Working Out for Juniors

Workouts for juniors comes up quite often.  My advice for any parent who is looking to begin their child on a workout routine is to... TAKE A STEP BACK.  Generally, kids are growing quickly and muscles, bones and joints are not able to handle what an adult would think of as a typical "workout."  Additionally, if you think your child is not getting enough of a workout I challenge you to follow them through the entire day and do exactly what they do.  My bet is that you will be exhausted by noon...

Yet, parents want to help their kids with certain skills to begin a healthy practice of focusing on your body and your health.  My main advice is to let them play!  Get them outside throwing, kicking and catching a ball.  Have them balance on a sidewalk crack.  Have them play tag.  Have them do everything we did as kids! 

Here some other specific tasks or exercises that we do with our juniors as warm ups.... Overall do not injure the child by giving them too much weight or too repetitive of a routine.  When in doubt seek a physical therapist for more information.

Under 6 years old - concentrate on game and social interaction.  Core strength and balance is a good focus.
1) Crab walks - hips as high as possible
2) Cross jumps hips one way - shoulders other way
3) Single leg stars - touch all 5 points to star
4) Bob and weave under a rope
5) Tip the spider

7-12 years old - concentrate on form more than weight!
1) Olympic lifting without hurting yourself!
2) High pull with medicine ball
3) Hop with a drop with medicine ball
4) Hop with a hold with medicine ball
5) Hop with a toss with medicine ball
6) Spirits
7) Figure 4 cycle - ignite muscle. Run on one leg
8) Busting. Swing arms as fast as possible.  15-20

11-14 year old - concentrate on growth spurts and coordination
1) Summersault with a basketball catch
2) Coordination drills!
3) Jumping - plyobox - side and side 180 with rotation
4) Flexibility walking hamstring stretch.
5) Leg kicks
6) Alligator crawl

High school age - strength conditioning
1) Dead lifts
2) Snatch
3) Push and pull strengths
4) Push up matrix
  Standard, dive bombers, wide side to side, one leg up

A great resource for this an a lot more with regards to physical conditioning visit www.MyTPI.com.

If you have any questions or comments please do not hesistate to contact me at john.grothe@gmail.com

Your friend in golf,
John Grothe, PGA

Effective Scoring System (a golf swing)

"I am looking for consistency.."  That is the comment I hear from most players as we begin a lesson series.  But what is consistency?  Who measures it?  As an instructor my desire is to build an EFFECTIVE SCORING SYSTEM!  Players may confuse this with consistency.

OLD GUY vs. PGA TOUR WANNABE



Think about those players you see at the golf course.  My favorite is the Wannabe PGA Tour Player.  He has all the gear.  He has the look.  Heck, he may even have what looks like a great swing and can hit it 280 on a frozen rope.  Yet whenever he plays in a serious competition he can't break 80.  And he always has an excuse! 

Then there is the Old Guy. The Old Guy shuffles around the course, barely hits it out of his shadow and never shoots north of 78 - there are even some guys like this who consistently shot their age!  Honestly the Old Guy drives me nuts! But I also love 'em!!!!

So what is happening? Simply put the Old Guy has an effective scoring system and the Wannabe Tour Player does not. Even more simply, the Old Guy knows where and how far his golf ball is going! The Wannabe has NO CLUE!

Sure he looks great but can he SCORE?!

(of course he can - that's Ian Poulter, PGA Tour Player and

2012 Ryder Cup Hero)

WHAT IS AN EFFECTIVE SCORING SYSTEM?

An effective scoring system begins with a repeatable swing.  Notice I did not say a "good" swing or a "pretty" swing.  Granted the better the swing the better chance it has to become effective.  But I have seen plenty of "good" or "pretty" swings that cannot consistently score.  One of my favorite examples on the PGA Tour is Bruce Lietzke.  Bruce consistently hit a 30 yard slice with his driver.  He never sought to change it or make it "better" instead he allowed for it.  And in return he won 13 PGA Tour events (including the US Senior Open) and cashed checks worth $6.4 million over his career.

Check out this swing of Lietzke...  Notice he is 28 under par for the tournament.  The ball starts left and cuts to the right side of the fairway.  The best part of this video?  Johnny Miller says, "sounds like a recording..."  And that is exactly what it should be.

 

A DETAILED EXAMPLE

Here is a detailed example of an effective scoring system. The following chart is data taken from a 1 handicap player while putting using the Ping Putting App used for IPhones.  The player hit 10 putts from 10 feet and came up with some interesting data. The areas measured were: swing arc (in degrees - a 0 degree path would be straight back and straight through), club face alignment at impact (positive numbers are open, negative numbers are red) and shaft lean at impact (positive numbers are reducing or de-lofting while red is adding loft).

 

 

Swing	Swing Path	Club Face Angle	Shaft Lean
1	2.4	1.2	1.5
2	2	0	1
3	2.1	1.4	1.9
4	2.7	1.1	0.9
5	1.9	1.7	2.6
6	2.7	0	1.9
7	2.7	1.4	0
8	1.3	0.9	0.8
9	3	-0.4	-0.5
10	2.8	0.4	-1
Median	2.7	1.1	1
Average	2.36	0.77	0.91
Spread	1.7	1.3	3.6
Ideal	1.3	0.9	0.8

The critical aspect we look at in terms of a effective scoring system is the spread or the amount of change from swing to swing.  As you can see with this player the path and face angle is ok.  a 1-2 degree spread is not great but is doable.  The critical area is that this player changes the loft of his putter at the moment of impact a unacceptable 3.6 degrees.  That is he can have a forward shaft lean (de-loft) of 2.6 degrees all the way to adding loft of 1 degree.  With a 4 degree putter this GREATLY changes the output of a putt that feels the same to the player and looks the same to the naked eye!!!

This player and I are diligently working on controlling the shaft lean at impact for his putting.  He currently averages 32 putts a round.  I can see him getting to 28-29 average this year.  That is 3-4 strokes for a 1 handicap!

HOW TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE SCORING SYSTEM

 First is to attempt to have a swing that is repeatable.  Yes, the classic improvements of swing technique are important.  But chasing that "perfect swing" can be unobtainable, frustrating and, frankly destructive.  Try this next time on the range:
1) Swing within your self with good tempo and good balance.  No over swinging
2) Be actively observant - observe how the golf ball is reacting.
3) Don't try to make changes to your swing.  Be open to accepting the ball flight, trajectory, and especially the distance.

Second, measure your results.  The next time you have a chance hit 11 shots in a row from the same position.  For example put yourself at 100 yards from the center of a green with your favorite wedge.  Attempt to make the same swing 11 times in a row at 80-85% speed and power.  Do not attempt to reach the green or ht it close to the flag.  Concentrate on making the same motion.  Finally, plot your results.  The best thing to do is to remove the best and worse 5 shots leaving the middle ball.  This is the median and is what you can expect out of this shot.  Say it is 93 yards.  GREAT!  You now have a perfect 93 yard shot!

(notes - please repair all divots and ball marks)

Finally, in my estimation, the biggest issues or problems with building an effective scoring system are:
1) Too much ego - attempting to hit the ball too far or expecting too much out of a shot.
2) Quest for perfection - golf can be destructive when you attempt to become perfect.
3) Unable to actively observe - the definition of insanity is to expect a different result from the same behavior.
If you notice none of these issues relate to physical ability or strength....

If you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me via email at john.grothe@gmail.com.
Your friend in golf....
John Grothe, PGA

Golf Swing Defined Through Position (HIGHLY TECHNICAL)

A fantastic explanation of the positional sequence in the swing.  Photo and Content Credit www.sandtrap.com.  My comments listed in RED

A great way to work on your swing during the rainy season is to pin these photos up on a large mirror and attempt to mimic the positions one at a time comparing yourself as you go.  Follow this short workout plan to make some great changes!
1) Rotate through these positions one at a time holding each position for 5 seconds.  Do this 10 times.
2) Follow these positions in order while completing a golf swing in 10 seconds.  That is SLOOOOWLY.  Do this 10 times.
3) Alternate a positional swing (5 seconds long) with a practice swing concentrating on rhythm and tempo.  5 times or 10 swings total.
4) Swing 10 times concentrating on speed keeping a good tempo and balance.
5) Finish with repeat of the first step.

By working on 50 swings up to once a day you will greatly improve your swing for the next season!

A1 - Address

Very simple one to understand, as A1 is the setup or address position. You can judge things like posture and overall setup, ball position, handle location (too close to the thighs, leaning back or forward too much), the hang of the arms, weight location (toes/heels as well as forward/back).  I enjoy this position - READY for action or an athletic move.  Much like a shooter in basketball who has just landed from a shot.  Notice the nice tilt over at the hips with a relaxed arm hang.  Ready to go!

A2 - Shaft Horizontal (Back swing)

This position allows you to look at how quickly the shoulders are turning, how quickly the wrists are hinging/cocking, how much the wrists and forearms are rolling, whether the head is translating or staying relatively stable, how much the shoulders have turned, etc. This is one of the somewhat "looser" positions because the wrist cock will determine the location of A2. For example, Charlie Wi hits a fairly normal A2 position (albeit one with a lot of depth):  A solid position!  On Charlie Wi notice the slight bend of the left knee.  Hands nicely to the inside without flipping the club to camera left.  Rickie is over accentuating this club position.  Love both club face angles with matching of the spine angle.  Stricker allows the club to drift inside with the hands a bit too high and separate from the body.  The camera angle is a bit off on this and makes the shaft angle look inside further than it actually is.

But Rickie Fowler's A2 looks funny because he doesn't roll his forearms at all in the start of the back swing:

Steve Stricker sets his wrists later, so the shaft "ascends" more slowly and "arrives" at A2 a little "late."

Late wrist sets will tend to look like the club has been taken more inside or under than it really has, and early wrist sets will tend to look the opposite.

A3 - Lead Arm Horizontal (Back swing)

When the lead arm is parallel we can check the wrist cock (typically around 90 degrees), we can check the shaft plane and the plane of the hands (where are they coming out of the body - base of the bicep? Top of the shoulder? Mid-way?), we can check relative shoulder turn (some people stop turning here, some haven't turned enough because they've just swung their arms back). We can check the head, the shoulder pitch becomes evident down the line, and more.  The beginning of wrist hinge.  Leadbetter would look for more pronounced hinge of the wrists but I have noticed that with amateurs this causes too must forearm rotation and too much variation in strike and directional control.

Note that Rickie's back swing is a product not of quickly cocking the wrists but of allowing very little rotation of the forearms or wrists ("accumulator #3" in TGM). His left arm to shaft measurement at A3 is only 107 degrees).

Of course, Steve Stricker's is even more:

A4 - Top of the Back swing

Wherever this player reaches the top of the backswing, that's A4. Note that a shaft isn't necessarily "laid off" if it points left of the target before the shaft reaches horizontal, nor is it surely "across the line" if it is pointing right but past parallel. Many things can be checked at A4 - wrist conditions, shoulder tilt, any translation off the ball, plane, right elbow flex, left arm position, weight/pressure/CG location, etc.  These photos are only of Charlie Wi, who is a stack and tilt swinger.  It would have been great to see the comparisons between Rickie and Stricker.  This position is also known as a one plane swing with the left forearm, shaft and shoulder plane all being in alignement.  A great consistent position although not one known to have a lot of power/distance.

A5 - Lead Arm Horizontal (Downswing)

This position can tell us many things as it's early enough in the downswing that a player can still make changes much more easily to affect A6 and A7. How far "in" is the left arm? What's the shaft done based on the wrist conditions? How's the right elbow working - towards the belt buckle or staying behind the rib cage? Have the hips begun going forwards? Has the head started tipping back? What's the plane of the shaft like?  So many great things to look at in these photos.  First notice the consistency in lateral weight shift into the left side.  This "bump" can be looked at as a slight lateral slide that all the greats have done.  Yet, the upper torso has not followed that slide or bump.  This upper torso or over sliding of the hips can be very destructive for amateurs.

Second, notice how the PGA Tour professional retains the angle and actually INCREASES the angle!!  A great point for amateurs trying to get below a 10 handicap.

Third, notice the shaft angle is roughly at a 90 degree angle to all 3 players spine angle.  As this relates to their spine angle notice the significant amount of tilt over. 

Note that in Rickie Fowler's case, "lag" appears excessive but it's an optical illusion. He's simply "laid the shaft down" so much that the face-on view is not a good indicator of lag.

See the blue lines on the left? Imagine they represented his left arm and club shaft. Imagine he rolled his left forearm and wrist enough to lay the shaft down that much. Look at how much "lag" it would appear he has from the face-on view! In reality, "lag" should be measured from perpendicular to the plane containing the three points: left shoulder, left wrist, club head. It might surprise you to know that Rickie doesn't have a ton more lag than good ol' Steve Stricker, but the camera position and the "laying the shaft down" throws you off:

A6 - Shaft Horizontal (Downswing)

A key position. There are a lot of things you can check here, but one of the keys is where the club head is relative to the hands. Charlie is pretty well "on-plane" here:

Note the two lines I've drawn. If your club head appears beneath or inside of your hands - the location of the green line - you're quite likely going to send the path of the golf club out to the right. If your club head is outside your hands or above the plane like in the right, you're quite likely sending the club head path left. The club head in the red case is "over the top" of the hands plane - one of a few definitions for that term ("over the top").

Though A6 is highly sensitive to camera position, it's clear that Steve Stricker is going to "hit out" at this ball, while Rickie Fowler - despite "laying the shaft down" heavily from P3.5 to P5 - is coming down pretty well on-plane.

Skipping ahead a little bit, I think this picture will make a little sense to people. I've traced the club head in both Steve Stricker's swing and Charlie Wi's (Rickie's is similar to Charlie's). As you can see, the tangential line at the bottom of the swing arc in Steve Stricker's swing - called the "base plane line" or "base line" - is pointed well to the right. If you imagine creating a plane on the arrows, the base of it would rest along the blue arrow. Charlie's (and Rickie's) plane is much more "at the target" than Steve's.

Steve Stricker plays a ball that pushes and draws a little, and catches the ball just in front of of low point to help the club head go a little left to take some of the draw curve off of his golf ball.

Final note on P6: good golfers tend - nine indices on downward (with increasing frequency) to get "under" plane or "stuck" (hello, Tiger Woods!), while poor golfers tend to be "over."

A7 - Impact

Things to look for here are fairly obvious: clean contact, club head traveling in which direction (ideally +/- a few degrees), handle leaning forward an appropriate amount (0 to 10 degrees, rarely more; less with the longer clubs, more with the shorter ones), etc. Ahhhh the magic moment!  Great balls strikers have one thing in common.  Great ball contact and the golf ball first.  Notice the weight solidly into the left side.  The shaft roughly 4-6 degrees of forward lean.  Hips significantly open (roughly open 45 degrees) while the shoulder alignement is close to the target line if not slightly closed.  Slight curvature of the back but still fighting to stay in posture. 

A8 - Shaft Horizontal to the Ground on Follow-Through

A9 - Lead Arm Horizontal to the Ground on Follow-Through

In virtually every golf swing, the shaft is horizontal to the ground before the lead arm, but the two are sometimes very closely timed. These images are from before A8 and A9, but honestly, A8, A9, and A10 are almost never used in discussing the golf swing because they're simply an indicator of what's come before. They are however quite useful in instruction, as a student modeling a position at A8 or A9 will introduce changes to his motion prior to A7 which will have (if the instruction is correct) positive results.

I view these positions as important indicators of what has happened in the previous positions.  The line I like to use is, "if the money is gone (from the bank) there must have been a robbery."  Generally if there is an error in these positions something else, usually before impact, has gone wrong. 

A10 - End of Swing

Again, debatable, but for all practical purposes, A9 is almost never discussed. It's too easily "faked." :-)  A great swing!  Full commitment, complete rotation, weight full onto the left side, club not flipped or over rotated.  Great job!

If you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me at john.grothe@gmail.com

Your friend in golf.

John Grothe, PGA

BEST VIDEO AWARDS

AWARD: For the most outstanding forward shaft lean.  And the award goes to...

The Tiger Stinger at the 2010 US Open.  What a great swing!  Notice the forward shaft lean even with as little loft as a 2 iron!

AWARD: For the swing no one would want but all he does is cash checks!  And the award goes to...

Bruce Lietzke and his effective repeatable scoring swing.  You may never see someone aim 25 degrees left and hit it on the right center of the fairway again...  I love the -28 on the upper right corner and comment of "sounds like a recording..."  I wonder if an amateur today would be happy with this ball flight...?

AWARD: For the best swing that should make more $$ on tour.  And the award goes to...

Hunter Mehan with a simple modern golf swing with mostly body rotation and a square club face to the path.  They could not swing in such a fashion in the old days!!

AWARD: Greatest hip rotation.  And the award goes to....

Rory McIlroy and his tremendous rotational power.  Notice the lower body beginning the down swing. This is a tremendous example of how to use downward ground force pressure.  Notice at the 11 second mark how his hips actually counter rotate.  Do not try this at home!

AWARD: Trust your golf swing and then RIP IT.  And the award goes to..

Dustin Johnson and the fastest hands you can imagine.  I am convinced this guy could pound a baseball or a hockey puck!  With the position at the top, lateral drop Dustin relies on a couple of issues.  First, he must be left and, second, he must rotate into his left side.  The result is some of the fastest hands on the PGA Tour.

AWARD: Best ball striking demonstration (I've seen).  And the award goes to....

Mike Bennett at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort range (but not in this video).  Mike hit every shot on a string with a heavy left to right and hurting wind!  It was the greatest ball striking I have seen (including Tiger on the Spylass Hill Range in June of 2000)!

If you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me at john.grothe@gmail.com.
 

Your friend in golf...
John Grothe, PGA

The Travis Project - Introduction

I have been given the keys to the castle... NW Golf Guys innovator and general all around good guy Travis Schoen came in today and asked for help.  In fact he said, "I am putty" in your hands.

If you are in the Pacific Northwest and are looking for a great bunch of guys to play local courses with & have a little competition I recommend the NW Golf Guys at: www.nwgolfguys.com

As instructor I truly enjoy this opportunity to build a golf swing and a repeatable scoring system for a person who is motivated with athletic ability.

What will follow is the documentation of Travis's development, improvement, and, at times, struggles in the "Travis Project."

First some rules and regulations.
1) No fair for any of Travis's friends to use this information to get into his head or his game!  In fact there will be at least a one month lag in lesson to posting. 
2) While we will be technical in this forum there will be a specific limit to the amount of information documented.

And away we go!

Lesson 1

The Interview:
Today was about getting to know Travis, his swing, his goals and expectations.  I have many questions for Travis.  While we know each other professionally we do not know each other's game.  It was important for me to get to know him and deliver upon his goals rather than interject what I might feel.

Here is what I learned:
1) Travis is a swinger not a hitter.
2) He is extremely athletic and can make swing changes fairly quickly. 
3) He has no physical injuries to worry about.
4) He is a visual learner.
5) He prefers to not have too many technical swing thoughts.
6) He is a 16 handicap and is tired of losing to players who aren't as gifted athletically.

In his game Travis:
1) Tends to lose strokes off the tee.
2) Has issues with both a straight-pull or a pull slice.
3) He is able to draw his irons at times but the longer the club the more right they can go.
4) His swing he has the opportunity to hit the ball fat at times.  Maybe as many as one per round. 


Here is Travis's swing before we started....

Down the line

 

Face on View

 

 

Swing Analysis -

Travis is very athletic and this can be seen in his swing.  He utilizes his athletic ability to "time" his swing.  Using this swing model Travis can shot a nice number such as a 74-75.  But, if/when he looses his timing he could also struggle to break 90. We need to work on a couple key points for Travis to use that athletic ability to not worry about ball contact.  We need to use that athletic ability to SCORE!  In short his platform is to unstable and it allows for him to be out of control and not OWN his swing and his resulting golf shots.

 

Drill 1

The first step for us is to work on Travis's stability.  Here is a great video capture of Travis's drill.

 

 

 

Drill 2

Here is a secondary drill position for Travis to work on.  Notice the Right foot in the circle before and after we worked on Drill 1.  Notice that Travis is now able to fully to transfer his weight into the left side.  GREAT WORK HERE!

 

 

 

Results

Finally, here is the end product of Travis's swing after about 35 minutes.

 

 

 

The results we are looking out of this new swing are:

1) Increased and improved ball contact - zero heavy shots!

2) Higher spin rate off the iron.

3) Increased distance - even at this slower swing speed!

4) With more pure back spin this will lead to straighter shots.

 

The great thing that I look forward to watching is the other "dynamic" changes that we will see as Travis continues to work on these. Such as:

1) Improved shoulder alignment.

2) Better retention of lag.

 

Thank you Travis for the support and the confidence.  I look forward to this journey towards better golf!

 

Your friend in golf.

John Grothe, PGA

john.grothe@gmail.com

 



Goals and Objectives - Develop your plan (#2 of 10)

 

Annika Sorenstam won the U.S. Women's Open in 1995.  At 25 years old she had reached a milestone in her young career that many dare to even dream. It was her first career victory.  She then did something odd and yet it helped define her career. What did she do that was odd?  She re-valuated her goals and embarked on a path to ACCOMPLISH those goals.

The result is one of the most storied careers in golf.  Annika accumulated 72 LPGA Tour victories, 10 Major Championships, and stood toe to toe with PGA Tour players in 2003 at the Colonial.  How did she accomplish so much?  She set extremely high goals.  And, here is the critical part, she put herself on a path to accomplish those goals.  Specifically Annika's plan and method was outlined in the tremendous product called VISION 54 by her coaches Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson. Please click HERE for more information in VISION 54. I highly recommend their program.

 

WHERE TO START

GOALS
First, establish a clear goal.  For Annika it was to have the ability to birdie every hole and shoot 54.  Yes, birdie every hole!  Now that may not be a realistic goal for you!  Your goal may be to break 100, 90, 80 etc.  It may be to loose 10 lbs.  It may also be to simply have fun and have a healthier and more fulfilling life.  Point is to make it specific.  You can make it a sizable goal that may seem out of reach but you would be surprised what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it!

PLAN
Second, evaluate, with razor sharp detail, what areas need to be improved in your life to accomplish this goal.  For Annika she had a lot to do?  She needed to hit the ball further and be able to reach par 5s in 2 shots.  She needed better stamina.  She needed her equipment to be better. 

But this goes far beyond simply looking at your golf game - notice I mention "life" and not just your golf game.  In order to reach your goals we must look at this as a life goal - not just a golf goal.  I can share that for me personally I needed to organize my life better.  For instance I needed to make sure to spend the quality time with my family before I played.  I needed to make sure I balanced my check book as well.  My check book may seem odd.  Why balance my check book?  Well, when I am in between shots on the course my mind will wander. The thought of having to do meaningless tasks such as balance my check book would weight on my mind and prevent me from playing my best.  I had to handle my off the course business before I handle my on the course business.  Think about your own game when you play well.  I bet you weren't thinking about all your chores you had to do after the round.

REMOVE OBSTACLES
Third, and this is quite important, is to match up and review your goals with your evaluation with a HUGE DOSE OF REALITY.  Matching up your goals, with your plan and then evaluating your plan may reveal how aggressive your goals may be. Yet removing those obstacles that prevent you from reaching your goals is the beauty of what Annika did, and what you can do!

RE-EVALUATE & ADJUST
Periodically the plan may need re-evaluated and/or adjusted.  During the process job issues, family issues, health issues may pop up and challenge you ability to reach your goals as they were originally laid out.

THE 18 HANDICAP PLAYER LOOKING TO BREAK 80
For instance, let's look at a 18 handicap player wanted to break 80 for the first time.  What is that going to take?  First, can the player hit the ball far enough to reach a majority of the greens in regulation?  Can they get the ball around the green in order to score?  Once this is accomplished how is the players short game?  Can they get up and down at least 50% of the time?  Our player, for instance, can reach most of the holes but fails to recover from poor shots and doesn't have the short game to recover.  In order for this player to reach his goals a simple solution would be to have them develop their short game.  A sample plan would look like this:

GOAL: Break 80 on a regulation course over 6200 yards and a rating of 70.0 with a 120 slope one time in the next 2 years.

PLAN:

• Evaluate their wedge system and equipment - no gaps and at least 3 wedges.
• Read up on short game techniques such as Dave Pelz, Stan Utley or Dave Stockton.
• Develop a practice and training schedule:
• Take the Chipping and Putting Test once a month.
• Focus on the 3 weakest areas within Chipping and Putting
• Commit to chipping and putting for at least one hour a week
• Commit to warming up chipping and putting before playing for 30 minutes.
• Commit to working on short game for 20 minutes after each round.

REMOVE OBSTACLES (these are just ideas of what a person may have to do to accomplish their goal):

• Cost of new wedge
• Cost of lessons if needed
• Maintain schedule to arrive to golf course 30 minutes earlier than usual.
• Drive by golf course once a week on the way home to practice short game.
• Join a club with a good short game area
• Take care of house chores through out the week and evenings to have extra time on weekends.
• Involve spouse/significant other with evening practice sessions.

Notice that none of the examples are herculean in the effort needed...?

For the player who is stuck on an 18 handicap and needs to drop roughly 10 shots off their handicap and whose lowest score is an 84 to reach their goal of shooting in the 70s might seem unrealistic.  But, once we identify the goal, develop a plan and remove the obstacles we have a pretty good chance of reaching out goals.

As for Annika, her goal was to shoot 54, to birdie every hole in one round.  She never quite accomplished that goal.  But in her quest for that goal she shot 59 (-13), the only woman to do so, during the second round of the 2001 Standard Register Ping.  She had 13 birdies, 5 pars and 0 bogeys.  What happened with those 5 pars Annika?!

If you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me at john.grothe@gmail.com
Your friend in golf...
John Grothe, PGA