct feel. Here is the drill that I gave him to practice

PROGRESSION AND PATTERN DEVELOPMENT

My friend John Graham (johngrahamgolf.com) came up with the word pattern development, (which I love) so I am using it for this description. Every golf swing is like a fingerprint. It is very difficult to completely change the pattern…..But……If you change the correct pieces or the cause of the problem, other things start to behave differently. As soon as we got the club head on the other side of JM’s hands (on plane) and a shorter turn with a flatter left arm at the top of his downswing, his downswing flattened out about 40 degrees to the positive side (toward the plane line). The ball flight went from a weak fade to a straight or slightly pulled draw that went 20 yards farther. Needless to say he was very pleased and was excited about the direction we were going. Why? 1)Because he saw positive change in his skills to strike the ball and 2)We now had a plan for improvement that was visibly measured through the use of video. He now understands what his swing should look like and the ball flight that matches in order to improve. The two images that will allow him to practice in the mirror at home are 1) the club shaft should remain in between the forearms and 2)the left arm needs to match his now steeper shoulder plane which shortens the swing a bit.

FOR THE COACHES

Guide the student in their learning by helping them focus on what you want them to see and not pointing out every little thing that they do wrong. Start with the positives and then focus on the areas that you want to work on. If you over do it you will do more harm than good. Trust me, I am a recovering “overuse video addict.” Hi my name is Jason…….you get the point.

Thanks JM for allowing me to post this lesson and thank you for spending an hour of your valuable time on a cold snowy day. I look forward to seeing your improvement.

See you on the lesson tee,

Jason

20 Days With the Guru, Day 7: That Which Can Be Measured Can Be Improved….But How Do You Know

December 12, 2010

How do you know what to practice? Most golfers tend to practice what they are good at because it is fun. You hit your favorite club so you can look good on the range because you are self-conscious about what you look like and how you are perceived. This is normal human behavior as no one wants to be embarrassed or look bad especially when it comes to golf. The serious and intelligent golfers practice their weaknesses instead of their strengths, you just have to be courageous and be able to take a good hard look at your entire game. So let’s say that you have bought into what I just said, the key is to first KNOW your WEAKNESSES. Only then can we get the most out of our practice sessions and really start to see improvement. I use a great piece of technology that will allow you to track your progress, target your weaknesses and be able to put together an intelligent practice program every time you go to the
practice ground. It is called SHOTBYSHOT.  This is the best software to track your progress that I have ever seen. What I really like about it is that it compares your stats in each area of your game to your goal handicap. (example:if you are a 5 handicap and want to be a scratch, you will see what your stats should be in each area to reach your goal. It then highlights your weakest area so you know what to focus on in your practice). It also gives you precise stats on your putting from specified distances that you record after each round). I use this to Taylor practice sessions for my tour players and elite juniors. It makes it easy for the player and the coach to create a plan for improvement.
Once you start to record some scores into shotbyshot.com, here are some general recommendations for practice structure and a few drills that can give you measurement in each area of your game.  Here is a link to Peter Sanders Blog (owner of shotbyshot.com)
Disclaimer******YOU MUST OWN YOUR GOLF GAME! AND YOUR PRACTICE! Your coach should not have to force you to practice, if so, you don’t deserve to get better. Remember,”YOU CANT FOOL GOLF,”
DRILLS FOR MEASUREMENT
The Median Drill (short game)
also called the eleven ball drill. You can use this on any short game shot……pitch, chip, bunkers etc. Pick a shot. You can use multiple targets if you have more than 1 pin on your practice green. Hit eleven shots to your targets. Take away the closest 5 balls. Measure how close to the hole your 6th ball is. This is your distance.your goal is to decrease this distance. Clear measurement.

14 Ball Drill (driving accuracy)
Pick out an imaginary fairway on your practice range. Maybe two flags as wide as wide as your average fairway as a reference. Going through your golf course routine, hit 14 drivers as you would in a round of golf. Count how many that you hit into your imaginary fairway. MEASUREMENT! Set your goals accordingly.

30 foot drill (putting)
Measure off a 30 foot putt. It is approximately 10 steps. Lay a club or dowel rod 3 feet behind the hole. Hit ten putts in attempt to make the putt or leave the ball in between the hole and the stick. Count how many you get in the zone. Measurement. This will help with your distance control.
Whatever your practice plan is, always include some form of putting practice.

So I hope this helps organize your practice in the upcoming season always remember,”In order to get to where you are going, you must know where you are. Only then can you figure out how to get there”

See you on the lesson tee,

Jason

20 Days With the Guru: Day 5….My Christmas List: What Do You Want Under Your Golfing Tree?

December 10, 2010

As the P.G.A. Tour schedule wind down and we have time to catch our breath, we should all find a quiet place to help us think. So what should we think about. What should we dream about. Should we look back on the past season of golf? Should we dare look ahead to the next year and want we want. The answer is YES, YES AND DID I MENTION YES. I don’t know where I find you in your golfing career. Some of you may be contemplating whether to play for a living. Some of you might be finishing up a college career (like the young Englishman that I gave a lesson to today), A few of you are looking to break new scoring barriers such as 90 or 80 and some might be just getting started with this great game. Regardless of where you are in golf, as long as you in it. That is what is important. As the stats reveal every year, there are just as many golfers leave the game as there are taking it up…..I am here to try to inspire you to embrace golf as you would your favorite blanket and let’s dream big for 2011. So what do you want Santa Guru to bring you for Christmas this year? Let me share my list of the 12 things I want under my tree:

12 new students with a passion for the game

11 junior golfers that want to play college golf

10 rounds of golf (compared to the 7 that I played this year)

9 new ideas about teaching and coaching that will help my students

8 flat lead wrists at impact

7 birdies on 9 holes with 6 putts

6 phone calls for people asking me to speak at their seminar or function

5 great book ideas for the winter that will help me grow

4 different major champions under 30 years old (including Ricky Fowler, please)

3 trips to top a top ten golf course (hopefully Augusta National if anyone is wondering)

2 P.G.A. Tour players to coach

1 Golf Magazine Top 100 List with my Name on it (It is spelled Jason E. Sutton)…..a guy can dream right

What can I do to help you reach your golfing dreams this upcoming year? I encourage all of you to evaluate your goals that you set this year, reflect, set goals for next year and develop a plan to get there. I would love to be a part of it.

If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.
Zig Ziglar

Follow me on twitter @twitter.com/onplanegolf

 
See you on the lesson tee,
 
Jason

20 Days With The Guru: Day 3:The Claw Drill

December 8, 2010

Thanks for joining me on day 3 of 20 days with the Guru. Today I have hooked up a small segment of one of my lessons that includes a live look at how “The Claw Drill” will help improve your impact position. Here is your 3 step release program that will help you with that scoop or flip

1) 25 left arm only swings with an 8 iron off of a low tee

2) 25 Claw drills with an 8 iron off of a low tee

3) 25 3/4 punch shots until you can control the shaft of the club through the hitting area.

I hope you enjoy the video and a special thanks to Eric Ballard for allowing me show off his golf swing and my drill. Please leave a comment below, thanks and enjoy the claw.

Follow me on Twitter @ twitter.com/onplanegolf

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru

20 Days With the Guru: Day 2: Set Your Expectations Accordingly….This Just In – GOLF IS HARD

December 7, 2010

Day 2 of the Guru blogging chronicles leads me to a topic that I have been thinking about for some time. STUDENTS EXPECTATIONS!…..When a student asks me how long it is going to take to reach their golfing goals, I try to be honest with them as to not dispirit their eagerness to learn. Every case is different. As like a marathon race (not a sprint!), some get to the finish line quicker than others. The catch is, with the right coach, philosophy,plan,  time, commitment and sacrifice…..Everyone will cross the finish line. The key is to set your goals and expectations accordingly. In the golf swing, we are using a bent stick with a weight on the end….making an 18 foot circle and trying to hit the ball on the clubface in a sweet spot the size of a dime. Let’s face it. GOLF IS HARD and any person that tells you otherwise or any teacher that says,”I try to keep it simple,” Is out of their mind. I have coached many great athletes that have played NFL football, Major League baseball,  Division 1 college basketball, tennis and professional lacrosse and they all say the same thing. Why can’t this be as easy as (______). Because golf is hard people. Harder than any other sport I can think of.  That is why I love it so much because it doesn’t matter what level that you get, you will never be satisfied, never mastered and you never completely own it. You are lucky to just rent it for a few months like Tiger Woods in 2000. Ask Tiger how hard golf is right now….you with me?  Here is an example: I consider myself a better than average athlete. I played baseball, basketball and football at one time before deciding to play golf in college. I haven’t played or shot basketball for several months (since the Achilles rupture, hehe), and I can guarantee that  I could go out to the court, practice for a few minutes and then shoot at least 80% from the free throw line and make a few three pointers. If I took that much time off from golf, there is not way that I could play to the equivalent level. I could go into the batting cage and make contact with a fastball after a short amount of work (I actually did it last week with my kids). Not that I could play professionally but you get the point, right.

YOU CAN’T CHEAT GOLF, SO DON’T TRY

To improve at golf, there has to be many hours of dedication, repetition and sacrifice. You can’t just pick up a club, read a tip from a magazine and go play your best. I have no sympathy for the student that takes lessons, doesn’t practice and complains that they aren’t getting better. It takes repittition people and you can’t fake it.

BE EASY ON YOURSELF

After asking the question why did you think you could shave 25 shots in 6 months to a student, here is the excellent feedback that I got that helps me understand why people fall into this trap.

1. the professioanals on TV make it look so easy

2. I work hard and anything I set me mind to I usually succeed at (I love this attitude by the way)

3. I have the best coach in the world (I swear he said it….just kissing up but I will take it)

All valid points but we have to understand that unless you are playing for a living, golf is a hobby. We shouldn’t take it so serious as to let it affect us as people. Your golf score is not who you are as a person.

STICK TO YOUR PLAN AND SET MINI-GOALS

Now I am not saying that if you are getting worse that you should be happy, just fire the coach (just ask the Cowboys). I am saying that if you trust your coach, your plan and are seeing improvement…..keep plugging away and you will get there. Set reasonable goals so you aren’t always disappointed and enjoy this great game. Remember……It is a marathon not a sprint and you will be fine. Talk to you tomorrow

Follow me on twitter @twitter.com/onplanegolf

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru

GURU TV – BODY PIVOT AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR SWING

August 6, 2010

We have talked a lot about the hands and arms but the engine to the golf swing is the body pivot. How the body moves or doesn’t move will affect how the golf club moves throughout the  swing. The one thing that I didn’t mention in this video is the player that is trying to keep his hips from moving to create torque in the backswing. Here is an fyi. If your hips don’t move, your shoulders will not turn enough to get the  club inside enough to find the plane. I hope you enjoy the vlog and leave a comment if you would like.

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