THE LONG DRIVE TO MESQUITE

A few months ago, I started to train Long Drivers in the ways of the Speedball and Tour Tempo.  The first 2 that started with me were Pat Pyle and Ryan Ehlers.  Pat is a former runner up in the Big XII Conference in the Decathlon for the KSU track team.  Ryan is a BIG guy, around 6’6” about 275.  Both of them have great promise and have really improved over the summer. 

At our 2nd training session, Pat asked if he could bring a friend, thinking he might have some potential.  His friend’s name is Mike Carlson and Mike shows up in Birkenstocks (forgot his golf shoes) and a standard driver.  So, I put Mike on the Zelocity to see what he’s got.  Right out of the box he starts getting ball speeds at 200 mph!  I’m thinking “Holy Cow”, take a look at this swing. http://www.tourtempo.com/mikevideo.html  It’s freakish long.  The ball’s were flying over the back of the range.  I told him, he definitely has potential.  By the way, Mike looks my size, but he’s 6’2” and about 215 and pretty much all muscle.

Mike and Pat live in Manhattan, KS and they’d come in weekly to train with me and work on their Speedball drills, Tour Tempo, and go head to head on the Zelocity.  I waited with Mike to put him on the Tour Tempo, just to make sure everything else was in place.  I had him try it and the results were amazing. 

If you ever watch long drivers hit, you see a variety of shots and most of them are very ugly.  Snap hook, low pull, push slice, etc…Long drivers can hit them all.  The best LDers are the ones that can hit the high draw solid.  That’s the key to long driving: hitting it solid (also key to normal golf).  Anyway, Mike was hitting away with the “variety” and then he did Tour Tempo.  It was like a tunnel formed down the middle of the grid and his balls had to stay in the tunnel.  Also, he looked more fluid and effortless as he swung.  He hit about 6 balls over 370 in the air dead straight and then looked back at me and said, “this really works”.  Of course, I’ve seen it all with Tour Tempo, but I’d never seen anything like this, because Mighty Mike was unleashing.  

After that session, they had a local qualifier in Winfield, KS.  Pat had previously qualified, so he didn’t compete, but I called out that Mike would win it and Ryan would get 2nd or 3rd.  Days later, my prediction was right on the money, Mike won with 370 (all carry) and Ryan got 3rd with 356.

When you look at Mike’s swing, you can see he has the 3 main ingredients to hitting it long: width, coil and lag.  That’s what the average golfer is missing and that’s what Mike does so freakishly well.  Furthermore, Mike combines those power moves with the correct sequence on the downswing and this combination is what gives him CHS’s in the 140’s and ball speeds over 200 mph.  What can you learn from his swing?  He’s got the flexibility to go back as far as he wants and this allows more width, coil and lag.  If you don’t have that kind of flexibility, then you need to stop your backswing when you start to lose width, coil and lag.  For most golfers, this is about the L Drill position and this is why so many of you email or tell me that you hit the L Drill farther than your real swing.  Another thing to learn from Mike is his warm up before he hits (he learned it from me, but it’s worth repeating), get your muscles warm and do the Power Module and finish it off with the Down Position.   This is a great way to warm up and also will save you range balls and wear and tear on the body!

This past weekend in St. Louis, the District 6 Regional qualifier was held with 4 golfers making their way to Mesquite for the REMAX World Championships.  Mike won the event hitting one 359 yards into the wind.  Pat Pyle, the track star turned golfer, made it thru to the 6th round only to be knocked out by 4 yards.  He’s going to try again in Dallas later in the year. 

You may be wondering why I’ve not been competing and the bad news is that I had to have surgery on my knee at the end of last year (not golf related) and I’m still trying to get it back up to speed.  I don’t want to go thru all the details, but remember the only 2 true excuses not to train?  Injury and Death?  Well, I’ve been injured and out of it until just recently. So, I’m training, I’m just not up to speed both literally and figuratively, and I’m hoping to be there very soon, so I can show these young jocks how it’s done. 

I keep promising more about TPI, the kinematic sequence, and 3-D and it’s coming.  I’m hoping to be competing soon so stay tuned.

Well, I mean 2 consecutive majors, he’s already won 2 consecutive Open Championships!  Congrats to Padraig!  He is the hardest working guy on either tour, and he leaves no stone unturned to try to improve.  I think if he can make sure to get all of his luggage to the PGA, he’s got a good chance!

50% of the Game

Most of my efforts on this BLOG are spent on increasing clubhead speed and making a better golf swing.  I’d like to breakaway from that and talk about putting.  Depending on who you talk to putting is 30-50% of the game.  So, I guess it deserves at least one BLOG. 

 Perfect Stroke & Perfect Tempo = Perfect Putting

There are two possible ways to stroke a putt.  One is with a straight back/straight thru stroke and the other is an “arc” stroke.  Putt Tip #1: Find out which one you are and then groove that stroke.  The easiest way I’ve found to do this is with the TOMI or if you don’t have access to the TOMI, try the Perfect Putting Machine.  The Perfect Putting Machine gives you a perfect stroke every time and can be adjusted to the sb/st or the arc stroke.  You can try the 2 different strokes and go with what feels best.  Now you’re ready for Putt Tip #2: Find out which tempo you are for putting and then groove that tempo.  One of the big mistakes I see in putting is poor tempo and this can lead to poor mechanics.  Also, under pressure, tempo is usually the first thing to go, so by grooving your tempo, you’ll have something to fall back on when everything is on the line.  The best way to groove your tempo for putting is with the Tour Tempo Player PUTT tones.  So far this BLOG should be very easy to understand:  groove your path and groove your tempo.   I guarantee you’ll make more putts.

If you use the Perfect Putting Machine with the correct Tour Tempo for PUTTing, you’ll be doing something that is almost impossible to achieve in the full swing:  you’ll be making a perfect stroke with perfect tempo!  Perfect practice makes Perfect.  Here comes the shameless plug.  We’re having a Father’s Day Special, when you buy a Perfect Putting Machine from us, we’ll throw in a Tour Tempo Player for free!  If you want to see the Perfect Putting Machine in action, click here, http://www.tourtempo.com/puttingmachine.html

Another huge component to putting is confidence.  When you hit a putt and see it go in the hole, you build confidence in your stroke.  When you hit 10 in a row or 20 in a row and see every putt go in, your confidence begins to skyrocket.  That’s what you’ll do when you use the Perfect Putting Machine with Tour Tempo.  It’s that easy!

More exciting stuff to come including the World Golf Fitness Summit, the Kinematic Sequence and we’ve got new some products in the works…..

When we returned from Sweden, a woman named Janine Young approached us to see if there were any synergies with what she was doing and Tour Tempo. Janine is a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor Level 2 with the Titleist Performance Institute and she is the founder and owner of Elite Golf & Fitness in Overland Park, KS www.elitegolfnfitness.com Since I had met Dr. Rose and Dave Phillips, I was very familiar with TPI and we met and she took me thru her protocols. I think it’s great stuff and can help any golfer on any level (more about TPI in an upcoming BLOG).

My dad and I also took her thru the Tour Tempo/Speedball System and the results in just 2 weeks are amazing. I filmed Janine on the driving range with her driver and her tempo was inconsistent and was around 25/10. Her CHS was around 80 mph and ballspeed around 110-115 mph. Then I took her to our training studio and introduced her to the Speedball, the swing drills and finally Tour Tempo. She responded best to 21/7, so we put her on the tones. At first, she had trouble reacting to the first tone, but after about 5-10 swings, she got the hang of it.

In only 3 workouts, Janine has made an amazing transformation. You can see her original swing with the ball and now her new swing with the Speedball. Notice the huge difference at the top of the backswing, better impact position and a more solid finish. The best part is the increase in CHS - with the Speedball, she started in the low to mid 80’s with a high of 87 mph and within 2 weeks, she increased her average CHS above 90 with a high of 97mph! This has translated to her actual driver and a ball and she recently drove the 3rd hole at her course a 240 yd par 4, one of the longest drives she has ever hit. (Click here to see Janine’s before & after)

How did we do it? First we determined that her 1 arm swings were deficient. She didn’t know how to move her body properly when making a 1 arm swing and this was showing up in her real swing. So I taught her how to make the 1 arm swings more efficiently with her shoulders and this really helped her feel a shoulder turn. Second, we worked on her tempo. We transformed it to the magical 3:1 and she is now 27/9. Third, she used the Power Module with the Speedball and this led to her increase in swing speed. When you combine better feel with better mechanics with better tempo, the results are usually nothing short of amazing.

What’s in this for you? You need to check your 1 arm swings. Find out which one is slower (using the Speedball and an SSR) and then “bring it up to speed”. When you do this you’ll increase your overall CHS and that’s the name of the game. Ok, the next question is “how do I bring it up to speed?” I’ll start with the left arm for a RH golfer. That is usually the weak link. I normally see 3 power leaks: weak left arm, stiff left shoulder, uncoordinated thru the hitting area. So, try these tests: make a 1 armed backswing with just your left arm, can you maintain width and set the wrist? If you can’t, you’re either stiff or weak, you need work on these swings and you’ll get better! Next, make a follow thru and stop it about halfway thru the follow thru. Where is your wrist pointing. The typical slicer has the wrist pointing towards the sky, if you look at any tour pro, the wrist is pointing directly behind them, so work on that move as well. When you can make a left arm only swing (RH golfer), with width, a wrist set and then a proper release, I guarantee your CHS will increase and your ball striking will improve.

I’ve got some great BLOG’s in the works including information on the kinematic sequence, new products, my recent trip to the Titleist Performance Institute, and sure fire ways to hit the ball farther (one of my favorite topics)!

The PGA of Sweden holds an annual teaching summit and brings in speakers from around the world. The Swedes are on the cutting edge and this summit keeps them there. The presenters were the TPI co-founders - Dr. Greg Rose and Dave Phillips, Christer Olhsson and me. We took the train from Copenhagen to Halmstad on Wednesday, the summit started on Thursday morning. Little did I know, I was in for a great ride.

When we arrived in Halmstad Sweden, I was amazed at many things. The town itself was founded in the 1300’s and where we stayed was the top resort in Sweden, the Tylosand. It’s right next to the Golf Klub of Sweden and the Klub and the resort were home to last year’s Solheim Cup. The hotel is literally on the beach and the dunes remind me of Kiawah here in the states. The only slight bummer was the weather was a bit chilly, around 35-40 F. The Swedes were just arriving for the Summit and they look just like many of the Swedish players you see on the PGA Tour: Sharp dressers, euro-styling, and they all speak English. We had dinner on Wednesday night with the other speakers and members of the PGA of Sweden’s Board. That night at dinner I spoke at length with Greg about Long Driving, he’s worked with many long drivers and he has developed tests and workouts for them. It was a blast for me, to have someone to talk to that was an expert in the physical demands of long driving. Later in the evening, I was introduced to a Swede named Kjell, he was the mental coach of Bjorn Borg and also coached Annika and Nick Faldo. We talked about Tour Tempo, and he really summed up why Tour Tempo works, ”most golfers just have parts, set up-mechanics-etc…- they’re all just parts - the tempo is the glue that makes the parts whole”. That makes so much sense, Tour Tempo synergizes your parts and I think that is why so many golfers improve so quickly. He also had a very interesting story about a psychologist that would give his pupil’s many things to do at once, and this would take the left brain and engage it. Then, while the left brain was “busy” he would say and do things to “get to” the right brain and had great results. We both agreed the Tones of Tour Tempo did a similar thing. When your left brain hears the tones (for those of you who have read The Inner Game of Golf by Timothy Gallwey, I’m talking about Self 1), he thinks “oh, I must listen and obey the tones”, he becomes busy and absorbed, then while he’s not looking, the right brain (aka the body or Self 2) can do it’s thing! I think this is the other big benefit I constantly hear about from Tour Tempo users: “I don’t have time for other thoughts, I can swing freely” and this produces great results. My host, Johan Hampf, was amazing and such a gracious ambassador for the PGA of Sweden and for that matter all of Sweden. He had help from one of the top teachers in Sweden, Matz Evensson. Johan and Matz are ahead of the curve when it comes to teaching and they keep their members on the cutting edge of golf instruction. They’ve instilled a desire for more information and an openness to new ideas. They are my kind of guys.

Saturday morning came around and it was time for my presentation. I was slightly nervous, you could call it excited, but the Swedes were such gracious hosts and I had met many of them, that made me feel better, plus my dad and I can talk for hours about golf, training & tempo. I went on for nearly 3 hours about the in’s and out’s of Tour Tempo and I think they enjoyed it. Funny story, as I was giving my presentation, I would try to make eye contact around the room and I noticed a Swede in the front who was constantly shaking his head in the affirmative. I’d say something and then happen to glance at him and there he was in total agreement. He came up to me afterwards and purchased all of our products and is going to become a certified Tour Tempo Instructor. We’ve had quite a few of the attendees contact us in that regard. They also really loved the Tones and I could tell the Tones must have set in because afterwards at lunch, when I would walk by them they would sing, “dun….dun.dun”. My big moment was over…so I thought…….

On Thursday, Johan had just got word that the final speaker, Jane Story, was ill and could not make it to Sweden. Jane was scheduled to speak after my presentation on Saturday. So, we all decided we would fill that time by doing a “hands on” with Tour Tempo and the TPI. So we took 2 golfers and went to the Halmstad Golf Club (home of last year’s Solheim Cup) and filmed the “before”. Then in the afternoon session on Saturday we’d work our magic, or that was the plan anyway.  Our first student was a 35 year old Swedish pro with a 3 handicap. She is a teaching pro in Sweden and when you first see her swing you think, “it looks pretty good.” So, we brought her up on stage and before we showed her swing, Greg took her thru a series of screens/tests and gave her exercises and drills to improve her physical weaknesses. It was now my turn and I counted her swing frames for the entire group. She was a very slow 38/13 tempo, taking her 1.67 seconds of elapsed time. The ratio was close, but she was WAY to slow. We put her on the 24/8 Tones and she immediately improved. We had her swing again with the Tones of 21/7. Her frame counts improved to 21/8 and she was swinging with so much more power. She truly transformed her swing before our very eyes. The crowd actually cheered! (Click here to see her swings before and after, as well as a photo of the trip) The 2nd test subject had good tempo, but was very stiff. I think he’ll improve also, but he needs to maintain his same tempo even when he lengthens his swing.

Did I mention the hotel was incredible and right on the beach? I celebrated the trip with a visit to the spa and a walk on the beach with my wife. The Swedes really took care of us and we look forward to going back one day. We’ve received many emails and Johan has received feedback that this was the best conference they’ve had in the 15 plus years they’ve been doing it. One of the emails was from Matz and he told me that the leading golf psychologist in Sweden had been studying Tour Tempo since last fall:

“John,

Hope all is well. I just received a copy of the latest edition of the Swedish Golf Digest and sure enough, at the very end there is a piece on you!!

Our premiere sports psychologist, Fredrik Wetterstrand, writes a page in Golf Digest every issue. He is very, very good. Anyway, he started to study Tour Tempo this fall, and wrote the piece before he listened to you at our conference. He was very pleased with what you talked about and extremely impressed with what happened to Helen on stage. The whole thing is in Swedish and I will translate it for you in detail, but for now, what he says is basically that you found this 3:1 relation between backswing and downswing and that this is really contrary to what most average golfers believe to be true. More importantly, this could forever kill the myth - “swing slow” and he really thinks this will help every average golfer out there. He writes that you claim to have found “the last secret of the golfswing”, and he thinks that you actually might be right!”
(Click here to see the article)

TOMI

The TOMI finally arrived and I broke it open right away. I love new products, especially when I think they’re going to work. I connected it to my putter and started putting. My tempo was neither 2:1 nor consistent! Looks like I needed the Tour Tempo Player. I put it on the 18/9 Tones and tried again, and now my Tempo was 1.9 and the elapsed time from takeaway to impact was .89 seconds. It made a huge difference, the perfect #’s would be 2.0 and .90 seconds, but I consider 1.9/.89 close enough. The strokes were much better with these as well. I’ve got an arc stroke and I was very consistent with it. It was so easy to use and I holed every putt. Granted, it’s only a 4 footer on carpet with no break, but you’ve got to start somewhere. I’ve got my “putting lab” set up in my dining room and my wife loves that, the only way I’m getting away with it is that I’m taking her to Sweden (see below). Anyway, I’ve become addicted to this thing and I’ve made/practiced more putts in the last few days than I have in the last few years. The feedback is in realtime, so I can see what I’ve done on every stroke and I can try different grips and methods to see which produce the best results. We’ll be using the TOMI at our golf schools this summer, our first school is at the end of May. For more info on the TOMI go to www.tomi.com and more info on our golf schools go to http://www.tourtempo.com/vip.html

While I’m talking about putting, I want to address one of the big differences of setting up to a putt and a full swing: there is no real waggle when you putt. So, you need to find a trigger so that you can respond to the first tone. For me, it’s a forward press. I start my forward press just before the first tone, then react to that tone and start my stroke. It really helps you so that you don’t “jerk” the putter back when you hear that first tone. The other 2 tones are similar to the full swing tones in that you react to the 2nd tone and try to match the 3rd tone. The TOMI gave me instant feedback after every stroke and I was very close to the 2:1 (when I used the TT Player) This BLOG has been more about distance and speed, but putting is more than half the game and you can easily practice it home in your living room. So, get out your Tour Tempo Player and work on that stroke!

Sveden!

The big news for me this week is that I leave for Sweden tomorrow. I’m headed to Halmstad, Sweden, home of the Swedish PGA. I’ve been invited to speak at their Teaching Summit for more info check out:
http://www.pgasweden.com/extra/news/?module_instance=1&id=393
Some of the other speakers include the Titleist Performance Institute founders Dave Phillips and Dr. Greg Rose (see mytpi.com), Christer Olsson & Jayne Story. Golf is huge in Sweden and the PGA there has a Summit each spring and fall. I’m honored to be invited to speak and I’m excited to share the Tour Tempo story with their members. I’m going to attend the TPI presentation as well as Jayne’s and I’ll report back in this BLOG what I discover. I’d give you the highlights of Christer’s, but it will be in Swedish and I don’t speak the language. In working on the presentation, I’ve logged a ton of hours watching golf and “framing” swings. It’s gotten to the point that I know who Johan Edfors is and I can point out his swing, as well as Jeev Milka Singh and others on the Euro tour. I’ve had the Americans memorized for a while now. Some interesting Tiger notes: Tiger’s Chip In in Dubai: 19/9 (basically 2:1), Tiger hitting a beautiful long iron @ Torrey Pines 21/7, Tiger driving the green in Dubai: 22/7.

I’ll be reporting back after I return with notes on the entire trip…Hej då.

There were many highlights at the 2008 PGA Show (for me anyway). The first was seeing my good friend Dan Rooney and watching his foundation grow and grow and grow. The 2nd was meeting Tripp Isenhour and talking shop with a PGA Tour player. Last, but not least was meeting a man by the name of Mario Barton. Keep reading, I’ll explain.

Captain Dan Rooney of the Fallen Heroes was the big star among the PGA members in attendance. He’s always in good spirits and was there to “rally the troops” for Patriot Day, which will actually be Patriot Weekend. It’s going to be the whole Labor Day weekend this year. In case you’re a newbie, Dan is a golf pro/PGA member/KU alum/Tour Tempo Promoter/F-16 Fighter Pilot. Anyway, he started a foundation and you can find out more about it by clicking here: http://www.foldsofhonor.com/ The foundation is really taking off and it’s great to see people actually supporting the families of the troops.

Tripp Isenhour was attending with his new DVD product, “Practice Like a Pro.” Tripp stopped by the booth and we talked about Tour Tempo and introduced him to the Speedball XL. If he could just add about 5 mph of CHS, it could make a big difference for him. He’s got the short game, but the players on the PGA Tour avg. over 112 mph of CHS on the driver and most are 115 or more. If he gives up 25 yards per drive, 14 drives per round, that’s 350 yards, which is about 2 shots per round, which adds up to 8 shots per event. That’s the difference between a Top 10 and barely making the cut. I gave Tripp a workout, it will be interesting to see how he does. He’s a really nice guy and I’m pulling for him. When I meet top players like Tripp (or British Open Champions), we sometimes laugh because I give them the drills like they were a 10 handicap. I forget that they know what they’re doing and I don’t need to tell them where their left arm should end up on a 1 armed swing. As a matter of fact, it’s always cool for me to tell someone what to do and then I see the perfect manifestation of what I had in mind.

You might be wondering, “Who is Mario Barton?” Mario introduced himself to me, he has a product called the TOMI. (see www.tomi.com ) The TOMI is a super cool product that gives you important feedback from your putting stroke. I was hooked when he showed me the tempo element. They’ve researched hundreds of tour pro’s and they’ve found that tour pro’s have the 2:1 ratio (the same ratio we’ve programmed into the TTPlayer). Tour Pro’s also share other similar characteristics and when you putt with the TOMI, you’ll get all of that feedback. I told Mario to sign me up and we’ll be using the TOMI in our golf schools this year. The feedback from the TOMI is in real time, so we can do “before’s” and “after’s” without even breaking out the video camera. We’ll still use video, but the TOMI will make a big difference in really measuring and improving tempo and your overall putting stroke.

That’s the basic wrap up from the show. Down the road, I’ll be talking about my upcoming trip abroad to promote Tour Tempo, schedules for our golf schools, and my latest workout program. Plus, I’ll post results from the TOMI when I start using it this week.

As winter descends on most of the country, you’ll be taking your training indoors. This is a perfect time to work on your swing, improve your tempo and increase your CHS. (Shameless Plug: The best way to train indoors is with the XLR8R Speedball® and the Power Module, it’s what I’ve used the past 2 indoor seasons and has really been my key factor to dramatically improving my CHS) One of the forgotten keys of indoor work is the pre-shot routine (PSR). Because you’re not on the course, you tend to step up to the ball indoors solely concerned with tempo or mechanics or some drill. And this is not the worst thing, because you are working on something constructive. However, why not synergize your training and improve your PSR while you’re at it?

The Tour Tempo® PreShot Routine, or TTPSR for short, is a great way to prepare yourself for the golf shot. The first part of the routine is somewhat left brained and doesn’t have much to do with tempo or mechanics. You need to consider elements such as distance, wind, the lie, & the situation. Once you figure these out and choose a shot/club, you can approach the ball. In the indoors, you won’t have to worry about these things, but you might go ahead and visualize yourself with a perfect 5 iron distance from the middle of the fairway with no wind and a good lie. OK, now you’re ready for the routine. Using the tones, stand behind the XLR8R® (or ball if you’re hitting indoors) and try to listen to the tones and quiet your brain. Once you’re hearing tones with no thoughts, you’ve sufficiently quieted the brain and can approach the target. When you get to the target, take a breath and then try the following:

Stand to the side of the ball with your right food near the ball and your club near the ball. On the first tone, place your club behind the ball. On the 2nd tone, place your left foot and on the third tone place your right foot by moving it “back”. (When I do this, it’s obviously reversed, as I’m a lefty). Then, get ready for the next set of tones and see if you can pull the trigger. If not, then do a waggle to the tones and pull the trigger on the start of the 3rd set. This is pretty much the routine of many great players including Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, and I believe the great one, Tiger himself is following it (check the Buick Invitational next Thursday on the Golf Channel). By using the tones to place your clubs and feet, you’ll set up a tempo for your routine that matches the tempo of your swing and this is a powerful way to set your system for action. The tones seem much more a part of your natural rhythm when you can set up to them. The other part of the routine that I believe is critical is minimizing your time over the ball. If you do watch the Chrysler this week or the Buick next week (or any other pro event), you’ll see that once the pro is set up over the ball with both feet positioned, they spend very little time over the ball. The more time you spend over the ball, the more time there is to think and when you think, you tighten up. This makes golf even more reflexive and that is the key to better shots. If you can start your swing on the 3rd set of tones, that’s OK, let it go another round, but don’t stand over the ball for more than 5 rounds of tones, because that’s too much time. If you need that much time, you weren’t committed and/or didn’t have confidence in your club/shot/visualization.
Now, visualize a par 5 on your course (or the LDA Grid in Mesquite) and say to yourself you really need more speed (both CHS and ball speed) on this swing. If you’ve got your SSRTT, use it (I use it every time I train indoors). Now, get your driver XLR8R® out and go thru the routine. Give it a rip and note the speed. Hit another one and this time try one little tweak, such as moving your right foot back 1 inch and behind you 1 inch. See what that does to your speed. Try another one, this time trying to “tie” your shoulder turn to the tones. Note the speed. Each time, make sure to follow the routine. See what feels good and produces the most speed. This is a great way to experiment while you’re improving your CHS and routine.

If this routine doesn’t work for you, then tough it out. You need a good routine! Just kidding, try to adapt your routine to the tones in some manner and also make sure to not stand over the ball forever. You don’t want Al Czervik hitting into you! The Tour Tempo® team is headed for Orlando this week to attend the PGA Show. I’ll have highlights from the show when I return.

My 402 in Topeka qualified me for the Sectionals in the REMAX WLDC. Qualify thru the Sectionals and I’m on my way to Mesquite for the Worlds. This year I brought a talented cameraman (my brother Scott, a longballer in his own right, but not quite as long as older brother) and we took in the MLB game at Busch Stadium the night before. The Cubs were in town and I was intrigued from the moment I got there. The reason for my interest is that professional athletes do things that others don’t or can’t do and throwing/hitting a baseball translate into the golf swing. Part I of today’s lesson, boys and girls, is what you can learn from throwing a ball or swinging a bat, and Part II is my report from the Sectional Championship plus as a bonus some video from Mr. Tokyo.

Part I - The first thing I noticed was the warm ups and they were doing the EXACT exercises I perform when I warm up. So, if they warm up just to go out there and stand around, then you need to warm up, not just by stretching, but by doing some type of calisthenics that involve the whole body. With every throw no matter how far or short, they would take a stutter step, find their footing then take the stride which gave them a “stretch” and then let their body takeover. There were no “reverse pivots” while throwing! This “stretch” was exaggerated during a pitch, as the pitcher is trying to create maximum speed. Finally, when at the plate, the batters would take their stride and this would help them to load the bat. The other amazing thing was their follow-thru’s while hitting: they’ve got more extension than I do! As a matter of fact, they’ve got so much extension one of their hands comes off the bat! These are keys to what I do and what my dad and I teach and if you’ve never felt them, then you’re losing precious yardage.

Part II - I was coming off of a layoff due to my wrist and this was compounded by normal life duties, so I wasn’t as confident as when I was headed to Topeka, but I knew from Denver that I had to keep an open mind, open to the possibility of qualifying. I’m always slightly intimidated at these things, just because I’m spotting everyone about 30-60 pounds. But then, I keep in mind that I can’t control anything anyone else does, I can only control what I do and I can’t realistically even control that. All I can really do is focus and let my training take over. Plus, when I see the big guys’ balls launch, I realize that my ball launches just as powerfully, so, HEY, I can do this!

So, I went thru my warm up routine, with some of it on video. I start by doing my “major league” warm ups, then y drills, L drills, full swings with the Down Position Power Module (also shown) and then finally some drivers. I was firing on all cylinders, except when I got the driver I was not finding that perfect contact. From my training on theZelocity I’ve realized that a 137 mph swing not hit solidly will produce less Ball Speed than a 130 mph swing that is hit solidly. So, I tried a few swings around the 130 mark and the ball took off like a rocket, dead straight. I think part of the reason I had to go to this “scaled down” swing is the lack of training I’ve had on theSpeedbBall and also hitting balls. Regardless, I had to go with what was working and that swing was working. I went to hit and was swinging well, but I kept barely missing the grid. You can tell from my reactions that I was so close (if you’re a new reader, go back to my very 1st blog, and you can learn the condition of all golfers). It was cold, it was into the wind and it was wet and my best balls kept missing. When I’d go down on my right knee it wasn’t because I hit it poorly, it was because I crushed with a perfect draw/launch/spin, but it was about 5 yards right. I finally hit one straight, but I heeled it and it was a bigger balloon than theREMAX balloon at the end of the grid. That knocked me out of round 1 and into round 3.

I had about 2 hours to kill, so I went to the car to rest and warm up. I was checking the status of when I’d hit again and I got warmed up and headed to the tee. Same results as last time. Hit it great, but kept barely missing, my final ball was in (another heeled balloon) but only @ 309 and it took 320 (into the wind, cold, and wet!) to keep going. I was out. I felt like Tiger Woods when he shoots 1 over and hit 18 greens. How did I just get knocked out? I was hitting it solid. Well, golf (and long driving) is a game of inches and it was those few right or left that knocked me out.

I think the most important thing for you, dear reader, is that CHS is king, but if you’re not hitting it solid, you need to find a speed/swing that creates solid contact. For me, it meant going to my “controlled” swing mainly I think because my “kill” swing didn’t have enough preparation. My main goal is to stay healthy so I can get back on my training and hit it pure @ 140 on theZelocity. When I can do that, I’ll be a force in Mesquite. Note: 140 on the Zelocity is about 150-155 on an SSRTT.

More fun to come: my x factor prototype is almost a real product and I’ll discuss the virtues of the down power module.

The one interesting thing I’ve found about increasing CHS is that for the first time in history of anything, the “placebo” effect does not work. Nor does positive thinking, or any other hocus pocus. You can think all you want you’re going to swing 140 mph, but unless you do the right training, it just ain’t gonna happen. On the flip side, I think it’s good to have a positive attitude and to have the belief that deep down you’re capable of increasing your CHS. I truly believe that without this confidence, you’ll have major difficulties making great gains. And 99.9% of the time, that’s how I roll. However, last week, I found myself in that .1% twilight zone and I found myself being very negative heading into a Long Drive event in Denver.
I’ve been riding high after my performance in Topeka http://www.longdrivers.com/remax_local.php?id=435 and my thrills in Tulsa. Unfortunately in the time since, I’ve not been able to workout like I normally do, due to life getting in the way. Accordingly my CHS and ballspeeds have fallen. To add injury to insult I tweaked my wrist on a dog leash before the competition. All this led me to being negative about my upcoming performance.

I didn’t know that negative thinking worked so well. Not only did I hit it BAD in Denver, I didn’t get one in the GRID and I was only hitting it about 360, which is woefully short in the mile high air. I’d never been so negative and I’d never hit it so poorly.

My only consolation was that my wife and baby Chloe were waiting for me in Salida, CO and we had a great family vacation. On the way home, I realized that I could have qualified in the Denver event, but not with the attitude I had. I don’t fully believe that positive thinking will significantly change your outcome, but I now know that negative thinking will. As I look back on Topeka, my attitude going in was, “bring it on”. I had a swagger and confidence that I was there to compete. This is something that my new friend on the PGA Tour and I talked about, you have to have an ego. You still treat other people kindly and with respect, but you truly have to believe in your abilities. No wait, you don’t have to, you just do. If you talk negatively, that’s telling yourself that you don’t believe. So, do your training and believe that your training will take you where you want to go. If you’re not playing so well going into an event, you don’t need to think you’re going to win, just don’t think that you ARE going to lose. Furthermore, go into it with no expectations. Just let it unfold and see what happens. That’s what you hear most tour pros say the week of a victory.

If it’s broke, fix it!

I’ve got a guy here in Lawrence that does ART and it’s awesome, my wrist is already better, but Dr. Jones suggested that I take 3 weeks off from hitting balls. OK. You know me; I’m still going to work on something. So, I’ve been doing XLR8R’s with our brand new Down Position Power Module. Oh yeah, just with my left arm. When you do a 1 arm swing with the XLR8R with your back arm (your right, my left), you want to take your opposite hand and hold the back of your tricep. This keeps your trailing arm from flying too far away from your body. I did this on my first few swings and it felt very different! Eureka! Why was this a Eureka? Read on and discover the path to fixing what is broke.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and there was even a book called, “If it ain’t broke, Break it!” I’m a believer in both of these quotes, the first telling you not to mess with a winning game, the 2nd one telling you that you need to constantly improve. The saying you rarely hear is “If it’s broke, fix it!” I guess that goes without saying, but it is very true, if something is not working, then you need to get it to work. Unless of course, you’re OK with it not working. But, you’re a loyal BLOG reader and I know that you’re NOT OK with it. If your name is Tiger Woods, then at some level your swing, or your CHS or routine is pretty much as good as it’s going to get, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. If you’re an 18 handicapper then, you’re in the “If it’s broke, fix it!” category. If you’re a Long Drive guy and your CHS is 140 mph, but you want 145 mph, then you’re in the “If it ain’t broke, Break it!” category, which includes yours truly, I’m always experimenting. Which leads me to the Eureka moment. When I experiment I rarely find something that truly feels unique or different. The first time I did the XLR8R power module - Eureka! The 1st time I did Tour Tempo - Eureka! The first time my dad put the orange aid (newly patented product, available soon) on my club - Eureka! The 1st time I tried my X-factor prototype (by the way, I’ll have this ready for the public by Oct. 1, so hit me up if you’re interested in being a guinea pig) - Eureka! The list goes on and on, but this is over a time period of many years, so Eureka moments are truly big moments. Thus, when I did my 1 arm down swing with the DP Power Module with my right arm on the back of my left tricep, it felt different and that told me something: I was not making my huge turn and “syncing” my body on the downswing. After 2 sessions of doing this drill I’ve already increased my 1 arm swing speed by 5 mph and I expect (pray) that this will be an uptick of 5 mph in my real swing and thus get back to my Topeka 402 form. From there, I’m even more hopeful that if I can get another 5 mph and strengthen my left arm, then my CHS will increase even more.

If you’re in the “If it’s broke, fix it!” category, then your solution is simple: Fix it! The answer to that is not so simple. You need to find drills to help you improve. Here’s the key to the drills: they need to feel awkward or bad or totally different. Why? Because if they feel anything remotely like what you’ve been doing, then your results will be pretty much exactly what you’re doing now, which is not what you want. Let’s put this into real world terms. Suppose for example you’re fighting a slice. You need to drastically change your CH Path and your CH face angle at impact. You probably also need to change your angle of attack. So, you’re going to try a drill to give you these feels. A great one for this is my dad’s Tower of Power (coming out soon) which you use with an XLR8R. Most people claim it feels entirely different, and then guess what? The results are entirely different! So, find drills that will address your “issues”. Perform them correctly with an XLR8R before you go to a ball and make sure they feel “weird”. Once you groove it with the XL, try some balls. You’ll find you’re now in the “If it AIN’T broke, don’t fix it category!” or even worse if you’re an experimenter, you’re now in my domain, the “If it ain’t broke, BREAK IT” world.