Clinic Lesson Notes

SHORT GAME 
66% of your score comes from short game shots such as putting, chipping, pitching, and green side bunkers. The quickest way to lower your score is to work on this area of your game.

PUTTING - Placement of hands on Putter Grip

Photos of putter grip placement
Placing the putter grip under the thumb pad will help you keep your wrists from breaking down at impact. 

There are many ways to grip the putter. The 2 most important things we must do when gripping the putter is get the putter grip placed under the thumb pad of the target hand, and the trail hand placed more underneath so that the forearm is on same line (plane) as the putter shaft. The main reason we need to grip the putter this way is to help minimize how much the wrists break during the stroke. 
Watch the video below for some tips:

PUTTING ROUTINE

Following a specific routine when lining up your putt is very important. Watch this video and learn various options. The most important thing is to make sure you keep your eyes looking down at the ground after the ball has been struck. A great way to ensure that you do this is by "Looking for the Burn". What this means is when your eyes stare at an object your retina retains the object a split second after it is gone. The ball that you were staring at when you struck it, is now gone but appears on the putting green as a spot, shadow, or flash. 
THE 2 FACTORS TO FOCUS ON IS SPEED AND AIM. THE SPEED IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR TO HELP AVOID 3 PUTTS OR WORSE. OUR GOAL IS TO MAKE NO WORSE THAN A 2 PUTT ON EACH HOLE.

​PUTTING  WHEEL

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**Photo provided by Titleist** My golf ball of choice.

CHIPPING 

CHIPPING DRILLS 

Extended Club Shaft with Aim Rod

This is a great chipping drill gives you the correct feel of how your hands/wrists work at impact. Be careful when doing this drill as the shaft will hit you in the rib cage if you use your hands incorrectly during the chip shot. Watch the video below:

Criss Cross Foot Drill

This chipping drill will help you be more aware of your spine/sternum during the chipping motion. Often times when golfers are chipping they lean back in an effort to help lift the ball, this will cause thin and fat shots. Practice this drill to get the proper feel of keeping your upper body over your target foot. 

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ON COURSE INSTRUCTION 
Positive Self Talk-  Planning your shot- Have a clear intention of what you want to have happen. 

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PRE-SWING Fundamentals for Full Swing 
Grip, Aim, and Setup/Posture 
Keys to a good swing are sound pre-swing fundamentals: 

These fundamentals are important to allow the club to swing and your body to move properly. Incorrect placement of your hands, grip pressure, poor alignment, or not proper posture will lead to swing faults. These areas will always need your attention to ensure positions are correct. It's easy to get off track! Using a mirror at home is a great way to check your posture. On the range use alignment rods on the ground to verify your alignment is correct. Do 5 minutes a day of only grip placement and tension awareness holding the club. 
Check out the videos below. 
Grip- Placement more in fingers vs. palms (lower in hand -across from baby finger "heel pad)", awareness to maintain same pressure during entire swing, no tighter than a 4 on a scale of 1-10 (tightest 10) 
Aim- Feet, Knees, Hips, and Shoulders are parallel to the target line, use aiming lines on clubface - square pointing down target line with leading edge of clubface. Use an intermediate target (a few feet in front of ball) to aim down an imaginary line to target. Use alignment rods when practicing to check your aim. Tour pros always practice their alignment. 
Setup/Posture- Tilt hip bones downward to point toward ground, feet shoulder width apart, athletic balance, slight knee flex, arms hang down soft not firm. If your hamstrings or hip flexors are tight it will make getting into a proper posture more difficult. Stretching Exercises may help you achieve better posture.

MENTAL PREPARATION
Pre-Shot Routine: 

LPGA Player Lydia Ko - first hole of a sudden death playoff. Notice she has a routine prior to hitting the ball. She will do this routine for every shot!! You need to find a routine that works for YOU! Every golfer is different. 
  1. Standing next to ball, making two relaxed shoulder turns and then swinging club thru to finish.
  2. Walks back behind ball, confirms her target with Caddie.
  3. Steps up, sets club behind ball to target, practice waggle club back, looks at target, swings to finish.

Mental Thoughts: 

  1. Confidence, Composure, and Concentration - Remember your good shots, and delete bad shots from memory, we all hit bad shots- don't panic take a deep breathe and refocus on what you WANT to have happen. Must narrow your focus when it is time to hit and then relax mentally in between shots. Our brain has 70,000 thoughts in a day, choose your thoughts!!
  2. Toughness - Never give up, look at each new shot as a challenge, welcome it! 
  3. Staying in the present and playing one shot at a time - Often we begin a round of golf hitting shots all of a sudden we are 5 holes into it and realize we have a good score going. Suddenly we began playing protective and TRYING to not make mistakes. Instead, keep doing what got you the good 5 holes. Having fun, and focusing on the shot at hand. Stay in the present state of mind, don't allow your mind to shift to the future or on a past mistake. Let go of score and outcome. It's a game, the course is your playground, GO PLAY!!
  4. Managing Expectations- Ever notice a Tour pro have a first round score of 62 and then follow it up with a 72? So what do you think happened overnight that caused a 10 shot difference. Expectations! After the great round, they expected to shoot low and sometimes are forcing shots. Again, we must go out each day and play one hole at a time, one shot at a time. Stay in the moment of the shot/task at hand. 

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PRACTICE TECHNIQUES 

Connect to Target Awareness - Eyes on Target Drill
It's amazing how the brain works. Focus your attention on where you want your ball to go and your brain will make your body move correctly to do it. If you are mentally "golf ball bound" your body will not react properly. 

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GOLF FITNESS
Balance Exercise

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