Here's a video from Steve Elkington at the Secret Golf YouTube Channel (one of my favorites) discussing their strategy for the 15th hole at TPC River Highlands (296 yard par-4)
I do this work every week on Tour for my clients and for the past four years, #15 is one of the 'Critical Holes' at TPC River Highlands. I don't think it's a big revelation as to the strategy employed by Elk, Perez and Dufner if you were to ask other Tour players and their caddies. Since 2011, I've only encountered a handful of players that have layed-up on the hole.
However, I tend to think that lower handicap amateurs are more apt to use a different and inferior strategy of laying-up on a hole like this. They are too much in fear of playing for a 'bad swing' instead of playing for the likely results if they take a 'decent' swing at the ball.
For the amateurs that are say, 5 handicap or less, there is the assumption that playing safe "guarantees a par." However, that is more often than not the EXACT OPPOSITE of being true. As Pat Perez astutely pointed out...this green is not easy to hit into and leaving yourself with a 90 yard shot doesn't guarantee you will find the green or even get it close.
The other thing about laying-up on a hole like this is that it takes a possible eagle out of the equation. Since 2011, there have been 44 eagles on the 15th hole. In general, the numbers show that for the Tour if the eagle percentage gets to around 2% or more on a par-4, then players should go for it if feasible.
In essence, going for this par-4 off the tee is a strategy that creates a lower expected score because you're more likely to hit your approach shot closer to the cup.
3JACK
Monday, July 6, 2015
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Help Fund Junior Golfer Karl Vilips
Here's a funding campaign for 13-year world champion, Karl Vilips.
http://www.gofundme.com/9sz8hg
3JACK
http://www.gofundme.com/9sz8hg
3JACK
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Andy Patnou and Gabe Writer on Tour Tempo
Here's a great video from Andy Patnou and Gabe Writer on 'Tour Tempo' for your swing.
I've only briefly read some of the stuff on Tour Tempo. IIRC, the concept was that the creators noticed that when you utilize a video camera and measure the swing in terms of frames on the camera you would see the best Tour players, especially when they were on top of their game, would get a 3:1 backswing to downswing ratio. For example, in Gabe's first attempts to go at a 27:9 ratio, that means that the swing is moving at 27 frames in the backwing and 9 frames in the downswing. Therefore, 24:8 was 24 frames backswing...8 frames downswing. And 21:7 was 21 frames backswing, 7 frames downswing.
Also, IIRC, they found that generally the best of the best like Tiger in 2000, Moe Norman, etc. were at 21:7 when they were on their A game (which Moe always was).
I would have to talk to some of the movement pattern learning experts on this practice methodology. Part of me senses that it may be somewhat internally focused (which we don't want), but it may be more externally focused than I think since instead of thinking of hitting a shot towards the target, you're thinking of what you need to do to match the rhythm of the beat.
It also appeared to me, that initially Gabe lost some of the mechanics when he first started at 21:7, but then started to automatically regain them and actually looked the best they had looked as the video finished up.
3JACK
I've only briefly read some of the stuff on Tour Tempo. IIRC, the concept was that the creators noticed that when you utilize a video camera and measure the swing in terms of frames on the camera you would see the best Tour players, especially when they were on top of their game, would get a 3:1 backswing to downswing ratio. For example, in Gabe's first attempts to go at a 27:9 ratio, that means that the swing is moving at 27 frames in the backwing and 9 frames in the downswing. Therefore, 24:8 was 24 frames backswing...8 frames downswing. And 21:7 was 21 frames backswing, 7 frames downswing.
Also, IIRC, they found that generally the best of the best like Tiger in 2000, Moe Norman, etc. were at 21:7 when they were on their A game (which Moe always was).
I would have to talk to some of the movement pattern learning experts on this practice methodology. Part of me senses that it may be somewhat internally focused (which we don't want), but it may be more externally focused than I think since instead of thinking of hitting a shot towards the target, you're thinking of what you need to do to match the rhythm of the beat.
It also appeared to me, that initially Gabe lost some of the mechanics when he first started at 21:7, but then started to automatically regain them and actually looked the best they had looked as the video finished up.
3JACK
Monday, June 29, 2015
Shawn Clement on Internal versus External Focus
Here's a good video from instructor, Shawn Clement, on his views on Tiger and his swing changes.
The main reason why I posted this video is because of Shawn's discussion on internal focus versus external focus in learning the golf swing. I think this is important not only to improve performance on the course, but to actually improve those mechanics in the long run, regardless of the golfer.
3JACK
The main reason why I posted this video is because of Shawn's discussion on internal focus versus external focus in learning the golf swing. I think this is important not only to improve performance on the course, but to actually improve those mechanics in the long run, regardless of the golfer.
3JACK
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Rory McIrloy's Trackman Numbers
Here's a video from golf instructor, Gary Nicol, showing Rory McIlroy's recent Trackman numbers:
One of the big things that I discovered a while ago and that has changed my viewpoint on practice and my practice methodology is how Trackman numbers on the range are often vastly different than on the golf course. Not only does the Tour have some Trackman numbers on the actual golf course, I have had Tour clients bring their own Trackman out on the course and we saw some surprising results. In fact, a classic example is Bubba Watson who was measured by Ping at 120 mph club speed and hitting +5 degrees upward while his PGA Tour measurements were far different and indicated an attack angle closer to 0 degrees.
Here we see some differences with Rory in practice than on the golf course in competition.
Here are some of Rory's numbers in practice on Trackman:
Club Speed: 118.6 mph.
This year Rory is at 119.7 mph in tournament play. He was at 121.6 last year and 121.3 in 2013. From my conversations with some of my Tour clients that have brought the Trackman out on the course their club head speed tends to lower out on the course. However, there are people that see an increase in club speed out on the course, especially in competition. I would say that 65% of the players I've talked to about this see their club speed lower, 25% see it stay the same and 10% see their club speed get faster out on the course.
Ball Speed: 179.2 mph
Currently, his ball speed is at 176.9. It was 179.7 in 2014 and 179.9 in 2013. We should remember that hitting up more, all things being equal, will increase the smash factor. And there's a tendency to see club speed drop when you're hitting up on the ball more as the release point of the wrists tend to change. In the end, I'm skeptical of Rory hitting even +1.9 degrees up in competition. He probably hits more closely to 0 degrees.
Spin Rate: 2,297 rpm's
He's at 2,563 this year, in 2014 he was 2,383 and he was at 2,697 in 2013.
Again, this indicates that in real course situations, he probably is not hitting up as much as +1.9 degrees. What we have seen from statistics is that the best drivers in the world, like Rory, tend to generate roughly 2,450 to 2,750 rpm's of spin. Part of is a hang time issue and other parts of it is that if you get too low on your spin rate, it's going to be difficult to keep some drives in the firm fairways that are throughout the PGA Tour.
We did see his spin rate go down more closely to the practice in 2014. Rory's typical problem is that he hits some over-draws and of course if you're hitting less upward on the ball that will shift the path more outward (all things being equal). His curvature in 2014 looked to be a lot less when I watched him than it was in 2013 when his spin rate was higher. However, that spin rate may have all been due to an equipment change.
Either way, McIroy is an elite driver of the ball. But it goes to show you that even the elite have things change on them when they are facing live ammo.
3JACK
One of the big things that I discovered a while ago and that has changed my viewpoint on practice and my practice methodology is how Trackman numbers on the range are often vastly different than on the golf course. Not only does the Tour have some Trackman numbers on the actual golf course, I have had Tour clients bring their own Trackman out on the course and we saw some surprising results. In fact, a classic example is Bubba Watson who was measured by Ping at 120 mph club speed and hitting +5 degrees upward while his PGA Tour measurements were far different and indicated an attack angle closer to 0 degrees.
Here we see some differences with Rory in practice than on the golf course in competition.
Here are some of Rory's numbers in practice on Trackman:
Club Speed: 118.6 mph.
This year Rory is at 119.7 mph in tournament play. He was at 121.6 last year and 121.3 in 2013. From my conversations with some of my Tour clients that have brought the Trackman out on the course their club head speed tends to lower out on the course. However, there are people that see an increase in club speed out on the course, especially in competition. I would say that 65% of the players I've talked to about this see their club speed lower, 25% see it stay the same and 10% see their club speed get faster out on the course.
Ball Speed: 179.2 mph
Currently, his ball speed is at 176.9. It was 179.7 in 2014 and 179.9 in 2013. We should remember that hitting up more, all things being equal, will increase the smash factor. And there's a tendency to see club speed drop when you're hitting up on the ball more as the release point of the wrists tend to change. In the end, I'm skeptical of Rory hitting even +1.9 degrees up in competition. He probably hits more closely to 0 degrees.
Spin Rate: 2,297 rpm's
He's at 2,563 this year, in 2014 he was 2,383 and he was at 2,697 in 2013.
Again, this indicates that in real course situations, he probably is not hitting up as much as +1.9 degrees. What we have seen from statistics is that the best drivers in the world, like Rory, tend to generate roughly 2,450 to 2,750 rpm's of spin. Part of is a hang time issue and other parts of it is that if you get too low on your spin rate, it's going to be difficult to keep some drives in the firm fairways that are throughout the PGA Tour.
We did see his spin rate go down more closely to the practice in 2014. Rory's typical problem is that he hits some over-draws and of course if you're hitting less upward on the ball that will shift the path more outward (all things being equal). His curvature in 2014 looked to be a lot less when I watched him than it was in 2013 when his spin rate was higher. However, that spin rate may have all been due to an equipment change.
Either way, McIroy is an elite driver of the ball. But it goes to show you that even the elite have things change on them when they are facing live ammo.
3JACK
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Tips for Dealing with the Summer Heat
With the summer months ahead and the hot weather rolling in, I wanted to go over my tips to dealing with the heat based on my years playing in the hot Florida sun.
Obviously…Stay Hydrated
Everybody mentions this because it’s true. But, when you become dehydrated your alertness levels drop and you start to lose some hand-eye coordination in the process. From my experience, I would recommend not over-doing the sports drinks (i.e. Gatorade). But, you can’t ignore them either because they have the valuable electrolytes. Smart Water has electrolytes as well, but water doesn’t dissolve in the body as well as Gatorade. The issue with too much Gatorade is that it has quite a bit of sodium in it.
So, my suggestion is if you know it’s going to be hot out, drink plenty of water THE DAY BEFORE you play. Then the day of your round, I would drink 1 bottle of a sports drink before I would play and that would be my only sports drink (unless you’re having hydration issues). Then I would drink water for the rest of the day.
One thing you don’t want to do is over-hydrate (aka waterlog) yourself. The problem with over-hydration is that the symptoms are very similar to being dehydrated (cramping, low blood pressure, fatigue). I would try to drink some water once every 3 holes or so.
Shade Yourself
Getting into the shade usually makes things roughly 20 degrees cooler. For those walking, it’s best to get a push cart umbrella like this one from Izzo Golf.
Again, it’s obvious but some people don’t do it enough. Anytime you can stand in the shade, even if for only 30 seconds, it will help you keep your energy levels up.
Towels
Most people think of towels in golf when it comes to rainy days, but actually they are your best friend in the heat. I like to carry at least these 3 towels in the extreme heat:
A. Towel to clean my clubs off
B. Towel to clean my face
C. Towel soaked in ice water
I prefer to use Microfiber towels for the clubs and my face. Club Glove makes a great microfiber towel for cleaning your clubs.
This towel has an opening where you can stick your irons and so you won’t lose the towel from the fastener breaking. This towel is super absorbent, but also a bit abrasive. So that’s why I don’t use it on my face, but I will use it to clean my clubs, to absorb the sweat off my grips and my hands.
For the towel to clean my face, I prefer a softer Microfiber towel like this one.
For the towel soaked in ice water, this is used simply to help cool off. You can use any old towel. If you’re riding in a cart, see if they have a cooler available. And if you really want to get crazy, put some salt in the ice water of the cooler to help reduce the temperature even more. The towel soaked in cold ice water is extremely helpful in keeping your body temperature down in the extreme heat. I tend to find the best places to put the ice cold towel is on the neck, ears and the back of the knees.
Grip Help
Some people ask me what do I prefer, Gorilla Grip or the gripping lotion?
Personally, I prefer Gorilla Grip and it’s not even close. The gripping lotion takes longer to work and doesn’t stick as well. Gorilla Grip works instantaneously and the tackiness will stay for about a minute or so. Once the tackiness is gone, the hands will be dry.
Gloves
Like towels, golf gloves are your friends in the heat. The problem is that you can end up purchasing a lot of them during the course of heat wave. A lot of people like Rain Grips. I do, too. From my experience they do last longer than typical cabretta leather gloves. However, they will still get old rather quickly when it’s hot out. The issue is the sweat and oils for the hands can’t be cleaned out and that makes them slick over time.
I prefer to grab 3 gloves and mark them 1, 2 and 3. I will play with glove #1 on holes 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16. I play with glove #2 on holes 2, 5, 8, 11, 14 and 17. Then I use glove #3 on holes 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18.
From there, I try to get them on a Glove extender (picture below):
I also try to get them in room temperature.
Heat and sweat = slickness.
I personally believe you could get more life if you hand them near some type of humidifier, but I don’t own one, so I don't know for sure.
Golf Grips
I find that if you use these tips, you can pretty much use any type of golf grip and still be able to hold onto it pretty well. The leather perforated grips like GripMaster USA and Best Grips have I find to be the best with the sweat. Iomics are very good (although your likely to wear the grip down where you place the left thumb on the grip). The chord grips are pretty good as well.
But, if you want to get more time from your grips and keep them tacky, I recommend cleaning them afterwards to get the oils and sweat from your hands out. Again, sweat + heat = slickness. So keep them in a room temperature climate as soon as you can.
I simply clean my grips right as I’m cleaning my clubs. I take a bucket and fill it with dish soap water and grab my scrub brush, clean the heads and then clean the grips. It’s important to wipe the grips clean as well. If you do that, you can even play with Golf Pride Tour Wraps for a long time and have them keep their tackiness.
Clothing
This is nothing new here...wear light colors and light clothing. The bigger issue is that your clothes are likely to have sweat stains. For hats, I do NOT recommend cleaning them by putting them in the dishwasher of clothes washer. The heat is just too much for hats and it will destroy the hat (visor). Instead, I just fill a sink with warm water and dish soap. I use a scrub brush (like the ones used for golf club cleaning) and use the soft bristle side. Get some Oxi-Clean and scrub out the serious dirt stains, gently. Then I use some sweat stain remover and scrub that where the sweat stains are located. I then let the hat(s) soak in the sink filled with soap water for about 4 hours. I then remove the hat(s) and place them flat on a towel.
Hope these ideas help you with playing in the summer heat.
3JACK
Obviously…Stay Hydrated
Everybody mentions this because it’s true. But, when you become dehydrated your alertness levels drop and you start to lose some hand-eye coordination in the process. From my experience, I would recommend not over-doing the sports drinks (i.e. Gatorade). But, you can’t ignore them either because they have the valuable electrolytes. Smart Water has electrolytes as well, but water doesn’t dissolve in the body as well as Gatorade. The issue with too much Gatorade is that it has quite a bit of sodium in it.
So, my suggestion is if you know it’s going to be hot out, drink plenty of water THE DAY BEFORE you play. Then the day of your round, I would drink 1 bottle of a sports drink before I would play and that would be my only sports drink (unless you’re having hydration issues). Then I would drink water for the rest of the day.
One thing you don’t want to do is over-hydrate (aka waterlog) yourself. The problem with over-hydration is that the symptoms are very similar to being dehydrated (cramping, low blood pressure, fatigue). I would try to drink some water once every 3 holes or so.
Shade Yourself
Getting into the shade usually makes things roughly 20 degrees cooler. For those walking, it’s best to get a push cart umbrella like this one from Izzo Golf.
Again, it’s obvious but some people don’t do it enough. Anytime you can stand in the shade, even if for only 30 seconds, it will help you keep your energy levels up.
Towels
Most people think of towels in golf when it comes to rainy days, but actually they are your best friend in the heat. I like to carry at least these 3 towels in the extreme heat:
A. Towel to clean my clubs off
B. Towel to clean my face
C. Towel soaked in ice water
I prefer to use Microfiber towels for the clubs and my face. Club Glove makes a great microfiber towel for cleaning your clubs.
This towel has an opening where you can stick your irons and so you won’t lose the towel from the fastener breaking. This towel is super absorbent, but also a bit abrasive. So that’s why I don’t use it on my face, but I will use it to clean my clubs, to absorb the sweat off my grips and my hands.
For the towel to clean my face, I prefer a softer Microfiber towel like this one.
For the towel soaked in ice water, this is used simply to help cool off. You can use any old towel. If you’re riding in a cart, see if they have a cooler available. And if you really want to get crazy, put some salt in the ice water of the cooler to help reduce the temperature even more. The towel soaked in cold ice water is extremely helpful in keeping your body temperature down in the extreme heat. I tend to find the best places to put the ice cold towel is on the neck, ears and the back of the knees.
Grip Help
Some people ask me what do I prefer, Gorilla Grip or the gripping lotion?
Personally, I prefer Gorilla Grip and it’s not even close. The gripping lotion takes longer to work and doesn’t stick as well. Gorilla Grip works instantaneously and the tackiness will stay for about a minute or so. Once the tackiness is gone, the hands will be dry.
Gloves
Like towels, golf gloves are your friends in the heat. The problem is that you can end up purchasing a lot of them during the course of heat wave. A lot of people like Rain Grips. I do, too. From my experience they do last longer than typical cabretta leather gloves. However, they will still get old rather quickly when it’s hot out. The issue is the sweat and oils for the hands can’t be cleaned out and that makes them slick over time.
I prefer to grab 3 gloves and mark them 1, 2 and 3. I will play with glove #1 on holes 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16. I play with glove #2 on holes 2, 5, 8, 11, 14 and 17. Then I use glove #3 on holes 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18.
From there, I try to get them on a Glove extender (picture below):
I also try to get them in room temperature.
Heat and sweat = slickness.
I personally believe you could get more life if you hand them near some type of humidifier, but I don’t own one, so I don't know for sure.
Golf Grips
I find that if you use these tips, you can pretty much use any type of golf grip and still be able to hold onto it pretty well. The leather perforated grips like GripMaster USA and Best Grips have I find to be the best with the sweat. Iomics are very good (although your likely to wear the grip down where you place the left thumb on the grip). The chord grips are pretty good as well.
But, if you want to get more time from your grips and keep them tacky, I recommend cleaning them afterwards to get the oils and sweat from your hands out. Again, sweat + heat = slickness. So keep them in a room temperature climate as soon as you can.
I simply clean my grips right as I’m cleaning my clubs. I take a bucket and fill it with dish soap water and grab my scrub brush, clean the heads and then clean the grips. It’s important to wipe the grips clean as well. If you do that, you can even play with Golf Pride Tour Wraps for a long time and have them keep their tackiness.
Clothing
This is nothing new here...wear light colors and light clothing. The bigger issue is that your clothes are likely to have sweat stains. For hats, I do NOT recommend cleaning them by putting them in the dishwasher of clothes washer. The heat is just too much for hats and it will destroy the hat (visor). Instead, I just fill a sink with warm water and dish soap. I use a scrub brush (like the ones used for golf club cleaning) and use the soft bristle side. Get some Oxi-Clean and scrub out the serious dirt stains, gently. Then I use some sweat stain remover and scrub that where the sweat stains are located. I then let the hat(s) soak in the sink filled with soap water for about 4 hours. I then remove the hat(s) and place them flat on a towel.
Hope these ideas help you with playing in the summer heat.
3JACK
Short Game Tip with Dan Carraher
Here's a video with a short game tip from instructor Dan Carraher. You can purchase Dan's entire short game video lesson series, which is excellent, at this link: http://www.athletenation.com/instructors/dan-carraher/shortgame-series
3JACK
3JACK
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