Monday, November 26, 2012

Putting Reps

Improve short putting through focus and routine

What to do:
This drill requires focus and stamina.  You'll need a handful of golf balls, your putter and a relatively straight 4-footer.  Once you've located a straight putt and placed a marker 4 feet from the hole, your objective is to make 25 putts in a row from this spot.  However, you must go through your FULL ROUTINE for every putt!  This drill is not meant to test your ability to mindlessly knock in 25 putts; rather it challenges and strengthens your pre-shot preparation and mental discipline.  Improve your ability to sink putts under pressure with focus on a sound pre-shot routine. 

How I did:
Made all 25 on my second try... Took around 20 minutes.

Scaling:
Beginners do 10



Monday, November 5, 2012

BCS Ballstriking

Improve focus and practice ball-striking in this College Football themed game

This is a great game given the time of year.  It is a focused practice session for any college football fan/golfer. 

What to do:

On the range, set right and left boundaries, between which you will attempt to hit 12 shots with the possibility of a bonus 13th.  The width between the right and left boundary marks should be about 30 yards (roughly 10 paces).  Once you have clearly defined these boundaries, work your way through your bag, hitting a shot with each club just once.  Each club represents a different team on your schedule.  If you land a shot between your boundaries it means you've won, if not you've lost.  Excluding your putter and your most lofted wedge, this should give you 12 total shots, or 12 total games for this year's football season.  Keep track of your "record" as you work your way through the bag, hitting each club only once. 

Once your "season" is complete, meaning you've hit a total of 12 shots with 12 different clubs, look at your record.  If you won at least 6 games (landed at least 6 balls within your boundary points) then your team is bowl eligible.  Hit a 13th shot with a mid-iron... land it in and win your bowl game, miss and lose.  If over the course of your season you missed only once (11-1) you made it into a BCS Bowl Game.  Hit a 13th shot with a long iron... miss and lose, pull it off and win.  Finally, if you were flawless and went 12 for 12, congratulations... you've made it to the BCS National Championship.  Hit your Driver, attempting to win a National Championship by landing the shot in your set "fairway".

Play around with this one... there are several imaginative variations, for instance if conditions were particularly difficult (e.g. 30 mph winds), maybe missing only one shot means you still made it to the National Championship.  The important thing as always is to have fun and be focused on each shot.

How I did:

10-2 with a Bowl loss... narrowly missed my 13th shot with 6-iron.