==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 163 Date 03/12/11 ==================================================== ==================================================== TCT Quick Tip - Building a Swing ==================================================== Actually, not too quick :-) but worth reading ..... I invariably get asked by students when they will be ready to put swing elements we have practiced into use in their game. The answer is that it will happen by itself, when they have done enough repetitions (reps) so that they aren't consciously thinking about it anymore. How many reps is enough? Daniel Coyle in his book "The Talent Code" says that it takes 100 reps to start building a new neural pathway for a movement, and that the pathway gets insulated with myelin as you do more and more reps until it eventually becomes automatic. Coyle's studies indicated that it takes 10,000 hours to master a sport technique, a number that appears again in a book called "Outliers". I've also read that it takes between 3,000 and 5,000 reps to get a movement down pat. Here's my personal experience. In around 1980, I was shooting in the mid 90's - golf was not my main sport then, it was softball. In the late fall when I couldn't play softball any more, I decided to do something about my golf swing. I was a slicer and read about a good drill in some golf magazine. I had space to do a full swing in my garage, so I got a piece of carpet remnant, outlined my footprints on it with a magic marker, drew an aimline on it, made a small mark on the aimline to represent my ball position, then drew a diagonal line that represented an inside to outside swing path through spot where my ball mark was. Then, every day (or night) from November through early March, I grabbed a 7 iron, gripped it with my left hand and put my right hand in my pocket, and took 100 - 3/4 swing reps making sure that my downswing path was inside out through the ball, and that my left arm was fairly straight throughout. The results were more than remarkable. In 1981 I went from being a mid 90's shooter to breaking 80, and after that I was pretty much hooked ( pardon the pun - my ball flight changed to right to left ) on golf. The 100 reps was pure coincidence, as was the fact that I was getting myself into what Coyle calls a "deep practice" mode, which is necessary to really learn well. When I crunched the numbers, I figure that I got in over 12,000 reps of that movement, so it got pretty well burned into my brain AND my swing. It definitely works. Enjoy, Tom ==================================================== Golf Tip - 4 Part Putting Drill ==================================================== Each season that I coach my GCC Golf team, one of the challenges is to try to keep our 3 day per week 6am - 8am practices - which we start in January - interesting enough to maintain enthusiasm. So I'm always developing new drills or taking existing drills and tweaking them a bit. Last year I think I hit a home run with the ball-striking drill that I developed and now use as a stand alone lesson in my private teaching. This year I think I had another eureka moment with the following putting drill, it's very simple and extremely effective. This can be done indoors on a carpet or rug, or outdoors on a putting green. BTW, I'm going to give a vendor I do business with a plug here. I have done a lot of business with Jay McGrath his website is: www.RealFeelgolfmats.com I had Jay make me four 6' x 30' roll out putting greens that I use for my team practices, and I loved them so much that I had him make me a 4' x 30' for my private indoor lessons. His phone number is 1-800-344-2115, his email address is jrmats@comcast.net . If you see anything you like on his site, call him and tell him I referred you. I'm sure he'll do something for you on price or throw in some freebies, he's a great guy. BTW, I don't make anything on the referral, I asked Jay to just take care of the people that mention my name. For the drill I use Target Holes that I purchased from Eyeline Golf: http://www.eyelinegolf.com/TargetHoles-p/targetholes.htm but you can find a very similar sized piece of rubber at your local K Mart or WalMart in the household section, look for jar openers. They are a lot cheaper - although not as pretty or "golfish". After practicing a "core" putting stroke for a few reps, set up a target hole or set up to a real hole for a 20 foot putt. Place a barrier about 8" to 10" past the hole, to practice NEVER going any further past the hole than that. A barrier could be a piece of 2"x4", a large chunk of foam, a cardboard box, a briefcase, etc. The role of the barrier is to provide a visual reference for a putt that is too long. I had one student voice an opinion that I was teaching him how to hit putts short of the hole. In fact I am teaching him to NEVER hit putts more than 10" past the hole. There's a big difference. This speed/distance is a change for me from last year. I used to be an advocate of hitting the ball at a speed that would take it about 17" past the hole, but here are the stats that changed my mind: A ball that is rolling at a speed that would take it 8" to 10" past the hole has a margin for error of 3" from the center of the hole for making the putt. A ball that is rolling at a speed that would take it 17" to 24" past the hole has a margin for error of 1" from the center of the hole for making the putt. In other words, you lip out less with the lower speed, which happens to conform with the ball rolling at 2 to 2.5 revolutions per second. HERE'S THE 4 PART PUTTING DRILL When I say "target", it means stare at the target, "ball" means glance at the ball. "stroke & hold" means stroke the putt within 1.5 seconds, and hold your finish until the ball stops rolling. Unless directed otherwise, you should look at the roll of the ball no sooner than 1 second after impact. You'll need 4 balls for this drill. 1) Putt ball 1 to the hole with a TRADITIONAL method: target - target - ball - stroke & hold 2) Putt ball 2 to the hole with a BLIND method: target - target - ball - close your eyes - stroke & hold 3) Putt ball 3 to the hole with the INSTINCT method: target - ball - target - stroke & hold (note that you were looking at the hole during the stroke) 4) Putt ball 4 to the hole with the NOW method: target - target - ball - stroke & hold BUT do not look at the ball after impact, say NOW out loud at the moment you think the ball will stop rolling, then look to see how close you were to getting it right. Gather the 4 balls and do the same drill at different distances, do as many sets as you have time for. This drill will do wonders for your "feel" for lagging the ball. BTW, if you are consistently coming up way too short on your lag putts, skew your practice towards instinct practice, it will definitely help you get the ball to the hole. Enjoy, Tom A lot of Enjoy, Tom