Archive for February, 2008

A good percentage of golfers we see here at the academy picture a line down through their shirt buttons and you turn around this centered point. Unfortunately this can lead into a classic reverse pivot motion, with the weight normally moving to the left leg during the back swing and then having to lean back out of the way onto the right leg during the down swing. So if your hitting weak, high shots and falling back at the finish of the swing then this could be you!!

To get a true and dynamic range of motion during your swing, generating a powerful and repetitive ball flight then picture using the right leg as the pivot point on the back swing and the left leg as the pivot point for the down swing! (Based on you right handed golfers, opposite for you lefties) So feel like you are turning into that right leg, almost sitting into the knee is a sensation I like to have. Feeling like the right knee remains flexed and the weight is as much as 70 to 80% into that right leg at the top of the back swing. From here it’s a case of allowing the weight to shift back to the left side with a little bump of the left knee and hip and when you finish that follow through, your weight should be fully onto the left leg, with the tip toe of the right shoe, the only point of contact with the ground and your tummy facing the target. Hold this pose for several seconds as it brings your swing to a nice composed finish and is a good gauge as to your level of balance in your swing.

More great tips on the GAINMORE Golf Community 

Always address the ball, by starting with your feet together and placing the club head behind the ball.  Getting the club positioned behind the ball, helps you to consistently achieve the correct position to build your swing from.  Once the club is in squarely positioned then place the correct grip on the club, left hand first if you’re a right hander, then the right hand snugly on top.  Finally the feet into the correct position, making sure you’re the correct distance from the ball. So consistent golf starts with a consistent routine and set-up! 

When playing that all important soft landing wedge shot over the bunker or indeed anywhere around the green, one of the most important factors is to encourage a descending blow into impact. If you are looking for more control on the distance you hit these shots, then the strike pattern has to be similar each and every time you play this shot, a major factor in this consistency is a descending blow. 

A great drill to help achieve this correct angle of attack into the ball is to place an umbrella or empty sleeve of balls, about 6 inches or so behind the ball. Now set-up to the shot, checking your weight is positioned nicely onto the left foot (for you right hand players), ball position centre and stance slightly narrower than usual. From here simply swing the club up and over the umbrella and then back down again, allowing the club to descend into the back of the ball, missing the umbrella in the process and giving the perfect ball/turf strike pattern. If you strike the umbrella first then you would have tried to scoop the ball up yourself, rather than trusting the club to get the job done. In addition to this your weight will have probably moved back onto the right side, a classic mistake we see all too often during initial lessons. So keep the weight left and swing up and down over the obstacle and the strike pattern will be hugely improved and way more consistent than previously. 

Best of luck with this, any problems or thoughts, as always feel free to get in touch!!

One of the biggest complaints we hear from our clients is not having enough time to work on their games. Even when they do find a few minutes to practice, are they indeed working on the most relevant area of their game? The simplest way of learning which area of your game is the most important to you personally, the pattern to your game if you like, is by keeping some statistics on your golf, other than just the final score! After each and every round write down a few details on the following:

Fairways hit?

Greens in regulation? (I.e. putting for birdie)

Putts per round?

Up and downs? (I.e. how many chip and one putts)

Start with just these four basic figures and I’m positive you will start to understand exactly where you are dropping your shots on a regular basis. Either store them on your pc or jot them down in a note book that you can keep in your golf bag. You can even forward me these stats as it makes sense that I know which are the key areas to work on for the next lesson. 

For anyone who is keen on this and wants to store the information really professionally, then please take advantage of our partnership with Strokeaverage.com.  These guys are the market leader in recording statistics on your golf, so I’m thrilled to be involved with such a great product and indeed company.  It records, compares and analyses your golf statistics helping you and I to eliminate weaknesses and build on strengths.  With a complimentary trial period of 14 days there is no need to take my word for it, make your mind up during this trial period before taking the plunge at a discounted rate for the year.  If you pop in JANES1 as the promotion code, this will entitle you to a 20% discount on the yearly subscription.  

So a few minutes identifying the pattern in your game can allow you to work on your weaknesses and not waist time fine tuning your strengths!!

For you slicers!

If you (or maybe a friend you know!!) suffer from the common fault of the ball starting left of target and fading right, then find a slope with the ball above the feet and hit loads of practice shots from there. Slopes are a great way of giving us an improved feel for the correct shape to the swing. Up until now you would have felt a very steep swing, with the club moving on a very steep plane and from out to in, with the divots pointing left of target. Practicing with the ball a few inches above your feet allows the club to work a little more around the body, allowing a nice shoulder turn to be completed during the back swing. Then the momentum is set for the downswing, when the club naturally approaches the ball more from the inside path and a little more shallow than your used to. This in turn will help control the ball flight and you might even be able to turn the ball over from right to left.

For you hookers!!

If on the other hand you have the opposite ball flight to our friend above, maybe a controlled (or otherwise) draw flight from right to left, then you need to find some slopes with the ball below your feet and hit plenty of practice shots from there. In the past you are used to the club coming into impact too much from an inside path, on a very shallow plane and the face closing through impact, hence the right to left shape. With the ball now several inches below your feet this slope will encourage the club to swing more up and down on a steeper plane and angle of attack, thus leaving the clubface more neutral and less right to left shape on the ball, you might even fade one or two from left to right!! 

Just before you go out on the course the standard routine on the putting green is to grab three balls, stand ten feet from the hole, miss all three putts and then stroll to the first tee, what a confidence booster, sounds familiar!! Then you find yourself on the 1st green and funny enough miss from the same distance!!

You should be achieving two things from your putting warm up, feel for the pace of the green and confidence to take to the course. So pop a tee peg into the ground somewhere on the green, take one ball and roll it up close. One ball because you only get one go when playing regular golf on the course and a tee peg because all you are working on is feel. If you miss it you are not worried and if you do hit it then that’s a real bonus as the tee is significantly smaller than a hole, all you are really trying to do is roll it up close.

We see a huge amount of golfers aim left of target with their body alignment when addressing the ball, or open as we term it in teaching.  A simple and very effective way of combating this is, when addressing the ball, having got the clubface aligned correctly, always place the left hand on the club first.  By putting the left-hand on first you immediately get the left side of your body slightly forward and then all you have to do is tuck the right hand on the club and not change the alignment of the shoulders as you do so.  This is especially helpful when addressing woods, as it gives you the feeling of being tucked in behind the ball, with the right side of your body nice and low, even the weight slightly favouring the right leg, all good pointers when trying to sweep the ball cleanly from the tee, with a nice ascending blow.

Ever taken a slow motion swing?  Yep that’s what I thought until I spoke to Jayne Storey!!  Jayne is a Tai Chi expert and good friend of mine, she showed me a great drill to get real feedback and awareness of what is going on during your swing.

I’ve always been a fan of slow motion swings for my clients, as it helps them piece together their swing and create awareness of certain aspects that at full speed cannot be fully realized.  But this is taking it to another level, so starting off by taking 30 seconds at first and then a full minute to make the full swing.  Boy do you get some feel for what each part of the body does during the swing and it really helps you become aware of problem areas that need some shall we say fine tuning! This works with every club in the bag and no matter what your current swing thought is, this will help you become more aware of that particular area.

So no cheating now, 30 seconds to start with and when you feel that is under control then onto taking a full minute to make that swing.  

PS. One for the range not the course, I don’t want complaints of 6 hour rounds please!!

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A little bit about me…

I design innovative experiential learning interventions using sports and advanced learning technologies. I am passionate about developing people and making a difference in their lives.

I have the pleasure to be CCO at GAINMORE Advantage Group, and our businesses GAINMORE Golf, GAINMORE Leadership, and GainMoreLife.I have over 20 years of successful cross-cultural and cross-industry experience as a teacher, trainer, mentor and entrepreneur, across diverse regions including the Far East, Middle East and Europe, which has enabled me to establish a management and leadership development consultancy that has positively impacted world class organisations and SMEs across the globe. I’ve had the pleasure to have been involved in a wide range of human resource and technology management projects, including management and leadership development, coaching training and team development, business strategy and business transformation and the implementation and effective use of learning technologies.As a direct result of my expertise and accomplishments, I was asked by Henley Management College to establish a direct presence in Singapore as HQ for all Asia Pacific operations and direct the marketing and support of the Henley MBA. As the Asia Pacific Director, I developed a vigorous marketing campaign that effectively raised brand awareness. I designed and introduced full e-learning support to supplement locally held face-to-face workshops that improved MBA completion.On the cutting edge of global communications technologies, I have worked closely with world-class organisations, including Astro, Aviva, BT, C&W, Maxis, Nokia, Sime Darby, Standard Chartered Bank, Temasek Holdings, Virgin and many others to develop sustainable learning solutions for their organisational and customer focused needs. Partnering with senior management, I directed the project life cycle for a series of leadership development initiatives for cross-cultural account management teams, formed a new assessment and development centre to facilitate the recruitment and training and coordinated creation of a corporate academy in Asia.I earned my Doctorate from Henley Management College and continue to research and lead in the utilisation of technology for experiential learning. The featured speaker at numerous professional international conferences, especially in the field of using technology effectively for learning and management development, I have also been recognised professionally through publication of my writings. I continue to lead in the ongoing development and evolution of simulation based training.

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