How to beat your buddies..

I have one of the few teaching jobs where I actually get to go out and watch my students play or play along with them.  A lot of times when a student comes for a lesson, they have this list of things that they think are wrong with their swing or their game.  Almost everytime the issue they think they have is not the issue that is causing them to shoot bad scores.  By watching my students in the heat of battle I get to see thier attitude, decision making, and course management.  It is amazing how much a great attitude, making smart decisions, and playing to your strengths can help your score.  I watch 12 students play everyday with virtually the same ability to hit a golf ball.  The students that have these attributes I am talking about win VERY consistantly.  Having high expectations pre round, getting upset when you encounter dissapointment, and trying to get it all back at once leads to under achievement.  After a player makes a double bogey they say, "I need to get it back with a birdie on the next hole."  They don't realize how stupid that sounds.  You don't NEED to do anything.  Isn't a par better than a double bogey.  Why not just try to get back on track with a par.  Players get too concerned with how many over par they are, and their decision making gets blurred because of it.  It does no good to change your decision making or get upset because of your score.  Have a plan for each hole that plays into your strengths and don't change it because you are 3 under or 5 over.  It doesn't matter!  The golf ball has no memory.  A killer short game helps too!! The next time you come off the course with a bad round, it might not be because of your swing!!!

Don't fall in love with your lob wedge.

I see far too many players using the same club for all of their short game shots.  Most of the time it is their lob wedge.  A lob wedge is fine if you need to get the ball in the air quickly and stop it rather quickly.  When I tell students that they can use a 5 or 6 iron to hit short game shots with, they look at me like i'm crazy.  When you use a less lofted club to chip with, you are effectively moving the target(landing point) closer to you.  Don't you think you would have a better chance of hitting a target if it were closer to you?  I think so!!  I encourage all of my students to expirement with different clubs around the green to see what works best for them.  The key is to use lots of clubs around the green and not to be in love with one.  Give it a try and watch this video from Scott Stallings as he demonstrates this technique.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi1nVmref3k&feature=player_profilepage

The flying wiener incident

Apparently a man attending the PGA event this weekend had a few too many brews and decided he was going throw his hot dog at Tiger Woods.  So on the 7th green as Tiger was about to putt for birdie, the drunken man ran out towards the green and yelled "Tiger", and proceeded to throw his wiener at Tiger.  The bun didn't make it too far but the dog went onto the green in Tiger's line.  The man was quickly apprehended by the local security.  "I guess he wanted to be in the news," Woods said.  Just another famous wiener incident i guess!!

Another Victory

Congratulations to Yoshio Yamamoto for winning the Grand Strand Tour Championship at the Members Club at Grande Dunes.  Yosh had a great couple of days with rounds of 64 and 69.  He won the event by a blistering 7 shots!  He has been on a roll lately and he trains between events here at the Greg Norman Champions Golf Academy.  Keep it up Yosh!

Job Opportunity

Dustin Johnson's caddie Joe LaCava recently was pulled away from him by Tiger Woods.  Tiger simply announced the other day that he had hired Joe.  Dustin had no idea and Joe nor Tiger asked him about it.  This is simply business as usual for Tiger and this seems to be the way he does things.  Dustin won't skip a beat or worry about it too much.  He will find someone else soon.  If you are interested I would get your resume in soon.  It should pay pretty well!!!

Technical Tuesday. Accelerate?

You always hear golfers say, "make sure you accelerate through the ball."  In putting, this can lead to a stroke that is very short on the way back and very long on the way through.  This can cause a big problem in distance control.  In my opinion the followthrough in putting should be slightly shorter than the backswing.  The putter should get up to speed quickly as it nears the ball and slow down rather quickly after the hit.  This will give you a little "pop" to your strike and great control of the distance.  A putter is simply a weight on a stick.  Let the weight of the putter and its momentum do the work.  Any added force is bad.  Ben Crenshaw once said, "once i put the putter in motion it swings itself." 

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Patrick Lundy for winning the Carolina Series Hooters Tour event at Brunswick Plantation.  Patrick started off his week with a course record 62 that set the tone for the tourney.  He followed it up with rounds of 65 and 67 to win by 8 shots.  Apparently he had it firing on all cylinders!  Patrick trains here at the Greg Norman Champions Golf Academy.