This episode is a home show where I talk about some of the reasons why we need to have a post shot routine.  The strategy we cover here is from one of our past guests, Golf Digest Top 50 instructor James Sieckmann.  In his book Your Short Game Solution he actually covers a great and incredibly important part of the mental game, the post shot routine.

The three main components are to a good post shot routine:

Craig used to own five different golf tech learning centers. He has taught over 10,000 lessons, and he’s taken his expertise to the online world. Craig is now the creator of Face First Golf, which is a community that was born on Facebook, then brought even further onto the digital side of his own membership program. His programs focus on eliminating the common errors that plague 12+ handicap players.

The 12+ Handicapper and how to keep enjoying the game

Craig used to be the 12+ handicapper, so he knows what it feels like to be in that range and to want to be good so bad.

No need to make the bigger movements-Craig teaches how to keep a flatter left arm and wrist, and a little bit more about hip rotation

The Two T’s on the course are what you should be thinking about: target and tempo.

Remember the goal is to get your ball closer to the target, not to just hit the ball. Get the most out of imperfect swings. Changes aren’t instant.

Don’t worry about your ball flight when you’re trying to correct swing mechanics-focus on that target.

What to do when working on mechanics

Hit ten balls, then step away, and say you’re gonna go through your whole routine

Then hit the next three balls without any mechanical thoughts in your head.

Keep going back and forth between training and trusting mode-practice your trust mode in practice.

Common hurdles people have difficulty clearing

Too much random free golf advice available all over the internet

Commit to something and turn everything else off-follow one person’s advice, like Craig’s! Follow one course until success

Rapid Fire Round

Single best piece of advice ever given: don’t follow up a bad shot, with a dumb one. Get yourself back into position. Don’t hit the hero shot.

Favorite practice drill: The 9 o’clock drill

Players make a half-back swing so your left arm is parallel to the ground. Then from that stopped position, hit the shot. Players get immediately into a better impact position. They also swing more with the body, rather than their arms.

What’s the most fundamental component for higher handicappers to focus on?

Club face. The reason so many players swing over the top is because their club faces are open. If you don’t fix it, they’ll always swing over the top.

Book Recommendation:

“Golf is Not a Game of Perfect” by Bob Rotella.

Short and info impact

How to prepare for a tournament in one day

Reread “Golf is Not a Game of Perfect”

With only 24 hours, you can only work on your mind

Parting piece of guidance:

Pick something and stick with it and tune everything else out.

Special link: http://facefirstgolf.com/golfstrategyschool

Twitter: https://twitter.com/craigjonesgolf

Home website: http://facefirstgolf.com/

EPISODE FEATURED GUESTS: RYAN DAILEY AND MATT REAGAN

These two are part of a team in iGrow golf, and are also part of an amazing project called Operation 36. Both Ryan and Matt are PGA professionals and teach and coach in North Carolina. In 2009 they created a revolutionary junior golf coaching program. Operation 36 is a culmination of trial and error with golfers age 3-13, and its main goal is to get juniors to shoot 36 or better for nine holes.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN SHOW:

EPISODE FEATURED GUEST: ALISON CURDT

Alison is one of only 11 women who have reached the level of PGA Master Professional.  She is also the 2015 LPGA National Teacher of the Year and with her degree in psychology, Alison gives unique insight into the game of golf.

IN THIS PODCAST EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN SHOW:

How to Approach Your Short Game

James has coached over 50 PGA & LPGA Tour players, Golf Digest top 50 instructor,Golf Magazine top 100 instructor. He operates the Shadow Ridge Golf Academy in Omaha, Nebraska.

Biggest flaw James sees (6:40): People get on the course and start thinking about their mechanics while they are trying to play.

Don’t tinker while you’re on the course. Just play.

Plateau Levels (8:00): Players should shoot for different plateau levels based on their skill. Using a 70 yard shot as an example:

If you’re a lower handicapped player, your plateau might be a 2 yard circle around the cup so you can make birdie.

If you’re a higher handicapper, your plateau might be within 10 yards so you can get down in two and avoid bogeys.

Realizing the standard that your short game needs to be at to achieve those plateaus is a BIG step in the improvement process.

Get down in 3 vs down in 5 and awareness (9:20): 

First step is to create an awareness technically to compress the ball and hit the ball first so you’re not hitting in the bunker, etc.

A second problem is that players don’t typically train or practice at all for that type of shot (a five par or short 4 par)-they skip right over it.

Set up cones and work on hitting to a specific distance to help with this shot.

If you’re a mid to high handicapper (11):

You need to train, get your driver in play off the tee, get your wedges around the green, your light putter, and your distance wedges proficient to the point where you’re not wasting strokes.

If you can do those simple things, drive is decently, light putt, chip reasonably close to the hole, hit your wedges on the green, you’ll be shocked at how easy it would be to break 90 for example.

Wedges around the green (12:30):

Biggest area of trouble that James’ students have.

Training techniques:

set up is critical: what’s optimal for 10 yards is horrible from 200 and vice versa.

You need to get a clear picture in your head of what you’re going to do, get in the right set up, and follow the correct sequence.

Chipping trajectories (16:30):

Once you’re hitting the ball consistently, there’s still skill involved.

You need to know what to hit what shot when, you need to pick the right trajectory, what club to play when, match your energy of the swing with the effect of loft-it all demands a certain demand of practice.

Training: take any club you would use around the green

Lob wedge: Hit your normal trajectory shot, a higher than normal shot, and a lower than normal.

Let’s take the same three trajectories with a 9-iron: normal, lower than normal, and higher than normal

You need to realize, in order to a hit a higher than normal shot, you lean the shaft less, you open the face more, the ball position would slide up, those elements create more effective loft and more effective bounce so when the club does hit the ground, it doesn’t stick.

Important putting skills (20:30)

Quiet your eye prior to your stroke-it has dramatic effect on your brain and your ability to focus and be calm.

Skills in putting:

How to assess yourself-see if you’re falling short in a certain area

Develop a plan of attack

Post Round Analysis (22)

Realize if you’re falling short in one area, find out what you’re going to do about it

Come back when you mess up to find out what you’re going to do about it; don’t just realize the mistake, do something about it, otherwise you’ll hit the same shot

Rapid Fire Round (23)

Favorite go-to drill

Right arm only finesse swings-take your lead arm off and swing with your trail arm only.

What’s the most fundamental part of the short-game?

Rhythm- the key issue as far as distance control. Keep everything together

What book would you recommend to a golfer?

Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin-it’s about learning and how hard work trumps talent

If you had only 24 hours to help your student prepare for that big important tournament, what are you going to spend that time working on?

Get them to be well rested-always number one. Be well-hydrated and do some visualization -see themselves walk up to the tee calm and confident.

Website: http://www.jsegolfacademy.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jsieckmann?fref=ts

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7b8Y4bh1wxK2FBNn4n_P5w

Setting Goals the Right Way

Goal setting can be broken into two components - Long range goals and  short range or round specific goals

These should be as specific as possible and shared with friends and family to help create some accountability on your part..

Example: 50% of greens in regulation (be realistic though, pros on hit 70% of greens)

Example: Scheduled practices on focused areas of your game

Going into each round you should avoid thinking about a specific number and instead be looking to set smaller easier to achieve goals that will add up to that number

Set percentages of fairways hit, GIR, and up & downs you want to accomplish throughout the round. Focusing on these smaller tasks takes your mind off of the bigger target and lets you achieve on a more consistent basis.

PRO TIP - Don’t be afraid to blackout par on your scorecard with a marker. This will help keep you focused on each shot rather the result of the hole.

How to Build Rhythm in Your Golf Swing

The reason I wanted to talk about building rhythm in your golf swing is the fact that rhythm should be the only thing in your head as you're getting ready to make your shot. There are some fairly obvious pros to having a good rhythm like:

A good rhythm will help eliminate tension

A good rhythm builds consistency

A good rhythm will help build confidence

Before we can eliminate tension we need to know exactly how much we have in our swing. For this reason we’re going to do the tension drill. Take your setup position (no ball) and slowly start flexing every muscle in your body. That’s a 10 on the tension scale.

Then go the other direction. Get so loose you can barely stand up. That’s a 0 on the tension scale.

Go back and forth two or three times then try to hit your shot from a 2 or 3 on that tensions scale. You will immediately start to feel more smooth throughout your golf swing.  Here's Iain himself with an example:

If you’re nice and loose through your big muscles but are still holding on too tightly to the club try taking (very) small swings with just the last three fingers of your left hand on the club (for righties). This will show you what it should feel like to effortlessly release the club through impact.

Learn to develop your own rhythm by humming while your swing. If you can keep the pitch of the hum consistent throughout (with a little spike at impact) you will find you rhythm in no time!

The last little tip I have is to keep your mouth open while you swing. People tend to bite down when they hit AT the ball rather than smoothly swinging through it. So by keeping your mouth slightly open you can give yourself that extra little edge.

Dr. Rob Bell's Episode

Geoff Greig's Episode

Geoff’s Webinar

Last week we looked at the four fundamental principals to making your pre shot routine solid and reliable. This week Will Robins, a PGA instructor based in California shares some excellent ideas on how to actually improve your game by changing how you practice

It’s important not to focus on the bad parts of a round. If you doubled 16 and shot 73 your instinct would be to dwell on that one thing that held you back. Well flip the script - If you doubled the first hole but managed to shoot 73 you would be riding a wave of confidence about your comeback. So make sure your analysis is objective.

How to analyze (statistically): Did you give yourself 18 opportunities to score? After that did you give yourself 18 opportunities to get down in two?

Why GIR isn’t always helpful as you think: If the best player in the world can only hit a green in regulation 70% of the time from 180 yards (with a 7 iron and you’re using a hybrid) why are you tracking a stat that you can’t be great at. - You’ve got to track the stats that will help improve your score

How to analyze (mentally): Measure your tipping points. Did you stick to routine & process on a tough up and down? Did you get frustrated with a result and let it cloud your next shot too? This is how you remain objective with your mental analysis.

Who were you being when you made the error:

· Were you fully committed to it? – Well then you just hit a bad shot. Leave it behind and focus on the next one.

· No I wasn’t committed – Well, then why would you be mad? You weren’t committed to it!

Most people play golf with a lot of tension, fear, trying not to miss, and thinking a lot. If you do anything like that you’re not going to be overly successful, so why would golf be any different?

What would happen to a marathon runner who had trained for four years to be in the Olympics then gets a last minute letter saying he’ in the 110 meter high hurdles? They would be a train wreck! That’s essentially what you’re asking your body to do with that type of driving range practice.

Write down on a piece of paper what you’d like to do on the golf course. What’s on your list?

· Commit to your shots?

· Trust your swing?

· Stick with decisions?

Alright, start doing that on the golf course. It’s all about what you practice. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Jason Day have all spent time practicing confidence and commitment. That’s why they don’t get tripped up over these things as much as most amateurs.

There are two types of practice – drills and performance.

· Drills are where you learn the skill and do the repetitive practice.

· Performance practice is testing yourself. Give yourself a target and see how many times out of 10 you can hit it. Write down the result. Tomorrow when you practice again go through your drills again and give yourself that performance test. You should see incremental gains each time.

This is how you build emotional muscle and become a reactional golfer!

The Nutter Game: Play your worst golf ever, but do it on purpose. This is probably one of the most counterintuitive things you’ve ever heard. Just give Will a chance and give it a try though. He explains it best and the explanation starts right at the 26 minute mark.

4 steps to a solid pre shot routine

Last week we covered how you can get more confident when putting and part of that was the pre shot routine. Today we are going to take a deeper dive and look at 4 steps you can take to develop your own solid pre shot routine.

This is the part that most people are familiar with. Actually getting comfortable over the ball. This is important and should be done the same way every time, because if you don’t have consistent preparation you can’t have consistent execution.

The first and most important part is to make a plan and STICK TO IT! You’ve got to remember that if you waffle in your decision making you send mixed signals to your body. That creates inconsistency as to which signal should be followed.

It doesn’t have to be a truly visual process, you just have to know what you want it to do. An easy ways to teach yourself the process is to think about how you read breaking putts. This is exactly how you would visualize a regular shot too.

Whatever your key thought is going into the swing it’s important to stay focused on that. Some common things I have focused on in the past are balance & rhythm.

if you stay over your shot too long you start adding risk & anxiety (or sometimes fear) to the mix. I always try look back to a time when I really performed this type of shot well. It keeps me positive & confident through the execution.

Putting with Confidence

Do you have a hard time making the important putts or do you tend to psyche yourself out before you even address the ball?  Try some of these practice drills and exercises to help you make your flat stick one of the strongest parts of your game.

For this week's episode I'm sharing with you the best strategies I've learned to help increase your confidence and ability to perform under pressure.  This really comes from the fact that I've seen these few drills/exercises make HUGE strides for my students.  It's something that I do myself all the time so I can sometimes forget how big of an impact this has on my game, but seeing the success my students have had by adapting these tips has definitely reinforced it's importance.