vol. 4, number 7

In This Issue

July AimPoint Express Clinics a Success!

Game Improvement Golf Newsletter

Information to improve your golf game (August 2014)

Rory and "The Process"

Steven Pressfield is one of my favorite authors and blog posters. He is not a golf writer but he does love golf - and he wrote "The Legend of Bagger Vance." He writes a lot, in books (like "The War of Art") and on his blog about the process of writing and how writers overcome what he calls "The Resistance" to writing.

Recently he wrote a blog post about one of the elements of success of Rory McElroy's golf game - his focus on what he calls "The Process." Rory's focus is on what he CAN control - the process of preparing for a golf shot - instead of what he CANNOT control - the outcome of the golf shot. I hope you enjoy this article:

Steve Pressfield - Rory McElroy and "Process and Spot"

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Last month I wrote about Mark Brodie's book "Every Shot Counts," which introduces his approach to golf shot statistics - Strokes Gained. For those of you who are interested in how different tour players do in PGA events for a number of Strokes Gained categories, here is a link to the "Stat Report" that is published on the PGA tour web site after each tournament:

Link to PGA Tour Tournament "Stats Report"

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Finally I just have to say - what an AMAZING ending to the PGA Championship this past weekend - so many great shots!

Uphill or Downhill Putts?

There are, in my opinion, few golf improvement books that blend a combination of detailed, science-based information with writing that is concise and easy to understand. I was fortunate to read such a book this past month "Expert Putting - The Science Behind the Stroke," written by Chris Riddoch. Chris is a professor of sports science who has written more than 200 scientific articles on sports and exercise. If you are looking for a book to read to help you improve your putting, this is one of the best.

Here are a few of the things that are discussed in this book that can help you improve your putting:

Chris believes that the base for improving your putting is motor control - using your brain to control your body. This is consistent with something I have mentioned in the past - there is no such thing as muscle memory - our brains control what we do when we putt.

Chris makes the case - and this is based on science and analysis - that we have the choice of a straight uphill or downhill putt, we should want to hit the downhill putt! This was a big surprise to me. But he shows (and there are references in the book that show details) that downhill straight putts are self-correcting - off-line putts tend the break toward the hole. Uphill putts are not self-correcting - and I have recently seen this on the golf course. Amazing.

There is an excellent chapter on Gaze - and a discussion on the concept of "Quiet Eye" which I have talked about in a past newsletter. He says that golfers should gaze at the hole a few seconds, and not gaze anywhere else - then look at the ball for about a second while thinking about the hole (Quiet Eye) and go. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

He talks about Putting Stroke Mechanics, and here his discussion is, I think, based on principles like having strokes where the back swing takes about twice the time of the forward swing. These principles are also what comes out of SAM PuttLab putting stroke evaluations.

He suggests a simple six-step putting routine that should be easy to implement - sorry, gotta read the book to get this one!

This is definitely a book to put in your Putting Improvement Library!

Big Boy Warmup - Part 1!!

On Thursday August 14, I spent the day at the Knoxville Web.com Golf Tournament. This is the first time I have seen one of these type events in a long time. I spent all of my time watching the players warm up. So I have a few thoughts related to their warm up to share with you....

When the players were hitting shots on the range, very few of them - less than 5% I would say - used any kind of alignment sticks during their warmup. They would hit a variety of shots to different locations. To me this made a lot of sense - seems like before a round, it is best to not get too hung up on swing mechanics.

I spent a bit of time watching the players hit short wedge shots at a chipping / pitching green. No surprise to me - of more than 70 shots I saw hit, there was Not One Divot taken. All of these players hit their short pitches and chips with a shallow angle of attack and a very stable body. They can find their low point in their swings and make excellent contact.

The biggest surprise to me was on the putting green. I would say that less than 30% of the players used any kind of a consistent putting routine in their putting warmup. This surprised me - maybe because I believe that using a consistent putting routine is so important. There was a lot of "raking balls" and quick hitting of putts. Yes some smooth strokes, but I am willing to bet that many of these players would be even better putters if they did their putting warmup like they would putt on the golf course.

Why did I say this is Part 1? Well, my son David and I will be at one day of the Fed Express Tour Championship in September. It will be fun to compare what I saw today with what the 30 players in the Tour Championship do. Next month!!

AimPoint Express Clinics a Success!

We happily dodged a lot of rain bullets on July 18-19 at the AimPoint Express Green Reading Clinics at Stonehenge GC in Crossville, TN. Scott Sikorski - Head Pro at the Deer Creek GC in Crossville and the Edel Golf Regional Fitter - organized these sessions. Bobby Dean - Head of Product Development at Edel Golf and a Level-2 AimPoint Certified Instructor - taught the sessions.

This green reading process works and is EASY to implement. I now use it to read all of my putts, and my reads have improved significantly. I hope to have some exciting news to announce in the future related to future AimPoint Express Clinics in East Tennessee in the future.
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Just a reminder - to new and to faithful readers of this newsletter. If you are interested in looking at past newsletters, there is a link to these on the top right-hand side of my web site home page - click on "View Our Past Newsletters." Happy August!

Taking YOUR Game To New Heights!

Tony Wright

GAME IMPROVEMENT GOLF

Oak Ridge, TN

The PREMIER Short Game Fitting Center in East Tennessee!

tony@gameimprovementgolf.com