golf tips – pga golf training programs

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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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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PGA Practice 1 Prep

JJ Wood, PGA — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 15:35:05 +0000

Practice Structure I progress from short to long shots. I then evaluate my practice and end my practice working on my weakness and reinforcing good tempo. See below for my practice broken down.

Important Note You probably do not have a couple of the training devices I use for this practice. You can use the traditional practice method to simulate both training aids.

Blast Motion Sensor pay special attention to your tempo, try to repeat your tempo consistently on the wedge shots.

Gabe Swing Trainer simulate the Gabe Swing Trainer by pausing at the top of your golf swing. Be very disciplined and relaxed when you start your down swing.

Drills & Training Aid Information

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PGA Tour Putting with Cameron Tringale

JJ Wood, PGA — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 17:43:29 +0000

Cameron Tringale Putting Drill, PGA Tour Player

Warm up putting drill
Cameron is an old friend of mine from college that worked with the same performance coach as myself and Jason Day. I ran across this video and thought it was a perfect learning opportunity for golfers.

Why is this so good?
Cameron has set up a variety of simple tools to enforce the proper fundamentals and mechanics essential to making more putts. These are very simple aspects of putting that even PGA Tour players pay attention to daily and you should too!

String Drill from 10 feet

Step 1 – Get a string, find a straight 12 foot putt.

Find a string and wrap it around two pencils. Get a string that is roughly 15 feet long. You can then place one pencil 1 foot behind the center of the hole and the other about 12 feet away from the hole.

The string helps you with
1.Alignment
2. Starting Line
3. Keeping the ball low on follow through

Step 2 – 2 golf tees

Place two golf tees just outside the toe and heel of your putter. This will help you dial in a good swing path with your putter.

Step 3 – Grip, palms facing each other

This grip gives you a good feel for keeping your arms and shoulders moving together, eliminating any bad technique with your hands

Step 4 – Pre shot routine

When practicing your putting you should always simulate the golf course. Go through your routine before hitting each putt and walk into each putt. The common flaw is for players to rake ball after ball over. This type of practice does not translate to success on the golf course. In this case, cameron uses a line on his ball when he putts, therefore he is setting his line on the ball before each putt.

Practice Routine

Make 10 in a row from 5 feet under the string (with this grip)

Make 5 in a row from 10 feet under the string (with this grip)

Repeat that same process with your natural grip you use on the golf course.

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One Handed Putting

JJ Wood, PGA — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 15:46:50 +0000

Establish more feel and control

Putting practice at the golf course

As you will hear in the video, there is information out there about which hand is most important in putting. It is my goal to help you identify which hand is best for you! There is not a right answer, it is the hand that feels the best and allows you to control the club face and speed.

Warm up your putting

Step 1. Find a 4 foot straight putt

Step 2. Make 5 in a row

Step 3. Find 2 holes that are 25 feet apart

Step 4. Hit 10 putts back and forth (5 putts each way)

1-Handed Putting Test

Step 1. Start with right hand

Step 2. Hit 5 balls from 5 feet (straight putt)

Step 3. Hit 5 balls from 15 feet

Step 4. Hit 5 balls from 30 feet

Next: Repeat process with left hand

Which one did you feel like you had the best control with? This is the hand you should feel most when putting with two hands on the putter!

Finish off your practice with simulating pressure

Make 10 in a row from each of the following 3 foot areas

Step 1: Straight

Step 2: Left to right

Step 3: Right to left

Finish your putting practice with 9 holes for score, putting everything out

Step 1: 1 ball

Step 2: Choose starting putts of 30-60 feet

Step 3: Go through routine on each putt

Step 4: Putt everything in

What was your score?

Home Practice
Putting
Step 1: One handed, dominate hand with alignment sticks from 10 feet – 30 putts
Step 2: Putting arc with both hands – 50 strokes
Step 3: Both hands, no training aids – 10 putts

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Just Putt

JJ Wood, PGA — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 21:08:19 +0000

Putting is Simple!

Think about it, how hard is it to make a 6 inch swing and hit it 4 feet to your target? Shouldn’t be very hard! When I was 10 years old, people would talk about about how I couldn’t miss. Then when I turned 18, everyone talked about, “if that kid could putt, he would be good!” So how did this happen? At 10, no golf experience and no THOUGHTS, I would make everything? Yet, after being ranked top 25 in the national junior golf rankings, I was a bad putter? Here’s why… I was obsessed with getting better, I read everything, watched everything, and picked every good putters brain. Power by knowledge, right? WRONG…. I didn’t know which method to go with, and putting became my weakness… Fast forward to my coaching career… My girlfriend, who has never played a round of golf pulls out the putter wheel training aid… I was proud of myself for being able to finally hit it 10 feet without it tipping over… and she puts it down, hits it and it rolls perfectly! Why is this? Because she is athletic and just reacted like an athlete would. So this is what I did. I went to the green, made my focus only of hitting solid putts… next time I played, I rolled it more true than I ever did before… Here’s a simple putting practice for you. 1. Buy the putter wheel… You can find it here 2. Hit 20 putts to warm up your putting every day 3. Play 9 holes only worrying about your routine Routine – Find the line – Commit to the line – Focus on hitting a solid putt down that line If you are someone that thinks too much in putting or don’t trust your stroke…. I recommend copying Aaron Baddelys pre shot routine for putting… He explains it perfectly in this video!

Hit it solid

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Jimmy Walker Golf Swing

JJ Wood, PGA — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 19:12:04 +0000

Jimmy Walker’s reveals swing secrets with Butch Harmon

Click image to view video

Keep the club in front of you!

I have never seen a golfer error too short and too wide!

The biggest golf swing misconception is that “over the top” is bad. Sure too much over the top is bad, but too much of anything is bad. Golfers cannot play consistently good golf if their club behind them (too much from the inside). I would much rather have someone error over the top than stuck behind them.

Psychology
When the club is over the top, you are more aware of where the club head is. When you are aware of where the club head is, you have a better chance of being athletic through the shot. Amateurs and pro’s alike often need to “save it” at the bottom of the swing. If the club is behind you, you are going to flip your hands and the club is moving too fast for you flip it consistently.

How to practice swinging short and wide

Keep the club in front of you on the takeaway. (arms in front of your chest on backswing. *This does not mean reaching on the take away!
Pause at the top – have separation from back swing to downswing. Most people jerk from the top, this throws of their tempo and transition. Losing power and consistency.
Relax and trust your swing! Practice hitting shots at 50% of full speed. When you go full speed, you will do what is comfortable. 80% of your shots on the range should be half speed.

Jason Day

Tiger Woods

JB Holmes

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Full Swing Fundamentals Indoor Practice

JJ Wood, PGA — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 02:26:54 +0000

Goal 1 Building a Fundamental Foundation
Goal 2 Establishing a Baseline for Putting

Whats required this week…

→ 1 day, 1 hour at the golf course (2 days at the course would be great!) If you have a second day at the course this week, please try and play at least 18 holes, so we can get a target score to start with. If you know your average score for 18 holes, you don’t have to do this step.

When you play, the key swing thought should be only on tempo! You can add one swing thought in your pre shot practice swing from the video analysis (if you decide to upgrade to that option). Never have more than one swing thought when hitting a golf shot!

→ 4 days spending at least 30 minutes at your home or office doing drills inside. Can do more if you want! We don’t want to start to fast in order to avoid burnout.

→ Follow the practice plan with consistency!

After realizing your strengths and weaknesses with the self evaluation worksheet can now tailor a practice plan to develop the key full swing fundamentals used by all the best players in the world.

What needs to be done first:

→ Refine the basic key fundamentals
→ Develop consistent contact, part 1
→ Find your personal tempo and make it repeatable

Do you know what most PGA Tour pro’s check first when they start hitting the ball poorly?

→ ALIGNMENT!Yes, alignment seems very simple, but you would be amazed with how bad golfers are at setting up correctly. I would say 99% of my golf students line up on average 15-20 yards away from their intended target. If you are reasonably athletic, your mind sub consciously is aware of where the target is even though are you not consciously aware. How do you improve your awareness? This is discussed in the complete game plan (next program for your development).

In the setup, 2 things are important:

Alignment – you can find golf alignment sticks here
Awareness – Read more here

Below are all the key fundaments for addressing the golf ball for a full swing ↓

Set up check #1 Grip…

Grips are very personal and effect your feel and this is why…Golf is an art, which is creative and involves feel. If your grip is creating issues, and a qualified golf professional can tell you WHY to change it, try to model the grip above. I am one of the few coaches that will not change your grip first.

Neutral stance is shoulder width apart. This creates the correct width to turn properly and stay in balance

Stance varies in width, but it is very minor adjustments. Driver is slightly wider because it is a faster swing, so we need more stability by getting our feet wider.

If you get too wide, it is hard to turn. Too narrow, makes it hard to stay on balance

Weight distribution should be slightly on your front leg (for right handers, left leg).

We want to do this because it will promote us to hit more down on the ball, creating more back spin and help us keep the face more square. Most amateurs try to help it up in the air, HIT DOWN.

Most golfers put a club down for the feet and point their feet directly at the target. This causes your your club face to be pointed to the right of the intended target (for right handers). Make sure your club face is pointed at the target on all golf shots, and set your feet parallel to the club face.

Start with the shortest club (sand wedge/Pitching wedge middle of the stance and the ball progressively moves forward in the stance until it is inside the left heel for the driver). You may see professional golfers put their wedges behind middle of stance for full swing shots, but this is advanced and we will not address it until the next program.

Get in an athletic position, like you would defending someone in basketball or a short stop in baseball. Weight should be in the middle of your feet (in your shoe laces). Most amateurs look like they are sitting in a chair, with too much knee flex and their weight on the heels or too far on the toes.

TIME TO PRACTICE…AT HOME

Whats required of you… 30 minutes at your home or office. Follow todays plan exactly how it is described! *Makes for an entertaining work break!

Objectives

→ Build Full Swing Fundamentals

→ Develop Proper Impact

Phase 1 Indoor Pitch shots ( 10-15 minutes)

Learn how the proper technique for hitting pitch shots. If you can learn how to hit a pitch shot, it will improve your ball striking. Its all about the proper impact position. A pitch shot is just a smaller version of the full swing, but better. Pitch shots are a better way to practice because it is slower and smaller, allowing you to ingrain and feel the proper impact position.
1. Practice the 5 set up fundamentals before each pitch shot swing
  1. Make sure you are aiming at something. Best if you can focus on the landing spot. This will help you develop feel for when you go back to the golf course
  2. Add on – get soft practice balls and hit them against the wall or in your back yard. Soft Practice Balls
  3. Add on 2 – Just like above, using the impact ball trains you on how to get in the correct impact position
2. Hit 20 pitch shots into the wall with soft practice balls

Phase 2 Indoor Full Swing Technique (15 minutes)

Very slow practice swings When I say slow, I mean very slow! Stop at each check point position to make sure you are in the right position. Do NOT hit golf shots, just rehearse the proper positions without a golf ball. Reason: Allows you to focus on correct movement because you are not worried about the result of the shot.
1. 3 sets of 10 swings (5 swings super set)
  1. Pause for 3 seconds at each position in swing (see video below )
  2. After each set do 5 slow motion swings without pausing (super set)
  3. 30% full speed practice swings. Be aware of the correct positions throughout the swing
2. Add on – I require all of my students to purchase the saber stick.
  1. Benefit of heavy club – improves your technique 10 times faster than a lot weight club
  2. Beware – go slow with a heavy club! Going fast will mess up the sequencing of your golf swing when you go back to a normal club
  3. Heavy club is designed to improve your swing changes faster. If you are looking to improve your swing speed, that is a completely different method, which we will discuss in the complete game plan.

Repeat this practice routine at least 4 days this week. If you have more time repeat this practice cycle as many times as you can!

As you can see, it doesn’t take much each day to improve. Follow this plan all week and we will see you in week 2 for your next practice plan!

Proper Pitch Shot Technique

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One Handed Putting

JJ Wood, PGA — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 19:54:28 +0000

Goal: Establish your dominate hand in putting

Main Focus: Putting
Maintenance: Full Swing & Short game

Download Week 6 Checklist

One-handed putting test

Golf Course

Putting Practice

Warm up your putting
Start with right hand
1. Hit 5 balls from 5 feet (straight putt)
2. Hit 5 balls from 15 feet
3. Hit 5 balls from 30 feet
Repeat process with left hand

Which one did you feel like you had the best control with? This is the hand you should feel most when putting with two hands on the putter!

Make 10 in a row from each of the following 3 foot areas:

Straight
Left to right
Right to left

Finish your putting practice with 9 holes for score, putting everything out:

1 ball
Choose starting putts of 30-60 feet
Go through routine on each putt
Putt everything in
What was your score?

Pitch Shot Practice

25 pitch shots from 20-30 yards with impact ball

Bunker Practice

20 swings – warm up with the bunker line drill

Hit 25 shots medium bunker shot length (you have to carry ball 10-15 feet and rolls roughly 20 feet)

Full Swing Practice

25 balls feet together drill

15 balls with 7 iron going through complete pre shot routine and set up

10 balls with driver focused on the transition at top of the swing tempo

At Home Practice

What I learned today worksheet
Full Swing Practice
Gabe Swing Trainer – 25 swings
Heavy Club 3 sets of 10 swings, holding for count of 3 at each swing sequence

Putting
One handed, dominate hand with alignment sticks from 10 feet – 30 putts
Putting arc with both hands – 50 strokes
Both hands, no training aids – 10 putts

Short Game Impact Drills
5 sets of 5 in door frame
25 shots with impact ball

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