The Golf Swing Blog - Golf Instruction and Golf Lessons for Golfers

Why Henry Hates Golf!

2008-12-17T09:53:00.002-05:00

Listen to this Issue! In the story below, you'll hear the interaction between Henry and Marc in a way that you can't get by just reading it - click here »

"I hate this game! I hate it! Why do I play this stupid game? I quit - I'm never playing again!" Henry blasted himself.

I heard Henry as he was walking to his car and wondered why he was so down on himself. Henry is a hard worker, I see him at least once a week hitting balls on the practice range. I'll be going to the first tee with a Golf Made Simple class to do our on-course Instruction and there will be Henry banging balls on the practice range - one after another – "looking for the magic".

I approached Henry and asked -

"What is wrong? Why do you hate golf? The last time I saw you practicing on the range, you had a smile on your face and you gave me the thumbs up." Henry says, "Marc, I'm so frustrated with this game. I put everything I got into trying to play better. And just when I think I got it, I go out on the course, like I did today.

I...I...I...I go out and embarrass myself. I get so mad by the 7th or 8th hole that I can't even bring myself to play the back 9 holes."

"Henry those are the words of a frustrated golfer - or should I say - The words of a frustrated golfer that knows he could do better than he is doing. Do you really hate golf?

Or are your expectations too high for your present skill level? I find it extremely important to truly know what your skill level is and then understand – 'OK, this is what I score, at this point if I get upset at myself for every little mistake I make, I will never allow myself to get better!"

Henry usually scores between 92 and 102 (except for the occasional 'blow-up round' where he scores around 107, but he also has rounds where his 1 mulligan a side allows him to stay in the high 90's). Henry has a deep desire to break 90 for the first time. And on top of that, he has the desire to score in the low 80's every time he plays. These are very admirable goals.

So I said -

"Henry, these are fantastic goals. And I know you'll achieve them. First, we need to outline what aspects of your game you need to improve to reach these goals. Too many times Golfers feel as though if they go to the driving range once a week to hit golf balls, they should expect to get better."

"But Marc," Henry said, "Isn't hitting the ball better, the key to lower scores?" If I go to the range once a week, I should be able to hit one or two buckets and learn to hit the ball straight. This way I will soon be in the low 80's."

"Henry, how long have you been trying to score in the low 80's?"

"For about 5 years", Henry answered.

"Henry, how long have you had the routine of going to the range and trying to hit the ball straight?" I could tell Henry could see where I was going by the bashful smile on his face. "Well Marc, I've been doing this on and off for 2 or 3 years. Is this not enough? Do I need to go to the range more often?"

"Henry, before we say you need to go to the range more often, tell me what you do when you go to the range? What's your routine? What's your PLAN?" Henry looks at me and with a confused look in his eyes and says, "What do you mean by PLAN? I go out and hit golf balls and try to make them go straight down the middle. If I want to hit the ball better, I need to learn to hit the ball straight! If I can't do that, I'll never score in the low 80's."

"What I mean by PLAN is – what are you doing to learn to hit the ball straight? The key to playing better golf has many factors involved. And consistency is a factor."

"Yes, that's what I want – consistency! That's what I'm practicing – hitting the ball consistently straight. That's why I go to the range!" Henry interrupted.

"OK Henry, I understand. But, let's look at a way we can put some consistency into your practice time. Many Golfers feel that if they pound ball after ball after ball, they will get it. I wish it were that easy. I've been around many great Players in my life and if there's one thing they all have in common, it's that they come to the practice range with a PLAN in their head on what they want to accomplish.

"See most Golfers expect to go out to the range and learn to hit the ball straight in that one session. The better Players know that isn't going to happen. They go to work on one thing at a time. They go to the range with the thought of working on one small aspect of their swing only – and it isn't just trying to hit the ball straight."

I continued -

"And the most important part of this routine is they do not venture away from their PLAN for that day. Most regular Golfers will go out to work just on hitting the ball straight. They might magically find something that works for a few swings and softly say to themselves 'I got it, I got it', and then just as fast as it appeared, it disappears. Henry, what does this Golfer do next? He starts to tinker with other things to try and recapture those straight shots. Then after a half-hour of tinkering with diminishing results, he leaves the range in frustration hating the game."

"That's me! That's me! Have you seen me at the range practicing and getting frustrated?" Henry asked. "Each time I go out to practice, I get 'it' - for a few swings. Then it disappears. I hate that!"

"Well Henry, this happens to everybody - even the best Players. Though, you know why it doesn't happen to them as much? Because they come to the practice range with a PLAN and they don't venture from that PLAN. They stick with it and they don't expect miracles. They know if they get just a little better every time they practice, that after a few times to the practice range, they will be that much better. But the average Golfer goes to the practice range thinking and expecting to solve all their swing flaws within hitting a few buckets of balls. So they always leave frustrated.

How do the best Players leave each practice session? They leave like they accomplished something and can't wait to practice again. They feel so much more satisfied with themselves than the regular Golfer. And that satisfaction turns into confidence on the golf course!"

"I want to practice like that! I want to feel like I am getting better every time I'm on the practice range! I want to become more consistent!" Henry said with so much hope and energy.

"Well Henry, first you'll need to ..."

Look for the solution that will help Henry become more consistent in next week's Golf Made Simple – Golf Improvement Weekly – as we outline what it takes to become more consistent and confident.

What points were made in this Chapter of "Why Henry Hates Golf!"

Set realistic expectations:

If you're scoring between 95 and 105 - it's great to want to break into the 80's, but first you need score a 93 before you can score an 89.

If you put too much pressure on yourself to have to score 44 on the front nine, you'll end up with a 49 instead. And knowing that you scored a 49 on the front nine might lead to put too much pressure on yourself to score a 40 on the back. What will happen on the back? Well, by the 15th hole when that 40 is out of reach ... you'll be happy to be walking off the 18th green with a 50-something for the back nine.

Strive for small improvements week after week – rather than trying for huge improvements every time you play or practice.

Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

Are You Ready To Sign-up For GMS?

Then Click Here To Start Improving Your Golf Game

A Special Bonus!

This week we're giving you a link to watch a segment of the GMS DVD – How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors – which is now the "#1 Selling Golf Swing DVD on Amazon.com".

And as we know that many of you have already purchased this DVD – and some may have actually taken the plastic wrapper off the case and popped it into your DVD player – it would be a good refresher to watch this clip again. This clip shows two GMS Swing Drills – The Belly Swing Drill and the Modified Belly Swing Drill. Then, after the demonstration of the two swing drills, we go into the exercise that accompanies these Drills - push-ups for 3 different levels.

In fact – Dr. Z, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada (he's traveled to see GMS in Palm Springs twice), recommends the DVD to his patients even if they're not Golfers. He tells them – “Listen, since you don't play golf – just fast forward through the golf drills. The exercises are excellent and they will really strengthen your core and relieve a lot of your back pain."

To view a segment that covers the Belly Swing Drill and Modified Belly Swing Drill, along with 3 different levels of Push-ups, email us at: pushup@golfmadesimple.com with the words 'Golf Improvement Weekly' in the subject line to receive a link and password to access the video segment from our DVD.

"#1 Selling Golf Swing DVD on Amazon.com"

To purchase the DVD click here »

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How To Make A Consistent Golf Swing With Your Driver

2008-12-09T14:58:00.002-05:00

The Driver is the name of the game. There's nothing more satisfying than walking off the 18th green knowing that you hit your Driver well all day. In fact, there are times that I play golf just because I want the adrenaline rush that accompanies hitting great drives on the golf course.

To put it bluntly – you need to hit your Driver well to have fun on the golf course. Yes, you can hit your Driver well and still not score well on the golf course. Though, it's very difficult to score well if you're hitting your Driver poor - tee shot after tee shot.

So saying that – let's talk about your Driver and how you can start experiencing the euphoria of great drives. Let's start out with a little quiz:

When hitting your Driver – should you try to:

A) Swing harder than you swing your pitching wedge

B) Swing easier than you swing your pitching wedge

C) Swing with the same amount of effort as you swing your pitching wedge

Answer C

So, if your Driver is holding you back – it could be caused by the effort you're putting into swinging your golf club. We often have many Golfers coming to see us either swinging way too hard with their Driver or (and this may surprise many of you) we see almost as many Golfers swinging way too easy with their Driver.

We see the greatest improvement from our Golfers when they learn and understand that if they put the same amount of effort into swinging your Driver as you do with your pitching wedge – that you'll see incredible improvement in a short time.

Why is this?

Well, let's start with the swinging too hard problem that many face tee shot after tee shot. Listen, everybody at one time or the other has been accused (or self-accused) of swinging too hard at the golf ball with your Driver. "Oh, dang it – I just tried to kill that golf ball!"

I'm sure Tiger has done the same – so you're in good company.

It's frustrating that you know that you shouldn't swing so hard at the golf ball, yet time after time, slice after slice – we continue to do it! Believe me, there isn't any way to guarantee that you'll never swing too hard ever again. Though, there are proven ways to make sure you swing smoother most of the time – or at least 9 out of 10 times.

Though, what about the swinging too easy issue you might be experiencing? There's a lot more of these type's of Golfers out there than you may have thought. You actually maybe doing this and not even know it because many times Golfers are swinging too easy – yet it appears to others that you're swinging too hard.

I guess a simpler way of saying it is these Golfers decelerate their swings when swinging their Driver. Which may come as a shock to many because deceleration is often pegged to other clubs such as wedges (around the green) and putting strokes. Many Golfers can't imagine that they're decelerating with their Driver – yet many of you are.

The question that is often asked when this subject is brought up is – "Why would anyone decelerate their Driver?" And the best answer I can give you is that it's probably because you've been accused of swinging too hard too many times. And we all know – it's been pounded into our heads – that swinging too hard with your Driver is one of the '7 Deadly Sins' we can commit on the golf course. What's another 'Deadly Sin' on the golf course – 'Thou shall not use your ball retriever to fish for more golf balls after you found yours!' Once you find it, drop it, hit it and move along. Amen.

So the affect of constantly being told that you're swinging too hard is that you end up standing over the golf ball wanting to hit a good tee shot, while at the same time you're convincing yourself to "swing nice 'n slow, swing nice 'n slow, swing nice ‘n slow". It's almost like you're trying to hypnotize yourself.

And using the philosophy of – if you hear the same thing over and over, you'll start believing it – you start to be more and more cautious about swinging too hard.

So to give you a better picture/understanding of what I'm speaking about: There are two ways to decelerate – you could be decelerating your body so that your arms are out racing your body to the golf ball (thus becoming disconnected) or you could be decelerating your arms and having your body out race your arms to the golf ball (also becoming disconnected). Either way – you're becoming disconnected and causing yourself to lose control of your club, your club face and thus ... your golf ball.

Either way – it'll appear to others that are watching you (and to yourself) that you're swinging too hard because you lost control. Yet, is it that you're swinging too hard? Or is it that since your arms are out racing your body (which had decelerated) – it just appears as if your arms are swinging too hard.

Think of it this way - if you're body didn't decelerate and was moving along with your arms – you'd hit a great shot and it would appear as if you had made a smooth, fluid, easy golf swing. Yet, because your body slowed down – it makes it appear as if you were swinging your arms too fast. When in reality, your arms were moving at the proper pace.

And the same is true vise versa: if your arms slow down and your body continues to move as it should – others will be telling you that you're swinging too hard and that "you're getting way too far ahead of the ball".

Yet, in reality, all that's happening is that your arms were decelerating. And because you looked so discombobulated – it appears as if you were swinging harder than you should.

Do you want to become more consistent with your Driver? Learn to control your Pace of Swing. GMS uses more than a few Drills to help Golfers to become more consistent with their Driver. The Golfers that continue to practice these Drills see tremendous improvement off the tee with their Driver. Tremendous Improvement!

Now, I obviously can't get into great detail here in this format – so I'll go through a few fairly quickly. The first is almost always mentioned in the Testimonials we receive and display on our website and in Golf Improvement Weekly – simply "Tick Tock". The Golfers that are serious about "Tick Tock" – improve dramatically. The Golfers that aren't committed about it still improve – though maybe not as much as the ones that are serious about it. So simply – get serious and stay committed to your "Tick Tock".

The second is the Half Swing Driver Drill. I can't think of a better way to warm-up than Half Swing Drivers. The control that you achieve over your Driver using the Half Swing Driver Drill when it's a part of the 29 Ball Warm-up is incredible. In fact, I know one Golfer that has improved dramatically that says that he attributes the 29 Ball Warm-up to being one of the main reasons he was so much more consistent in 2008 than ever before. And he maybe the world's biggest advocate for the Half Swing Driver Drill!

The third is the Alternating Clubs Drill. What we have found is that Golfer's that are constantly practicing with their lower number clubs and then gradually moving up to their longer clubs and eventually to their Driver – get into the habit of swinging each club harder and harder. And then after they discover they're swinging their Driver too hard – they move into the decelerating debacle I mentioned above.

The Alternating Clubs Drill allows the Golfer to feel as if every club is being swung with the same amount of effort. It's amazing how this Drill allows a Golfer to swing the club more controlled in a short period of time. And because of this, its fun to watch our Golfers smile again as they walk up to the 1st tee in anticipation of hitting a good Driver as opposed to glum and hesitant about hitting another you know what.

And it's even more fun watching that same Golfer hit a fantastic Driver, and then walk off the tee feeling great about their golf game, their golf swing and their Driver – as opposed to you know what.

Saying that – It's amazing to me that with the success that Golfers see with the GMS program – that people choose others methods. When other programs are struggling so badly that they are constantly lowering prices to get customers because they never have any returnees – GMS had a record 2008. And that record can be attributed to the hundreds of returning Golfers and the friends they brought back with them.

And there's nothing more rewarding than seeing a Golfer that comes back to see us and who says something along the lines of – "I had so much fun playing Golf this past year and I attribute it all to GMS, the Drills and the PLAN you gave me."

So if you come to see us in what remains of 2008 or in 2009 – we're continuing our commitment to helping Golfers continually improve their golf games. You can trust that in addition to all the GMS Drills (some mentioned above), we're still leading the Golf Instruction Industry in developing and improving our program so that our Golfers continue to improve at the fastest rate in the business.

Our belief at GMS is – 'When you succeed in Golf – we succeed in Golf!' Therefore we want to see you play your best golf ever!

The Monkey swings too hard, then swings too easy, then swings too hard, then …

The Player finds consistency with their Driver by swinging all clubs the same

Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

Are You Ready To Sign-up For GMS?

Then Click Here To Start Improving Your Golf Game

#1 Selling Golf Swing DVD on Amazon.com

By the way – thank you for helping our DVD – How To Improve Your Golf Swing Indoors become the #1 selling Golf Swing DVD on Amazon.com. There are more golf DVD's being sold on Amazon.com than you can ever imagine and yet – ours is #1. Thank you – for those who have purchased the DVD – I know you're enjoying it. Keep using it and you're going to continue seeing improved Results!

To purchase the DVD click here »

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Hit Your Driver Like A Top Tour Player

2008-11-26T09:16:00.002-05:00

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of GIW

Here we go again with Driving Accuracy. As this may come as a shock for any Golfer that has been diligent in trying to keep their golf ball on the short grass – Driving Accuracy when it comes to simply hitting Fairways is the most overrated stat in all sports. Now, I know that reading this information probably upsets many Golfers whose battle cry on the links is simply – "if I could just hit more fairways I could …!"

And I know that I risk you canceling your subscription to GIW if you read this and say – "Marc, you're a complete idiot. Hitting Fairways is the most important thing in golf." But if you could just leave your preconceived notions in the next room for a few minutes – you might actually see something you've never thought of before.

When we're speaking about Driving Accuracy – yes, you need to keep your golf ball in play to have fun on the golf course. There's nothing worse than hitting your tee shots into the trees or water or losing golf balls. It's incredibly upsetting to always be taking penalties or having to chip out of the trees.

We all want to be in position to have our next shot have a chance of getting on the green – so being out of play with your tee-shot is down-right frustrating. And frankly – I've seen Golfers quit the game over the agony of not being able to keep their tee shots in play. I'm sure we're all in agreement that nothing causes more frustration than errant tee shots.

Though, as you'll see - the top Golfers aren't worried about hitting Fairways and if you watch their games and then look at their stats – this can be backed up. The top Golfers keep their golf balls in play, hit the golf ball far, are very good around the green and make putts. Whereas the average Golfer trying to break 90 or 100 is overwhelming consumed with hitting Fairways (and is often not happy hitting 8 out of 14) – the best Players in the world (that score in the 60's) hit the same 8 out of 14 Fairways you're not happy with.

We see it week after week, year after year, Tiger win after Tiger win. What do we see? We see that the winner is "almost never" the most accurate Driver. And the only reason I say "almost never" is because it will happen once a decade – so I can't just say "never" because someone will send me an email saying – "Well, Harvey Bufufneck won the 1998 Camden Society of Urologists Tournament and he led the field in Fairways Hit."

I'm not just saying this because it's my opinion. I'm stating the facts based on Results. GMS is a Results Based Program. Everything we do is based on having our Golfers see Results – as opposed to most Instruction that's built on Theories and Assumptions. We determine if a Golfer is doing better based on their Results and we have found that Golfer Results don't improve even 1 stroke solely based on hitting Fairways.

Yes, Golfers will improve dramatically by learning how to keep the golf ball in play – but they don't improve one stroke by hitting more Fairways. We have conducted tests with Golfers that have backed this up. For example: We have a test where we play the 220 Yard Game. We assume the Golfer hits a 220 yard drive on each Par 4. We put one ball 220 yards from the tee in the middle of the fairway and we put another golf ball the same distance, but to the side of the fairway.

The Golfer then plays each ball until they get it into the hole. The Results show that the scores stay the same regardless of whether the ball was hit from the Fairway or from the rough. Yes, sometimes the Golfer's score on one hole will be better from the Fairway vs. off the Fairway – but on the next hole it maybe the opposite. All in all – the scores after playing 12 Par 4's come out to be the same. Try it yourself.

Now let's go to the Pro's on Tour. Let's start with the Nationwide Tour – at the Nationwide Tour Championship a couple of weeks ago: The winner (1st) was ranked 39th out of 58 Golfers in Hitting Fairways. The guy in last place (58th) was ranked 6th in Hitting Fairways. The Winner was ranked 12th in Greens in Regulation. The guy ranked 6th in Hitting Fairways was ranked 45th in Greens in Regulation.

This goes against the beliefs of many struggling Golfers. The struggling Golfer wants to hit Fairways because they believe it will lead to more Greens. The Results show that's not the case. Read the above stats again to get an even clearer picture. This is happening week after week, year after year, Tiger win after Tiger win.

Which just shows that hitting Fairways has very little to do with hitting Greens. Though, to clarify – missing the Fairway and being in the rough is very different than hitting into the trees or water or losing golf balls. But, this is to show that the Golfer with the singular thought on the tee being Fairways, Fairways, Fairways – might be holding themselves back from better scores.

More proof? The guy leading the PGA Tour in Driving Accuracy (Olin Browne hitting 80% of the Fairways) is ranked 165th in Scoring Average. While the guy leading in Scoring Average (Phil Mickelson) is ranked 181st in Fairways Hit (hitting just 55% - meaning Browne is hitting 25% more Fairways). The difference in the amount of Fairways hit is staggering, but so is the difference in their winnings (which tells the story of how well they score week after week).

We're not saying for you to be wild off the tee. You need to keep your golf ball in play. But, too many Golfers are so worried about hitting Fairways that they don't allow themselves to make a free flowing swing. The tension that you're creating (by feeling you need to hit your shot in the Fairway) is doing more damage than good. The tension you're creating is actually causing you to hit drives out of play. The worry you're creating about hitting your tee shots in the Fairway could be causing you to lose 20 to 50 yards off your tee shots!

On the other hand – take Mickelson – there's little regard in his game for hitting Fairways. His game is about keeping it in play (with the occasional ball out of play), getting good distance from his tee shots (to allow for easier clubs to the green), having a strong wedge game and then making putts. And as much as Golfers believe that Mickelson and Woods have different styles of play – they don't. They both use the same PLAN mentioned above!

I'm not saying that your style should be like Tiger's or Mickelson's style, but look at the top Players in the game according to best Scoring Average: Mickelson, Garcia, Singh, Harrington, Kim and Villegas. They're ranked: 181st, 153rd, 150th, 154th, 159th and 166th respectively as far as hitting Fairways. While all these phenomenal Players are averaging only hitting around 55% of the Fairways – they are still achieving better scores than other Golfers hitting 80% of the Fairways.

Yet, you're styling your game around 80% of Fairways. If so, you're playing golf like the bottom half of the Players on Tour. Golf Made Simple believes that your PLAN should be based on the Top Players on Tour – Keep your ball in play, improving the distance you hit the golf ball (without causing anymore inaccuracy), having a strong wedge game and then making putts. This formula works – we have the stats from our Golfers to prove this.

Why anyone would even consider taking any other Instruction is mind boggling to me!

GMS would like you to improve your scores by helping you to improve your golf swing to strike the golf ball better. This will help you to keep more golf balls in play as well as hit your Drives farther. Which will help you to have shorter clubs to the green. Which will allow you to be more accurate and have shorter putts. Which will allow you to have better scores.

That's how the top 6 Golfers mentioned above do it year after year. Oh, and that other guy seems to be doing the same thing – you know who I mean – some guy named Eldrick. Or better known as Tiger Woods – the guy that this year was ranked 169th in Driving Accuracy and 1st in Greens in Regulation.

Improve your golf swing so that you hit the golf ball more solid and keep it in play. Don't improve it just for the sake of hitting Fairways. The Results show that Fairways Hit is extremely overrated. The Results show that the stat of "Keeping Your Golf Ball In Play" is far more important for you if you want to play consistent golf.

The Monkey is so worried about hitting the Fairway that tension leads to inconsistent golf swings

The Player is too focused on their Tick Tock to worry about the Fairway

Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

By the way, last week’s offer for the GMS Indoor Putting Drill was a major success. With over 1,000 requests last Tuesday alone – as well as 100’s of requests each day through the weekend - including many from people who weren’t even subscribed to GIW (the offer was forwarded from Friends). It has been both borderline overwhelming as well as very rewarding to be able to have so many requests – as well as GIW readers forwarding the offer to friends.

So, just in case you missed last week’s GIW or are new to GIW – you can still receive the Indoor Putting Drill by emailing us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put GIW in the subject line.

We hope you enjoy the drill – but more importantly – we hope you practice the drill.

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Golf Practice In The Winter

2008-11-20T18:45:00.002-05:00

Are you tired of going into each new golf season with high expectations and then ending your season not reaching your goals? This is often followed by you promising yourself that you're going to work hard during the winter on your grip, your swing plane, keeping your head still, blah, blah, blah. It seems as if every year around this time I get the same emails - "Marc, where I live I can't play during the Winter, but I want to be ready for the Spring. What can I practice inside my house during the Winter?"

Working on your golf swing in your house without hitting golf balls or let me rephrase that by saying - without hitting golf balls and being able to see the flight of the golf ball - isn't going to help you. Or worse - it could be the start of the infamous "Fiddling Disease!" Have you ever had "Fiddling Disease"?

"I'm working on sliding my left thumb over to the right about a 1/2 inch and extending it a little" - "I'm trying to come through impact with a straighter left knee so that I hit against a strong left side" - "I'm trying to block the water hazards out of my mind. If I can close my eyes and click my heels together three times and say there's no water, there's no water, there's no water - I think it will stop the ball from going into the water."

Listen – you and I know that once Spring weather comes around, you won't spend as much time as you should on the practice putting green. You're going to be either out on the golf course or hitting golf balls on the driving range. Now, I'm not saying that's what you should be doing – I'm saying that that's reality.

So use the time you have during the winter to do some putting practice. In our bi-weekly GMS Alumni Bulletin that we send out only to GMS Golfers – we asked everyone to email us if they wanted for us to send them a great putting drill/game they can use inside. The response was spectacular.

Now, we can't offer the same drill here – but we do have another Putting Drill we'd like to offer you that will help you with your distance control. Because believe it or not – 3 putts are caused by not being able to control your distance more than they're caused by directional problems. Additionally – making more 1 putts is based more on Distance Control than Directional Control - but that explanation will be left for my Instructors in our GMS 3-day Program.

So, if you'd like for us to email you a special Indoor Version of an excellent GMS Putting Drill that you could spend hours on this Winter - email us at IndoorPuttingDrill@GolfMadeSimple.com and put GIW in the subject line.

Spend your time on this drill during the Winter and your putting will improve dramatically. And if your putting improves – your scores improve!

The Monkey spends their Winter at a golf dome or heated driving range working on their Driver

The Player spends their Winter improving their scores by working on their putting stroke

Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

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Hit The Golf Ball Farther With Your Driver

2008-11-12T09:35:00.003-05:00

Everybody wants more distance with their Driver. How can you get more distance?

The old joke goes that if you want more distance with your Driver – move to Denver, Colorado. Where the air is thin and you get an extra 10% on your drives because of it.

Yet, that's not reality for most of us – plus the golf course architects have gotten smarter lately by making the golf courses out there – 10% longer. So the old joke doesn't work anymore – it all equals out in Denver nowadays.

What can you do to hit your Driver farther?

You can learn to speed up your golf swing. The faster your golf club is moving as it hits the golf ball – the more potential you have of hitting the golf ball farther. Please note that I say ‘potential' because faster club head speed doesn't guarantee farther golf shots.

You can learn how to hit closer to the center of the club face on your golf club. The closer the golf ball makes contact with the center of the club face – the farther the golf ball will travel. To see for yourself, you can do the test by bouncing a golf ball on different areas of the club face of a Driver and see how high it bounces from each spot.

You can change the characteristics of the Driver you use. Meaning you can purchase a Driver with a longer shaft, more or less loft, or one that's more forgiving than your current Driver.

All three of these Result Based Approaches can and will help you to hit your Driver farther.

Now you must decide which to work on because you shouldn't work on all 3 at once. That's just too much to do at one time. Jack of all trades – Master of none. Become a Master of one before you try to become a Master of all.

Or in other words – You might be able to multi-task in the office, but you can't multi-task with your golf swing!

So which one will you work on first? That's up to you to decide. Though if you're going to do it on your own - be careful. Because I know many Golfers that have tried to work on increasing the distance they hit the golf ball that have botched up their golf swing beyond belief. You must do it correctly or there are consequences.

Swing speed isn't just about swinging harder. Yet most Golfers that try to hit their Driver farther on a long par 4 or Par 5 – usually try to swing harder (most of the time with poor results). And along those same lines - more club head speed isn't about trying to swing the club head faster. There's more that goes into increasing your club head speed than those two thoughts.

Saying that, even if you did increase your club head speed, but you're not hitting the golf ball closer to the center of the club face more consistently – increased swing speed isn't going to help that much. Actually, increased club head speed without better control over your club head will create worse golf shots.

The first thing you should really be working on is improving your Centerness of Hit.

This is how GMS does it: GMS Level 1 is about Centerness of Hit. Learning to control your golf swing so that you hit the center of the club face more often. GMS Level 1.5 is about continuing to improve the consistency of hitting closer to the center of the club face by reviewing and perfecting Level 1 drills, along with adding more advanced drills to increase your feel of the golf swing. GMS Level 2 is about further improving the results you see in your golf swing by helping you to increase club head speed (while maintaining and increasing your control of the club head) which is possible because of the improvements you made in GMS Level 1 and GMS Level 1.5.

Why does this process work so effectively?

Let me answer that by describing what the normal Golfer does to improve. They try to work on everything at once. They try to turn their shoulders more, they try to turn their hips faster, they try to shift their weight with more aggression, they try to increase the lag of their club head on the downswing, they try to swing harder on their follow-through. They try kooky Theories like trying to decide between a one plane golf swing and a two plane golf swing; they then get so confused while working on which plane or planes to swing on, that frustration carries them over to trying something called a stack and tilt. A stack and what?

Frustration can be the greatest motivator for a Golfer to try something new and there’s not a better merchant of the latest, most outrageous swing Theories than the golf magazines that prey on the weak.

Bad Golfers are like sheep – they flock together on the driving range and have conversations such as – “What are ewe working on?” “Oh, I'm working on trying to bah, bah, bah as I bah, bah, bah.”

There's no PLAN in any of the above. It's like these Golfers use the ‘throw it all against the wall and see what works' Theory. No wonder so many Golfers never improve – even after taking the typical run of the mill golf lesson. Because regardless of all the Theories and Assumptions they attempt, there's still never any consistency or there's the once in a while magic you get from that lesson that sticks around for two weeks and then mysteriously disappears just as fast.

GMS has so many Golfers that instantly see success and because of the PLAN we use – that success continues and their improvement will actually accelerate once they get back home!

Or you can be like 98% of the Golfers that are playing golf that haven't improved their handicap in 5 years because they either have given up trying to improve because of frustration or are still jumping from tip to tip and from one plane swing to two plane swing to stack and tilt to who knows what's next.

The Monkey wants more distance and will try anything to achieve it

The Player wants more distance also, though they focus on a PLAN that's based on proven Results

Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

*Look below this week's poll for last week's results.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

Turning Your Slice Into A Draw

What's the best way for someone who continually ‘Slices' the golf ball to learn how to ‘Draw' the golf ball? Or in other words – how can a right handed Golfer whose ball curves right learn to curve it left?

- CLICK ON THE BEST ANSWER -

A. Roll your wrists (or forearms) over at impact

B. Set-up with a closed stance

C. Swing from the inside to outside

D. Become more connected

*Please note: The results of this poll will be announced in next week's issue!

Last Week's Poll Question Results:

Who won the 2008 PGA Tour Event played on the Copperhead Golf Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club?

The answer was B – Sean O'Hair won his 2nd PGA Tour Event over a golf course that played very tough against an excellent field of PGA Tour Players ... click here »

Votes received by the readers of GIW:

A) Boo Weekly – 962 votes (45%)

B) Sean O'Hair – 931 votes (44%)

C) Ernie Els – 181 votes (8%)

D) Retief Goosen – 43 votes (2%)

E) Davis Love III – 16 votes (.7%)

Maybe Davis Love III saw the early returns (exit polls) and became motivated by only having 16 people out of over 2,000 thinking he could've won a tournament in early 2008. I say this because he went out this past weekend and won the last PGA Tour event of the year - which just so happens to be the first tournament he's won in two years. To read more about this past weekends PGA Tour Event - check out the Stat Of The Week in this issue.

How To Play With Slow Golfers

2008-10-21T21:24:00.002-05:00

Strategies to play well while others play slow

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly

More than a few Golfers have written to me asking if I could write an article on "how to keep my poise and play golf with very slow Golfers". This seems to be an issue that affects a lot of Golfers and your ability to keep your rhythm going on the golf course.

Let me start by telling you a story about my golf game the other day. Unfortunately, I don't play as much golf as you probably think I do. So when I do have a chance to play – it's a special treat. Then add the fact that I was going to meet an old friend I hadn't seen in over a year and that I was also playing at my all-time favorite golf course ... well, you can then understand my disappointment being paired up with Mr. Coors Light.

It's difficult playing with someone that gets on your nerves regardless of whether they're very slow or are constantly talking when you're getting ready to play a shot or opening beers at 8:30 am (and continuing to do so every other hole for 36 holes) – or in my case last week with Mr. Coors Light: having him accomplish all of the above.

Needless to say - it's very difficult to concentrate on your PLAN with all of this going on around you.

When you have a slow Golfer in your group; the toughest task for many Golfers is that you always end up being the last person to finish putting on the green. And because of the slow Golfer – there's always a group in the middle of the fairway waiting for you to putt whilst they have their legs crossed, leaning on the club they want to hit and staring at you to hurry-up as they mumble to each other about how slow you are.

It gets to the point of you wanting to look back at that group so that you can scream – "It's not me. It's him! He's driving me crazy!!!"

Though with you being the last Golfer and feeling as though the weight of the world is on you to hurry up and putt fast so that you can get off the green in the next two seconds ... well, let's just say that you miss a lot of 5 to 10 footers that you should've made. Which means you have a lot of potential Pars that become Bogey's and a lot of Bogey's that become dreaded Double Bogey's.

How do you overcome this?

It may not be easy to do, but the first step is to tell that person and let it be known early in the round. This happened the other day in the two rounds my friend and I were paired with Mr. Coors Light. We started off with a good pace and were right on the group in front of us all the way through the 7th hole. Then we started to fall behind.

As I started to notice the group behind us beginning to wait for us in the fairway, I said I needed to do two things: One, watch my Pace of Play. I might've been starting to slow down to the speed of Mr. Coors Light. Two, I needed to speak with him after we get off the green.

Now, this isn't always an easy thing to do, especially when you have a guy on his 4th beer at 10:15 am. Though, I needed to do it or it would've affected not just my game, but my friend's game, the Golfers behind us, the Golfers behind them and the Golfers the rest of the day as the pace for the entire course would've been slowed because of our group. Besides, do you think the Ranger on the golf course that day would've done anything? He didn't even notice us being two holes behind the group in front of us as he was so absorbed driving slowly down the cart path peering into the bushes looking for lost golf balls.

Which brings me to a point – why do so many Rangers drive around with golf ball retrievers? What do they need them for besides to snag golf balls that they load up in a plastic bag in their golf cart that each day gets emptied into their personal golf bag?

But going back to the Golfer in my group enjoying his Rocky Mountain Refreshment; I just said – 'Mr. Coors Light, we're falling behind the group in front of us and the group behind us is often waiting on us. I'm going to do my part to speed up my play – will you do the same?'

Ask me if that worked. Of course it worked! His response and the response I receive just about every time is – 'Oh, I didn't realize we were playing slow. I'll step up my pace. Thank you.' Most Golfers don't really understand they're slow until you tell them. And nobody wants to be known as a slow Golfer – so people will actually appreciate you for not allowing them to get that reputation.

On-the-other-hand, often times the toughest Golfers to play with are the Ball Hawks. You know who I'm speaking about – they're the ones that can't stand to lose a golf ball. They search forever for their golf ball in the trees or the water. And when you do muster up the courage to say – 'I think that's gone. Why don't you just drop one?' They often come up with the one rule they know in the rule book – "Well the rule book says I can search for 5 minutes!"

And with this Golfer, having by the 15th hole having lost 7 golf balls – you've spent 35 minutes of your round looking for golf balls that were never found. No wonder golf can take 5 hours to play!

What do I do in that situation? I bring extra golf balls. Not Pro V1's of course. Though, whenever I help a Golfer find a golf ball, I always seem to find at least one other golf ball ... 'what were you hitting?' "I'm hitting a Pinnacle Gold" 'No, this is a Top Flite'.

So where does the Top Flite go? Either to that Golfer or into my golf bag (not for me to hit – it's for me to give to another Golfer that loses their golf ball).

Once a Golfer goes into the trees to look, I always help them look. After one minute of searching – I might say: 'I think that one's gone. Here hit this one. I believe you could drop it right here.' And then I proceed to drop the golf ball in that spot for them.

Trust me; a Ball Hawk is going to walk over to the golf ball you just dropped on the ground – they can't help it! Don't cheat for them and give them a preferential lie, but don't put it in a spot where they would rather keep looking for their golf ball in hopes of an easier shot than you gave them. And please, make it an attractive enough of a golf ball for them to call off their golf ball search.

'What did you hit - a Maxfli? Yeah, I think it's gone. Here hit this Top Flite xl2000 – have you ever hit one of these - it's a pretty good golf ball.' And before they can say a word, drop it onto a good lie which gives them an opening to the fairway. And then say – 'You actually have a shot here.'

Ask me if that works. Of course it works! The answer just about every time, after they see where you dropped the golf ball is – "Yeah, you're right, that golf ball's gone. Here keep this one; I'll hit one of the golf balls I found." Because of course they found 4 golf balls in their search, didn't find theirs, but would've kept looking because I believe they like the enjoyment of finding as many golf balls as they can.

Now, if they don't get the hint or they feel obligated to continue searching – then you have to become more direct: 'Coors Light, you're not going to find that one. It's in there pretty good. C'mon, we need to keep our pace of play moving. Besides, if you do find that ball – you won't have a shot anyway. Use this one and make a good shot.'

Nothing of what I'm saying to do is a bad thing. It's good for everybody involved – including the Golfer that's loosing a lot of golf balls. Have you ever noticed that the longer a Golfer looks for a golf ball without finding it – the more frustrated they become. And of course the more frustrated they become – the worse they play. So by you helping them to find a golf ball sooner – they'll actually have more enjoyment on the golf course and eventually play better.

Playing with slow Golfers and playing your best Golf is tough, if not impossible. Though often times, the slow Golfer doesn't realize that they're a slow Golfer and they just need some gentle reminding.

The Monkey is the Golfer that constantly lets another Golfer influence their play on the golf course

The Player is prepared with a PLAN to play with anyone

Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Wrists Or No Wrists When Chipping?

2008-10-08T14:23:00.003-05:00

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly

Should your wrists be used when chipping around the green? Most Golfers advocate not using any wrists – though some Golfers do encourage a limited use of the hands and wrists. So the question that many Golfers often ask themselves –

"How should I do it? Wrists or no wrists?"

There are so many different Theories and Assumptions on how to play a shot when you're around the green such as 'wrists or no wrists'. For example, you have to make the choice whether to use 'multiple clubs depending on the shot' versus the idea of 'becoming a master of one club around the green'. Then we have the debate of whether you should 'get the ball rolling as soon as possible' versus if you should 'keep it in the air half the distance and let it roll the other half'.

Why do Golfers have such a hard time agreeing on techniques?

Regardless of the situation - everybody and their mother (or father in this politically correct era) is more than eager to enlighten you on how you should play your shots around the green. And as one fed-up PGA Professional said after he was schooled by a Golfer he was trying to help, that matter-of-factly told him that a friend taught him a better way to play the chip shot than the way the Professional was advising – ‘There are around 26,000 PGA Professionals in America, but unfortunately there are around 10 million Instructors.'

"The only way you should chip is the way I chip. I use a putting stroke and make sure I don't use any wrists at all. You need to keep your wrists completely out of the chip shot. That's the way I do it! Rock your shoulders, rock your shoulders, rock your shoulders. You don't want to use too much right hand – if you do, you'll start scooping. And never forget - DON'T MOVE YOUR HEAD!!! If you peek too early, you're going to take your eye off the ball. So keep your head still"

Listen, I can't even remember to take the recyclables out to the curb on Thursday morning and that's with constant reminding from my wife which includes (but isn't limited to) – reminders at dinner on Wednesday night and an under the breath "recyclables in the morning" after she gives me a kiss before turning out the lights; and if that isn't enough, she still lives me the infamous post-it note on my steering wheel every Thursday morning. So if that gives me trouble - how am I supposed to keep track of all these chipping tips?

So what's the true story about chipping around the green? How is it that the best Players in the world look so relaxed over the ball, make it look so easy and get just about everything into tap-in distance? While the Golfers at your local golf course set-up to the golf ball with a confused look on their face – almost as if they're going through my recycling checklist (newspapers in the green container, plastic in the blue container, do the cans go in the white container and glass in the yellow container or is it glass in the white and cans in the yellow?)

And I believe that a lot of the mechanical swing thoughts that many Golfers wrestle with every time they're around the green can be eliminated if you understood wrists or no wrists. If you watch a lot of great Players around the green – I believe that you'll see more hand and wrist movement than a lot of Golfers think should be employed. Because the philosophy of having Firm Wrists has morphed into Tight Wrists for the majority of Golfers you see at your local golf courses. And Tight Wrists translates into ‘No Feel'. And ‘No Feel' is the beginning of mass frustration.

Now, there always will be someone that writes to me saying – "I can't believe you're telling Golfers that they need to use their wrists! How can you call yourself a Golf Professional?" Now, I didn't exactly say that the Golfer needs to use their wrists, but I'm not saying that you shouldn't use them either. This is not an issue of it having to be "either black or white". There can be a skillful combination of your hands, arms and body combining to produce a nice stroke.

We have found that there are two types of Golfers that struggle around the green – if you struggle around the green, you probably fit into one these two groups below:

Golfer 1: has the problem of trying to scoop underneath the golf ball. Often times hitting the ground before the golf ball and chunking or catching the top of the ball (because they're scared of chunking) and skulling it across the green.

Golfer 2: used to have the problem of scooping under the golf ball, but was told they need to chip with no wrists. They were told that they need to keep their wrists locked as they make a pendulum stroke while being focused on making sure they swing the same distance back as they will swing forward.

Most Golfers start out as Golfer 1 and then are influenced into becoming Golfer 2. Though Golfer 2 will initially see success with this style of chipping - it may only be short-lived success. Because each time this technique works – Golfer 2 starts to focus more and more on locking their wrists tighter and tighter. And as tighter and tighter becomes the focus – the ‘Feel' of your stroke begins to deteriorate as each chip becomes worse and worse.

Though after each subsequent bad shot, Golfer 2 will stay adamant about having to lock their wrists more and more – "I need to keep my right hand out of this shot!" – as they believe "that it has to be the wrists that are screwing me up". So the next shot they'll put their complete focus on holding the club tighter than their last shot. And after a few more unsuccessful chips – this Golfer's grip on the golf club starts to resemble the hands of Hulk Hogan as he tightens his death grip around The Iron Sheik's throat as the crowd pumps up and encourages Hogan with chants of "USA, USA, USA!"

This is an unfortunate scenario because by getting your grip too tight and locking your arms to the point that ‘Feel' has nothing to do with the golf shot about to be played - you start to struggle more than you did when you were Golfer 1. Which then leads you down the path of no return. What's that path? It starts with going on Amazon.com and ordering the latest Dave Pelz book.

By the way – there are over 270 used Dave Pelz books available for purchase on Amazon.com in addition to the thousands more available every Saturday at garage sales across North America – which maybe the best illustration to how unvaluable (not invaluable – unvaluable) they were to their original purchasers.

And as I climb down from my soap box, I'd like to say ---

Let's go back to the beginning of your problems around the green. How did you become too wristy in the first place? It most likely has to do with thinking you need to get underneath the golf ball to make it go up in the air. So you resort to trying to scoop the golf ball off the ground with the finesse of a short order cook in a New Jersey diner flipping silver dollar pancakes.

But alas, someone sees you struggling and shuffles over to you to allow you to bask in their knowledge of the golf swing. "You know, you're using way too much wrists in that swing. You need to keep your wrists locked like I do and make a pendulum like swing."

If you watch some of the great Players that play this game, you won't see many use an excessive amount of wrist around the green, though at the same time – you won't see many that have their wrists locked. Watch the best Players in the world and you might see them using more of their hands and wrists than even they'd like to admit they do. No, you won't see them scooping under the golf ball where their wrists curl up after impact like many of the Golfer 1's you see at the local golf courses. Though, you also won't see the Hulk Hogan death grip, wrist lock, arms stiff as a 2x4 swing that you might see with many of your fellow Golfer 2's at the local golf courses.

The Monkey has a chipping stroke that has all the finesse of a battle for the World Wrestling Federation World Championship

The Player knows that there needs to be a blend of feel and mechanics

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

At Least We Have Golf!

2008-10-03T10:34:00.002-05:00

Click Here To Listen to The Audio Version of Golf Improvement Weekly

The golf course may be the one place that we can all congregate and be on the same side – supporting to each other after bad shots and cheering one another after fabulous drives. It's the place that a Democrat can give a pat on the back to a Republican and a Republican can high-5 a Democrat. It's the place that Conservatives can say “Alright, awesome shot – that was fantastic” to a Liberal and a Liberal can say "it was a pleasure to play with you" to a Conservative.

On the golf course it's ‘all for one and one for all' – enjoyable golf is a bipartisan initiative.

On the golf course - political views are often not exchanged. The talk is about golf and being around people you enjoy. It's the one place that we're all supporting the same agenda – ‘the search for consistency on the golf course'. And when a Golfer that's been struggling all day – finally hits a good golf shot: we all get excited for that person – regardless of political party, skin color, religious background or even if they live in New Jersey - and that's the way it should be. The golf course is the Green Zone – it's the place where we can get away from all the nonsense.

Sure, you might be unlucky every-once-in-a-while to get stuck with a jerk – but that's just the way it is. The good people that you meet and the friendships that you create – far out-weigh the occasional annoying Golfer you're stuck with for 18 holes.

Whenever I open up the newspaper – all I read about is war

Whenever I switch-on the television – all I see is Democrats hating Republicans and Republicans hating Democrats

‘At least we have Golf'

Whenever I turn on the radio – all I hear is that we're going from recession into depression

And whenever my computer finally comes up and Internet Explorer goes to Yahoo – all the intellectual chatter is about Brittany Spears or Paris Hilton

‘At least we have Golf'

Have you ever played 9-holes and walked into the clubhouse before going onto #10; passed through the bar area where the television has some sort of news on? Have you ever felt the shock of coming back into the real world after spending 2 utopian hours on the golf course with nothing to think about besides golf and friendship?

Being able to focus on your golf game for 18 holes (4 hours or so) without talk of bail-outs or Vice Presidential candidates or political emails putting the other-side down – being able to get away for 18 holes may be more important now than I can ever remember. Well, at least for me it is. During these tense times – let golf be your outlet to get away from it all. This maybe the one time that if the pace of play is slow – it may be a blessing in disguise!

In this time of many questions – the tendency is for people to stay away from the golf course. It's my belief that in these times – you should spend a little more time at the golf course. Get away from everything that's out there – and get back to what makes you happy.

One side says we shouldn't be there – the other side says we need to be there

One side says that it's their fault we're in this mess – the other side says it's not us, it's you

‘At least we have Golf'

One side says we need a bail-out – the other side says don't give away my money

And I don't give a rat's butt about Brittany Spears or Paris Hilton!

‘At least we have Golf'

In these uncertain times when many people are worried about tomorrow – let alone next week or next month or next year … At least you have Golf.

In these times where many people are scared for their money and nervous about their jobs and worried about who's going to be the next President … At least you have Golf

And tonight (October 2nd, 2008), during the Vice Presidential Debate – with a 100 million people watching here in the US and probably millions more in other countries around the world – when you hear either of the candidates give an answer that you disagree with, don't get upset, don't let it affect your blood pressure, don't say anything hateful – just roll your eyes, rotate your head from side to side and look at whoever's in the room with you and say: ‘At least we have Golf'.

Then wake-up Friday morning, ditch work and get in 18 holes!

The Monkey gets sucked into ‘the sky is falling' philosophy

The Player tees it up!

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

PS – We’ll be back to golf improvement stuff next week. I just needed to get that off my chest after a crazy week where a lot of people I’ve come in contact with weren’t themselves because of all the crazy news. Go out this weekend and find some happiness on the golf course!

‘At least we have Golf’

On The Golf Course – Winners and Whiners

2008-09-18T15:15:00.002-05:00

I've noticed two types of Golfers on the golf course – Winners and Whiners. Now there's not much difference between the words if you look fast – the only difference is the 'h' in Whiner and an extra 'n' in Winner. What does the 'h' stand for?

It could stand for humility. Meaning, in order to play to your potential, you need to take the good with the bad. If you're too worried what others might be thinking about you after a bad shot, or two or three – you might fall into the trap that many Whiners do. The Golfer often defends themselves by Whining about their golf game – "I usually hit my irons so much better than this. I'm not playing very well today. I usually play better than this."

Everybody is going to have a round where they don't hit their irons well. Or a round that they hit their Drived bad. Or putt bad. This is just part of the game of golf. Though more importantly - other Golfers don't care if you're hitting your Irons bad – they're more concerned with their game and probably don't want to hear your negative talk about your golf game.

A Whiner tells everybody about their problems on the golf course. And what often happens is that their problems get worse and worse as the round goes on. Almost as if they're trying to convince themselves of the problem or prove it to the other Golfers they're playing with.

A Winner just makes their PLAN and plays.

Perhaps the 'h' stands for humble. Because as soon as you think you got it and don't make as thorough a PLAN as you need to make – boom: Triple Bogey, Double Bogey, Double Bogey. Seven over par in three holes.

You must never let your guard down to think – "oh, I just have an easy wedge to the green." Because more times than not, you don't make your best golf swing and the ball ends up in a tough spot around the green. Which often leads to the Triple Bogey that could've - no should've - been a Par or Birdie.

Often times we get on a good streak on the golf course where we start playing our best golf. The game seems easy. You start to hit your stride and play like you feel you should all the time. Birdie, Par, Par, Par – "I love this game!"

"Ok, I have 110 yards to the green. I can make Birdie here. The flags on the left side, there's plenty of room on the right side of the green to get on safely and two putt for another par. No, I know I can get the ball closer to the hole to make Birdie."

"Crap! I pulled it! In the left bunker." Then after taking 2 shots to get out. The second of which rolled over the green. 1 shot to get on the green (that you hit slightly behind the ball) and 2 putts – your decision to go away from the PLAN that was working has cost you big time. What could've (or should've) had a 5 hole stretch of Birdie, Par, Par, Par, Par – which turned into Birdie, Par, Par, Par, Triple Bogey.

"Triple Bogey from 110 yards away. I can't believe it. I stink!" Which may lead you into the aforementioned humility category above or the other 'h' below.

A Whiner forgets how hard they had to work for the easy Pars and Birdies. A Whiner abandons what has been working for them because they become greedy. As they say on Wall Street – 'Pigs get slaughtered!'

The Winner just makes their PLAN and plays.

The 'h' could also represent hot - as in hothead. Have you ever gotten upset over one or two bad shots only to allow those one or two shots to get you in such a mental funk that you lose conscious thought over the next 3 holes because you're so pissed at yourself?

I have witnessed this over and over on the golf course. Yes, everybody gets upset with themselves on the golf course. There's nothing wrong with that. The so called Mental Guru's that say that you shouldn't get upset are pretty much idiots that are selling you on nonsense and are not living in reality.

It's natural to get upset after a bad shot.

Though, the 'hothead' can't let it go. After missing a putt on the 2nd hole, they carry over the frustration to the 3rd tee. Which contributes to a bad tee shot. Then the bad tee shot added to the missed putt is directly involved with the next bad swing – which contributes to another bad swing after that and the one after that and the one...

And for the next 6 holes, the 'hothead' collects Double and Triple Bogeys like my junk mail folder collects worthless emails.

A Whiner is always thinking about their last bad shot. Sometimes it seems that the hothead thrives on getting mad at themselves. Almost as if they're out on the golf course more for the thrill of getting upset over their game – than for the actual enjoyment that golf can bring.

The Winner just makes a PLAN and plays.

How does one Golfer go from scoring in the 100's to scoring in the 80's within a year – while another Golfer stays stuck in the 100's after 3 years? It could be the 'h'.

Would you classify the Golfer that improved from well above Bogey Golf to well better than Bogey Golf as a Winner or a Whiner? It could be the 'h'.

The good news is that the Whiner can turn into a Winner in a short period of time. It's not easy – you really have to watch yourself because the old habits of the Whiner come back pretty fast if they're not watched. All you have to do is take the 3 'h's' above out of your game and add the 'n'.

What's the 'n' stand for? 'Nothing'. You really don't have to do anything else besides getting rid of the 'h' to go from a Whiner to a Winner.

How about you? Are you a Winner or a Whiner?

The Monkey spends more time on the golf course whining about their golf game then they do making a PLAN for their golf game

The Player always seems to be winning in their effort to improve because they focus their energy towards making a PLAN

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

^ Top of page

Tiger Woods vs. Rocco Mediate - What Can You Learn From This Classic Golf Match?

2008-06-18T15:12:00.001-05:00

Wow! Was that a fantastic golf match or what? Tiger and Rocco – Player e Player for 19 holes. That’s about as good as it can get.

But, I’m sure you’ve had your fill of hearing and talking about the match. Enough about them already - let’s get to your golf game. What could you take away from the US Open to help your golf game – and I’m not talking about one of Johnny Miller’s tips.

I believe that many people were rooting for Rocco because they could relate to him more than they could relate to Tiger. You don’t see Tiger struggling as much with his game, he makes shots that you could only dream of and he’s super long off the tee. And although Tiger has had to work and has worked harder than anyone on the planet to earn his superior skill – many people don’t see that and don’t understand that it’s not natural born talent that makes him so great as much as it is that he works harder than anyone on his golf game. And to back this up about Tiger's determination, look at what he battled through with his knee - which has now officially sidelined him for the year.

Though, people are able to relate to Rocco because he isn’t considered a world class athlete - he’s not 6 foot 2 and chiseled. And although he’s listed at 6 foot 1 – that’s a measurement that I’m willing to debate and put it down as Rocco must’ve been wearing extra long spikes the day the PGA Tour execs had him stand against the measuring stick – nobody would look at Rocco on the street and say to themselves: this guy has to be a Professional Athlete.

Let alone, here’s a guy with major back issues and up until a few years ago was pretty much 40 pounds overweight – he kind of had the body of fellow PGA Tour Player Tim Herron (who earned the nickname Lumpy - one bite at a time). But Rocco had to do something about it because the extra weight in his front was putting too much pressure on his back. So to his credit, Rocco went on a program of strengthening his core and losing pounds.

What strikes me most about Rocco was that in the biggest round of his life, he was 4 over par after 10 holes. Which, to many people reading this, would be the round of your life. Yet, to a PGA Tour Player playing on center stage – making Bogey on almost half your holes might be equivalent to a Golfer who averages 90 to scoring 50 on the front 9 and then making Double Bogey on 10 to start the back 9.

This translates into the 90 Golfer not being very happy with their golf game after their first 9 holes and then making things worse on #10 with the Double Bogey. And this unfortunately still happens after using the time it takes to get from the green on 9 to the tee box on 10 convincing yourself that things might turn around on the second 9 holes.

But now at this point with the Double Bogey erasing any glimmer you might’ve had of a resurrecting back 9 – most Golfers would throw in the towel and start the unforgiving self-talk of – ‘my game sucks’. Which is often followed-up by a couple of Bogeys, a few more Double Bogeys, a Triple Bogey on the 17th hole and then of course the infamous, ‘why can’t I just do this all the time’ Par on 18.

Yet, that wasn’t what Rocco did. Being 3 down to the best Player that ever lived – knowing that his talent isn’t even close to that of the great one – when everybody watching said to themselves after he made Bogey on the 10th hole: ‘That’s it. Here goes Tiger; he’s going to win again. It’s over.”

Rocco didn’t throw in the towel like so many Golfers that you might know repeatedly do week after week.

He Birdies 4 of the next 5 holes. Wow! Which is equivalent to the 90 Golfer I spoke about above making Par on 4 of the next 5 holes – so that now you’re only 17 over after 15 holes. Which might not be your best round ever, but you’re still on track to break 90. And at the very worst – if you Bogey the next 3 holes, you will have scored at about your average by shooting a 92. Which after 10 holes – you would’ve thought impossible!

How many times have you thrown in the towel before the round was over?

There are so many times that Golfers start making stupid decisions on the golf course because they’re not happy with the way they’re playing. They abandon their PLAN because in their mind they’ve played 9 or 10 bad holes – although, that same PLAN that they abandoned was the catalyst that allowed them to move from a 100 Golfer last year to a 90 Golfer this year.

You only had a bad score for 9 holes – big deal! Live with it. If it can happen to Rocco – it can happen to you!

And the funny thing is that all 9 holes probably weren’t bad. It was probably only 4 bad holes caused by 4 or 5 bad shots. With the other 5 holes being played at about average. But since you’re too focused on your score for 9 holes – you tell yourself that you played all 9 holes badly.

Rocco could’ve abandoned his PLAN. He still would’ve been carried away on everybody’s shoulders as a hero for what he had already accomplished. Nobody expected him to be where he was. He could’ve just given up like 9 out of 10 Golfers do after a bad first 10 holes. Nobody would’ve said anything negative about him because nobody expected much from him going up against The Greatest Golfer of All Time – except for maybe Rocco.

Use Rocco and what he did as your guardian angel the next time you start your round playing at a lower level than what you were expecting from yourself. You never know when it’ll turn around. The key is that if you abandon your PLAN – ‘it ain’t gonna turn around’; it’s just going to get worst and more torturous every hole. So you might as well just stick with your PLAN.

The Monkey abandons their PLAN and starts to make bad decisions every time they play if they don’t start off each round as if it’s going to be their best ever

The Player chants ‘Rocco, Rocco, Rocco’

Go ahead, Be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life

www.GolfMadeSimple.com

Here We Come Toronto, Canada

GMS is excited to announce that we'll be conducting GMS Programs in Toronto this summer! Along with hosting 2 and 3 day Level 2 GMS Programs that are open to returning GMS Golfers that have seen us in Florida, California and Arizona - we'll also be hosting Level 1 Programs for Golfers that haven't been to see us yet.

Why Toronto? Well the Toronto area is the 3rd biggest supplier of Golfers to Golf Made Simple's programs in Florida, California and Arizona. So when we received the opportunity to come ‘North of the Border' this summer – we jumped at the chance

We heard a lot of "You need to open up in Toronto because I'll be your #1 client" and "If you ever come to Toronto, I'm sure all my friends will sign-up!" Well Toronto, here we come!

For dates, rates and location of our facility in the Toronto area – just give us a telephone call at 1-888-580-3635 or email at IWantToBe@GolfMadeSimple.com.

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