Simple Works

As a young coach – in both golf and basketball – I was preoccupied with making sure my students knew how much I knew.  I filled all the available air space with jargon and instruction, convinced that each student’s improvement was directly tied to how many words I said to them.

Now, whether I’m teaching a fourth grader how to shoot a basketball or a fifty year old how to stop slicing, I frequently pare my teaching down to this: hold your follow through.  In this lesson, I’ll explain why this simple idea has so much power.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You want to improve your swing

You have too many swing thoughts

You want to learn about your swing flaws

The Many Virtues of Holding Your Follow Through

One of the primary virtues of “hold your follow through” is its simplicity.  Every player – from the seasoned, scratch golfer to the complete beginner – understands what it means.  We’ve all seen the PGA Tour logo.  Try to look like that when you’re done.  Simple.

Relatedly, this straightforward edict acts as an eraser for the litany of swing thoughts many golfers carry around.  If you’re thinking about holding your follow through, you can’t be worried about your wrist flexion at P2.5.

By erasing swing thoughts, this phrase also relieves a lot of psychological pressure.  All those swing thoughts build up a mountain of expectations: “I need to flex my wrist at the top of the swing so that I can square the face at impact.  If I don’t, I’m going to slice it and look like a hack, oh no oh no oh no.”  It’s no wonder some players get stuck over the ball.  When I ask them to hold the follow through, I’m taking on all the responsibility for the outcome.  If they hold their follow through, they did their job.  Easy.

One more benefit is that “hold your follow through” is an external cue.  Research on motor learning shows that, across sports, people make changes faster with external cues than internal cues [learn more HERE].  External cues allow the golfer to be an athlete and accomplish the goal without micromanagement.

When I ask a player to hold their follow through, a myriad of good things tend to happen.  They usually finish on balance with a proper weight shift into their lead foot and a full turn toward the target.  Typically, they finish the swing with their club over their lead shoulder.  And, often, they do a better job of “releasing” the club face and getting it square at impact.  Pretty good for a “simple” four-word lesson.

Succeed or Learn

One of my favorite things about holding the follow through is that it gives the player feedback that’s easily understood.  All of those benefits I listed a moment ago – weight shift, full turn, balance, “completed” arm swing – come with a clear indicator in the follow through.

If the student finishes the swing standing on their trail leg, we both know they didn’t shift their weight.  If their chest isn’t pointed to the target, they didn’t turn.  If the club isn’t over their shoulder, they may have made a tentative arm swing.  All of this feedback turns into a straightforward cue for the next swing.

This is in stark contrast to most internal cues which require video confirmation.  Needing video not only delays the feedback (a killer to learning), it makes the feedback harder/impossible to get when the student is on their own.  For more on why I hate filming golf swings, click HERE.

A Cue for Your Entire Game

Finally, while the idea of holding your follow through definitely has the most dramatic impact on the full swing, it’s an idea that you can use in every part of your game.  Personally, I find it most helpful in the short game.  I tend to get “stabby” with my chips and pitches, not shifting forward and completing the swing.  Holding that unpleasant, incomplete follow through is a harsh prompt to do better.

On the green, we’re not making dramatic turns or weight shifts, but there are still lessons to learn.  If you’re trying to make a flowing, smooth stroke, you’ll want to see that follow through get the putter head well past the address position rather than stopping at impact.  We can also watch the club face and feel the pressure in our feet for clues about why our putts are starting offline.

“Hold your follow through” isn’t going to make you sound like a PhD of Golf Swing Jargon, but it might be the fastest route to better results.

The post The Importance of the Follow Through appeared first on Plugged In Golf.

Red vs. Blue, Forever

The internet is a great place if you hate nuance.  It seems that no matter the topic, when we’re hiding behind our computer screen, all we want to do is join a team and tell anyone who might disagree with us that they’re wrong.

We see this in golf in dozens of different ways – from fanboys of different OEMs to LIV vs. the PGA Tour – but nowhere is it as infuriating as in the equipment vs. golf swing “debate.”

In this lesson, I hope to show you that there’s a middle ground, that two things can be true, that we don’t need to run to the comment section with quite so much anger.

This Article Is For You If:

You’re chasing improvement only through better equipment

You haven’t been fit because your swing “isn’t ready”

You’ve ever blamed your clubs for a bad shot or round

You’ve ever chided someone (yourself included) for wanting better gear

Truth #1 – Good Golf Equipment Helps

Club fitting can help you play better golf.

Every fitter has stories of helping a player gain 15 or more yards off the tee, dramatically shrinking their iron dispersion, or putting the feel back into someone’s putting.  The same is true on the other side: I can easily put together a club that you’ll hit substantially worse than what you’re gaming now.

If these endless stories don’t move you, look to the professional ranks.  Do any of the best players in the world play stock clubs?  Absolutely not.  They tailor every club to fit their body and their swing.  And many of them are ceaselessly testing the latest gear in an effort to find even better performance.

There are almost limitless analogies that elucidate the importance of club fitting.  I like comparing it to a tailored suit.  No matter how good or bad you look, you’ll look better in perfectly fit clothes.  Athletic shoes serve as an equally good comparison: Usain Bolt would run circles around me in penny loafers, but he’s faster in spikes.

Truth #2 – You’re Responsible for Your Game

Regardless of your clubs, you are responsible for the shots that you hit.

The importance of accepting this was driven home to me recently by talking to Andy Hayes about his experience playing hickory clubs [read more about that HERE].  He told me that part of the appeal of hickories is feeling more responsible for each shot rather than trying to rely on the clubs.  His best shots were of his own creation.  The mishits were on him, too.

For all their virtues, modern clubs can separate us from the reality of our game.  Forgiving clubs don’t sting your hands on a thin strike the way an old blade would.  More importantly, they produce beautiful shots – long, high, and straight – on strikes that are less than excellent.  We no longer receive the loud and clear signal that most of our swings are not A+.

I think that this lack of feedback, awareness, and responsibility strips away some of the beauty and enjoyment from golf.  Do you enjoy a great result as much if you know it wasn’t of your own creation?

And on the other hand, a lack of accountability can leave us pointing the finger instead of the thumb when things go poorly.  When our club forgives two misses but fails to compensate for the third, we slam it into the ground rather than recognizing that we haven’t practiced in a month.

The Takeaway

I did not write this to convince you to play blades or hickory clubs.  I didn’t write this to convince you to get fit into the latest and greatest.

If there was a purpose in writing this, it would be to get you to slow down.  Don’t be so fast to leave a negative comment.*  Take a beat before criticizing someone for choosing a path that’s different from the one you’re on.  In golf – and in most of life – two things can be true.

*You should still leave a comment, though.  It helps the site.

The post Two Golf Truths appeared first on Plugged In Golf.

Don’t Watch YouTube, Go Hit Balls

At the Nexus Cup at Liberty National Tiger Woods was asked what his number one advice would be for amateur golfers. “Don’t watch f—— YouTube,” he said, “go hit balls.”  “Just beat balls?” Someone asked, “Beat balls,” Tiger replied.

“Don’t Watch YouTube”

These two tips are extremely relevant for people trying to get better at golf today.  As a coach, many of my students will randomly start working on something in their swing that they saw on YouTube, and nearly every time that thing is contributing to their big miss.  A student who hooks the ball will be trying to lower their hands in transition, or have a more bowed wrist at the top of the swing because of something they saw on YouTube or Instagram, two things that will directly influence the ball to go further left.  A different student will be trying to use their legs and “use the ground,” only they don’t know exactly what they’re doing and end up dipping down and it’s leading to them chunking every shot.

I’m not sure how much time Tiger spends on the lesson tee with amateur golfers, but I can relate to his frustration with learning golf through YouTube.  I wouldn’t be as dismissive of it as he sounded, as the people who are learning on YouTube are usually eager learners who love golf and want to learn as much about it as possible.  The problem is that YouTube is often not the best tool for this as the most popular videos are often selling the quickest and easiest fixes for problems that are more complicated than that.

Everyone is looking for the quick fix, or the swing thought that will finally unlock their game for them. Unfortunately they are searching for something that doesn’t exist. So rather than “Don’t watch f—— YouTube,” I wonder if “Stop looking for quick fixes,” is a more helpful tip.

“Go Hit Balls”

Tiger’s second tip, “Go hit balls,” is my favorite, but it definitely needs further explanation.  Every day I’m able to observe the average golfers on the driving range hitting balls, and it is not a pretty sight, and it does not lead to very much improvement.  The most common way people hit balls is a rapid fire approach where they keep hitting and hoping until they hit a good shot, and then eventually they get in a groove and start hitting it better.  They’re not getting better at golf, they’re getting better at hitting a good 7 iron on their 50th try, which I suppose if that’s what you’re going for, who am I to stand in your way. 

If you’ve ever watched Tiger warm up before a tournament, or read about his practice sessions, you’ll know that this is not how Tiger hits balls. He goes slow in between shots.  He’ll often take a break to think about something, hit one shot, then take another break.  There is no rapid fire. He’s learning, listening, searching, and becoming more aware of what’s going on.

There’s a common refrain among instructors that the students just don’t know how to practice, and don’t use their time well.  This leads us to create drills, training aids, or detailed practice plans, that will hopefully help the average golfer when they are left to their own devices.  Most instructors would agree that doing specific drills is a better use of your time than “beating balls.”  That’s why I love Tiger’s answer, it goes against the grain of what most instructors agree on.

How To Figure Things Out On Your Own

Reading between the lines, I think Tiger’s responses go hand in hand. “Don’t watch f—– YouTube, go hit balls,” could be translated as “Stop looking for quick fixes, try to figure some things out on your own.”  This is great advice, as it puts ownership back on the student, and empowers them to find their own answers.  As a coach I am very intentional in avoiding giving quick fixes, and instead leading the student in a way where they are developing more awareness and understanding about themselves and the club, so they can solve problems and be able to coach themselves.

Next time you hit balls, use it as a time to try to figure some things out on your own.  Here are three things that everyone could work on:

Figuring Out Direction

As you hit balls, notice which way the ball is missing.  If it’s missing right, then simply try to hit a ball left.  Tee the ball up if you have to so you can just focus on controlling the ball’s direction. You can aim your feet, use your wrists, mess around with how you’re turning, it doesn’t matter.  Try to figure out how to make it go left. If you’re having trouble, go down to as small of a swing as needed to make the ball go left, even if it’s going down to putting stroke!  Once you make some go left with that swing, start to build it up bigger and bigger until you are back to your full swing.  Once you can make the full swing go left, then see if you can alternate between hitting a ball left, then right, then straight. 

Figuring Out Ground Contact

Do you struggle with a thin miss or chunking?  If you keep chunking, try to hit a ball thin.  Top it if you have to!  Then alternate between intentionally thin shots and solid shots.  Once you’ve done this for a while, go back to your normal swings.  These exercises won’t be a magic cure to your problems, but what they are doing is helping you be more aware of what’s going on with the club in your swing, and helping you get better at controlling where that club is at impact, which is the most important thing.

Figuring Out Tension and Balance

Have you ever paid attention to your tension before?  What’s your grip pressure on a scale of 1-10? Is there tension in your arms as you set up?  Does your tension level stay consistent throughout your entire swing?  Once you get out onto the course your tension level will unintentionally increase, so start paying attention to it in your practice sessions. 

Most people have poor balance, and they try to slow things down to improve balance.  Instead of defaulting to a slower swing, see if you can notice at what point in your swing you start to lose balance.  Usually an unbalanced finish is a symptom of something that occurred earlier in the swing.

The Takeaway

I know telling people to practice in this way won’t lead to a viral YouTube video because this isn’t promising quick fixes or ways to magically cure your ball striking.  What it is doing is giving you time to experiment, explore, ask questions, pay attention to what’s going on, and overall increase your awareness.  This is the most valuable way you could be spending your time when practicing.  Instead of always trying out the latest trend in golf instruction, you’ll grow in your own understanding of the golf swing and will develop the awareness necessary to know what it takes for you to play your best golf.

The post Good Advice from Tiger Woods appeared first on Plugged In Golf.

“You’re Going to Get Worse Before You Get Better”

That old chestnut has been heard by almost everyone who has ever picked up a golf club.  But is it true?  Does it need to be?  Let’s examine (and, perhaps, dismiss) one of golf instruction’s oldest cliches.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You’ve been told “You need to get worse to get better”

You want to take lessons or are taking lessons

You want to improve your swing or your scores

Why It Is Said

“You’re going to get worse before you get better” is something you hear primarily from golf instructors, though you’ll also get it from the “experts” roaming the range, dispensing swing tips like candy at a parade.  I can conceive of two answers to the question, “Why are they saying that?”

My cynical answer is, “To sell more lessons” or “To postpone any questioning of their credibility.”  If you give me a lesson and I play worse, logically, I should stop taking lessons from you.  Telling me that getting worse is part of the process keeps me buying lessons.  It also keeps me from questioning you in real time when your swing change has me digging a trench behind the golf ball.  Finally, it shifts the responsibility or blame to the student.  “Oh, you’re not seeing results yet?  You’re probably not working hard enough.”

I can also be more generous with my interpretation and suggest that instructors say this because they genuinely believe it, and they want the student to stick with the process.  It’s fair to see this as a way to set realistic expectations.  “Stick with the plan.  The results won’t come overnight, but they’ll come eventually.”

Is It True?

Now to the heart of the matter: is it true that you need to get worse before you get better?  My short answer is “No,” though there is a version of the answer that starts, “Yes, but…”.

Ultimately, I think that this cliche comes about because of a combination of poorly defined goals and cookie cutter instruction.  I’ll explain that in depth through the lens of the four primary goals a golfer might have.

“I Want More Distance”

It is completely reasonable to have “more distance” as your #1 goal.  Hitting the ball far is fun, and adding distance is one of the best ways to significantly improve your scores.  Gaining distance is also an eminently achievable goal – most golfers can access loads more distance through speed training and swing changes.

If your goal is to hit the ball farther, there is no reason on Earth why you should go backward before you go forward.  Whether you’re doing speed training with a system like SuperSpeed [review HERE] or making swing changes to move more efficiently, you will not get slower before getting faster.

That said, it’s entirely possible (though not necessary or even likely) that while you are working on speed, your scores will go up or your ball striking will suffer.  Neither of these things happening confirms the cliche.  Your goal was to get faster.  You are getting faster.  The other things will sort themselves out.  Keep your eye on the prize.

“I Want to Hit the Ball Better”

This is the goal that will most often lead to someone reciting the cliche.  Why?  Cookie cutter golf instruction.  “Oh, well, if you want to hit it better, we’re going to have to take your entire swing down to the studs.  We’re going to spend three weeks working on the first half of your takeaway, then build from there.  While we’re doing this, you’re going to hit it a lot worse, but, ya know, you have to get worse to get better at golf.”

Bulls***.  Mr. Hypothetical Instructor, nobody asked you to tear their swing down to the studs.  They asked to hit the ball better.  Did you ask what that means to them?  No, you didn’t.  If you had, you would have gotten them to explicitly state that they want one or more of three things: to hit the center of the face (less toe or heel), to hit it more flush (less fat or thin), or to tighten their dispersion.

If somebody came to me asking for one of those three things, I wouldn’t touch their swing.  I would teach them what makes the ball go straight and what makes it curve [fully explained HERE].  Then, I would give them skill drills.  I would teach them how to control the low point of the swing and how to control the club face.  And they would hit it better immediately.

Interested in a skills-based approach?  Read THIS.

“I Want a Prettier Swing”

This is the goal that many, many golfers have, but few will say explicitly.  I ran into this regularly when teaching with a video-based organization: a student would come in after a couple lessons, tell me they were playing their best golf, then cry about how their swing looked on film [this is one reason why I am staunchly anti-video, as I explained HERE].

As with any other goal, I think this is fine.  I can imagine it’s a lot of fun to have a beautiful swing.  And, once again, it’s a goal that does not require any regression before you make progress toward it.  If you tell me you want a textbook swing, we can make progress toward that from day one.  Your swing will look better after every single lesson.

Other things may suffer.  You may hit is shorter or more crooked.  You may dig trenches behind the ball.  But you will look good doing it.

“I Want Lower Scores”

As an instructor, I never accepted that this was the real goal, at least not right away.  I asked a lot of clarifying questions along the lines of, “Will you be happy to hit it the same way if your scores go down?”  But if they held fast to the score being all that mattered, they were my favorite kind of student.

Now, any decent instructor who hears this goal is going to want data.  They’re going to want to see shot tracking data [Shot Scope product reviews HERE] so that they can understand where you’re losing strokes relative to your peers and relative to where you want to be.  Then they can prescribe a fix that focuses on your weaknesses.

In the vast majority of cases, a good instructor should be able to help you shoot lower scores without going backwards.  Most golfers can’t break 100 honestly, so a little putting practice, a tip to get out of the bunkers, and they’re going to be safely in the 90s and thrilled.  Even in the 90s and high 80s, there’s a lot of low hanging fruit that can be picked with skill drills and more focused practice.

The one case where you may have to get worse to get better is if you’re looking for a significant score improvement and you don’t have enough distance and you’re unwilling to move up tees (or you’re already playing the forward tees).  As a frequent solo golfer, I play with a lot of different people, and they’re often older golfers.  Many of them are quite skilled, but they simply don’t hit it far enough to make pars.  In this situation, they would need to get longer to significantly improve their scores.  This might mean that their scores go up in the short term while they get used to a swing change and/or the added speed from physical training.  This is the only scenario where I think the cliche holds true.

The Takeaway

“But, Matt, I want my swing to look better, hit it farther, and shoot lower scores.”

Neat.  I want to deadlift 800 pounds and still see my abs.  I’d like to drive a McLaren but not have a negative bank balance.  Sadly, this is not how life works.  Prioritize.  Pick a goal, focus on it, work hard, and achieve it.

To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, “You can’t always get everything you want, but if you try, you can get some of it.”  And you can get it without getting worse.

The post Do You Need to Get Worse at Golf to Get Better? appeared first on Plugged In Golf.

An Age-Old Theory

When I decided that I wanted to take up golf, my dad bought an old set of forged Titleist blades for me (with persimmon woods, to boot).  This was around 2003.  Forgiving clubs existed, but he was convinced that playing blades would make me a better golfer.

This idea is not unique to my dad.  Tiger has made similar comments about the clubs that he’s provided for his son, Charlie.  It’s a theory you can find being espoused in every golf forum, club house, and driving range in the world…but is it true?

Yes, Blades Will Make You a Better Ball Striker

First, blades provide better feedback than game improvement (GI) or super game improvement (SGI) irons.  There are two elements of this.  One is the feedback you get through your hands.  On the whole, blades will more clearly communicate where the ball met the face compared to forgiving irons.  There are many GI irons which have good feedback, but some will try to convince you that you’ve flushed every shot.

The more important form of feedback is the result of the shot.  The entire purpose of GI and SGI irons is to take poor strikes and create playable results.  With a blade, you typically get the result that you deserve.  On a thin strike, for instance, a blade will fire off a knee-high shot where a GI iron with a low center of gravity will lift the ball onto a more normal trajectory.

Through both the sensation in your hands and the result of the shot, blades give golfers a clearer, more honest picture of their ball striking.  This is critical if you want to get better.  If you are being told that every swing you make is Tour quality, there’s no impetus to change anything.  When your hands are stinging and your shots are low, short, and crooked, there’s more motivation to get to work.

Another way that blades can improve your ball striking relates to turf interaction.  Blades traditionally have thin soles with limited bounce.  GI and SGI irons have wider soles with more bounce to avoid digging.  With a blade, you won’t be able to get away with slightly fat shots the way you can with larger irons.

There is also a psychological element to playing blades that can’t be ignored.  When I look down at a paper-thin top line, I know I need to focus to get a good result.  Looking down at an iron the size of a Honda can cause me to relax knowing that any strike will produce a decent result.  In addition to demanding more focus, blades can imbue a player with pride and confidence.  This won’t be the case for every golfer, but many players will stand a little taller because they’re playing “real players clubs.”

Finally, blades make it easier to manipulate ball flight.  This can unlock more creativity and learning about shotmaking.  To be clear, every iron is capable of shot shaping, but, as a general rule, it’s easier to control trajectory and shot shape with a blade than a large SGI iron.

No, Blades Won’t Make You a Better Ball Striker

Feedback is a wonderful thing, but it doesn’t mean anything without the work, or perhaps more correctly, the will and desire to work.  If I am unhappy with my weight, knowing exactly how many pounds I am does nothing to change it.  If I am unhappy that I am weak, knowing that I can only bench press 50 pounds does nothing to move me toward 300.  What makes me better is the work I put into getting better.

Additionally, the feedback that blades deliver requires interpretation.  If you give a blade to a new – or even a seasoned – golfer, they may not be able to tell you where the ball met the face.  They may not understand that a low shot is the result of hitting the bottom groove.  Perhaps they will learn in time, but that knowledge is not magically imbued to them when they put their hands on the blades.

Furthermore, the blade does not tell the golfer what they should be doing with their body or their swing.  While I’m no fan of internal cues, I do recognize that they can be important to some golfers, particularly beginners.  If a player is consistently hitting the heel of the club, what does that mean?  What if they are consistently missing but not in any consistent way?

Similarly, while blades allow players more freedom to shape their ball flight, playing blades does not give them the knowledge they need to control it.  A golfer needs a sound understanding of the ball flight laws [you can learn them HERE] if they’re going to become a shot maker.  Putting a player behind the wheel of an F1 car does not make them a racer.  Handing someone a Stratocaster does not make them Stevie Ray Vaughan.

While blades can have a positive psychological effect, the effects can be negative, too.  Some players find blades intimidating.  While blades demand more focus, focusing is a skill that is not granted simply because one is playing blades.  Additionally, the consistent negative feedback of bad shots may lead some players to practice less or quit altogether.

So the Short Answer Is…

Yes, blades will make you a better ball striker – with a few big ifs.  If you are willing to put a lot of effort into practice.  If you understand the feedback that they’re giving you.  If you understand the ball flight laws and how they allow you to manipulate trajectory and shot shape.

Give It a Try

If you’re interested in using blades as an avenue to better ball striking but don’t want to see your handicap skyrocket, I have a plan.  Head to your local golf shop or secondhand sporting goods store and find some old blades.  You can buy a set, a half set, or just a single iron.  Regardless, the cost should be quite low.  If you don’t have a local shop, use eBay.  I found dozens of good candidates under $100 with my first search.

Step two is getting the shaft aligned with your own.  This will cost a little bit of money, but it will be worth it.  Your old blade probably has an old, heavy, stiff steel shaft.  Get a club builder to install the same shaft you use in your irons and the same grip.

You can also cut out a step by ordering a single modern blade built to your spec.  Depending on your shaft and choice of OEM, this could cost from $100 to $200.

Now take that iron to the range and get to work.  You can experience all the unfiltered feedback that you can stand while still enjoying your modern clubs on the course.

The post Do Blades Make You a Better Ball Striker? appeared first on Plugged In Golf.

Finding a New Level

One of the best times in your golf life is when you’re new to the game.  Yes, it can be frustrating, but it’s unlikely there will be another time when you improve as rapidly.  As you pile up experience, your game will naturally level off.  But if you’re a competitive person, this plateau may not be palatable.  In this lesson, I’ll discuss how to break through those golf plateaus to find new, higher levels of performance.

Check out the longer, podcast version of this lesson HERE

This Lesson Is For You If:

You want to see your game improve dramatically

Where Are We Headed?

Before you embark on your journey of improvement, it’s important to define your goals.  “Get better” isn’t going to get it done.  Are you trying to get longer off the tee?  More accurate with your irons?  Better around the green?  Have fewer three putts?  Drop your handicap by three strokes?  We need to start by picking a goal.

You should also set a deadline.  I wrote a lesson many years ago about SMART goals [find it HERE], an acronym for setting good goals.  The “T” stands for “Timely” meaning that a good goal has a due date.  Without that time pressure, it’s too easy to say, “I’ll work on it tomorrow.”

Finally, I’d encourage you to be realistic.  Golf is not a game of perfect.  You can work harder than anyone in human history, and you’ll still hit the occasion hook.  I’m all in on your goal of knocking three strokes off your handicap this year.  However, I’ll take the under if your goal is going from a +20 to a -3 in one season.

Do Something New

Henry Ford is credited with the line, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”  There is no better summary for this lesson.  If you want to get to a new level of performance, you need to do a new level of work.  This can mean one (or more) of three things.

New Work

My favorite way to bust through plateaus is by finding the low hanging fruit.  In this context, that means doing the stuff you aren’t currently doing to improve your game.

The two things that come to mind for me are club fitting and fitness.  The majority of golfers have never been fit for their clubs.  That means they can, quite literally, buy a better game.  Similarly, most golfers are not doing anything to improve their body.  This could be as simple as committing to a five minute warm up before playing or practicing.  It could also mean something more serious like improving your diet or exercising regularly.

Of course, these are not the only forms of new work.  If you’ve never put any time into putting practice, that could be yours.  It could be taking a lesson.  Maybe it’s working with a new training aid.  Any of these things can lead to a golf breakthrough.

More Work

Another way to get through a golf plateau is to put more time into your game.  If you’re currently practicing once a week, find a way to practice twice a week.  Investing more time is the simplest way to see better performance.  The one catch, however, is that you need to put in quality time.  Which leads us to the final route to improvement.

Better Work

We are all guilty of going through the motions at times.  It could be on the range, on the green, or in the gym.  We’re there in body but not in mind or spirit.  If you want to see your performance improve, cut these “empty calories” out of your practice.  Put something on your golf bag that reminds you of your goal.  Set a reminder on your phone to give you a daily shot of inspiration.  If you’re putting 100% focus into every minute of your practice, you’ll ascend to new golf heights in no time.

The post Breaking Your Golf Plateaus appeared first on Plugged In Golf.

The Highest Compliment

A sincere compliment from a caddie is one of the finest things in golf.  These men and women see hundreds of swings every day, and they know the difference between good and great.  If you spend some time with this drill, you may be lucky enough to hear your caddie say, “This guy is a shot maker.”

This Lesson Is For You If:

You want to add more versatility to your game

You want your game to travel better

You want a more engaging way to practice

The Drill – Version 1

To start this drill, you need a target that’s a mid or short iron away from you.  150 yards is a fine starting point, but you can make it 125 or even 100 yards.  Begin the drill with the club you’d normally hit that distance, a 150 yard 7-iron, for example.  After hitting your 7I to the target, move to the 6-iron and hit to the same target.  If you’re successful, go to a shorter club, 8-iron, and try to get to that same green or flag.  Continue that pattern – 5-iron, 9-iron, 4-iron, pitching wedge – until you can’t hit the target anymore.

It will be up to you to scale the difficulty of this drill to your ability.  If you’re a very high level player, you may set a very small target (both left-to-right and in terms of distance) and only give yourself one shot per club.  Someone who is new to the drill can create a larger target area and allow multiple attempts per club.

The Drill – Version 2

You can do a similar drill with one club and multiple targets.  With your chosen club, start with a stock shot.  Next, hit a shot ten yards short of stock.  Follow that with a shot ten yards beyond stock.  Repeat that pattern as far as you can.  For example:

Shot #1 – 150 yards

Shot #2 – 140 yards

Shot #3 – 160 yards

Shot #4 – 130 yards

Shot #5 – 170 yards

You may be limited to one or two shots beyond your stock yardage, but challenge yourself to push that club as far as it will go.  Even after you’ve hit your upper limit, continue down the distance ladder to see if you can consistently hit a ten or twenty yard shot with that club.

Just as with the first version, it’s up to you to match the stringency of the task to your skills.

Why It’s Useful

I call this the Ultimate Shot Maker’s Drill because it checks so many boxes for both ball striking and scoring.  On a basic level, it gets you working through all or most of your bag.  It also creates pressure and focus in your practice, two things that are often lacking.

Additionally, this drill gets you thinking creatively about your swing.  What are all the ways you can take yardage off a club?  How can you make go farther?  When you experiment with different changes, you open the door to discovering new things about your swing and adding more shots to your repetoire.

Finally, with practice, you’ll find yourself scoring better on the course.  You’ll have so many shots in your bag that no situation will trouble you.  Trees, wind, front pins, back pins – no matter the conditions, your game will travel.

The post The Ultimate Shot Maker’s Drill appeared first on Plugged In Golf.

Take Your Game on the Road

As the snow begins to melt, many golfers are getting geared up for spring golf trips.  And as much as we say we’re keeping expectations low at the start of the year, we all want to play well.  Whether you’ve been committed to off-season improvement or need to shake the dust off your set, this lesson will help you play your best on the road.

If you prefer listening to reading, I have a podcast on this topic HERE.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You’re planning a golf trip

You’d like to play well on your golf trip

The Obstacles to Playing Well

Golf trips are awesome, but they also present unique obstacles to playing well.  Some of the biggest ones are:

-Fatigue and soreness

-High expectations

-Being outside your routines

-Lack of course knowledge

-Hitting a lot of bad shots

I’m going to take these on one at a time and give you a plan for overcoming them.

Fatigue & Soreness

The most in-your-face problems that golfers deal with on a golf trip are physical.  We can ignore the effects of poor sleep or shaky psychology, but a sore leg or sprained wrist can’t be denied.  Thankfully, these are also the easiest issues to prevent.

To start, take a look at your itinerary.  Are you going to be playing 18 each day?  36?  54?  More important, are you going to walk or ride?  If you’re going to walk and you’re not in the habit of exercising already, you need to start walking daily.  You will be sidelined in a hurry if you go from sedentary to walking 36 a day.

Even if you’re going to ride, you need to get your body ready for swinging a club every day.  You don’t need to hit 100 balls a day, but try to create a regular practice routine.  Even if it’s only practice swings, it will get your body acclimated to experiencing the stress of the golf swing daily.

Finally, when you’re on the road, stay hydrated and well nourished.  Avoid running from the breakfast buffet to the first tee.  Give yourself time to warm up before you play, and take time to cool down and stretch afterward.

High Expectations

Golf trips are often the highlight of our year.  Whether we’re playing at a bucket list course or a regular retreat, we’re with our friends, and we want to play our A game.  This can lead us to feel pressure and stress that may lead to worse play.

As long as you’re a human, there is no perfect cure to these kinds of issues.  That said, there’s plenty you can do to improve your situation.  You can start by simply realizing that there are no significant stakes to what you’re doing.  Even if you don’t get a single shot off the ground, your friends will still be your friends.  You won’t lose your job or your home.  You may feel embarrassed or disappointed, but that’s all that will happen.

I’d also strongly recommend the books by Dr. Bob Rotella.  He has a small library of titles, but the message is generally the same across the board.  They tend to be short and easy reads, and I’ve yet to meet a golfer who didn’t benefit from checking one out.

Bad Sleep, Fried Food, and Adult Beverages

Golf trips are often synonymous with various forms of self-abuse.  Late nights, cigars, alcohol, and all-you-can-eat buffets are just a few.  And while some of us may play better after a drink or two, no one is at their best with two hours of sleep and a hangover.

I don’t have a cure for this.  If I did, I’d be very wealthy.  Instead, I’ll just offer a reality check.  If staying out late and drinking a lot are a critical part of your golf trips, leave your expectations about great play at home.  There’s no judgement whatsoever, but you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

Where’s the Range?  Where’s the Hole?

When you play at your home course, you know the routine.  You know when to show up, where to check in, and where the range is.  Equally important, you have loads of local knowledge about the course.  You know that the water looks out of reach on #6, but there’s a little piece of lake on the right that will snatch your drive.  You know that being short on #12 is dead.

When you travel, you don’t know anything.  That starts from the moment you show up.  How do you get into the club house?  Where’s the restroom?  Is there a starter I need to check in with?  All these little differences suck up time and mental energy and can put you into a stressed out state.  Now add to that all the on-course tricks that you aren’t aware of!

Playing on the road is never going to be like playing your home course, but there are things you can do to give yourself an edge.  First, check out the course’s website and read some reviews.  From these sources, you can learn a lot of the little things like where the range is – if there is one.  For course knowledge, you have a few options.  Some courses, such as Bandon Dunes, have unbelievable flyover videos that you can use to learn the holes.  You can also consider buying yardage books to study in advance.  Finally, consider Google Earth.  If you want to know exactly how far it is from the green tees to the water, nothing is better.  This option requires more effort on your part, but it’s the best choice if you really want to give yourself the best chance to score.

The Cycle of Playing Badly

I’ve never seen anyone else talk about this issue, but I think it’s a huge problem for many golfers.  For most of us, if we hit a bad shot, we get a little tight.  That boosts the chances of hitting another bad shot, and we can end up in a vicious cycle.  If we’re playing our weekly game at our home course, this probably isn’t a huge deal.  Eventually we’ll get to that one hole that we always play well, and we’ll break the cycle.  Worst case, we grind out the round, go home, forget it, and come back fresh next week.

On the road, there’s no reset button.  In fact, things can get worse.  If you hit a few bad shots and start panicking, there’s no “safe” hole coming to save you.  In fact, you might roll up to the signature hole where you really want to hit a great shot, but you’re playing bad, and you end up in a mental tailspin.  And when you get to the end of a bad round, there’s no week off because you’re playing again tomorrow.  Now, you’re not only playing badly and stressed out, you might also dig into your vault of swing thoughts and really lose control.

There are three roads around this problem, and you can use them all.  First, know your swing.  Understand your misses [more on that HERE], know your tendencies, and know your feels [complete lesson HERE].  If you own your swing, your chances of being surprised by something going wrong are very slim.  Second, control your pre-shot routine.  It’s easy to rush after you make a bad swing.  A solid pre-shot routine keeps you from doing that and boosts your chances of following a bad shot with a good one.  Third, take hold of your mental and emotional state.  If you feel yourself spiraling, slow down your breathing.  Close your eyes, take a minute to yourself, realize that there are no consequences for bad play.  Recognize that you’re playing a game, and hitting good shots is just a bonus.  We will never eliminate bad shots from golf, but we can control how we react to them.

What are your keys for playing well on the road?

Share your tips in the comments section.

The post Playing Your Best on a Golf Trip appeared first on Plugged In Golf.

You Need More Than 14 Shots

Wind, lie, and elevation are just three of the things that make every shot in golf more than just the yardage.  While the possible shots are infinite, we can carry a maximum of fourteen clubs.  If you want to be better equipped to deal with all the things the course can throw at you, you need to master the in-between shots.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You want to improve your scores

You want to add versatility to your game

Why Partial Shots are Hard

Hitting an in-between shot should be easy: make your normal swing but smaller.  Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.  Often, players who try to take something off their swing end up laying the sod over the ball.

Why does this happen?  Your golf swing has a lot of moving parts, and it’s reliant on timing.  Your body is used to the feel and tempo of a full backswing before starting the downswing.  With a partial swing, the timing can feel different, and you’re trying to move into the downswing from a different position.  It can feel like trying to fire a slingshot without putting tension on the rubber band.

13 More Shots the Easy Way

The first step to adding more shots to your bag doesn’t require you to overcome the problem above.  All it takes is moving your hands to the bottom of the grip.  You’ve just removed about an inch of length from your club making it something in between the full length version and the club below it.

As I’m going to say about every tactic discussed here, you need to practice with this to find out what it does for you.  On average, how much distance does it take off?  Does it change the trajectory?  Does it change the shot shape?  It may also change the consistency of your ball striking.

A final note on this concept: avoid getting too cute with how many different hand positions you use.  I have seen Tour players talk about moving their hands to three or four different locations on the grip, but I think this is a bad idea.  Even for a Tour player, it’s more psychology than reality.  When you look at the data, even Tour ball striking isn’t consistent enough to see meaningful variance in 1/4″ grip changes.  Recreational players should stick to a “full length” grip and one that chokes down to the metal.

Growing Your Repertoire

If you want to add more versatility to your shot making, you’ll need to vary the length of your backswing.  As with hand position, I strongly recommend starting with something that’s substantially different than your full swing.

My suggestion is to try a half swing.  Make a backswing that feels waist high.  This is important: it doesn’t matter if it’s actually waist high.  My half swing gets the club head to shoulder height most of the time, but it works.  Having a consistent, repeatable feel is what’s important.

The reason that I like using a half swing instead of 3/4 or 80% is that it’s further from your full swing.  As you get closer to your full swing, your body will be drawn to the motion that it’s more familiar with.  This can lead to the issues I mentioned earlier.  Creating a half swing is almost like starting from scratch.

Again, this is something you’re going to want to practice with.  If this is going to be a reliable tool on the course, you need to know the distance of your half swing as well as the trajectory and shape.  Also, keep in mind that these things will vary throughout your bag.  You may hit a pronounced draw with your half-wedges but a half-4I flies straight.

Filling Out Your Arsenal

With a half shot in the bag, plus two hand positions, you’re now able to hit four shots with every club.  This puts you ahead of most golfers and well on your way to meeting any challenge the course may throw at you.  It would be completely fine to stop here and just sharpen the tools you have.

For those that want to go even further, the next step would be slotting in a 3/4 shot.  As with the half shot, it doesn’t matter where your hands, arms, or club head actually end, it’s a matter of finding a feel you can rely on.

Getting this shot to be consistent will likely be a bit more difficult because it is closer to your full swing.  It’s common to get out of sync from either rushing your downswing or being too lackadaisical.  To combat this, I recommend using Tour Tempo [learn all about it HERE].  Having the cues can keep the tension in your slingshot, even with the shorter backswing.

Once more, make sure you practice with this.  Depending on your swing speed, you may not see a huge distance gap between your 3/4 and full swings, in which case you should stick to practicing one or the other.  However, you might find a difference in trajectory or shot shape that makes the 3/4 shot a meaningful addition.

What tactics do you use to add variety to your shot making?

Share your ideas in the comments section!

The post Mastering the In-Between Shots appeared first on Plugged In Golf.

A Clever New Swing Tip?

When we play golf with other people – whether it’s a stranger or a lifelong friend – we size up their game.  It’s human nature.  And as we get to know their game, we often become critical.  We don’t have to give voice to these assessments nor must we be unkind, but thoughts like, “That wasn’t a good decision” are often unavoidable.

The title of this article, “Pointing the Thumb,” is not a new swing thought – it’s about directing that criticism inward to make yourself a better golfer.  Let me explain how that works.

This Lesson Is For You If:

You’d like to play better faster

You want to make fewer mistakes on the course

Learn From Their Mistakes

First, let me reiterate that I’m not condemning anyone for having these thoughts.  Observing other peoples’ games is natural.  The point of this lesson is to take those observations and try to learn from them.

Here are four flaws that we can easily spot in others and learn from.

Bad Alignment

Alignment is a lot like driving.  No one thinks they’re bad at it, but we all know that most other people are terrible.

If you see your friends aiming their shots into neighboring zip codes, take that as a cue to check in on your own set up.  Alignment sticks are the cheapest training aid there is.  Get a pair and make them an essential part of your practice routine.

Find a whole lesson on the proper use of alignment sticks HERE.

Poor Club Choice

There isn’t a golfer alive who hasn’t silently thought, “Oh geez, [fill in name of friend], you know that your 8I won’t get to this green…”

Don’t be that golfer.  As Shot Scope shows us [details HERE], most golfers are leaving a solid majority of their approaches short of the green.  Take an extra club and give yourself a birdie putt.

Emotional Issues

This is one that can take many forms.  I’ve golfed with people who are so tense and nervous that they have no chance of playing well.  I’ve seen the club slammer, putter snapper, expletive screamer.  And I’ve played with the self-flagellator.  What they all have in common is that their emotions are ruining their game.

You don’t need to be an extreme case to learn from this.  Take some time to reflect on how you talk to yourself and what you think about on the course.  Is it helping your game?  If not, make a conscious choice to change for the better.

Bad Decision Making

Here’s another flaw that can appear in many ways.  It could be trying to gouge a 3W out of the tall rough.  Maybe it’s going for the green over a lake.  Or it could be playing too conservatively.  The takeaway is this: anytime you see another golfer making poor strategic decisions, check that you’re not making them, too.

Find our 10-part series on Course Management Basics HERE

What flaws do you notice in your playing partners’ games?

How have you learned from your observations?

The post Learning to Point the Thumb appeared first on Plugged In Golf.