Snedeker’s perspective
31 Jul 2013

Snedeker’s perspective

By: Gregg Steinberg, WGCA contributing writer Family first was the theme at this year’s RBC Canadian Open. Hunter Mahan, the leader after two rounds, withdrew from the tournament when he discovered that his wife Kandi had gone into Labor. While many of the fathers on the PGA TOUR acknowledged and agreed with Hunter’s decision, Brandt Snedeker put it into perspective concerning how important family is to his game of golf. Since his daughter was born two years ago, Brandt has won five times on the PGA TOUR. He said that before her birth, he would take his game far too serious and was all-consumed by his play. But being a father put it all into perspective for him. Now, he knows that hitting bad golf shots do not matter so much. As he puts it, golf is what I do —  not who I am. Being a father has helped him to keep his emotions under control during the ups and downs on the course. These key mental game ingredients led him to victory at Glenn Abbey and to his second win this year on the PGA TOUR. Brandt is hitting upon what sports psychology researchers have discovered when it comes to success in golf. They found that the most successful young athletes played a variety of sports up until the age of 16, but then they focused on their primary sport. These athletes were much more successful than the athletes that focused primarily on only sport. The premise of this finding is perspective and balance, as Brandt spoke about with his family. When a young golfer places all his self-esteem eggs in one basket (i.e., plays only one sport), there is a lot more pressure to perform well all the time on the golf course. However, if a young golfer has many hobbies and sports to build self-esteem, there is less pressure to perform well every time on the course. Consequentially, when there is less pressure, the likelihood of playing well increases. My mental game recommendation to young golfers is to always spread the wealth and play a variety of sports and/or have additional hobbies. Here are the reasons for this recommendation: 1. When Michelangelo was working on the Sistine Chapel, he would switch hands to paint that famous ceiling. He believed in the importance of developing balance in his abilities. A young golfer playing a variety of sports will develop physical attributes that can contribute to better coordination, such as lower-body coordination if they play soccer along with golf. 2. There will be a decrease in injuries. When young athletes play a variety of sports, there is a less likelihood of an overuse injury. Also, participation in a variety of activities gives the body time to heal and rest certain muscles and tendons, decreasing injury. 3. Play a variety of sports including golf to spread the self-esteem points around. Then the young golfer can build self-worth from a variety of sources. When they step onto the golf course, there will be less pressure to perform. Spread the wealth in activities, and you will see your game accrue in the long term.
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Phil’s resiliency
24 Jul 2013

Phil’s resiliency

By: Gregg Steinberg, WGCA contributing writer After being so close at Merion and not winning the U.S. Open, Phil Mickelson should have been deflated. Mickelson should have had a difficult time bouncing back from his sixth runner-up finish and another disappointment at the U.S. Open. As Mickelson stated, “losing is such a big part of golf. It could have easily gone south”. But Mickelson did the opposite. Instead of getting down and rejected, he mentioned that he used that disappointment as a springboard for his motivation. The loss at the U.S. Open pushed him to practice harder on his game. Mickelson’s resiliency paid off. In a month’s time he played one of the best final rounds of his career to capture the Claret Jug at Muirfield and win The Open Championship. Golf is full of ups and downs during a round, as well as during a season. To play your best golf, you must be resilient like Mickelson and stay motivated when times get difficult. Psychologists have discovered that golfers who are resilient see failure as within their control. Golfers who are resilient explain their failures using what is known as the TUF strategy. Resilient golfers see their failures as temporary, unique and flexible. The following examples illustrate how you can become more resilient in your golf and bounce back from a downward turn in your game: 1. See your bad days on the course as temporary. Tell yourself that you did not have it today. But tomorrow is another day, and your game will turn around. The emphasis is to believe that your bad golfing days are not permanent. 2. See your bad rounds as unique. Some courses will not match up well with your game. Others will. See those bad rounds as being specific for that course. The emphasis here is to believe you will play well on other courses in the future. 3. See your bad rounds as flexible and within your control. Like Mickelson did, you should believe that all you need to start playing better is to practice harder. Or, you may want to work a tad more on your short game. The emphasis here is to believe that a change to a better game is within your control.
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“GOLF IS A GAME OF HERITAGE AND TRADITION”…REALLY?
11 Jul 2013

“GOLF IS A GAME OF HERITAGE AND TRADITION”…REALLY?

I love baseball. Here is a game rich with tradition and time-honored practices. Over the years, I’ve seen my share of well-executed double plays or a bullet thrown from deep short to beat a runner by a single step. Year after year, and yet I never tire of it. Golf claims to have such a legacy, but today’s game is nothing like the game that first took hold in this country or the game I played growing up in the 1950s and ’60s. In fact, if golf does have a tradition, it is one of constant change. The driving force behind all of it is one thing – distance. Everyone is obsessed with it. Just about every new lesson starts with, “How do I get more distance?” It has spawned an industry that spends most of its working days building stuff for the sole purpose of getting the ball to fly farther. That has created another industry of mankind dedicated to holding the line to keep the game from getting too easy. A lot of people claim that golf has to do such things to grow, that today’s golfer is different than his or her parents or grandparents. I have mixed feelings. Certainly, regular innovation in equipment and balls is good for business. Golf employs a lot of people. So, who is to say that what has constantly gone on with golf evolving is a bad thing? On the other hand, I like playing older courses that have not been modernized. People should be able to play the game in the manner that pleases them most. Baseball can adhere to tradition – the average Joe is an observer of this, game not a participant. Anyone can play golf and play for the rest of their lives. Whatever makes them happy or makes the game easier is generally what the public will gravitate to. In that sense, it is not really a game of tradition. Maybe there is nothing wrong with that.
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HAVE YOU TAKEN A LESSON LATELY?
11 Jul 2013

HAVE YOU TAKEN A LESSON LATELY?

As teaching professionals, we must continue to learn.  We have to better our skills and possess the desire to learn more.  There are many ways to learn:  Read books written by the top teachers, visit with other teaching professionals (at events like the USGTF’s US Cup), and take lessons. By taking lessons from accredited teachers, it will help you learn to communicate with your students better.  We have all had lessons when the student didn’t understand what we were trying to convey.  This didn’t mean we didn’t know what we were talking about, but it meant we weren’t communicating properly with this particular student.  Listening to other teachers describe a problem or how to perform a certain drill helps you learn other ways to speak with your students. This spring, we had a teaching professional move into a local country club.  His bio was very impressive.  I called and scheduled a lesson with him.  At the time of our lesson, he told me he was shocked that I called him for advice.  We talked awhile about the passion for learning, which provided a great opportunity to discuss ideas about teaching styles, techniques, swings, theories . . . the list goes on.  Our 30-minute lesson turned into two hours of great conversation and also turned in a good friendship. Don’t be afraid to learn from any available avenues.  When taking a lesson from another teaching professional, ask questions, stir up conversation, and listen.  By growing this listening and clear-communication skill set, your students will see a difference and your business will grow.
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THE VALUE OF TRAINING AIDS
11 Jul 2013

THE VALUE OF TRAINING AIDS

With some students, words, demonstrations, and even drills aren’t enough. In these cases, the use of training aids can provide the teaching professional with an additional option to help improve a student’s understanding. Training aids are just as the name implies: An aid to assist in teaching and to assist the student in learning. The myriads of training devices available seemingly address every aspect of the golf game. These aids come in all types, from inexpensive and homemade (such as a cut-down broom, a towel under the arms) to expensive and elaborate. In the minds of some, teaching devices fall in to the category of gimmicky, running from questionable to worthless. True, there are some bad teaching aids, which tend to drag the good ones down. In using a training aid, the student should have enough repetitions until they truly feel what the aid is teaching them. At this point, the student can then make some practice swings and hit some balls without the aid.  Your job as the teaching professional is to make sure that the student is incorporating what they learned from the training device. The most effective training aids have proven to be the ones where the student actually gets to swing a club and hit shots. Training aids that do not involve a student in swinging a club have proven to be less effective, but nevertheless can still provide some merit. Training aids that do too much of the work for the student do not teach the students as effectively as training aids which require the student to do his/her fair share of the work.
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Haas’ look-and-go
2 Jul 2013

Haas’ look-and-go

Bill Haas makes birdie on No. 10 during the final round of the AT&T Classic. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR) By Dr. Gregg Steinberg, official WGCA sports Psychologist.  This is the season for great putting advice from the veterans. At the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Steve Stricker suggested to Tiger Woods that he should square his stance a bit and weaken his left hand. This helped lead to a victory that week for Woods. This week putting guru Brad Faxon recommended that Bill Haas get less mechanical and just “look and go” with his putting routine. The new reactive putting method was key in Haas’ win at AT&T National. The look-and-go method can greatly benefit your game as well. Here are a few reasons how this method can greatly help you make more putts: 1. Many amateurs (and some pros) take too long over the ball when putting. Some even seem frozen! As a result, muscle tension builds and you can lose the fluidity in your stroke. To prevent the mind freeze, incorporate a trigger into your putting routine. For example, my trigger is when my eyes track back from the hole and as soon as I see the back of the golf ball. That is when I start my putter back. 2. You may not like the look-and-go method. That is, having only one look at the hole may make you feel rushed. In that case, I would recommend having two or three looks at the hole, whatever you prefer. But the rub is to be consistent in your looks at the hole. If you prefer two looks, then do two looks every time. This consistency in looks will buffer anxiety because your body will not know if it is a practice round or the club championship. 3. How you look at the hole will impact your rhythm. One of the secrets in putting is that when you look at the hole in a fast manner, your stroke will be fast. The same goes if you look slowly. Look at the hole at the same rhythm you want to stroke the putt. Free up your stroke and your putting mind with the look-and-go method. But make it your own style because we are all unique and we all have unique strokes.  
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