A Great Tip from My First Boss!

Just had to share a golf tip from my first boss, Randy Robel.

One day when I was snap-hooking the ball he walked by and I asked him what I should do.

He said, "What's your ball flight look like?"

I said, "Low and left."

He said, "What would you do to hit it high and right?" And then he walked away.

That was a great tip!  It made me think about where the face and path were and what I should do to change it.

Had a left-handed player that was hitting it similarly low and right the other day and asked me what he should do.  I asked him the same question, and he said he would change the path and alter his impact position.

After 5 shots he said, "Why does that work? I didn't keep my head down and I didn't hit down on it."

With a smile I said, "What else do you want to know?"

After a brief 'deer-in-the-headlights' look, a happy look of understanding spread across his face...

Some Golf Instruction is Just Plain Bad

This blog post is biased.  Fair warning.

It is biased against bad golf instruction.

A recent explanation by Michael Breed on the Golf Channel on how to hit a ball below your feet was SO bad I felt I had to address it.

A ball below your feet SHOULD PUSH, FADE, OR SLICE, depending on how severe the slope is.

“But we don’t want a slice!”

YES, YOU DO.

“We want to fight the slope!”

NO, YOU DON’T.

“Here’s how you do it. You’re going to grip the club just a little bit shut so that clubface is a little bit closed.  You’re going to take your trail foot and move it up the hill a little bit and that’s going to allow you a little bit more turn.  And then let your forearms feel free to rotate over.  That’s going to keep that clubface in a shut or closed position.  And we’re going to hit a very straight shot with possibly even a little bit of a draw.

“And that’s how you’re going to fight the slope.  That’s how you’re going to get rid of that slice ON A LIE WHERE IT SAYS IT’S GOING RIGHT!”

Well,……………………

THAT’S A LITTLE BIT AS BAD AS IT GETS!

GOLF IS HARD ENOUGH WITHOUT FIGHTING THE GOLF COURSE.

Nothing about what he says is working WITH the slope.  In this case there is no way that the club will present itself to the ball to produce a consistent shot.  Or for that matter, any shot that is PREDICTABLE!

FIGHTING THE SLOPE IS A REALLY BAD IDEA!

If the lie says it’s going right, it is far more valuable to know where it’s going AND LET IT GO THERE than to try to hit it somewhere else.

Rather, Breed’s instruction is PREDICTABLY UNPREDICTABLE!  At impact the clubhead will be in a very UPRIGHT position in relation to the slope causing a pull, hook, chunk, or bladed shot.  Or even a (GASP!) … SHANK!!

THAT MAKES NO SENSE!  DON’T GET SUCKED IN BY HYPE.

If the lie says the ball should go to the right, AIM LEFT!!!  MATCH THE SLOPE!!!  AND LET IT GO RIGHT!!!

ON THE COURSE EVERY SHOT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO GO STRAIGHT!

AND EVERY SHOT WILL NOT GO STRAIGHT!

BUT, EVERY SHOT IS FAR MORE PREDICTABLE IF YOU DON’T FIGHT THE COURSE!!!

 -- Bob Duncan, PGA
   golfecoach.com

So You Say You Want to Be More Consistent?

After today’s G P S on-course golf lesson, Bob S. ‘gets it’.  

He said he wanted to be more consistent.

But every shot he hit on the golf course did something different than on the range.

We started with the ball below his feet and it went shorter and to the right.

Then we went to a ball above his feet and it went farther and to the left.

But then, we placed it in a ‘flyer’ lie below his feet and it went to the right and farther!

And then we placed the ball a little deeper in the rough above his feet and it went left and shorter!

Then we hit balls from a downhill lie (7 degrees) and it went lower, shorter in the air, but farther on the ground.

And then, we hit balls from an uphill lie and the ball went higher and both farther and shorter.

Then, we placed it in deep rough and it went really low, left, and very short.  So we opened his clubface and the ball went shorter, a little right, and it didn’t curve.  So he changed to a club 2 clubs longer and he hit it a foot from the pin.

But…

He was inconsistent.  Never once did it do what he did on the range.

Now he ‘gets it’.  

That's what G P S does.