Wednesday 4 October 2017

Putting drills


Putting strokes account for nearly one half of all strokes in a round of golf and yet hardly any golfers spend half of their practice time on putting. Learning the game from the green backwards is a good idea!
Many short knockers have proven that keeping the drive in the fairway and getting the approach shot somewhere on the green is frequently sufficient to keep pace with the long knockers who don't have the same skill with the putter.

Practice the length of putts that matter most. Typical first putt when you reach the green is 20 to 30 feet. A typical first putt when you chip is 3. To 10 feet. Only practice 3 foot putts under pressure.

Starting your putting practice just stroking a few putts, focusing on tempo and not the hole. Just use two balls, same make of balls preferably.
If you use more than two balls it will get like hitting balls on the range, 'rake and hit'.this is not ideal for focusing your practice.


Most golfers with handicaps of 15 or more never count the number of puts in a round. 80 % of golfers have 36 putts or more.

Majority of 3 putts are are caused by being too short or too long.
One of the reasons for this is by off centre hits and variations of dynamics loft at impact. Putters on average have 3 degree of loft, if when you strike the ball your loft has decreased or increased the result will be variations in pace. A combination of these factors can affect the distance a putt travels by up to 20%.
A good pace exercise is make a few putts just looking at the hole. It might take a few putts to get used to but be patient, you will soon see the ball stopping close to the hole!

PUTTING DRILLS

set a ball one foot from the hole. Putt from 8 ft and knock the ball so drops into the hole. The second ball will go off on an angle if you do it wrong.

Make a target 10 to 15 ft away. Use small wooden block, something similar, book to use for putter face. Set it behind the ball, standing at address. Move it till it looks at target. Then walk behind the block and check with your dominant eye. It will show up your misalignment tendencies.

Set two balls down the length of your putter face aimed at hole. Make a stroke striking both balls at the same time. See if they run in a straight line. Will test your square impact. TWO BALL AID.

Pop up gate - stick two pegs in the ground, square to the hole, rest ball in front of the two pegs, putt squarely to the two pegs. Great for practicing 3 to 6 ft range.

Putt  blind - aim face at target, once you are happy close eyes and make a stroke, this drill is surprisingly accurate and makes you focus on the feel and distance of the stroke. It also works if you just look at the hole when you putt. A drill that Jordan Speith uses regularly.

Stick drill - lay an alignment stick down or a shaft of  a club, hold the putter down to the grip so the putter is just above the stick, with arms hanging make strokes along the top of the stick keeping the sweet spot and the face square. This will improve a very smooth unhurried stroke.

Finger putting - curl fingers up, palms up to sky and rock the shoulders. Helps you feel the rocking, not the wrist.

Butt Putt - stick a tee in the butt of the putter, set up so the tee aims into your sternum - make a shoulder rock making sure the tee keeps aiming at your sternum.

Drop and stop - make a backstroke and let the putter drop straight on the ball, soon as the putter makes contact with the back of the ball stop the stroke, check whether your shoulders and hands are still aligned square to the target and whether the putter face is still square.

String line - Putt balls straight beneath the string line. Tie string between two skewers.

Gate putt- Set up to the ball and place two tee pegs 3 ft in front of the ball, making a gate, putt the ball through the gate to the hole. As you get better at it narrow the gate.

8 ball in the corner- set a ball on the lip for a breaking putt, right where the putt will enter the cup - bump the ball into the hole and leave the putted ball on the lip where the first ball sat.

Palace Guard - set two balls at the lip a little wider apart than one ball' s width - putt so that your ball enters the cup without disturbing either ball.

Core putt- for touch. Using the same tempo you can be your own stimpmeter and putt two balls exactly the same distance. This core putt calibrates  the golfer to the swing speed, longer and shorter distances build around this core backstroke, making your instincts more in tune with the green speed.

Rabbit and dog - putt one ball- putt second ball to bump the first.

Stack 'em - putt a ball to the fringe of the green, putt second ball as close as possible to that one, continue stacking them back, if you knock it past start your stack again.


PUTTER LENGTH

One of the main reasons for putting consistency is checking the length of your putter. Shops are full of putters with manufacturers lengths from 34" to 36".
The average length of putters on Professional Tours are 32".

A putter that is too long prevents the eyes being over the ball at address. It also promotes a smaller bio-mechanical arm arc during putting making it more difficult to arrive at impact square to the intended direction.

Have you ever been custom fitted for your putter?
80% of golfers say no to this question. (Unbelievable).

Have you ever had a putting lesson?
80% of golfers say no to this question.

By having a putter measured to the correct length your eyes are looking along the line of the putt and not across. The bio-mechanical arm arc is longer and straighter so the margin for error at impact is reduced.


set a ball one foot from the hole. Putt from 8 ft and knock the ball so drops into the hole. The second ball will go off on

Make a target 10 to 15 ft away. Use small wooden block, something similar, book to use for putter face. Set it behind the ball, standing at address. Move it till it looks at target. Then walk behind the block and check with your dominant eye. It will show up your misalignme

Pop up gate - stick two pegs in the groundthis drill is surprisingly accurate and makes you focus on the feel and distance of the stroke. It also works if you just look at the hole when you putt. A drill that Jordan Speith uses regularly.

Stick drill - to the grip so the putter is just above the stick, with arms hanging make strokes along the top of the stick keeping the sweet spot and the face square. This will improve a very smooth unhurried stroke.

Finger putting - curl fingers up, palms up to sky and rock the shoulders. Helps you feel the rocking, not the wrist.

Butt Putt - stick a tee in the butt of the putter, set up so the tee aims into your sternum - make a shoulder rock making sure the tee keeps aiming at your sternum.

Drop and stop - make a backstroke and let the putter drop straight on the ball, soon as the putter makes contact with the back of the ball stop the stroke, check whether your shoulders and hands are still aligned square to the target and whether the putter face is still square.

String line - Putt balls straight beneath the string line. Tie string between two skewers.

Gate putt- Set up to the ball and place two tee pegs 3 ft in front of the ball, making a gate, putt the ball through the gate to the hole. As you get better at it narrow the gate.

8 ball in the corner- set a ball on the lip for a breaking putt, right where the putt will enter the cup - bump the ball into the hole and leave the putted ball on the lip where the first ball sat.

Palace Guard - set two balls at the lip a little wider apart than one ball' s width - putt so that your ball enters the cup without disturbing either ball.

Core putt- for touch. Using the same tempo you can be your own stimpmeter and putt two balls exactly the same distance. This core putt calibrates  the golfer to the swing speed, longer and shorter distances build around this core backstroke, making your instincts more in tune with the green speed.

Rabbit and dog - putt one ball- putt second ball to bump the first.

Stack 'em - putt a ball to the fringe of the green, putt second ball as close as possible to that one, continue stacking them back, if you knock it past start your stack again.

PUTTING DRILLS

set a ball one foot from the hole. Putt from 8 ft and knock the ball so drops into the hole. The second ball will go off on an angle if you do it wrong.

Make a target 10 to 15 ft away. Use small wooden block, something similar, book to use for putter face. Set it behind the ball, standing at address. Move it till it looks at target. Then walk behind the block and check with your dominant eye. It will show up your misalignment tendencies.

Set two balls down the length of your putter face aimed at hole. Make a stroke striking both balls at the same time. See if they run in a straight line. Will test your square impact. TWO BALL AID.

Pop up gate - stick two pegs in the ground, square to the hole, rest ball in front of the two pegs, putt squarely to the two pegs. Great for practicing 3 to 6 ft range.

Putt  blind - aim face at target, once you are happy close eyes and make a stroke, this drill is surprisingly accurate and makes you focus on the feel and distance of the stroke. It also works if you just look at the hole when you putt. A drill that Jordan Speith uses regularly.

Stick drill - lay an alignment stick down or a shaft of  a club, hold the putter down to the grip so the putter is just above the stick, with arms hanging make strokes along the top of the stick keeping the sweet spot and the face square. This will improve a very smooth unhurried stroke.

Finger putting - curl fingers up, palms up to sky and rock the shoulders. Helps you feel the rocking, not the wrist.

Butt Putt - stick a tee in the butt of the putter, set up so the tee aims into your sternum - make a shoulder rock making sure the tee keeps aiming at your sternum.

Drop and stop - make a backstroke and let the putter drop straight on the ball, soon as the putter makes contact with the back of the ball stop the stroke, check whether your shoulders and hands are still aligned square to the target and whether the putter face is still square.

String line - Putt balls straight beneath the string line. Tie string between two skewers.

Gate putt- Set up to the ball and place two tee pegs 3 ft in front of the ball, making a gate, putt the ball through the gate to the hole. As you get better at it narrow the gate.

8 ball in the corner- set a ball on the lip for a breaking putt, right where the putt will enter the cup - bump the ball into the hole and leave the putted ball on the lip where the first ball sat.

Palace Guard - set two balls at the lip a little wider apart than one ball' s width - putt so that your ball enters the cup without disturbing either ball.

Core putt- for touch. Using the same tempo you can be your own stimpmeter and putt two balls exactly the same distance. This core putt calibrates  the golfer to the swing speed, longer and shorter distances build around this core backstroke, making your instincts more in tune with the green speed.

Rabbit and dog - putt one ball- putt second ball to bump the first.

Stack 'em - putt a ball to the fringe of the green, putt second ball as close as possible to that one, continue stacking them back, if you knock it past start your stack again.

Hope you enjoy the information.

 Hope you enjoy the infor

Friday 7 April 2017

Stretch band exercise for flexibility



Just a simple band can improve your flexibility with these simple movements. A few reps of these a week and you will see the benefit and gain strength in your golf swing. Great for all ages.

Custom fitting facts

Swingweight - degree to which the club balances toward the club head. Has a direct impact on your distance, feel and consistency a lighter swingweight will increase your swing speed.

Shaft with tip stiff and flexible butt combined with low loft will work better for players seeking a lower penetrating ball flight. The shaft will bend less during the downswing. The opposite applies for players wanting higher ball flight and distance. Shaft with stiff butt and flexible tip with higher loft.

Torque- this is the twisting of the head at impact. The further away the centre of gravity is from the shaft, higher the twisting. 
The greater mass more twisting occurs. Higher the torque the more the club head will twist with a fast downswing, which will result in inaccuracy at impact.

Balancing the driver.
The flex of the driver is crucial to distance, accuracy and trajectory. If distance is your priority, consider a slightly softer flex, which will enable the golfer to load the shaft more, which in turn stores more energy to increase power in the swing. If accuracy is your priority, a firmer shaft will give more control over the release and face angle at impact.

Adjustable drivers.
Sliding weight drivers - moving weight from side to side is not new at all. Mizuno did it first but not patent for it.
First time it was done was in 1995. It wasn't heavy enough though to have any affect.
Tom Wishon researched this back in the late 80's, early 90's and found you have to move at least 25 grams to have any affect on the shape of the shot, heel to toe, toe to heel. At 20grms of toe heel movement, only the the very best ball strikers will see a slight change in draw to fade shape of shot.
Moving weight from side to side in a driver is NOT a means to reduce a slice or a hook. You can only do this by changing the face angle with length reduction. These SLDR  drivers are only for making slight reductions to a nagging fade or draw. To do this consistently requires the golfer to be very consistent in the delivery of the face to the ball in his/her swing path.
E.g if you are a golfer whose swingpath varies from swing to swing 5 * outside to 1* outside in, that's enough of a high to low range that a movement of the weight to the extreme heel side of the head will not bring about a reduction in his/her slice that is going to be visible at all. On the other hand if the golfers swingpath from swing to swing varies by 2* or less, then fine, moving weight side to side will show up.

But again, these weight movement  drivers, no matter whose it might be are for TWEAKING the draw or fade tendency of a shot by 3,4,5, yards, not 20 to 30 yards and for more consistent players too

Wednesday 1 February 2017

Tpi screening.

If you're not assessing, you're just guessing


A new paradigm has emerged in golf training that involves biomechanical analysis of the golf swing and much more. In addition to high-tech swing analysis, players are given a full-body movement screen, which tests their flexibility, balance, stability and coordination. Using the findings, a training and therapy regimen is created to improve a player's mechanical issues, weaknesses and negative tendencies.

One company that is in the forefront of this paradigm shift is Titleist Performance Institute (TPI). They put an emphasis on players improving movement fundamentals of mobility, coordination and balance, and only when these fundamentals are mastered do strength, endurance, power and skill acquisition become the focus of training.

Any information on this, please get in touch with me.

Your body dictates your golf swing movement and helps you feel how far you can go.






Thursday 26 January 2017

Yoga for golf

The golf swing is a complex movement pattern, a blend of stability and mobility. In the golf swing, some joints are challenged to provide stability: feet, knees, pelvis, and shoulder blades. Other joints are required to be mobile: ankles, hips, spine, and shoulder joint. Proper kinematic sequencing is necessary to perform with both distance and accuracy. I like the model the Titleist Performance Institute uses of how the joints are stacked from bottom to top in terms of stability/mobility in the golf swing:


As you can see, the pattern is stable, then mobile. Obviously, if something is askew at one of these
joint sites, then golf dysfunction of some kind is bound to occur. Yoga is a blend of strength/endurance (stability) and flexibility (mobility), and immediately provides the golfer with higher levels of both of these. Yoga will finely tune your body, and when the body is finely tuned, better golf is easily achieved.

Speed in golf is determined by the ability to accelerate in a controlled fashion. Flexible muscles move faster and help enhance mobility in the joints. Increases in clubhead speed and better accuracy are easily achieved when a golfer has higher levels of functional flexibility/mobility.

Saturday 7 January 2017

Carlas Cowboys Player of the year 2016. John Sangster


John has really deserved his award this year. His dedication and his commitment has been exceptional! I have really enjoyed working with him and it has been a privelage to see him improve from day one. His manner and his attitude is great for the game of golf. John, it's been a pleasure!