GolfInstructionGuy.com - Golf Instruction, Play Better Golf, Learn Golf, Improve Golf, Learn How to Golf, Golf Swing

Preparing for a round

Posted by Jordan Caron on May 11th, 2010

Yesterday I played one of my better rounds in over well over a year. I tried to pinpoint why though because honestly, I was caught off guard. There were two things that I REALLY made a difference in yesterdays round.

The first has confidence. If you have been reading my posts and have signed up for my email newsletter then you will know how much I preach being confident on the course. Heading to the course and during my warm up session on the range I was calm and confident that I was going to play well.

Besides confidence it was my actually warm up session. Normally I am so busy with this site that I hardly have time to get to the course early enough to warm up. It was the same while I was working in a golf shop. I would just step right out of the shop and onto the first tee without any warm up! No wonder why I didn’t get off to good starts.

If you can head to the course 40 minutes before your tee time. For the first 5 minutes stretch and loosen up those muscles and get the blood flowing. Besides stretching also work on your breathing and getting your heart rate down. Be sure to take deep long breaths as this will help you forget about what you were just doing and will now focus your mind on playing a great round.

After this hit balls for the next 15 minutes. Start out with little chips with your wedge and work your way into a full swing with that same club. After 5 chip shots, 5 half swings and 10 full swings. Hit 5 balls with a 9 iron, then 5 more with a 6 iron, 5 more with a fairway wood and 10 with a driver. After the driver hit the remaining balls with your sand or pitching wedge. While hitting ball be sure to take your time and go through your pre shot routine for every full swing.

After your range session head up a chipping green and hit some chips for 5 minutes. Work on some shots that you might face on the course. Keep your chipping rhythm fluid and focus on making solid contact.

Once your done with chipping head to the putting green and work on lag putting and getting a feel for the speed of the greens. From there hit a few short putts starting at 2 feet and going back to 6 feet. This will build your confidence on the greens right before you tee off!

Learn how to play better golf by signing up for my free email newsletter on golf instruction here!

So to recap

-be confident before the round

-arrive 40 minutes before your tee time

-stretch and work on breathing for the first 5 minutes

-hit balls for 20 minutes slowing warming up with chips shots and going into full swings with your wedge, 6 iron, fairway wood and driver

-go through your pre shot routine before every full swing on the range

-chip for 5 minutes

-work on lag putting and getting a feel for the speed of the greens

-wrap up with hitting short putts starting at 2 feet and going back to 6

Remember the key is to slow everything down and become calm, relaxed and focused. If you rush when you get to the course you will feel rushed during your round and get off to a bad start, you don’t want that…

Share

Mental Golf Game – Confidence

Posted by Jordan Caron on May 7th, 2010

If you’re a first time visitor to my site, you will notice by looking at the my previous posts that the majority of my tips deal with the mental game and short game. These two areas are the most overlooked when it comes to golf and are the areas you can improve at the quickest which will lower your scores the fastest. Check out my breakdown on all areas of the game and how much you should focus on them here. Today’s post will talk about confidence on the golf course.

Many golfers I talk to think that you need to be a very good golfer to have confidence. This is far from the truth and in fact, anyone can acquire confidence because you’re not born with it or given it. Simply put confidence is positive thinking. If you want to make a putt and if you think about making it, then your confident. Pretty easy right?!

You do have to understand that confidence does not equal success but it does enhance it. The key is to continue thinking positive and confident. After a bad shot where you’re thinking positive don’t think “well that doesn’t work” and try something else. If your not thinking about a positive outcome for that shot then what are you thinking about? Hitting into the trees or water? Negative thinking is REALLY effective in case you haven’t notice.

If you want to be confident you have to think of yourself as a good player. Lets say that all you want to do is shot lower scores. Just thinking about shooting lower scores will help you achieve that. When your not on the course and your not thinking about lower scores, then don’t think about golf at all.

Golf will try it’s best to kill your confidence but here’s a thought for you when your on the course. Ben Hogan was quoted as saying that during the course of a round he only hit 4 shots EXACTLY the way he wanted to. Think about that! One of the best ball strikers ever to play the game says that. If you mishit a shot on the course, stay positive and realize that even the best players in the world do this. The difference is these mishits don’t faze their confidence.

For more mental golf game tips sign up for my free golf instruction email newsletter by clicking here!

Share

How to think during a “career” round

Posted by Jordan Caron on May 5th, 2010

How about Rory Mcilroys amazing 62 on Sunday at the Quail Hollow Championship? It was one of the best rounds I have seen played in a VERY long time. The thing that impressed me most was that he took COMPLETE CONTROL of the tournament even after he had just tied for the lead. He made sure to keep his great round rolling and to extend his lead. He did that and wrapped the tournament up on the 16th hole with a great fairway bunker shot that resulted in a birdie. Not bad for a kid who is just turning 21! Not only did he beat a pretty solid field but he also beat a very tough golf course.

Play better golf by signing up for my free golf instruction email newsletter by clicking here!

In his interview with Peter Kostis, Rory told Kostis that he didn’t have an idea of how many under par for the day or just how well he was playing. All he was trying to do was keep hitting it close and making the lowest score possible. What I like is that he had some idea as to how well he was playing but wasn’t sure of his score.

Next time you have a really good round going, be sure to keep the positive vibes going and not to think about your score. The key is not to think about your score or that you’re playing your best round ever. From my own PERSONAL experience and from watching others in this situation, I can honestly say that once a golfer starts thinking about what they have to shot over the last 4 or 5 holes, they’re DOOMED! The reason is because they put too much energy into thinking about what they have to achieve rather then just continuing to do what they’re doing. Simply focus on hitting good shots and staying positive and confident. This will result in a solid finish over the last few holes and your career round!

Share

Learn from Tiger Woods

Posted by Jordan Caron on May 4th, 2010

Last week was only the 6th event in which Tiger Woods didn’t make it to the weekend. His round Friday was probably his worst round as a professional under the conditions (he shot 81 at the Open Championship in brutal weather) as they were pretty straight forward. I was actually expecting this poor performance at the Masters a few weeks back but I guess he just stepped up his game to play unbelievably well at the right time. My guess is that Tiger really prepped himself for Augusta National in the months of confinement.

To accelerate your golf learning sign up for my free golf instruction email newsletter by clicking here!

So WHY did Tiger play so poorly? With only 9 holes to play on Friday, he was only 2 over par for the tournament and close to the cut line. He needed to shot 1 under par on the back 9 to make it to the weekend. This is where things started to unravel for Eldrick. After bogeying holes 10 and 11 Tiger knew he had to press to make some birdies to make it to the weekend. Unfortunately things only got worse from here. He lost concentration and simply gave up.

It wasn’t because he gave up that he missed the cut, it was BECAUSE he hadn’t played any competitive golf for a long time. I will exclude his performance at the Masters since it was a Major and we all know Tiger raises his game for the Majors. I’m sure Tiger would say that during his time off he was playing well on his home course but that was because he wasn’t in a tournament or playing for anything and the atmosphere was not even close to a event.

The LESSON you can learn from this is to try and put something on the line when playing with other golfers. It can be for anything from a $1, to a drink after the round or even a free car wash from your opponent! It’s always good to play for something so you keep your mind on the game and you don’t just head out to the course to socialize. I am not saying you can’t socialize but if you’re serious about playing better golf, then you should be focusing on just that!

The next 2 months will tell us a lot about Tiger Woods and his future in the game. With some young emerging talents, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els playing well and some veterans like Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia chasing their first Major title, Tiger is going to have a hard time beating Jack Nicklaus’ record of most Majors if he doesn’t get things together. At this given moment all the worlds best players are REALLY starting to think Tiger isn’t his dominate self and that this is there chance to win some Majors. This will be the case if he doesn’t get his physical and mental game back in shape. More then anything I really feel Tiger is trying to shed off the embarrassment of his personal life.

Share

In The Zone Golf

Posted by Jordan Caron on May 3rd, 2010

After watching Rory McIlory absolutely dust the field on Sunday at the Qual Hollow Championship, I asked myself if I had ever seen a better round played. A few come to mind from Tiger Woods but other then that, there aren’t many. David Duval shot a 13 under par 59 in the final round at the 1999 Bob Hope Classic.

Both of these rounds and players share a common thing and that is, they were both “in the zone” during their rounds. Each shot they played was executed perfectly and they were only thinking about shooting low rounds. Both players also mentioned that they had no idea how many under par they were. This is a great lesson to just learn to let go and forget your score on each hole and just hit the best shot you can.

So what is being “in the zone” and how you can get there? Almost every athlete who tries relaying to others just what exactly they were thinking about while in the zone, can’t really remember. I have had a few good rounds were I was in the zone and from my experience, it’s SIMPLY thinking about nothing while being confident, trusting and at peace. You will unconsciously fall in and out of the zone without knowing if you are playing a really good round. Be sure to joke around or smile and take some time to look around and enjoy your surroundings. This keeps your vibe positive and makes sure you aren’t too serious out there.

How can you GET into the zone? Being in the zone will just happen out of nowhere after you string together a few good swings. Your confidence will grow and you’ll only be thinking about hitting great shots. Gaining confidence in your swing will come down to practice which will help get your swing to repeat itself through muscle repetition. It will also come down to you knowing what it is you must do to swing the club properly. If you have no idea what the difference is between your good shots and bad shots, then you will struggle to improve your swing. You must be able to differentiate the good and bad swings so you can fix your swing as soon as possible after a poor one.

Once you figure out what goes into you making a good swing and practice plenty, getting into the zone will become much easier!

Be sure to sign up for my free email newsletter on Golf Instruction by clicking here!

Share

Wind Golf

Posted by Jordan Caron on April 27th, 2010

Growing up on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada I can honestly say that I have seen some and played in some crazy wind storms. At my home course it’s not uncommon to experience winds of 90 kh/m. Despite the strong winds and very cold temperatures I REALLY enjoy playing in the wind!

Believe it or not that is the most IMPORTANT tip I can give you when playing in the wind. If you find yourself getting upset with the conditions and the bad bounces/breaks that you will experience then you’re destined to play poorly. No matter WHAT you do, you can’t make the wind stop with a snap of the fingers! If for some reason you can then I will PAY you to move to my home city of Victoria Canada The fact is why are you getting upset with something you have no control over? This is just wasting energy and distracting your mind from focusing on things you can control. The same can be said for the bad breaks that you WILL get. Their going to happen when the wind blows so just smile, laugh and move on.

This is a cheesy saying but “swing easy when it’s breezy”. Despite the cheesiness it’s so true! Balls fly off line because of the side spin that is created when the club hits the ball. Even MORE spin is created when you swing faster and guess what happens when it blows out and you hit shots with lots of side spin? They get blown EVEN further off line. One thing we can to reduce the spin on the ball without any technical changes in the swing is to simply relax and slow the tempo down.

I have a great VIDEO DRILL you can do but first let me explain what to do first. The best way to slow the tempo if the swing down it becomes more fluid and smooth is to bring the club back slowly. Place a ball 8 inches behind a ball you’re about to hit like in the picture below.

If your take away is slow, the ball should only end up a 3-5 feet behind you. With a fast take away that ball would end up closer to ten + feet away from you.

The video below will show you how to achieve a nice rhythmic swing.

To accelerate your golf learning sign up for my free golf instruction email newsletter by clicking here!

Another thing that will help you become a better wind player is to have a stable base. If the wind is strong then it will actually try and push your weight around causing you to become unstable. You can easily do this by widening your stance. Pretty easy right? Good!

A great swing tip is to work on trunk rotation. By trunk I mean your stomach. All you have to do is follow through so that the front of your knee cap on your back leg and belt buckle face the target. Check below and easy video golf tip on body rotation.

Make sure to do this drill without a club and only focus on rotating to the target.

The LAST tip I will give is on playing in the wind is club selection. If your playing into a wind, always select at least a club or two more. Go down in loft and start to see the ball get closer to the hole. I don’t have to give a reason besides tell you that 90% of my playing partners never have the right club when hitting into a wind.

When playing with the wind at your back, do the opposite because the ball will release and roll much more being down wind.

If you focus on these few things the next time you play in the wind, I have no doubts that you will PLAY GREAT because you will the right mindset and the essential tips to succeed when the wind is gusting!

Share

How To Hit A Hybrid

Posted by Jordan Caron on April 23rd, 2010

If you haven’t already ditched your 3, 4 and 5 irons I highly suggest you do so now. You’re making the game a lot harder then it needs to be by continuing to use these clubs. The percentage of PGA Tour players who have a tleast 1 hybrid in their bag stands at 95%! If a PGA Tour player uses one then why aren’t you?! I know I need to make the switch but I’m too stubborn and have yet to find a hybrid that I like the look of and hit well.

First hand I have seen many players shave a few strokes off their score and take a few dollars out of my pocket by using hybrids. Before hybrids came out I would see these same players struggle with any shot outside of 170 yards because they had to hit a long iron shot into the green. No matter how forgiving a long iron is, they’re still much more difficult to hit.

Learn how to hit a hybrid by signing up for my free email newsletter on golf instruction here!

If you struggle with hitting your long irons consistently that is because they’re just flat out hard to hit! They have very little loft, smaller sweet spots and they just look so tiny compared to hybrids. Below is an example of what it looks like staring down at a long iron and a hybrid. Hybrids are a mix between a fairway wood and a long iron if you were wondering. They’re shorter in length then a fairway wood but longer then a iron. The club head looks like a fairway wood but is smaller and the club face it self is shallower making it easier to get the ball airborne.

Check out some easy to hybrids and see if any of them suit your eye.

Share

Practice Golf Swing

Posted by Jordan Caron on April 17th, 2010

Here is an easy way to practice golf swing. This is a post for everyone who struggles with their swing and really wants to start gaining more confidence and trust in it! From now only head to the driving range with a 7 or 8 iron, which ever you feel most comfortable with. This will really be hard for some of you as the driving range is all about working on the majority of clubs in your bag, especially the driver. The reasoning for this is to develop trust in your swing with the club you feel most confident with. Everyone has that “go to” club that they always hit great so use that one.

I suggest using these two clubs because they have plenty of loft and they’re much easier to hit then a 5 iron or fairway wood. Once you start to gain more confidence with the club you choose, go ahead and work your way down the set and start hitting a 6 and 5 iron. Once you feel comfortable hitting a 5 iron then work your way into hitting hybrids, fairway woods and the driver. Only move down in loft and irons when you feel comfortable. It’s better to be patient then rushing ahead and losing confidence in your swing so you have to rebuild that starting back at the 8 iron.

Learn Golf by signing up for my free golf instruction email newsletter here!

Your 7 iron back swing is just about as long as your driver back swing so it’ll be easy to adjust to using the longer clubs in your bag. This will also help if you’re in a position to hit a long shot into a green and you don’t feel comfortable hitting a fairway wood or 4 or 5 iron. A solid 7 iron may not allow you to get onto to the putting surface but it will place you in a better position for the following shot into the green.

Share

Goal Setting

Posted by Jordan Caron on April 13th, 2010

For everything in life I think it’s important to set goals. Doing so helps our motivation when we want to improve or achieve something in life. Sometimes we tend to set un-realistic goals and when we don’t achieve them, we get disappointed and lose our focus.

During my first few years as a Instructor I never asked my students what their goals were. This was a bad move on my part because I never really got in touch with what they wanted to improve on. This didn’t help me or themselves track their progress towards becoming a better player.

Now I make it a point before the first lesson with a new student to go over some of their goals. Often times some of the goals I hear are a bit ambitious which are great for the long term but it’s better to break up that long term goal into pieces. I find when my students set out short term goals they tend to achieve them quicker and get really excited and confident when they do so.

Here’s an example I am talking about. A student comes to me wanting to break 100 for the first time this year. Without seeing this person hit any shots I start to think about specific goals to help this golfer break 100. So I spend 30 minutes working on their swing and 30 minutes working on their short game. At the end of the lesson I sit down and break up their long term goal into smaller short term goals.

The first goal I state for the golfer is to have fun and to not put any pressure on themselves during every round. I truly think that if you have fun on the course and not get flustered with how your playing, your golf will improve.

The second goal would be to set a personal par for the specific course they’re playing. This really teaches a golfer to play within themselves and their abilities. Ideally the personal par would be 97 or 98, just a few strokes below 100.

The third goal deals with eliminating three putting. If this golfer can three putt only four times around the maximum amount of putts they will have is 40 which is pretty good for someone looking to break 100.

The last goal would be to eliminate penalty strokes. A golfer who is struggling to break 100 probably incurs 5 penalty strokes around. So if they can only have 2 penalty strokes around they have just shaved three strokes off their round.

By now you should see how making one big goal and breaking it down into smaller pieces can help us achieve and improve in so many areas of the game. So instead setting vague goals like the one I have stated, set smaller goals that will help you improve in many different areas of the game.

Be sure to sign up for my free email newsletter on Golf Instruction by clicking here!

Share

Playing from uneven lies

Posted by Jordan Caron on April 8th, 2010

It’s the best golfing week of the season as today is the start of the 2010 Masters. Tiger returns to action and it’ll be interesting to see how sharp his game is with all the time off and of course the distractions of the last few months. Augusta National may be one of the finest golf course designs on this planet and each year the course always excites fans and players with it’s sheer beauty and architectural values.

For those who have only seen the golf course on TV fail to understand just how undulating the course is. Players are faced with many uneven lies throughout the round and without a way to play these shots, they would not be able to contend come Sunday. Now even though we’ll not be playing in a Masters anytime soon, I want to give everyone a few tips on how to play from uneven lies.

Be sure to sign up for my free email newsletter on Golf Instruction by clicking here!

I will discuss how to play uphill and downhill lies first.

Uphill

When the ball is on a uphill slope you want to make sure to have your shoulders and body is perpendicular to the slope. So your shoulders are tilting upwards much like the slope of the hill and most of your weight is on your back foot. Also be sure to play the ball a little forward in your stance and take the club head back low on the back swing.

Downhill

The same principles come into affect when playing off a downhill as an uphill lie. Make sure your shoulders and body are now going with the down hill slope of the hill and have your weight on your front foot. Play the ball of the back of your stance and take the club head away on more of a steeper plane so that it doesn’t get caught in the hill.

Side hill – ball above your feet

Much like uphill and downhill lies, we want to make sure we swing the club with the slope of the hill. With this lie we want have the weight closer to the toes of your feet so you don’t fall backwards. From this lie the ball with will tend to draw so make sure to play for that when you are aiming.

Side hill – ball below your feet

This is the hardest off all the hilly lies. The main thing here is to stay down on the ball so your center of gravity is important here. You want to really be sure to bend your knees and keep them stable because they will be the only thing to save you from keeping your body down throughout the shot. The weight of your body should be closer to the heels of your feet to keep you from falling forwards with the slope.

When gripping the club make sure you grip close to the bottom of the golf clubs grip. This will keep your lower to ground and closer to the ball so that your not standing too tall over the shot. From this lie the ball with tend to fade so once again be sure to play for that when you are align to the target.

If you’re a member of a club I suggest heading out to a hole that has hilly lies to practice the tips I have given. If you don’t have that luxury, pay a cheaper green fee and head out to a course later at night when it’s quiet and do the same.

Share

Preparing for a round

Learn how to play better golf by signing up for my free email newsletter on golf instruction here!

Mental Golf Game – Confidence

For more mental golf game tips sign up for my free golf instruction email newsletter by clicking here!

How to think during a “career” round

Play better golf by signing up for my free golf instruction email newsletter by clicking here!

Learn from Tiger Woods

To accelerate your golf learning sign up for my free golf instruction email newsletter by clicking here!

In The Zone Golf

Be sure to sign up for my free email newsletter on Golf Instruction by clicking here!

Wind Golf

To accelerate your golf learning sign up for my free golf instruction email newsletter by clicking here!

How To Hit A Hybrid

Learn how to hit a hybrid by signing up for my free email newsletter on golf instruction here!

Practice Golf Swing

Learn Golf by signing up for my free golf instruction email newsletter here!

Goal Setting

Be sure to sign up for my free email newsletter on Golf Instruction by clicking here!

Playing from uneven lies

Be sure to sign up for my free email newsletter on Golf Instruction by clicking here!

Connect With Me!

Categories

Archives

Connect With Me!

Categories

Archives