PGA of Germany Demekratie, Mitgliedschaft und andere Fragen

Selbstverständlich verstehe ich die Sorgen der vielen Kollegen die das neue Vorgehen der PGA nicht gerade begrüßen. Es ist sicherlich auch schwer zu argumentieren dass wenn jedes Jahr mehr und mehr Pros dazu kommen würden, der durchschnittliche Verdienst senken muss und es werden Pros geben die nicht alleine durch Golfunterricht existieren können. Aber ist dieses wirklich der Fall?
Zuerst gibt es nicht unbedingt klare Hinweise dafür dass das Verhältnis von einem Pro zu seinen potentiellen Schüler tatsächlich kleiner geworden ist. Deutschlands Golfmarkt bzw. die Anzahl der registrierten Golfer wuchs bei 2.4% im letzten Jahr. Wenn heute Abend 30 junge Menschen PGA Qualified werden gäbe es über 500 neue Golfer für sie zu unterrichten. Sicher mag diese Art der Rechnung zu simplistisch sein aber deutliche Hinweise zum Gegenteil gibt es nicht.
Dieses ist auch nicht der Grund warum ich das Vorgehen der PGA unterstutze. Ich glaube auch dass es möglicherweise zu viele Golflehrer gibt, aber dieses gab es in Deutschland schon eine ganze weile. Der Grund hat allerdings nichts mit wirtschaftlichen Interessen zu tun sondern menschlichen. Ein junger Golfer heute der eine Karriere in Golf machen will zum Beispiel als Club Manager oder Schläger Fitter wird entweder nicht PGA Mitglied oder es muss zwangsläufig auch Golflehrer werden. Wäre es nicht besser solche Möglichkeiten anzubieten sodass die Golflehrer wirklich auf hohem Niveau arbeiten können und anderen der Weg ihrer Wahlgvgg aber innerhalb der PGA. Schliesslich heisst es nun PGA und lange nicht mehr DGLV.

the 4 As of shot preparation

Just speaking to Senior Certified Instructor Chris Parker today and he came up with the 4 A’s for preparing for a sort game shot which I thought was quite neat, here they are:

Assess- Read the lie and the situation, taking into account all the factors that influence the shot

Anticipate- Only when you have a clear plan should you move to the next A and make some practice swings trying to anticipate what type of swing and intensity you need to make the plan work

Act- When you have the right feel you should be completely ready to play. This means just play and no more thoughts, they belong in previous stages. Ge over the ball and just do it.

Accept- This for me is really important for two reasons. You have an opportunity to learn from what just happened, did you get the flight and roll correct? Did the ball break as you imagined? Controlling your reactions is also so important.

Try the 4 A’s and dont move on to the next A unless you have completely finished the previous one, this is the huge key to a quiet mind and decisive action.

Preparing for a shots and “thinking play not swing” is a big key for Leadbetter’s on-course work with his players:

Dont practice putting!

Why not practice putting?

Ok it was a provocative title, of course you should practice but instead of thinking “practice” think “play”!

So how do you play putting? You do the sort of things that kids do, you dont see too many kids putt three balls to each hole, not holing out and then casually going for another hole but that’s what almost everyone is doing on the putting green next to my clubhouse! No wonder putting practice is boring!

Putting with my three year old daughter is the most refreshing practice I could ever have, she understands that the ball has to go in the hole and immediately creates some games and fun out of the whole thing, it took some persuasion to get her to leave the green an hour later!

Do you need to run around like a small child thinking up games and jumping around? Maybe not to that extent but you do need to get creative. Make challenges for yourself, mix things up and find out how practice can be rewarding and fun. Work on skills that you need such as distance controla and break reading and give yourself a reward if you make it.

Sounds childish? Perhaps thats what has been missing from your game.

Here is David Leadbetter “playing” at placing balls in a shape on the green.

The Par 18 questions

Have you played Par 18 this year already?

- if not dont read any further – go and play right now or at least the next time it’s light outside. By the way there are no excuses for bad weather, poor greens etc as I discussed here

- if you have played Par 18 this year please answer the following questions..

Were you tough enough on yourself in your choice of lie and shot?
Did you prefer a lie?
Did you give yourself a short putt, even a tap in?
Did you always mark your ball just like on the course?
Did you putt with the flag in to save time?
Did you commit to your full routine just as you have to on the course?
Did you carry your bag with all your clubs to every lie?

..and the key question..

Was anything about the way you practiced different to being on the course in real play?

If it was, how can you be sure that that practice session has helped you?

A par 18 story

A Par 18* story.

It is a cold november evening just before dark, there is a heavy drizzle in the air and a sharp wind blowing across a the practice area, which is a good few hundred yards from the warmth of the clubhouse. There is only one person still outside and braving the late autumn elements. Anna wants another go at Par 18 before dark.
There are not many good lies around the green which is bumpy and small, the holes havent been changed in a while but Anna starts in her usual routine of throwing the ball off the green over her shoulder, she knows that if she even as much as looks where she is throwing she might just give herself a break, something that rarely happens in tournament golf.
Anna has made a 19 and any number of 20s but has never played Par 18, maybe there is light enough this evening for one more try.
The first lie is sitting down in wet rough and is a good 20 yards from a tightly cut pin, a tough start and it flashes through Anna’s mind to stop there and then but her own rule of always playing to the end and writing the score on her bedroom wall chart prevails.
As so often out of an unlikely situation, a miracle happens, Anna’s ball takes a single bounce and falls in. One under after one!
Anna pars the next seven and stands on the green one under with a hole to play. It takes all her self control to not give herself an easy lie. She throws the ball a final time, turns and finds it nestling in a deep wet divot. The hole she chose is close to the edge of the green but it has to be played. She decides to take sand iron anyway, the next chance to make 17 might not come again so soon. She tries hard to commit to her routine but gets the ball a little fat, it barely makes the front of the green.
Standing over her putt, she can hardly believe the pressure, her hands are shaking and her heart is hammering. It’s a large break from right to left but her ball drops perfectly in the middle of the hole. 17 shots!
After a loud YES! and a Tiger like victory punch in a moment of joy and celebration she realises where she is, she is still the only golfer out there, there was nobody to watch, nobody to see her achievement. There was even nobody there who might have witnessed a casually preferred lie or a generously given tap-in, not that this can ever be on option in real Par 18. She is exhausted but can proudly write 17 on her list of Par 18 results.

Have you ever made a practice session as real as Anna’s?

Par 18* – You need a green, a ball and your clubs. Drop your ball just off the green and try to get up and down. Do this 9 times in total and record your result, the par is 18 and the rules of golf apply. It’s simple but probably the best short game practice session you will ever find.

How to know what to practice

This is a simple explanation of the way I work:

1. Watch my students play on the course

2. Find out what causes them to drop shots

3. Make a plan to get better

4. Transfer the skills to the course

5. Start the process again

There is certainly more to it when you consider how to periodise your performance to peak at the right time and practice effectively and it perhaps doesnt take much long term work into account.

The best thing about this? You can do this yourself for your own game. Dont get put off by the fact that you might need to work on technique, there is a lot you can do without ever working on technique.

Let’s be clear, the sort of problems you are looking for in your game are only ones that make you drop shots and not shots that you were not happy with. When doing the analysis on your own without a golf instructor you should probably play a number of rounds and look for some patterns which might occur.

Once you have a clear idea of your problems, especially the ones that cost you shots, only then can you do something about it. Try the analysis! You might be surprised what comes out of it!

The war on boring ranges

Things have gone too far…I have declared war on boring driving ranges!

A good driving range makes you want to hit balls to targets, it engages you and actually forces you practice properly by being so exciting. The problem with many driving ranges is that the person who designed them didn’t realise that that is exactly what he was supposed to do. The designer of this poor example probably thought that all you need to do is whack balls not caring particularly where they go.

He just didn’t know, or didnt think about his job. Which of course in some way is to make people really want to use the range. If you think about surely this has got to be in the interest of everyone! If more balls get hit on the range then it’s good for the range owner too.

What about the amount of thought that went into this range?

It makes you want to hit balls there doesn’t it, it si so obvious that somebody thought about it and wanted to make it great. So often Driving Ranges appear to be the half-forgotten parts of a course that get done at the end.

What’s your range like? is it exciting or dull? Send me a picture or link to it somewhere. Then take up the matter with your golf course and tell them they can make more money, offer a better product and help their golfers to get better!

Sunny lies only?

Practicing isnt just hitting balls to practice your swing, it means practicing every part of your game and of course in all the various conditions that we might expect to play golf in.

Look out of the window right now, whats the weather like? Could these be conditions in which you might need to practice? Surely you have to play in any and all conditions don’t you?

Next time it’s ..rainy..cold..hot..windy..cloudy..sunny…foggy etc… go and practice
Next time you are happy…sad..tired..energetic..angry…bored..nervous..go and practice
Next time the course is …wet…dry..muddy…dusty…bare…frozen or perfect go and practice
Next time the greens are .. fast..slow..long…bumpy…bare…sandy etc…go and practice

Got it by now? or do you just play the nice lies on sunny days when you are feeling great?

Look, a lovely bare lie! Let’s practice!

Why am I on the range?

Yesterday I was thinking about the fact that most of us simply take it for granted that the place where golfers routinely practice should be the range. Now, I spend most of my time on the range and there can be no doubt that in order to practice certain parts of your game, visit to the range is just perfect.
You just have to understand why you are on the range and what the purpose of your practice is.

There are three reasons why you might want to be on a driving range:

1. Warming up before playing
How many balls do you need to get warm and comfortable. In my experience the problems lie in hitting way too many balls and then working in the inevitable few bad shots. You can imagine all the negativity which could occur from all this. I like the 26 ball drill hitting either 2 balls per club (it makes you change clubs more often) or 3 with slightly fewer clubs.

2. Working on your technique
Today is January the 4th and it’s certainly thentime of year to invest in your technique. When the latest motor learning advice is to repeat motions using regular drills and practice swings and get feedback in say a mirror, how many balls do you need? Not many at all right? This is also something that should forma very small part of your practice plan in summer.

3. Developing your skills
Probably the main reason why you should be on the range in summer is to working on hitting certain shots, perhaps one that let you down on a previous round. These might be things like hitting draws or high shots or working on a certain type of lie. In summer this should be the main reason to be on the range.

The main reason given to me however when I ask somebody why they are on the range, I often get looked at quizzically and then after a while get the answer “I’m hitting balls”.

Just hitting is not good practice! Think about it, where on the course are you going to hit 50 7 irons from the same lie, to no target in particular, in very quick succession with balls that belong to somebody else?

Why are you here?

When Fergie practices swimming

Carrying on the football thread today! I was thinking about my joke yesterday that Alex Ferguson might hang around the United training facility waiting for the players to finish a match somewhere. So I have been reading about Carrington (United’s Training Ground) and all the facilities that it boasts. It was opened around 12 years ago and seems to respresent the state of the art in football practice.

Alongside the usual physio, massage and rehabilitation facilities that one would expect they have …wait for it…14 football pitches…that’s it.

I couldnt find any mention of a scope system or teaching studios where you kick onto the field.. or do I mean pitch? They seems to also only practice on grass and most interestingly there are no 100 yard signs out there.

So let’s try a little game:

1. Footballers practice on a …
2. Tennis players practice on a …
3. Swimmers practice in a…
4. Golfers practice on a …

So if you answered …

1. Pitch
2. Court
3. Pool

…you did pretty well, but what did you answer for number 4? Because as we all know the answer for the most part is unfortunately Driving Range and not Golf Course.

Could this explain why so many are good on the range and not on the course? Could this be the reason that no matter how many 7 irons you hit, you dont hit any more greens? Driving Ranges are great things which make certain types of practice much easier.

Think about how and when you practice to see if you really are practicing golf not just swing. I am off to the local pool to practice my breast stroke whilst lying on a bench on the side!

A load of balls…