Golf Progress: Golf Improvement in a modern age

Golf Drills in the Backyard

admin — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 20:37:20 +0000

Golf Drills at Home

In September 2011 I posted the below video which to my surprise is about to hit 10,000 views on YouTube. I was showing all the different ways I was practicing at the time. Looking back on it I see that I had no idea how little my lower body was actually doing in my golf swing. I’m really glad I took all this video footage so I can compare where I am now to where I was. The hard part is to resist yelling at my old self on the screen to turn my hips!!!

Taylor Made Golf Clubs

What does chopping wood have to do with the golf swing?

admin — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 08:49:04 +0000

Swinging a weighted implement

Chopping wood shares many similarities to swinging a golf club. You have a long handle and the business end is heavy in relation to the stick it’s attached to. If you want to do damage you have to let go and allow the weight of the head to do its job. You can’t muscle it with your hands and arms. There is a gathering of speed with the max velocity being reached right at impact to deliver the most powerful blow possible to some poor piece of wood or golf ball, whichever kind of ax swinging you’ve decided to engage in.

Golf in the woods

In this October 2012 update I played a round outside of Lake Tahoe at Northstar Resort. There were 9 tight holes played in the woods (the back 9, which is where we started our round as they use a 10 a.m. shotgun start during the fall due to morning frost) and 9 holes set out in the open which seemed like an afterthought. A beautiful setting for half of the time was good enough.

Bear in mind when watching the video that I have never in my life chopped wood, I grew up in the suburbs of Washington D.C. and never even went camping until I was in my 20s. I’m now learning to appreciate the outdoors and an Airstream trailer will be my home in retirement, traveling to different golf destinations. My wife can come with and run the video camera.

Golf Trousers from Bunker Mentality

Scottsdale Golf

Shoulder Rotation is required for good golf

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:16:12 +0000

Reviewing the Rotater, a device for improving shoulder rotation and health

I’ve had FMS and TPI screens and shoulder mobility is a big issue for me, but beyond just looking to start cranking on the rotator cuff, I’m interested in determining the root of what I see as a common problem among middle aged and older males who work in office buildings and have two kids and a mortgage. And that would be the issue of poor overall posture and movement ability.

Let me know what you think of this Part 1 of a product review for a device that I’m not ready to even use yet for reasons explained in the video series.

Golf Clubs from Golf Bidder

Golf Progress Episodes on Pinterest

admin — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:35:16 +0000

Seeing if Pinterest is ready for Golf Progress original programming.

Source: youtube.com via Nick on Pinterest

You might be a flipper if….

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:38:33 +0000

Ball Striking Lies

Facing reality about impact conditions

My passion when it comes to the golf business is the plight of the mid handicap player who has experience in the game. Their #1 stated desire is always either “consistency” or “I want to hit it more solid” or “I want more distance”. All three of these goals, when it comes to an average golfer, are best achieved by examining impact conditions and seeing whether there is a quality strike of the golf ball happening. Most mid handicappers are flippers, whether they’re aware of it or not. The flipper is someone who bends their lead wrist coming into impact, to add loft and prevent the club from burying into the turf a foot behind the ball.

I find that a lot of people who shoot in the 90s are lying to themselves when it comes to the way they’re hitting their irons. The belief is that they just need to practice more often, hit more golf balls, or play more golf for the consistency to fall into place and for them to hit their best shots more often. But the reality is that the quality shots from the fairway are usually the result of some very good timing that allows for the clubhead to bottom out at or before the ball but not be slowed down by the turf. It’s often a matter of them having the ideal lie which allows the ball striking lie to continue. Learning to flip the club well should not be the goal, this is a recipe for a lifetime of mediocre golf. The tell tale signs that you are a flipper are as follows:

You alternate between fat and thin shots, meaning that their low point is behind the golf ball
You would prefer to have a shot where the golf ball is perched in the rough rather than have to hit off a tight fairway lie, because you are afraid of the fat shot
You make good contact on the driving range off the mats but often are laying the sod down when you get onto the golf course, especially in wet conditions
You cannot power the ball out of deep rough with any club but a wedge
You struggle hitting balls off a downhill lie
You struggle hitting balls below the feet
You tremor at the thought of a fairway bunker shot

In this video, Martin Chuck (inventor of the Tour Striker) talks about his passion, the understanding of forward shaft lean and how to achieve it. His product falls into the category of “diabolical” in my book because it exposes the player’s weakness, which is that they are likely not impacting the golf ball with forward shaft lean. The reasons for this will be covered in future posts but the key takeaway is that there are drills to be done to help identify flipping and to work on eliminating it and replacing it with a body driven pivot and a powerful release using the tool as it was designed. Another diabolical approach would be to practice in the sand for large blocks of time. Spending time in a fairway bunker intensifies the practice session and tells the truth about impact much more than hitting balls off forgiving range mats that provide a false sense of confidence which fades once we’re on the golf course dealing with the realities of turf, sand, and physics.

Hit the little ball before the big ball!

Enjoy Martin’s video lesson on hitting balls from a fairway bunker to learn to feel lag pressure and a better impact condition on iron shots.

Lesson on Lag from Martin Chuck

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:10:24 +0000

Understanding lag in the golf swing

Martin Chuck, inventor of the Tour Striker training club, is one of the top instructors in the world. As judged by me. Below is a cool video using a grape to demonstrate the concept of clubhead lag. Martin is doing a lot to simplify the concepts written in the classic golf book “The Golfing Machine”

Tour Striker

You most likely know Martin Chuck as the inventor of the most diabolically evil training aid ever, The Tour Striker. While I have not used the Tour Striker yet, I know it’s a good tool from the many hundreds of teachers and golfers that have told me of its effects. When you look at it you can clearly see that it will force you to “modify intent” as Martin so brilliantly put it during his interview with Fred Greene on the Golf Smarter Podcast last month. You simply cannot scoop the ball using this training club and therein lies the value–the tool forces you to change your ways and to produce forward shaft lean at impact. For that reason alone I love it, although I’m sure if I tried it I might learn to hate it. Because it would not let me get away with the scoop picking that I typically do with my mid and longer irons and I would have to face reality.

Check out the Tour Striker!

The Tour Striker

Golf As War

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:52:23 +0000

In this installment of the Golf Progress video show, I elaborate on why Golf Training for those who have hit a plateau is like going to war:

Golf Training in 2011: Year End Wrap Up

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:59:03 +0000

Golf Progress: 2011 In Conclusion

I made it quite clear for the past two years that I was intent on getting to a seven index by the end of 2011. So the inevitable question must be asked: Did I reach my goal? The answer, in short, is no. I got as low as 11.3 and I’m currently an 11.6. Find out what happened and what I learned:

In 2012, there will be lots more golf biomechanics, golf fitness, product reviews, book reviews, profiles of instructors, practice drills, and deep thoughts.

The Best Path to Golf Improvement

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:37:52 +0000

A reader e-mailed me the following question:

Hi Nick,

“Thanks for putting so much effort into your website and videos. Your passion for getting better at golf really shows. I really like your concept – a kinda one man’s journey to a single digit handicap. I think it resonates with many, many golfers around the world.

Along those lines, I wonder myself what is the best path to improvement? How do we identify the areas to concentrate on to make the most long term improvement? So much has been written about the golf swing- but so little I find about making progress.

It would be interesting to hear from your own progress over the last year what your experiences have been.

Thanks!”

-John

John’s question served as inspiration for me to really think hard about how to best answer him. It is the ultimate question any player should be asking all the time, “what is the best path to improvement?” and John points out that there isn’t much focus in the magazines on the journey of golf improvement that the player experiences and how to continue along a progressive road to betterment. Everything is focused on quick tips which have never proven to impact golfer’s level of skill.

A framework I developed in recent years to assist me in how to think about this process with the Golf Progress Pyramid, which involves the following four elements of performance:

1. Physical

2. Technical

3. Strategic

4. Mindset

The model is illustrated below:

The Golf Improvement Pyramid

All four elements are involved in every aspect of our golf, but different areas are critical for a player’s development at various levels of abilities. I see the physical element as the base because you can only do what your body is capable of doing. You then apply a technique with the physical capacity that you have developed. Next up the chain is the decisions you make as to how to apply the technique, and at the peak is the mental game, which I see as developing the capacity to bring out the best in your ability when it matters, and also having the attitude and mental approach to training and practice that allows for the improvement of the other three elements: your body, golf technique, and strategic thinking.

The irony of the pyramid structure that I have in mind is that in the long term, the pyramid is best built from the base up, with improvement layered on top of the level below. But in the short term, such as when you have a 175 yard shot over water with bunkers to the right of the green, the tip of the pyramid proves most influential on the outcome of the shot.

Why is Physical at the base of the pyramid? Because no matter how good my decision making is, if I’m unable to bend at the hips and establish rotary stability in my swing, I won’t be able to make the club do what I want and my choice of shot becomes irrelevant if I’m not hitting the golf ball solidly. Touring professionals have embraced golf fitness in recent years, in great part due to the work of Dr. Greg Rose and Dave Phillips at TPI. Golfers on the tour are playing for a lot of money so staying free of injury and improving their conditioning can really make a difference. But I don’t believe golf fitness is something that’s ‘for the pros’. I believe the opposite is true. The reality is that the mid handicapper has much more to gain from implementing a program that addresses physical limitations because he is very likely to have them.

To get back to John’s individual question, my answer would be that answer we all hate to hear:

IT DEPENDS

My perception of the path to golf improvement is as not a mountain to be climbed but a series of gates to be unlocked. This is why some players get to scratch in two years and some spend forty years unable to break 100. Here is a common ‘locked gate’ that prevents progress in each of the four areas.

1. Physical: Hip and Upper back restriction

2. Technical: The lead wrist is bent, leading to a glancing blow on the golf ball

3. Strategy: Lack of Self-awareness of ability and of what equipment to use

4. Mental: Stuck thinking, ruled by fear

In my next post I will answer John’s last question about my own experiences during 2011, and the answer will be framed in relation to the golf progress pyramid.

Is Golf Really All Mental?

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:19:13 +0000

One of the most common refrains in the world of golf is that the game is “all in your head” or “it’s 90% mental” or as Bobby Jones famously said “Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course, the space between your ears.”

The quote that I would counter comes from a guy who knows a thing or two about effort:

“You must work very hard to become a natural golfer.”
- Gary Player

I provide my answer to the question in the video below, please leave a comment if you agree and especially if you disagree. In essence my belief is that while the mind is in charge of the body, it is limited by the extent of the player’s ability on any given day, which is shaped by innate athleticism and most important, by training and experiences.