Golf Lessons vs. Golf Schools

There are many different ways to take instruction, no matter the subject.  Is it better to take it a little at a time and let it soak in?  Is it better to take a crash course and tackle everything at once?  If someone takes a golf lesson for one hour, chances are if the instructor is good they will only be focusing on one or two things to implement.  Golf is a game where the more you think, the more you stink!  So, if you were to take a 5 day golf school from 9am to 4pm everyday imagine how many different things you would be thinking about.  I have heard many students complain about different adventures they have had taking golf schools elsewhere.  Their main complaint was that the school tried to change everything in a short period........disaster.  Golf schools are ok if the instruction is not overwhelming.  In my experience, a student who takes 1 hour of instruction each week for an extended period of time is much better off than someone who takes a crash course.  Food for thought.

TaylorMade Success Story

Yesterday I had a student that was struggling somewhat with his iron game.  His shots were weak and to the right.  On average, at the beginning of the lesson, he was hitting his 7 iron 125 yards.  After we worked on his technique for about 20 minutes his average rose to 135.  At the end of the lesson I had him try the new TaylorMade Rocketbladez 7 iron.  It was amazing the extra distance he gained.  He was hitting it on average 145.  Some of his shots went over 150.  If the student has the right technique coupled with the right equipment, good things will happen.

Rocketbladez put to the test

Today I received my new Rocketbladez demo irons, so I thought I would put them to the test.  The demo irons were stiff steel shafts with standard length and lie.  I tested them against my current irons which are the TaylorMade MC irons with S300 stiff steel shafts that are 1.5" longer than standard.  (The demo irons are shorter in length than my current irons).  My guess before going out was that the Rocketbladez would go about the same distance as my current irons because my current irons are fit for me and are much longer in length.  Boy was I wrong!! Here are the results:

                                             Distance        Club Speed       Ball Speed
MC PW                                    127                 76                      93
Rocketbladez PW                    128                 78                       94

MC 7iron                                 157                 80                       110
Rocketbladez 7iron                  164                82                       115

MC 4 iron                                181                 88                       121
Rocketbladez 4 iron                193                 88                       127

***The test was done with some pretty old TaylorMade range balls on a 57 degree day***
***10 balls were hit with each club***

The Rocketbladez definitely go further than anything I have hit.  The most impressive thing was the increase in ball speed.  The Rocketbladez 4 iron went 12 yards further on average because of a 6 mph advantage in ball speed.

Insanity

Everyone knows the definition of insanity.  In golf, why do some golfers refuse to get REAL help with their game?  I see a lot of golfers who try and figure it out on their own only to figure out that they can't.  Golf is such a hard game to advance at if you don't have proper instruction.  Since golfers can only go off what they feel they are doing or what their 20 handicap buddy tells them they are doing, it is hard to find/fix the problem.  Most golfers swings' don't change very much when they practice or try to improve on the range by themselves simply because they don't know how to fix their own faults.  If you knew absolutely nothing about cars, imagine trying to fix your own!  The price you pay for lessons might be worth it.  Those headaches you get every time you play could be eliminated.

New Rocketballz Bonded Driver

TaylorMade is coming out with a Rocketballz driver very soon that will be available for a cheaper price.  The new driver is not adjustable.  The shaft is glued into the head and the loft is not adjustable like the original Rocketballz drivers.  If you are pretty confident in what loft you like, then this is a home run because the new "bonded" drivers are only $199 instead of $249! 

How to Practice

I see far too many golfers wailing away at golf balls on the range and aimlessly putting on the practice green.  They are getting nothing accomplished other that working up a sweat.  Make sure that you are practicing with some sort of objective or plan.  Luke Donald sets up piles of balls before his round with a specific number of balls in each pile designated for a particular club and target.  You don't have to be that specific but it seems to be working for Luke.  Make sure you know WHY you are going to the range.  Simply going to the range to try and figure it out on your own rarely works.   If you need help with your practice plan give me a call and I can help.  Taking instruction helps as well because the pro will tell you what and how to practice and the most efficient way to do it.

Club Face Control

http://youtu.be/8yEz9VvMfv8

Please click on the above link to watch my video on club face control.  For the longest time before the advent of launch monitors, golf instructors would tell you that the direction you were swinging (club path), was the main contributor of where the ball started off when you struck it.  This video clearly shows that the club face is the main contributor to initial start direction.  Now that we know this with the help of Flightscope and Trackman, is is a lot easier to correct common swing mistakes.

PGA Championship Potential Golf Giveaway

4 Tickets to this years PGA Championship practice rounds will be given away on August 1st.  PGA CHAMPIONSHIP POTENTIAL GOLF GIVEAWAY. 4 tickets to your choice of the practice round days will be given away on August 1st. Each person will have 5 ways to put their name in the hat and 1 name will be drawn to win the passes. Here are the ways to enter:

1) Go to www.potentialgolf.com and fill out a contact form.
2) Go to www.facebook.com/potentialgolf and like my fan page
3) (Share) this contest on facebook
4) Go to www.twitter.com and (follow) me
5) (Retweet) this contest on twitter

If you don't have a facebook or twitter account, the time is now!
The practice round dates are August 6th, 7th, or 8th.

Good Luck

GET RID OF THOSE OLD CLUBS

Are you tired of playing with those same old clubs you have had for years?  Do you see everyone else going out and getting the latest and greatest equipment?  Don't be the guy or girl who is playing with clubs from the 80's.  It's embarrassing.  If you would like to hit the new TaylorMade stuff I have plenty of demos that you can try out free of charge.  If you want to get fitted for a new club I can do that too.  But most importantly if you purchase any new TaylorMade equipment from me I will take your old clubs in as a trade in!!!!  It will take some of the sting out of the price for sure.  I will take almost any name brand equipment in for trade ins.  You don't want that old stuff just sitting in your garage do you?  Let me take it off your hands.  Even if you don't need new equipment, and you have some old clubs that you don't use lying around, I will buy them from you if they are decent.  Make an upgrade today!  The new TaylorMade metalwoods have 52% of the world market share right now.  This stuff is good.  Come check it out.

Rocketballz

The new TaylorMade Rocketballz fairway woods and hybrids are unreal!  Everyone that gets one in their hands simply loves them.  The look is great, the feel is great, and the performance is awesome.  The fairway wood especially gives each player extra distance they normally could not produce with their own fairway wood.  TaylorMade has advertised 17 extra yards.  Believe me, it's true.  I have picked up about 25 yards with my 3 wood compared to last years R11 fairway wood.  I have demos for all the hybrids and fairway woods.  Come by and get fit today.

Hula hoop

Your golf swing is a circle.  The clubhead moves on a circle around your body.  If you can imagine a large hulahoop around your body this will give you a visual of where the clubhead is traveling throughout your swing.  It is evident in my research that as the club moves toward the ground it is moving down and out, bottoms out, then moves in and up.  So what?  Well, if your hulahoop is aimed in the wrong direction you will have a hard time hitting a straight golf shot.  All you have to do is aim your hula hoop in the correct direction and couple that with a clubface that matches it and voila.  A straight golf shot.  Sounds easy right?

Flightscope

Good News!  The Flightscope has arrived.  I will be using this radar launch monitor in my teaching and club fitting.  This is the top of the line when it comes to launch monitors.  Because it uses radar, the machine measures what the ball is doing in the air and until it stops.  No guesswork!  Other launch monitors you see at places like PGA Superstore use monitors that make a calculated guess on what the ball will do after you hit it into the net.  Not accurate at all.  Just a calculation.  The Flightscope however, is the most accurate launch monitor on the market along with the Trackman.  Sometimes video cameras can be misleading when looking at a students swing.  But with the Flightscope and the use of high speed video it will make my job easier and more fun.  Come by and check it out.  It is really cool!

starting my own business

It has been a tough decision to go out on my own and start my own instructional business.  I thought it was going to be easy and quick.  It has not been quick at all.  There were several hoops I had to jump through in order to get to where I am now.  Business plans, shopping for equipment, setting up a website, developing a name, designing a logo, and oh yea a place to teach!  It has always been a goal of mine to do my own thing and in just a week or two it will all come to a reality.  Thank goodness for my marketing degree, colleagues, website designer, friends, and family.  I could definitely not have done all of the legwork on my own.  My website is done.  Now I am hitting the pavement trying to meet new clients and let everyone know what I offer.  Check out the website please!
http://www.potentialgolf.com/

What??

It's incredible when you get into a bad putter's head and ask them what they are thinking about.  I hear things like, "i feel like i have to hit it to a foot to make a birdie", "if i don't make this 8 footer for birdie im an idiot", "i should make this", "if i dont make this birdie putt it's ok, ill still make par", "i'm just trying to get it close from 25 feet".  Most of these people don't like putting, make excuses about the greens, dread walking onto a green or practicing putting for that matter, try to score better by hitting it better, don't percieve putting as fun, think their technique is flawed, switch equipment alot, and change grips frequently.  These students are barking up the wrong tree.  If you percieve putting as a chore that you hate you will never make anything.  If you are trying to miss or hoping to get it close, you will never make anything.  It's all about attitude and having a short memory.  If you miss a putt just make the next one.  A 4 foot birdie putt counts the same as a 40 foot double bogey putt.  1 stroke.  Shouldn't we be trying to make every putt no matter the distance or for what score it is for.  I know I do.  Get rid of all the have to's, shoulds, and if's.  Just putt to make and have that mindset of an 8 year old playing putt putt.  If you think about it too much or are afraid to miss you might end up looking like this guy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wQq9YWZ568

Tiger's putting woes

This is a tremendous article that was written by Rick Reilly.  It is pretty funny, very informative, and interesting.  I didn't know that Tiger is winless on the PGA Tour after that day in 2010 at the British Open that he went to the Nike putter.  Tiger was one of the best putters on the planet in his hayday.  Unfortunately for him his life has been turned upside down.  He lacks the support he once had from his father, he lacks the fun he used to have before everyone thought he was a sex addict, he lacks the confidence he once had because he is second guessing his technique (which doesn't look good in my opinion), and that Scotty Cameron putter he won 13 majors with.  Dude, you don't need the money from Nike!  Or do you?  Gotta pay that child support!  Haha.  It's gonna be fun to watch what happens in the near future with this broken man....
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7624365/tiger-putting-woes
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7624365/tiger-putting-woes

Congrats

Congrats to Yoshio Yamamoto for winning the Hooters Tour Carolina Series event held the last three days at the Barefoot Resort's Norman Course.  Yoshio carded rounds of 69, 70, and 70 to win by one and cashed a winner's check of $3900.  Yosh said the key to his tournament was just to stay patient and let it come to him.  PAYtients was the key this week!!

Expectations

"Your own expectations are dangerous.  The good times and the bad times in golf are so different," Graeme McDowell.  After a stellar season in 2010, McDowell plummeted in 2011.  The main reason?  According to him it was all in his mind.  His expectations were so high after the US Open win it was hard for him to achieve anything, much less have any success.  When you set your goals/expectations so high that you can't reach them you are setting yourself up for daily disappointment.  This process can snowball.  It is very important when you set your goals for the upcoming season that you do a few things:1) write them down, 2) tell everyone around you about them (accountability), 3) make them extremely attainable, 3)  Set a timetable for checkups, 4) Figure out what you are going to do on a daily basis to achieve these goals (regiment).  If you do these things and work at it, there is a great chance you can have some success.  Good Luck.