Plan, Aim, Swing
By admin | June 29, 2008
In my many years as a golf professional, I have found only a few golfers who know how to play the game. Even some of the good golfers play by accident rather than by design. When the football or basketball coach says he has a game plan, he has a big inclusive plan and the smaller plans that make the big plan possible.
Most golfers have a big plan that is to keep the ball out of the trees and water, kill it and make a par when it stares them in the face. Most golfers plans are to keep the left arm straight, never look up and follow all the 1005 swing rules they have heard at one point in their lives.
The good golfers, and I’m talking about the best of the best on the PGA Tour, have a different game plan. They have a plan for the day and that is to score as low as possible. They have a plan for each hole and that is to make a par. They quickly reverse engineer each hole from the green back to the tee. They have a plan for each shot and that is to make the next shot the easiest one possible - like the good pool players.
Their thought is never on the swing or what the body is supposed to be doing. They get paid for scoring low. If their mind is on their body and what it is supposed to be doing, their chances for scoring low are slim to none.
One of the two Playing Principles is Plan, Aim, Swing. Have a plan for the round, a plan for the hole and a plan for each shot. Then simply aim and swing. Let’s explore this principle in more detail so you can have lower scores every round.
PlanAim, Swing
Playing the game is really quite simple. Just plan, aim and swing. It’s a game with a stick and a ball. We hit the ball with the stick until it goes in the hole. Who said anything about keeping score? Our first job is to make a plan for this shot, based on a bigger plan for the hole. Once we have a plan, aim properly at the target and swing. Then we find the ball and repeat the same procedure. It’s that “hit it, hunt it, hit it” routine. I’ve already talked about the aim and the swing. Now I am going to talk about the planning part of the game.
Planning is the most overlooked part of the game of golf. Most golfers are so focused on the swing and hitting the ball that they don’t even realize planning is part of the game. Learn to play smart. Ask yourself the question, “How can I make a par on this hole with the golf game I have today?”
If you execute properly, but have
no plan, the course will win
The plan I hear the most is, “I hope I don’t hit it into the water.” A real plan will help you get beyond constantly thinking about the body in terms of the swing and will enable you to deal with challenging situations on the course.
Good golf courses are designed to make you think, plan, and then execute properly. If you execute properly, but have no plan, you will lose shots and the course will win. A good course is designed so that all levels of golfers can play the course well — if they think about each hole and each shot.
First, you must develop your plan for the whole course. I remember seeing Jack Nicklaus playing the course on paper with Angelo, his caddie, both before and after the round. It’s important that you become one with the course before you play it rather than trying to figure it out while you are playing. How can you shoot a good score on today’s course? Plan it out. Get a sense of which holes you can birdie and the ones on which you should be happy with par. Get a feel for where to be aggressive and where to be conservative. After the round, spend a few minutes going over each hole to check for planning errors and determine how you can improve your plan for tomorrow.
How do you plan for a course that you are playing for the first time? You can check the scorecard for pictures. At a minimum, take a look at the first, ninth, tenth and eighteenth. These holes are important. With your peek at them, you will have some idea about the holes and you will know where the pin is on the 9th and 18th greens.
You are not trying to improve your swing to lower your score; you are planning so your score will go down because of intelligent play. If it is reasonable for the best golfers to do this type of planning, it’s probably something you should consider. Once you have a sense of the plan for the whole course, you need to develop a plan specific to each hole.
Here is another way to help prepare for the course you are playing today. If you know the course, sit in a comfortable chair, close your eyes, and play the course in your mind’s eye. This gives you a chance to experience your round before you actually step on the course.
What is your plan for the course? How do you determine your plan for the course and for each hole? Plan with a single principle in mind: play each shot in a way that makes the next shot as easy as possible. Plan each shot in a way that sets you up for success on the next shot. The good pool player controls each shot after the first one. He is able to leave the cue ball in the spot that makes the next shot as easy as possible.
What makes the next shot the easiest? Sometimes your target needs to be the flat spot in the fairway as opposed to a downhill lie farther out. Frequently, your tee shot needs to end up on the side of the fairway that creates the best opening to the pin. As a general rule, if the pin is cut on the right part of the green, you want to position your tee shot to the left side of the fairway. This will typically open the pin for the easiest shot.
Always know exactly where you
want the ball to end up, how it will
get there, and why.
You generally want your shot to the green to end up underneath the hole to leave you an uphill putt. You do not want to run your uphill putt too far past the hole, leaving yourself one of those “fun” downhill putts. By the same token, you don’t want to leave your downhill putt short. More downhill putting is not the most fun.
Use the lay of the land to your advantage. If the land slopes from right to left on the tee shot, hit a draw down the right side of the fairway to maximize your distance. If the slope is left to right, hit a fade down the left side.
Always know exactly where you want the ball to end up, how it will get there, and why. I was giving a lesson to a student, Richard Parker, who is a good ball striker and can shoot in the 70’s. On the first hole he hit his drive to the left of the fairway. The shot to the green was uncomplicated, about 160 yards slightly downhill. The ball was lying down in the grass slightly and the grass was not too long. He could expect the shot to behave normally from the lie and not be a “flyer.” The green was large and flat, the pin was cut in the back third on the right, and there were big bunkers right and left of the green. As he was preparing for the shot I asked him, “What is your target?”
“The green.”
“What kind of shot are you going to hit?” I continued asking.
“A regular six iron.”
At that point we started talking about planning every shot and being very specific about every aspect of every shot: the exact target and why, which club to use and why, the height of every shot and why, and the shape of every shot and why. At the end of nine holes he said he had learned more about playing golf than he had since he had taken up the game. He had no idea there was so much planning needed for every shot. He began to appreciate the game and enjoy it more. And he hit the ball very well. He had been terribly concerned about every detail of the swing mechanics — until he learned how to play the game.
John Toepel is a Veteran PGA Tour Player, instructor, author, and professional speaker. He is also the discoverer of Concept Golf, the quickest way to immediate, life-long lasting improvements to anyone’s golf game. To learn more about Concept Golf, including the most comprehensive golf instruction system ever, “The Concept Golf Perfect Shot Making System”, please visit http://www.conceptgolf.com/PSMS.htm and Discover the Par Golfer in You!
Tags: concept golf, golf, golf equipment, golf instruction, golf lessons, golf swing, golf tip, pga tourPerception is KEY!
By admin | June 26, 2008
The thoughts the teacher, golf or otherwise, is holding as true affect the student directly. We’ve heard the stories about the school teachers who thought the student IQs were very high but those numbers were actually their locker numbers. The students excelled and then the teacher found out the students were really the not-so-bright ones.
How I perceive my students is important to the students. If I see you as a par golfer that is exactly what you are to me and to you. With this perception, you do not have a distance to travel to shoot par, you simply need to realize the truth about yourself. Even if you have never played golf, have never broken 100, or never even made a par, you are a par golfer in my eyes NOW. When it is as clear to you as it is to me, you will shooting par.
If I see you as a poor golfer trying to improve, it is almost impossible for me to help you because I have locked you in as a poor golfer in my thinking and therefore in your thinking. With that as the foundation of our thinking, there is a huge, deep chasm that needs to be traversed to par golfer status and it will take great effort and time from both of us.
This truth was not always visible to me, but it is now. I know how important it is.
Are You There Yet?
ALL of my students are par golfersin my eyes. If I didn’t view you that way, how could I help you achieve your goal of being a par golfer? If I saw you as a double-bogey golfer would I actually be able to help you shoot pars? I must see you not just as having the potential to be a par golfer, but actually being a par golfer right now. You may be shooting in the low 100’s, but in my eyes you are a par golfer. The reality is that your thinking just hasn’t caught up with me (or the truth) yet.
You don’t think of yourself as a par golfer because you are currently making double bogeys. “How can I think of myself as a par golfer when I haven’t broken 90?” you may utter to yourself at this moment. What comes first, the pars or thinking that you can make pars? If you allow your current scoring ability to control your view of yourself as a golfer, you will never be able to improve. You will stay at the level you have set for yourself. Your ability to score is an expression of your perception of yourself as a golfer. You will only occasionally score lower or higher than your pre-conceived scoring parameters.
If this sounds a little far-fetched, think back to some of the things you have accomplished in your life. You may have your own business. If so, didn’t you have a clear vision in your mind before you even started the business? You may have adjusted along the way, but in your mind you were at the finish line before you began. What about smaller things like building a table, painting a picture, or writing a paper? Weren’t all of these projects successfully achieved in your mind before you started the project? It’s the same with quitting smoking, dieting, or getting rich. If you’re not there in your mind before you start, you’ll never get there.
Golf is no different. To be able to get where you want to go, you must be there in your mind before you start. If you are not already there in your own mind, a chasm exists between you and your goal — a chasm you will be unable to cross. It is unattainable to you. It’s a “would-be-nice-to have” thing, but not a realistic goal.
For many years I saw myself as a PGA Tour Player. I wasn’t playing on the Tour and I wasn’t good enough to play on the Tour, but in my own mind I was on the Tour. In fact, while I was an assistant professional at the Philadelphia Country Club and preparing to qualify for the Tour, I would play golf by myself in the early evenings. I didn’t just play golf, I had a contest. I was playing against Nicklaus, Palmer and Player. I had to beat their best ball. True, I was hitting all the shots, but they had three shots to my one shot. I had to be very good to just tie them. In my own thinking I was competing with them on the Tour. I was a Tour Player.
It’s interesting how these preconceived goals work out. My first PGA Tour event was the Kemper Open in Charlotte, NC. I walked into the locker room on Tuesday and there stood Arnold Palmer. I was competing with Arnold — this time in real life! In fact, while playing on the Tour, I played with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
I am not talking about just visualizing yourself as a par golfer. What I am saying is that you must accept the truth that you are a par golfer NOW, even though the evidence doesn’t seem to support your position.
The other side of the coin is just wanting to be a par golfer. That’s a lukewarm desire at best. Lots of golfers fit into this category. They buy the latest clubs, the longest balls, the most recent book and listen to all the swing tips anyone offers. I’ve even heard a few willing to sell their soul to the devil for pars. It seems that when we want something in this way, we’re almost making a statement that achieving that goal is really not possible. It pushes the goal to the fringes of possibility, almost making it go away from us. It doesn’t evade us, but it does make the “getting” very laborious.
Most golfers assume that if they will hit lots of practice balls, take a few lessons and play lots of golf (the “do”) that they will deserve a good swing and a good game (the “have”) and become a good golfer (the “be”). In reality, life works differently than that. The “be” must come first, then the “do”, and then as a result the “have” will come. The model is “be-do-have”. It is not the “do-have-be” model as we have been led to believe. You act (do) as you see yourself being now. As you see yourself as a par golfer now, you will act and do what a par golfer does. You will experience what you have always had in your own mind.
I ask the Concept Golf School students to begin a simple exercise when they return to their home course. The objective of this exercise is to record a par or better on each of the eighteen holes. To that end, students are asked to record their pars each time they play on a separate scorecard. When they have completed the exercise and recorded a par or better on each hole, they begin with a new scorecard. This helps them realize that they really are par golfers. You can start this exercise today!
Begin the process of becoming a par golfer by being a par golfer now and letting the changes appear or take place. Conditions will conform to your perspective. I see you as a par golfer. Join me!
John Toepel is a Veteran PGA Tour Player, instructor, author, and professional speaker. He is also the discoverer of Concept Golf, the quickest way to immediate, life-long lasting improvements to anyone’s golf game. To learn more about Concept Golf, including the most comprehensive golf instruction system ever, “The Concept Golf Perfect Shot Making System”, please visit http://www.conceptgolf.com/PSMS.htm and Discover the Par Golfer in You!
Tags: concept golf, golf, golf equipment, golf instruction, golf lessons, golf swing, golf tip, pga tourStart with Goals
By admin | June 7, 2008
Spring is just around the corner - for those who didn’t winter in Florida. That means that golf is on your mind and getting ready for the season is on your list and on your mind. Let’s talk about getting ready after a few months of non-golf.
First, DO NOT go to the nearest range and hit the largest bucket of balls in captivity. That would be a no-no.
If you have been following the Concept Golf routine and practice swinging in your living room or your front yard every day you are close to being ready right now. The only thing I would suggest is that you start walking each day. No need to walk fast or far. In the beginning, just walk a bit and then walk back to your starting point. You can increase it every day if you choose - or not. But walk some every day.
Even if you always ride a cart start walking every day. Golf is a leg game and a leg swing. So get them used to being the ones that cause the things to happen.
This year let’s start with some goals. Remember, your goals should be quantitative and time specific. “I want to improve my swing.” or “I want to hit better shots,” or “I want to hit it longer, ” or “I want to be more consistent,” are not goals that let you know when you have arrived - and any time works.
How about these goals for instance; “I want to lower my handicap from 18 to 12 by September 15, 2005.” “I want to add 15 yards to my drives by July 10, 2005.” “I want to compete in four golf tournaments by August 1, 2005.” “I want to win the Club Championship in 2005.” “I want to win the U. S. Open in 2005.”
With a goal that is quantifiable in number and time you can now set the steps that will get you to your goal and by when. As an aside, hitting thousands of golf balls at the range will do little to lower your score or lengthen your drives. The range is a place for leaning the shots you will need on the course. It’s not a place to perfect your swing or lower your score through quantity.
Play golf every day. Not 36 holes, but a few. Soon daylight savings time will be with us again. There is time for nine on the way home. If you are a member of a club, you may be able to play a few holes. Golf takes place on the course, so set your self up for success.
A couple other things to add to your list this year.; Play golf with your family. I’ve played golf with Jack Nicklaus and I’ve played golf with our youngest daughter. I like Jack and enjoyed the game but I love my daughter and the time with her is special, really special. A friend who lives in California has four children. Saturdays and Sundays they have two family threesomes. That is special time.
One other thing I want you to consider this year - use golf to build your business. I talk to so many people who are in a business that could prosper from playing golf. They tend to see golf as a time expense rather than a clever way to multitask and build their business. Golf is the perfect business tool. The setting is pure relaxation and you get to sit right next to the person you want to get to know and that you want to get to know you. You can get five hours with that person on the course that you couldn’t possibly get (and wouldn’t want) in an office setting.
We do business with people we like and trust. What better opportunity is there to get to know someone than on the golf course?
Some I have talked with resist the business-golf idea because their golf score looks like a zip code. It’s not necessary that you shoot par to play business-golf, but the 15th whiff on the first tee is going to create a few raised eyebrows.
The Master is on the week of April 9th (Saturday). I know because our Andrea is being married on the very Saturday. I don’t think she looked at the schedule of the Majors before setting her wedding date. I did but my vote is a small one in these matters.
Get ready for the season and let it be a good one. A little swinging, some walking, a lot of playing, quantifiable goals and fun with your family and your business will make golf fun and enjoyable this year. It’s going to be a good year and golf will help.
John Toepel is a Veteran PGA Tour Player, instructor, author, and professional speaker. He is also the discoverer of Concept Golf, the quickest way to immediate, life-long lasting improvements to anyone’s golf game. To learn more about Concept Golf, including the most comprehensive golf instruction system ever, “The Concept Golf Perfect Shot Making System”, please visit http://www.conceptgolf.com/PSMS.htm and Discover the Par Golfer in You!
Tags: concept golf, golf, golf equipment, golf instruction, golf lessons, golf swing, golf tip, pga tour