#1 You don’t practice enough Do you need to practice your golf swing in order to improve? This is an often asked, yet excellent question. So to give you an answer, I’d like to use an analogy to make a point about improving your golf swing. If you decided at 40 years old that you wanted to become a pitcher for a local baseball team, however you hadn’t played baseball for 25 years – would you need to practice throwing pitches before your first game? If you had to pitch this coming Saturday, the following Saturday and each Saturday ...

Are you on the quest to hit the golf ball better than you ever have before? To some, this is what golf is all about. And as far as I’m concerned – there’s nothing wrong with having the passion, desire and drive to make golf more enjoyable. Because frankly, not hitting the golf ball well on the golf course is like being seasick 45 miles out in the ocean with no land in sight. Although some who are having a difficult time on the course may try to lighten the moment by saying: “A bad day on ...

There’s nothing like the expectation of standing on the tee feeling confident that you’re going to make a nice, smooth golf swing that produces a great drive down the middle of the fairway. Being able to watch the golf ball sail through the air as it splits the fairway is worth everything and anything! That’s what we want every time we step on the tee. It’s what I want, it’s what Tiger wants, it’s what Annika wants – and I’m sure it is what you want. And I believe the answer of how you’ll be able to hit that golf ...

If you’re looking to improve your golf game and understand how a Player practices (as opposed to how a struggling Golfer practices) - read the below paragraphs and fill in the blanks as they pertain to your golf game. Then below that section - we’ll explain how you can use your answers to improve your golf game, golf scores and golf swing. The worst part of my game is _______. If I wanted to improve this part of my game, I should _______. In the next week, I’m going to devote ___ hours to working on the worst part of ...

What movement in sport has more to-do’s, along with more not-to-do’s than the golf swing? In the golf swing we have the Golden Rules like: we need to “shift our weight” – yet not “sway”. In the golf swing we need to “cock our wrists” – yet not “flip our wrists”. In the golf swing most Golfers will tell you that you can’t lift your left heel on the back swing (right handed Golfer) and yet, if you don’t lift your heel – many don’t have the flexibility to make a “perfect” shoulder turn. So how do you “shift your weight” ...

Here are 9 of the most popular golf swing thoughts that many Golfers have before hitting a golf ball: 1. Keep my head still 2. Left arm straight (right arm for left handed Golfer) 3. Shift my weight 4. Eye on the golf ball 5. Turn my shoulders 6. Don’t sway 7. Make sure to swing easy 8. Clear my hips on the way through 9. Follow through all the way Now which of these 9 do you think about before and during each shot? What? All 9?! Before and during each shot? Seriously? Wow!!! The question I must ask is: if you did think of these 9 thoughts (or ...

“Why? Why? Why? – Why did I hit that shot? What was I thinking?!” Have you heard that before? Well … who hasn’t let that pass through their lips after making a big mistake that might leave you with a snowman (an 8) on the scorecard? It’s like – “where was my brain?” Listen – golf courses are often designed to test a Golfer’s strategy versus being designed to test your golf swing. I’ll give you a perfect example: Tom Fazio has been heralded as quite possibly the top golf course architect in the world since the ...

The building of a golf swing that will allow a Golfer to improve their consistency should be done one step at a time. Unfortunately many Golfers are not willing to accept the one step at a time process – they’re only satisfied when everything “clicks at the same time”. Yet trying to do too much at one time with your golf swing would probably give you the same results as a pile of money being invested in the stock market on October 9th, 2007. Meaning, you aren’t doing so well with what you invested in either venture. Regardless ...

After the longest hiatus that Golf Improvement Weekly has ever seen (2 months) – we’re back. Just as it maybe a good thing for Golfers to take a break from the game every-once-in-a-while to refresh your brain – GIW needed to do the same. Although GMS had a record year in 2008, and 2009 is actually ahead of 2008 – it’s been a hectic 9 months (with 3 new GMS locations opening), along with everything else. So, we just needed a break from writing. So, just a few days ago when I still wasn’t writing – I amazingly became bored and ...

“Does Poor Balance Cause Poor Golf Swings?” Would a Golfer with poor balance have a better or worse chance of having a consistent golf swing? The obvious answer seems to be that the Golfer that doesn’t have good balance would have a more inconsistent golf swing than the Golfer that employs good, solid balance. So if that’s true – why haven’t you worked on your balance? If true – should you be spending your time working on your swing path and swing plane or should you be working on your balance skills? Could poor balance be causing your swing path, swing plane ...

Regardless of whether you’re thinking about your golf game or Tiger Woods’ golf game - it’s all about realistic expectations. So since Tiger is a hot topic right now - let’s talk some Tiger. There’s so much babble out there about “What’s wrong with Tiger? Why didn’t he win at the Masters or the Players Championship? What’s wrong with his golf swing? Why isn’t he making any putts?” I gather that all this gibberish is being tossed at you because he’s “only” won one paltry tournament this year. Yet, let’s put things in perspective - there’s not a Player in the world ...

Golfers will go to great lengths to hit the golf ball better. Many Golfers have a tendency to believe just about anybody and everybody that promises to have a Theory on a better golf swing. And although in the back of your mind - you know that much of this stuff is too good to be true - your passion for golf overwhelms all sense of better judgment. The question is why would a person start trying to use a golf swing such as something called a Stack and Tilt? Which, if you haven’t already heard - is just another invented ...

With the completion of the Masters – Golf is now officially “In-season”. And it may just be my imagination, but it always seems that Golfers gain motivation to playing better golf after watching the Masters of the Golf Universe playing the best golf imaginable. Now your goal should be to let your enthusiasm motivate you to work hard using your practice schedule. You do have a practice schedule – don’t you? You know, a couple of weeks ago, our Stat of the Week in Golf Improvement Weekly was entitled – “If He Putts Well – He Might Win The Masters.” It was ...

If there’s one place on the golf course that I have seen more people consistently struggle than anywhere else – it has to be the sand bunker. At GMS we have defined 4 Levels of Sand Bunker Players. And have found that once a Golfer knows their Level, understands why they’re at that Level and then starts implementing strategies to get to the next Level – they start to become more consistent out of the sand. Though, before we get into to those Levels, you often see 3 types of Golfers in the sand – a Golfer that ...

Last week we finished Part 1 by saying that we’ll continue with the Mantra of the Golf Instructor - “when all else fails - teach Compensation #8″. Which unfortunately is something you’re most likely trying to do on every golf swing. If you missed Part 1 and would like to catch-up and see how we got to Compensation #8 - click here. The Mantra of the Golf Instructor? When all else fails, tell the Golfer they need to swing more from the the inside out (Compensation #8). Or in other words for anybody that has never heard that phrase before - ...

Every Golfer that has ever swung a golf club has at least one compensation in their golf swing. Though, to be more blunt and honest - most Golfers have a lot more than just one compensation – they have what we call Compensation Overload. What’s Compensation Overload? It’s the act of having multiple compensations in your golf swing that you use to correct previous compensations. In other words, you developed a compensation that would sometimes eliminate a bad habit, but occasionally you’d overdo that compensation. So you had a choice – get rid of that compensation and ...

How may Golf Instructors does it take to screw in a light bulb? If it’s the same amount that it took for me to get my golf swing consistent enough to think about becoming a PGA Professional - it’s a lot more than 1 and little less than 100. In order to screw in the light bulb - one Instructor will tell you that first you need to position the ladder, then climb up to see what type of light bulb is already being used, then climb back down to get the replacement bulb, then climb back-up to take out the ...

Why do some Golfers improve while others are stagnant for years? How is it possible that one Golfer that has been playing for 15 years has been a 21 handicap for 13 of those years and another Golfer that has been playing for 3 ½ years is already down to an 11 handicap. And the kicker is that they practiced just as much, they’re both in good shape, they both want to improve just as much as the other and they both have bought new equipment in the last couple of years. Why such a difference? I had some detective work to ...

We recently had a Golfer come to see us that was in a state of confusion about their golf game. And it seems that some of the prior golf lessons that he had, had brought him to the point that he was close to quitting golf. This Golfer had taken lessons every year for the last 4 years (obviously not with GMS) with the hope of improving and had yet improved. “I’ve been to 4 different Instructors and have been told to hold the golf club 4 different ways. Apparently, each Instructor I went to didn’t hold the previous Instructor’s ...

As we were looking through Golf Improvement Weekly archives for a quote of the week, we came across a Classic GIW from 2006. As we read it – we couldn’t stop laughing at how true it is. So we want to present this GIW to you to read. This truly is a classic! Who do you play for on the golf course? Or let me put it another way - When you’re on the golf course, are you ever worried what other people are thinking about your golf swing or your game? The Monkey is more worried about ...

Congratulations to Brian Vranesh. Who’s Brian Vranesh? He’s Mr. 81 on the PGA Tour this year! What’s Mr. 81? He’s the first Player on the PGA Tour this year to score above 80. Now this isn’t to make fun of or ridicule Vranesh – this is just to show that even people who play golf for a living can have a “bad” round. Yet a “bad” score for Mr. Vranesh might actually be a great round for you. As GMS is a big believer in using a Result Based Approach to help Golfers improve – and the results of our Golfers ...

What’s the hardest thing in golf? While you may ask eight different Golfers that question - you may receive eight different answers. Yet, the one answer that will always be in their Top 2 will be … “Moving onto the next shot after a bad shot.” Hitting a terrible golf shot might be the most frustrating aspect of playing golf - however, it’s something that every Golfer will experience at least once a round. So although you don’t want to have the mindset that you’re expecting to hit a bad shot - you shouldn’t be surprised when it does happen. Yet, ...

Your Golf Game In 2009 So 2009 is going to be the year you finally commit more time to your golf game. This is the year that you’re going to commit more time to your golf game. 2008 was a rough year for a lot of people and as you look back at it – you wonder: “Why didn’t I spend more time working on my golf game at home before the golf season started?” As it does every year around October or November - golf season came to a close, cooler temperatures started showing up on the thermometer, the winds started ...

If you have not read Part I or II of ‘Why Henry Hates Golf’, you may be asking yourself “Who is Henry?” Henry is a frustrated Golfer and is in need of some helpful advice about the game of golf. If you missed Part I or II and would like to read how we got to this point, email InstructorForLife@GolfMadeSimple.com, type ‘Why Henry Hates Golf’ in the subject line and we’ll email you the first two parts. So we left off last week’s ‘Why Henry Hates Golf’ speaking about how to get the golf ball up in the air. The common ...