Dinner Bells

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak to a new student who was purchasing a lesson package for the upcoming season.  During our discussion, I was explaining how we were going to approach reaching his improvement goals.  I am a firm believer that it takes more than a good fundamental golf swing to shoot low scores.  I am convinced that a player must learn to SCORE and learning to score takes practice.  If you have been reading my recent post about Practice Styles you understand that practice goes beyond learning a new technique.  I have been pushing the importance of dynamic practice.  This style of practice is heavily focused on improving what I will refer to as your SCORING SKILLS.

During my conversation with the new student he agreed with my thoughts and told me that when he practices he does "dinner bells."  He had me curious - what are dinner bells and how do they help your golf score?  He explained that his wife, along with the wife of his most frequent golf partner, often complained that they played too much golf.  So to make up for their frequent absences from home, they invented a practice game to appease their wives.  Every round the two gentleman play together, they count the number of strokes it takes them to put the ball in the hole from the time they have a wedge in their hand.  For example, let's say that one of them has 100 yards to the green and hits a sand wedge, which he then hits on the green and takes two putts to complete the hole. This gives him a final dinner bell score of 3.  What's the kicker?  For every shot over 3, that person gets a "dinner bell" and is required to put $1 in the pot.  At the end of the season, they total their "dinner bells" and take their wives to dinner.  What a brilliant idea!

This guy was performing exactly the type of practice that I find so important but rarely witness.  It is important to note that there are lots of creative games one can play to benefit their game.  I would encourage you to invent your own or feel free to ask me and I will pass on a few ideas.  If I were you I would have a variety of games in your arsenal, that work on all facets of practice: putting, chipping, and long game.  Invent games that you can play on your own or with friends.  Another important thing to do is track your results.  Write them down and compare over time.  Share these games and the results with your instructor; this information will identify weaknesses and set priorities in your improvement game plan.  Pay special attention to them as you make a change, not the changes before and after the change in technique.  I find it important to track improvement progress in more than just the total score on the scorecard.  In the case of my new student, if I can get him to lower his "dinner bells," I'm certain his scores will follow and he will reach his improvement goals.  His wife may not be happy, but I will accomplish my job of making him the golfer he wants to be.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or if I can help you create your own "dinner bells."  If you found this information helpful, I invite you to use the share buttons below.  Thanks for reading and see you on the lesson tee!!

NEW eGolfplan Service

I am excited to announce my new partnership with eGolfplan.com.  I will be recommending this comprehensive tool to all of my students to allow us to easily create their own Improvement Game Plan.  I have used this blog in the past to stress the importance of a developing a game plan with real and achievable goals:

Set Real Goals to Achieve Real Success
Golf in 2012:  Have you Developed your Plan?

This new tool will allow those students who truly want to be on the fast track to improvement to SET, TRACK, and EVALUATE those goals.  The beauty of this partnership is that any of my students registering for the eGolfplan service will be able to add me as their coach; that way, their data will be visible to me and I can add information from our lessons and design a CUSTOM IMPROVEMENT PLAN for each student.  The best part is that we can track that plan and measure our success.  My hope is that through the combination of my coaching and the eGolfplan system, each student will have a clear image of where they are headed as a player.  This will allow them to commit to their improvement and success!

The fee to add eGolfplan and accelerate your improvement process is $39.95 for the first year, and $29.95 for each subsequent year.  I invite you to check out the eGolfplan.com website for detailed information on what's include with the service.  I feel this performance tool is a reflection of my beliefs on what it takes to achieve success on the golf course.  It is easy to talk about a game plan and practice recommendations, but the ability to reference that information and track the progress is invaluable.  Using eGolfplan makes the game-planning process simple.

To register for your own account visit http://egolfplan.com/pricing/ and select sign up under the Individual Plan.  Once registered, follow these 3 simple steps to add me as your coach:

1.  Log on to egolfplan account
2.  Go to Coaches Tab
3.  Select a Coach (map of US will come up) just click on Ohio and select Josh Boggs.

I look forward to what the addition of this service can add to the performance of my students.  See you on the lesson tee!!

 

2013 Instructional Programs

As the golf season slowly approaches, I wanted to introduce some of the instructional programs I will be hosting this upcoming season.  Please do not view this as a complete list of offerings as I am exploring the option of creating a program for the more experienced player.  If you have any questions concerning any of these programs please do not hesitate to contact me.

In addition to these instructional programs, I will continue offer private player development packages as well.

Program:  Get Golf Ready

Dates:  4/22, 4/29, 5/6, 5/13, 5/20
Time:  6:00-7:00pm
Description:  The Get Golf Ready program is a series of five introductory lessons conducted by PGA Professional, Josh Boggs, in a small-group environment for an affordable price.
Cost:  $99

Register Online:  Click Here

Program:  Ladies Golf Clinics

Dates: Every Wednesday May 1st- July 31st
Time:  6:00-7:00pm
Description:  We will be hosting a ladies golf clinic every Wednesday throughout the summer. The clinic will be instructed by PGA Professional Josh Boggs. The cost is $15 per week. A different part of the game will be covered each week.

​The great thing about the the ladies clinic is that no commitment or registration is required, just drop in. The clinic is open to ladies of all skill levels and experiences.  We promise an hour of golf fun each week.

Cost:  $15 per week
Register Online:  No Registration Required

Program:  Junior Golf Camp

Dates: June 10th - June 13th
Time:  9:00-11:30am (M-W)
            7:00am (Thursday is Camp Tournament)
Description:  This is our annual 4-day junior golf camp.  This camp is perfect for beginners and others looking to spend a week at the golf course. The camp is concluded with a tournament, allowing all the kids to spend the morning on the golf course. The cost for the camp includes professional instruction, practice balls, tournament, camp t-shirt, and lunch each day​.
Cost:  $90 per child 
(Discounts available for multi-child families)
Register Online:  Click here

Program:  July Junior Clinics

Dates: 7/10, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31
Time:  2:00-3:30pm

Description:  Can your junior not participate in our June Junior Golf Camp?  Or can they just not get enough golf?  Don't worry, we have the perfect solution.  Join us for some fun on the golf course the last four Wednesdays in July.  During these four clinics, we cover all aspects of the game of golf.  Juniors participating in these clinics will walk away with a strong grasp of fundamentals and some golf knowledge.  Most of all, every week we will show them that GOLF IS FUN!

Cost:  $60 per child

Register Online:  Click Here

Practice Styles: It's Time to Execute and Implement

In my previous post Practice Styles: Block vs. Dynamic, I introduced and elaborated on two different practice styles.  The post gave insight into some of the do's and don'ts when using the different styles.  I highly suggest reading that post before continuing on with this one.  The purpose of this post is to further detail the when and why to use each strategy and as well as how to create your PROPER PRACTICE PLAN.

BLOCK PRACTICE

When:  Working on changes to swing technique.  Typically used when trying to master a new skill and after instruction.  Often times performed with swing drills.
Why:  Block practice calls for slow and full speed repetition, which is perfect for learning moves that are unfamiliar to golfer.  It is done so golfer can focus on only the change in technique because the lie, the target, and the distance are constant.  Unlike conditions faced during a normal round of golf. 

DYNAMIC PRACTICE

When:  Performed when training for competiton on the course.  Dynamic practice should be done when no adjustments to technique are taking place.  Simulating on-course situations is ideal for dynamic practice.

Why:  During dynamic practice there is constant changes to target, lie, and distance.  This will help simulate the actual happenings on the course and better prepare the player when faced with evolving situations on the golf course.

Develop your own PRACTICE PLAN

Now that we know the difference and understand why they should be separate, it's time to make your PRACTICE PLAN.  Developing an excellent practice plan may be the biggest thing that professional golfers and other high-level competitive golfers do differently than amateur players.  I am sure you have heard of Tiger Woods having his game peak in time for a major.  This can only be done with a proper practice plan.

STEP 1:  Select the times that you want to shoot your lowest scores or what I will refer to as identify your "personal majors." 

STEP 2:  Identify the weaknesses that hold you back from shooting those scores.

STEP 3:  Prioritize technical adjustments and mental game improvement to bolster weak areas.

-For this I would recommend teaming up with a golf professional who can coach you through the improvement process.   The great thing about working with a professional is they will help you identify those weaknesses and prioritize which ones to address first.  It is important to note when you want to play your best.  That will play the biggest role in prioritizing what practice style should be used first.

STEP 4:  Choose PROPER practice technique

-Assuming we have plenty of time before your personal major, I would look to attack those areas that cost you the most strokes and require a change in technique.  You now know when changing technique, you should use Block Practice and design a practice routine highly concentrated with that practice style.  I personally believe that every practice session should have a mixture of both because it keeps practice fun.  As the new technique is mastered, the percentage of block vs. dynamic practice will shift until it's mostly dominated by dynamic practice.  These shifts should be timed with your personal majors and performance goals.  It is critical to have your dominant practice style be dynamic practice immediately before competition.  Use these dynamic practice opportunities to evaluate your change and see if it led to better performance results.

STEP 5:  Repeat

-Once you reach the next break before competition, it is time to reevaluate your weaknesses and identify those areas which require a change in technique and shift towards a routine dominated by block practice.

I hope that you have a better understanding of how to practice and are ready to implement your own PERFECT PRACTICE PLAN.  Please send me any of your questions and feel free to share this post by using the buttons below.  Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you on the lesson tee!!

Practice Styles: Block vs. Dynamic

It pains me to walk along the driving range and watch countless players hit mountains of golf balls with no purpose.  I firmly believe practice makes perfect, but feel the saying should be adjusted to say PROPER practice makes perfect.  What is PROPER PRACTICE?  I would say any practice that helps you reach your improvement goals.  After determining your goals (see Set Real Goals to Achieve Real Success) you need to implement a practice plan.

Today, I want to talk about two different practice styles: block practice and dynamic practice.  In a previous post, I instructed players on How to Practice when Playing Well.  In that post I introduced the idea of dynamic practice, also known as random practice.  In this post, I will introduce block practice and compare it to dynamic practice. 

Block practice is most similar to the practice style used by the majority of golfers while using the driving range.  The difference between the two is that with block practice, you have a PURPOSE.  This style of practice should be implemented when making a change in your swing technique.  Obviously, it is the style of practice I use when instructing most players that are new to my lesson tee.  It is critical in this style of practice to master the technique you are working on and convert it into a SKILL.  Players that are implementing block practice should make numerous rehearsal and slow motion swings.  Often, a swing drill will be performed during block practice.  Block practice is done slowly with little variety in club selection.

Dynamic practice, on the other hand, is different in that the club, target, and shot style can change on a swing-by-swing basis.  Dynamic practice is very similar to play on the golf course.  When teaching my players to use dynamic practice, I often have them simulate a round of golf as their practice.  During your dynamic practice, you should NEVER be making an adjustment to your swing technique.  It would be like a baseball pitcher trying a new pitch without first learning how to hold the ball to execute that pitch.

It's important to understand these two practices, but the most important thing is to know when and why to implement them.  I'll cover this next time and help you develop the PROPER PRACTICE PLAN to reach your goals.  Until then, please share this post using the buttons below and send me any of your comments and questions.  Thanks for reading and see you on the lesson tee!!

Expectations

It's a new year.  A time for resolutions, new goals, and excitement.  I plan on doing a future post on goal-setting and making sure you carry out those golf-related resolutions, but before I do that I want to cover another topic that I am sure will help your game.  I want to talk about EXPECTATIONS and making sure yours aren't affecting your game in a negative way.  I am currently reading Golf is not a Game of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rotella.  In Dr. Rotella's book, he discusses players accepting the results of their shots and evaluating them with reasonable and realistic expectations.  This is great insight and something I see lots of players (including myself) struggle with every time they touch a golf club.

What do I mean by reasonable and realistic expectations?  I certainly do not mean that you should limit your ceiling and only expect the very least from yourself.  I have never and will never subscribe to the mentality that if you set your goals low, you will never be disappointed.  I believe the exact opposite, that the higher the goals the more motivated you can be.  If you are a 20 handicap and want to make the PGA Tour, then I say "GREAT, let's get to work."  Does that mean that when this same 20 handicap is playing a round of golf I think he should get upset if he misses a green?  Absolutely not!  That individual does not have reasonable and realistic expectations.  He is a 20 handicap and at his very best can hit 5 greens in any given round.  Unfortunately, most of us are guilty of being this ridiculous.  Let's be honest with ourselves and evaluate the expectations of our next shot with the real-time status of our golf games.  That doesn't mean you can't hit all 18 greens, but in the scenario with the 20 handicap, let's first work on hitting 6 greens in a round.  The worst thing anyone can do is berate themselves and deflate their confidence by expecting things that are not possible at the current time.

Personally, I have come to this realization about unrealistic expectations by coaching varsity girls' golf at Canal Winchester.  The players on my teams create this superstar image of themselves by boasting about the scores they shoot in practice and what they plan to shoot in our next tournament.  The problem with this is that when they are early in a round and not playing their best, they panic.  They start to worry about what everyone will think and it only makes things worse.  The problem is their expectations aren't realistic.  They don't understand that it's extremely hard to shoot those low scores when the pressure's on.  The only way to do this is to be patient and not panic.  Be reasonable with what you expect and the results will follow.

To conclude, I challenge you to make this your first golf resolution of 2013.  Set reasonable expectations before your round and before every shot.  This will help your mental preparation and allow you to improve your course management.  You will start to only hit shots of which you are capable, and most importantly, you will not let a poor shot ruin your round or your score.  The best part is that you can adjust those expectations as your game improves, while you are on your way to reaching those lofty goals.  I encourage you to share by using the buttons below.  Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you on the lesson tee!!!

My Thoughts on the Anchored Putter Ban

I'm sure most of you have heard by now that the USGA and R&A have released a statement which will adjust the rules of golf and essentially ban the use of anchored putters starting in 2016.  Let's be clear, they are not completely banning the use of long putters. However, they are prohibiting the practice of anchoring those clubs to your person, a technique made popular by PGA Tour players like Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott.  If you are unclear on the adjustment of the rule I invite you to look at the picture below to gain a greater clarification.

Now that everyone understands the rule, I would like to share a few of my thoughts on what is becoming a very controversial issue.  Let me start by saying that I am adamantly against this ban and feel that it undermines the effort to grow the game of golf.  Those who support the ban argue that it gives those players implementing this style an unfair advantage over the players who do not use the anchored putter.  I find this to be absolutely ridiculous because if that were the case, almost every player would use it.  I will admit that players like Keegan Bradley have been able to achieve success that they otherwise may not have been able to without the anchored putter, but can't you say the same thing about traditional putting?  Or even better yet, would today's modern player have been able to achieve his or her success without modern golf ball technology?  This begs the question: why single out anchored putters?

Whether you are involved in the golf industry or not I am certain you have seen the wide-reaching efforts to grow the game of golf.  As a PGA Professional, I have worked diligently to assist in accomplishing this goal.  This is why the anchored putter ban upsets me so greatly, because if allowing a player to anchor his putter will encourage one new player to keep playing the game, or allow one current player to enjoy the game more, or bring one frustrated player back to the game than it should not be banned.  We should not allow our top 1% of players to dictate how 40 handicaps play golf.  I've heard many fellow professionals argue that the anchored putter does not really help the amateur player, due to poor fitting or improper fundamentals, but if it helps just one then we have effectively grown golf.  I will close with this one question: what is the downside to the best golfer in the world using a belly putter?  I can't think of one thing.  

Thanks for reading and sharing.  I encourage you to share your thoughts and get the debate going.  See you on the lesson tee!!!