Develop a “Go To” Shot

2 01 2011

Now that it is winter, many of us are taking a break from golf for a while. Like many other golfers, just because I am not playing doesn’t mean I am not thinking about it. One of the ideas you may want to consider is developing a “Go To” shot. Tour players often call this their stock shot. This is a shot shape that you know you can do produce on command.

There are nine shots in golf. You can choose a straight ball, a draw, or a fade and then pick a low, medium or high version of each one. My “Go To” shot happens to be a medium draw. My scores improved significantly once I decided to stick to my “Go To” shot.  The only time I stray is when the situation on the golf course dictates something completely different. Nicklaus’ “Go To” shot was a high fade. History shows that worked out pretty well for him.

Why is a “Go To” shot so important? The answer is predictability. As a golf instructor, my students are always asking me how to be more consistent. A stock shot will help you plan and give you a good idea of where your shot is going to go. Think about your tee shot to a 40 yard wide fairway. Nicklaus would tee his ball up on the right side of the tee box and aim down the left hand side of the fairway. He could fade it up to 39 yards and still be in the fairway. If you tee it up in the middle of the tee box and try to hit it down the middle of the fairway without knowing how your ball is going to curve, you now have only half the fairway to work with. In other words, if you fade or hook your ball 21 yards, you have now missed the fairway.

Tour players have a stock shot and their goal is to never have their shot cross the target line. This means that a player like Zach Johnson who’s “Go To” shot is a draw, always starts his ball right of the target line and draws the ball back to the target. His goal is to never start his ball left of his target line and never to hook his ball across the target line. When he accomplishes this, he will have a great ball-striking week. Remember, there are two shots that don’t work in golf as a right-handed player, a hook that starts left and a slice that starts right! Get a “Go To” shot in your arsenal and you cannot help but be a better player. Spring will be here before you know it.


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Categories : ball flight, full swing, game improvement, golf, golf instruction, mental game

Practice Well

2 11 2010

I can always tell when a student has practiced well between lessons. The improvement is noticeable and that does not happen by chance. Golfers call mistakes in their golf swings “bad habits.” These bad habits are just learned behaviors that have been ingrained through repetition. For better or for worse, the frequency of these behaviors encodes neural pathways forming habits.

Unfortunately, you cannot change a habit, but you can build a new one. Just think about how you tie your shoes. You have learned this behavior and although you may learn a better way to tie your shoes, your brain will not forget the old way. The key is how do we make the desired motion the dominant habit.

Practicing the new motion will eventually make it the dominant habit. Just make sure you are practicing correctly because you don’t want to ingrain the wrong habit. There is a fabulous book entitled The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle that talks about “deep practice”. Deep practice involves going slowly, understanding mistakes and overcoming them on your path to building expertise. It helps to have an instructor give you feedback as you perform the new motion in order to understand what the mistake is and how to make the proper adjustment.

So in the meantime, what can we do yo make the new motion appear on the golf course? Students often are frustrated because they can’t take the swing they performed in the lesson or practice tee onto the golf course. This is because the old dominant habit takes over. The only way to get the new habit to appear is to rehearse the motion where you can see and feel what you are trying to do, and then hit the ball within a few seconds. In other words, as my mentor Jim Hardy says, “recency will trump frequency” if you hit the ball within 30 seconds of the rehearsal. It is also crucial that no extraneous thoughts enter your mind between the rehearsal and the execution of the shot. There are many distractions on the golf course and if your brain wanders, you will revert to the dominant habit.

Lastly, it is important to understand your game in order to know what to practice. This is why I co-founded www.mysmartgolf.com. It is a way for you to chart your golf statistics and receive feedback as to where you need help. Understanding your game will help you and your instructor make your lesson and practice time more efficient.

Josh Zander


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Handling Pressure

23 08 2010

September seems to be a popular month for Member-Guest tournaments and Club Championships.  I am getting a lot of frantic calls from students who need a tune up as they feel pressure to perform.  Of course, you would like to play well in your club championship and you don’t want to play poorly at your buddy’s member-guest.  You may not be invited back!!

While your swing may need a tweak or two, the real question is how to deal with pressure.  The first thing to understand is that pressure in 100% self imposed.  The golf ball has no idea if you are on the first tee of a tournament or if you are out for a casual Sunday round.  From my point of view, pressure can be summed up in one thought: What will they think of me?  I’ve got news for you.  Your friend will still like you even if you don’t hit a good shot.  Your competitors will still respect you as long as you observe good etiquette and handle yourself well.  The truth is that your friends are probably worried about what you think of them.  Don’t worry about what others think and you are well on your way to diffusing the pressure.

Instead of stressing about your swing breaking down because of the pressure, learn how to handle pressure.  First, know that the worst thing that can happen to you if you hit a bad shot is … NOTHING.  Johnny Miller is known for calling people out when they “choke” under pressure.  Decision making gets clouded and swings get tight under pressure which is a formula for disaster.  Next time you feel pressure, take a deep breath.  Inhale deeply through your nose and say the words “alert mind”.  Then exhale through your mouth and say “calm body”.  If a negative thought comes into your head, let it cycle through and get back to the task at hand.  Get back to your calming breaths and enjoy yourself.

Never let that little white ball tell you how to feel!  You are in charge and make a decision to enjoy yourself regardless of how you play.  If so, you just may be hoisting that winner’s trophy.  If not, you will still be okay.  In my book, you have won if you have enjoyed the experience.


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A Simple Lesson Learned from Stats

29 07 2010

The coach from a top women’s golf program was talking the other day about how the detailed statistics from MySmartGolf helped one of her players in a very simple but important way.  This particular player was not getting up and down from off the green as often as a player of her ability should.  That could have been seen using any stat program but only a unique feature of MySmartGolf pinpointed the problem.  The shot tracking showed very clearly that virtually all of the player’s chip shots finished short of the hole.  This was a simple problem with a simple solution which the player quickly addressed.  As a result, her up and down percentage increased accordingly.  Sometimes we just need someone or something to help point out the important information and MySmartGolf can do that.

Most golf statistics programs tell you only what percentage of the time you get up and down successfully.  MySmartGolf gives you much more information such as where your short game shots finish and why.  This is the information you need in order to improve your short game.


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Categories : chip shot, game improvement, golf, golf instruction, mental game, short game

Do the Opposite to Improve

10 07 2010

If you do the exact opposite of what you are currently doing in your golf swing, you will improve. It sounds bizarre but it is absolutely true. I spend my day on the lesson tee diagnosing swing faults and figuring out what the opposite is to come up with the correction. I am all for fast results. I don’t believe in my students getting worse before they get better. If they are able to rehearse the opposite move of their mistake, they are on their way to improving their swing. There are many drills and exercises that I may prescribe but they all have the same intention, to get the student to feel the opposite of what they are currently doing until they get to a neutral impact.

John Jacobs, a famous English golf instructor, explained that the sole purpose of the golf swing was to make a correct impact and that the method employed was not important as long as it was repetitive. The bottom line is that anything you do in your golf swing will affect your impact. If your impact is too steep causing fat shots, toe hits, pulls, and slices, you need a shallowing move to neutralize it.  If your impact is too shallow causing thin shots, heel hits, pushes and hooks, you need a steepening move to neutralize it. The good news is that you don’t need to remake your entire swing to hit the ball well.

Those of you who have endeavored to fix your swing understand how difficult it is to change. You have to exaggerate the correction in order for it to appear in your swing. This is one of the reasons why video is a teacher’s best friend. The student may feel like you are making a drastic swing change, but when viewed on video, the change appears very subtle. You have to feel like you move a mile to move an inch. The body likes to revert to old habits and subtle change does not break a habit. If I show you what a correct position is during a swing, and you rehearse to that position, the change will come very slowly, but if I exaggerate and show you the opposite, you will arrive at the correct position very quickly. Fast improvement is a student’s best friend. I may show you what I want the swing to look like in the end so you are familiar with the goal I have in mind, but I will get you to that goal by making you rehearse the opposite.

The key to this process is to get the correct diagnosis of your swing fault. Once you determine what it is, the opposite move will get you to the correct position in the shortest period of time. Do not be afraid of overdoing the correction. If you do, it is a lot easier to get back to neutral. I like to get my students who slice to hook it right away. From there, hitting a straight shot is easy. Most of you have full time jobs and practice time is precious. This method will get you to your swing change faster. Get on the road to a correct repetitive impact!


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Controlling Your Emotions, the Key to Mental Toughness

28 05 2010

We all know that mental toughness is part of what makes a good golfer.  When you look at any great athlete at an elite level, their mental toughness is awesome.  Nobody personifies this better than Tiger Woods.  All you need to do is look at how well he performs under pressure and how he is still able to finish in the top ten when he has a bad week.  I could write a novel on mental toughness and many sports psychologists have.  I want to focus on one small but crucial part, how to react after hitting a shot.  Some sports psychologists call this a post shot routine.

We cannot escape the fact that we all hit bad shots.  Ben Hogan, one of the best ball-strikers of all time, stated that he could count on one hand the number of shots he hit exactly the way he wanted during a round of golf.  The rest of the shots were misses.  Since most of us can’t hit it as well as Ben, we need to understand how to react when we hit a bad one.  I am going to give you a formula for playing your best golf but before I do, you need to promise yourself that you will do it before you read on.  Did you promise?!!!

Here is the formula:

1) Fall in love with the shot at hand (this will keep you in the present)

2) Emotionalize (celebrate) the shot if it is good

3) If the shot is bad, simply observe it and DO NOT SHOW ANY EMOTION

4) Replay the shot in your mind the way you wanted it to be and emotionalize that shot

The formula is simple but not easy to do.  Most of us are accustomed to getting upset if we hit a bad shot. In other words, we are emotionalizing the bad shots.  Emotions help us store memories in our brain so why would you ever want to store bad shots.  If you only emotionalize good shots, you will be storing those shots in your brain which will fill you with confidence.  Have you ever reached the tee of a hole that is your nemesis and you have no confidence?  The reason is that you have stored those memories when you emotionalized a bad shot there in the past.   Have you ever reached a tee where you remember hitting a great shot?  You stored that the same way, through emotion.

So start celebrating your good shots.  Pump your fist like Tiger or rattle your saber like Chi Chi Rodriguez!  Find your own way to celebrate.  Remember, you can’t always control the result of your shot but you can control your emotional reaction.  If you follow this formula, you will play the best golf of your life.


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Putting Rhythm

4 05 2010

Do these seem like some of the thoughts you have when you are over the ball?  I need this putt to save par.  I have already three putted twice today.  If I two putt, I can finally break 80.  My partners will think I stink if I can’t make this three-footer.  I hope I take the putter back straight. I hope I make it.  This line does not look right to me.

This is your conscious mind interfering with your stroke.  None of these thoughts will help you putt better.  Putting to a beat will keep your conscious mind occupied and let you make an athletic stroke.

I always count when I putt.  I count to 5.  The count is as follows:

1)    I put my putter next to the ball

2)    I look at the hole

3)    I look at the ball

4)    I make my backswing

5)    I make contact

Buy yourself a metronome and find a beat that you like.  Start the metronome at 72 beats per minute and see if it fits your internal rhythm.  If you are a faster paced person, increase the beats per minute and if you are a slower paced person, decrease it.  Once you find your personal beat, stick to it and simply count when you putt.

This applies to all length putts.  The rhythm is always the same.  Your stroke will be shorter for short putts and longer for long putts.  Putting to the beat will free your mind up to perform.  All golfers experience pressure when they play.  A routine allows golfers to perform even when they experience extreme pressure.

I had a downhill-sidehill 4 foot putt for par on the 11th hole at Pebble Beach in the 1992 U.S. Open.  The greens were so fast that if the putt missed, I was going to face a 45 foot come-backer from the front fringe.  In short, the pressure was on as I was fighting to make the 36 hole cut.  As I got over the putt, my conscious mind started to think about the consequences.  I backed off the putt and committed to count to the beat.  I nailed the putt right in the center of the cup.  I was also willing to live with the consequences if I missed as long as I was committed to the routine.

Find your beat and enjoy some great putting experiences.


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Take My Advice

19 04 2010

Have you noticed that golf is as game with almost as many teachers as players? Everyone seems to know what to tell you when you hit a bad shot. They all have a tip that is going to turn your game around. This is even more prevalent if you are a woman. A friend of mine once said that he was going to design a woman’s golf shirt with the words “Don’t tell me what to do” printed on the back. The tips I hear friends giving friends are keep your head down, keep your left arm straight, swing slower and a slew of others. When golfers are playing poorly, they become so desperate that they will listen to anyone. Stop!!!!! The only person you should listen to is your own professional. Would you take legal advice from someone who is not an attorney? Would you take medical advice from someone who wasn’t a doctor?

Here is my professional advice and remember, I am a golf professional. Only take the advice if it will improve your ball flight or your impact. Just doing something because the best player in your club does it or because you heard it on TV does not mean it is right for you. Even if it is something Tiger does, it may not be right for you. When someone gives you advice, ask them the following question: “How will this tip help my impact position and my ball flight?” If they can’t give you a reasonable answer, don’t try it. You should ask your own teacher the same question. It is their job to know cause and effect.

The only reason “tips” from friends work sometimes is that it frees your mind from the other 10 other things you were thinking about during your swing. Believe me, playing golf from tip to tip is a recipe for disaster. Your mind will become so confused that you will be paralyzed over the ball. Keep it simple. Listen only to your teacher and stick to the plan. My mentor Jim Hardy once said that one of three things is happening if you are not getting better after receiving advice. First, you understand the advice but simply did not execute. Second, you did not understand the advice. And third, the person gave you the wrong advice. I’ll leave it to you, what are the chances that your friend gave you the right advice? Friends have great intentions but their advice usually leads to having to book another lesson with your instructor.  -jz


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Swing myths

9 03 2010

How many times have you heard keep your head down? Don’t do it! What I am saying may sound like heresy but all you have to do is look at tour players and see that they release their heads on their follow through.  What do Annika Sorenstam, David Duval and Robert Allenby have in common? They all release their heads before impact. They are actually looking at the target before they hit the ball. They are not even close to keeping their heads down. They do maintain their spine angles but releasing their heads makes their bodies explosive through the hitting zone. I am not saying you have to exaggerate as much as these players but realize that every tour player is looking at the target on the follow through. If you cannot see your ball flight immediately, your head is down too long.

How many times have you heard swing slower? If you swing slower, your ball will go shorter! I have been teaching for 15 years and almost every student has asked me for more distance. You cannot hit it farther by swinging slower. If you have a technical fault in your swing, slowing down is not going to fix it. Fix the mistake and then speed up your swing to get distance. Don’t confuse slow with smooth. Ernie Els and Vijay Singh are smooth swingers but they are not slow.

How many times have you heard to hit down on the ball? This advice may be the reason 90% of golfers slice the ball. While good ball strikers do compress the ball, it is a function of having a forward leaning shaft and their weight shifting correctly through impact which creates a divot that is past the ball. If you look at the spine angle of a tour player from the face-on point of view, you will see that every one of them has a spine angle leaning backward away from the target. This is the same spine angle you would create if you were going to throw something up in the air. Golfers misinterpret hitting down on the ball by swinging down steeply which creates deep divots, pulls and slices. Try swinging up on the ball and you will become a drawer of the golf ball.

Before taking any swing advice from friends or golf professionals for that matter, always ask the following question. Will this advice help my ball flight and impact? If so, go for it but beware of swing myths!


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Categories : ball flight, full swing, game improvement, golf, golf instruction, mental game

Golf Shot Tracking on MySmartGolf.com

20 12 2009

As a golf instructor, I am amazed at how little many students know about their golf statistics.  They are good at tracking golf scores but they don’t have a program for tracking their game.  Without golf shot tracking, how can you organize your practice time?  In order to help students understand their personal golf statistics, I co-founded MySmartGolf, the best golf game tracking program you can find online.

Golf shot analysis starts with effort on the part of the player.  Remember, this is all about your golf round statistics.  The MySmartGolf statistics program enables the golfer to enter personal stats on every aspect of his or her game.  We even include a golf statistics scorecard to make golf statistics tracking as simple as entering some notes as you enter your score on your regular scorecard.

Once we have your online golf stats, MySmartGolf’s golf shot analysis begins.  This is where the fun starts.  Our golf stat tracker displays your golf round statistics in a clear and easy-to-understand display.  Furthermore, our program will offer analysis through personal emails and refer you to golf video instruction on shots ranging from the short game to the full swing.

Golf team stats are easy to keep as well.  A coach can analyze and track golf team stats for both tournament rounds and regular rounds.  Our golf stat keeper enables the coach to rank players in 20 areas of the game.  A player may not have the best golf scores but may be the best putter or chipper on the team.  When keeping golf statistics, players can take pride in leading the team in certain categories.

Golf shot tracking and golf statistics tracking has never been easier!  We look forward to helping you track golf stats and improve your game at www.mysmartgolf.com, the best golf shot tracking and golf statistics tracking site on the web.  -jz


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