Tom Watson's Secret

I happened to come across an interesting video that I thought would be helpful to all of us golfers out there. It deals with the importance of maintaining your spine angle during the golf swing, which is vital to maintaining any type of consistency of ball contact. Enjoy!!

Phil the Thrill Comes Through

Well, Phil Mickelson put on quite a putting display today and was able to finally win another tournament at the Tour Championship. No meltdowns, no crazy shots off the world, and no weird lip outs on the short ones. Those are the acts we are so used to watching, but today he was solid. Kenny Perry was not able to get out of the starting gate whatsoever and before you knew it, he was out of it. Mr. Woods had a lot of chances, but similarly to the PGA, nothing fell for him when he needed them to go down. When he has a rotten day on the greens and still manages a runner-up finish, what does that say about everyone else? And Tiger wins the FedEx Cup after all. Kinda weird that the tournament winner doesn't get the spoils of the bonus money, don't you think? This thing has to be changed again in some way and I am not sure how. The PGA Tour is trying to fabricate excitement in a way that the sport just doesn't logically support.

Are you excited about the FedEx Cup??

This week is the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta to determine the winner of the 2009 FedEx Cup. I hope you are more excited about that than I am. I've been thinking about what is wrong with the PGA Tour Playoffs and I am not sure what the answer is. I get more excited to watch Bay Hill, Doral, or even the Buick at Torrey Pines than this thing. I can understand that the PGA Tour wants to create excitement at the end of the season, but there must be a better way. Everyone I know seems to either be into football by now, or still watching the way the MLB season ends up. But there has to be an answer for the FedEx Cup. Maybe it should be more about the four Majors with points awarded for strength of finish in those four events. Then perhaps they could add in the Players Championship. There are five huge tournaments to award points in, then culminate it with the Tour Championship, maybe utilizing a changing and more intriguing venue than East Lake, a golf course which which most people are unfamiliar. Whatever the answer, the PGA Tour needs to tweak this format again.

Pre Shot Routine

One aspect of playing golf that gets neglected by most golfers is the importance of a consistent pre-shot routine. By preparing to play each shot in the same manner every time will allow you to perform at a higher level when playing under pressure. If you watch closely, you will notice that the top players in the world are very consistent in the way they prepare to play. They will go through the same mannerisms before each shot, whether it be from the tee or on the greens. A prime example of this was pointed out on the Golf Channel earlier this year when they discussed the world's #1 player, Tiger Woods.

First, a video was shown of Tiger Woods making his birdie putt on the 72nd Hole last year at Torrey Pines to tie Rocco Mediate. The elapsed time from beginning of routine until the putt was struck was 17 seconds. The routine consisted of stepping up beside the ball, two practice strokes, setting up to the putt, one look at the hole, widen the stance slightly, one more look at the hole, and knocked it in.

Next, they showed the video of Tiger's winning putt at the 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational, shown below. The elapsed time was an identical 17 seconds, and the entire routine was exactly the same! If you can incorporate this concept into your game, I am certain that you will become more consistent under pressure.



Another great example is Angel Cabrera. Below in the video, he gets over the ball, widens his stance, takes one waggle and hits the shot. If you watch Angel play, he never deviates from this routine.

Player of the Year??

If you got to see any of the BMW Championship this past weekend, you probably noticed that Tiger Woods is back on his A-Game. Despite the fact that he failed to win a major championship this year, if he goes on to win the FedEx Cup, does he win PGA Player of the year? After all, he has won six golf tournaments this year and more still to come. And he was consistently near the top of every major other than the missed cut at the British where anything can happen (Think Tom Watson!). You have to think he has a good shot at the player of the year based on his consistency, if nothing else.

Belly Putters as Training Tools

Belly putters have really helped some tour players regain their old touch on the greens over the past few years. If you have never tried one, it might be worth your time to practice with one every once in a while. There is no need to make the belly putter your every day putter, it is a terrific training device. Locking the butt of the grip in your belly can expose some of the faults in your stroke and can reinforce a couple of extremely important aspects of the stroke. First and foremost, it is imperative to stay still over the ball as you execute the stroke. Lateral movemet of the body, or any head movement, will quickly have you attaining very erratic impact positions. Secondly, the shoulders should remain square to the line as you strike each putt toward the hole. Using a belly putter helps to reinforce these two aspects of the putting stroke and will help when you return to your regular flat stick.

Happy Labor Day

Just want to wish everyone a happy Labor Day! Congratulations to Steve Stricker on his victory at the DeutscheBank Championship today!! What a great finish with birdies on 17 & 18. Looks like Mr. Woods found some magic today as well with his closing round 63.

Cog Hill next week should be fun to watch.

Make a Commitment

I would imagine that when you come to see me for golf instruction, things probably are not going well for you on the golf course. You come to me in hopes of making improvements to your golf game in some way, whether it is driving or putting, chipping or iron play. Some facet of your game has let you down. But perhaps the most important part of our lesson occurs when it is over. I have made the commitment to help you improve your game, but what about you? It is so important for you to make a commitment to yourself that what you learn, you will put into practice. I am a big believer in swing drills to reinforce certain motions that happen during the golf swing, as well as practice drills and techniques that will help you. If you only do the drills when we meet for a lesson, you are robbing yourself of an opportunity to make strides toward your goals. The decision is yours, but proper and regular practice is the only way to make changes and adjustments to your game. Make that commitment and you will see results!

Bunker Conditions

Currently, the bunkers at Doylestown CC have gone through a horrific summer season, what with the excessive rainfall and washouts. This has left many of them with little sand, and extremely firm conditions. When playing shots from them, be aware that your sand wedge likely has too much bounce which can cause you to skull balls over the greens. Firm sand requires you to hit closer to the golf ball, 1" at the most. Try your 60 degree wedge, which usually has much less bounce. This may help to prevent that skulled sand shot.

Barclays Championship

Wow, what a shocker. Tiger Woods misses a 7 footer on the last hole to tie? Great putt by Heathcliff for the win, what a tournament. You had to think that it was shaping up to be a five or six way playoff. Just a cold streak for Woods or is a pattern starting to emerge? I have got to think it will only make him work even harder and I would bet that 2010 will be a big year for Mr. Woods!