Practice Doesn't Make Perfect!

By Lori Tatum
LPGA
The Woodlands Performance Center

Practice doesn’t make perfect…only perfect practice makes perfect! What does perfect practice look like, you may ask.

When going to the golf course to practice, you should have a goal in mind. A specific goal which is based on either short term or long term goals for your game. If you are having trouble figuring out a goal, ask yourself where you could have improved during your last round. Keeping statistics would be very helpful for this process.

Examples of a few good goals would be:
· Improve my putting distance control
· Improve my aim on short putts
· Be committed on 75% of my shots
· Use my pre-shot routine on every shot.

LPGA Founding, and Hall of Fame Member, Patty Berg stated "There is nothing in this game of golf that can't be improved upon - if you practice." Fifty percent of your practice should assimilate a golf round - vary your targets, clubs, and lies, just as if you were on the golf course. And, make sure to use your pre-shot routine.

Every shot you hit during practice should have a target and each shot should be slightly different so as to assimilate your time on the golf course to your practice on the range. Have your bag close to you, like it was on the cart and pull a different club for each shot. Walk to the bag after your shot and pull another club. It is also helpful to vary your lies.

We don't play fantasy golf on the course, where all the lies would be flat and perfect. Therefore, we shouldn’t practice as such! My hope is that you take this quote from Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson and make it your own, "Your past is not your future." One way to make that happen is to practice with a specific goal in mind and practice how you play. Hopefully these tips will help you to make your practice perfect!

Super Swing - Need Power?

By: Phil Suiter
Assistant Golf Professional
Canongate at Eagle Watch

How can you develop more power in your golf swing? This is probably a question that every golfer wants answered. Many of us are willing to do whatever it takes to get that extra "umphh" into our drives, and I think we probably all have some ideas of where 300-yard drives come from. But consistency and power are hard to obtain, let alone repeat, without proper posture.

The golf swing is a combination move - one that demands that the arms and the body work together. For that to happen, it is necessary to create the correct body angles at the set-up that enable you to make (and consistently repeat) a rotary motion with the body 'core' - your torso.

One of the easiest ways to get a feel for the athletic position all good players look for is to set up as if you were about to dive into a pool. With knees flexed, you instinctively create this spine angle as you bend from the hips, your weight balanced on the balls of your feet. From here, let your arms hang in front of your body and you are ready to play. Make sure that your belt buckle is down, tail bone up, so that you have this angle in the hips - i.e. your belt buckle points to the ball. Once you have achieved this with your posture, you are in a powerful position. With practice, your stance will improve your posture and the length of your drive. If you need additional assistance in powering your swing, please contact a PGA certified golf instructor.

Woodlands Performance Center

Canongate Performance Centers

EQUIPMENT: Why Every Golfer Should Get Fit for Golf Clubs

By, Kevin Kirk

Senior Director of Instruction

Woodlands Performance Center

Did you have a new year's resolution to improve your golf game…maybe to attempt beating your personal best? Was it to beat a friend you have been trying to beat for a long time? It could have been to enjoy the game more. No matter what your goals are, there are things that you can do to improve your game.

Maybe your swing technique, or physical fitness level could use some improvement, or it could be poor equipment that affects both of the previous two. Here is a little insight on what to look for in properly fit golf clubs. There are two methods that are commonly used to fit golf clubs. The first, made popular by Karsten Solheim, the founder of Ping, used measurements of the body to determine what length, lie and grip size are best suited for a particular golfer. This method is referred to as “static fitting.”

The other method, called Dynamic Fitting, is quickly growing in popularity. Dynamic fittings are usually done with a lie board and tape that is stuck on the sole of the club. The ball is placed on the lie board (which is usually made of a flexible plastic) and hit, after which the fitter can look at the bottom of the club to see if it struck in the center of the golf club, thus determining whether it needs to be bent more upright or flat. The problem with lie boards is that they do not sit level with the ground, which now requires the fitter to guess what would happen if the lie board had not been there. Another unfortunate thing is that most dynamic fittings don't take into consideration swing technique or whether the person is taking lessons and possibly improving their game techniques.

When someone comes for a fitting, professional club fitters are looking at a few different aspects to correctly fit someone.
Is the person going through swing improvements?
If so, what improvements are they trying to make?
Can we give them a club that is going to assist them in those improvements.

Let's say it is one of our athletes that has been working at improving their technique over the winter. As they are learning and adapting to the new techniques, we will do a static fitting, to ensure that the clubs fit their body correctly and the weight of the club is manageable. As we get closer to the season we would start doing exercises that are more dynamic based. Except, we wouldn’t use lie boards.

For irons and wedges the best way to tell what needs to be done is ball flight and divot patterns. For hybrids and fairway woods we are looking for the correct yardage gaping. For drivers we are looking for playable launch and spin. Launch monitors are another great tool to see ideal performance numbers like launch angle, spin rate, shot dispersion, angle of attack, and carry yardage.

We think the largest factor that is often overlooked is set building. How often do you go to a demo day and hit driver after driver until you find one you think you like and then get it to the course and it does not perform the same way? You can have clubs that do not match each other. A properly fit set of golf clubs should at least give the same consistent miss. (Not that we want you thinking about your misses, but we think it will help you improve when you don't have to worry about it going both ways.)

Fitting example: a golfer comes in for a fitting and says “I love my irons and wedges, but I can't hit my fairway woods and driver with any consistency," After some investigation, we can usually find an issue with one or all of the following:
· Length
· Weight
· Shaft Properties
· Head Properties
· Flex
· Loft
· Lie
· Grip Size

Once these are addressed, the golfer will find themselves worrying less about their equipment and more about where they want the shot to go.

If you're missing it one direction with one club, we want you to miss in that same direction with all of your clubs. When that happens, you can either address the reason why you miss it that direction with instruction, or for those of you that don't want to take lessons, you can adjust your starting line to accommodate. The thing we don't want to have happen is for you to stand over a shot and have no idea which direction it is going.

In summary, if you are still trying to improve your game, you need to get with an instructor and let them know that you are looking for new golf clubs. Either they can fit you for those clubs, or they can talk to the club fitter so that the fitter understands the improvements you are attempting. Therefore, you will hopefully end up with golf clubs that can assist with your improvements, as well as still being able to perform once those improvements have taken hold.

Let's Get a GRIP on It

By Andy Pittman
Senior Teaching Professional
Canongate I Golf Club

I have been teaching golf for over 38 years. During that time, I have learned the importance of making things as simple as possible for my students. Golf is a simple game that is made difficult by people that play it!

Think about it. You simply swing the club away from the ball and return it back square to the intended line, moving at an optimum speed. To play the game better, this movement needs to be consistent. Consistency starts with good pre-shot fundamentals. The four primary fundamentals are: grip, alignment, ball position, and posture. Let’s focus on first things first: the grip.

The grip is the most important fundamental in golf. Your hands are the only connection you have to the club, which makes contact with the ball. In order to consistently hit good shots, your hands have to be placed on the grip so they compliment each other and work together.

Keep in mind that golfers come in all shapes and sizes. Some have small hands; some have large hands, short fingers, long fingers, etc. There are three basic grip options: (1) ten finger (sometimes called the “baseball” grip), (2) interlock, and (3) overlap. The overlap is the most commonly used grip.

The ten finger grip is best for players with very small hands, such as some ladies and junior players. The interlock grip is used a lot by players with medium hand size, but some players with large hands also prefer it. The little finger on your right hand interlocks with the index finger on the left hand (for a right handed golfer). The overlap, or “Vardon grip” is used by a large number of players worldwide. The little finger of your right hand overlaps into the gap between your index finger and middle knuckle on your left hand (for a right handed golfer).

The proper way to place your hands on the club is to let your left arm hang down naturally from your shoulder. Place your fingers on the grip as if you were picking up a suitcase. As you can see, most of the grip is in the fingers. Peggy Kirk Bell, LPGA Hall of Famer, believes this is the easiest way to get your left hand on the club properly. You will notice that the line formed by your thumb and index finger points in the general direction of your right shoulder. That same line on your right hand will be between the shoulder and your chin. The grip will vary a little from player to player, some will see two knuckles, some three on the back of their left hand.

As you work to improve your grip, make sure you don’t grip the club too tightly as this will create tension in your arms and hands, restricting the proper release of the clubhead. Proper grip pressure is very important in the timing of the release through the ball.

Remember that golf is a game of a lifetime. It is much more enjoyable if you hit more good, consistent shots. Consult a Woodlands Performance Center Instructor to assist you in the application of the fundamentals. Now...go get a grip on it!