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How Golf Lessons Can Help Improve Your Golf Swing Techniques

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Your golf swing is the foundation of your game. Whether you’re a beginner or an avid golf enthusiast, establishing a golf swing that you understand and perform with consistency is pivotal for a satisfying experience on the course. A consistent, powerful swing boosts your confidence and enhances your accuracy and control.  Heartland Golf Schools is located minutes from St. Louis making it easily accessible.

The Power of Professional Golf Lessons 

While all of our students had spent hours, weeks, months, and even years working on their golf swing, they quickly found that having enrolled in our professional golf lessons was a game-changer. With over 30 years of experience, your golf instructor provides personalized guidance, helping you master fundamentals like grip, posture, and alignment. With the benefit of expertise, you can identify and correct flaws that have compromised your swing.  

Build Precision & Consistency in Your Golf Swing 

Consistency in your golf swing is key. Consistency of the physical action of your swing is the result of consistency of the mental action that directs it.  Your coaching addresses both the physical and the vital mental aspect that is the key for every proficient golfer.  The physical action to be produced with the golf club can be made simple to understand.  The right mental cues can make the execution of those actions feel automatic.  The combination of the two builds precision and consistency.  

The Path to Progress 

The carpenter finds that the solution to a dull saw is not pressing harder, but instead is sharpening the saw.  Working harder on the range reinforces the very notions that keep a player from finding improvement.  The path to progress is to “sharpen” your understanding of the golf swing so your practice time produces great results.  Our location is convenient to St. Louis and making the solution to your concerns easy to access.  Heartland Golf Schools’ 3-day program enables you to clearly understand and experience the consistency in your golf swing that you’ll enjoy.  Come join us!  

Tempo, Rhythm, Acceleration, Speed

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metronome indicates tempo
metronome and speedometer
    Often Used and Often Confused Terms

Aside from how our buddies might use these terms when they talk golf, these four are also regularly misused by TV commentators and others who speak authoritatively about golf. Understanding these terms can be helpful to every golfer.

Tempo. When you clap your hands to the beat of the music, the clap is faster for the upbeat tempo and slower for the downbeat tempo. Jon Rahm’s swing is completed in a shorter time than Chris Kirk’s. Chris has a slower tempo.

Rhythm. Clapping your hands to a song, you find that the clapping does not get faster or slower. Rhythm refers to the consistency of the tempo. A rhythmic golf swing is one with a consistent tempo.

Acceleration. Refers to the rate of change in the speed of the swing. The forward swing starts slowly and then it gets faster. While the speed of the forward swing is faster as it arrives at ball contact, the rate of change should be consistent. Observers will often describe a swing with consistent acceleration as being “smooth” whereas uneven acceleration could be described as “jerky”.

Speed. While clubhead speed is often referred to, more significant is ball speed. Ball speed is a function of clubhead speed and the quality of contact being achieved. Ball speed increases as: 1) the clubhead weight increases, 2) its coefficient of restitution increases, 3) the path and face angle coincide, and 4) the centeredness of contact. As pertains to speed, I offer you the words of Bobby Thompson a former world record holder for land speed: “Too much speed is never enough”.

Bottom Line: The rate at which we speak, eat, and walk varies by individual—as does their swing tempo. However, the rhythm and acceleration are consistent in the performance of an effective golf swing. Ball speed is a good thing.

Taking A Golf Lesson

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A golf lesson will not improve your game. An effective golf lesson:

  • Will enable you to experience the improvement you are seeking in one session.
  • Will enable you to understand the change you have made resulting in that improvement.
  • Cannot create a new habit of that change. That takes putting in the “reps”. Upon the conclusion of the lesson, your old swing will still be that which is normal. Disappointment results when a golfer walks from the lesson tee to the first tee expecting the improvement without putting in the “reps”.
  • Should only be expected to produce the improvement with a degree of consistency after at least 6 practice sessions devoted to that lesson.

Bottom Line: When a lesson has resulted in you producing the improvement you are seeking commit the lesson to paper and have the instructor confirm that you have adequately captured the change to be learned. Expect that only after a number of conscientious practice sessions will you begin to see the result of the lesson with some degree of consistency.

Being In Control

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Having now worked with thousands of golfers, their universal desire is to be in control of their golf ball. They want the ball to go exactly where they want it to go. The single reason these golfers attend our school is to learn what to do with the golf club to make the ball go exactly where they want.

While they will have game-improving instruction and lots of time for skill acquisition, there is another dimension to playing well. It’s sometimes referred to as the mental side of golf and has to do with the thoughts swirling in our heads as we approach a shot. Here are three aspects of the mental side that I know will improve your game immediately.

  • Self Talk. Consider your response to a caddy that would criticize your shot, remind you that you are not good out of the sand, or draw your attention to all the places you don’t want to hit your ball. While that’s obviously objectionable, what’s not obvious is how we say many of these same things to ourselves during the round. Here is improvement No. 1—No Complaining about a shot you made or the recovery shot you have to make. Those thoughts and words are more injurious than a downhill braking putt or a buried lie in the bunker.
  • Competing. Unlike in almost any other sport, your competitor cannot physically affect your performance. They cannot put your ball in a divot or deep rough nor can they interfere with your golf swing. Here is improvement No. 2—Your competitor is the golf course. The winner, the champion is the player who competes the best against par.
  • Process. Know the difference between “process” and “product”. Your ball fight is the product. Your setup and swing is the process. We can’t control the ball flight. We can control the process. A highly defined process (grip, alignment, posture, and swing) is the single common denominator of every consistent golfer. Here is improvement No. 3—Establish a process. Make your goal to religiously perform the process for each shot—especially the difficult ones.

Bottom Line: With no change in your swing or your equipment, your game will improve with these three initiatives: No Complaining, Compete Against the Course, and Establish a Process.

The “Spin” on Backspin

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Among the many things that have not changed in our beloved game of golf, are the ooohs and ahhhs heard from the gallery when an approach shot lands on a green and backs up 20 feet toward the cup. How do they do that?

Understand that every ball that isn’t topped (including putts) leaves the clubface with backspin. Every airborne approach shot you’ve ever hit to a green has been spinning backward when it landed. Correlating to loft, a nine iron can produce about 9,000 rpm and the driver produces about 2,500 rpm of backspin.

Here are the spin factors:

  • Some balls are engineered to spin more than others. Tour players almost always choose these balls (eg. Titleist ProV1, Bridgestone Tour BX, Callaway Chrome Tour X). These balls not only are better at picking up backspin from the club, which means they will also pick up slice and hook spin better!
  • For a ball to have enough spin to stop where it lands or roll backward requires an amount of spin only able to be imparted from a club swinging at higher speeds such as a full swing. The faster the swing (think tour players) the more spin.
  • Partial swings are typically not traveling fast enough to impart enough spin to back up. The reason tour pros carry so many wedges is to allow them to make full swings from even short distances.
  • Spin is reduced when water (eg. sprinkler, dew, rain) or grass (think taller rough) comes between the ball and clubface.
  • Backspin is optimized by two factors: clubface loft and angle of attack. Increase either or both and you’ll increase your backspin.
  • For full swings, increased spin will increase the aerodynamic lift and thereby increase trajectory.

“Sucking the ball back” (as the effect of backspin is sometimes referred to) is great except:

  • When you land near the front edge of the green and it backs itself off the putting surface.
  • When you land short of the hole and it backs further away

Bottom Line: Every shot has backspin. Don’t expect to see a lot of backspin at the range (those balls are typically low-spin balls).

Muscle Memory

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muscle cells

On any given day, on any number of driving ranges there are untold numbers of golfers endeavoring to improve their game by building “muscle memory.” Similarly, on any given day there are untold numbers of golfers using training aids that advertise creating “muscle memory”.

Sadly, for both golfers on the range and those exercising with training aids they will fail to achieve muscle memory. The simple reason is that muscle memory is a fallacy. Under a microscope, we find that a muscle is comprised of muscle cells.

Within that muscle there is not a single memory cell. The tiny rubber band-like muscle cells contract when and only when they receive a nerve impulse from the brain. The memory automating a golf swing exists not in your muscles but in your brain.

The famous golfer and former tv commentator Ken Venturi described someone complimenting Ben Hogan on his terrific “muscle memory”. He explains that Ben was not flattered and instead snapped, “My muscles don’t have memory, I tell them what to do.” Hogan was describing the physiological reality that muscles respond to directives from the brain.

Those directives are most effectively created in response to our visualization of the task we want to perform. When a soccer ball finds the goal, the kick is the response of the player visualizing that objective. The same is true for the hockey player and of course the golfer. Both Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods were very descriptive of their use of visualization.

Bottom Line: Seeking muscle memory is a fool’s errand. There is no such thing. To direct your muscles most effectively, learn to use visualization, the little-understood key to the performance of every professional golfer.

7 Habits of Highly Effective Golf

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lessons for better performance

Put on your golf shoes, we're taking the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People onto the golf course.

For management-types, this is a way to bring the performance enhancement benefits of these famed seven ideas to your golf. If you are one of the remaining few who haven't read the book or heard the tapes, make the purchase. Applying these ideas to your golf may be the impetus you need to try them in your life.

Habit 1...Be Proactive Being reactive to weaknesses in your game puts you into a defensive "fixing" mode--circle the wagons. But being proactive says, "let's build a game I can enjoy." Now you’re in a "creative/improving" mode.   This is an important shift from focusing on "what you don't want" to "what you do want.

Habit 2...Begin with the End in Mind When you say, "I want to improve my game" what exactly do you mean? Do you have a handicap in mind? Do you want to be less stress-filled? Want a better short game? Define what you want the end to be. Keep it in mind by occasionally imagining its attainment. If this sounds flaky, you've got a lot to learn about the power of imagery.

Habit 3...Put First Things First In real estate its "location, location, location." In golf its "putting, putting, putting." You can practice it year round indoors and it requires little strength. You use the putter more often than any other club and it accounts for the biggest percentage of your strokes and the biggest chance for scoring improvement. The putting stroke is the “heart” of the full swing. Buy a great putter or a fresh grip for your old putter.

Habit 4...Think Win/Win Malcomb Forbes described success as failure that you learn from. A poorly played round is the blueprint for your game improvement, if we take the time to read it. You will be amazed at how resilient you can be after a poor shot and how many fewer poor shots you'll make if you can keep Mr. Forbes in mind and ask, "What am I learning?" Win from your good shots, win from the poor ones.

Habit 5...Seek First to Understand Then to be Understood When you are working on any part of your game, begin by first improving your understanding how it "should" be done. Only then, should you turn your focus to improving what you are doing. Seek first to understand.

Habit 6...Synergize Too many players try to "go it alone". Unless you find it particularly rewarding to "figure it out on your own", take advantage of the discoveries of those who have gone before you. Attempt to identify one author/teacher that makes sense to you and build on their experience. If you stray from their teachings, do so carefully. Collaborate, synergize.

Habit 7...Sharpen the Saw The carpenter with a dull saw can try to press harder--likewise for a golfer. But pressing harder is not the solution for either. Regardless how sharp a saw, sharpening is an inevitability. Touring professionals make this case by regularly working with their coaches. Schedule your game for routine sharpening.

Covey's teachings about life are readily adaptable to golf, because golf is life in miniature. It is a journey we take over hill and dale never knowing if we are on the verge of delight or disaster but choosing to move forward regardless. Heartland Golf Schools     Learn golf, learn from golf.

Choose the Right Tee Box

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Tee Box

Hole #1 Annbriar
Hole #1 Annbrair

Countless rounds of golf begin with the question, “Which tees do you want to play?” Too often the answer is based on testosterone and not golf logic. Too often this becomes an opportunity for someone to announce their prowess saying, “Let’s move to some back tees!” There’s a better way.

Our home course is Annbriar.   Let’s use it as an example. The first hole plays 304 yards from the middle tees. While there is a fairway bunker on the left side, this hole is kind to the player, recognizes this is their first hole and so provides a generous landing area. When you look at the green you find that it is an elevated green sitting at least 4 feet above the fairway. Additionally, the green is shallow. The architect has set the green to receive lofted approaches. Therefore, the right tee box is the one from which your typical drive will position you to hit a high lofted shot that will hold this green.

The second hole is very different. Measuring 364 from the middle tees, you’ll find that this green is level with the fairway and is deeper. Here the architect is giving you a target that will work well with lower trajectory approaches since you will be using a longer iron.

Golf logic for tee selection, asks the simple question, “From which tees can I hit my average (not my best) drives and be in the appropriate landing areas for each hole?” Typically the prescribed landing area will be devoid of bunkers, the fairway will be a little wider and your club selection will match the design of the green (our first hole is designed for a lofted approach shot). If you are not sure which tee to play, ask the pro shop to give you the best distance from which to approach the first few holes. The choose a tee box from which you will reach that approach. A less scientific approach says, “Let’s choose a forward set of tees and if after a few holes there are too many birdies, move back.” You’ll find that using the first hole as a benchmark, that same tee selection will position you correctly for the rest if the holes as well.

Bottom Line: The tour players have a game that is built for the tees they play from. Choose a set of tees that are built for your game.

 

Enjoy the thrill of hitting better shots!

Heartland Golf Schools

St. Louis

Cart Path Relief

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A golf course without cart paths is a rarity.

Knowing your rights is a necessity.

First, a player is entitled to relief from the cart path in any of these situations: 1) the ball is in contact with the cart path, 2) a player’s normal stance is in contact with the cart path, or 3) the player’s swing is interfered with by the cart path (e.g. the ball is resting close enough to the edge of the path that the club head will contact the path during the swing).

Second, relief from the cart path is an “entitlement” not a “requirement.” If for some reason a player prefers not to seek relief from the cart path, they may play the ball as it lays.

Third, here is how we go about determining our relief: 1) leave the ball (temporarily) where you found it. Then, 1) Use a marker (coin or tee) to identify the nearest point (no closer to the hole) the ball could be placed where the cart path no longer interferes with your swing and stance. 2) Holding the ball at knee height the player must drop the ball at this point or any point within a club’s length of this point (no closer to the hole). 3) As long as the dropped ball does not roll more than two club lengths, does not roll closer to the hole, nor rolls back onto the cart path, the ball is now in play.

Remember the above and you’ll be on the right path to handle the cart path.

note: Obstructions and relief are addressed in rule 24 of the USGA’s Rules of Golf. These are expanded upon in the USGA’s Decision on The Rules of Golf page 386. If you consult the Decisions, be advised that the diagram on page 386 is misprinted with the points printed 5 mm too far to the left.

Enjoy the thrill of hitting better shots!

Heartland Golf Schools

St. Louis

Better Putts from a Better Fit

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You may be familiar with the phrase, “Its the Indian not the arrows”. Golfers often use this expression to convey that most errant shots are more often a matter of the player than a matter of their clubs.

However, sometimes it is a matter of the arrows (i.e. our clubs). Most commonly, club problems are less a matter of their brand and more often a matter of how they fit us. We find that one of the most commonly misfit clubs is the putter. The most common problem with the putter is that the shaft has not been sized and is too long. We wind up re-sizing the putters of about 60% of our players. Most in-stock putters have a grip size and shaft length for men 6′ and taller. Both because few shops carry a selection of women’s putters and because women often inherit their putters from male players, women are the most frequent victims of mis-fit putters.

A putter that is too long results in any of three perfomance-robbing outcomes:

  • The player must get use to holding the putter out from their body which reduces their natural balance and stability. They are more likely to sway and wobble during their putt.

  • If the player does not hold the putter out from their body the length of the shaft cramps their arms and hands in too close to their body denying them the accuracy of a free flowing swing,

  • Perhaps most importantly, a putter that is too long denies the player the critical advantage of putting with their eyes DIRECTLY over the line of the putt.

While determining the optimal fit for a putter is a simple matter, it is a more demanding task than we would want to attempt in this article. There is a preliminary way you can check your putter to see if it is seriously misfits you:

  • Using a two foot piece of tape or string to represent the line of a putt, set up the putter on this line in your regular putting stance.

  • While being careful not to move your head, release your upper hand from the putter and use it to drop a golf ball from the bridge of your nose.

  • Watch were it lands relative to that line. Repeat these steps a few times. If the ball doesn’t drop very near the line, its time to take that putter in for adjustment so your eyes are over the line.

If the eyes are not over the line you are making putting more difficult. Many players find that they are standing too far away from the line. When they attempt to move closer they find that the putter grip is rubbing against their clothing or their arms are not free to hang comfortably. If you find this to be true, your putter needs to be re-sized.

While the expense is nominal, you will find the benefit “phe-nomenal”.

Enjoy the thrill of hitting better shots!

Heartland Golf Schools

St. Louis