The Forgotten Fundamental

“Face your golf ball at impact!”

 

 

I recently was lucky enough to spend a week at the annual Memorial Tournament (Jacks big show) down in Dublin Ohio. The opportunity allowed me the experience of working side by side with some of the finest instructors in the game of golf today such as Jim Flick, and Mike Malaska just to name a few. Our mission was to teach the corporate sponsor clinics for Mr. Nicklaus and his many major sponsors involved in making the event the success that it is. During the week I enjoyed some time during a practice round inside the ropes with Jim Flick and Tom Lehman. Jim has been Tom’s long time coach and it was interesting to listen to the dialogue between swing coach and PGA Tour student/star, not to mention walking the hallowed grounds of the great Muirfield Golf Club!

 

It seemed very evident that Tom started hitting the ball very well and after the practice round we spent some time on the practice range. It was there that Tom and Jim really worked well together and the main topic seemed to revolve around facing the ball at impact! It dawned upon me that much of what is being taught in the golf swing has moved away from this “Forgotten Fundamental” and has the average golfers struggling with controlling their ball flight with swing thoughts such as “clear your hips” or “shift your weight”. As Tom was striking his ball and watching each ball find its designated target with precision that put me in awe Tom mentioned to me that he was feeling that his chest and shoulders were facing the ball so well at impact that he was able to get the clubface on the ball consistently in a square position! It was at that moment that I realized how a simple thought like that could really begin to help players of all abilities even the very best players in the world!

 

I guess when reading all the numerous golf tips in publications from this day forward I might suggest that we as average golfers keep in mind that we should not focus too much on what a Tour Player is working on now, rather what that worked on to get to that point. When I heard Tom Lehman say to me on the range at Muirfield that this was one of his basic fundamentals that he grew up working on, and how the golf industry has seemed to forget about something so simple it propelled me to share this story with you readers!

 

So start today bay facing your ball with your shoulders at the moment of impact and watch your balls find their target more consistently!

 

Many Birdies!

 

Brian O’Neill

Director of Golf Instruction

Boyne Resorts

boneill@boyne.com

231.526.3011

 

Better Mental Approach to Lower Scores!!!

Better Mental Approach

 

Split your round up for better scoring!

 

 

 

After spending some time with several of the talented young players that I have had the opportunity to coach over the past few years, I have learned so much in the area of going low during tournament rounds and what goes through the minds of these world class junior players!

 

I have asked each one of them how they work their way around the mental trap of becoming comfortable with nerves from the first tee and even the nerves when you are playing better and scoring better than their normal comfort zone! A common trick that they have shared with me on getting through their round strategically is to break the round up into three hole events (6 of them in all). Just like one day is better than another on the golf course they try and treat every three holes as a new round and a new day, letting the memory of both bad and extremely good go to the back seat in the mind. By working on this they are able to stay in the moment and not get too caught up in playing out of their comfort zone and also it helps in getting rid of some of the previous poor holes from your memory.

 

I ask that you give this trick a try and see if you can post a better score than you are used to seeing by breaking up your round into six mini rounds of golf. Every round is new and fresh and you forget about yesterdays round all within the same 18 holes!

 

Give it a try and watch your mental game improve right along with your score!

 

Many Birdies

 

Brian O’Neill

Director of Golf Instruction

Boyne Resorts

boneill@boyne.com

231.526.3011

www.boyne.com

 

Improve Your Ball Striking…Practice in the Sand Box!!

 

 

 

One of my favorite practice routines is hitting balls out of a fairway type bunker with a 6 or 7 iron! Several years ago while working on the driving range with a friend of mine, who happened to be one of the best ball strikers I knew, he mentioned this tip to me and it seemed to stick like no other has before.

 

He would work for 30-35 minutes in the bunkers hitting mid-irons, his point was that it really seemed to improve his ball striking with his irons. After watching him practice this drill I began to realize its ramifications on his particular golf swing. It helped slow his lower body down so his “overactive leg drive” was forced to slow down….creating some type of synchronicity between legs and arms and club. It also battled his steep angle of attack into his impact area, which in effect improved his ball striking all together. Every golfer I know hates a fairway bunker….so maybe it is time to get in there with a focus of improving ball contact, while at the same time creating some efficiency out of fairway bunkers. Next time your are on the range I challenge you to begin to spend time hitting balls from a bunker with a mid-iron, and watch, and listen, to the improved ball striking as you head for the links!

 

Good Luck!!

 

Many Birdies!!

 

Brian O’Neill

Director of Golf Instruction

Boyne USA Resorts

boneill@boyne.com

1-800-GO-BOYNE

 

Golf Lesson Series – “Gain Consistency with a better angle of attack”

Golf Lesson Series   
“Gain Consistency with a better angle of attack”
-“Brett Doherty Style!”

     “For those of you looking for more consistency check out this live golf lesson I gave one of my clients, Brett Doherty. Brett is an outstanding athlete with a deep background in the sport of baseball and not so much in golf. Brett is a world class skier as well. Brett came to me struggling with consistency off the tee. As you will see below it had a lot to do with his angle of attack into the golf ball. He has a tendency to get “Too Steep” on his down swing and it was a struggle to get the face square at the correct moment of impact! If you have a similar problem as Brett, I hope this lesson could help you also!” 
 

Good Luck Brett….and the rest of you die hard golfers out there!
 
Many Birdies,
 
 
Brian O’Neill
Golf Sales Manager
Director of Golf Instruction
Boyne Resorts
“Home of The Big Break X”
231.526.3011
boneill@boyne.com

 

Flexibility + Core Strength = Longer Drives

The importance of gaining flexibility while maintaining core strength is an important part to developing longer drives. It is not uncommon for clients to ask Brian or other golf pros what drills they need to do in order to gain more distance. It is important to work on gaining more range of motion through flexibility exercises, as well as working on your core muscles through core focused exercises.

By building a stronger core, while working on flexibility, you will be amazed at how it will compliment your golf drills. So make sure that you start implementing more flexibility exercises to your daily routine, and do some core based exercises at least 3 times a week.

I hope this video will give you a couple of examples of some of the stretches  that you can start doing right away. Me and Brian are working on the sound quality and should have it sounding better soon. Thanks for all the comments, keep them coming and let us know if there is anything specific that you would like for us to address.

Sincerely in Balanced Health,

 

Glenn Stark AKA The GMan

CPT/Certified STOTT Pilates Instructor