The PGA Show 2013 Demo Day Was Amazing!

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Cathy

PGA ShowThe PGA Show 2013 Demo Day was amazing! All the manufacturers were there. If you wanted to experience a golf ball fitting, you could. The wedge selection and custom wedge fitting options were plentiful. It truly was something to see. Take a peak yourself by clicking the link to my you tube page! Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/8qOGQ7nkW6Q

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Heading Off To Golf Mecca…The PGA Show

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Cathy

demo dayIt is that time of year again…the annual pilgrimage to the golf industry trade show, otherwise known as the PGA Show. This is the place where one can find anything and everything golf. What is under this “all things golf” roof? There are of course, the standard bearers of golf… Titleist, TaylorMade, Footjoy, Callaway and Ping…the anchor stores if you will. And then there are the “not so household” names in golf…Swingbyte, Bonnie Wee Golf, Parsnips, Happy Feet, Ame & Lulu just to name a few. Then there are the ever so common in all genres, found in any and all trade shows, airports and malls….Aloe Up Skin Care, Crocs, IZOD and finally, the king of all kings, American Express. Yes, all of these company and hundreds more will adorn the halls of the Orange County Convention Center for three days. It is a trek that most golf professionals love to make. It is at this location that golf professionals from across the globe descend. Here, we are able to view anything and everything golf. If it’s not here, it’s not been invented yet.

This is a week I look forward to every year. My goal? To simply come back with something that will help my clients get better at golf. I hope to bring to the lesson tee something that will enable each and everyone I work with, the opportunity to better understand why and how they do what they do. Of course, this will enable us to be more productive while we work together and at the same time, help the client improve more quickly and efficiently.  I am very excited about this year and what the show has to offer. I have a few meetings scheduled and already have something in mind that will give everyone the opportunity to get to the next level, whichever level that might be…it is very exciting!

I hope to keep you all posted throughout the show with pictures and perhaps a few videos. So stay tuned…you won’t want to miss it.

All the best,

Cathy

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Cathy

You can be assured that while many New Englanders are finding their way to the football field to watch the traditional tossing of the pigskin, there are many others making their way to the course to get in a few final holes! Whichever tradition you choose for the day, I wish you all a wonderful day and a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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The Long Shadows of Fall Golf in New England

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Cathy

Dramatic shadows are cast on the 17th green at the Ferncroft Country Club

Fall golf in New England can be a bit chilly, but if you bundle up and bring enough balls, you can still get in a full 18 holes…as long as you start around noon! However, keep in mind that there are some challenges with playing fall golf. Here are a few.
Clothing-it can be a little cumbersome.
Solution– Wear the silks, the poly’s and fleece. Or, purchase a battery operated heated vest!
Lost Balls- People lose more balls in the fall than all of the other golf months combined! The leaves seem to cover them no matter where the ball lands.
Solution-Bright yellow balls, they are more easily seen than the white ones.
Distance Lost- It seems as though you’re not hitting the ball as far. It is true! Colder days mean “thicker” air. If the air density is high, then it takes more velocity to produce a shot. There is also the compression factor and the colder it gets, the harder it is to compress the ball. The great news here…It’s Not Your Swing!!
Solution– use softer balls and take more club.

Yes it’s November, but the best part about fall golf in New England is we seem to relax a bit more when we play because we’re just happy to be out there! We see each opportunity to play in the fall as a “bonus” day. Last week, I had a chance for a “bonus” day myself and brought my camera along. It turned out to be a beautiful day on the course and resulted in many photo opportunities including the one you see in this post. The round was pretty good too…yet another bonus!
I hope you enjoy the remainder of the fall golf season, and if you can get in another “bonus” day before the snow flies, have fun and don’t forget to bring your camera!

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It’s Never Over Until It’s Over…Just Ask Suzann

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Cathy

There’s nothing like a nail biter of a final round to keep you glued to the set! (do people under 30 even know what that means?)….I digress.

If you happened to watch the LPGA over the weekend, you would have been witness to the ultimate in golf. Suzann Pettersen won the HanaBank Championship in nothing short of dramatic fashion. It was her ninth win on the LPGA Tour and probably one of the most exciting, culminating in a playoff with Scotland’s Catriona Matthew. In the end, they played the par 5 18th hole three times before Suzann became the victor.

What was so interesting to me, was what happened with Suzann’s scoring throughout the event. Pettersen came out of the gate on fire and had a first round course-record of 63! Her second round a was a solid, flames not raging but still smouldering, round of 68. With the fire still stoked, she went into the third and final round with a 5 shot lead over the entire field and a 7 shot lead over her playoff opponent, Catriona Matthew.

There’s always a lot of pressure in any competitive round, but certainly more so in the final round. Of course, when you have the lead nerves can be a factor, or maybe it’s just golf being golf.

Suzann started her final round of play with a par on the first hole, par on the second then a double bogie on the par 3 third! A birdie on the 4th…whew! She finished the remaining holes on the front nine with 4 pars and a birdie. Now for the back nine. A birdie on 10, a par on 11 and a double bogie on the par 3 12th. She finished her final six holes of the day with 5 pars and a birdie. A final round score of 74. She then found herself in a playoff situation with Catriona who shot a cool 67 for her final round. Remember, she wasn’t even in the picture at the start of the day! She was 7 shots off the lead, now she’s heading off to the 18th hole for the playoff and possibly the win! This is the ultimate, “It’s Never Over Until It’s Over” scenario. Can you imagine? She watched the final groups come in and decided that while she waited, she should make a few putts. She was 11 under after all and of course she must have thought, “what if something happened.” The camera kept going back and forth from Catriona on the practice putting green to Suzann on the golf course. Then, it happened…they found themselves in a playoff. And so it began. Both players were good off the tee and solid in their approach shots to the green. However, they found themselves slipping their birdie putts just inches by the hole. Catriona’s birdie attempts were long and dramatic whereas Suzann’s where more within reach each and every time, one birdie putt closer than the one before. It took three attempts at the 18th hole until Suzann finally rolled her birdie putt dead in the center of the cup! Clearly, this was Suzann’s “It’s Never Over Until It’s Over” moment. Two entirely different scenarios presented the same theme. They both played the best they could play over the course of the event.

One of the most interesting facts was the enormous difference in the scoring spread for each player. Catriona had a 3 shot spread with rounds of 68, 70 and 67. Suzann’s scoring spread was a huge one. It was 11 shots! Her rounds were 63, 68 and 74. Here’s something to ponder, if Suzann had an opening round of 74 instead of a record-setting 63, would it have changed the outcome? I think not. I think if Suzann had shot a 74 instead, and you asked her what she thought her chances were to win, she might have very well said, “It’s Never Over Until It’s Over.”

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Thoreau Meets Golf In This Video

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Cathy

This is a perfect example of “swinging to the beat of a different drummer.” Two very different swing tempos and both of them work for their owners. We each have our own natural, internal pace and our golf swings are somewhat of a byproduct of it. Freddy Couples saunters when he strolls…his swing resembles that. Tiger walks with a brisk pace and his swing has a similar look. Next time you’re walking in the mall or down the street, reflect on your pace. If you are one who leans towards the “saunter” pace and you’re trying to swing your club fast and furious, you might want to ease off the gas a bit and find a happier medium. On the other hand, if you’re really trying to be deliberate and are swinging slowly and methodically, yet when you’re out for your evening stroll you’re outpacing the family dog, you might want to consider adding a bit of pace to your swing. Whether it’s slow or fast or something in between, you want to have balance in your swing and have it hedge more toward your natural pace rather than to something manufactured. If you do, your swing will have a better feel to it and will undoubtedly become much more reliable.

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Prime Real Estate In The Water Hazard

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Cathy

As I walked onto the green at the 13th hole at The Ferncroft Country Club, I spotted this bale of turtles jockeying for position. I just happen to have my Canon 60D with me so I quietly raced back to the cart, grabbed the camera and snapped this shot before they scattered to the watery depths below.

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Henry Ford Put It This Way….

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Cathy

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” Henry Ford

I love this quote. It is timeless and applicable on a million fronts. The game of golf is like a feeding ground for this quote. It is the quintessential place for the  “whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right” mindset.

Here’s the scenario: You arrive at the par three with water in front, sand to the right and deep rough behind. The distance is something you can easily attain using a mid iron or hybrid…that is if you were on dry land from fairway to green with nothing between your ball and the landing area. You’ve hit this shot time and time again..beautifully in the air, flying high in the sky and landing on the fairway. A thing of beauty!  In fact, imagine if you could just cut and paste your successful shots from other holes (like the shot I just described) to the holes that give you fits. You’d pick this one, cut and paste it on the semi-island green par three because it flew the necessary yardage needed to land on the front of the green. If you could do that, life would be good. Alas, we cannot cut and paste our shots. But it begs the question, “why are we able to do it when there is no water in our sight line, yet unable to do it when there is?”

It could simply be a matter of mind-set. You have the shot. You’ve done it over and over at other locations on the course, but when there is a blue mass in front of you rather than a green one, things change. What changes? Your skill set still exists. Your clubs don’t have pneumonia and are weakened by lack of energy. It is your belief system. If you think you can you can, if you think you can’t, well…you can’t. Your mind is telling you, “I never get over the water here, I hate this hole, I know it’s going in, I have a hundred balls in this pond, the course should be paying me to play for the number of balls that are mine down there, I was playing great until I got to THIS hole” and on and on.

So, you tee the ball up, barely do your usual routine because you already know the outcome, and you swing away. “Yup, there it is…in the water again!” “Harumph….I’m just going to the drop area…as usual.”

Your self talk did you in. What if you changed it all? What if you went entirely in the other direction of self talk.

“You know, I love this hole AND it’s the perfect distance for my 6 iron!” “In fact, I hit a fantastic 6 iron two holes ago this exact distance!” “It was one of my best swings of the day!” “I’m just going to the exact same thing on this hole…it’ll be perfect!” “I love this hole!” “I’m going make a fantastic swing and  hit the ball right to the middle of the green!” “Watch this!”….then, you get up on the tee, do your pre-shot routine, your posture is great, your alignment is perfect…you look at the target…you make your swing and the ball flies in the air as though you’ve cut and pasted a shot from another hole! It lands smack in the middle of the green.  “I told you I loved this hole…that was exactly what I wanted to do!”

Just reading this makes the whole thing feel better don’t you think?

As Henry Ford said, “whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you’re right!” Shift your thinking to what you WANT to have happen when you play. Change your believe system and your self talk to what you intend to do.  Not only will you improve your play, you will have a more positive feeling about the whole experience.

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Twilight Golf In New England~A Beautiful Thing

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Cathy

I couldn’t resist pausing for a moment to take this picture. The moonrise and the surrounding colors were amazing. Sometimes playing golf affords us the opportunity to see things we may have missed otherwise. Whether we have good shots or bad, seeing this makes playing the game worth while!

Image

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GIR Is The Key To Lowering Your Score, Not FH As One Might Think

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Cathy

Ahhh, acronyms…the world is full of them and more so now than ever before.  There’s twitter and tweeting,  instant messaging and texting. People are even doing it in emails…LOL! Gone are the days of the instantly recognizable and mostly universal acronyms like ER, EKG, MPG, OMG, B2B, ETC. Now, in today’s world of instant everything and quick messages with ALL CAPS,  it takes spending a moment or two putting them into context in order to decipher the message. Not so for golfers! We’ve been doing the acronym thing for years and years. Give us a score card and send us on our way and we’ll mark it up so anyone can decipher our FH or GIR and even PPR (putts per round). And, although you won’t find it on the PGA or LPGA tour’s Stat page, how could we forget the ever popular and all time favorite acronym, UBU….Ugly But Useful.

So in the scheme of all things acronym, the question is, “what will help you lower your score…increasing the number of Fairways Hit (FH) or  increasing your Greens In Regulation (GIR)? In case you’re wondering, a FH is when all or part of the ball comes to rest on the fairway after hitting the tee shot. A GIR  is when the ball reaches the green in a number of strokes two fewer than par. I recommend that a player determine their own GIR based on their skill level and adjust accordingly. As an example, if a player scores on average, one over par on every hole, then GIR would be based on that number.

Now one might think that hitting more fairways would do the trick for lowering the score. After all, you have to get off the tee…right? And who doesn’t like a bomb of a tee shot! Well, the answer is actually getting on more greens in regulation. So what does that mean for the average golfer? The first thing it means is that we all have to set realistic expectations on how many greens we think we should hit. I always reference tour statistics when I talk about this with my clients. Keeping in mind that a PGA or LPGA tour player plays golf as a profession. It is what they do for work, they do it every day, they practice every day, they work with a coach weekly or monthly at the very least, and it is what they do to earn a living. They’ve been doing it for years and years as a profession and before that, they did it for fun with the idea that they might possibly do it as a profession. They golf all the time. That being said, how many GIR do you think the tour professional hits on average? Remember, they are professionals and this is all that they do. Is it sixteen or perhaps seventeen? Actually, the answer is a mere thirteen. Yes, that’s right, on average the tour professional only hits thirteen greens in regulation.

So, that begs the question…what should the average golfer expect if the average golfer works 40++ hours per week at their profession, maybe gets to the range once a week and plays once maybe twice on the weekends? Would 10 GIR be reasonable? 9 perhaps? Just as a sidebar….the player with the lowest GIR on the PGA tour in  2011 averaged 11 GIR per round ( he too is a professional playing golf for a living.)

Back to our question…how many greens in regulation do you think you should hit? How about setting your first GIR goal at 4. You can always change the number, but you need a place to start. See how you do with that, then go from there. If 4 GIR is easy for you, then make it 5. If you knock that out in the first round, then up you go. Start by setting reasonable expectations and build from there. In the end, the better you are at getting on greens in your regulation, the faster your scores will drop. IMHO, if you T+, you can LOL when your scores start dropping and your playing your best golf ever…HTH…B4N.

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