WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:04.599 Hi, This is Dwayne Dusky from Portland, Oregon, and I 2 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:08.359 play at Glenn Deevere East and West Courses in Portland. 3 00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:10.919 This is Golf Smarter number. 4 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:13.599 Four hundred and eighty six, published on April twenty eight, 5 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:14.679 twenty fifteen. 6 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:19.920 Welcome to golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain 7 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:23.559 insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the 8 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:29.559 Golf Smarter podcast. Great Golf Instruction Never gets old. Our 9 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:34.479 interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations 10 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:38.079 like this that are no longer available in any podcast app. 11 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:40.960 If we're talking a distance wedge, which will I define 12 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:43.520 us between forty yards and maybe your full swing of 13 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:45.960 your pitching wage. So let's say one twenty five or whatever. 14 00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:48.320 You don't want a bigger gap than about twenty yards 15 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:50.079 in there. So if I hit my pitching wedge to 16 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:52.719 one twenty five, the next club I need to hit 17 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:54.960 at least ninety five yards And if I can get 18 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:57.600 those nice even spread like that, you can really learn 19 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:01.359 to cover any yardage with appropriate spin in trajectory. The 20 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:05.400 second would be the bounce options and the soul grind. 21 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:07.879 The shape of the wedge you want to have a 22 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:11.280 sand wedge with a lot of bounce on it. Bounce 23 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:13.799 is the difference between the bottom back of the club 24 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.680 and the soul to the leading edge, and degrees good 25 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:20.040 sand wedge might have between ten and fourteen or fifteen 26 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:22.079 degrees of bounce on it. If you have a more 27 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:25.000 lofted club, like a fifty eight to fifty nine or sixty, 28 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:27.400 you want that one to be low and bounced, so 29 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:31.239 probably between four and seven, depending once again on your 30 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:33.760 standard technique. With the techniques that I try to get 31 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:36.640 people to use, you don't need much bounce because the 32 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:39.040 swing's very shallow and you use it as you swing. 33 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:41.640 If that's the case, and you have a high bounced 34 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.319 sand wedge and a low bounce lob wedge, then you're 35 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:47.680 really prepared for any turf condition because when the sand 36 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:51.400 or grass is soft, the ball comes out slow and 37 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:53.920 more bounce is better than less, so you can always 38 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.319 use your sandwich. If, on the other hand, you're playing 39 00:01:56.439 --> 00:01:59.439 kind of tight, firm turf, you need more loft and 40 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:01.359 less bounce, so you always have a choice. If you 41 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:02.560 had that set. 42 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:11.560 Makeup your short game solution. Mastering the Short Game from 43 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:14.360 one hundred and twenty yards and in with James Siekman. 44 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:20.199 This is Golf Smarter Premium. Here's your host, Fred Green. 45 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:22.719 Welcome to the Golf Smarter Podcast. 46 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:26.120 James. Hey, Fred, thanks for having me on. Appreciate it. 47 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:29.000 It's my pleasure because you've got a brand new book 48 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:31.879 out just came out last Month's available on Amazon called 49 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:35.439 Your Short Game Solution, Mastering the finesse game from one 50 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:39.199 hundred and twenty yards and in a favorite topic of 51 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:41.319 the Golf Smarter Podcast. 52 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.080 Oh, I think hopefully a favorite topic of anybody that 53 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:45.199 wants to shoot a good score. 54 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:48.919 And isn't that the case though? I mean, it really is. 55 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:53.159 And I discovered I'm not a PGA professional. I just 56 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.479 have the right equipment to do these recordings. And I 57 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:02.319 love playing golf, but I'm a weekend player and don't 58 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:05.280 have a ton of time to practice. But I recently 59 00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:07.960 discovered in the last year or so, how important the 60 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.039 short game is. You discovered this a long time. 61 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:14.599 Ago, Well, I did, because I mean I played professionally 62 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:18.319 and I hit the ball beautifully, and you know, it 63 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:23.120 just was a huge competitive disadvantage when I couldn't get 64 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:25.919 the ball up and end couldn't kind of keep my 65 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:30.719 momentum going in the round. And if you look at 66 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:33.520 the short game is so important for a lot of reasons. 67 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:36.599 But if you look at just look at statistically, the 68 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:41.919 best players make the most birdies and so you think about, well, 69 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:43.919 that means all of the best ball strikers then would 70 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:46.319 be the best players. But you got to think about 71 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:51.240 where you make your birdies percentage wise, and typically you're 72 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:53.319 not making them on a two hundred and fifteen yard 73 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:56.919 part three. You're not making on a four hundred and 74 00:03:56.919 --> 00:03:59.719 eighty five yard part four. You know you do that 75 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:01.599 one in a while, but it's a bit of an outlier. 76 00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:05.560 The reality is you make your birdies on the par 77 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:07.840 fives that you can't reach. You make them on the 78 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:09.759 par fives that you can reach. You make them on 79 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:12.479 the short part fours where you can happen to get 80 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:15.479 the ball up there seventy yards from the green, And 81 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:19.120 so that type of shot called a distance wedge is 82 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:22.399 critical for making birdies, and making birdies is critical to 83 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:25.279 being a good player. And of course if you make birdies. 84 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:28.759 Another way to make birdies is to feel like you 85 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:32.319 can shoot at pins. And if you have no confidence 86 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:35.639 in your finesse, game around the greens, and you find 87 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:37.879 yourself playing in the middle of the green and you know, 88 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:40.240 having good shots that end up thirty feet or so. 89 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:45.079 So it really is feeds on itself in so many 90 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:48.439 different ways as far as just keeping momentum, being able 91 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:51.920 to attack, take any advantage of the easy holes. And 92 00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:54.439 if you're not tidy with your wedge game from one 93 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:56.279 hundred and twenty yards at end, you really do not 94 00:04:56.439 --> 00:04:57.600 have a chance to compete. 95 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:05.279 Right book, I loved the story on how you started 96 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:09.480 figuring this out with your brother and being on tour 97 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:11.959 and started videotaping on your own. Why did you give 98 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:16.519 us a little history of your own game and how 99 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:20.120 you got to understanding and becoming the guru that you 100 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:22.240 are to seventy players. 101 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:24.439 Yeah, it's kind of an interesting tale, you know. I 102 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.920 played in college, I played nicely, turned pro afterwards and 103 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.600 played those days. There was no such thing as a 104 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:33.720 web dot com tour or a hoving tour. It was 105 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:38.480 get all the way through tour school or play overseas 106 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:41.920 or many tour events. So I went overseas and I 107 00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:44.519 played in Asian South America and did that for about 108 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:48.199 five years, traveling around the world playing great experience, but 109 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:53.920 it became very clear to me that everything that I 110 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:56.920 was working hard on to improve was actually making me 111 00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:59.800 much worse. And I had a great touch around the 112 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:01.199 green when I was a kid, but I had no 113 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:04.040 thoughts either. I just kind of did it. And then 114 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:07.839 as I started to get formal coaching, you know, I 115 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:12.399 got much much worse. I quit, got married, and took 116 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:14.560 a job working for Dave Hills, who's kind of a 117 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:19.959 famous short game coach. After two or three years there, 118 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:22.600 having an opportunity to kind of learn from him and 119 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.720 dabbling a little bit more specifically in short game coaching, 120 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:30.519 and an opportunity to start my own business. And one 121 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:33.279 thing was very clear at that point, even after working 122 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:36.759 teaching short game schools for three years, I had no 123 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:41.279 clue what good technique was. I didn't know what worked 124 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:43.160 and why. I just knew that the things that I 125 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:45.839 was teaching in those schools and the things that I 126 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:48.879 was taught when I was going through college and as 127 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:51.839 a pro were not working. And they were not only 128 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.480 not working for me, but they weren't helping for the 129 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:58.360 people I was seeing. So I decided I need to 130 00:06:58.360 --> 00:06:59.920 go on a little bit of a journey or quest 131 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:02.000 to try and figure this out, since I was just 132 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:05.920 getting ready to open my own academy and my oldest brother, 133 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.279 Tom's a PGA tour player before I was on tour 134 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:13.160 for eleven years and was close friends with Seve among 135 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:16.319 a lot of great players, and asked me to come 136 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:21.800 caddy for him at the Players Championship. So I had 137 00:07:21.800 --> 00:07:25.160 a a kind of a unique opportunity to be around 138 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:28.199 the best wedge player in the on the planet, as 139 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:30.759 well as many others like Raymond Floyd and Corey Pavin, 140 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.319 and I had a huge need to try and figure 141 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:36.920 out what the heck, you know, what worked and why, 142 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:39.800 because at this point I only knew what didn't work, 143 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:43.079 And uh, you know, I went and took video and 144 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:45.879 I studied it just like a football coach would study 145 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:49.360 a film of a of a of a game, and 146 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:52.040 you know, kind of wiped the slate clean and just 147 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:55.560 started my own my own theory. Since I didn't know 148 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.000 what to teach, I thought the most logical thing would 149 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:00.439 would be to study what they'd do and atually just 150 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:04.480 teach what they do. And I found it to be 151 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:09.120 amazingly opposite and completely different than anything I'd ever heard. 152 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:13.079 That's what I found so fascinating is the epiphany that 153 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:18.319 you had when you were doing this What was it 154 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:21.680 that you discovered? Well before I asked ask that question, 155 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:24.920 I just want to announce to the audience that we're 156 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:27.439 live on periscope right now, and if the people watching 157 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:30.800 on periscope have any questions that they want to submit 158 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.960 to James while we're having this conversation, please tim up 159 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:36.399 type them up on the screen and I'll try to 160 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:38.519 get to them as I can. I already have one 161 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:41.200 question that came in earlier today from Twitter when I 162 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:43.240 announced that I was going to do this interview with you. 163 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:47.200 But tell me about you know, when you went through 164 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:52.360 the footage, James, what was it that you found? How 165 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:56.559 were you able to get to the place where you're saying, 166 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.480 you know, this is very different than anything we're teaching. 167 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:04.440 Yes, I mean so so. I mean it's different in 168 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:06.799 every single facet. I mean I could run through and 169 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:10.080 list seventy things that are completely opposite of what you 170 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:13.279 should be doing in your full swing to generate power, 171 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:14.679 and it just kind of just kind of came to 172 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:20.679 the realization as the goals change and the goal becomes 173 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:25.159 to be weak, to have a soft touch to control 174 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:28.799 the speed instead of generated to use loft and bounce 175 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:32.559 to the club. That the technique should change right along 176 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:37.960 with the intent. And you know, I wasn't thinking this 177 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:40.720 far ahead, but after a while I kind of I say, well, 178 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:43.120 this makes sense to me. Now, why wouldn't it be different? 179 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:45.720 But you know the first thing I noticed was that 180 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:50.519 these great players Sebe Bellisteros, Raymond Floyd, what not, Corey 181 00:09:50.519 --> 00:09:54.519 Payment had a little reverse pivot in their backswing, which 182 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:57.559 you know that they might start with their weight fairly even, 183 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.679 which is another difference. I was taught to left and 184 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.399 you put your hands ahead that they had to weight even, 185 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:08.559 and they reversed weight shifted to add pressure in their 186 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:11.679 left or lead leg a little bit, and the backswing, 187 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:14.559 their head literally moved two or three inches towards the target, 188 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.879 and then as they delivered the club, their head would 189 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:22.559 stay forward. And if you think of a full swing 190 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:26.840 or even a seventy yard shot, as you turn back 191 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.279 behind the ball and swing your arms and turn your shoulders, 192 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:34.320 you actually load pressure into your trail leg and your 193 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:37.120 head typically moves three or four inches behind the ball 194 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:42.200 as you deliver a lot of times to add especially 195 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:43.919 with a driver, to hit up on it or at 196 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:47.720 least hit a level. As you shift your weight your body, 197 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:51.840 your upper body tilts back. So the entire motor pattern 198 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.360 was different, not only with balance, but with the sequence 199 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:58.679 of events, with the setup, with how they released the club, 200 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:05.080 or the role of the of not the role the 201 00:11:06.279 --> 00:11:09.279 rotation of the arm movement. Everything about it was completely opposite. 202 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:12.159 So I just started to just write down the common 203 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:15.159 allies that Sevy had. He was my main guy that 204 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.279 I studied because I had the most footage of him 205 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.240 and he had the reputation of being the best. But 206 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.320 Graymond Floyd and Corey Pave and my brother who was 207 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:26.919 an amazing wedge player, and you know, I have Wayne 208 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.519 Grady and Jody my lot of great players that I 209 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.360 had this footage of, And I just thought, well, you 210 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:33.759 know what, I don't know what the heck I'm doing, 211 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:36.559 so I guess I'll just write down what they're doing, 212 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:37.480 and that's what I'll teach. 213 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:38.960 And it's worked for you. 214 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:43.120 It has it's you know, it not only worked for me, 215 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:45.360 because now all of a sudden, it's like I started 216 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:47.919 to rediscover some of the touch and feel I had 217 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:50.799 when I was young, and I had no thoughts, but 218 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:54.600 the students that I began to teach once again, you know, 219 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:56.840 when I was working for Dave pel Squad, honestly, people 220 00:11:56.919 --> 00:12:00.799 were not getting leaving those schools improved in my opinion. 221 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:04.360 Now on my own, I really started to see some 222 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:08.039 major growth, you know, some excited phone calls and emails 223 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:09.919 of people telling me how much better they were doing. 224 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:13.399 And you know, at some point you need that confirmation 225 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:14.799 as a coach that things are working. 226 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:23.240 I'm fascinating you said they weren't improving at schools. Is 227 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:26.559 that the nature of the schools themselves or it was 228 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:29.799 what was being taught, because I've talked to so many 229 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:33.200 people who've gone to golf schools and they feel so 230 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:36.799 great after doing a long weekend or even up to 231 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:40.000 five days in a school, and they go home and 232 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:44.279 without somebody there to you know, keep correcting them and stuff, 233 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:49.039 they don't remember much and very frustrated and feel like 234 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:53.039 they spent money that didn't really turn their game around 235 00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:53.360 at all. 236 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:57.039 Yeah, it's a little bit of both, but I would 237 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:59.879 say more than anything, it's just really bad information. And 238 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:06.279 you get bad information on technique. That's bad enough, but 239 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:12.679 Unfortunately those schools don't say this appropriately. I would say this. 240 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:18.440 I am a coach. I'm not a teacher. So if 241 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:21.399 you came to me and needed help and I said, hey, 242 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:24.879 I'm going to teach you to do this technique that technique, 243 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:28.279 and we're going to perfect this movement, you could walk 244 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.159 away with perfect movement. But Fred, but you won't be 245 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:35.080 a better player because as a coach, I'm interested only 246 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:39.120 in performance, and so you can improve technically to improve, 247 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:42.080 but you can also make your training time more effective 248 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:47.399 so that you develop skill, which is really what performance is, 249 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:49.960 and that those skills have nothing to do with technique. 250 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.000 They could be picking the right club, picking the right 251 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:56.279 landing spot, adapting for upslopes and down slopes. What do 252 00:13:56.360 --> 00:13:59.039 I do? You know when the balls into the grain? 253 00:13:59.480 --> 00:13:59.639 You know? 254 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:03.120 So that type of stuff was just not being taught. 255 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:07.879 And what's worse is that the technical information was poor. 256 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:11.720 What's worse yet, is that when you're thinking about technique, 257 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:16.200 the thoughts are internal. And so, Fred, if I could 258 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:18.159 ask you, as a recreational player, what's the worst thing 259 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:19.360 you could do on a golf course. 260 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:23.480 The worst thing that I can do on the golf 261 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:27.679 course is keep doing I keep repeating the mistakes over 262 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:28.519 and over again. 263 00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:33.399 Well I would, I would argue that it's thinking too much. Absolutely, 264 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:38.679 you overthinking golf and you, you know, especially with internal thoughts, 265 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:41.399 it's so harmful for your game. Great golf is not 266 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:45.720 internal thoughts. It's external. You're you're you're picturing your you're 267 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:50.440 feeling energy to the target, your you know, the thoughts 268 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:52.759 live outside your body, not in Well, you go to 269 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:56.039 this golf school, you learn this great technique. One hundred 270 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:00.600 percent of the time is is focus. Uh, have internal thought. 271 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:05.320 There's no mention of skill development, there's no mention of 272 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:09.759 how to improvementally. And yeah, it's long and tiring, and 273 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.480 you do this for three days, you get sent home 274 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:15.960 and it's no wonder people weren't getting better because they're 275 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:20.960 doing going about the process of improving all wrong. There 276 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:25.360 has to be not just this technique that I discovered. 277 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.399 I mean, that's great and it works, but more importantly, 278 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:33.279 there has to be an approach to improving and an logical, 279 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:37.360 simple way that you could spend a few minutes each 280 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:40.679 day to get better, to not only improve your technique 281 00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:44.600 but your skill and the confidence of what great golf 282 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:48.840 demands and that's really what coaches do that teachers do not. 283 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:52.440 You know, they think about the whole picture as opposed 284 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:54.039 to just some little technical tip. 285 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:58.799 Oh that's amazing. Actually, I guess the answer to your 286 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:02.799 question is that I'm actually struggling with right now with 287 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:05.600 my putting, is I'm getting in my own way. 288 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:08.759 Yeah, yeah, that's well. I got the putting book coming 289 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:10.519 out next year, Fred, so we'll have to do this 290 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:14.120 again in the year. Okay. But it's the same whether 291 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:16.279 it's people getting their own way off the tea, they 292 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:18.120 getting their own way when they chip, they get in 293 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:23.879 their own way when they putt. But if I was 294 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:29.759 going to share with you, that's such a multifaceted, interesting problem. 295 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:31.519 And I do go into great detail on this next 296 00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:34.799 one about that very topic because that's I think a 297 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:37.679 very common problem, that might be the most common problem. 298 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:41.039 But if you're getting in your own way, there's two 299 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:44.440 things happening. Once again, thoughts are internal. You're thinking about 300 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:46.960 how to move the club. You're thinking about a position 301 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:49.600 of your head or your arm, or the motor of 302 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:52.120 your stroke, or what you want the club to do. 303 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:59.000 And I would move your thoughts and train to try 304 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:05.680 and think of external and kind of a subconscious reaction 305 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.599 to what you picture. And the way I do that 306 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:13.240 with my students is I separate training time by intent. 307 00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:16.720 So if the intent of training is to work on 308 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:21.519 and improve your technique, then we eliminate the whole we 309 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:25.759 put into open space and we think of only technique. 310 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.079 Those are those internal thoughts, and we do it in 311 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:31.119 a manner where there's some feedback whether we know we're 312 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:33.759 doing it right or not. So might just create a 313 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:37.599 simple workstation for your putting or for your wedge play 314 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.599 or your bunker player or whatever, and it just might 315 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:45.240 be some swings without the ball or certainly without a 316 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:51.519 pin where we evaluate the technique. Then you just have 317 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:54.839 to flush that completely and you have to think about skill. 318 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:58.119 And so you do that through random practice instead of 319 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:02.480 one ball after the other. In the same you scatterballs everywhere. 320 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:04.880 You have all your clubs, and you go through an 321 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:07.720 organized process to get yourself ready. And in the book, 322 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:13.960 I talk about this process starting with assessment of the lie, 323 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:16.799 the wind, the grain, all the factors that would influence it, 324 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:21.720 choosing a club, choosing a trajectory, choosing a landing spot, 325 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:24.079 visualizing the ball go in. So now all of a sudden, 326 00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:28.240 as I visualize, the thoughts are external, Right, have my 327 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:32.319 thought walking in clear and committed, taking a rehearsal swing, 328 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:37.160 thinking of nothing more, that kind of energy to your picture, 329 00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:42.319 and then then reacting like you tied your shoe this morning, Fred, 330 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:44.440 which is you don't know how you did that, you just. 331 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:47.079 Did it, you think about it. 332 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:51.039 You can take that approach to putting as well. When 333 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:53.680 you're taking a rehearsal swing or you're over the ball, 334 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:59.480 are you reacting to a vision or are you consciously 335 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:03.799 trying to move the club a certain way? And that 336 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:06.799 that's the definition of to some extent of getting in 337 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:10.559 your own way, you know. So that's the pre shot 338 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:14.759 kind of portion of that equation. There's also a post shot, 339 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:19.160 a portion where the most important time in golf is 340 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:21.000 what you do after a bad shot. What's the what 341 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.279 do you what's the first five seconds you after a 342 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:25.920 bad shot? How do you react? How do you respond? Well, 343 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:30.440 the typical person, let's say you miss a short pot, 344 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:36.599 you miss a two footers. If they get angry, they 345 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:40.160 get frustrated, they get despondent, they go, oh, I can't pot, 346 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:45.160 I'm horrible at this, you know, all the negative self talk, right, So, uh, 347 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:48.079 that's certainly not making the next one easier, right that 348 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:51.400 that your your self image is taking a big blow 349 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.240 every time you say I can't do this, I'm no 350 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:56.240 good at it, this is frustrating or just feeling that 351 00:19:56.279 --> 00:20:02.519 negative emotion. So that's not what champions do. Champ think 352 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:07.960 about the results unemotionally and allow them to direct direct 353 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:09.599 them in a positive way so they can do the 354 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:13.400 next one better. So that's literally why I titled my 355 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:18.960 book Your Short Game Solution, because as a coach, I 356 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:23.359 ask the same question probably five hundred times a day, 357 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:27.279 and I always asks, Okay, what's the solution of that? So, Fred, 358 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:32.039 you missed this two footer? What's the solution? Well, it 359 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.920 could be more break could be less energy, could be 360 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:39.160 more commitment, could be I didn't quiet my eye and 361 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:43.039 do my breathing or whatever it is that we're working on, right, 362 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:46.559 and you say, well, next time, I'll just recommit and 363 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:50.599 I'll do that foundational thing better. And so therefore you 364 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:53.640 missed your two footer, but you've recommitted in a positive 365 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:56.319 way to your plan, as opposed to missing your two 366 00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:00.079 footer and going wow, I suck. I can't put. So 367 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:04.200 there's a lot of little pitfalls mental pitfalls to to 368 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:08.279 putting or performance in golf that people just don't quite 369 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:10.440 get right. They just don't quite have the mental discipline 370 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:14.240 or the knowledge to to kind of self coach in 371 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:20.440 a positive way. 372 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:26.440 You know, your your book. It's actually it's very hard 373 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:29.240 to do in an audio podcast go over the book 374 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:33.599 in detail because it's such a technical book and there 375 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:37.240 are great drills in it. There's there's so much great 376 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:39.319 information that it's the type of thing that you need 377 00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:41.960 to go over multiple times. But there are a couple 378 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:44.240 of things in the book that I'd like to talk 379 00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:48.960 about and just get your you know, rough explanation on 380 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:52.359 this and tease tease the audience to obviously go out 381 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:55.559 and buy the book. And that Let's talk about the 382 00:21:55.799 --> 00:22:00.759 the choosing the correct wedges for for your your game. 383 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:11.000 Right, so in your set makeup, you know, you're looking 384 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:17.640 for some versatility and the bounce options, okay, and also 385 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:22.720 kind of an even gaps total distance between your wedges. 386 00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:25.960 So let's just look at those two criteria. You know, 387 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:30.599 if we're talking a distance wedge, which I define as 388 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.519 like between forty yards and maybe your full swing and 389 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.000 your pitching wage. So let's say one twenty five or whatever. 390 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:40.240 You don't want a bigger gap than about twenty yards 391 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:43.119 in there. So if I hit my pitching wedge one 392 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.640 twenty five, the next club I need to hit at 393 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:48.519 least ninety five yards, The next club I need to 394 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:51.400 hit at least seventy five full. And if I can 395 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:54.359 get those nice even spread like that, then through this 396 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.640 distance wage system that I expound upon in the book, 397 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:00.319 you can really learn to cover any yard which with 398 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:05.920 appropriate spin and trajectory. Okay, so that's one criteria. The 399 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:11.599 second would be the bounce options and the soul grind, 400 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:15.079 the shape of the wedge. And I mean that's a 401 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:17.480