Committing to Change

There is a saying "keep doing what your doing, and you'll keep getting what you're getting."

As a golf instructor, there is a lot of truth to these words. Students come to us all the time to improve their game (long game, short game, putting, etc) and we have no problem giving help. In every lesson that I give, I see dramatic improvements to ball flight, distance, contact or short game but it is rare to have a follow-up lesson with that same student and be able to pick up right where we left off in the previous lesson.

I understand how hard it is to make a change, I was just like you all when I was learning. I had instructors tell me to make swings and put my body in positions that didn't feel comfortable and didn't feel right to me. But I made myself realize that the reason I came to this professional was to learn and improve. I gave up trying to fix everything on my own, and had to listen and perform what my instructor said no matter what. My golf pro was named Mitch Lowe (PGA), he still teaches to this day in Half Moon Bay, Ca. And to this day, I can attribute my golf swing and a large part of the way I teach to him.

The days of the "quick fix" are fading. Why? Because a quick fix is a temporary solution. As instructors, we would be doing a disservice to you if we gave you a quick fix every time. Our goal is to improve your golf and make you a more consistent and better golfer. All the advise and changes we make are designed to achieve that goal, unless you specify a different goal. That being said, quick fixes are far less awkward when learning, but they are far less effective in producing long term results.

If at anytime during instruction you are confused or don't understand what to do, ASK! If your pro cannot provide a solid reason for why they are making a change, you may want to find a new pro. Its like asking a doctor why he prescribed you a certain medication and he is unable to tell you the reason. That would send a red flag to me for sure! Ask as many questions as you would like, we are there to answer them.

So, if you are looking to get instruction, please see a PGA professional in your area and come in with the right frame of mind. Be willing and committed to change, and you WILL get better.

An example of a great change that resulted in better ball striking immediately. Club was across the line at the top, causing pulls and hooks. He committed to the change and texted me this "74 yesterday with 4 birdies. -1 on the back!" 

Student Success Stories - Melanie

Melanie:
This story is about confidence. Melanie plays on the SMU golf team and was an extremely good junior golfer. She played golf for Baylor before coming to SMU. During her junior year, her play was not up to her standards, she was having trouble getting the ball off the tee and therefore trouble scoring well. When I first played with her she qualified her drives before ever hitting one by saying she has not had confidence in her driver for the past year, hitting drives that are either 180 yard slices or 50 yard smother duck hooks (literally). I didn't really believe her at first, and I laughed the comment off like it was a complete exaggeration. But it wasn't.

I met Melanie while she was working an internship for Century Golf. They manage our property, so she came to help out for a couple months. The first time I watched her swing I was amazed by how much power she created. She hits the ball farther then any woman I have worked with. But she had an obvious (to me) flaw in her swing. For a normal golfer the flaw she had would be manageable, but for a golfer with as much speed as Melanie has the flaw is compounded. For her junior year, her average score was somewhere in the mid-high 80's. She was down on her game and has basically written off her senior year of golf.

We had our first "official lesson" and she told me how many instructors she had gone to that couldn't help her, and most told her it was a mental issue. I didn't think that was true, because I could see the flaw that is causing the shots and knew that if she could fix it her driving would improve. Since her short game was already very good, fixing her driving would change her game completely.

After a few lessons, Melanie started to learn why the golf balls reacts the way it does off the club face, and she started to hit some amazing drives. She practiced very hard for about 6 weeks, working her way through the swing change. After a while, she started putting some great rounds together. Rounds that she said were more like what she used to do (what she expected to do). I could see her confidence rising with each drive that split the fairway.

About a month ago, Melanie qualified to travel for the SMU team. She played amazing golf for three rounds, shooting a combined total of 8-under par including a 65 (course record) in the second round! She won the tournament and beat the previous tournament low total score by 3 strokes. She's now basically guaranteed a travel spot for the rest of the year, and is excited to be competing and hopefully winning more in the rest of her senior year!

She is a prime example of committing to a change in her swing and that change bringing the confidence she needed to play golf like she knows she can. I teach each student the same way, analyzing their game/swing and making and adjustment the the most critical part of the swing that is causing poor performance. It was Melanie who took the change and made it her own. She now has a much better understanding of her golf swing and a lot more confidence when she steps to the tee!

Student Success Stories - Jordan and Ryan

It has been quite a while since my last post, and it has been a great year for me and for my golf academy. And there have been a few really great success stories that I'd like to share with you.

Jordan:
The first one is a tribute to hard work. Jordan is a high school golfer and has really just started to take the game seriously about two or three years ago. She has great natural athletic ability which is very helpful, but the best attributes are her dedication and her attitude.

Jordan first started in my academy about 8 months ago and was shooting scores around 110-115. She wanted to improve and break 100 so she could compete on the JV team. I told her that it would take a lot of work and a lot of swing and practice, and she was OK with that. So, in addition to the 3 times each week that she meets with me, I had her start a practice routine at home each night. It started as hitting 100 chip shots (with whiffle balls) and 100 full swing practice swings (based on what we are working on). On her own, she has added swings and chips that now add up to about 500 swings/chips per night. She also realizes how important short game is, and has decided to give herself a 10 push-up penalty for any 3-putts she makes or any putt she misses under 3 ft.

Its safe to say Jordan has done thousands of extra practice swings/chips, and hundreds of extra push-ups as she tries to better her game. About two weeks ago, she shot a career low 91 in a golf tournament and was in disbelief when the girl keeping her score told her what the final score was.

Ryan:
This story is about determination more than anything. Ryan started playing golf only about 6 months before his high school tryouts. He worked very hard for those 6 months but unfortunately didn't perform as well as he would have liked during tryouts. But immediately after tryouts Ryan told me that he was going to stick with the academy and work all year to make the team next time. This story is special to me because many people would give up and concede to the fact that it just not their sport, or they aren't good enough, but Ryan came back with even more determination to improve.

Currently, Ryan is out practicing 6 days a week, including 3 days a week with me in the academy. He and I can both see the changes in his golf game, and there is no doubt in my mind he will make the team next year an be a great player if he keeps up his current work ethic. He has a great attitude and does not make excuses, just practices hard! Whether or not he becomes a great golfer, he will have a successful future because of his never give up attitude and determination to improve.

I will keep these stories coming. They are the reason I do what I do, and why I love my job!

Start Your Putts On-line

Sorry, its been a while since my last post. I have changed jobs and am now really getting settled in at Eldorado CC. It's all going great!

I have talked before about the gate drill when practicing your putting. The single gate drill helps you make consistent, solid contact with your putts, as well as make a pure stroke. 

Today, I want to talk about the "Double Gate Drill". This drill still promotes solid contact and a pure stroke, but adds another gate that will make you start the ball on your target line every time. Below is a picture of the gate drill. Ill explain...

The ball starts between the first gate (bottom) which is just barely wider then your putter. Take a practice putt to see what the exact line of the putt is, then put two more tees (the second gate) about 1/3 of the way to the hole. This is about a 5 foot putt. 

The second gate's width is vary depending on your skill level. I put the tees very close the the ball on either side so there is little room for error. You can make them wider if you want, but I would not leave more than a half inch gap between the ball and the tee on each side, any wider would defeat the purpose of the drill. 

You will find that if you can split the second gate when you putt, the ball will go in EVERY time, and if you do not start it on line, you will bang into the tees and the ball will go nowhere.

Try to make 20 putts from two different locations. You will definitely feel a difference in you putting stroke and your confidence when you start to hit putts without tees everywhere. 

Note: Dont let yourself get too frustrated if you hit the second game a few times in a row. You will be surprised how many putts you do not start on your intended line. This is a very difficult drill but you will really notice the benefits quickly. 

Good Luck!

Stop Your Slice With A Baseball Bat

The most common miss for the average golfer is a slice. There are many ways to slice a ball, but there is one particular problem that causes this problem in many golfers. In this post, I will describe what that swing fault looks like and provide tips for a quick way to fix it.

Almost every golfer has heard of the term "over the top" when used when describing a swing that comes steeply from the outside to the inside through impact. The "over the top" motion is only part of what makes a golf ball slice. The actual slicing of the golf ball comes from a club face that is either open or in the process of opening at the moment of impact. Swinging over the top with an open club face only emphasizes a slicing ball flight. It is also common for a player to have an over the top swing and hit a ball that goes straight but to the left (for a righty golfer). That just means that on that particular swing the player managed to square up the club face to the outside in swing path. The ball would have sliced if the club face was open to the outside in swing path.

To cure this common mistake, there are two keys to focus on:

1) Square the club face. The club face must be square to your swing path in order to hit the ball straight. The key to squaring the club face is to start the release of the club earlier in the downswing so that by the time the club reaches the ball, it has time to be square. Practice this using a baseball bat and imagine you want to hit an outside corner pitch over the shortstop's head. Meaning you are completely extending your arms while rotating your wrists so that the ball will be hit to the left.

2) Swing on the proper swing plane. Eliminating the "over the top" swing fault is also crucial to straightening out your ball flight. Swinging over the top is really a club path that is too vertical coming into the ball, and needs to be flattened or rounded out. Swinging a baseball bat is a very round golf swing, and it will definitely help improve your swing plane. Take continuous swings forward and back with the bat and get a good feel of the rounded arc of the bat. Then you can transfer that into your golf club. Hold the club at address and lift it a foot off the ground. Make several golf swings that start at that point and come back to impact at that point a foot off the ground. You will feel a rounder swing (more like Matt Kuchar or Ricky Fowler). After many repetitions, decrease the height to six inches and swing more times. Eventually work your way down to hitting a ball off a generous tee height and feeling the round and shallow swing.

When combining the rounded out swing with the great release you learned in key one, you should see a great change in your ball flight. Hopefully you will get rid of your slice and hit the ball straighter and farther.

Good Luck!
Coach Chad

Eldorado, here I come!

Well, it is official. I am now the Teaching Professional at Eldorado Country Club in McKinney, Tx. This is as close to a dream job as you can get at my age, so I had to make the move. I will be responsible for the teaching and golf education at Eldorado, as well as running the Eldorado Junior Academy.

I have a variety of programs ready to go for all the Eldorado members, and for you all too! The best program going right now is what I call the Eldorado Player's Academy. This academy meets once a week, for an hour and a half, and there is a low monthly charge for the students. Learning this way is the most effective way to learn, aside from taking individual lessons each week. The program is limited to 6 players for each session so that I have some good one on one time with each student. We will go through everything from video analysis to chipping and putting to trouble shots on the course.

I am most excited about taking over the junior golf academy. There is much room to grow the junior academy and I plan to take it from where it is now to hopefully double or triple it's size within a year. I will also be instructing all the summer junior camps and will be putting together a junior golf team that will play teams from other country clubs in the area.

Another noteworthy achievement is that I finally finished all my PGA work and am now a PGA Class A Professional!

I am very excited about this opportunity, and want to urge you all to come and get some golf training. Contact me if you want to get into some golf lessons, or if you know somebody that wants or needs to get into one of my programs.

Thanks!

Chad
cmoscovic@gmail.com
214-578-7921

Set Up For A Perfect Downswing

This is a simple comparison of two completely different backswing positions. The purpose of the backswing is to give yourself a chance to make a proper downswing.

The backswing on the left is a common problem among golfers. If you look closely, there are three major problems that will cause an "over the top" downswing, causing a ball flight with slice spin.

1) Width. Look how close his hands are to hit head on the left view, and how much space he has to work with on the right view. The right view will give his hands and arms a chance to fall down on plane in the downswing. In the left view, there would have to be many compensations in order to get the club into the proper position, and compensations equal inconsistency.

2) Position of the right elbow. In the left view, the elbow is more in a baseball position ("elbow up") and this causes the player to push the club forward in the downswing, contributing to the "over the top" move again.

3) Position of the club and clubface. In the left view, the club has gone too far past parallel, and the clubface is wide open. You can also see this by looking at the left wrist which has a slight cupping. In the right view, you can see the club pointing slightly left of target and short of parallel with a perfectly square clubface and flat left wrist.

From the position on the right, he has a chance to make a proper downswing and start striking the ball from the inside creating the draw spin that everyone desires.

If you need help finding the proper backswing position, please feel free to contact me. I would love to help you!