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Posts Tagged ‘golf’

How to Defeat an Opponent in Golf – Part 1

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
Hi Guys:

Do you find you tighten up and feel the
pressure when “the heat is on” when it
comes to winning a golf event, match or
friendly wager with your golf buddies?

Well you’re not alone my golf friend. Many
a golf match or score has been spoiled or
ruined when “it’s on the line” and you
are counted on to perform.

Here’s my formula for overcoming this problem
and coming out on to top. (Part 1).

This is THE part of the game that many golfers
including pros have trouble with and it
can happen at anytime, where the momentum
shifts, and catches you off guard. The result
usually means a victory for “Old Man Par” or
your opponent who you thought you were besting
but now find you’re on the losing end of the
stick.

A decent good round is gone. You’re upset,
frustrated and round or match has been lost.
You suffer a stinging defeat.

First of all, those who win more than others
do so because of a couple of key factors: 1).
they know their limitations and stick to a
strategy that works, 2). they like being in
such a situation and get up for winning and
beating their opponent, and 3) they have a
better attitude and find ways to overcome
tough situations. They learn to dig-in” and
work their way back to what they can do and
somehow looking for the break that they can
ride the momentum back on top to than those
to “fold their tent” when adversity strikes.

Too many golfers don’t have a handle on what
they know they can do or pull off under pressure.
This is because they can’t judge a strength
from a weakness and because of this they don’t
know when to play aggressive or conservative
and can’t mount the right charge or keep
momentum when needed. This is the losing side
of the formula.

The player who knows his weaknesses, can stick
to what shots he knows he can hit and control
and can find the weakness of his opponent, has
an advantage and usually wins in the end.

What I recommend you look at for yourself is a
game plan you can stick to that works. If you
play best keeping the ball in the fairway even
if you’re shorter off the tee, by advancing the
ball just off the green gives you an advantage
because if you have a really good short game
you can hole the pitch or at the very least
get up and down.

If you tend to be wild off the tee and that
hurts your performance and penalizes you, then
swing easier and take one more club and work
on controlling your shots with a strategy where
you end up for the your next shot.

Always play from a strength position that you
can control as much as you can the outcome.

Work on managing where you want to hit or land
the ball or shot and have a strategy or game
plan in mind that you stick to.

You’ll win more times this way and be a
happier golfer especially at the 19 th hole.

When we get to the Ryder Cup here at the end of
Sept, will take up Part II of How to Defeat any
Opponent in Golf with some more advanced stuff
you will like.

I have a drill in my Ultimate Game of Golf

book in which you play nine holes and you hit two balls
off the tee with a driver and fairway metal. You
assess how having the ball in the fairway is a
real premium to scoring and if you do that and
can putt well, then you find the trophy is yours!

All for now, Bob Cisco
The Golf Doctor
www.swingmentor.com


Secret to Getting Out of the Sand

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Hi Guys:

 

Well in most rounds of golf you will

have a shot out of a sand trap 

green-side and you will face a get

up and down situation. It might be a

pressure situation late in the round

or a match play scenario. 

 

So you’ll have to have the confidence

to hit this shot and get the shot close

enough to make the putt and save par,

make birdie or even a bogey.

 

So in other words you need to make this

shot work and perform for you when it

counts.

 

Here’s how you hit this shot and an

“inside secret” to getting it close and

at the very least on the green with a

chance to make the putt.

 

The key to the sand shot is learning to

hit consistency behind the ball at least

two inches and accelerate thru at impact

with the hands swinging thru.

 

This shot is like a flop shot where you

hinge it up steeply and let it drop down

but you need to develop the skill at the

bottom of the arc where you enter the

sand to stay with the shot and hit behind

the ball two inches or more.

 

In doing so you get the bottom of the club

face, the flange of the club where all the

weight is, to splash thru the sand and in

doing so ‘explode’ the ball out and up on

to the green.

 

The key is learning how to move thru the

shot with the knees and thighs braced and

the hands unhinging back behind the ball

and swinging the club up and thru to

completion.

 

I’m going to give you here a key drill

that makes this all work for you and it is

a great drill we use at our Ultimate Golf

Schools and the short game clinics.

 

I call it the “Johnny Cash Walk the Line”

Drill after the great country singer himself.

 

In this drill, you draw a line in the sand

and you practice hitting the line as close

as you can. So line up several balls just

ahead of this line and practice hitting the

line instead of the ball, which is two inches

behind it and perform the shot. Then go to

the next ball and do the same and the third

and last ball in a set.

 

This drill trains your mind to hit the spot

behind the ball roughly two inches or more

and to stay down and thru the shot.

 

Leave a comment on how you like this drill

and if it pays dividends for you next time

your in the trap and have to get up and down.

 

Bob Cisco — The Golf Doctor

www.allaboutgolf.us

 

For more tips like this go to my

web site at www.allaboutgolf.us

to improve your short game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kaymer Wins PGA Golf Championship in Play-off

Monday, August 16th, 2010
2010 PGA Championship
Image via Wikipedia

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.uswww.swingmentor.com

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Your golf game will be chipper with this…

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
At the Links
Image by Clay Carson via Flickr

Hi Guys:
A great utility club to use around the green
is a chipper. It’s a specially designed club
for chipping and running the ball along the
ground like a putter with some loft.

There are a few golf mfg. cos that make good
ones now. Cleveland Golf has a one with a
weighted back that I tested out a few months
back and liked.

The other day and what got me to think of
writing this story was that I was in a thrift
shop around the corner from where I live.
I found an old Mac Gregor chipper that caught
my eye. I like collecting old clubs. You can
find them sometimes at such stores.

I liked the feel and weight in the back. I
reckoned it most be 35-50 yrs old and so I
forked over the $2.99 and took it home. The
Cleveland one costs around $80.00 to $90.00.
I think.

I have a golf studio at home so I was able to
try it out quickly and found it works really
good.

A good chipper can save you strokes around the
green and get you out of some awkward situations
on the course where you just need to hit it back
into play a short distance or from under a tree
or something.

A hybrid can work too but they are longer in
length and I find the chipper being shorter can be
the real winner especially when you get it close to
the hole or you hole the chip shot. I can use my
regular putting stance with it.

I’ll let you know when I hole my first one with
this new find..!

Let me know your thoughts on this as well.

Need any help with your short game? You can contact
me for a one on one lesson or series to sharpen your
short game.

Hope you’re doing well on the links.

Keep cool, Bob Cisco
The Golf Doctor
www.allaboutgolf.us

 

Golf Training:Take A Page from Tiger’s Play Book…

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Wow! Great come back over the weekend by Tiger.

Yes, he’s like our superman to golf. That’s for sure!

Shoots 68-65 = 133 to beat the best at Jack’s Memorial Tournament over the weekend. Key players shaking their heads again.

Awesome perfromance Tiger.

Did you notice the change with his golf swing and the analysis the commentators did on Saturday during the tournament.

The secret to his consistency is his rotation & keen sense of balance.

He ties his balance to his intense concentration with and on the target  like no other except that of Jack Nicklaus, who handled him the trophy for the fourth time again. Jones and Hogan were also great at this mental skill.

With his improved control off the tee hitting many more fairways  and his great putting and short game, he’s got to be the outright FAVORITE for the US Open at Beth Page Black in two weeks. 

Do what Tiger does and match your balance to your intention and create that focus to the hole in your shot-making. Create the shot.

Best, Bob Cisco.  Golf performance advisor

www.allaboutgolf.us

P.S. What do you think is Tiger’s secret to his swing and game?

Balance and Consistency are First Cousins in the Golf Swing Motion

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Did you know that balance and consistency are first cousins in the golf swing motion?

It’s true. You see them together almost all the time. Hanging out and interacting in the golf swing.  Interesting how balance has so much to do with consistency in the golf siwng motion.

Hit a good shot and you always find you’re in balance. Hit a bad one and you’re usually “off balance” in some part of the swing motion. Interesting hey.

As a matter of fact,  most likely the most neglected and misunderstood key basic or fundamental in the golf swng.

I’ve done a lot of recent key research on this area and I will share with you what I found out here.

Here’s a recent article on the importance of this relationship being maintained, how it is done and how you can improve your balance and have better golf shots.

This report has some of my finest research and work and I am letting you in behind the curtain here to see it.

 

Why You Still Can’t Break 100, 90 and 80 in Golf

And How Balance and Consistency are Key 

 

If you’re not breaking thru the next barrier in your

golf game and you’re still hitting inconsistent shots,

then, sit down and read this special report and find

out WHY you’re having the trouble you’re having with

your golf swing and game.

 

So what is INCONSISTENCY in my game, golf swing

and shot-making?  That’s a  great question to be

asking yourself and your golf teacher.

 

Golfers use this ONE word all the time. I’m inconsistent

with hitting my shots  and with my swing.. I hear it a lot

as an instructor and have for some time. For years as

a matter of fact, I hear this one word describing more

problems than any other.

 

Inconsistent with what part or aspect of the golf swing

motion, path or clubface delivery? How often has your

instructor or teacher asked you that more specific question.

Probably not. And he should be asking you for these

specifics if he’s going to get more to the bottom of your

problem with your game and Inconsistency.

  

Inconsistency can mean a lot of things to the golfer.

as a problem in the golf swing, it sums up mainly

around swing errors that lead up to an improper

swing path and motion thru the ball.

 

It has to do with the amount of deviation from a

certain norm or degrees in delivering the clubface

to the ball at impact in the golf swing is getting

closer to what  it is. More on this later in this article.

 

Swinging at 90 or 100 mph in two seconds or less

and making sold impact with the club head at impact

is actually impressive and a real athletic skill. So do

pat yourself on the back a bit because you’re playing

one of the most difficult sports where there is higher

velocity or speed that is required to swing with a club

and propel a ball down the fairway.

 

Each of these golf swing symptoms are manifestations of

some kind of an error in the motion of the golf swing and

its path being swung around the body with the weighted

club.

 

When you’re dealing with swinging a club, bat or racquet

around your body at high speed, to the degree that you

can do that and swing in balance will greatly impact and

improve a number of these key factors and swing positions.

 

Top players, who are the epitome of balance and

consistency, all key on swinging or rotating in balance.

Remember that. That’s one of the key rules you must

follow with eh swing.

 

Your best rounds of golf were most likely when you swung

easier and smoother and found yourself more in control

and had good timing. Recall a few of such rounds and

you’ll find that’s what you were doing and why the

round and your swing felt better and effortless that day,

your timing was exceptional and felt better.

 

So what is Inconsistency really in the golf swing motion?

And how can you get more of it as a skill and improved

ability on your shot-making?

 

We have known for many years that many of the key

problems golfers have, have to do with the backswing

move done incorrectly. It is here that the majority of

errors in a faulty swing can be found. This is from the

initial takeaway (Swing position 1) to waist-high position

in the backswing move (Swing Position Two).

 

There are more things can go wrong with the swing

in this first crucial zone of movement (SP 1 and SP2)

than in any other part in the golf swing motion. The

error in the first three feet is usually a combination

of several errors, some quite drastic and caustic

to a good repeating golf swing.

 

This is a big problem because there can be a number

of swing errors going on at the same time in the

backswing that can mask the real problem and be

difficult not only for the golfer to identify and solve

for himself, but likewise can be a real challenge for

the golf teacher to recommend solutions  in trying 

to fix the golfer’s basic swing problem and errors.

 

Eighty per cent of all swing errors are contained in

this move away from the ball to waist-high position

(Swing position 2). Wow. That’s a host of swing

errors in just one area of the golf swing motion.

 

These swing errors manifest themselves in a

combination of errors that when the golfer swings

this way, with one of these key errors present,

he can may get away with perhaps one miscue

or error as a result and get an okay, somewhat

satisfactory result, but not when he has two or

more of such fundamental errors.

  

Arnold Palmer said in one of his key books:

“If I got the takeaway right with my swing, the

green light was on for a  good swing and hit”.

How true that is here and supports this premise

that the primary error in the golf swing and

most crucial part has to do with your

backswing motion.

 

So remember what “A.P” said here and you’ll

play better as a result of this advice.

 

Watch the top players and notice how they

are working on that takeaway move a lot –

as a constant reminder of its importance to get

it right in the takeaway as a swing exercise and

drill, and to groove in the move away from the

ball. Several players even adopted it into their

waggle and practice swing move.

 

You probably have hear of this also referred to as

the one-piece takeaway from the ball in the

backswing move. Yes that is correct.

 

The key to fixing your INCONSISTENCY lies in

handling this key error or the series of faulty

errors that you have that show up in the INITIAL

takeaway and the first three feet of your swing

back swing move.

 

This is the crucial zone in the backswing move

and is one of the most vital move in the golf swing

motion that will make or break your success for

making solid contact with hitting the ball. It has

a large part to do with  improving your consistency

in your ball-striking.

 

Your move back to the ball in the forward swing is

also vital but the majority of golfers are already too

far out of position, and have to make a big compensation

in a series of ways quickly to get back into, the correct

position to hit the ball at impact. Which in most cases

does not happen and results are less than satisfactory

and Inconsistent at best.

 

By the time the golfer has reached the top of his

backswing, (Swing position 3) he has stacked up a

combination of errors to overcome in his swing, that he

has to handle quickly and overcome or compensate for. 

 

First of all, what I discovered which was hard to believe

with all the information written about the golf swing, that

the understanding of basic motion of the golf swing has

been essentially misunderstood by many golf students

and teaching pros.

 

This sounds rather basic but upon further examination

of what’s being taught  and told to students to do, is a

series of isolated mechanics of positions and technique,

not sound theory of basics and fundamentals of the golf

swing motion (motion, timing and rhythm).This needs

to change.

 

When one is being consistent in his swing motion and 

is swinging or rotating the club and his body In a

synchronize way and in balance, his timing is more

effectively and performs better as he swings the club

around his body. This creates a better pivoting action and

driving  action up against the left side and out towards

the target with acceleration.

 

 

The golf swing is not a movement of focusing on or

concentrating on isolated swing positions and the swing

plane itself. That is a secondary focus but not of primary

importance in the golf swing motion.

 

It is a concentration on feeling in balance, shifting your

weight smoothly back and forth, and timing the hit or

release of the golf shot. That’s what you focus on. Ask

any advanced player or pro on what he focuses on

while swinging.

 

It May Not Be All Your Fault –

 

The golf swing has been over complicated and made

too difficult to understand for most golfers especially

the information having to do with swing plane, its function

and its importance. This has been going on now for

sometime – actually over 50 yrs or more and is during

that time that the national average has only improved

less than one stroke. An unfortunate but Interesting point.

   

The average golfer who can not break 100 or 90 is OUT OF BALANCE

in their golf swing from the get-go.

 

This actually happens in the first foot to three foot zone of

their golf swing and from there, the golfer is struggling to

create a compensation for being out of balance from this

swing center position, which then affects their pivot, tempo

and timing pattern. The golfer then tries desperately to

overcome these errors which in most cases he really can’t.

Inconsistent shots result.

 

I spent ten years or more studying this problem directly and

my research on this is contained and written up in my latest

golf book project: Perfect Balance, Your Key to Consistency

and Shot-making in Golf. I go into more in depth detail

about this breakthrough, Inconsistency, the discoveries I

made, and the over twenty new axioms found on motion

and balance in the golf swing. You can see order the

complete report in book form if you don’t already have it 

by going to www.lulu.com/bobcisco.

 

In my latest research on the role of footwork, balance,

and swing center, I stumbled upon an important discovery

in the golf swing — that the golf swing motion starts not only

with the club, but with the assistance of the feet from the ball of

the foot/arch area when the golfer starts the club back in his swing.

 

The feet are the only part of the body in touch with the

ground and actually act as “guide posts” for the harnessing

and balancing of the body that is coiling around its swing

center. They create a kinetic chain effect upwards in the

golf swing motion.

 

Tiger Woods in his book, “How I Play Golf”, “stated  that

power is generated from the ground up, starting with the

connection to the ground with your feet and working

upward”…

  

I found in my eight year research study that the majority

of golfers — those who couldn’t break 100 and 90 –

tended to over-rotate the feet especially the ankle and

hips in the early part of the back-swing, and that this

point alone caused a host of problems in the golf swing,.

especially with their timing pattern, maintaining of spine

angle, and overall lack of consistency to hit solid shots.

 

This point has been truly overlooked, missed and has

been unknown to traditional golf instruction with

the national average stuck at over 100 for most

men and women golfers for the past 50-75 years,

despite all the new technological advances in golf

equipment.

 

This sounds to me like we have placed too much

emphasis on the wrong area. I go into this in more

detail in a book I recently wrote on this and you will

find  in some ways discover a bit of a conspiracy by

those in the higher ranks of golf associations, to

suppress this information from ever really getting it

to the masses of golfers for a particular vested reason.

 

This is because if golfers started figuring this out better

for themselves they really wouldn’t need to reply so

heavily on a swing coach or golf teachers with the bottom

line being that instructors of the game would give far less

lessons to students.

 

But what if there was a better way that all golfers could

benefit from such instruction?  Not only from a good golf

teacher when needed but could essentially personally

train themselves on these key fundamentals, i.e. balance,

pivot and better timing in their golf swings. And that they

could achieve better consistency and hit more solid golf

shots as a result?

 

So do this for me: Work on your back swing move as more

of a one piece takeaway away from the ball and be more

aware of your balance especially in the first three feet of your

golf swing. “Think balance” in your golf swing man!

 

While you’re doing that I’ll get back to you soon as I am on to

something that will greatly help you in this area as a training

aid.

 

Imagine for a moment a personal training device that would

groove in this key move with your balance, pivot and timing?

Wouldn’t that be something.

 

Talk to you soon and let me know how you liked the special  report.

 

Leave a comment right now.

.

Bob Cisco –

Golf Performance advisor

 

 

 

 

Does Practicing Your Golf Work for You..?

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

We all know that to play better golf
we need to practice various parts of
our game. Driving, irons, putting and
sand play.

But there is a problem here with this:
tap on www.allaboutgolf.us/blog for the
rest of the story.

I’ve been studying this area for
sometime now and have found that the
majority of golfers don’t practice their
game often enough and when they do, they
aren’t getting the most out of the time
and effort spent practicing.

So many golfers don’t practice because
they don’t see any real benefit from
it so why bother. Plus, it takes time.

I found that those who do like to
practice and find it enjoyable report
that their game is better especially
if they are able to put in some regular
practice time towards it.

So here are some tips to improve and make
your practice more worthwhile.

1). Find a regular time you can practice
say a half to full hour in the early morning
or early evening hours a couple of times
a week;

2). Work on each part and practice it to a
point where you feel you achieve something
like your putting or wedge play;

3). If you only have a short time period,
work on one part of the game like your
putting;

4). Practicing with a partner or golf
buddy makes it more fun and you can
challenge one another at various skill
competitions;

5). Practice keeps the golf muscles engaged
and working and creates the muscle memory
active inthe golf swing and the short game
skills area.

In Part II of this golf training article,
I will take up more on this issue of how to
get the most out of your practice and your
golf game.

Talk to you soon,

Bob Cisco

“the greatest advancement in modern day golf instruction and training will come in the rediscovery of the key role of balance, pivot and footwork in the golf swing”.

Bob Cisco, 2008.