Why Henry Hates Golf Part II! “Well Henry, first you’ll need to find where your strengths and weaknesses are in order to really know where you need to practice.” “Marc I know what my strengths and weaknesses are; that’s easy. My short game is the strongest part of my game. And my driver is my weakest. I can pretty much chip on to the green and 2-putt every time. I just have trouble hitting the fairways. If I can hit more fairways, my scores will drop instantly!” Henry said. I could see Henry starting to get the look of dreaming of what it ...

“I hate this game! I hate it! Why do I play this stupid game? I quit - I’m never playing again!” Henry blasted himself. I heard Henry as he was walking to his car and wondered why he was so down on himself. Henry is a hard worker, I see him at least once a week hitting balls on the practice range. I’ll be going to the first tee with a Golf Made Simple class to do our on-course Instruction and there will be Henry banging balls on the practice range - one after another - “looking for the magic". I approached ...

The Driver is the name of the game. There’s nothing more satisfying than walking off the 18th green knowing that you hit your Driver well all day. In fact, there are times that I play golf just because I want the adrenaline rush that accompanies hitting great drives on the golf course. To put it bluntly - you need to hit your Driver well to have fun on the golf course. Yes, you can hit your Driver well and still not score well on the golf course. Though, it’s very difficult to score well if you’re hitting your Driver poor ...

Here we go again with Driving Accuracy. As this may come as a shock for any Golfer that has been diligent in trying to keep their golf ball on the short grass - Driving Accuracy when it comes to simply hitting Fairways is the most overrated stat in all sports. Now, I know that reading this information probably upsets many Golfers whose battle cry on the links is simply - “if I could just hit more fairways I could …!” And I know that I risk you canceling your subscription to GIW if you read this and say - “Marc, you’re ...

Are you tired of going into each new golf season with high expectations and then ending your season not reaching your goals? This is often followed by you promising yourself that you’re going to work hard during the winter on your grip, your swing plane, keeping your head still, blah, blah, blah. It seems as if every year around this time I get the same emails - “Marc, where I live I can’t play during the Winter, but I want to be ready for the Spring. What can I practice inside my house during the Winter?” Working on your golf swing ...

Everybody wants more distance with their Driver. How can you get more distance? The old joke goes that if you want more distance with your Driver - move to Denver, Colorado. Where the air is thin and you get an extra 10% on your drives because of it. Yet, that’s not reality for most of us - plus the golf course architects have gotten smarter lately by making the golf courses out there - 10% longer. So the old joke doesn’t work anymore - it all equals out in Denver nowadays. What can you do to hit your Driver farther? You can learn to ...

More than a few Golfers have written to me asking if I could write an article on “how to keep my poise and play golf with very slow Golfers". This seems to be an issue that affects a lot of Golfers and your ability to keep your rhythm going on the golf course. Let me start by telling you a story about my golf game the other day. Unfortunately, I don’t play as much golf as you probably think I do. So when I do have a chance to play - it’s a special treat. Then add the fact that I ...

As much as you, I, Tiger and Andrew Buckle want to believe that we have the ability to hit better golf shots every golf swing we take … reality says it’s not going to happen that way as much as we’d like it to. That dang reality is always getting in the way of a satisfying golf score! ‘Andrew Buckle? Hey, who’s Andrew Buckle?’ Andrew Buckle is a relatively unknown Golfer that hits the golf ball well enough that he’s made it to the PGA Tour. So in-other-words; in reality - if you could hit the golf ball half as consistent him ...

Should your wrists be used when chipping around the green? Most Golfers advocate not using any wrists - though some Golfers do encourage a limited use of the hands and wrists. So the question that many Golfers often ask themselves - “How should I do it? Wrists or no wrists?” There are so many different Theories and Assumptions on how to play a shot when you’re around the green such as ‘wrists or no wrists’. For example, you have to make the choice whether to use ‘multiple clubs depending on the shot’ versus the idea of ‘becoming a master of one ...

The golf course may be the one place that we can all congregate and be on the same side - supporting to each other after bad shots and cheering one another after fabulous drives. It’s the place that a Democrat can give a pat on the back to a Republican and a Republican can high-5 a Democrat. It’s the place that Conservatives can say “Alright, awesome shot - that was fantastic” to a Liberal and a Liberal can say “it was a pleasure to play with you” to a Conservative. On the golf course it’s ‘all for one and one for ...

What is it about the sand bunker shot that scares the pants off some golfers? Why is it that some golfers can just hop in the sand, look at the target, wiggle their feet into the sand and get the ball out every time? Yet some golfers go into the sand knowing what they exactly need to do, feel like they’re doing everything correctly - yet, the ball is often left in the sand or hit on a line drive over the green into perhaps another sand bunker? Let me put it this way - The Sand Just Freaks Some People Out! If ...

Why is it that 7 out of 8 Golfers that aren’t happy with their Driver have the ‘problem’ of slicing the golf ball? It’s a dilemma that causes many Golfers to go to the extremes and often swallow any dignity they have by trying some crazy looking Golf Tips on the driving range as others often look at you and wonder – “What is he/she doing over there?” ‘The key to stopping your slice is to make sure you swing toe-up to toe-up.’ And when I say “going to the extremes to fix” – I wouldn’t classify buying a new Driver ...

Breaking through your Magic Number can be one of the hardest, most nerve raking events a Golfer experiences on the golf course. What’s a Magic Number? Your Magic Number is a score that you want to beat for the first time. And many times it drives Golfers crazy when they can’t get past it. Which often times leads to purchases of what are advertised as game changing training aides seen on late night infomercials. Regardless of whether your Magic Number is 100 or 90 or 80 or 70 - it’s often times a memorable accomplishment for the Golfer. And to show ...

The Trick To Overcoming Blow-up Holes: How To Forget About A Bad Hole And Play Better Golf The question is often asked - ‘I have so much trouble coming back after a bad hole. What trick can you give me so that I can forget about that last hole and get back to playing good golf?’ Well, it’s easy. And it works every time without fail. But, you need to do it step by step in this exact sequence for this trick to be effective. First, stand-up straight making sure that you feel as if you’re elongating your spine. You want to feel as ...

What’s the difference between hitting your 9-iron and hitting your 3-iron? What a huge question! There are 5-other golf clubs between these 2-clubs - So surely you need to swing them differently. Right? I mean, isn’t that what everybody says you need to do? It’s like the Monkey says - “You need to hit down with your short irons and sweep your long irons.” Have you ever heard that before? So the question is - If you hit down on your short irons and sweep your long irons - what do you do with your mid-irons? ...

I’ve noticed two types of Golfers on the golf course - Winners and Whiners. Now there’s not much difference between the words if you look fast - the only difference is the ‘h’ in Whiner and an extra ‘n’ in Winner. What does the ‘h’ stand for? It could stand for humility. Meaning, in order to play to your potential, you need to take the good with the bad. If you’re too worried what others might be thinking about you after a bad shot, or two or three - you might fall into the trap that many Whiners do. The Golfer ...

In many parts of the United States, Canada and Europe, you’re halfway through your summer Golf Season. You might only have a few months of good golf weather remaining until your golf clubs are put-a-way in the basement, garage or wherever you put them until spring. So tell me (or tell yourself) - what have you accomplished so far this year on the golf course? Lower scores, more consistent ball striking, a better understanding of your golf swing, or did nothing get better? Hopefully the answers are one of the first three options as opposed to the last. Yet, year in and ...

Wow! Was that fantastic or what? Tiger and Rocco – Player e Player for 19 holes. That’s about as good as it can get. But, I’m sure you’ve had your fill of hearing and talking about the match. Enough about them already - let’s get to your golf game. What could you take away from the US Open to help your golf game – and I’m not talking about one of Johnny Miller’s tips. I believe that many people were rooting for Rocco because they could relate to him more than they could relate to Tiger. You ...

This week I have made a few fearless predictions about the US Open: #1 – Johnny Miller will be obnoxious, irritating and unlistenable as he says things just for the sole purpose of saying things. He is as Monkey as Monkey can be. Yes, a Monkey that once shot 63 in the US Open – yet, the golf tips and comments he makes often times just don’t make any sense. And unfortunately many Golfers watching the telecast will try his golf tips even though they may not pertain to you – well maybe not unfortunately, we probably get ...

So we have one more tournament on the PGA Tour until everybody whips themselves into frenzy the following week at the US Open in San Diego, California. I associate the US Open with being in the heart of golf season – so that may mean that Golfers are starting to get into their weekly games and enjoying life. I believe there a few things you should be observing when watching the US Open on television. One of which is the Players making their PLAN before each shot. I’d like for you to take notice and compare how you ...

It’s so easy to lose your focus and PLAN after making a Double or Triple bogey on the golf course. For most Golfers, a Double or Triple is often followed on the next hole with another Double or Triple. And that’s precisely why you constantly hear Golfers saying things like – “Ohh, I could’ve broken 90, but I had a 3 hole stretch where I went Double, Triple, Double. If I could’ve just limited those to Bogey’s, I’d have scored in the 80’s!” Yet, with the Player – when they experience a Double or Triple – they often follow it up ...

Hitting your Driver is the greatest aspect of golf. There’s nothing I’d rather do more than be able to go on the golf course and hit my Driver. Walking to the tee of a Par 3 is a let down. Why even have Par 3’s? Let’s have only Par 4’s and Par 5’s so that we can hit Driver all the time! And it’s a shame that there are Golfers out there that are afraid to pick up their Driver. “Oh, I can’t hit my Driver. I miss every fairway. So I just use my 3 wood.” That’s no way to play ...

Do you want to have your best summer of Golf ever? Then repeat after me – say it out loud so it means more than just it saying to yourself: “Going ahead from this day forward – I solemnly swear to work on my golf game with the specific goal of improvement. Not a minute of my time will have anything to do with just mindlessly hitting golf ball after golf ball. My game is too important for me to fall into that bad habit. “From now on, I’m committed to working specifically on the drills that will help me to improve ...

The idea that golf needs to be as complicated as many Golfers are making it is a frustrating/confusing concept to me. Every week, I hear of a new, groundbreaking concept that someone has come up with that’ll help all Golfers to hit the golf ball farther and straighter. I’ve heard about new grips, swing plane concepts, weight transfer systems, along with stuff I don’t want to even mention that supposedly will make your swing automatic. And the funny part is that there are Golfers out there that believe in this stuff because they feel as though – ‘the more ...

Would You Rather hit the golf ball 300 yards and have 41 putts a round or Would You Rather hit the ball 200 yards and have 27 putts a round? Both the 300 yard drives and the 27 putts are great stats to have. Both signify that you have talent. But, it’s rare to have a Golfer that can do both. I guess the way I look at it is - 100 yards more off the tee box doesn’t equal 14 strokes. Besides it’s a lot simpler to acquire a good putting stroke than it is to acquire the swing ...

One – You need to breathe on the golf course. “Breathe? I always breathe, if I didn’t breathe, I’d be dead!” Well, there’s a difference between the breathing that many flustered people have in stressful situations and the breathing that keeps the Player calm, cool and collected. And to many, Golf is a stressful situation - especially if you have high expectations for yourself. When was the last time you breathed on the golf course? Well, in last week’s PGA Tournament in Houston, breathing was a big part of winner Johnson Wagner’s PLAN. As Wagner said - ...

What would happen if you practiced your golf more this year than last year? Would you be a better Golfer? I guess it depends on what your definition of practice is. To the mass majority of Golfers - practice is the science of banging golf ball after golf ball on the driving range; one after the other until every ball has been hit as far away from you as possible. Practice is different things for different people. For the majority of Golfers - it’s about getting your bucket of balls, starting with your wedge, hitting a few balls with your 7 ...

Come on, tell me - Who’s Your Caddie? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a Golfer tell me that they played better when they’ve had a chance to play 18 holes with a Caddie. Why is this? And how can you incorporate these same strategies and techniques into your game all the time? Is it because they’re cleaning your clubs after each shot, raking your bunkers or even carrying your clubs? That may be a small influence. Or can it be that after a couple of holes of watching you play, they know ...

Now, I know you’re excited about Tiger Woods. But, let’s all calm down, take a deep breath and repeat after me – ‘Tiger is a Player. He holds the title of The Best Player On The Planet. And although I’ll never hit the golf ball like Tiger, I can at least watch how he’s in control of his game and sticks with his PLAN.’ Was Tiger Woods the best ballstriker last week in the tournament at Bay Hill? Was Tiger the best putter in the tournament? No, surprisingly enough – he wasn’t even close in either category! Over the ...

Watching golf on TV is fun especially if there’s a great match on television. When a golf match gets down to the last few holes with a few Players around the lead, you get to see many fantastic shots. But, because most of the time these Players in contention are in the “Zone” or as we like to say - they’re on a Good Streak - you only see the best Golfers playing at their very best. And in a way, this is unfortunate because it would actually help your game if you’re able to watch the other Golfers ...

Continuing from last week’s Golf Improvement Weekly about the length of your drives ….. Tiger Woods only hits a drive over 300 yards 24% of the time. Or in other words - only once in four drives. So if his drives over 300 yards can be considered his best drives – then 3 out of every 4 drives the ‘Best Player On The Planet’ hits would have to be classified as either average or below average for Tiger. Yet, if the 85, 95, 105 or 115 Golfer doesn’t hit their best drive at least 3 out of every 4 ...

Understanding the true distance you hit the golf ball might be one of the top 5 factors in improving your golf swing. Most Golfers have no idea what distance they hit the golf ball and because of that ….. well, bad things happen. I can’t tell you how many 90 and 100 Golfers I’ve met that believe they can hit the golf ball 270 to 300 yards. This may come as shock to you, but 270 to 300 yards is a long way! The average drive on the PGA Tour isn’t 300 yards. Yet, there’s a group of Golfers – a massive ...

Understanding the true distance you hit the golf ball might be one of the top 5 factors in improving your golf swing. Most Golfers have no idea what distance they hit the golf ball and because of that ….. well, bad things happen. I can’t tell you how many 90 and 100 Golfers I’ve met that believe they can hit the golf ball 270 to 300 yards. This may come as shock to you, but 270 to 300 yards is a long way! The average drive on the PGA Tour isn’t 300 yards. Yet, there’s a group of Golfers – a massive ...

Who would you rather play golf like – Phil Mickelson or Joe Durant? Now Joe Durant is a fine Player or he wouldn’t be on the PGA Tour – though I’m sure that Joe Durant wishes he could play like Mickelson. So unless you’re Joe Durant’s mother, I’m assuming you’d pick Mickelson. Yet, from what I’m being told by many Golfers – they’d rather hit the golf ball like Joe Durant, as opposed to the 2nd ranked Player in the world – Phil Mickelson. In fact, I’d say that 7 out of every 8 Golfers I speak to ...

If there’s one trait that the most successful Players have, it’s coming back after a bad hole. Often times the biggest disappointment a frustrated Golfer can have is after they go on a ‘good streak’ of 4 or 5 holes followed by the infamous triple bogey. Every Golfer in the world is going to experience a triple bogey every-once-in-a-while – it’s just part of the game. The difference is whether you bounce back to a ‘good streak’ or you let that triple become the entry point of a ‘bad streak’ of holes. I believe how the losers of the Super ...

Have you ever heard someone on the golf course exclaim – ‘This is the worst I’ve ever hit the golf ball!’ or ‘this is the worst I’ve ever played, I’ve never hit the golf ball this bad!’ I’ve been fortunate enough the last couple of months to have played more golf than usual – some rounds at very high-end golf clubs, some rounds at municipal clubs, even a round or two at a golf course that hasn’t even opened yet – though there’s at least one common trait amongst Golfers regardless of the price of the green fee: Exaggeration! Man, Golfers ...

As we were reviewing some past articles from Golf Improvement Weekly, we came across this ‘gem’ from January 18th, 2005 about playing better on the Par 5’s. As many of the people reading this weren’t subscribers 3 years ago and I doubt the people who were subscribers would remember this article - we’re repeating it. Not because we’re lazy - but because it has some excellent points that’ll help you eliminate your ‘Blow-up Holes.’ Why is it that the majority of Golfers that we see are more over Par on the Par 5’s and the Pro’s are more under Par on ...

Can you improve your golf game by watching John Daly? Yes, you absolutely can. You just have to know what to look for. As much fun as it used to be to watch John Daly hit a golf ball – it’s sad to see him now. It doesn’t look as if he’s having a fun time on the golf course – well, I guess the same can be said of most Golfers that are struggling. If you only were able to see Daly during his prime on television when he – ‘Gripped it and Ripped it,’ you missed something special because ...

It’s getting to be the time of the year when many Golfers get ‘the itch’. It’s been 2 or 3 months of cold, gray weather that’s not conducive to playing golf – so you get ‘the itch’ for sunshine, warmth and green grass. Your golf group then makes plans for Arizona or Florida to play 36 holes a day for 3 or 4 days in a row. You make it to your location ‘totally jacked-up’ about playing golf on some beautiful golf courses – if you were born pre-1960, you might not be familiar with the phrase ‘totally jacked-up’ – unless ...