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Too often I see players taking a practice swing that isn’t close to what they are wanting to do over the ball. This in effect is practicing a bad swing. Examples of this are those who simply wave their arms back and forth in faster than normal motion or those who swing and check the top of their backswing. Sometimes you see those backswing checkers following their arms with their head which is basically practicing moving your head on the backswing.

When I was growing up in California and taking lessons from the head pro at our club, he was extremely picky about practice swings and randomly swinging the club even if you were just standing there listening to him talk about your swing. His point was to never ever practice a bad swing move! Also going along the lines of a practice swing I think one practice swing is enough before each shot. Think about it: if you are taking two or three practice swings per shot those add up through the course of a round and you are going to wear yourself out!

In summary, take one good practice swing per shot and make this swing a rehearsal of the swing you want to use to make contact with the ball and you’ll be on your way to a better swing and a lower score!

Cathy Marino
Director of Beginners and Women’s Programs

Here is where a proper warm up will start to reverse this trend. Before each round try to perform a complete equal-sided warm up. In other words warm up the left side of the body just the same as the right side of the body. Areas to target for golf are the hips, shoulders, thoracic rotation (upper body turn), as well as hamstring and quadriceps. Try to get a light sweat in before each round or practice session. This way the player will be equally activated on both the left and right side of the body before the act of hitting begins. If you can incorporate this into your pre-round routine, not only will you feel better, but over time your performance will improve. Your susceptibility for injury will also decrease. I hope this helps your golf game.

Brad Ott
Associate Golf Instructor

To improve your game, be effective using this three-step approach before spring.

First, evaluate last season. How many fairways did you average hitting per round? How many greens? How many up and downs (saves)? How many penalty shots did you average per round? How many putts? How many three putts? What was the best distance for you to two putt from? Did you score better or worse? Did you meet your expectations? If not, were your expectations realistic? Did you have the 3 necessary requirements to meet those expectations: 1) understand your game and tendencies; 2) have a plan to improve; and 3) match the amount of time you practiced with the expectations?

Secondly, from looking at last season, what do you want to concentrate on for this year? How much time are you willing to devote to it today and for the year? What is it going to take to meet those improvement goals?

Third, set out and act on your plan to improve. The great players and TOUR players use the off-season to do this. Identify problems from last season; identify goals and areas of improvement and do the work to make the changes now. Apply these principles to your game and you can WORK NOW and PLAY LATER. Work hard now and when the spring and summer tournament seasons come around you will be ready to play. Then instead of using part of the season to make changes, you are using that time to get check ups and maintain the changes you made in the off season.

The staff at D.A.’s Spring Creek Golf is a group of experienced instructors and coaches that are dedicated to helping you meet your improvement goals. We are expert in helping you evaluate where you are, setting realistic goals and practice schedules, and setting and helping you work through your individual plan to improve. Don’t let another season slip by! Come let us help. We will improve your game!

Having the opportunity to work with a friend and client at the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, I was able to observe the greatest field of 2007 practice and play from “inside the ropes.” Preparing for the week and practicing their games, these, the greatest players of the game, did many things similar. One, they spent much more time on their short games than they did hitting practice balls (I’ll get back to that).

Two, these greats of the game also spent a good portion of practice in the bunkers rehearsing different shot angles, lies and distances. Their pitching practice went from fairway cut to light rough to the deep Bermuda rough they would face (like we have here in our area). They would not only hit their lofted wedges but worked on lower shots with less lofted clubs.

Three, on the practice tee, the short greens (less than 75 yards) were littered with golf balls proving the pros’ propensity to rehearse and be confident in their distance with their wedges. The next “busiest” greens were at 130- 170 yards showing that most of the practice was with the irons in their bags. The most Drivers I observed any one of these professionals hit in practice was maybe 15.

And four, on the putting green, I observed much more time spent on their stroke path, tempo and rhythm and lag putting and distance control. Rarely did I see any of the professionals grinding over 4-6 foot putts. They understand that the better your lag putting and chipping is, the less often you will even have a 4-6 footer left for a two putt or up and down.

Jump forward a year – 2008 Constellation Energy Senior Player’s Championship and our own newly crowned MAJOR CHAMPION, D.A. Weibring. After a successful re-opening of TPC Las Colinas, home of the EDS Byron Nelson Classic, D.A. focused on the rest of his season on the Champions TOUR. He practiced hard on his game and focused hard on his putting and finding a putter that fit his stroke to give him the best chance to make more putts. Having a chance to have a brief conversation with him after his victory another thing really stuck out in our conversation. He was recalling critical tee shots and putts he had during the last few holes of the tournament. He constantly spoke of past shots he had been successful with in his career that gave him great positive images to execute these shots in crucial pressure filled situations. This recall kept him relaxed and confident over the shots he needed to secure his first Major victory.

The moral of this story? Do what the winners do. All those PGA TOUR players are winners. To get to that level of play, to be one of the best 125 players in the world, you have to be. 1) Spend more time on your short game. 2) Spend more time on your putting stroke and speed control. 3) Spend time perfecting your swing with the irons. The driver will follow. 4) Practice wisely. Practice the shots you will need on the courses you play. And 5) Remember and recall your great shots. They not are only great when you made them but will lead to great ones down the road. Just ask D.A.!

Count silently 1 – 2 – 3 – Shift – 2 – 3. You should arrive at the top of your back swing on 3 and begin your downswing on Shift (which reminds you to start the downswing with the transfer of weight towards the target thru the left hip verses the arms tugging down first). You should arrive at your finish position on the final 3 of the count. This tip will serve you well on the golf course and bring more consistency to your shot results. The other benefit to the tempo count during your swing is it keeps your conscious mind occupied so you can’t think about technique. Remember to play golf not play golf swing.