Stephen D. Simmons

Author and Publisher

StrategicGolfer Instruction Series

All good players understand the importance of prioritizing practice on areas of the game that make the greatest difference between good golf and great golf.  I will give you some interesting stats below that demonstrate what makes players like Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, and Tiger Woods the great players they are.

Most amateurs waste practice time beating balls on the range while neglecting the parts of the game that make the biggest difference to scoring and playing their best.  Go to any range and you will see the following bad practice techniques;  hitting full shots without a practice station, hitting more than 30 balls with a driver, and hitting very few wedges.

If you want to become a better player you must practice the things that Phil Mickelson and other pros consider to be important to playing their best.

During the US Open Championship this year, Phil Mickelson was asked by a reporter during his pre-tournament press tent interview what has made the difference in his game over the last 10 years.  Phil’s answer was very revealing.  He stated the most significant progress and improvement in his game are the result of;  distance control, variety of shots into greens, short irons, being able to take the spin off shots, landing the ball consistently the right distance, short game consistency, and putting.

These were Phil’s exact answer to the question.  So if Phil believes these things have made him a better golfer than what he was at 30 years of age, we should learn from his example.

Did you notice that he did not say anything about swing changes and the pursuit of a "perfect swing".

I find the promises made of instruction for the "perfect swing" to be amusing.  The greatest players in the world do not have perfect swings. With all the money on the line in today’s PGA Tournaments, the typical PGA Tour Player would be the first to signup for a swing of perfection if it was a reality.  It’s not…in fact lets look at some stats to demonstrate my point.

I looked up the stats for Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, and Tiger Woods in 2010.  Of these three players I would bet that most golfers surveyed would think that Jim has the least perfect swing of the three players.  Looks can be deceiving.

Of the three golfers, Jim won the most tournaments, won the FedEx Cup, and finished highest on the money list.

I looked at 6 statistical categories to give you a comparison of these great players and to show you how little full swing practice means to them.  I looked at Driving Accuracy, Greens in Regulation (GIR), Total Driving, Scrambling, Putts, and Scoring.  There are a total of 250 players that were included in the stats calculations.

When it came to Driving Accuracy, Jim was 9th, Tiger was 160th, and Phil was 184th.  When it came to GIR%, Jim was 76th, Phil was 134th, and Tiger was 153rd.  When it came to Total Driving, Jim and Tiger were 89th, and Phil was 111th.

Clearly these great players are not where they are in terms of winning performances based upon accuracy and driving supremacy.  So what makes the difference?

When it came to Scoring, Jim was 5th, Phil was 9th, and Tiger was 24th.  When it came to Scrambling, Jim was 16th, Phil was 39th, and Tiger was 164th.  When it came to Putts, Jim was 28th, Phil was 34th, and Tiger was 35th.

Establish your practice priorities to maximize your practice time on the things that will have the greatest impact on your score and not your ego.  Its great for the ego to bang balls as far as you can with the driver.  You will only use a driver 14 times in a round of golf.  You will use a putter about 32-36 times per round. Based upon those numbers, which is more important?

When you hit balls on the range, have very specific targets.  Have a plan in mind on exactly what you are working towards.  Set a goal in mind specific to how many balls you will hit towards that goal and then stop and work on something else.

Always include time at the short game area and work on the gate drill and magic circle practice stations.  Hit balls from tough lies…the kinds of lies you will face on the course.  Practice your pitch shots paying specific attention on carry distance and targets.

Practice your putts using the gate drill, string practice, around the world, and distance/feel practice.

95 percent of golfers do not know how to play golf like they practice.  This is the secret to playing great golf.

If you need help learning the art of practice we encourage you to check out the Making Practice Payoff Instruction System on the products page.  If you want to keep your own stats to validate the areas you need the most improvement we encourage you to download the Stat Master Golf Statistics Software System on our products page.

Stephen D. Simmons

Author and Publisher

StrategicGolfer Instruction Series

Remaining steady during the putting stroke is one of the most crucial aspects to successful putting.  During the Accenture World Match Play Championships this year we saw just how critical this fundamental of successful putting is.

During the semi final matches, Paul Casey and Camillo Villegas were matched against each other.  It was an exciting and close match throughout the day, so much so, the match was extended beyond the 18th hole.  Camillo took an early lead in the match and was 2 up after  3 holes.  Paul fought back on the back nine and went 1 up on the 15th hole only to loose the 18th to Camillo and head to the 19th hole All Square.

If you’ve played golf in Arizona you know how quickly it  gets dark as the sun sets behind the mountains.  The match was extending and as they played each hole they were running out of sun light.

There are several key fundamentals to successful putting including positioning your eyes over the ball and square to the line during your setup, hitting the center of the putter head at contact, accelerating the putter head through impact, and remaining steady throughout the putting stroke.

Remaining steady throughout the putting stroke helps to accomplish two major things.  First, it helps maximize your potential to hit the center of the putter head on a consistent basis.  Many golfers do not realize that missing the center of the club face by even a fraction of an inch can mean making or missing the putt.

Remaining steady also helps to keep your spine angle consistent which helps the consistency of the path the putter takes through impact.  If you have a putting stroke that repeats time after time but you change the position of the spine and the path the putter is moving through impact, you are probably going to miss the putt.

Putting is one of the most precise parts of golf; the other would be the pre-shot routine.  When conditions deteriorate due to wind, cold, or rain it can make remaining steady more difficult.

The conditions on Saturday of the Championship were difficult.  The day gave the players a dose of rain, wind, and cold.  As the day wore on it became a challenge to remain composed.  The conditions coupled with the length of a 24 hole match set the stage for a a dramatic conclusion to the days events.

After the match was squared on the 18th hole the players continued play on the front side.  Both players made par on the 19th, 20th, 21st holes.  Both players birdied the 22nd hole and you could tell that fatigue was setting in.

Because the match was more than 6 hours in length, the conditions were getting tougher.  It had been decided by tournament officials the 24th hole would be the final hole of the day and that play would be suspended due to darkness and resumed the following morning if there was not a winner on the 24th hole.

Camillo hit the long and difficult 5th hole in regulation and was 40 feet from the hole.  Paul was struggling and could only make a bogie 5.  Camillo’s first putt was a long and winding putt with about 15 feet of break.  Camillo studied the putt closely and determined that he should take a line 15 feet right of the flag and then let the putt roll down the fall line of the green towards the flag.

He hit the putt and judged the speed correctly which left him 2 1/2 feet from the cup.  If he makes the short putt he makes 4 and wins the match.  Camillo set up over the putt.  Camillo missed the putt which extended the match to the next morning.  Paul won the 25th hole and moved on to the finals.

The replays of the short putt showed that Camillo "peaked "at impact which caused the ball to miss the cup on the right edge.  The conditions and loss of sun light helped to cause this mishap and is a something we can all learn from.

One of the most difficult impulses in golf that we want to avoid is trying to see the ball go into the cup on a short putt.  Short putts are difficult for many golfers because of the importance that golfers place on them.  We expect to make short putts.  We want to make short putts.  Missing short putts carry negative energy  and can carry over to the next hole and set the stage for poor play.

Poor light conditions can even make this harder because it is more difficult to see. The subconscious mind understands the importance that you place on short putts and wants to help overcome your anxiety by forcing you to see the anticipated result.  Of note, when light conditions deteriorate due to lack of light, for most of us it is easier to hit full shots because we know that we can’t follow the ball after it is half way to the hole so why even try to see it anyway.  We pick our intended line of play, setup to the ball, and then rely on our muscle memory to give us the intended swing result.  So it should be with putts.

In Camillo’s case, it was 2 1/2 feet from the final’s match and potential victory.  The light conditions made the instinct to peak even more forceful. Camillo putted great all day and faced several critical short putts earlier in the match which he made successfully.  Even great players can find the impulse to peak difficult to overcome.

The best lesson for short putts and remaining steady is "Listen to the Cup" for confirmation that you made the putt.  The idea is that you remain rock solid while making the stroke and then keep your eyes focused on the ground where the ball was after it is on the way to the cup.  Because of your proximity to the cup, you can listen for the sound of the ball falling into the bottom of the cup to confirm that the ball went in.

You should employ this same technique on all putts.  On longer putts you can look up after the ball is well on the way to the cup.

To make this easier, try to find a blade of grass that will be your focus after the ball is gone.  As you place your ball on the green in preparation for your putt, imagine that blade of grass under the ball.  After the ball leaves and is on the way to the hole, find the blade of grass and maintain your focus on the grass until you hear the ball in the cup.

The best place to learn and practice this skill is on the putting green.  Make sure you dedicate time in all of your practice sessions to this technique.  Make sure that you practice this technique before heading to the first tee.  If you do not get a chance to practice your putts before playing, make sure to include this in your pre-shot preparation on the first several short putts.

Remember….Thou Shall Not Peak

[/caption]

Stephen D. Simmons

Editor and Publisher – StrategicGolfer Instruction Series

Our highest priority in short game practice is learning how to convert more up and down attempts.  Most golfers use the same method of practice in the short game area.  They dump a pile of balls and rapidly work thru the pile hitting a variety of shots to one or multiple targets without any effort at attempting to convert those shots with a putter. 

How can we measure our success if we do not calculate our conversion percentage?

Practice like the pros….learn to convert!

Your ability to shoot lower scores is dependant upon how well you convert your scoring opportunities.  The way you convert more shots is by hitting shots that finish close to the hole.  Actually, we want the ball to end up past the hole if it does not go in.

We need to be conservatively agressive…meaning, we need to hit crisp shots that get to or beyond the hole with the correct read of the slope and break of the shot.

The gate drill can be used for any short game scoring shots.  Generally the gate drill will be used for shots of less than 30 yards.  The gate for a putt is different than a pitch or chip shot. 

The gate in putting practice is just wide enough to let the ball pass thru the gate without going into the hole.  For longer putts of 40+ feet you may have to adjust the gate to be about two cups wider than the hole.

You can see in the example below, the gate for putts of 15 feet is 2 inches to either side of the hole and 18 inches deep.  The gate is intended to help you get the ball to the hole with a good degree of accuracy.  If we miss the hole we want our shots to be just outside the hole and stopping within "gimmie" range.

The gate in chipping and pitching practice is 24 inches wide of either side of the hole and 36 inches deep.  If we miss the hole we want our shots to be just outside the hole and stopping within "gimmie" range.  Statistically most golfers have a fairly high percentage of conversions from less than 3 feet.

The key to playing great golf is to play using pictures.  You must learn how to create a sense of feel and a design for the intended shape of the ball flight to hit your best golf shots.  Great players call it visualization.

The brain responds better to pictures than words.  Picking targets is critical to giving the brain a sense of what needs to be accomplished.  If you were standing on this tee box and thought to yourself, "I’ll aim at the fairway in the direction of the apartments", you are defining an area that is far too large.

The smaller the target the better.  Small targets are much more specific.  You give the brain a very exact area that we are hitting the golf ball to.  Typically if you aim at a small target you will have a very good picture of what the shape of the ball flight will be; left to right, right to left, straight, high, or low.

Depending upon the intended ball flight we would pick one of these targets.  If we intended to hit a draw we could aim at the corner of the apartment.  Unless we don’t have a choice we would prefer to aim at targets that are close to the ideal landing area.  In this case if we intend to hit a draw and the ball goes straight we will still be in or close to the landing area.

If our preferred ball flight is left to right, the corner of the red roof in the distance would be a good selection.  A good straight shot target would be the tree top in the distance.

Occasionally you will hear a pro on TV say that he was not committed which led to a bad shot.  In many cases it’s because the target and shape of the shot were not pictured.