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Archive for the ‘Effortless Power’ Category
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
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Hi Guys:
You can learn a lot by watching an advanced player or pro at a golf tournament or your local golf course.
Have you ever wondered why golfers most all play better after a pro event is in their area and they have been up close watching the pros?
It has a lot to do with the great timing and rhythm displayed by the pros that the amateur golfer picks up on. In doing so I call it the “residual effect” which carries over into their game and they play better sometimes for week on end. But then the “magic” leaves and it’s gone. Ever noticed this phenomena?
Have you wondered why this occurs?
Like I said there are fine subtleties that advanced players have that separates their performance from other golfers and you can learn a lot from being around a better golfer.
As a matter of fact just mimicking some of their actions can pay dividends with your swing, your timing, your balance, your scoring game and your routines.
Usually the bad habits seep back in and the player tries to fix things with mechanics or new swing theories or techniques and goes into a confusion and apathy on how to fix that key part of his game. This pattern then repeats itself over and over.
A lot of golf fixes can come about simply by a return to true basics and practicing the key essentials like better rhythm and timing in your golf swing.
I recommend you do that first before chasing after a new swing technique or theory.
You can find a good review of the key basics of balance, pivot and drive in my latest golf book: Perfect Balance: Your Key to Consistency and Shot-making in Golf. There are some great drills there too. Go to www.lulu.com/perfectbalance for finding your ‘fix’. Or to the banner on the right of this article.
Be in balance, Bob Cisco
the Golf Performance Doctor
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Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Hi Guys:
PGA Tour gets going with back to back Hawaii tournaments concluded here. New winners and some veterans open their seasons in the trade-winds in the Aloha State. On to So. Calif and the Bob Hope in Palm Desert, San Diego and the Los Angeles Open here as the Western tour swings into California.
Great golf weather with weather ideal here in the South land with temps in the 7os and 80s.
I was thinking we should be hearing from Tiger about now? What’s he up to. We should be hearing from him here soon.
Will he play at San Diego at Torre Pines or play at all here in January? He has Dubai in February overseas. Will this be the turnaround year for him? Top players usually take two years to really rework a new golf swing and Tiger is in the midst of that with the swing move he’s working on with Sean Foley.
My belief is that Tiger gets his feet back on more solid ground I think he will gravitate more towards a full be in balance swing and not be so conscious of positions with the swing plane especially in the downswing. He gets the feel back in the putting stroke he can win golf tournaments and majors.
Anyways my advice here is to get the season going yourself with work on your fitness and improving your flexibility as a key goals here in 2011. My good friend and long drive champion at age 62, John Marshall, is still hitting 300 yards plus and he attributes it to his flexibility and Yoga of the last thirty years. No back problems there.
There’s a lot you can do just with your clubs swinging back and thru and using a weighted ball. One of the best drills I found for this is Sam Snead’s swing the club head drill. He would swing a driver 100 times swinging back and forth. Just start with swinging five to ten times back and thru and work up to ten twenty and work the golf muscles. Swing on the other side some as well as Freddie Couples likes to do in warming up swinging right and left handed.
All the top players are into conditioning programs and you can be doing your own version for sure. Mike Pedersen the golf conditioning specialist has a good program to help you in this area.
Look for a breakout your with the tour rookies we saw on our US Ryder Cup team this year especially Richie Fowler and Bubba Watson.
Have new stuff coming here that you’ll like in February right around the LA Open.
Down the fairway,
Bob Cisco, the Golf Doctor, www.allaboutgolf.us
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Monday, September 20th, 2010
Hi Guys:
This was the first season Tiger Woods has been winless on the PGA Tour and failed to make the Fed Ex playoffs. It feels a bit strange in a way.
A lot happened mostly in what seemed like a really long year. It felt more like three years combined from where I’m sitting. A couple of guys really stepped up this year mainly Matt Kuchar but I do miss the “pumped-fist” exclaim and Tiger winning on Tour.
Tiger has the Ryder Cup here in a few weeks and that could really work to his advantage as a morale booster if he plays well and helps gives the US Team a boost and a win in Wales. Or it could be another disappointment to a peculiar rather distressing season here.
He then moves onto the international scene with the HSBC Open in Shanghai for a major event there in November. A change of environment might work just fine.
There’s talk of Tiger working on a new golf swing move and working with a new coach as well. Does he really need a new swing coach? Or does he really need a mentor and close friend type person to help shape his future where he’s going in golf and perhaps life.
My take on that is that he could swing a broom and perfect a swing move to make it work and work well. He is an extraordinary talented golfer. One in one hundred years of super skill level.
Lee Trevino really never had a coach because he believed the coach needed to be better than he was as a player or have more knowledge of the motion of the swing, which he was a master of. So does Tiger really need a swing coach for mechanics? Who mentored Palmer, Player and Nicklaus in their prime? I don’t think so.
All great athletes can adopt to many situations with their bodies and equipment and Tiger is no exception. Butch Harmon and Hank Haney did improve his game skills but he has tremendous mental focus and heart. And in my opinion that’s what needs to get fixed the most. Yes, he needs to change a few things in his life and hopefully he will and with new resolve and courage he will in time.
But you can tell he is determined to get it right once again and he has played and shot some really good rounds this past summer. Just not consecutively.
His great mental game has taken a bit of a beating that’s for sure. Other players sense a vulnerability like never before. Tiger can and is getting beaten by his peers. He has weaknesses like the other players now. The invincible aura has been is gone. At least for now.
The ability to remain focused when your universe is shaken or in an upheaval plays more on the mind of a golfer than anything else, and when one is swinging at 125-127 mph in a split second and impact, one’s balance can be just off enough and you hit in the rough too often.
If there ever was a 15 th club in the bag it has to be confidence and that comes from the player’s outlook and view of his game and self. The problems of life have a way of interjecting into the middle of it and when that becomes a bigger problem, then its hard to find your way back and play consistent great golf.
The great Jack Nickluas said in an article I will always remember and I tell to my advance players and pros, is that he wasn’t the greatest because he had better skills but he had his life in balance whereas many other players did not at the time in his era and were affected by relationships and in some cases did not recover. Jack had real support and stability in his family and wife and he didn’t have these concerns or problems and he was able to do what he set out to do in golf and did for many years at end.
I look forward this Ryder Cup in Wales and Tiger contributing to the team and his own esprit de corps. It would be great to see the US team pull of a victory and Tiger sealing the deal and making the difference.
After that, I’m not sure what I’ll do. Maybe watch the Golf Channel and reruns of “The Big Three” (not The Big Break ) and head in that direction and I can find solace there with the rest of us who love golf. Some of those classics too and key matches with Hogan-Snead- Nelson, etc.
2011 could be a real interesting year with the Masters up first in the Spring.
Go US team in the Ryder Cup!
All for now, Bob Cisco, www.allaboutgolf.us
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Tags: mental game to golf, pgatour, tigerwoods
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Monday, August 16th, 2010
Wow! What a finish at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits! A great three hole play-off decided on the last hole!
The battle of the titans off the tee as Dustin Johnson, Budda Watson and Martin Kaymer launch massive strikes down the fairway. Putts dropping nicely in the hole when needed. Even Steve Elkington at age 47 yrs. almost winning as well.
Unfortunate for Johnson, the confusion between all the spectators and a fairway sand trap or waste bunker cost him a two stroke penalty and perhaps an American victory. After finishing on the last hole. Captured on TV and the Internet for review.
Where was his caddie and the rules official to help him out with this? There are close to 1,000 sand traps on this course and other Pete Dye courses have waste bunkers, where you can ground your club in them.
Martin Kaymer is Europe’s next super star! Great demeanor, super swing and cool mind set. Reminds me of Nick Faldo in many ways. He hung in there all the way and the great putt he made on the 18 th hole to force a playoff from about 12 feet or so was fantastic under all that pressure. You got to like his balance and footwork in his golf swing. Real effortless power in the golf swing. www.lulu.com/perfectbalance
Great iron shot on 17 and the birdie putt. One of golf’s greatest holes. Kudos to Pete Dye. Whistling Straits This is a real masterpiece of a great course for a major. A Pebble Beach on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin.
You got to like Budda Watson and yes he did play some great golf! Did Budda have to go for the green on 18 in the play-off to win? Why not lay up like Kaymer did. Aren’t we suppose to play from our strengths when the heat of competition is on? I tell all my golf students that.
What you can learn from Kaymer is a lot of things. When in trouble, get out of trouble as he did on 18. Hang in there all the way and believe in yourself and give yourself a chance to win. Keep it in the fairway even if you need to lay up with a three wood or hybrid metal like he did on key holes at Whistling Straits.
I would say at this juncture that the US team is in trouble next month in their Ryder Cup showdown with the Europe in Wales. Regardless if Tiger Woods makes the team or not.
Anyway, it was a great close to golf’s last major here in 2010 and it does mark the first season that Tiger has not won a major as I recall.
Looks like there’s a new ERA emerging in pro golf these days. More and more young strong super stars making it and believing in themselves. Golf has truly gone global and it’s a new day for golf!
Golf is king!
Bob Cisco - www.allaboutgolf.us, www.swingmentor.com
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Tags: Dustin Johnson, golf, Pete Dye, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods
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Monday, July 12th, 2010
 Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Hi Guys:
Steve Stricker is hot as a pistol with his golf as he goes real deep at the John Deere Classic to win his second back to back PGA event there with a record performance.
This is Steve’s fifth win in 15 months on the PGA tour and vaults him back to the No. 2 spot in the world rankings behind No. 1, Tiger Woods. By the end of the summer we might see a new number one on the world of golf, either Phil Mickelson or Steve Stricker, depending on the final majors. It happened in tennis this summer. Will it happen in golf?
What I like about Stricker and you can learn from is that he’s got a great scoring game from 125 yards and in. He’s great with the wedge shots and has a smooth silky putting stroke and this is where birdies and pars are saved along with making the super eagles he makes.
He drives the ball well off the tee. Not a long hitter by tour standards yet he knows how to position his tee shots in place to make the difference and he’ s smart when it comes to his course management and strategy skills.
Look for Steve to seriously contend in the summer final majors here especially back in his home state of Wisconsin, where the PGA Championship is next month in August at Kohler.
I especially like his great balance in his swing and has very good timing in hitting his golf shots. Steve swings within himself and is an excellent model to emmulate, never forcing the shot with a consistent tempo.
The British Open looks like a great third major getting underway on Thursday here from St. Andrews in Scotland.
All for now, Bob Cisco, The Golf Doctor
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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
Hi Everyone:
Graeme Mc Dowell’s win at this weekend’s US Open was nothing short of a stellar feat for the N. Ireland native. He definitely made it happen despite all odds.
He played some really good golf in what turned out to be more of a bit of an all European final with the tough fast greens that turned lightning fast. A Frenchmen named Gregory Havret, also played fantastic golf, to almost force a playoff as well.
Grame defeated golf’s big three who all had chances to win by far, but they could not mount steady charges and do their thing, including that of Tiger Woods, who looked like he was back once again.
Not since Tony Jacklin won in 1970 have we seen someone from the British Isles win the US Open here on American soil.
Hats off to Greame Mc Dowell and his great play at historic Pebble Beach on Dad’s Day with his father present at the 18 th green to acknowlege his great triumph. It doesn’t get much better than that now does it!
What was Greame’s secret to success and his play?
It was his driving in the fairway, his putting and self confidence in himself in a game introduced to him by his Dad, who believed in his son’s ability to play the game and be a great golfer.
Not the longest driver of the ball by far but steady and long enough to be in the fairway most of the time mixed with mastery of the greens with his putter, he prevailed. These key statistics along with his good iron play made the difference enough to win by one shot at the famed Pebble Beach layout.
It sure was good theatre and a great day to be with your Dad and win golf’s greatest tournament, our U.S. Open.
What I liked especially about this Irishmen was his resolve and determination to hang in there and make things happen. He made up his mind and hit the golf shot in a decisive manner. Excellent short game as well around the greens.
Golfers can learn from his routine and get into hitting shots with determination. Take dead aim and fire!
All for now and onto the Bristish Open at St. Andrews in Scotland for golf’s next and third major of the season.
Best, Bob Cisco, The Golf Doctor
Tags: Add new tag, Bob Cisco. Graeme Mc Dowell, Golf Training, mental game, Tiger Woods, US Open
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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
Hi Guys:
Do you have this problem with your golf shots?
Do you find in a round of golf or in practicing that you
hit some wild shots off line like pushes or hooks that get
you in trouble like in a bad lie in the rough, behind a
tree or in the water or hit off in the wrong direction?
Well I have a solution or two for this.
The key to being more consistent and hitting more solid
shots is first of all being in CONTROL of your swing motion
and not swinging out of balance and too hard.
When you swing easier and ‘within yourself” you can be
in more control and that makes a big difference with the
outcome of your shots. Having the ball in play is the key
to scoring.
There’s a principle at work here that when you swing smoother
around 80 % pace, you will find you are more able to make a
better hit of the ball. That’s what timing is all about.
So that’s the first key to this is to do that consistently with your
shots. Think being in control of your swing motion and better
timing of the shot.
The other thing to do is make sure you are not going out of
balance as you rotate the upper body over the lower especially
in the backswing move and in the downswing towards the ball
and target. When you swing too hard one can lose your balance
and spine angle.
These two key basics are essential in hitting consistent solid
shots and if you can maintain an easier pace and and your
balance, you will be able to hit shots and play better, plus
score better.
Let me know how this works for you and leave
a comment here if you would on the site.
Bob Cisco
Tags: Bob Cisco, effortless golf power, Golf tips, golf training. golf interviews
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Hi Guys:
Tiger’s back this week at Muirfield Village as Jack Nicklaus hosts his Memorial golf tournament with a star studded field of players.
This should be the start of his ramp up for the US Open in a couple of weeks in Calofrnia at famed Pebble Beach.
Tiger seems to be on the mend from his neck injury and hopefully will have a good tournament having won here several times and coming from behind last year to win with a closing 65 in the last round.
This is a super tournament and close to a major in the eyes of many of the players.
The course is modeled after many of the greatest holes in golf that Jack Nickluas has played in his great career.
Can Tiger regroup and get back on track and be a favorite to win at the US Open?
Can Phil Mickelson regroup after missing the cut this last week and surpass Tiger and take over the No.1 spot in the world rankings here in June?
Maybe some good old great golf would be just what Tiger needs.
Let’s tune in and see this week at Jack’s place in Columbus, Ohio.
All for now,
Bob Cisco – The Golf Doctor
www.allaboutgolf.us
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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Hi Guys:
Steve Stricker wins the LA Open here in So California and is his fourth win since last May’s victory at the Colonial Invitational. He surpasses Phil Mickelson for the Number Two spot in the world rankings behind Tiger Woods.
Stricker averaged arounf 270 yards + off the tee for most of the rain soaked event and was the best putter in the pack. His first three rounds were 26, 26 and 22 putts and with this kind of putting you win golf tournaments. That’s what wins golf tournaments.
What I like about Stricker is that he plays smart golf. He swings smoothly never trying to hit hard. He has a great scoring game from 100 yards and out. This is where he is one of the very best in the world. He’s great with the wedge and the putter.
You can learn a lot about his rhtymm and smooth putting stroke. It is a thing of beauty and he is very consistent in his putting. Not just a good putter but a great one which is what you have to be to play on tour. Emulate s routine. It’s very effective.
He’s made some great changes in his game over the last few years and has gone from a good PGA tour player to a super one. He’s playing to his potential becuase he plays to his strengths and gets the most out of his game. Not super long he knows the value of a drive placed in the fair way. Smart player who knows how to score.
I had a chance to see the players practice on Tuesday before the rain set in and it was a real highlight to see their great tempo and timing in their practice sessions. I even had a chance to talk with Robert Allenby, the Aussie player who is one of the hottest players right now.
If you’re going to work on your game at all, practice on the short game shots and putting and build your scoring game and confidence here first as these on begins for you in your part of the country. You can even practice that putting stroke on the carpet and your chipping/pitching outside in the back yard with the weather being bad.
Work on the scoring game first and then the long game and you’ll see better scoring! That’s where it’s at with scoring and better scores
Here’s to playing better golf,
Bob Cisco – The Golf Doctor.
www.allboutgolf.us
Tags: Steve Stricker
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Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Hi Guys:
I don’t know if you had a chance to see the first Champions Tour event over this weekend from Hawaii won by Tom Watson in a great duel with Fred Couples. Yes that’s right! Watson winning and Couples in the lineup here on the Senior Tour. This is great for the Champions Tour.
Fred Couples quietly tuned 50 yrs of age not too long ago and is now a ‘senior’ and playing on not only the Champions tour but will compete on the PGA Men’s tour. He’s even talking about qualifying for the British Open this summer at St. Andrews. Please check his driver’s license and birth certificate for me please. For someone averaging 322 yds for the event that ain’t no senior tour guy. Putts dropping right and left with his belly putter left hand low grip.
You got to admit it here. Despite the bad backs and all the accumulative injuries, these guys can play. There are awesome. A winning score of 22 under par means a lot of birdies and eagles man. And these guys play just three rounds to boot not four like on the regular tour. That’s an average of more than 65-66 for each round. Holy Bat Man! These guys are really good.
I kept going back and forth between the tournaments on the Golf Channel from the Hope to the Champions event and then I had the realization that I knew more of the players and their stories on the Champions tour than whose who the young guns playing at the Hope by far.
On top of that when I then discovered whose on rooster playing on the Senior Tour these days I could not believe it. Just this years’ new additions include Freddie Couples, Corey Pavin , and Mark Calcaveccia, and I’m telling you this is the tour to get watching more. They’re playing with the likes of Bernard Langers, Loren Roberts, Fred Funk, Tom Watson, Mark O’Meara, and a host of other really great players of the game who can really play some super golf.
You know these guys can not only play great golf but seem to know how to enjoy themselves at the same time. Imagine playing a game where you actually get paid to perform and have fun doing it, and seeing all your friends at one location. They’re playing golf man!
I think these guys’ pinch’ themselves every day and count their lucky stars or something that they are able to play golf for a living at this time in their life. They seem to have put the word “fun” back into the game as they compete for more golf titles and wins.
I think I’ll keep the TV channel on the same spot for now.
Let’s get back to playing for the enjoyment of the game here in 2010. That’s one of my new golf goals of the year.
How about yours?
Let me know if you need to tune-up a part of your game. Our season begins here very soon.
Plus with my new instructional method I have developed here, Plant and Pivot along with our new balance-right swing trainer, you will see some even greater improvement here this year.
All for now. Bob Cisco
The Golf Doctor. www.allaboutgolf.us
Tags: Champions Tour, Fred Couples, PGA Tour, Tom Watson
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