Watching Kevin Na’s struggles on the weekend at the Players Championship illustrates the vital importance a clearly defined Pre-Shot Routine plays in competitive golf.  Watching all those waggles, gyrations and practice swings was hard to watch.  He stated in his interview after the third round that he did not feel comfortable over the ball and couldn’t “pull the trigger” until he felt ready.  I think it was his approach and lack of strategy that contributed to his inevitable downfall on Sunday.

Ev …

As the European Tour co-sanctioned China Open kicked off last Thursday, the focus was not on some of the world’s best.  Instead the media’s gaze and public fascination was on 13 year old Chinese schoolboy Guan Tian-Lang.  At just 13 years and 173 days old, Guan made history by becoming the youngest ever player to tee it up in a European Tour event.   He fired modest rounds of 77, 79 for a 12 over par total, missing the cut by 14 shots.  I’m sure it was a good buzz for the lad to play with grown- ups wh …

Now the golf season is here many of you will be thinking about replacing your old faithfulls with some of the newer models now available. It seems that whenever we sit down to watch golf these days we are bombarded with ads for the latest and greatest in golf equipment. They all promise ‘300 yard’ drives, ‘17 yards’ further and extreme forgiveness but then have a disclaimer at the bottom of the ad stating that “individual results may differ, based on ability”. Talk about a false promise!
So what’s important when selecting golf …

The course itself has been well documented, many journalists have commented on the scale and undulating topography of the course.  So I thought I would give you all an insiders’ view of Augusta National.  As you take the walk up Magnolia Lane the first thing you notice is the famous manicured garden bed and founders circle made famous by TV.  Just behind the garden sitting proudly in the corner is the beautiful but understated colonial style clubhouse.  It doesn’t look big but sweeps well down to the righ …

After following Rory around Augusta from start to finish on Thursday it’s safe to say Arnold Palmer’s understudy as the new “king” of golf is ready for his curtain call.  Shouts of “Com’on Rory, Go Rory, We love you Rory” were dispatched by thousands of fans as he swaggered purposefully to the first tee.  Cheers and roars reverberated around the swaying pines of Augusta National as he hit his first tee shot well right of the narrow fairway.  By the time he picked up his tee and sauntered down the fairway a sw …

There are two types of practice that are mutually exclusive and serve completely different purposes.  It is important to recognise each type, understand what purpose they serve and prescribe a training regime to suit each one.  They are “blocked” practice and “random” practice.

Blocked practice occurs when the training scenario stays constant, such as hitting a 7 iron the same distance and to the same target every shot.  The purpose of this training regime is to feel and isolate minute differences between each swing. Ideal when working on a swing/technique …

How many of you out there know how far the ball flies using your 75% wedge swing?  This is what I refer to as your wedge ”go to” distance.  Making a wedge swing around 75% of your full power gives you the 3 factors needed to produce lovely flighted, controlled wedge shots every time.

1. Even Acceleration - Swinging around 75% of max power will give you a nice even acceleration of the club.  A great analogy I use is to flip the club upside down and pretend the club is a matchstick and the practice mat (grass) is a giant max box.  Now just make a sm …

It’s been an historic year for golf in the province, as Northern Ireland golfers’ tasted more success on the world stage than ever before.  The standout victory of the year has to go to Rory McIlroy winning the US Open by 8 strokes at Congressional Country Club in June.  It was the most dominant performance in a major championship since Tiger Woods’ huge 15 shot win in the US Open at Pebble Beach in 2000.  This win was basically Rory’s coronation as golf’s next global superstar.  He will finish the …

Now that we are heading into the winter months many people pack the clubs away and give their game the deep freeze.  This doesn’t do your game any favours and it’s not a simple case of picking up where you left off.  Movement patterns like the swing deteriorate with long periods of inactivity.

Here’s 5 ways to keep your game from getting frostbitten over the off season

Quality Not Quantity

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The Presidents Cup is due to land in my home town of Melbourne this week, which is sure to create a massive buzz all over the Southern Hemisphere, not least in Australia.  However, talking to golfers from this part of the world, they don’t seem to share my enthusiasm.  “Poor man’s Ryder Cup” they say!  Coming from a country steeped in Ryder Cup history and culture, (three Irishmen in recent times have secured the winning point to win the Cup, (Phillip Walton, Paul McGinley and Graeme McDo …

One of my clients, Ian, came in the other day looking to gain some more distance off the tee.  He told me a familiar story, although he hit his irons a reasonable distance this did not translate to the same distance with the driver.  I had Ian hit some shots for me with his driver and recorded the data on Trackman.  A snap shot of the data showed that Ian was launching the ball too high and was creating far too much spin on the ball, causing a weak, ballooning flight.  His spin r …

After witnessing the 1,2,3 finish by Northern Ireland golfers’ last week at St Andrew’s it’s fair to say the future of NI golf has never looked so bright.  Currently there are 4 golfers’ from Northern Ireland occupying spots in the top 100; McIlroy (3), McDowell (14), Clarke (38), Hoey (98).  In 2008 there were 3, and in 2005 there were only 2.  This steady growth can be attributed to the hard work being done behind the scenes, creating and implementing a sound coaching and development …

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How many of you out there practice effectively?  By practice I don’t mean whacking hundreds of balls at the driving range as fast as you can, this is merely exercising.  I mean outlining what you want to achieve during the session and having a plan of action that you can execute during the session.   You need to identify what areas of your game are letting you down and the only way do this subjectively is to keep stats.  There are great apps out there now such as …