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9 Sep 2013 Corina Pelloni

I LIKE THE IDEA OF GOLF PLAYOFFS, BUT…?

I have been watching the FedEx Cup playoffs the past couple of weeks, but for the life of me, I can’t really understand what is going on. I have to rely on the announcers to let me know who is in what place and who is winning, even though the guy in first place might be in tenth place. Go figure. In every other sport, the playoffs are pretty simple – win and you move on, and the clock, so to speak, starts all over again. Every team or individual in the playoff has a chance to win – even the ones that barely sneak in at the last moment. I’m not sure that is true for the golf playoffs. Let’s see. They play tournaments from January until the Wyndham Championship in August. Based on their finishes, players earn points. At the end of the season, the top 125 in point totals go into the playoffs. This is where I start to lose it. The players keep their point total from the season going into the first playoff round. Nothing resets. Certainly, one can move up based on good play, but if the season points leader plays well, it is unlikely that the person in the last spot can ever win. Heck, the person in first place does not necessarily have to play the first event to move on. That might be more tolerable if everyone started at zero in the next playoff tournament – it would be like receiving a bye for having the best record during the regular season. I believe, in playoffs, everyone should start equal. After all, players are being eliminated at each event. As long as one keeps making the cut, when it gets to the final, with 30 players remaining, the winner of the playoffs should be the guy who shoots the lowest score on that last Sunday. At least I can rely on the TV announcers letting me know who the winner will be. Methinks the theory of relativity is easier to figure out.

Emphasizing The Extreme Importance of a Proper Setup!

By: Steve Williams, WGCA contributing writer You might think that the setup is so fundamentally simple that it comes natural to a touring professional. With some of them, that’s true, but with the vast majority, it has to be stressed constantly. Although there can be problems with grip and stance width, these are not usually the trouble areas. My experiences have shown me that the first thing to falter is usually posture, followed closely by alignment and ball position. Posture usually falters because the golfer gets lazy physically and lazy with his discipline. Alignment usually falters because the golfer gets lazy mentally. Ball position will usually gravitate to the most advantageous spot, depending upon the errors and compensations in the golfer’s swing at present. Regarding posture, I find it most advantageous to put this thought in the golfer’s mind: Viewing the static posture from down the line, there should be two hinges. Those hinges are the knees and the hips. They should also get in the habit, before starting their swing, of elongating their spine as much as possible. Honestly, I cringe and almost want to throw up when I hear a teacher tell their student to tilt from the waist. Regarding alignment: Until a student demonstrates that they never fall into alignment problems, stress the importance of using an alignment rod every single time they hit a bucket of balls, with at least one third of the balls in that bucket. Regarding ball position: Stress the importance of them being methodical enough with their pre-shot routine and that they have perfect ball position for every shot, whether practicing or playing. Why do even touring professionals struggle with these areas? Because they are tedious! Remember, though, they are tedious until they become habit. Once they become habit, the golfer experiences the rewards of strengthening these areas so much so, that they couldn’t care less whether they’re tedious or not. They just know that they’re excited about playing better since strengthening these areas. Finally, think about this: If touring professionals struggle with these areas, imagine how much college and high school golfers have to deal with these issues.

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