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About this blog

I often say that I have an ocean of knowledge, but all a student needs in a lesson is a cup.

This blog is for droplets. Little things I see and notice while giving lessons that may or may not benefit you specifically, but which strike me enough to post here about it.

Entries in this blog

Droplets

You'll Never Run out of Students…

I told my daughter today that she'd never run out of golf students if she taught three things pretty well: That the body is responsible for moving the club around you and that the arms move the club up in the backswing. That this process reverses (and that people rotate far too early relative to the "down") in the downswing. How to get the weight forward. It's true, too. She might not be able to teach a Tour player, but there are a LOT of golfers who need to work on
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Padraig Harrington On Making Putts

I sent a long text to a  student of mine today. The parts that don't apply to most, I'll chop out, and instead focus on the parts that many can use. If you read the text as a conversation between me, the student/golfer, and a putting-specific instructor, it should make sense. I encouraged the student to "be a bit more athletic about the putts in the 'makeable' range. Line up, make sure that everything is aimed where you want it to be, and then take a last look at the hole for speed. When yo
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Justin Rose Drill (Hands Drop While You Remain Closed)

A good drill for a LOT of players to do. Note how he also shifts forward with the increased flex on his left knee as he drops the hands down. This is a bit of what I call "throwing" as well - you can feel it in the left arm OR the right arm. I generally prefer it in the right, but you may feel it differently than I or the majority.
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Good Rory Flow IG Post

Steve Furlonger (@sfgolfperform) • Instagram photos and videos Steve Furlonger shared a post on Instagram: "Arguably one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the modern era is @rorymcilroy . Pound for pound his output from not the biggest frame on tour at 1.75 m / 5’ 9”... That's it. That's the tweet. 😉 Go watch the video, though.
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Good Drill for Width

I posted it to Twitter and Instagram, so here it is: Erik J. Barzeski (@iacas) • Instagram reel Erik J. Barzeski shared a post on Instagram: "Great drill here to help stop the right elbow from going too far around your body. Put your right forearm near your elbow on your left hand and keep it there, allowing...
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Black and Blue Attrition Game

I came up with a game for my college kids to play today and I'd like to share it with you. Here were the rules I gave them: Play the black tees on odd # holes, blue tees on even # holes. (Par fives are: 3, 8, 13, 15. Par threes are: 6, 9, 12, 14.) The first 16 holes are grouped into four-hole groups: 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16. Except for the putter, which may be used on all holes, players may use each club in their bag only one time per four-hole group. If you plan to hit driver
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Updated Wall Drill for Pivot Flow

For higher handicappers, I prefer a fairly centered, stable pivot, as I've noted here: A link at the bottom of that blog post links you to this page, with a self-explanatory title: For better players, I prefer a little bit of "flow." Here's a drill you can do to get a bit of a feel for this: Yes, you also use a wall for this drill, too. 😄
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JEP Video on "Keeping Your Arms In Front of You"

A video I recorded on a whim today for the two or three kids who missed their session this week in the Junior Elite Program. P.S. I know your hands/arms don't truly stay in front of your chest, but compared to how far to the side many/most people get their hands/arms, they stay a lot more toward the front than they're keeping them now.
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Unique Tour Player Swings

Yes, Matt Wolff has a weird swing. Jim Furyk too. Keegan Bradley sets up pretty funny. Dustin Johnson has a bowed left wrist at the top (as does Jon Rahm, and Graeme McDowell). Jordan Spieth and Lee Westwood chicken wing it. Lee Trevino had an odd swing. Thing is… You're not any of those people. They're supremely talented. They spend HOURS a DAY working on what they do. There's nothing that says they wouldn't have been better (or worse) if
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Vineyard Vines Flow Trace

For a student, I traced out a little "flow" trace or "COM" trace. It's exaggerated in scale, but I think it's fairly representative of what a good player's "feel" is mixed with a bit of the common reality. When I was done, it looked to me like the Vineyard Vines whale, so I drew a little tail on it. Here it is: 1, 2, 3, and 4 are A1 through A4 (or Ps if you still prefer those). At A1, the pressure is pretty centered. At A2, the pressure has reached the farthest back
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Do Less (Forgetting Sarah Marshall Style)

I find myself saying in lessons quite often^ lately "Do Less." For example, on the backswing, people will often move their hands around, bend elbows in every direction, move the clubhead everywhere, the knees are doing a bunch of stuff, etc. Their backswings are too long, and really, if they just make a little turn and "fling" (I use that word a lot too) their arms up and back, they end up in a good spot. I think that in students of the game can get caught up in trying to do "too much"
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Embrace the Uncomfortable

All too often, a student will make a comment that something feels “weird” or even “uncomfortable.” GOOD!!! Changing something you’ve done ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million times… should be uncomfortable. Embrace the uncomfortable! Comfort likely means you’re doing the same thing. It’s familiar. It’s easy. Learning happens on the edge of uncomfortable. Exaggerate something. Swing slower. Hit massive curving shots that go the other direction from your typical sha
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Posture is Almost the Same for All Clubs

Lots of people seem to think that you stand "taller" for longer clubs, like the driver. The only thing that really changes much is the angle at which your arms hang - a bit farther out for driver. Note: it's not true for all, but it's true for most. Rory tends to be a bit more upright with his driver.
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A Tweet Regarding the Length of the Backswing

The point of the backswing is to turn your body and to slightly bend your trail elbow, to elevate your trail elbow (to varying degrees), and to hinge your wrists (to varying degrees). The first bit — what's commonly called "turning your shoulders" — is the most important. Getting the club to parallel is not even on the list.
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Things That Take Almost No Talent to Do Correctly

There are several things which take almost no talent to do correctly, and if you can do them, you can become a better golfer and stay a better golfer. These things should be touchstones of a sort, things you check on constantly, but again which take no (or at least not much) actual skill to achieve. These are things even beginners can do. These lists are off the top of my head. Tier 1: No Real Talent Grip the club properly - in the base of the fingers, with the right number of kn
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Tempo vs. Rhythm

People often confuse tempo and rhythm, or they'll use them interchangeably. I've almost surely done it many times to this point, but here is how I intend to try to use them starting now. Rhythm is the ratio and tempo is the speed. Rhythm Good putting strokes often have a ratio of 2:1. Again, it's the ratio of the putting stroke. You can have a 300ms backswing or a 600ms backswing, each with a 150 or a 300ms downswing, and that's 2:1. Both strokes have the same rhythm. Tempo Th
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Killer (Putting Game) or "Six Lives"

I like this game. Essentially: You start with six balls. You start from three feet. You putt from three feet until you make a putt. If you make the putt, you take that ball and all remaining balls back three feet. If you miss, that ball or "life" is lost. Your "score" is the farthest distance at which you make a putt. So for example: Make from 3'. Six balls remain. Make from 6'. Six balls remain. Miss, miss, ma
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Putt to the Picture (via Tiger Woods)

Distance control is an "athletic" thing for most golfers. Unless you're Bryson DeChambeau, who knows that a 12" backstroke makes the ball go 15.739 feet (or whatever), players tend to putt best when they tap into their athleticism. That's why studies will point out how golfers putting from 25+ feet with their eyes looking at the hole often have better distance control (even though they slightly mishit some putts) than golfers looking down at the ball. Combine both: do what Tiger Woods learn
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Notes for Juniors on Mental Game

I'm having a mental game expert address some of my juniors next Saturday, and I had some additional notes for him. Stuff I wanted him to include that may be particular to my program, the way I teach, my LSW information, etc. And I thought some of you might benefit. So here's that part of the email: 1. Practice is not playing. I'd like them to know that when they're working on their swing, they care what the mechanics are, they care what things "look" like somewhat, they care about
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I Gave a Bad Lesson Today

I am constantly critiquing myself. I give a lot of good lessons. Lessons about which I feel I did really well. Lessons I'd give myself an "A" for giving; not an A+, mind you, which almost never happens. But As and A-s. And I'm a pretty harsh grader. But today I gave a C+ lesson that I may have recovered and turned into a B+ lesson, if only by recognizing it early enough. The details are unimportant, but basically, I found myself talking about something that was probably priority #3 or
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Science

Dr. Sasho Mackenzie had a quote in the March issue of Golf magazine that I liked. Listen, there'll always be science-deniers and the belief that none of what I or other researchers do is necessary. They're going to be eroded away. There'll be fewer and fewer of these people once the community realizes that science and technology are simply about learning and understanding better ways to swing a golf club. I no longer feel bad for the instructors who fight it, because the information's out t
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Finger Down the Shaft Putting

I was tempted to post "I doubt it," but I have this blog to use, so I'll use it for a quick discussion of this. I've taught a few thousand people to putt. I've never seen someone with their finger down the shaft who I would consider a "good" putter. More often - far, far more often - those with their finger down the shaft have distance control issues. The pressure they apply with that finger leads to added loft and wrist flipping, while many good putting strokes have de-lofted putters (4° t
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Give or Take 2-3 Degrees

There's a reason @david_wedzik and I trademarked the phrase "Golf is Hard"®. https://thesandtrap.com/b/the_numbers_game/angles_of_error Here's a par three that is often a 7- or 8-iron (but can be a 6-iron). A driver on a par five. And another par three that plays from 190-220 yards. In all three cases, you have about +/- 2 or 3° in which to hit your shot, or else we deem the shot "a failure." Set your expectations properly, and give yourselves the credit you deserve whe
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