Editorial

5 Mar 2013 Corina Pelloni

The age of adjustability

With the debut of the 2013 golf clubs, the golf equipment industry has fully embraced the adjustable golf club. Altering the original state of a golf club is nothing new. The concept of changing the club may seem new to new players and young professionals, but golfers and club repair professionals have been doing it since a clubhead was attached to a shaft to hit a golf ball centuries ago. The goal for the manufacturer may be to produce more sales, but adjustability is an age-old concept that definitely helps golfers of all abilities. Most golfers are afraid of the idea, which is really a shame. The problem lies in bad education of the golfer from not only the manufacturer, but also the golf professional. Sadly enough, too many golf professionals don’t spend the time to understand the basics of clubhead adjustments. Thus, they don’t explain or execute it well enough to their customers, clients, and students. To repeat the point, this is a great help to golfers of any ability. Tour players have been bending clubs and adding lead tape to clubs for decades. One of my more profound memories as a teenager was playing in a pro-am at a Senior Tour event, near to where I grew up. I was standing next to Bob Murphy’s golf bag, anxious to see what was in it, but afraid to be obvious about it. On the first tee, when his caddy pulled off the big knit headcover from the driver, I could see his clubs. To my surprise, there was lead tape all over his irons. You could tell his wedges had been ground to change the shape of the sole. Later, I noticed lead tape on his persimmon driver. From that day forward, I was fascinated by the physics of golf clubs. I have turned that crazy obsession into a 30-year career in the golf equipment business. The new part in the realm of adjustability is simply the convenience and ease to do it. For decades, changing the club head to influence ball flight was not an easy task. The first venture into changing the angle of the club, such making it flatter or more upright, or closing and opening the face, was attempted by Ping. In the mid 1990s, Ping introduced a changeable hosel on their woods. Cumbersome and not so visually appealing, the concept was dropped by the company after a couple of years. For many years on the PGA Tour, club repair technicians would bend wood heads for lie and face angle. When the hosels got too small to grab with a bar, they started building molds for the heads in order to bend them. Changing lie angle on a wood was a common practice. The most popular way was to drill the hosel larger, which allowed the technician to tilt the shaft during installation to change the lie angle. Wood heads have been manufactured with closed or open faces since the mid-1800s. As a matter of fact, the closed (hooked) face angle of many clubheads you might see in a old club display or museum is dramatic. The design of closed club heads has been so common since the 1970s that it is hard to find a square face golf club from that era. Of course, I already mentioned lead tape. Also, lead powder in the head or hosel is a decades-old technique. I have used this to great success for my customers for many, many years. The weight distribution of the head can have a great effect on the flight of the golf ball. So, what you see with adjustable clubs is not new. It’s just now we can do in seconds what used to take hours. Convenience and ease are the only new innovations. Unfortunately, some golfers think the idea is to adjust your club in the idle part of the round on the 8th tee. Not only is this not the intention, but it is also contrary to the rules of the game. The idea is simply to utilize the knowledge of the teacher and/or fitter to make the club adjustments to promote better ball flight and better shots, in order to make the game easier and more enjoyable. It is the golf professional’s duty to educate and help the golfer with these clubs. The loft adjustment is designed to give more flexibility in producing correct launch angle and backspin. These two factors control the distance of the shot, along with the ball speed. This is one of the reasons tour players are hitting the ball so far. They have their launch angle and backspin dialed in perfectly. The changeable weights are designed to influence head pivot at impact. A draw-biased club has more weight on the heel, and a fade-biased club head has more weight distributed to the toe. A flat lie will produce a fade bias, and an upright lie will produce more draw bias. A closed face angle produces more draw bias, and an open face produces more fade bias. These adjustments also have slight influences on other aspects of ball flight, but the above factors are the ABCs of club head adjustments. None of these concepts are complicated or hard to learn. We need to encourage our clients to not shy away from adjustable heads and explain the benefits of how the game can be easier with a golf club feature that is here to stay. Sometimes, the best ideas are old ones that have just been refined and improved.

18 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

The rules and etiquette for the golf instructor

The golf teaching professional should teach and set an example of the proper etiquette on the golf course.   In the USGA and Royal & Ancient Golf Club of Saint Andrews rulebook, the section on etiquette is only a few pages.  But, conduct on the golf course is much more than just two pages in a rulebook.  As golf instructors, we should never assume that a student already knows proper etiquette on the golf course.  Often, simple etiquette issues like pace of play, where to stand, or how to repair a ball mark are often overlooked. The professional should know and play by the rules.  Frequently, we are asked to answer a rules question.  The key is to have knowledge of how to use the rulebook.  It is not necessary to memorize all of the rules of golf.  However, the golf instructor should be able to navigate and find answers in the rulebook.  We should encourage students to follow the rules and etiquette. In the last few years, there has been a lowering of standard in regard to etiquette and the rules.  For example, for many golfers “winter rules” or “preferred lies” are becoming more common. The pace of play has also become considerably slower.  There are many factors that contribute to this such as golf cars, long courses built with great distance between greens and tees, slow golfers, too many people on the course, etc.  As a golf instructor, you are a role model and can influence golfers’ pace of play habits.  Set the standard for your students and they will notice and emulate. Within the last 30 years, golf cars have become common in the United States.  Sadly, it has brought on the demise of walking and the caddie.   Many times, courses opt for the economic benefit of the golf car rather than uphold the tradition of the game.  While golf cars are acceptable for people who do not have the capacity to walk 18 holes, there is a certain aspect of the game that can only be experienced by walking.  Unfortunately, the trend is that many courses now do not provide the opportunity to walk. As golf teachers, we should teach the rules, etiquette, and tradition.  This shows that you are a true professional who conducts himself as such.  The rules, etiquette, and tradition are what makes golf such a great game.

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

TIGHTENING THE V’S!

This is one of the most basic and yet advanced positions in the golf swing.  Basic, because it is something that should be taught to beginners, and advanced, because if a person is to reach advanced levels of golf, they need to employ tight V’s.  We can call it a position because it involves the positioning of the hands, but also because it is best observed at the address position.  However, this fundamentally essential principle should be maintained throughout the golf swing. Look at every single player on the PGA Tour and you will see tight V’s.  I say every single player, because I’ve not seen one yet that doesn’t have tight V’s.  Maybe there is one out there, though!  The only player that I can recall in past years who didn’t have tight V’s was Ed Fiori.  We all understand that occasionally there will be a world-class player who defies logical understanding of the golf swing and still makes it to that level of expertise. Picture it like this: The inside of the first joint up from the fingernail of each thumb should be touching the underside of the knuckle of the index finger where it connects to the palm.  Tightness in this case has nothing to do with tension, but is simply referring to tight tolerances.  In other words, no gap between the two parts. This position is of the utmost importance, because if a golfer doesn’t have tight V’s, they are forced to increase hand and forearm tension to support the club at the top, or they will lose control of the club.  At address, gravity is pulling the grip into the index finger, but at the top, gravity is pulling the grip into the V’s. A person can have both V’s parallel, the heel pad of the top hand on top of the grip, see two or three knuckles on the back of the top hand, the thumb of the top hand fitting perfectly in between the pads of the bottom hand, a perfect Vardon, interlocking, or ten-finger grip and so on…but if the V’s are not tight, the grip is problematic at best. The only reason why I mention this very basic fundamental is because I’ve seen numerous teachers who do not have tight V’s.  Excuse me for being so opinionated, but please…if you think of yourself as a golf instructor and yet you don’t have tight V’s, you are demonstrating an incorrect example for your students and handicapping your teaching. Good golfing!

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

Lower Your Score by Working Back from 100 Yards

I wanted to share with you a great way to get your game sharp in a hurry.  This is one of the games that we play on my golf teams in Florida. Find a course that allows you to practice on a hole, or find a golf center that has practice holes.  Start at 100 yards with your 100-yard club and use five golf balls.  Your goal is to hit the middle of the green with all five balls and two-putt.  If you miss the green, you have to get up and down.  You goal is to make three shots on four out of the five balls.  If you make four out five from 100 yards, you can move back to your next club.  If you start with a wedge at 100, your next club would be a 9-iron. The idea of the game is to keep working back until you reach a point where you cannot hit the green, and/or get up and down with the consistency of four out five.  If you can’t take three strokes four out five times at 100 yards, then you need to take a look at your swing and your short game.   Keep working on your swing and short game until you can get four out five. The best part of this game is that you will consistently work on short game.  As you move back, you will notice what clubs need more work, and maybe you need to add some hybrids or more fairway woods.  As you develop your game around this scoring game, your driver will become your club to set up your yardage on par-4 holes and on par-5 holes. You just get to hit an extra shot to set up your scoring. Keep at this and your scores will drop dramatically.  

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

Boost your student’s mental games with situational similarity

Aaron Baddeley came out blistering hot in the first round of the 2013 Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation to shoot a 64 (eventually finishing T27).  It was an amazing start for someone who has not played competitive golf for three months, and for most of that time was just playing Mr. Mom to his children because his wife was pregnant and under bed rest.

To get mentally ready for his first competitive round, Baddeley arrived to the tournament site a week early and played highly competitive games with his mate, Geoff Ogilvy. These high stake games were getting him mentally prepared for the intense pressure on the PGA tour.

In actuality, Baddeley was getting mentally tough by practicing what sports scientists have deemed “situational similarity.” Put simply, situational similarity is when practice mimics real life competition, and the closer it does, the better your game will transfer into pressure-packed situations.

Golf Digest did a survey a few years back and discovered that one of the biggest complaints amateurs have is their inability to bring their best swings (and game) from the range to the golf course.  I am sure you hear this complaint a lot from your students, as well.

To remedy this problem, I would recommend incorporating the principle of situational similarity into your students’ practice regimens. Here are a few tips to help your students transfer their best game to the course:

1)     Create pressure on the range.  Instead of just blasting one driver after another into the huge area of your range, create an imaginary fairway that is half the size of your tightest hole on your course. Then, bet your friend a friendly wager to see who can hit the most drives out of 10 into this fairway. (You can do the same type of practice solo as well). This increase in pressure on the range will help you to make better swings on the course.

2)     Create pressure on the putting green. Place 10 balls around one particular hole, all three feet away. You need to make all 10 in a row. If you miss one, you will need to start over. You will find the pressure mounting when you try to make the last few balls, and this will help you to better handle the pressure of making those 3-footers on the course.

Practice the principles of situational similarity to boost to your mental game.

Dr. Gregg Steinberg is regular guest every Tuesday on “Talk of the Tour,” heard on Sirius/XM’s PGA TOUR Network.  He is a tenured professor of sports psychology and has worked with many PGA Tour players.  You can see more about him at www.drgreggsteinberg.com, and you can e-mail him at mentalrules24@msn.com

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

True potential

How many times have you heard, “I play 14 holes really well, but there’s always four holes that kill my score”?  Or, “If I could only play to my full potential.”  Even better, “My mulligan shots are so much better than my first shots.”  We’ve even felt that way ourselves.  There is always something to improve upon during a round: A misplayed chip shot, wrong club selection, or even where we left our ball to play the next shot.  One way to learn from these mistakes (among others) is to play a three-ball scramble by yourself. By playing a “solo” three-ball scramble, your students learn from their mistakes: Poor swings, bad course management, and wrong club selection.  If you are able to accompany your students while they are playing the scramble, you have an opportunity to consult after each shot, figure out what can be improved upon, and plan the next shot.  Normally, I go on the course when it is not busy and I will have the student play nine holes. We all make bad swings, but there are always things to learn from them.  It could be a poor swing path, bad posture, or too quick of a tempo.  Being able to hit three shots will help your students learn from their mistakes and help them grove their swings.  One of the most important lessons they will learn from a solo three-ball scramble is proper course management.  Being able to see a poor result due to lack of concentration is helpful, such as laying up in front of a bunker and being forced to hit a flop shot versus laying up away from the bunker, giving them more green to work with and helping them get up and down.  For many students, the lessons they learn from the course management areas will benefit their scores beyond what swing mechanics will. It is not uncommon for a 15-handicapper to shoot in the mid-70s or for a 5-handicap to shoot a few under par.  By having your students play a three-ball scramble, you can show them what their true potential can be when they have awareness of their performance.

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

USGTF – Stewards of the game

I have a bone to pick. It’s with us, the golf professionals. There was a time when we were the stewards of the game.  The first golf professional, Alan Robertson of St. Andrews, was the best player of his era, although his young apprentice Tom Morris was not far behind.  Mr. Robertson ran St. Andrews and a clubmaking company. “Old Tom,” as he was to become known, took on a position at the newly-formed Prestwick Club upon being fired for playing the new guttie ball. His boss was manufacturing the feathery and obviously did not take kindly to his young assistant embracing technology. It was at Prestwick where Tom plied his trade and became the true founding father of the modern game. He designed, laid out and maintained the course, ran events, offered instruction, ran a club and ball manufacturing company and merchandised his equipment. He was a true steward of the game who later brought his trade back to St. Andrews, where he was instrumental in growing the game, mentoring future professionals, modernizing greenskeeping, and mentoring an up-and-coming course designer named Donald Ross. Other than a few whose stars shone bright, back in the day the golf professional was looked down upon as a second-class citizen. If you have been to Great Britain and particularly Scotland, you will notice how the pro shop is separate from the main clubhouse, which the professional was prohibited to enter. His shop was his domain for golf operations, ranging from starter to clubmaker to even his domicile in some cases. The clubhouse was for amateurs who could afford the extravagance of golf.  The golf professional’s role, however, of being the steward of the course and the game was not diminished. He was the person solely drawn upon for advice with all things golf, and this has held true until sometime in the 1980s. We are diminished folks, and I think it’s time we take back our stewardship. There is a reason I am writing this article, in which I will get to momentarily, but I must digress. The game grew throughout the ’80s and was becoming big business.  Golf carts, guest fee percentages, golf club storage fees, and sometimes the merchandise operation were stripped away from the professional as club management renegotiated contracts.  Smaller retainers and commissioned sales rates were offered for managing day-to-day golf operations, while the professional maintained all revenues derived from teaching and club repair. Moving forward, the business of golf today, although big, is specialized with thinner and thinner margins in all areas of the game. Competition for the golfer’s dollar is cutthroat, what with today’s difficult economy. Reinventing oneself to capture today’s audience, which is always looking for the latest and greatest while not discounting value for dollar, is no easy task.  Golfers are putting out their dollars in four distinct areas today: green/membership fees, equipment, instruction,  and travel.  Where do we fit in? If you’re not part of golf course management and are working within the “traditional” role as a golf professional, and I use the word traditional very lightly, you are earning a living with merchandising, and maybe travel, but more so instruction. Now, how competitive is the instruction market? Everyone and their uncle call themselves a golf instructor, and with all the free online video tips capturing an audience, it is not so easy. You know what makes it worse? It’s what spawned this article. FACE PAINT. That’s right, face paint! I’m sure you’ve seen the Taylor Made commercial and ads with various pros with their faces painted like warriors. To set the record straight, I have nothing against Taylor Made or their clubs. However, is this what the game has come to? Is this what we, the former stewards of the game, have let it become? Understandably, the golf professional no longer manufactures equipment, nor does he repair clubs, excluding the odd shaft replacement, lie and loft alterations, and changing grips. Golf professionals today are much more specialized, whether we like it or not.  We run tournaments and merchandise for a pittance and we teach. The problem is we are no longer perceived as stewards of the game, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.  We are no longer leaders; we are followers.  We grew the game from its infancy until we got run over by economics.  It was bound to happen. Many professionals went the route of club manager for a better paying position, and who would blame them? Now, there are but a few leaders in the industry to which the golfing public adhere: golf course operators, the media, and equipment manufacturers. Let’s get back to face paint, shall we? Golf professionals have become sheep following the herd. The manufacturers now dictate what the golfer needs. The golfer now believes that to play better he needs the manufacturer’s latest and greatest. The manufacturer tells the golf professional he/she needs to carry their clubs because of demand. The golfer demands the manufacturers clubs. The golf professional must carry the manufacturer’s clubs or he/she will lose a sale or a possible future client for lessons (maybe).  The golf professional’s margin on high-end clubs is razor-thin, but they are a loss leader. Without them in his/her shop, there is no hope of a client. What is wrong with the aforementioned picture? Simple: The manufacturers, starting with Callaway in the early 1990s, have dictated what the golfer needs. This is not to say they haven’t played a large role in improving the game via technology, but face paint?! Seriously? Are golfers now that stupid? Have we let them become that stupid? Are we that stupid for letting it get this far? Sorry for being blunt, but the short answer is a resounding yes! Business people with a vision placed the equipment manufacturers as the leaders within OUR industry. This IS our industry. WE started it, and through vision and passion built it. The real question that now confronts OUR industry (when I say OUR industry, I mean the industry of playing golf) is do we have the vision and the guts to become the stewards of the game once again? The almighty dollar is manipulating the perceptions of the amateur golfer.  We, however, as a like-minded group know better or at least should .Our role is to teach and not dictate. Our role is to lead and not follow. The future and integrity of our profession depends on us becoming stewards of the game once again.  I have a vision. Where are you, Old Tom? I’m calling on you.

18 Jan 2013 Corina Pelloni

Teach your students to make every course be thier favorite course

There’s an old saying in golf: “Different horses for different courses.” Some players just think and play better on certain courses.  This mental game principle fits Steve Stricker to a tee. Defending his crown, Stricker raced to a strong second-place finish at the 2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.  Stricker stated, “This is a special place to start the year.” Clearly, his enjoyment for the Plantation Course at Kapalua has propelled his play to great heights. Even with a pain racing down his left leg due to a pinched nerve, Steve proceeded to shoot a 69 on Sunday, and impressively, hit every green in regulation. But Steve Stricker is not unique in having a playing affair with a certain course.  Ben Hogan played so well at the Riviera Country Club that it has been dubbed “Hogan’s Alley.”  Pebble Beach holds the same magic for Mark O’Meara, who won the U.S. Amateur and five PGA Tour events there. Many factors influence why a certain course provides great play for a particular player. One is that the layout of the holes just fits a player’s eye.  If most of the holes go left to right, and your bread-and-butter shot pattern is a fade (for a righty), then this would make you feel very comfortable over every tee shot. Another factor is that some courses get the juices flowing more than others. I heard “Bones” (Phil Mickelson’s long time caddy) say how much his player loves Augusta National and gets amped up to play there. Perhaps that is a big reason why Phil has worn the “Green Jacket” three times (once at a fast food drive-thru with his family, but that is a different story). On the flip side, consider all-time great Lee Trevino, who’s won every major except the Masters. Trevino has stated that Augusta National and he were not a good fit. If he felt the love as Phil does for that “old nursery,” then he may have won there (and at least finished higher than a T10). What about your students? Do they talk themselves out of playing well on certain golf courses? Do they talk themselves into playing poorly on certain holes? It is really that simple. Self-talk has immense influence over the outcome of our efforts. You must convince you students to like every course, and every difficult hole. Remind them to enjoy the course with its wonderful layout and great greens. In that case, they will enjoy the course even more because they played so well. When they make every course their favorite, they will find their scores improve in return. Bio: Dr. Gregg Steinberg is a tenured professor of sports and has been the official sports psychologist for the United States Golf Teachers Federation for the past 15 years. Dr. Gregg has been the mental coach for many golf teams including the University of Florida 1993 NCAA Men’s Championship team. He also enjoys helping young golfers to “think better scores.” Golf Digest ranked him as one of the best golf psychologists. Dr. Gregg is the author of “Mental rules for Golf” and has appeared many times on Golf Channel.  You can see more about him at www.drgreggsteinberg.com and if you have any questions about the mental game, please e-mail him at mentalrules24@msn.com.

18 Jan 2013 Corina Pelloni

Play the front tees to go low

All players have a comfort zone when playing the game.  However, when you stray from the zone, say when you’re on pace to break 100 for the first time, or when you’re several under par early during a round, it’s easy to get nervous.  These emotions are natural, and it takes visualization and training to keep them under control.  There are several ways to do this when playing great golf.  One very successful drill I use with my students, to ensure a sense of calmness when entering the zone, is to play a few rounds from the front tees. When students play from closer tees, it helps them hit more greens in regulation, getting to par-5s in two and maybe driving some par-4 greens.  I want my students to have opportunities to get up and down for birdie, not par.  I want them to feel the excitement of draining a lot of putts inside 10 feet for birdie, not lagging from 40 feet.  The excitement which comes from consistent putting, translating into a low round, introduces positive nerves, which cements the experiences into memory recall.  Rather than reverting to the negative mindset of “don’t blow it,” the student can draw upon those positive memories and welcome an attitude of “how low can I go” to experience the thrill that only a great round provides. This aggressive behavior is beneficial in many ways.  The student won’t focus on the milestone that they are close to achieving.  It helps them focus solely on going lower, and not maintaining their current level of performance.  How many students have told you, “If I knew I could have made par on the last two holes, then I would have broken 100 for the first time”?  We want our students to think about making another birdie, making another par, not, “How much longer can I keep this up?” By playing more forward tees in practice rounds, your students will learn to shoot lower scores, and thus, you are training them to go low.  This will help keep your students calm when they are in the “zone,” allowing them to finish good rounds strong and turning great rounds into their best rounds!

7 Jan 2013 Corina Pelloni

Who is really to blame for slow play?

An issue that comes up constantly when the talking heads discuss the state of the game is slow play. I can understand when two professionals playing for millions of dollars take their time to complete a round of golf, but five to six hours for the rest of us seems a bit extreme. When I was a young lad caddying for my dad’s group, we always finished in 3 ½ hours. The last round I played with my regulars took 5 ½ hours. I’m not talking about guys who score in the 100s, either. The highest score was 83. So, what’s happened and who’s to blame? The knee-jerk reaction from most is always people are imitating the pros, taking numerous practice swings, or standing over a two-foot putt forever. In my observation over the years, however, rarely do I find the fault of slow play being caused by the players. When I play my local municipal course that has been in operation for close to 100 years, the 19^th hole is always less than four hours away. The number one culprit responsible for slow play these days is course design. My local muni length is 6,214 yards. The average newer course now stretches well over 7,000. That right there probably adds half an hour. Add in the eight or ten bunkers each hole seems to have, green speeds of 12 on the Stimpmeter, and another hour can easily be go by. Don’t forget the 300-yard cart drive often from one green to the next tee and several more minutes will ensue. Don’t just blame golfers for slow play. Sure, there are always some that are the cause, but for the most part lay it squarely on the shoulders of an industry that got out of control and an organization (the USGA) that failed to do a good job regulating the issue.