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Golf Player Development

JJ Wood, PGA — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 20:01:09 +0000

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY

There are many ways to play this game, it is our job as a professional coach to help you find the most efficient way for you to play this game according to your specific goals and lifestyle.

I am extremely happy with the response we have received from our students, and golfers buying into our “holistic” approach to game improvement. Although some amateur golfers (and instructors) still deem it unconventional, the style in which we train at Golf Performance Group has been researched, studied and proven effective by nearly all the top players, coaches, and experts in various fields.I have been blessed to have worked with some of the best coaches in the world, in addition to playing alongside some of the best players in the world and I have a passion for sharing what I have learned with other passionate golfers. I believe private “technical” lessons are only a piece of the process when trying to improve as a golfer. Equal or if not more important, is developing a mindset that creates success on the golf course.

How you practice, balancing different practice styles, dictates your mindset and how much you will improve on the course, which is the ultimate goal – shooting lower scores. Technique is important, but way overdone for most golfers. What other sport have you played that focuses primarily on your technique, rather than playing the game? I.e. picking up a basketball and shooting, or throwing a baseball. Imagine if you trained the technical aspect of throwing a ball.. We would all end up like legendary baseball player Chuck Knoblauch. (note: I just googled how to spell his name and he is a Houston Native!)

Additional benefits related to our training programs:
Learn different practice styles and “game like training”. Case studies done by leading researchers and experts in the sports psychology/ performance coaching field. have proven that balancing private lessons with game like training to you player development plan is much more effective than simply taking just a 1-hour private lesson (technique only, causes confusion, frustration and sometimes makes people worse)

In addition to learning important practice styles, access to the resources I have invested in, using them effectively, receiving accurate feedback consistently is key to improving faster, and achieving your peak performance.

Please subscribe to our blog on the form provided to get more golf player development content. TRAIN SMARTER!

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Rainy Day Golf Practice

JJ Wood, PGA — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 10:46:06 +0000

“I HAVEN’T PRACTICED BECAUSE IT’S BEEN RAINING OUTSIDE” – Worst Excuse Ever

If you’re like most golfers, you’re game probably runs in circles – meaning you play well at times, bad at times and it seems to go full circle to where you’re not improving much – if at all. I hear it nearly every time, “I didn’t have time to go to the course…or it was raining”, etc… We’ve all made the excuse, but like my college coach once said “if you can do 1 thing to get a little better every day, you will become great at this game.”

So, what can you do when it’s raining outside? Here are a few aspects of the game and some golf drills that you may find unconventional, but this is what the pro’s do daily outside of the golf course to improve their game.

IMPROVE SWING POSITIONS, INDOOR

Myth Buster golfers need to go to the driving range to work on their swing. This is false, in fact you probably do more harm to your game by working on your swing technique on the driving range. This trains your brain to thing technically, rather than athletically when you get to the first tee. Your best swing improvements happen without hitting a golf ball, slowing down the swing and perfecting the movement patterns for each swing position. Read more about swing improvements indoor

MENTAL GAME, PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

Mental Game, the most overlooked, easiest and most beneficial aspect of game improvement. When it’s raining outside you can now feel good about sitting down and working on your mindset. Practicing your breathing technique and visualization should be implemented in your pre shot routine on every shot. Read this blog post for a simple mental game practice

GAME PLANNING

Each time you go out to practice you should have a plan to executive with specific objectives. It is best to write it down on a piece of paper, but if for some reason you don’t have paper, write down your next golf practice on your notes app on a mobile device. Make sure you have a balanced practice with specific details so you can ensure you get better each time you spend time working on your game. Read this blog post for more golf practice plan information.

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How To Practice For Golf Performance

JJ Wood, PGA — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 10:00:32 +0000

HOW TO PRACTICE

Golf is the worst practiced sport in the world – Golf Science Lab

Balanced

Playing verse practicing
Block, Deliberate, Random, Sequential
Different areas of the game
Simulation of golf course

Routine

Daily
Practice
Pre-Shot
Post-Shot
Tournament Prep

WHY IS GOLF SO HARD?

Golf skills need to be precise. Depending on the amount of time you have available to work on your game, you need to set reasonable expectations. That being said, if you have strategy, structure and purpose behind each time allotted to golf, you should be able to raise your expectations on the course.

EXPECTATIONS Manage yourself well, here are some of “the controllable” factors

Mindset, routine, set up
Aiming your eyes and line over alignment
Even quill. Emotions – little up and little down
Part of ego is attached to results, disassociate your emotions from results

OPEN SPORT reacting sport, the game dictates your actions. There is less time to analyze and think, more likely to be instinctual and athletic

Basketball
Football
Baseball
Soccer

CLOSED SPORT you decide when you do your routine and static over the ball. You can control the pre-shot routine and set up.

Golf
Free throws in basketball
Pitchers in baseball
Kickers in football

BELOW University of Houston Coach, Jonathan Dismuke discusses with our competitive junior group, The Varsity Group, how their team strategizes practice. Coach Dismuke led Texas A&M to a national golf team championship in 2009.

PRACTICE LIKE THE PRO’S

Practice Objectives

Conceptual improvement
Technical improvement
Restructure practice accordingly

Phases of “in the zone”

Present
Confident,
Comfortable,
Non-judgmental

Non-Negotiable

Creating clear plan
100% commitment to the plan chosen
Post shot feedback, control emotions

Negotiable’s what you can control

Ability to stay present
Number of rehearsal (practice) swings
Length of routine

PRACTICE YOUR ROUTINE’S ON THE COURSE

PRE-SHOT Routine should be same every time

Every routine needs to include the main structure (i.e. 5 aspects of pre-shot routine)
- You don’t have to to have specific number of practice swings, objective is to get the feel and go when you have that positive feel
- Goal is to develop the proper feel for the shot you have chosen, build confidence and trust when pulling the club away
Visually focus on where you look
- Alignment verse awareness
- Visualize or verbally describe the shot. Clear intent
When you are ready, go!

POST-SHOT Routine Realize what a good shot is.

De-labeling outcome
Apply closure. Put club away or take off glove and relax.
- 3 post shot categories

- - Enjoyable – hit ball close to hole
  - Acceptable – proper side of hole, safe putt, will at least make par
  - Learnable – less than ideal shot, learn from it, make adjustment and rehearse

Strategy in your pre-round warm up will help your mindset. Warm up before playing on the course is solely focused on:

Getting golf swing muscles loose
Developing feel for the day
No relation to warm up and score that day.
Practice time warm up is negotiable depending on how you feel, stick to the structure
Irrationally positive thinking.
- Parents, coaches – some need a pat on the back. Some a don’t need as much positive reinforcement

TRAIN SMARTER with strategy and process goals will help all golfers (and athletes) achieve their peak potential. Old school work habits should be blended with the new school performance strategies and technology. By combining the science with art, golfers can guarantee optimum results.

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Golf Hurts

JJ Wood, PGA — Wed, 02 May 2018 13:59:43 +0000

GOLF HURTS. BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO…

Have you ever been on the golf course, about the 12th hole and said to yourself “THIS SUCKS! I’d much rather be at home with my family” or “I HATE GOLF! Why didn’t I just go to the bar with my friends to watch the game?!”

Well, I have probably more than most golfers in this world simply because I used to play it for a living. Now as a coach, I have found a formula to help all golfers play their best consistently!

Why doe’s it hurt so much? Because of bad coaching, swing tips, methods and the weekend golfer self proclaimed “expert coach” I first started teaching golf lessons in 2010 at the age of 25, I thought I knew it all! Fresh out of the University of Oklahoma where I had played on a full golf scholarship and was ranked in top 75 world amateur golf rankings. That was until the day I received my first “golf instructor” job and was blessed to be around a handful of coaches that had 20+ years more experience than I did, from the beginner golf coaching to playing and coaching on the PGA Tour. The first day at work, I realized I had a lot to learn. 8 years later, I am still learning and have a ways to go before I would consider myself one of the best golf coaches in the world.

Swing Tips And The Weekend “Golf Expert”

“Amateurs Teach Amateurs To Play Like Amateurs” – Wise Golf Expert

I believe people are inherently good. Example… You’re not feeling well so your mother tries to help, becoming the “doctor” and tells you to take this emergenc-e tablet, eat chicken noodle soup and everything will be better. After a couple days with no improvement you decide to take them to the nearest urgent care and they prescribe you a z-pack steroid to get rid of that annoying cold. It helps a little in the next day or so but then that damn cold is back, eyes itchy, coughing in everyones face (or backswing on the course). You’ve tried all the basics and you still don’t feel well…. You don’t have good insurance so you really don’t want to go to the doctor. It’s going to be $300 before you pay for the appointment and the meds he prescribes, but… you just can’t wait any longer, this is miserable! So you bite the bullet, google the best doctor in town and schedule the appointment. It’s going to be $250 just for the doctor to take a look. You schedule it, hang up the phone and ask yourself “is this really worth it, the urgent care was $150 and it really didn’t help me that much.” After canceling, rescheduling a few times, start feeling worse and worse each day, you decide to keep the appointment and go in to get to the root of the problem so you can finally feel better! At the appointment, this doctor has all the tools to run every possible test to get to the bottom of it. After a series of tests, they decide you have allergies, you are allergic to everything in the state of Texas! (this was actually my life)

In your first consultation (that cost you $250) you spent hours there just running tests, but weren’t feeling better! After you get the test results back, the doctor goes through the test to explain why you feel so bad, how you can feel better, and the process you will follow daily to ensure you are healthy and feel good every day! So they prescribe you some medical grade allergy meds and tell you to take claritan every day….so you do and you feel great!

How This Allergy Story Applies To Golf

You’re out playing with some friends or at the company golf outing, playing miserably… you can’t stop topping or hitting a foot behind the ball and it goes 5 feet. You then connect! Hit it solid, yet the ball slices off to the right and you never find it. Another $4 lost in the bushes and embarrassing shot. Your friend (cares about you and your golf, tries to play the role of the golf doctor) comes over and says “keep your head down”, you think “well my friend is really good – he can shoot in the 70’s so I should listen to him because he’s nearly an expert”. You start to hit more solid shots, but then start chunking more often and the occassional top.

This is still very frustrating, when you get home you google “cheap golf lessons Houston” a groupon pops up for the local pro down the street, or maybe a special deal at GolfTec (urgent care). “Perfect! This “golf pro” is going to fix my swing and i’ll be good enough to go to the next golf outing”. You take the lesson, he puts you on video, changes your grip and tells you to quit taking it so far inside. You hit it a little better but the pro says “give it time, with practice you will start hitting it solid with no slice!” So you go to the driving range next to your house, hit balls after work but its still not like you want. You start watching YouTube golf videos about how to hit it farther! You think by adding in this secret tip and practice you will become better than your friends! You go to the range again, after a few balls with the new YouTube golf video tip you can’t remember what your “golf pro” said nor what your friends said… So now you’re hitting, trying to get your practice in and you start shanking it in addition to your top, chunk, and slice!

That’s Where The Doctor Comes In

You schedule a lesson with this place called “Golf Performance Group”, they claim to take a different approach to golf lessons, but what possibly could be different? You decide to pay for the first lesson, which is nearly double the groupon local pro or GolfTec price and can’t quite justify it. Eventually you show up and the coach has you hit shots with a few different clubs in your bag on the Trackman Launch Monitor, not saying a word. You’re wondering “did I really just pay this much money to hit on a launch monitor that I have no clue what it means?!”

After 20 min or so, the coach explains which way your ball tends to fly (right or left), what causes it to do that (with proof from the $25,000 Trackman dopler radar used by nearly all PGA Tour pro’s and coaches) and how you can improve it to play your best golf consistently. The coach gives you step 1, “how to hit the ball solid.” Included is information you can take home with you of all the aspects that you can train at home or the golf course. He/she then lays out a roadmap of the process to get you to where you want to go. Step 2 “developing a consistent shot direction”, based on the trackman test results of what you naturally do.

You then go to the driving range the following day, look at your roadmap and start with step one. You only do step 1 and notice you are hitting the ball perfectly solid 4 out of 10 balls. You don’t know if this is good or not, because you’ve never had a way to measure your progression. The next day you go back and its 5 out of 10 balls, next week its 7 of 10 balls. You are now ready for step 2 (while maintaining step 1).

You schedule your schedule your second lesson and he explains why you either hit it 60 yards left (dead pull) or a 40 yard slice to the right, how could the same swing on video cause a 2-way miss with 100 dispersion?! The coach provides you with a couple drills to improve your direction, to include with your previous drills from lesson 1. Your main priority now that you can hit it consistently solid is developing a consistent shot direction on full swing. Coach informs you to pick the drill you liked best for lesson 1 for solid contact so you can maintain those improvements while you work on step 2…. This is what we call the process to game improvement.

I (JJ Wood) am not a “swing tip” or method golf coach. I prefer not to teach somebody one golf lesson or just a quick 30 minute session. My goal is to help all golfers become their “own best coach” and to “own their game”. We are all shaped and molded by our experiences. I worked tirelessly from the age of 10 to 24 trying to perfect this game, beating range balls, sitting for hours on the putting green, going months without a day off from the golf course. Never made it into a PGA Tour event. Why? I believe it is because I never had a clear vision on how to develop my game, understand it and be able to make adjustments when necessary. This is what Cameron McCormick and Jordan Speith have done so well and why Jordan is consistently at the top of the leaderboard. The same can be said for other top players like Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jason Day and recent masters champion Patrick Reed. They realized early on there is no “secret” to playing this game well, but there is a formula for success. All golfers can guarantee improvements and success by finding a coach that knows the formula (roadmap), willing to invest in you as a player and apply it to your life schedule and natural golf swing/game. The player then needs to believe in their coach and formula 100% and follow the formula (process) consistently as described by their coach. If a coach is scared or not willing to explain the process, chances are they don’t believe they have enough knowledge to keep you as a student long term or don’t have a clue of what the process is.

JJ Wood, PGA
Director of Instruction
Email

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Rory McIlroy Golf Swing

JJ Wood, PGA — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 09:49:51 +0000

There has been a lot of talk about how far Rory McIlroy is hitting the ball these days and how he uses the ground to do it. A lot of people don’t understand what this means and how guys like Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson are able to achieve this.

SWING LIKE RORY MCILROY, STEP-BY-STEP

When you start the golf swing, feel like you are swinging the golf club wide off the golf ball as you make your backswing. This allows your hands to get up high and far away from your right shoulders. This is something you don’t see a lot with mid to high handicappers.
At the top of your swing, feel like your arms stop swinging when your shoulders complete the back swing turn. Your hands should be very high but also connected to your shoulder turn (we do not want to lift the arms to complete the backswing).
From here you will be able to shift your pressure into your left side and rotate without having your shaft come in too steep.
- “old school” golf instruction told us to bump the hips to the left before turning the body for our down swing. Rory has taught us that we want to stay centered, yet place the pressure into our left foot as we are swinging down.

Most golfers think that they need to create lag in order to create power but they misinterpret this concept. Whenever I see someone try to create lag, they get the club shaft very close to their body and club face is left wide open.

SUMMARY

Feel a big wide turn off the ball in your backswing with your hands high and far away from your right shoulder. From there, feel like as your body rotates in the down swing, your club head stays as far away from you as possible, maintaining the width into the golf ball, creating more speed.

R.J. Wood is the head coach for Golf Performance Group in Houston, TX. Wood is a certified coach through Trackman and Swing Catalyst. Previous to becoming a coach, R.J. grew up playing competitive golf, with many playing accolades as 2-Time Arizona High School State Champion, Arizona Amateur of the Year, and 3 professional victories.

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PGA Flashback Friday

JJ Wood, PGA — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 20:49:20 +0000

GOLFERS DREAM OF PLAYING ON THE PGA TOUR, IN 2017 MY PGA TOUR DREAMS CAME TRUE

My First Flashback Friday…

With less practice and a full time job, I realized my childhood dream of playing on the PGA Tour. I’m extremely thankful and blessed to have this opportunity, but it doesn’t quite seem fair. I was taught that hard work pays off…

In 2015 I decided to move back to Houston after coaching college golf at Ohio State University. I’ve spent nearly 3 years trying to figure out small business ownership, which has created more headaches, busy work and less time for practice. Thankfully since becoming a full time coach in 2011 I have been surrounded by some of the best athletes and golf coaches in the world. All athletes (I still consider myself a golf athlete) blossom at different ages. I reached my first PGA Tour event and major at 33, but why?

I feel I am one of the most logical, “it’s black and white” person you will find. I like to know the facts, understand the “why”, then the “how” to improve or fix something. If I can understand that, I can typically complete a task. If not, I run in circles, frustrated and do not get much accomplished. Before the last couple years, I was in search of what actually worked in golf and the golf swing. I almost believed that golf was more about “luck” than skill.

In 2015 I made my final career decision, I want to be a golf coach and entrepreneur. This is why I moved back to start a golf academy and not pursue being a college golf coach. This is when I began to invest more in research and learning of golf swing mechanics and development. With a clear vision of where I was going, I knew understanding the swing mechanics was vital to being a quality “golf instructor”. I was in search for the truth, not another theory or swing method to try.

I can now say I 100% OWN my game. It’s not as sharp as I would like it, but I know where I’m going with it – from the driver to the putter, I understand the facts, what is black and what is white. My passion is to communicate and apply that to each golfer that loves this game as much as I do. All it takes is an open mind, some dedication and a little practice. Selfishly, I learn more through my students that makes me a better player, so I hope you can learn from my experiences to achieve your potential!

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Truth About Golf Professionals

JJ Wood, PGA — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 14:21:07 +0000

“JJ is a golf instructor, all he does is practice and play golf all day.”

This is comment is something I hear regularly. Fact is, I never, NEVER, hit balls on a driving range and maybe once per week I will hit some chips and putts on the practice are when I need a break from work. Honestly, when the golf course is your place of work, it becomes like any other office and you don’t want to spend your free time at the office.

Not all golf professionals are built the same. When I enrolled in the PGA Professional Apprentice Program, I was amazed at how little emphasis was placed on player development. Player development is golf lessons, how to make golfers better. In my first 2 levels (there are 3 levels total to complete the program), we spent roughly 1 hour out of 40 classroom hours on player development. This should be more of a focus point for the PGA of America and they are starting to change the curriculum to implement more coaching and player development strategies.

Perception. The perception is that PGA Golf Professionals are “professional golfers”. There is a HUGE difference. The playing ability test for the PGA of America is set at a very low standard. At my “PAT”, we played the course from 6300 yards, pins in the middle of every green and the target score was 158 for 2 rounds (78 each round or +12). High school golfers play from 7,000 yards. That being said, most likely, the head golf professional at your home course is closer to being a 18 handicap than a scratch player. And a scratch player is closer to a 10 handicap than a PGA Tour player.
Golf Professional = Business Professional in Golf Industry
Professional Golfer = Earns his living playing golf (but you’re not making a living unless you are on one of the worlds major tours)

Golf Coaches, Teaching Professionals and Performance Coaches = Coach (for the most part) I suggest asking for a coaches resume to see who their mentors were and what playing experiences they had. The best coaches in the business have a great track record of playing at least collegiate golf, mentored by great coaches before them. Just because they are a “PGA Professional” does not mean they are qualified to teach you how to play golf better.

I am a full time coach and small business owner, who plays 2 rounds of golf per month. So how did I manage to qualify for a PGA Tour Major Championship? The average person believes that those that work in the golf industry have the greatest job in the world, just play golf all day! The average assistant golf professional works 50-60 hours per week for nearly minimum wage. You better be passionate about the game if you are going to work in customer service at that pay rate!

I am passionate about growing the game of golf, but more passionate about educating all golfers on the TRUTH about game improvement. Old school, 1 hour golf lessons are the reason that the average USGA handicap has not improved in 30 years with the advancement of equipment and teaching technology.

My beliefs is that golf is not a sport that requires much physical talent to play well. Making the PGA Tour, or NCAA College Golf – yes that requires some talent. To become a very good amateur golfer, shooting mid to high 70’s at your local golf course, in my opinion does not require much time practicing at the golf course.

My golf practice style as a player I was a hard worker, spent long hours on the driving range and practice area. I was always guessing and experimenting with what to work on. How good could I have been if I spent 40 hours per week practicing correctly?

The recreational avid golfer most likely spends 1-2 hours at most at the practice area during the week. They rehearse their swing positions on the range, developing a technical-mechanical mindset for when they go on the course. This leads to frustration and inconsistent golf.

How you should practice at the golf course. Work on aspects you can control. It doesn’t take an elite athlete or rocket scientist to set up to a golf shot correctly. Unfortunately, most players over look the most import aspects that are simple and we can control, such as:

Set up – stance width, ball position, alignment grip and posture
Consistent tempo
Pre shot routine – go through it on every shot when practicing
Start small! You can take 5 balls and hit different shots around the green. I like to hit 5 shots from one spot, pick them up and hit 5 shots from another spot. That way you are not just hitting the same shot over and over again. Below are some of the benefits:
1. Proper Impact
2. Establish feel around the green to save shots during the round

Benefits of practicing smart

Less time at the golf course
When you make it to the golf course, you are certain to improve on one aspect of your game
Understand your game better
Establish different shots for your game
Improve key elements in your game all great golfers possess

Bonus Practice for the Golf Course

IMPACT This allows you to ingrain the impact zone. Impact is one of the most important aspect of the golf swing that all great players do correctly. Amateurs have a very poor impact, which is the main difference between a good ball striker and inconsistent ball striker. You can only develop impact through small, slow rehearsal swings, drills and pitch shots.

FEEL you are using your time efficiently by hitting pitch shots around the green. You build feel for short shots around the greens while you are improving impact for your full swing.

If you understand what creates a draw or a fade ball flight, you can hit any shot you want or need when playing on the golf course. By hitting a different type of shot each time you are simulating golf course as well as keeping your swing in balance.

Keeping your swing in balance means that your swing will never get too far off. Many players rehearse the “perfect swing”, which is not possible by the way. They may learn swing flaws they need to fix in a golf lesson, which is probably something they need to work on, but not on a driving range going full speed. Figure out how to make the ball curve to the left, then to the right, then you can find the middle and hit it straight!

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2016 PGA Golf Practice Plan

JJ Wood, PGA — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 18:26:55 +0000

Every tournament my fellow pro’s would tease me that I am not working enough. Using the excuse that because I was a “teaching” pro, I had more time than the others to work on my game. This couldn’t be farther from the truth!

I am a golf professional first, but I am an entrepreneur at heart. This means I am constantly trying to come up with innovative ways to improve our coaching programs at the academy, online, as well as grow our business in all aspects. I teach 15-20 hours per week, but I spend at least 40 hours running a business per week.

My Goal in 2016?

Returning back to the South Texas PGA for the first full season since moving to coach at Ohio State University, I made it my goal to win our section Player of The Year and qualify for the PGA National Championship (for PGA Professionals).

The Player of the Year receives an exemption into the PGA Tour Shell Houston Open. Owning a golf academy and coaching in Houston this would be a huge benefit in addition to accomplishing my life long dream of playing in a PGA Tour sanctioned event.

My 2016 Practice Plan

Like I said, players often joked that I wasn’t working enough, I practiced more than they did and that’s why I would finish better than them in tournament events. Farthest thing from the truth. Sure I played a couple holes during playing lessons, a few casual scrambles and maybe 9 holes here or there with some friends. But not a true round of golf that the avid golfer does weekly or monthly.

What I DID NOT do

Bang balls on the driving range – never hit one full bucket in a day
Practice at the short game area – outside of a skills competition
Practice my putting for hours on end
Never spent more than 20 min practicing at one time

What I DID do

Assessed my game, technique, tendencies
Educated myself on cause and effect so I could make adjustments
Practiced my swing technique indoors to build proper muscle memory
All practice was in a skills test or competition
Visualization, relaxation techniques – mental game exercises
Aware and deliberate about executing an efficient pre shot routine
Specific workouts that included exercises for balance, flexibility and speed

THE RESULT I didn’t achieve my ultimate goal to play in the Shell Houston Open, but I did manage to qualify for the PGA National Championship in June of 2017, which will be aired on the golf channel.

The total season includes 5 “majors”, those are the five tournaments that are awarded points. Through the first three events I was number 1 on the Player of The Year points list, in great position to achieve my ultimate goal .

After the third event I made a STUPID mistake in my plan. Ball striking as always been a natural strength of mine, if I made more putts – who knows, maybe I would be playing for a living! One day at the academy I decided to refresh myself on Aimpoint for green reading. Sounds harmless, but it was the most STUPID thing I did all year and ultimately cost me a chance for player of the year. I think Aimpoint is a great tool to have, but I will explain a little later how you need to be careful if implementing it into your game (especially if you don’t have time to practice)

The 4th event at Oak Hill Country Club in San Antonio I averaged 36 putts per round, shooting 76-76 finishing way down the leaderboard. It was a good learning experience, but I fell to 3rd on the points list after the event.

For the 5th and final event of the year I didn’t have a chance to practice much, only played a 3 hole practice round due to weather but in those 3 holes I made three putts outside of 10 feet. What did I change from the previous event? Committed to going back to my natural putting routine that is focused on feel and visualization!

Unfortunately I got off to a rough start starting the first round, due to poor tee shots that put me in bad spots, but I battled to shoot +1, 73 – putting me in 21st place after round 1. After the round I hit a few tee shots on the range to work on my tempo, and went home to relax since my body is not use to playing 18 holes! The next 2 rounds I hit it better and shot -2 (70), and -3(69) to capture the last spot!

I finished the tournament -3 the last 4 holes to qualify for the national championship and finish top 5 on the points list for the year. The most interesting part is what saved me, my putting! I averaged 30 putts per round for the tournament, and on the last 4 holes I made 4 crucial pressure packed putts.

15th hole, 10 footer for birdie √16th hole, 12 footer for birdie √ 17th hole, 5 footer for par √

18th hole, 5 footer for birdie (downhill that broke 8 inches) √

Why Aimpoint Was Bad For Me

Aimpoint is focused on angles, and I am a FEEL player. Although it gave me some good lines, it took me out of my routine that is based on feel and seeing the arc of the putt. If I had more time to work on it, it may be great for me – but I didn’t have the time. Getting back to my natural routine created more comfort, leading to confidence and ultimately making more putts.

I know all golfers have the time to work on their game as much as I do. They just need a specific plan in place to work on it when they have free time. Golfers need a clear plan, apply time management skills, access to education and drills and anyone can become a good golfer!

NO EXCUSES, Get a strategic plan and spend 10 minutes per day doing something! I have put my drills, practice programs with video demonstration and education into an online training program. You can get it now for $!

JJ Wood, PGA Director of Instruction

GOLF PERFORMANCE LAB

During my life pursuit to become a world class player and coach, I was blessed to play and coach alongside the best minds in golf. PGA Tour winners, major champions, NCAA Championship players and coaches. While coaching with current Oklahoma State Coach Donnie Darr, I learned the importance of “owning your game”. Anyone can achieve this when given accurate information fo what actually matters and consistent execution to the process.

I will give you the PROCESS, through practical practice plans, drills and exercises. With proper guidance and tools used by PGA Tour professionals, you will know exactly what to work on and when to do it. If a “washed up” teaching professional like myself qualified and competed on the biggest stage of golf, playing less than one round of golf per week, imagine what you could accomplish in your game! Try it for $1 Today

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(713) 586-9569
jj@gpghouston.com

TRAIN SMARTER. LEARN FASTER.

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Golf academy for all ages and abilities Located in Houston, TX at Northgate CC.

The post 2016 PGA Golf Practice Plan appeared first on pga golf training programs.

Golfers 4 post shot routine questions

JJ Wood, PGA — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 20:41:17 +0000

4 Questions All Golfers Must Ask Themselves After Each Shot, Post Shot Routine

The post shot routine is something that most golfers do not consistently execute on each shot. Most the players I work with don’t even know what a post shot routine is!

Benefits of the post shot routine

Gather feedback
Speed up learning
Allow yourself to move on to the next shot with no emotion
Understand your game better

The post shot routine could be argued to be more important than a pre shot routine. Why? Because this is when you will be gathering feedback and learning about your game. If you can evaluate and learn from each shot, imagine how much faster you will improve rather than just hitting a shot, good or bad, throwing your club and going to the next shot.

The 4 most important questions after every shot

What was I trying to do
How well did I execute what I was trying to do
Why? What caused the good or poor shot
How am I going to reinforce the good shot or fix the flaw that caused the poor shot

Here is an example of how I would recommend answering the questions

I was trying to hit a draw that start at the tree on the right and finish 10 feet right of the hole
I pushed it a little right of the tree and it drew the amount I wanted. It ended up 20 feet right of the hole, but in the safe miss area
I tried to get my swing path more out to the right and I over did it
I need to feel less of a right swing path when hitting a draw. (I then rehearse this feel in a practice swing and put the club away)

Challenge

In your next round of golf I would make your post shot routine the priority. Bring a notebook to the golf course with you and keep it in your bag or cart. After each shot, I want you to answer each of the 4 questions.

You have to make this a priority in the beginning because it is not going be natural to remember. It has to be your sole priority during the round. If you can do this regularly, you will speed up your learning curve and start to shoot lower scores consistently in no time!

Note: if you do not understand your tendencies and golf swing, I recommend you find a qualified golf coach to help you through the learning process. Golf is a game of opposites, so don’t try figuring it out yourself!

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