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GOLF BACK SWING

Pre-Set Your Back Swing

My very special acquaintance Moe Norman, ‘The Gentle Canadian Golfer’ and perhaps the greatest ball striker of all time, shared an insight with me while locked in the grip of winter in western Canada’s ‘Beautiful British Columbia’.

We all know what ‘Square Square Square’ means? We should ‘Set-Up’ with our ‘Feet, Hips & Shoulders Each Square To The Target Line’. This gets us ready for a ‘Neutral Take Away’ and a golf swing that unfolds correctly. Arguably scientifically correct, but we, being staunch individuals, can and should do things that suit our own swing needs whenever possible!

Getting the ‘First 8 Inches Of Our Back Swing Perfectly Accomplished’ may not be all that usual? Don’t be afraid to make little changes and test them for functional efficiency.

Moe was an advocate of ‘Pre-Setting Your Back Swing’ to an enroute position, which helps us get the ‘Move’ accomplished more easily. This means we have our ‘Feet Square To The Target Line’. Slightly ‘OPEN’ is a good trend as it helps us to ‘Release & Deliver’ – ‘DOFT’)

Now, to help us make ‘A Perfect Back Swing’, ‘CLOSE’ your ‘Hips’ an inch or 2. Knowing that the ‘Shoulders’ rotate about double the ‘Hips’, ‘Pre Set Them Closed’ about 2 to 4 inches. This might be effectively looked upon as be ‘Pre Loaded, Coiled or Wound’.

Now Moe said, “All I have to do is turn a little more and simply raise my (‘Brace’) hand one smooth move up to my shoulder (‘Top Of Back Swing’). How simple is that?

This wisdom helps us make a nice, slightly flatter, more natural ‘On Plane Back Swing’. Once accomplished, we can transition to a ‘Reciprocal Down, Out, Forward & Through Front Swing’ (‘DOFT’). This approach helps us get to the ‘Top Of Back Swing’ (‘TOB’), ‘Bottom Of Swing Arc’ (‘BOSA’) and ‘Top Of Front Swing’ (‘TOF’ – Follow Finish’) much more naturally. Being relaxed creates more ‘Clubhead Speed’, ‘Control’ and ‘Distance’ “Good Things!”

There is a lot of loose talk about ‘Getting More Vertical’ or upright in your ‘Swing Plane. I like what Colin Montgomery accomplished, but this advice as a ‘Blanket Method’ is foolishness.


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Mental

Good Things Can Get in Your Way

One of my solid ‘Player Students’ recently produced a ‘Hole In One’, the venerable ‘Ace’, and enjoyed its temporary magic in Mobile, Alabama while in the company of two other honest and admiring, perhaps envious, folks certainly envious golfers!

“Pretty cool stuff mate!”

‘Course and Mental Management’ never get out of fashion! When we experience a ‘Train Wreck Shot’, on any hole, we are best served by evaluating that error, getting a grip on its cause and then treating it as a ‘Toilet Shot’ flush it so the effects are quickly “Gone!” and out of the way of our next shot. Every stroke needs and deserves a clean slate! Big deep breath and fresh thoughts invite success and happiness!

We must always ‘Play The Game Of Golf’ in the ‘Present Tense’. The past is reflective and the future is hopeful, but irrelevant! Keep these two tenses out of the way of ‘NOW’! They can only emote ‘Fear & Anxiety’ which formulate that ‘Train Wreck’.

My fortunate and elated friend made a mess of the next few holes, which was not beneficial to his overall round! You cannot make good golf shots jumping up and down, hooting and hollering to the golfing community, even if it is only in your mind!

We must all learn to play ‘Process Golf’ and avoid ‘Outcome Golf’. Focus on your ‘Pre Shot Routine’ (‘PSR’) and then get fully immersed in making a simple, pure ‘Motion’ through the ‘Little White Ball’. Direct your energy smoothly ‘Down The Line’ to the ‘Target’. Feel that pure process taking place!

To make many ‘Aces’, you must ‘Feel A Hole In One’ happening visualize the event! All these good processes start in that ‘Clean Slated Mind’!

Many more Mr. S!

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Mental

Seasonal Purgatory

Seasonal Purgatory is what I call playing in the bad weather.

To play, to survive winter, almost anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, other than the Caribbean, you have to ‘Work Smart’. The usual mid-winter conditions across North American “Suck!”

Golf courses have tough conditions, tight lies, mud and no cushion. The ball is cold. You feel like sitting at home in front of the TV and fireplace might be better? You know the deal!

Here I show to survive this ‘Seasonal Purgatory’.

Practise Smart!

Play ’6 Hole Rounds’ … what your ’555 Team’ refers to as ‘Short Golf’. Define the specific weaknesses. That means more than one similar mistake over the 6 holes … not just one! One is only a blip! Then head for the ‘Practice Range’. Iron out the key issue.

Play another ’6 Hole Round’. Assess and refine! Iron out the key issue.

A ’6 Hole Round’, at worst, is just like ‘Probation’ or a ‘Suspended Sentence’. 18 Holes may just be too much unjust and cruel punishment. Can’t you feel the course smiling?

Unless you are a closet masochist, let your intellect and logic rule!

Now you know how to play three rounds a day!

Don’t let Seasonal Purgatory get you down, better weather is coming.

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Golf Drills

Random Target Drill

This is a primarily a ‘Driving Range Drill’.

Most ranges have multiple targets at varying distances. In this case do not be concerned with ‘Distance’. Be focused on ‘Direction’.

I like to start with a good ‘Mid Iron’ (#8 Iron). Having selected a close target, strike a ball directly at or over it. Judge your ‘Line Accuracy’ only.

Grade yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 using the ’5% Rule’. That means you should strive to be within 5% of line. If your #8 Iron cranks the ball 140 yards, you should be within 7 yards or 21 feet left or right.

Now select another target (any distance) and hit another ball directly at it. Grade your ‘Direction’ again on that same scale.

Do this five times and grade each. Your score should be above 30 to be ‘Alive’! 35 to 40 is pretty successful. 40 to 45 is excellent. 50 deserves a pat on the back!

You can use the ’10% Rule’ too, but I think you are better than that!

This may seem like a ‘Sloppy Rapid Fire Drill’, but it is far from that. Each procedure, do your full ‘Pre Shot Routine’ (‘PSR’) and get properly ‘Set-Up’ (emphasis on proper ‘Posture, Grip, Stance. Ball Location and Alignment’). Strike each ball carefully! That means ‘Seeing The Ball Come Off The Aimed Clubface’ … pure strikes! (see ‘The 5 Essential Elements’)(see ‘Tempo … Use The & Word To Help Complete Your Back Swing’)

You have to get it up in order to get it down! (see ‘CHIN Tallish & Hands Pushed Down Deep’ -’BOSA’ – ‘BLEA’)(see ‘The Human Tether Ball Pole’)

 

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Etiquette

Golf Etiquette In General

People either care and ask about how to behave on a ‘Golf Property’ or not!

If they do not care, only time and pressure from their local peers can improve behaviour. Unfortunately, just like in society, there are people who neither know nor care! If you have a quality course, get rid of them! We are each stewards and owe our nurturing to ‘The Great Game’!

I can tell you explicitly that ‘The Golden Rule’ very much applies. Some people do not know what that little bit of advice is either. Deal with them accordingly while you strive for a modicum of civility! “Treat Others As You Would Like To Be Treated!”

Here is a list of worthy ‘Bullet Word Topics’:

1)Play Ready Golf, 2)Respect Signage, [No Cart Beyond Here], 3)Limited Cellular Use [OFF], 4)Minimal Booze [Dehydration], 5)Minimal Gambling, 6)Don’t Talk Hard Business, 7)Minimal Smoking [Keep Your Butts To Yourself], 8)Proper Attire, 9)Help Your Fellow Player, 10)General Courtesy [Relative Quiet], 11)Pace Of Play [Skip Honours If Beneficial], 12)Give Minimal Advice During Play, 13)Temper Management, 14)Course Management, 15)Respect The Property, 16)Tip The Bag Boy, 17)Get ‘On Course’ Early [Sets Tone Of Day], 18)Fix Two Ball Marks, 19)Don’t Drag Your Feet, 20)Use Proper Language, 21)Play By The Rules [Generally], 22)Don’t Walk/Stand On Another Player’s Line, 23) Stand Still While Others Take Their Shots, 24)Watch Your Shadows, 25)Tend Flags, 26)Put Trash In A Garbage Can, 27)Drive Carts Respectfully [Minimize Sharp Turns], 28) Rake Bunkers, 29)Don’t Hit Into People, 30)Say “Please & Thank You” more often, 31)Other

Hope this list helps!

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Mental

Three Ball Flight Fundamentals

This ‘Silly Game’ is about smacking the ‘Little Whites Ball’, hard yet sometimes just firmly, but under control … ‘Keeping It Out In Front Of You’!

If we never get off line very far, we shall always be ‘In Play’. That is a very good thing when ‘Out There!’ If you never lose a ball, never get penalized for being in the ‘Long Stuff’, you shall have an advantage. (see ‘Drawing Straight Lines – A To B’)

All our ’555 Clients’ know ‘The Walt Disney Wish List’! I personally want to hit the ball “Where I’m Looking!” Then you can consider yourself a ‘Player’ and enjoy that title!

In order to arrive at that lofty ‘Destination’, you need to accomplish some semblance of ‘Control’! You need to ‘Master Golf Basics’ … 1) Create the ‘Pre-Selected Angle of Attack (‘AOA’), 2) Produce the ‘Desired Clubhead PATH’ and 3) train and enable your ‘Target Lever’ (‘Swing Hand, Wrist and Arm’) to ‘Control Your Clubface AIM’ all the way through the ‘Impact & Separation Zone’. ‘Clubface AIM Is Golf’s ‘Job #1′.

Very simplistically, with your ‘Short Shafted Sticks’, having more ‘DOWN’ (‘Steeper AOA’) you will naturally produce more ‘Go High Energy Side Of Your Target Line’ (‘Left For Righties’). With your ‘Longer Shafted Clubs’ you will tend to have more ‘UP’ (‘Shallow AOA’) and thus produce more ‘Go Low Energy Side Of Your Target Line’.

This is fundamentally why nice folks who are ‘Weekend Hackers’ tend to ‘Leak or Go Right’ with their ‘long Sticks’! We can quickly help you improve this plight!

There are really simple and useful disciplines we can apply to better control our ‘Ball Flight’. Best you get closer to your very own ’555 Certified Master Teaching Professional’ (‘CMTP’) without delay. You can do so via the very special ‘Locker Room Membership’ (‘LRM’) accessible from the ’555golf.com’ website.

See you there!

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Mental

Hit THREE GREAT SHOTS and cal it a day

I have some different ideas and that is why I am who and where I am … innovative and fresh! You are invited to form you own opinion, of course!

Numerous of my ‘Players’ would go out and hit balls until the sun went around the globe … the bleeding hands syndrome! Was that to punish oneself or prove a marathon mentality? Who knows! I think it is because these gentleman never, as yet, grew into trusting their swings!

One of my worldwide hero students would start at the ‘Putting Green’ … move to the ‘Chipping and Bunker Area’. Once his ‘Tempo & Rhythm’ was awakened and we knew the pace of the greens (copies of the real 18), we headed to the ‘Driving Range’. He’d hit a few little ‘Flop Wedges’, a few ‘Bump & Run’, a couple ‘Knock Down Shots’, crank a handful of ‘Punches’ and then smooth a ‘#8 Iron’ to 160 … perhaps two! That’s it!

Then we would, time permitting, leave the ‘Practise Area’ and walk to the clubhouse for a Coke or restroom break, or head to the first ‘Tee Box’. He had hit ‘NO DRIVER’ and told me many times … “Why Waste Good Driver Shots On The Range? We need them out there!”

My point is that we mortals, if we stay on the range long enough, with a certain great club in hand, happy as a New England clam, will make bad shots. That is life in the raw! Hit enough balls and you shall decay and get mentally degraded too! Manage your success! Don’t waste good bullets! You only have so many!

‘Work Smart’ or “Welcome To Stupid!”

Choose your own poison!

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Putting and Distance Control

Using Inching to Gauge Distance

The ‘Putter Head Movement’ is primarily ‘Pendular’ like a weight swinging at the end of a string, our ‘Clubhead’ swings at the ends of our ‘Hands & Arms’ (‘Lever Assemblies’). The farther one moves the ‘Pendulum Weight’ (‘Putter Head’) away from the ‘Butt Of The Little White Ball’ (see ‘BIC – Bottom Onside Cheek’), the more forcefully it will strike and move the ball in the ‘Front Swing’ … Pretty simple? This in mind, we must ‘Manage Our Putter Energy’ (‘Pendular Swing Length’) so we can roll the ball a ‘Predetermined Distance’. Bigger back swings move the ball farther!

YOU MUST KNOW HOW FAR YOUR BALL IS FROM THE HOLE and you cannot guess at it! With your ‘Pre Shot Routine’ (‘PSR’) done, you can then adjust your ‘Stroke Length’ criteria for ‘Slope and Surface Texture’. Looking more professional already!

Here is the ‘Inching Rule’ … “For Every ‘Inch’ You Move The ‘Putter Head’ Away From The ‘BIC’, You Will, At ‘Stimp 9′, Roll The Ball About A foot On Level Ground”. This is simplistic, but we have to start somewhere! Inching applies up to about 20 feet. Adjust for daily green speed!

When you learn to consistently set your ‘Stance Width’, every time, you will soon groove a reliable ‘Human Distance Yard Stick’ that you can actually use every ‘Putt’! If you do NOT develop a ‘PSR’, you cannot! Your choice! “Get Lucky Golf Sucks!”

When set up consistently, you will know that your personal ‘Ball Location’ is about 8 inches from the inside of your ‘Brace Shoe’ (‘Right For Righties’), 10 inches from the toe and 12 inches from the outside of your ‘Brace Foot’. Thus, you have a nifty ‘Distance Yard Stick’. We do NOT want to leave the ‘Ball Short’ … so add one extra inch for the back of the jar! If you miss the cup, expect to roll by about 12 to 17 inches. Watch the ‘Blow By’ so you know the break coming back! New ‘Short Ball Game’ now!

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GOLF – PUTTING YIPS

This ‘Golf Swing Affliction’ can apply to more than the ‘Putting Stroke’. It also affects your ‘Short Game’, especially delicate ‘Chipping’ procedures … ‘Full Swing’ too!

I recently read an article about curing the ‘Yips’ by making your ‘Down, Out Forward & Through’ stroke (‘DOFT’) with your ‘Captain Eyes Closed’! This is merely modifying the core issue and not fixing it!

Logical approach? Perhaps but not long term effective! No one shall make his or her ‘Putts’ with ‘Eyes Closed’ permanently … too much curiosity and the real attraction and power of sight! Meet and deal with the problem head on!

It is well-known that the ‘Yips’ is a mental, neuro-muscular affliction that emanates substantially from ‘Fear’ and certainly the resulting ‘Tension’. It is high alert ‘Twitchiness’!

What we cannot see, we shall fear less? Is that the ‘Logic’? Thus, when we make the ‘DOFT’ stroke with our ‘Captain Eyes Closed’, we reduce the direct ‘Ocular Data’ input, which reduces the source of the ‘Fear’. … Sensible resolution and mitigation? Perhaps!

Far better to deal with the ‘Mental Mechanical’ issues rather than to close ones eyes and pretend they do not exist. Sooner or later you shall have to cross the bridge! The true key to reducing the ‘Twitches’ is to relax and trust your skills. Establish and maintain positive contact between your two thumbs in the ‘Grip’. (see #2 Pressure Point’) Keep constant contact and light pressure … back and front swings! (see ‘The Penny Drill’)

“I Drive As I Putt” … utilize the same ‘#2 Pressure Point’ with your ‘Driver’.

How simple is this?

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PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE

STAGING YOUR SWING

A very common question concerns the difference between the ‘Short & Long Swings’ … between a short ‘Chip’ and a medium length ‘Bump & Run’.

It is not all that complicated! The primary difference is ‘Swing Length’ or ‘Brace Hand Travel Distance’ (‘BHTD’) and what that requires or does to the ‘Swinger’. Bigger swings make bigger ‘Circumferences In The Circle’ and require more ‘Lower Body Machine’ involvement … more ‘Load Wind or Coil’ … which provides more ‘Fire’.

The ‘Putting Stroke’ is a ‘Stage 1′ requiring ‘No Wrist Cock and No Pivot’. The ‘BHTD’ is very short.

As the swing gets bigger (‘Chipping & Bump & Run’), we achieve ‘Wrist Cock’ utilizing the three axes (Vertical, Horizontal and Longitudinal’). This involves more energy. (see ‘Upper Body Machine’ – ‘UBM’) This is a ‘Stage 2 Procedure’.

When we get even bigger, we ‘Automatically Engage The Pivot’ or ‘Lower Body Machine’ (‘LBM’). This higher energy swing would include ‘Knockdown Shots’, the ‘Punch Shot’ and finally the ‘Full Swing’. When both ‘Wrist Cock’ and Pivot’ are involved, we are making a ‘Stage 3 Procedure’.

Amazingly, the entire bag involves ’3 Procedures’ applied to only ‘Two Swing’! Making it even simpler, we call ‘All’ these the ‘Push and Punch Basics Procedures’. ‘Push’ is Stage 1 and 2′. ‘Punch’ is ‘Stage 3′.

Remember, the scientific definition of the ‘Full Swing’ is taking your ‘Brace Hand’ to your ‘Brace Shoulder’ … ONLY! Strive to not over-swing!

This is really ‘Keeping It Stupid Simple’!

 

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