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.

Daly Quits Again

When is enough enough?  John Daly withdrew from an event in Australia this week because he ran out of golf balls.  It all started when he hit a wrong ball out of a bunker and proceeded to three putt from a few feet.  On the next hole he hit 7 balls into the same water hazard.  Are you kidding me!  I used to think this guy was great for golf, and he was for a while, but this has turned into a circus.  Johnny boy has withdrew over 30 times in the last 10 years.  He is a complete embarrassment for himself and anyone who gives him an invitation to play in an event.  Attitude is everything in golf and you have to have a good one to be on top.  Big John has the worst one and he is fittingly at the bottom.  His current world ranking...666!

Technical Tuesday

The term accelerate in putting is getting a lot of you in big trouble.  Yes the putter head should accelerate but only at the right time.  Bad putters move the putter head the fastest after impact because they think they need to accelerate.  Doing this really hinders your distance control and roll of the ball.  Good putters get their putter head up to top speed quickly in the forward swing and maintain that speed until impact and then it gradually slows down.  To make it simple:  If you struggle with distance your backstroke is probably too short and you are accelerating the club head too late(after impact).  In order to improve: Practice a backstroke that is longer than your follow through.  It will seem very "punchy", but that is ok.  Let the weight of the ball slow you momentum of the putter.  Light grip pressure helps.  Any added force at impact or after impact is deadly!!

Best Golfer in the World?

Who is the best golfer in the world right now? Is it Luke Donald?  Is it Rory McIlroy?  Bill Haas?  No I don't think so.  How about Yani Tseng?  You heard me.  Yani Tseng.  I don't watch a lot of women's golf but everytime I turn on the TV and they are talking women's golf they always mention her.  She has 11 worldwide victories this year!  That is incredible.  She has a great mindset, is very focused, practices hard, and does not tinker with her swing too much once she gets into competition.  All of these are nice ingredients to becoming great.  Everyone could learn a thing or two from the way she conducts herself.  Her swing is not too bad either!  And by the way, she is only 22 years old.

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!!