Players today were Henry, Ray Pua, Stevie, Sean , Frankie and myself. My brother in law Tony, came to join us at the 2nd nine. I played to 97 today which was not bad and quite easy. I hope I should be able to consistently break 100 and 90.
Tony who is visiting from Melbourne put on a brave game despite not playing for years. You can tell when someone has had training before. Maybe I will get a chance to play more games with him.
He says Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne has lots of beautiful courses. May take him on.
here is an article from Herbie, our resident coach. I must say I agree with him about golfers just smashing balls at the range. Have a look at his article and learn from it if you want to reduce your score.
On another note, we are holding a coaching clinic by Herbie at Whaleback this coming Tuesday 19 Nov 2009 at 6.30 pm. Cost will be $20 per person with free balls. Please confirm how many will attend asap.
By Herbie Schrale
Practice makes permanent, perfect practice makes perfect sense.
Identify.
All golfers should know their strengths and weaknesses but do truly find out you need to analyse your rounds of golf and record the following:
Fairways hit, greens in regulation (according to handicap), pitches from 100m, pitches from 50m, pitches from 30m, chip and run, chips, bunkers, putts.
We all love to practice what we are good at but what we should be doing is working on our weaknesses while maintaining our strengths.
Practice with a Purpose.
The objective in golf is not just to hit the ball, we can all do that. The aim is to place the ball in a desired location desired by the golfer in a way determined by the circumstances the golfer is faced with. Practice is the logical way in which you can train yourself to achieve this ability.
When practicing always have a clear objective in mind when playing each shot (never just stand and hit balls). It is called “hitting mode” and is seen happening on all ranges where golfers just grab another ball and whack it, ball after ball.
You can only focus on one thing at a time and when working on your game you need to decide if it one of the following modes:
Mechanical
Sensory
Target/Competitive
Mechanical - stop start, checking swing, drills, conscious swing thought work in sections to fix swing problems. Use of aids, static and active drills. At no stage worry about ball flight or aiming at targets, just fix the problem and work on one aspect at a time until fixed. Use a work station.
Sensory – Rhythm and swing tempo, balance and fluidity work. Distance control work and technique shots (draws, slices, punches and low running shots etc) Speed work and high repetition work to cement and entrench mechanical work. Again, good contact with the ball and good ball flight but no regard to accuracy.
Use of a work station.
Target/Competitive. This is playing shots as you should on the golf course. The biggest complaint from golfers is they can hit great shots on the range and then, when they get on the course the results are just not there. How many of you practice shots on a range as you would on the course? One shot at a time, picking a target and going through your entire set up routine to play each shot. I watch a large number of golfers on the range and I never see golfers;
1) Walking off the mats and then standing behind the ball to line up’
2) Then walk in, correctly setting up using their routine.
3) Focus on the target and then fire off the shot.
If you don’t practice as you would play then how do you expect the body and mind to respond correctly on a course under more exacting circumstances.
Working on your routine does three things for you game and needs attention all the time.
1) Like a pilots check list, you don’t forget any basics (correct alignment, grip, stance and feet pressure, shoulder and hip position etc)
2) It acts as a focal stimulus in that the mind now concentrates on the routine and helps get you into the “zone”
3) It becomes familiar and helps the body relax and releases tension which are major contributors to a bad swing
Pointers
The following should be considered when practicing:
1) Always warm up Start with stretching and then hit a few shots using a lofted club (Pitching wedge) to 30 metres, then 60 metres and finally to 90 metres.
2) Always use a work station. These can be other clubs, two small sticks or anything you like, but always have a way of checking that you are aligned correctly with relation to your shoulders, hips and feet with the club face and target line.
3) Practice the parts of the game in percentages according to the degree of relevance it has in your game. Analysis of you game will indicate as to what % of your game is putting, short game (under 40 metres), pitching and then full swings. This can further be broken down into full swings from 120 metres or less, 120 metres to 150 metres, above 150 metres and then driving. How much of your practice time is skewered in practicing the lower % shots and not working on the parts of the game that will lower your score by improving your game.
4) Think quality on a range and at practice, not quantity. There are too many golfers that think by hitting 200 balls on the range they have had a good session. Hit 200 shots on the course and tell me your thoughts. The game is the least shots the better and the better you get the higher the percentage of your game will be putting. (Golf is designed to score in such a way that 50% of the course will be putting, i.e. par three green in 1 and two putts, par four green in 2 and two putts, par 5 green in three and 2 putts, do the maths).
5) Make practice fun, play games and always set yourself a challenge when working on target work to judge your performance and don’t quit until you have succeeded. Be realistic on your challenges and work on increments.
6) Like gym work or any other training vary what you are planning to practice be it short game one session, long game with three different clubs the next to bunkers and drivers the next.
7) Knowing what to practice and the correct technique required will do more for you game in a short time then wasting time and money practicing the wrong swing and therefore re-entrenched bad habits. With this in mind, most golfers allow the ball to dictate how they swing (change the swing to correct ball flight depending on what the ball does i.e. compensations). Good golfers get the correct swing first and then tell the ball where to go, make the ball react to you, not the other way around.
Conclusion
If you have any queries or questions on anything in this article, if you need specific drills to work on, advice on training aids or on how to set up a work station etc, then please come and see me, call or e-mail me.
I run supervised practice sessions where we work on specifics each week depending on who is there and what problems they need covering. These are held every Monday evening from 5.30pm to 7pm, Wednesday mornings from 10am to 11.30am and on Friday mornings from 9am to 10.30am and from 4pm to 5.30pm. The cost is $20.00 per person and you are given a bucket of 60 balls with which to practice. With summer coming I was wondering if there would be a desire for an early morning session before work i.e. 7am to 8.30am during the week. If anyone is interested could they please give me a call or send me an e-mail.
My apologies for the lack in newsletters but I will be in touch on a more regular basis.
Happy golfing,
Herbie
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