ACCELERATE the Learning Process

That IS the goal.

Is that the message you're getting?

Conventional golf theory suggests a step-by-step learning process in which you must master one thing before moving on to the next.  Slow.  And boring.

Mastering every detail takes TIME.  So how do we ACCELERATE THE PROCESS?

We do it by addressing more details at the same time by focusing on a bigger process!

Here's an example:  Greg Norman learned to hit the ball long by swinging hard and worrying about direction later.  He didn't use a step-by-step process adding distance a few yards at a time.

Here's another example:  The game is played on an uneven surface, so why is it taught -- and performance mandated -- on a flat surface?

The Golfer Positioning System (G P S) is a "Macro" system that includes what you face on the golf course.  G P S doesn't isolate performance to an unreachable goal.

The bigger process -- G P S -- involves including different conditions under which the game is played as part of the system from the beginning.  You have to be just as ready to hit a ball on an uneven surface as you do on a flat surface.  This provides great reference for what works on the golf course!  We can then address details as they arise...  And if it works on the golf course, learning is not limited, it is ACCELERATED!!!

Bob Duncan, PGA
Master Clubfitter
G P S Founder
www.golfecoach.com

Magdalena's Were the Best Lessons I Ever Gave

This is a true story...  In 2001 a lady named Magdalena came to me for a lesson.  She was 77 years old, Hispanic, and LOVED golf even though she had never played on a course.

I asked Magdalena to hit some shots while I got some more background on her.  So she proceeded to try to hit an 8-iron even though the clubface was so closed it would not get airborne.  I asked her how many times she had been out to hit some balls and she said about 15 or so.

I couldn't believe that with that kind of performance and no instruction that she would still want to play golf!  I made that one little clubface position change to open it up and she got the ball airborne -- for the first time ever! 

It flew about 35 yards in the air.  Magdalena covered her mouth with her hand, stunned at what had happened.  She looked back at me and I smiled and said, "That was great -- do it again!" 

So she did -- 3 more times.  And with each she had the same response - complete and utter joy.  So much so that she began to cry.  I gave her a hug and said let's see if we can do even better! 

She shook her head no and said "No, the lesson is over because I just achieved what I set out to do!"

I said no, that she now had to go with my goal, which was to get her to play golf.  So that day we played 3 holes with all shots off a tee and by the end she was speechless!

Over the next 2 years I saw Magdalena about a dozen more times.  I never changed her golf swing -- we would just work on a few positions.  Then we would go to the golf course and play 2 or 3 holes.  She even bought 5 custom fitted clubs from me and played golf with her husband.  I moved away then, but I never forgot about Magdalena.

You see, she said she had such a hard life that she wouldn't tell me about it.  "I don't want you to cry too!" she said.  All I know is that she was an alcoholic who had been sober for about 6 years when we met.

Magdalena told me that I had helped her live the remainder of her life to its fullest because she got to play and succeed at golf.

You just never know who might show up for lessons, and you never know just how big your impact can be.

Where Technology Fails: On the Golf Course

Where Technology Fails:  On the Golf Course

Video.

Launch monitors.

3-D Swing Analysis.

None of these are available where it counts:  On the Golf Course.

To PLAY THE GAME the PLAYER must use his/her strengths, abilities, skills, and most importantly – WITS to PLAY the golf ball around the COURSE.

The COURSE is not flat.  It is not artificial turf.  Golf is not PLAYED into a net in a studio. 

The PLAY of the GAME is never the same.  It is not consistent, especially over the course of 4 rounds.

PLAYERS don’t PLAY the same shot to a hole every time.  Because of CONDITIONS, they CAN’T.

A PLAY in the GAME is a tactic used to NEGOTIATE THE COURSE CONDITIONS.  The course conditions are never the same, which means the same PLAY won’t work every time.   

Which is… the point.

Suppose you just want to hit it straight.  The course designer has thought of this tactic, and has conspired to design the course NOT to be 18 driving ranges. 

There is fairway.  There is rough.  There are straight holes.  And doglegs.  There are slopes.  Nothing is flat.

The wind swirls.  Or it’s dead calm.

The landing zone is NEVER flat.

And just when there’s that one day that you’re proud of the way you PLAYED, the next day is different with different hole locations.

Or, you’re playing a completely different golf course altogether!

Everyone fails at some point in golf.  We’ve been taught that everything depends on having a consistent swing, yet just when we think we’ve got it, it doesn’t work.

Yet we PLAY golf because it is not the same.  It is never the same.

If it were meant to be played on flat, artificial turf, then we wouldn’t have COURSES.  It would be too easy.  Would you want to play on a flat surface that is completely covered in artificial turf?

Yet, that’s where the LAUNCH MONITORS, 3-D SWING ANALYSIS, and VIDEO are used.

A GAME OF GOLF consists of different conditions, different distances, and different swings.  A full swing with a driver is not the same as that used for such as a 6-iron, a wedge, a pitch, a chip, a sand shot, a putt…

Yet the technology is devised to make the swings THE SAME.  Consistency.

But what we should strive for is not consistency, because consistency fails when you least expect it to ON THE COURSE.

What we should strive for is… wait for it…  PROFICIENCY.

We should strive to know when the conditions say that our consistent swing will FAIL.

We should strive to know our ON-COURSE GAME, and base our performance on what happens ON THE COURSE AND NOT ON THE RANGE.

On the range we strive to be consistent and learn to hit the ball straight.  But the COURSE is designed to screw that up. 

Ball above feet?  It SHOULD hook or pull.

Ball below feet?  It SHOULD push or slice.

The ball should not always go straight, yet we’ve been taught that what we do on the range is what should happen on the COURSE! 

And it doesn’t.  And it shouldn’t.

But we love the GAME OF GOLF because it is NOT the driving range.

Humbling?  No kidding.  Fun?  ABSOLUTELY!

-- Bob Duncan, PGA Golf Professional

GolfeCoach.com

Weaker or Stronger? Distance Control from Bunkers!

G P S - The Golfer Positioning System - is all about effective performance.  Sometimes that means learning from different positions to produce different performances.

With that in mind, two different methods to hit a sand shot produce 2 different distances -- and they might just be easier than your regular method!

Traditionally a sand shot is hit with an open face about 2 inches behind the ball, creating an 'explosion'.  But utilizing the explosion with 2 different techniques you can produce the different distances.

Using the sand wedge, the first method is 'toe-down and open', in which the shaft is nearly vertical and the face open.  The swing is then vertical and the clubface touches even less sand than the traditional method.  The ball comes out shorter and 'dead', which is great for a short-sided sand shot with little green to work with...

The second method is the opposite:  heel-down and open with the hands low and the shaft more horizontal.  The swing is then flatter, around the back, producing a shot longer than the traditional method.  This shot produces a great deal of backspin and sidespin.

Combine these methods with changing clubs and you'll have multiple distances that you can hit sand shots.  These methods can even be used down to a 7- or 8-iron for sand shots of up to 45 yards!

Try these out and you may find one of the 2 will become your 'stock' or preferred technique.

Bob Duncan, PGA
Master Clubfitter
web:   golfecoach.com
email:  golfsavvy@msn.com

Do You Have a Patchwork Golf Swing?

With as many golf tips as there are out there, in many cases these tips just turn into “patches” that often don’t work together.  It can be very much like a computer software program that gets patches or updates that may not work with other programs…

Take the tip where you “keep your left arm straight”.  Ok, now add a tip on “keeping your weight on the inside of your right foot on the backswing”.  Throw in some “keep your head steady” and “keep your head down” and “hit down on the ball” and “don’t sway”.

Now add “Relax – you’re too tense.  Swing easy!”  This is about the time you’d like to knock somebody into next week!

With all that “instruction” you have patched your golf swing together with so many tips that there are bound to be conflicts.

What to do now?  Throw out the bad patches and tips.  How can you swing easy when you have so many conflicts?

Here starts today’s tip:  if a tip is restrictive, and you restrict yourself with another tip you’re going to lose performance.  Most of the tips from above are very restrictive.  Everyone has their own style of swing and many tips may not work together.

For a swing key start by understanding how to “load” so that you can “unload”.  Staying on the inside of the back foot is not loading.  Get on to the back foot so you can make that “loaded” backswing and you’ll have more power.  Feels like swaying?  Many tour pros are loading regardless of swaying.  For example, Greg Norman peak had some lateral movement in order to “load” his backswing regardless of “sway”. 

Usually it is all the things players are trying to do that cause the conflicts and problems.  Throw some of those old tips away and load up.  Go a little out of control in practice and see what happens…you will always default to a more controlled swing.  And, you’ll start to see some performance!

Then we can start working on your on-course game!!!

- Bob Duncan, PGA Teaching Professional

Riverridge GC, Eugene, OR

Please visit golfecoach.com

My Masters

The Masters.

On a Saturday afternoon in April, 1994, 3 great friends of mine and I set out at 2:30 in the afternoon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to drive to Augusta National for the final round of the Masters.  John Mesich, Tim Marks, and Chuck Dammier.

We were so excited -- we knew we could drive all night and get there by 5 or 6 am.  We took turns driving, and no one drove more than 3 hours straight.

Of course, I got the 1 to 3 am shift, and of course in Tennessee it was raining cats and dogs.  That was a blessing though, as it kept me awake!

We arrived in Augusta around 6 am and promptly found a good breakfast diner.  Hadn't had good grits in a while, and they were good!

At 8:00 we got in line at a special gate, and with our PGA cards we were ushered in around 9:00.  At Augusta when you entered there was a line-up of merchandise vendors and they all stood to watch as the patrons came out.  It is against the rules to run on the grounds, so everyone was walking fast.

We chose to set up our camp stools on # 15 green where we could see the players tee off on 16 and watch them putt on 16 green.  Your seats and locations are pretty much sacred, as everyone respects everyone else and no one will move your seats if you are gone.

Then we marveled as we walked around the course.  About the only holes I didn't see much of were 5 and 6, but as excited as we were it was like walking on cloud 9!

You've probably heard that the TV doesn't do the greens justice in terms of their elevation changes, and boy is that true.  Cut them short and firm them up and you had better know your curvature and landing zones into those greens!

Controlling the ball around Augusta is tough.  It's not so difficult off the tee, but it sure is approaching the greens.  On 15 it seemed like if you were going for the green in 2 you had about 10 yards of landing zone or you were either in the water in front, or over the green.  We saw Tom Watson knock it over the green in 2 and almost in the water on 16, then chip it to the edge and 2 putt for 5.

The 2nd shot into 13 is pretty tough also.  Standing on a severe right-to-left slope your shot will naturally pull or hook, which creates a lower and 'hotter' trajectory -- but the last thing you need into that green is lower and hotter!  The green is a bit crowned, and if you don't get the trajectory and landing zone right, it is over the green shooting back at the creek!

The par 3  #6, par 5  #8 and par 4  #9 were fun to watch with interesting approaches to each.  John Daly hit it about 20 feet from the pin at 6, then it rolled down a tier and off the green.  He pitched it to about the same spot and it rolled back to his feet.  After staring at it for about 5 seconds, he shrugged and then pitched it to a foot for a bogey.

They moved the tee back farther on # 18 and now the chute between the trees is particularly narrow.  It was tough then, and it's a lot tougher now!

That was the year Tom Lehman made a run at a green jacket, but came up short.  We were directly in line with the putt when Jose Maria Olazabal rolled it in on #15 for a 3 and the fans erupted!  We were pulling for Tom on 16 and 17, but Jose closed it out for the green jacket.

Then we made the return trip home.  I got the 1 to 3 am shift through Tennessee again and guess what -- it was raining again!  We made it back to Racine, Wisconsin by about noon, and Tim just made it to his tee time for a tournament -- he literally jumped out of the van and ran to the first tee to tee it up!

It truly is a tradition like no other.  I'm hoping to get the chance to go back with John, Tim, and Chuck in the next couple of years to relive our own tradition...!  This time I'm thinking we'll all fly though...

Path or Linear?

Are you PATH oriented or LINEAR oriented?  What you see affects your game!  Check out my article in Golf Today Northwest...

Click here:   http://bit.ly/1eetyPp

Image courtesy Tetherow GC

Adapt Your Game

We played the #11 course in the world this past week, Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links, and its sister course, Barnbougle Lost Farm...and what a game changer they are!  If you don't change your game on this course you're going to have a long day!

First and foremost, throw your flop shot away.  If you find you need one, you're definitely in the wrong place.  These courses demand that you use a putter from off the green, and sometimes a hybrid to chip with.

Why?  Because these courses have very thin-bladed grass cut -- or naturally grown -- very short.  VERY difficult to hit the ball high off these lies.  Sometimes you can't tell where the green even starts!  In 4 days I either chipped a hybrid or putted -- no conventional chip or pitch shots.  I even putted one from 50 yards out to 6 feet!

Bottom line?  If you're on a tight lie and faced with a flop or high pitch, you're in the wrong place.  Either putt it, chip it, or chip a hybrid.  Don't try the 1 in 20 shot... get out of trouble!

#11 Barnbougle Dunes and Barnbougle Lost Farm are in Bridport, Tasmania, Australia.  Put 'em on your bucket list!





Bob Duncan, PGA
Please visit golfecoach.com

What is Lost to Players?

Are you familiar with Deep Play?  It is the play of the game that is lost to players who embrace long periodsof mechanical practice as the most essential part of training.  (Click on the pic for more!)

But what does that mean -- what are they losing?

It's funny - the teaching industry has gone hog wild trying to optimize performance and consistency by advocating -- and perhaps mandating -- a 'square' position at impact with proper angles of attack and path.  Or even allowing for a 'one-way miss' of a fade or draw.

But this 'one optimal impact' will fail as soon as the player encounters a slope.  A clubface 'square' to the target will fail to deliver a solid and straight shot on a slope.

Somehow the Play of the Game is lost to the 'one optimal impact' crowd. Slopes have a bearing on performance.  Slopes are found on the golf course.  Above your feet should pull or hook, and below your feet should push or fade.

So direction 'loss' may not be due to an inability to make a consistent swing.

What is the answer?  The answer is not to correct for the direction loss -- it is to allow for and predict direction loss.  Players who search for, accomplish, and adhere to a mechanically sound swing only are setting themselves up for failure when they least expect it.  They are not playing the game.

Playing the game is adapting to things on the course, using them to the player's advantage rather than assuming a mechanically sound swing will always produce the same ball flight.

Deep Play is accessible by players if they know what to look for...Watch the launch at golfecoach.com.

Bob Duncan, PGA

OYE OYE OYE!

The G P S Player’s Academy is traveling to Sydney, Australia for a series of clinics and Academies in Sydney, and in Bridport, Tasmania.  In case you’re not familiar with Bridport, it is the home of Barnbougle Dunes and Barnbougle Lost Farm golf courses.

These 2 courses are ranked in the top 100 worldwide, and in the top 10 in Australia.  These 2 courses are what I would call ‘modern’ links courses, built on the dunes on the north-east tip of Tasmania.  By that I mean that you need to worry about your ball almost as much after it lands as while it is in flight.  There are definitely some slopes in your landing area to be negotiated!

And speaking of golf in Australia, Aussies are pretty serious about it.  They are just now in the process of updating their handicap system to a ‘slope’ system.  They are very well versed in the mechanics of the swing, and the Golfer Positioning System is primed to take many of them to new levels of understanding and performance.... 

And have some fun while we're at it!

OYE OYE OYE!  AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!  Cheers, mate!

G P S -- Smile More!

What makes you smile from ear to ear on the golf course?

Is it that one dead-solid perfect shot (because it happens so seldom)?

Is it a well-executed draw or fade?

Is it a good shot from a difficult lie?

Or is it a great recovery shot?

If you are a golfer, only #1 applies, but for a player it's all of the above and more!

You see, golf is a game played on a course that changes with every shot -- that's pretty obvious.  Golfers try to work the ball straight, but players work the course.

What does that mean?  It means that not every shot should be hit solid and straight.  Hey, the course is not flat.  When the ball is above your feet it's supposed to pull or draw, and below your feet it's supposed to push or fade.

But they don't always.

Grass gets in the way.  Or it doesn't.

Wind happens.  Or it doesn't.

The ball bounces.  Or it doesn't.

Golfers?  Well, they keep trying to hit it straight...

Players know these things, and they use them to their advantage.

Let's start playing the game... and if we do we'll smile more!

Bob Duncan
GolfeCoach.com
contact golfsavvy@msn.com

Mis-Hits? Something You Can Use!

How about something you can use on the golf course?  Something... GAME-Specific, as in playing the game...

Most players are led to believe that they can and should hit the ball solid and straight from just about anywhere.

They can't.  Bear with me here - this makes sense...

Consider the images on the right - the ball lies on a 'tight' lie, tight to the ground.  This is not an optimum position, so you won't get optimum results... unless you change your definition of 'optimum'!

As you can see, the chances are strong that you will strike the ball below the sweet spot.  The 3rd and 4th images show about where the sweet spot or center of gravity is...

Many pros teach an impact technique with excessive forward lean of the shaft to try to hit the sweet spot.  Difficult to do...

Instead, by looking at what is most likely to happen -- missing the sweet spot by a couple of grooves -- your performance becomes more predictable!

What happens when you contact the ball low on the face like this?  It goes lower, shorter, and may fade. 

Or, think about what it would take to hit the ball on the sweet spot:  The clubhead would need to be lower to achieve that, which would put the sole of the club underground!  The result?  A fat shot!

Or, think about what it would take to hit a high draw off a tight lie -- probably not going to happen!

So, what should you do?  Accept the impact characteristics of a tight lie and play for them to happen!  Lower, shorter, fade...

But Bob, that means the ball might not stop on the green.  Or the landing zone calls for a draw shot.  Uh-huh, that's right.  If so, it means that 1) you're adding risk by trying something else that is less likely to happen, 2) maybe you're in the wrong place to begin with, and 3) you received a Rub of the Green that resulted in the tight lie.

Not every shot can be hit from every lie.

As my very Scottish Dad used to say:  "So what?  Deal with it!"

Bob Duncan, PGA
GolfeCoach.com
email  golfsavvy@msn.com

Swing Practice, or GAME Practice?

One phase of Game-Specific Training - GolfeCoach.com

Here's the worst golf advice I ever received:  "You have to hit balls until your hands bleed."

Have you heard that one before?  Swing coaches around the world have preached this massive over-training of the golf swing for years, and there's no sign of letting up.  Even the title of swing coach is so specific and limiting that it's no wonder golfers are not getting better.  This is swing-specific training.

Swing-specific training is like practicing the piano, and the piano teacher says play Billy Joel's 'Piano Man' song until your hands bleed.  Then he says go out and play Beethoven on the deck of a pitching sailing ship.  You might get some of the notes right....but you're no 'Piano Man'.

So what of only hitting balls until you 'groove your swing' and get the impact and ball flight exactly right? Too bad it only happens on the range.  If you just want to hit it straight, stay on the range.

Instead, players will benefit from a new concept called GAME-Specific Training.  GST is training under game-playing conditions, understanding that on the course your ball flight will change!

GST - Game Specific Training is a concept I've developed after years of studying on-course performance.  Everything is game-specific and must transfer to the golf course.  In fact, if I don't SEE it happen for you on the course then I'm not doing my job!

It stands to reason:  What it takes to hit a high draw on the range is NOT the same as what it takes to hit a high draw from a tight lie slightly below your feet.  So practicing only on your swing practically insures that your desired ball flight will occur only sporadically on the course.
 
Practicing GST takes an open mind and an understanding of choice - a perfect model swing will fail on the course when you most depend on it and least expect it to...

...Which is when you're under pressure and you choose to depend on your swing and ignore 5 of the 6 ball flight influences that occur on the course....

Bob Duncan
GolfeCoach.com
contact:  golfsavvy@msn.com

What's your PLAY?

120 yards?  No problem (shakin' in my boots!)

Only 110 meters or 120 yards, yet sheer terror!  How high do I tee it? Where's the wind?  What trajectory do I want?  What will the ball do when it lands?

How do I FIND the darn thing after I hit it?

All of these enter your mind on this diabolical par 3 at Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania.  Known for the gentle (HA!) breezes off the Bass Strait, Barnbougle is a spectacular course to go immediately on your bucket list.

But what of the "play" on this hole?  The day we played the breeze was 'UP', and I hit a knock-down 6-iron (!) with no tee that missed the green 10 yards right, then putted up to 2 feet and made a 3.  The key in this shot was TRAJECTORY, with a 'secondary miss' to the right of the green.  Sometimes knowing where you can 'miss' and still play is just as important as where you can hit it to.

And where are the locations to be avoided?  Short and left -- avoid at all costs!  Which makes the miss to the right even more important.

Could I have hit a 9-iron that far?  Maybe on my best day, but hitting it that high would have been ridiculous in the wind.  It was not about making a model swing - it was about how to PLAY!

Oh, did I say my shot ricocheted off a pullcart AND a player in the group in front of us?  (No, I didn't play for that...)  Sometimes you get good bounces...  ;)

Bob Duncan

Do You Play?

Golf is a game to be played.  Unfortunately, many golfers hit a ball around a golf course and never really play the game.

Learn more at golfecoach.com

For many pros, teaching golf has morphed into fundamentals and mechanical practice.  Golfers can be limited by the belief that they must master one fundamental before tackling another.  It is not that fundamentals are irrelevant -- it is the premise that with the singular emphasis on fundamentals, golfers may never be 'allowed' to progress into the play of the game.

To play a game it involves different 'maneuvers' or plays.  You don't play Monopoly by rolling the dice and moving your piece around the board.  To play, you actually buy properties, charge rents, improve properties, and sometimes pay penalties for actions.  In golf, trying to hit the ball straight every time on the golf course is like rolling the dice, moving your piece, buying Baltic Avenue, sometimes falling off the board, and moving back to Go to try to it again.

Some pros won't teach golfers how to curve the ball until they can learn to hit it straight.  But, paradoxically, if they can't hit it straight, they can already curve it...and often, the course curves the ball for them.

Some pros believe that mental intensity is the missing link to performance.  But, even the most intense mental effort cannot overcome all conditions on the course, and failure to consider them contributes to failures.

Mandating straight performance is a mistake.  The search for a good swing nears success until the golfer hits the first hole.... then, it's about how well he plays...

Deep Play?

"Deep Play is the 'Play of the Game' that is lost to players who embrace long periods of mechanical practice as the most essential part of training." 


How does that grab you?  The 'Play of the Game' is what drives this blog, and it certainly includes swing mechanics.  But, somewhere along the line with all the launch monitors and videos and 3-D swing analyses, it seems no one is playing the game anymore.  Just what does 'playing the game' mean?  That's the key question. 


Players still fail on the golf course, even with massive amounts of practice.  Vijay Singh is one of the most renowned and revered 'practicers', but has he perhaps limited his success by what he practices? 


With Deep Play, we're going to explore what it means to 'play' golf, and how to effectively 'golf' your ball around the course. 


“The true difficulty in golf is not in repeating a swing. It is the belief that for ball control on the course you must repeat the same swing.”

 

What does it mean to you to Play Golf?

 

-- Bob Duncan, golfecoach.com