Olde Homestead Golf Club's Blog

Scott: Through your work you’ve been able to access a lot of tour-level talent. The level of skill is obviously something that most amateurs take note of more than anything else. The obvious skill aspect aside, I’m sure that you’ve spotted something that the pros do very well that could likewise help an amateur player with their game. In your opinion, what would that be?

Bill: I’ve had the opportunity to meet and play with some top players. One day in Orlando, I was paired with Fulton Allem and Brad Bryant.

Some of the things that I learned from them both in talking to and playing with them is that they play at 80% of full speed. They grip the club lightly and swing in balance. Their balance is great while many amateurs struggle keeping their balance during the swing. I like to begin a practice session by hitting balls with my feet together to promote good balance. After hitting balls using that drill, you will have a better sense of swinging within yourself and not have any extra movements. The top players always have a good pre-shot routine from driver through putter. They concentrate on one thing — the target — and stay confident and committed to hitting the ball to it. It really is amazing to see the difference between a club pro or top amateur and a touring professional in all phases of the game. If you get a chance to take lessons from a touring pro or former touring pro, do it and pick their brains. I became friends with former Women’s US Open winner Sandra Palmer, and she shared a wealth of knowledge about playing the game.

Scott: Just so you know, your book is one book in my golf library that has the least amount of dust on it! It has been a constant resource that I’ve used the past couple of seasons to help me out with dozens of issues in my own game. I love everything about it. From start to finish, it’s a wonderful read that offers plenty of insight into every aspect of the game. Yet at the same time it’s common-sense type stuff, without the technical jibber-jabber that seems to be a requirement in most instructional-based books being printed today. In your own words, what was your overall objective in writing the book? And which skill-set of golfers were you targeting?

Bill: Thank you for the kind words. I always get a great feeling of satisfaction when I get letters from readers who tell me that I really helped them enjoy the game more. “How Good Do You Want To Be” was intended to combine sound psychological principles that have worked in all types of performance, from sports to dance. I spent a lot of time just observing and asking great players questions about how they played the game. For example, I played with a scratch player who could putt lights-out all the time. I studied him like a science experiment and questioned him for a while but I could not see anything beyond a smooth putting stroke. Then one day when we were playing I looked at his face as he walked up to the putt. Every time he stepped into the putt he had a smile on his face. The smile was simply a reflection of the confidence and positive energy that he felt before he putted. I put that story in my book and told him about it when I autographed a complimentary copy to him. He said he never realized he smiled at all. He did say he was very confident and expected to make every putt, but the smiling part was a mystery to him.

In Psychology, we have found that sometimes physical cues trigger a response in the brain. Try making a big smile right now – your brain will interpret that something pleasing is going on and will send out chemicals and electric signals for you to feel happy.

When I would teach a certain thing about the golf swing, I would have my students use a physical cue (trigger) that would serve to create a reminder of what the move felt like and how they would execute it naturally. Touching your cheek, or flexing your fingers could be triggers. If you watch the touring pros you will see them make little moves in the pre-shot routine that do not seem to make any particular sense for the golf swing. NBA Hall of Famer guard, Elgin Baylor, always nodded his head once he brought the ball over the mid court line. This got him ready and focused on the play ahead for him. He was not aware that he nodded his head until he was told about it.

As far as the lack of technical jibber-jabber… I always got frustrated reading instruction that was very technical and complicated. If you look on some online golf forums that have instruction sections, you will see bizarre explanations and nasty arguments over some vague technicality of the golf swing. In my book I tried to speak to the reader as I would to one of my students, keeping it clear and simple. I tried to emphasize what a good swing would feel like so that they could actually get a sense of making a better golf swing.

Scott: I’ve never had a good scoring round with bad putting, but I’ve had good scoring rounds because of good putting on days when my full swing was off. Putting is the quickest and simplest way to lower scores. On any given weekend you have to wait for a spot on the warmup range, but you look at the practice green and no one is there. Why does this concept seem so lost with amateur golfers?

Bill: Good point, Scott. I guess it’s a lot more fun to blast drives than to practice four foot putts. I think that hitting balls is a lot of fun and I love to practice for hours. One thing that I forced myself to do was to work on my short game first and then go to the practice range. I discovered that I banged balls for a few hours, then tell myself that I was too tired to work on putting and end up skipping it. The lack of practice putting will show in your scores. If you look at your score and say, “I felt like I played better than that” then you probably need to work more on putting and chipping. I know that’s the story with me.

Scott: I think one of the reasons why amateurs ignore putting practice is because it’s hard to maintain focus for a good, productive practice putting session for more than just 5 minutes. After that they’re already bored. What can help with that?

Bill: I have a friend on the Nationwide Tour who practices four foot putts for hours. I asked him why and he replied that this seems to be the distance that you need more than any other to save par or make birdies when you hit one close. It really made sense to me when I realized how many times I needed that distance for par. When I missed most of those four footers, my score ballooned.

Simply putting balls with no plan does not help you get better. I remember standing with a PGA Master professional as we watched a group of golfers on the putting green. He pointed out leg movement, head movement, and awkward hand movements in the different players. It’s amazing what good fundamentals and confidence can do for your scores. Great putting can make up for a multitude of sins. I have taken putting lessons many times and each time they’ve all helped.

Some things that helped me to make real improvements in putting? Have the same routine for every putt right down to the amount of time you take. Fall in love with your target whether it’s the edge of the cup or the point where the ball will break – that is your focus, believe that you’re going to make every putt and “see” it go in in your mind. Once I get my line, I setup and stroke the putt while keeping my head still and listen for the ball to drop. This little move keeps you steady over the ball so that the putting stroke has no extra movements. I like to grip the putter lightly and feel it swing without any wrist movement. Swing the putter and forget about keeping your wrists stiff or making your shoulders rock. If you make a smooth swing of the putter and listen for the putt to drop, you will have done everything in your power to make the putt. Just let it go.

Scott: I’d like to take one of my favorite quotes from your book and have you expand on it if you would. In the fourth Chapter, entitled “Thinking on the Course” you say, “You do not need to be a great player to be a great course manager, but you do have to be a great course manager to be a great player.” As you expand on this, give us some specifics as to what really separates the player that plays with that level of awareness from those who don’t.

Bill: The point I was making is that everyone can improve their scores by simply thinking better on the course. Pros don’t often talk about playing a hole backward (looking at the green and pin placement and then deciding where their drive should be to best attack the green on the approach). For high handicappers, I always try to encourage them to make better choices that will eliminate the big number. For example, if a player has a pitch shot over a bunker to a tight pin, do not try a flop shot or banking it into a slope to get near the pin. My advice would be to get the ball on the green and give yourself a putt for a par above all else. If you miss, you walk away with a bogey. This takes doubles and triple bogeys out of the equation. Very good players should avoid pin hunting to difficult placements. If the pin is up in the front of a green that is protected with hazards, play for the back of the green. Think in terms of hitting the ball just over the flagstick instead of trying to land it in a 10 foot area. Manage your emotions by taking fear out of the game. Be aware of hazards and trees that come into play, but don’t be afraid of them when you setup for your shot. Remember to fall in love with your target. If your balls goes into a hazard, you can deal with it. Chances are you will make better shots by being target oriented with confidence in your ability to do well.

Scott: Okay, here’s the situation: You’re my instructor, and unfortunately for you I’m your student. I’ve got my club championship coming up in less than a week, and I’ve not hit a good ball or made a good stroke with the putter in what feels like months. I call you three days before the tournament asking for some advice. What does Dr. Bill say?

Bill: I think I would approach your situation in two ways. First, we would just sit down and talk about your game and expectations. We would spend some time talking about your past successes and times when you really played well. I want to get a feeling of confidence and positive images back into your mind. How many times have you looked at a putt and said to yourself, “I am going to make this” and then drained it?

Why do some players have favorite clubs? Good memories that are stored somewhere in their mind. Arnold Palmer once said that his 6iron was his favorite club. Chances are he must’ve hit some great shots with that club and his positive feeling and confidence was transferred to that particular club. Our talk would have the objective of getting your mind clear, positive, and confident. Again, no fear… we would touch on fear of failure, of what other people will think of you or how you would feel about yourself. We would talk through these issues and hopefully this would become part of your own thinking as you approach any tournament.

The next think would be to go to the putting green. You would hit about 25 three footers so that the sound of the ball dropping into the cup one after the other is ingrained into your mind. Think in terms that if you can make a three footer with no problem, then you can start every putt that you have three feet along your intended line the same way. Every stroke should be positive with good acceleration. No stop and pop strokes.

On the range, we start with the pre-shot routine and make it so that it has a purpose to it. Getting the line to your target, relaxing your mind and muscles, breathing, shaking out tension and visualizing a great shot with the emphasis on how the swing will feel. Walk up with confidence and simply execute it. Alignment with clubs or shafts helps because sometimes we slip into little problems with our sight lines. A common fault is aiming right and then swinging to pull the ball back to the target. It takes another pair of eyes to spot this. Check your stance… feet too wide or too narrow? Nice flex in knees, arms hanging down, head up and centered on your shoulders. Check the grip for pressure and correct placement of the hands.

I would start with hitting pitch shots with a sand wedge where our only concern is crisp contact where you “cover” the ball or hit the ball crisply and take a little divot in front of the ball as you compress it. Once you can repeat a solid pitch shot, we gradually move up the ladder of clubs hitting each about five times to avoid getting into a false sense of being in the groove with one club.

We would finish by taking some notes of the things we found out that worked and put them in a little book that you can refer to on the course if you need to. Finally, we go through the course in your mind, thinking how you will play each hole and remembering the times when you made birdies or easy pars on each hole. Make a strategy for the par5’s and make a mental note about how putts will break in the normal pin placements.

Scott: Well, that’s going to do it for today. I’d like to thank Bill once again for stopping by to chat with us. Bill, as always, it’s been a pleasure.

Bill: Scott, thanks for the chat. I enjoyed it! Best wishes to your readers for getting out there soon and having the best season of their lives.

For those of you out there who are interested in purchasing your own copy of Dr. Bill Kroen’s book, “Golf: How Good do You Want to Be?” you can find it HERE. And don’t forget about his extremely popular best-selling Golf Tip a Day calendar, where Dr. Bill shares some small nuggets of golf insight and wisdom each and every day, a great resource that every golfer should have on their desk at work or at home. You can find those HERE.

Tags: Dr. Bill Kroen, Golf Author, Golf Tip A Day Calendar, Golf: How Good Do You Want to Be?

This entry was posted on March 9, 2010 at 9:14 pm and is filed under Author Uno, Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.