Perform Better Golf Blog

Man…another year gone by! I cannot believe I have a 10 year old, an 8 year old…and have been happily married for over 12 years now!

In looking back…it was a great year. We have produced more dvds…have a book in the works, and have a happy and healthy family!

Time sometimes gets away from us, but this is a day to reminisce and be thankful for health and good times.

I am always interested in hearing how golfers do their golf practice sessions. It is all over the map from having no agenda at all, to breaking it down to minutes per component and swings per golf drill.

Lets dig a little deeper. You have weaknesses in your golf swing, and most of the time you know what it is (ie. can’t make a full backswing, coming over the top, chicken wing on the follow through), but do you do golf practice drills to correct it?

This may be like a “no duh” statement, but it is a good reminder to go to your practice sessions for golf with an agenda specific to your swing faults. Focus on the drills that will help you improve them and then…and only then bang a few drivers:).

Sometimes it is better to just do that drill for the session and then get out of their.  Let your brain and body mellow out after that.  You don’t always have to spend 2 hours at the range, unless it’s catching a tournament without the wife knowing. LOL

I woke up this morning thinking about golf as usual (I know get a life right?) and was thinking about all the frustrated golfers who have the mindset they are a bad golfer.

It got me to thinking about the outcome of these golfers with this mindset going into every round. It is not a pretty picture and one that can be improved very quickly if you get out of your own skin and make some logical assessments of your game.

Many of these golfers will try golf tips at will. Anything they hear they will try. Does that sound familiar? I know I have been there. Do you think that approach has worked? I don’t since they say the USGA handicap has not improved in over 30 years, even with equipment and technology.

It is time to make a change, and take a different approach.

For more information on the bad golfer,check out our golf tips section of our main site.

When you are trying to improve your golf swing, you want to focus on dynamic golf flexibility specific to the movements of your golf swing. What I mean by dynamic is “movement”. Nevery holding a stretch for over 5 seconds.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for more of a static program. My golf stretching dvd is very dynamic in body positions, but I hold each of those golf stretches for up to 15 seconds to improve those specific ranges of motion.

Actually, you can take the very same stretches in my dvd and make them dynamic by holding for a split second then moving in sequence with the rest of the stretches I guide you through.

Dynamic can mean the movement phase of the stretch and also the position, which for golf would be a phase of the golf swing. Look at the picture above and you’ll see how Iam stepping into a lunge and rotating my upper body at the same time. This is a very dynamic golf specific stretch.

For more information about Dynamic Golf Flexibility, check out our golf flexibility section of our main site.

Tiger is killling everyone on tour right now! He played his “C game” this week and the players still just melted around him (except for Stewart Cink). This is getting like the way it was a couple of years ago. Although Stewart gave Tiger a run for his money, Tiger won another tournament

The players say they are not intimidated, but why do they just melt on Sunday? I know it is easy to be an “armchair golfer”, but I am not saying anything that isn’t true. Just take a look at the results and they speak for themselves.

Man…it is exciting to watch on Sunday when he is in the hunt:)

Every golfer is looking for ways to improve their shoulder turn. Core exercise for golf is an effective way to achieve this. To turn you shoulders farther on your backswing, you need more flexibility or range of motion in your core area.

Hitting more balls or making more backswings will not improve your shoulder turn unless you improve your core flexibility with exercise that is specific to shoulder turn rotation.

This illustration shows a simple golf exercise on a stability ball that will give you more freedom and a bigger shoulder turn from your core. You will notice I am on a stability ball with my arms extended above me. In this bridge position I am going to rotate as far to the right as I can, then rotate as far to the left as I can while staying stable on the ball.

If I want to make it more challenging and improve my core strength in addition to shoulder turn, I will hold a single dumbbell and do the exact same movement. This is just one of many simple core exercises for golf that will make a dramatic difference in your swing.

For more information about Core Exercise for Golf, check out our golf exercise section of our main site.

Impact is everything!

Getting into an ideal impact position is critical to maximizing your core power from your golf backswing and going into your downswing. Stretching the muscles specifically involved with this dynamic position will greatly improve your impact position and distance with all your clubs.

I have inserted a picture of a simple golf stretch you can do right in your home to isolate the specific muscles of impact. This golf stretch is one of my bonus stretches in my just-released golf stretching dvd.

You can see how I have isolated my upper body by holding my shoulders square and at the same time, rotating my hips as much as I can. This is a very powerful impact position, and one you see all the pros in.

Do this golf stretch consistently and you will achieve a much improved impact position when you play. You will see your distance go up very quickly.

For more information on my Golf Stretching DVD, tap the green link.

I was having coffee (yes…the trainer drinks coffee) with a friend of mine who is also a golfer and he got on the topic of Tiger Woods and this last tournament. I just sat back and listened (which is very hard for me to do) as he talked about Tigers dominance of the tournament.

It then came out. He says, “man Tiger is so strong! Did you see him out of the rough?” Then it was my time to chime in.

I said, “don’t you think exercise for a golfer can make a difference? Do you think if you were stronger your swing would be better?”

He staired at me for a moment and started laughing. He said, “you are a golf trainer, you are supposed to plug exercise!”

I didn’t deny it but wanted to get his honest take on it. Needless to say, he agreed and we changed the subject to the weather or something.

For more information about Exercise For A Golfer, check out our golf exercise section of our main site.

I received a phone call today from a golfer inquiring about my new golf stretching dvd. We ended up spending 50 minutes on the phone discussing stretching exercise for golf and what would be best for him.

I asked him how often he stretches and he said once a week, when he can remember to do it. Oops! Not a good thing if you are in the older age bracket like he was:)

Now the ah-ha moment!

I wanted to make an immediate impression on him even though we were on the phone. I told him to hunch forward in his chair, creating the rounded upper back. I said, put your arms across your chest and try to rotate to the right as far as you can go while staying hunched over.

He said he couldn’t hardly move!

I then told him to sit straight up. As tall as he can get. Know cross your arms and rotate to the right.

He was blown away how much farther he could turn! Needless to say, he became a believer right then-and-there!

The morale of this story is to “stop putting it off!” Start doing your golf stretching right now!

Tiger Woods golf swing should not be cracked on anymore!

He has been critized since leaving Butch Harmon and hooking up with Hank Haney, but nobody should question it now.  Can you say 2 major championships back-to-back?

I have been critical of his driver golf swing, but it held up fairly well on a very tight golf course.

His swing is looking back on track and watch out!  With Tigers golf workout and golf swing he is crushing everyone all over again.  Phil who???