Lesson Learned

A tough break for Martin Laird Sunday at the Barclay's.  He needed to two putt from 25 feet on the 18th hole to secure the victory.  Unfortunately, he ran his first putt 7 feet by the hole and then missed the comeback.  Certainly it's hard to tell how severe the slope was on TV.  But it begs the question was he worried too much about the line and not enough about the speed?
Fast forward to the game of golf for everyone that doesn't play on the PGA TOUR.  Putting comes down to distance and direction.  In watching my students, the distance factor is the tougher to master of the two.  To me, once the line is determined your attention should go exclusively to the speed of the putt, the length and pace of your stroke.  Becoming a better lag putter allows you to become a better green reader.
A great lag putting drill is to practice putting to the edge of the green.  Take the hole out of play and just work on distance control.  You can do this exercise from any distance.  The better you lag putt, the better your scores become.

Having the proper fuel to finish the round

Length of time it takes to play golf requires you to be proactive in hydration and refueling your body with the proper food to continue to keep your energy levels high from the 1st hole through the 18th hole. 
For instance, if you weighed 160 pounds, walked and carried your clubs for 18 holes you would have burned approximately 2000 calories by the end of the round.  If you weigh more you'll burn more.  I would say that's a pretty impressive weight loss program.  What this stat says is that you need to fuel your body before, during and after the round.  Playing a round of golf takes 4-5 hours.  If you're burning 1000 plus calories you're going to need to re-hydrate and re-fuel sometime during the round.  If not you're energy levels and focus are going to be shot before you finish. 
Water has and will always be the king of hydration fluids.  But part of avoiding dehydration is keeping  your electrolyte levels up.  Postassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium and Chloride are the key components to maintain your electrolyte levels.  Gatorade has long been the favorite drink to help in this area but it really has way too much sugar and not that much in the way of electolytes to help.  For instance, it would take 2 1/2 servings of Gatorade to match the potassium of one banana.
Trace Minerals is a company found in many health food stores that is a wonderful electrolyte replenishment aid.  Adding a packet to water before, during and after the round will go a long way to staying properly hydrated. 
Great snacks for the course include nuts, beef jerky, fruits and fitness bars.  Just check the labels to minimize sugar and get a good quality of beef jerky. 
Staying on top of your re-fueling and re-hydrating may just be the missing link to finishing off that good round of golf.

Lessons learned

Busy last few days with lessons.  The summer weather has finally broken in the Dallas Metroplex.  It's much more enjoyable to be out teaching when you're not just worried about  water consumption. 

I'd like to share with you some tidbits from some of my recent lessons.

-  Footwork is important.  At address weight is evenly distributed.  As you approach the top of the backswing your weight has shifted about 75% to the back foot and then it moves almost all the way to the front foot at impact and through to the finish.  If you have someone who's body doesn't allow them to turn, have them concentrate on their footwork.
-  Improving your physical technique is important.  It helps create consistency.  But, you must also have motion and rhythem.  All the technique in the world doesn't work if you don't have rhythem and motion.  If someone starts overloading on technique, get some rhythem back in their swing.
-  Someone that averages shooting 90 typically takes 36 putts a round.  How many times to do you hear golfers that are better than a 20 handicap say they took 36 or more putts a round?  Share the above stat with them and then introduce them to the practice putting green.
-  90 mph is basically eqivaulent to 130 mph ballspeed.  If this is the speed you're dealing with in a driver, eliminate their 4-iron.  They don't have enough speed to sufficiently launch it or stop it.  Get them a hybrid or a very lofted fairway wood.  Additionally, they have no business with a 3-wood in their bag unless they just use it off the tee. 
Even after 26 years of teaching, everday produces something new.

A New Level of Improvement

Improvement in golf comes in various stages.  Sometimes you improve faster than you think but often times it takes longer than one might expect.  With that being said one of my students, Layne Anderson, has taken improvement in golf to a new level.
Layne has been playing golf regularly for about 2-3 years.  She's going into the 8th grade this fall.  Last year she was a 26 handicap and as late as this past June she sported a 23 handicap.  However, this summer Layne turned up her dedication to the game.  She spent several days each week playing and practicing under the watchful eye of her mom and dad.  This past week her latest handicap read an 11!!  All her scores, tournament or casual, are posted and legitimate.  One of her latest rounds was an 82 on Cottonwood Valley with 36 putts.  So there's definitely room for improvement.
The future looks bright for Layne.  College coaches make a mental note.

PGA - 4th Round

Well, one of the wackiest days in championship golf history.  The ruling was correct but unfortunate.  What would have really been tough to take is if Dustin Johnson had actually made is putt on 18 for the supposed victory.  He would have gone through the high of winning his 1st major to having it be stripped in about 5 minutes time.  Dustin seems to have handled this with absolute class.  He did make the Ryder Cup and should be a force the 1st week of October in Whales.  Hats off to Martin Kaymer for playing fantastic all week and really making a great putt on 18 to get into the playoff and then a huge putt on the 2nd hole of the playoff.  He's going to be around for a long time.

I think the greatest thing that has come from the 2010 PGA TOUR season has been the arrival of a bunch of really, really good players in their 20's or early 30's.  You have Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler, Nick Whatney, Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, Jeff Overton, etc...All these guys have some great game and some style as well.  Who knows what's in store for Tiger and his game/personal life or Phil Mickelson with his health.  It does look like the future is bright with the above mentioned players.
The Ryder Cup is going to be very interesting with so many new players making their perspective teams.  Some new stars will certainly come out of the matches.

Training Instructors

Heading to Europe in September to do some training of the golf instructors in Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen, Denmark.  This is a very fun part of what I do.  At each location I'll spend the day with 8-12 golf instructors helping them improve their analysis of ball flight, moving students into positions and creating better lesson plans.  They'll also get a chance to work a little on their games as well.  I'm very impressed by the European golf instructors thirst for improvement.  Getting out of the 100 degree Dallas heat will also be a welcome break.

PGA - 1st Round

Well, Tiger's got something going so far in the 1st round of the PGA at Whistling Straits.  He picked up a few birdies on the holes playing downwind after starting on the 10th hole.  He's currently standing on the 18th tee at 2 under par.
Whistling Straits is certainly not a course that you can 'piece' something together to get through the week.  The players who have good 'point A to point B' games will be the ones to survive these next 4 days.
The golf course looks fantastic on TV.  If you didn't know any better you'd think you're watching a European Tour event.  Keep in mind as you watch this week that you can move stones, twigs, etc...out of the bunkers.
Lots of drama surrounding this week.  Who will earn the top 8 spots on the Ryder Cup Team, what will become of Tiger and instructor Sean Foley and will Corey Pavin and reporter Jim Gray kiss and make up.  Stay tuned.