Anthony Paolucci

Spent the day helping one of the country's best junior golfers Anthony Paolucci.  Anthony's 16 years old and was a member at the Four Seasons Resort and Club until last September.  His family moved to San Diego.  Since then he's been doing a lot of work at the Titleist Performance Institute.  It's the first time in 6 months I've had a chance to help him with his game.  

He's done a fantastic job getting his body physically more aligned as well as stronger.  His ball speed with his driver has gone from 164 to 172 which equates to 16-20 yards more distance off the tee.  

We spent most of the morning working on eliminating his tendency of hanging back in the downswing, which would produce a flip hook.  Lots of 3/4 finishes where his upper body finished over his left foot and his back straighter up and down.

One more session tomorrow morning before he boards the plane to head back to San Diego.  

Maintaining your Grip Pressure

Everyone knows the grip is the only direct link to the club that the body has.  There's many characteristics of the grip that are important for its function.  One that goes unnoticed and could be one of the most important characteristics of the grip is the pressure applied.
The pressure you apply at the outset should be similar to a nice handshake.  Once you've applied that pressure comes the important part.  That pressure should remain constant throughout the swing.  The positioning of your hands shouldn't change but equally as important the pressure shouldn't change.
This is a tough thing to detect as an instructor.  Constant pressure plays a part in the positioning of the clubface throughout the swing.  If the pressure changes in either hand, it will most certainly effect the clubface at that instance.
Practice making a swing where all you do is focus on the pressure of your grip remaining constant.  Not tight, but constant.  Examine your grip after you've finished your swing and see if it has the same feeling as before you took the club back.
Controlling the grip pressure throughout your golf swing will go a long way to hitting more solid shots consistently.

Tune in 103.3FM Sunday

Tune in Sunday, March 28 at 8:25am on 103.3FM for ESPN's Golf Connection.  I'll be on with one of my one of my students Emily Collins.  Emily recently won one of the nations premier junior tournaments the Kathy Whitworth Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas.  Emily is a senior in high school and will be a member of the University of Oklahoma Women's Golf Team in the fall.

Bifocals are a 'no no.'

Bifocal glasses and the golf swing don't match.  Whenever I have a student that has glasses on, one of my first questions is if the glasses they on have a bifocal lens.  If they do, the student is at a severe disadvantage in being able to make a correct golf swing.
When a golfer plays with bifocals they have a very limited window in the bottom of their lens to see the ball. As a result the head is looking straight down with the appearance of the chin being buried in the chest.
The golfer's main goal is to make sure they never lose sight of the ball throughout the entire swing.
I recommend they get a pair of 'sport specific' glasses the next time they visit their eye doctor.  

Titleist Tour Van

I went through a fantastic presentation this morning with a new service Titleist is offering.  They have 2-3 Titleist Tour Fitting Vans that travel the country doing Tour quality fittings for drivers, fairway woods/hybrids, irons and wedges.  One of my longtime good friends Glen Mahler has one of the vans.  He conducted the presentation at Bent Tree Country Club this morning and took one of Dallas' best amateur golfers, Rob Addington through a driver and iron fitting.
Glen and I used to teach together at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch years back.  He was a very good teacher but has really found his calling in doing premium fittings for Titleist.  His knowledge, diagnosis and implementation was very impressive.
Once the fitting is concluded the clubs are built on site and ready to take home in a short period of time.  His two assistants have Tour experience and are the ones involved building the clubs.  Needless to say, I took away some information for my teaching and clubfitting skills.
I'll look to organizing a few days this summer where Glen can bring his van in to work his magic.

Snowy Byron Nelson Statue

Lord Byron got a white dusting overnight in Dallas, Texas.  The first day of spring and there's snow on the ground.  Just another freak scenario in a very freaky winter.

Bizarre

Snow again in Dallas.  For the 7th time this winter it's snowing.  Just hard to believe.  Yesterday it was 75 degrees with most people in shorts practicing at the Four Seasons Resort and Club.  Then wake up today and it's raining and 36 degrees.  Tonight 2 inches of snow on the ground and probably another inch by the nights end.  The topper is that it's supposed to be 70 degrees again on Tuesday.  I just don't get it.
If we get 1.8 inches tonight at the DFW airport Dallas will set the all time record for snowfall in a winter.  Hard to believe the Byron Nelson Championship is 60 days away.

Radio Appearance

I'll be on Satellite Radio tomorrow morning doing an interview on the PGA TOUR Network.  The station is on channel 209 with Sirius and channel 146 with XM.  The interview should be about 10:30am Dallas time.  If you have Satellite Radio check it out.

Congratulations Emily Collins

Four Seasons Resort and Club member Emily Collins won the Kathy Whitworth Junior Invitational this past Tuesday at Mira Vista CC in Forth Worth, Texas.  Shooting 74-73 Emily won one of the bigger girls junior tournaments of the year.  With the win she moves up to 36th in the country in the Junior Polo rankings.  Congratulations Emily.  You've worked hard for this victory.

The Initial Flight of the Golf Ball

Understanding the initial direction of the golf ball is very important in analyzing ball flight.  Recent Trackman studies show that up to 90% of the initial direction of the golf ball is caused by the club face.  This explains how a correct draw is hit.  The back inside of the ball is struck with the club face still slightly open but in the process of closing while the angle of the swing is slightly to the right.  
The path of the swing can minimize the initial direction of the flight but the overwhelming influence comes from the club face.

IonLoop - Review

On March 1, I posted a blog entry about a new product called IonLoop.  It's a bracelet with magnets enclosed to help produce negative ions into the body.  Negative ions are typically produced from nature.  Waterfalls, green grass, forests and beaches are some wonderful settings that are full of negative ions.  These ions make the body feel good, alert and calm.  Negative ions also combat and balance positive ions, which surround us on a daily basis.  Cell phones, machinery, computers and UV rays are just some examples of positive ions.

IonLoop has created some advanced technology to produce a high amount of negative ions from the magnets that are in the bracelet.  These bracelets come in black or white and are very stylish.  I've been wearing my bracelet since the first of March and I can honestly say that it has made a difference.  My mood has been very serene as well as my energy level remaining constant throughout the day.  The calming sensation I've felt is the feeling similar to when you would walk along the beach.  I'm a believer in surrounding myself with negative ions and IonLoop has created a product that allows me the opportunity to create that calming feeling from the beach even though I'm in Dallas, Texas.

A Budding Star

Bona Lee is a student of mine from Seoul. Korea.  She's 22 and has just qualified for the LPGA Tour.  Last December she earned the last exempt spot at the final stage of the LPGA Qualifying School.  It wasn't easy.  She had to birdie the last hole to get into a playoff and then on the 3rd playoff hole she made a birdie to earn the last spot.

Bona just moved to Dallas, Texas and is going to make it her home when not playing on tour.  She'll tee it up for the first time in San Diego next week.

The improvement of Sang Yi

A quick 'shout out' to longtime student Sang Yi for his stellar play the last few weeks.  The Sophomore at LSU followed up a 12th place finish this past week with a 10th place finish at the Louisana Classic in Lafayette, Louisana.  His first top 10 in college golf.  It's nice to see Sang starting to peak at a very good time for his team.  Way to go Sang!

Always Learning

Had a great week with the German PGA Group.  My good friend Christian Kirchner organized the group and brought them over for some spring training on their teaching and playing skills.  Christian is one of the best teachers in the country of Germany.  We do a Teaching the Teacher seminar in Dallas at the end of November and then in the first part of March.  Additionally, I'll go to Hamburg, Germany in the summer to do a day or two at Christian's club Gut Kaden. 
The seminars are certainly helpful for the attendees but I always learn something from them along the way as well.  I admire the professionalism the Germans have about their knowledge and their want to improve. 

March Issue - Avid Golfer

The March issue of Avid Golfer has hit the newstands.  This month my instruction article centered around the process of going through a clubfitting.   Avid Golfer Article - Clubfitting

Teaching Update

A busy week-end at the Four Seasons for teaching.  I've continued my Teaching the Teacher training with the German PGA Group that's in town.  For them the six days in Dallas are spent improving their teaching skills, polishing up their golf games and enjoying what the city of Dallas has to offer.  Additionally Juan Pablo Hernandez, a Freshman at the University of Arizona, has been in working on his game.  Today, a good friend of mine, Chang Su Choi, from Seoul, Korea arrives for a few days of lessons. 
I want give a special congratulations to Auburn University golfer Kyle Kopsick for his 2nd place finish this past week at the Border Olympics College Event in Laredo, Texas.  Kyle was here about two weeks ago working on his game and he's already seeing the fruits of his labor.  Nice work Kyle.

Sang Yi, a Sophomore at LSU, a longtime student of mine had a good college tournament this week as well with an 12th place finish at Sawgrass Country Club. This was Sang's best finish so far this year on a difficult golf course.  Way to go Sang.

Day 1 - German Teaching the Teacher Seminar

Got off to a great start today with my instructor group in from Germany.  The seminar is 6 days long and targeted to help the instructors with game and to improve their knowledge from an instruction standpoint.  The goal for the day was to understand the tendencies of each student.  As they warmed up I was watching to see how their trajectory, curvature, face contact and impact was.  One or more of these characteristics is typically exposed when the swing is out of sync. 
Once their tendency was determined, each students' swing was taped from down the target line and side on.  We went into our Golf School and came up with a plan for each instructors' swing to improve their trajectory, curvature, face contact and impact.  As I was analyzing each swing I took time out to discuss my teaching philosophy.

Lots of improvement in contact and ball flight was noticed by all.  The afternoon will be spent playing the TPC golf course and seeing how they stack up against the course the PGA TOUR plays every year.

Spring is in the Air

Golf is gearing up in Dallas, Texas.  The weather is getting spring like.  Today was sunny with the high of 62 degrees.  The next 3-4 days are only going to get better.
With the better weather, the golfers are returning to the range and course.  That's a great sign.  My lesson schedule amps up starting tomorrow.  I have a group of 5 German PGA Golf Professionals in town for a week of training with their teaching and golf games.  On Saturday,  Juan Pablo Hernandez arrives for the week-end.  He's a Freshman at the University of Arizona by way of Mexico City.  I've taught JP for about 6 years.  He's quite a talent.  I even got out for 9 holes this afternoon.  Really looking forward to the spring and the return to the golf season.

New Product - IonLoop

Ever wonder why mountains, waterfalls, beaches and soft rain make you feel so good.  The settings are wonderful but each puts off negative ions into the air.  These ions boost your mood and balance out the effects of positive ions.  These days we're exposed to harmful positive ions more than ever.  Cellphones, computers, UV rays from the sun are just a few items that produce positive ions.
IonLoop has introduced a new bracelet you can wear on your wrist that will help create negative ions through magnets.  Their advanced technology allows the ions to enter into your system to help create more energy and boost your mood.
The bracelet may also help to shorten the recovery time of strenuous workouts by allowing the negative ions to combat lactic acid, which is positively charged.

Check them out at www.ionloop.com.

Well done Hunter

Nice to see Hunter Mahan pick up a win at the Waste Management Open in Scottsdale, Arizona yesterday.  Shooting a 6 under 65 he outlasted 21 year old Rickie Fowler to get his 2nd win on the PGA TOUR.  Making an eagle on 13 and then a smooth birdie on the 'crazy' par 3 16th hole Hunter got the job done.

Hunter's dad Monte used to teach with me at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch when Hunter was in High School.  He's always had a solid game.  Since recently moving to a different part of Dallas Hunter has been occasionally practicing at the Four Seasons this past year.  Looking forward to seeing him so I can congratulate him in person.  Well done Hunter!