90 DAYS TO IMPROVEMENT

Your Calendar for Improvement: 90 Days

When I know a student is serious about improving and has the time to devote to a program I give them a calendar – a “when to do what” guide for improvement.

To give this guide some sense of chronological order, I've broken it into weeks—13 of them—which gives you roughly 90 days to reach your goal. And please keep one thing in mind as you proceed; it's best to approach each task separately because it gets too confusing if you try to do many things at once. Every self- help book that says the same thing-- make a plan, divide it into manageable tasks, then focus on one task at a time until you reach your goal.

 Week One: Sometimes it’s the Arrows not the Indian

The first topic on the calendar is to review your arsenal.

 --Check the loft on your driver. If the loft isn't stamped on it somewhere, have a pro measure it for you. Remember, too little loft is a big mistake—unless you have a very high clubhead speed [e.g. over 105 mph] nothing less than 10.5 degrees works. If you don't like what you have, hold an "audition." Try out all kinds of demo models. Ask for some impact tape and check how often you hit each driver in the center of the clubface. Do the same with your irons. Remember solid contact in the center of the clubface is the key to good golf shots.

 --Consider dumping the long irons and replacing them with hybrids. For most hybrids are easier to hit and very versatile.

 --Check your wedges. If you don't have an L-wedge (58-60 degrees or more) add one to your set. If you can’t afford it, have your sandwedge bent to 58.

 --Have a clubfitter or golf professional check the shafts in your club for two things: [1] Are they the proper flex for you? [2] Do they match throughout your set? (Not just the irons, but the woods as well.] Another way of doing this is to hit various demo clubs and hit the clubs of some of your friends. Try all of the basic flexes: regular, stiff, extra stiff, seniors. If you're a female, ask about women's flexes – you should match your swing speed to the correct flex. And while you're at the club-fitter, have the lie of your irons checked as well.

 --Are your grips the proper size? If you think they're too small, wrap some gauze around and hit some practice shots.  And if you haven't changed your grips in the past two year spring for new ones.

 --Vet your ball. Buy three major brands and take them to a practice area. Play some pitch shots, hit some chips and roll a bunch of putts, all the time monitoring them for feel and control. They'll all perform nearly the same distance-wise but from close in you may detect some difference in the feel. Use the one that feels best.

So start the ball rolling: You have a week to get this done just make sure that at the end of the week there is a big X signaling completion.

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Forms Cue Up Your Golf Swing

  

Instead of swing mechanics and negative thoughts, at some point in your development you need to occupy your mind with success images [forms] RE your swing -- and this week I’d like you to spend your golf time thinking about circles.

The Image

One way to think about your golf swing is that there are four circles that must be completed each in their own time. The smallest circle and the one that finishes first is the circle or rotation of your hips. The next circle is your shoulders which is slightly larger than the hips. Following that is the circle of your hands and it finishes next to last behind the largest circle, the clubhead. And they must complete their respective circles in that order.

Now your clubhead, hands and body don't really transcribe exact circles but the point is clear -  to keep everything on its appointed arc of rotation, in sync and on time -  one most allow the circles to do their thing.

This is what I call “form learning” where instead of focusing on swing mechanics I ask the student to tap into the power of the form. Here “form-ulate” and “calculate” are different levels of recognition. Most golfers focus on learning swing mechanics [calculations] vs the pure form of the swing itself. Oliver Sacks in his book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, discovered this form power in two Idiot Savant twins who were so retarded they could not calculate 2 x 8 but they could form-ulate at a very high level as demonstrated by the following:

“A box of matches on their table fell, and discharged its contents on the floor: '111,' they both cried simultaneously… I counted the matches -- it took me some time -- and there were 111. How could you count the matches so quickly? I asked. “We didn’t count them, they said, we saw 111.”

 Unencumbered by normal mechanics they embraced the form of 111 i.e. 111-ness instead of calculating it. Perhaps we all have such wondrous powers running sub-rosa but they are obscured or sealed up by the exigencies of survival – to be kept safe from matches and their fire there is little use in knowing the form 111-ness. Savants have had the normal human powers used to navigate the world, ripped away by disease or a cruel roll of the DNA dice leaving the lone power that remains free to dominate by default.

For this week, focus on the form of your swing using the four circles as a guide. I believe that while you must learn the tangible mechanics of the swing such as grip and weight shift, you must play the game by allowing forms to cue your up your motor responses. 

IS IT THE ARROWS OR THE INDIAN?

When I know a student is serious about improving and has the time to devote to a program I give them a calendar – a “when to do what” guide for improvement.

To give this guide some sense of chronological order, I've broken it into weeks—13 of them—which gives you roughly 90 days to reach your goal. And please keep one thing in mind as you proceed; it's best to approach each task separately because it gets too confusing if you try to do many things at once. Every self- help book that says the same thing-- make a plan, divide it into manageable tasks, then focus on one task at a time until you reach your goal.

 Week One: Sometimes it’s the Arrows not the Indian

 The first topic on the calendar is to review your arsenal.

 --Check the loft on your driver. If the loft isn't stamped on it somewhere, have a pro measure it for you. Remember, too little loft is a big mistake—unless you have a very high clubhead speed [e.g. over 105 mph] nothing less than 10.5 degrees works. If you don't like what you have, hold an "audition." Try out all kinds of demo models. Ask for some impact tape and check how often you hit each driver in the center of the clubface. Do the same with your irons. Remember solid contact in the center of the clubface is the key to good golf shots.

--Consider dumping the long irons and replacing them with hybrids. For most hybrids are easier to hit and very versatile.

 --Check your wedges. If you don't have an L-wedge (58-60 degrees or more) add one to your set. If you can’t afford it, have your sandwedge bent to 58.

 --Have a clubfitter or golf professional check the shafts in your club for two things: [1] Are they the proper flex for you? [2] Do they match throughout your set? (Not just the irons, but the woods as well.] Another way of doing this is to hit various demo clubs and hit the clubs of some of your friends. Try all of the basic flexes: regular, stiff, extra stiff, seniors. If you're a female, ask about women's flexes – you should match your swing speed to the correct flex. And while you're at the club-fitter, have the lie of your irons checked as well.

 --Are your grips the proper size? If you think they're too small, wrap some gauze around and hit some practice shots.  And if you haven't changed your grips in the past two year spring for new ones.

 --Vet your ball. Buy three major brands and take them to a practice area. Play some pitch shots, hit some chips and roll a bunch of putts, all the time monitoring them for feel and control. They'll all perform nearly the same distance-wise but from close in you may detect some difference in the feel. Use the one that feels best.

So start the ball rolling: You have a week to get this done just make sure that at the end of the week there is a big X signaling completion.