7 Tips Every Golfer Forgets

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In this video, Neil Tappin is joined by PGA professional and Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Katie Dawkins. They discuss some of those simple lessons we all get taught when we first pick up the game but that we all forget! These are the simple and effective tips that can make a huge difference to your scoring potential. Katie's advice should help you from tee-to-green!
Transcript
00:00 - Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly
00:02 and welcome to West Hill Golf Club.
00:03 In this video in which we're gonna take a look
00:05 at the seven tips that every golfer forgets.
00:09 Now these are all things that you'll pick up
00:11 as you play golf over the years.
00:13 The really simple stuff that can actually make
00:14 a big difference to your scoring,
00:16 but that from time to time we all forget.
00:20 Now the advice in this video comes courtesy of Katie Dawkins.
00:22 She's a PGA pro, she's one of the Golf Monthly top 50 coaches
00:26 and she's gonna talk you through everything
00:28 you need to know and it should help you
00:30 in all areas of the game from tea to green.
00:32 Right, let's get started.
00:34 (upbeat music)
00:36 Right, so for our first one we're gonna talk
00:40 about the speed of your swing and in particular
00:42 the tempo of your golf swing.
00:44 Katie, what do people forget here?
00:46 - I think people tend to forget that this is a golf swing,
00:50 it's not a golf hit.
00:52 - Right.
00:52 - And I think that's probably the key thought
00:54 for a lot of people to kind of bank in the memory banks
00:57 because actually the fact, the act of the golf swing
01:01 suggests that there's a natural flow to it,
01:03 there's a natural swing back and swing through.
01:05 The problem people tend to find is that they've got
01:08 lots of swing thoughts going on in their minds
01:11 and that tends to stunt this nice natural rhythm
01:14 that we're looking for in the golf swing.
01:16 So you tend to find people thinking about stuff too much
01:18 and therefore even if you're a decent sports person,
01:21 you've got a good ability to hit a ball with a racket,
01:24 a club, a bat, whatever you happen to be using,
01:27 that can sometimes disappear just because you're
01:29 overthinking it and you're trying to hit it
01:32 and trying to force the ball to do what you want it to do.
01:34 - It's such a good point.
01:35 I think my specific issue on this, I think,
01:38 is that I tend to start getting too aggressive
01:41 when I'm on the golf course, under pressure,
01:43 start snatching at it a little bit too much.
01:45 So, okay, so most people watching this will know,
01:48 tempo, really important.
01:50 So how do people practise it?
01:51 How do you make sure that you don't go too far wrong?
01:55 - I think it's important to have something
01:56 that you can take out on the golf course with you
01:58 because like you said, there's situations out there
02:00 where you need a little bit of restraining perhaps.
02:04 (laughing)
02:06 So you actually need just to calm things down a bit.
02:09 So a really good drill to do that is to actually
02:11 maybe do one of your practise swings
02:13 or just your sole practise swing with your feet together
02:16 because what that does is it starts to create
02:18 this lovely freewheeling, chilled out tempo.
02:23 If you go at it like a bat out of hell
02:25 with your feet together, guess what?
02:26 You fall over.
02:27 So you're throwing yourself off balance.
02:30 - Okay, so if you are somebody like me
02:32 who has a tendency to snatch at their shots
02:33 a little bit too much, that feeling that you're hitting
02:36 and not swinging, try to incorporate that
02:38 into your pre-shot routine.
02:39 Okay, so we have reached the inevitable part of this video
02:46 in which we're going to talk about alignment
02:48 and most golfers watching this will know
02:50 how important it is and yet there'll be a lot of people
02:52 watching this that don't do it correctly every time
02:55 and that's because they're forgetting something.
02:57 What is it that golfers tend to forget
03:00 about aiming properly?
03:01 - I think the biggest thing golfers tend to forget
03:03 with alignment is they forget that it's not their body
03:05 that's lined up to the target.
03:07 They're on those old train tracks.
03:09 So the ball and the target are on one train track.
03:12 Your feet, knees, hips and shoulders are on the other.
03:14 So in theory, you're running parallel to your target
03:17 but the problem is when a lot of people set up to the ball
03:20 is they look down their shoulder
03:22 and they tend to kind of shuffle themselves
03:24 and aim themselves out.
03:25 So they've skewed themselves across the line.
03:27 - Yes, so what's the process?
03:30 How do you get it right time and time again?
03:31 - So you need to build it into your pre-shot routine.
03:33 So you need to stand behind the ball,
03:36 use your club almost like a ruler,
03:37 point it at your target, pull the club down
03:40 and pick yourself a mini target just in front of the ball.
03:43 It's so much easier to get yourself lined up
03:45 on those train tracks 'cause you can see the tracks
03:48 down there.
03:48 When we're looking up at the target,
03:50 it's much easier to have a little shuffle,
03:52 do a little dance and immediately
03:53 you've pushed yourself offline.
03:56 So having a mini target is probably my biggest tip for this
04:00 and being able to aim yourself to that
04:02 is much, much easier than the longer one.
04:04 - Yeah, and it's so important.
04:05 So if you can just do what Katie said
04:07 and get it right more often, chances are
04:09 you'll also start making better swings, better contacts
04:12 and just generally playing golf a little bit better.
04:15 (upbeat music)
04:17 Okay, so we've come down to the green here
04:21 and Katie, we're talking about chipping.
04:23 What do people forget to do in a situation like this?
04:27 - I think the biggest problem people have
04:29 when it comes to shots out on the course around the green
04:32 is they choose the wrong club.
04:33 - Right.
04:34 - So I think there's that idea that because I'm chipping,
04:36 I need to look good and they want that Seve-esque
04:39 sort of high floaty shot that's gonna land right by the flag
04:42 and zip back and stop.
04:43 That's not reality.
04:45 Reality would be, if I was to give you a ball
04:47 and throw it to the flag.
04:48 - Go on then.
04:49 - Yeah, right.
04:50 I'm not gonna go up and over like that
04:52 because I've got no control over it.
04:54 The bounce is gonna be more unpredictable.
04:56 Everything's just a little bit more dangerous.
04:58 My safest possible option would be
05:00 to almost play lawn bowls, basically.
05:02 So I'd roll it on the first available bit of green
05:05 and it would run to the flag.
05:07 - Yeah.
05:07 - So then what I'd want you to do out on the golf course
05:11 is kind of put into your hand the club
05:13 that best fits that carry and roll.
05:15 - Right.
05:16 - So for me, that went low and rolled out,
05:18 so it'd probably be something like an eight iron.
05:20 - Yeah.
05:21 - The majority of people would not be choosing
05:22 an eight iron from here.
05:23 - Well, I think that they possibly just automatically
05:25 grab the lob wedge or the sand wedge.
05:27 - Yeah.
05:28 - Whatever shot they're facing around the green.
05:30 I know that I probably have a tendency to do that a bit
05:32 from time to time, just immediately pick the club.
05:34 - You just wanna look the best you can possibly look.
05:36 - Yeah.
05:37 - And for a lot of people, that's the ball in the air.
05:38 - But what's interesting about this, Katie,
05:40 is that you're saying, work backwards,
05:41 figure out what the shot looks like,
05:43 the best, most reliable looking shot, what it looks like,
05:45 and then pick your club.
05:47 - So with this little short chip,
05:49 this almost tick-tock action,
05:52 I can afford to miss hit it a little bit
05:53 and still get away with it.
05:54 I think that's the important bit.
05:56 - Go on then, miss hit it for us and get away with it.
05:57 - That's the important, miss hit it and get away with it.
05:59 Oh, great.
06:00 (laughing)
06:01 So all I'm gonna do is just that little tick-tock,
06:05 bounce it on that top bit and let it roll around.
06:08 - This is good.
06:09 - You told me to miss hit it.
06:10 - You did.
06:11 - And I said no.
06:12 - No, you did it perfectly.
06:13 But I think the point remains,
06:14 keep it simple is the best way to do it.
06:16 (upbeat music)
06:18 Posture, it's something that I think most golfers
06:23 understand how important it is
06:24 to have a nice athletic posture,
06:25 yet the amount of golfers that you see out on the course
06:28 who are sort of stood over the ball,
06:30 not looking particularly athletic.
06:31 Why is it so important to get right firstly, Katie?
06:35 - It's so important to get right because posture,
06:37 good posture gives you good balance,
06:40 which in turn gives you control in your golf swing.
06:42 And we want control in our golf swing, right?
06:45 - Yeah.
06:46 - We don't want to stand there in a position
06:47 where we're rocking about the place.
06:48 And this is what happens when the position
06:50 that you're setting up in is poor.
06:52 You're setting up in a state of almost sitting down
06:56 or sometimes tipped over too much.
06:58 But the one we see the most is the fat back.
07:00 Kind of slightly lazy posture almost.
07:03 What you've got there is you've got the weight on the heels.
07:06 So you're gonna swing the club back
07:08 and you're gonna be rocking around,
07:09 rocking all over the place.
07:11 What we want to see is more of a planted
07:14 onto the balls of the feet
07:15 and the ability to actually be in balance
07:18 as you come back to the ball.
07:20 Good posture to begin with is usually gonna mean
07:22 better posture as you hit the shot.
07:24 Poor posture, you're just not gonna introduce
07:26 any of the bigger muscles,
07:27 so you're not gonna get that lovely rotation
07:30 and that lovely weight transfer through the ball.
07:32 - So what's a good tip, what's a good checkpoint
07:34 to make sure you're in the right posture?
07:35 - You could stand in front of a mirror at home
07:38 and actually take your posture if the mirror's there.
07:40 Take your posture, set yourself up, have a look,
07:42 go, yeah, all right, that's great.
07:44 But we want something we can take onto the golf course.
07:47 You do see people out there going tippy over,
07:49 flex your knees and going through
07:50 almost a little routine in their heads,
07:52 but that can introduce tension.
07:54 In good posture, you should be able to,
07:56 a bit like you're about to return a serve in tennis,
07:58 you should be able to give your heels a little tap.
08:01 That tells us we're ready to run somewhere,
08:03 tells us we're athletic.
08:05 If you're setting up to the ball
08:07 and you try and do that and you think,
08:08 oh, blimey, I'm rocking back already
08:10 'cause I can tap my toes, if you're a toe tapper,
08:13 your posture's lacking athleticism.
08:15 - It's a really simple tip, and if you do have issues
08:18 with your posture over the ball,
08:19 then maybe introduce that into your pre-shot routine.
08:22 It could make all the difference.
08:24 Okay, so we're gonna talk about bunker play,
08:30 and obviously, the two biggest mistakes
08:33 are either leaving it in the bunker
08:35 or thinning it over the back.
08:36 The lesson that people forget here
08:39 is that the bunker shot, the green side bunker shot,
08:41 is the only one in which you're not trying
08:43 to make contact with the ball first, right?
08:45 - Exactly, and I think this is the thing,
08:48 is that we don't want to hit the ball first.
08:50 We want to hit the sand behind the ball
08:51 so it floats out on that lovely cushion.
08:54 So it's really important here
08:55 that we address the part we want to hit,
08:58 so we're actually addressing the sand behind the ball.
09:00 - Okay, so talk us through how you do it.
09:02 - So it's important to almost think of the ball
09:04 as being sat on a fried egg,
09:06 so the ball is the yolk, essentially.
09:08 Just draw a couple of little circles,
09:09 obviously, not allowed to do this in real play,
09:13 for obvious reasons,
09:14 but draw a couple of circles around the ball,
09:16 and you can even give yourself three circles in a row,
09:18 almost like traffic lights.
09:20 Practice hitting the right bit of sand.
09:22 So if I was to have a little practice traffic light,
09:24 if you like, so I'm gonna set myself up,
09:27 swing back, swing through, and take the whole thing out.
09:31 What I'm then gonna do is set myself up
09:33 to the back of the egg where the ball is,
09:36 and again, almost try and repeat it,
09:38 so I'm just letting the ball get in the way,
09:39 but I'm aiming to hit the back of that egg.
09:42 - Perfect, great shot.
09:45 And you'll notice, I mean, that description there,
09:48 that Katie's given, so simple,
09:49 it's something that every golfer can do,
09:50 but you do need to practise these things.
09:53 Trust it and practise it.
09:55 It should help.
10:00 Okay, so our next one is about grip pressure,
10:03 and this is starting to feel, actually,
10:05 a bit like a personal counselling session for me,
10:07 because I know that under pressure,
10:09 I have a tendency to really squeeze the grip
10:11 and strangle the grip, and I know that's not good,
10:14 but can you explain to everyone why it's not good?
10:17 - So the first thing is, you're not alone.
10:19 Probably 90% of the people that I teach
10:21 are strangling the club.
10:23 Now, the effect that this has on your ability
10:26 to get back to that ball is huge.
10:28 The reason being, if you're holding the club
10:30 in an appropriate manner, an appropriate amount
10:33 of pressure is being applied,
10:34 you're holding it almost like a tube of toothpaste
10:36 with the lid off, so that would be quite a good way
10:38 of remembering it.
10:39 What people tend to do is they tend to go
10:42 from setting themselves up, holding it all right,
10:44 and then suddenly the squeeze comes in.
10:46 So you've got a nice, relaxed hold
10:48 where the club's on the ground.
10:50 Check out what my club face does when I squeeze it.
10:53 That's literally down to me strengthening my grip,
10:56 my forearms are contracting and therefore shortening,
10:59 and lo and behold, you can imagine the shots
11:02 that you're gonna get from that.
11:03 - Yeah, if you've got an iron in hand,
11:04 you're likely to hit, I would think,
11:05 you're likely to hit bins, maybe tops.
11:07 - Absolutely, yeah, you are, but also it's the impact
11:11 that it has on your rhythm, which we've talked about before.
11:15 You want that free, easy swing.
11:18 You want that lovely flow to your golf swing.
11:20 - Yeah, so as Katie said, a nice, light grip pressure,
11:24 it'll help your rhythm, it'll help all sorts
11:25 of different things in your golf swing.
11:27 (upbeat music)
11:30 - Okay, so the number one tip on our list
11:35 that golfers forget is they forget to aim
11:37 at the middle of the green, in particular,
11:40 when the flag is cut tight to one side or another.
11:43 So imagine for a second that the green behind Katie
11:46 and I here, imagine that flag is tucked just over
11:49 the bunkers on the right-hand side.
11:50 Appreciate it's not today, but imagine that it is.
11:53 That's a really dangerous flag,
11:56 especially when you consider, Katie,
11:57 you've got so much room to aim at on this green, haven't you?
12:00 - And we've all said it, we've all got up there and gone,
12:03 damn it, I'm in the bunker.
12:04 Look how much room there is on the left.
12:06 - Yes.
12:06 - And for some reason, we tend to go at tiger line,
12:11 at the flag stick.
12:12 Something that will really help you to avoid this
12:15 and remind you that actually the middle of the green,
12:18 you want to be on the middle of the green
12:19 because you're never gonna get a really long putt.
12:21 You're never gonna be too far from the flag, are you?
12:23 - No, no.
12:24 - But it's just a safe place to be.
12:25 But a way that you can do that is actually
12:28 pay attention to what's behind the green.
12:30 So for example, here we've got two tall fir trees
12:33 just to the right of where our flag is,
12:35 but that's central to the green.
12:37 I'd be thinking about aiming at those
12:39 and use that as my marker as part of my pre-shot routine.
12:42 Just draw my attention to what's at the back.
12:44 It lifts you up, body language-wise,
12:46 so you're looking up.
12:48 You're visualizing a decent shot
12:49 because you're going at something that's beyond the green.
12:52 - Yeah, yeah.
12:52 - And it just takes your attention away from any trouble
12:55 that might be sneaking around in the foreground.
12:58 - Come on, Katie, let's finish off
12:59 with a good shot, shall we?
13:00 So that flag, let's be honest, is in a pretty good spot.
13:03 Not giving you any excuses here.
13:05 - All right, no pressure.
13:06 - Lovely shot.
13:12 Nice, high, soft draw, very easy.
13:15 And I think it goes to show that
13:16 if you're out on the golf course
13:17 and you're thinking about how to compile a score,
13:19 maybe just have one round of golf
13:21 where you just aim at the middle of the green.
13:22 Forget about where the flag is.
13:24 See what it does to your score.
13:25 It might just help.
13:27 Okay, so there you have it.
13:28 That's our look at the seven tips
13:30 that every golfer forgets.
13:32 If you've enjoyed the video,
13:33 please do hit the like button.
13:34 If you have any questions or any comments,
13:37 leave them below.
13:37 But that's it for now from West Hill.
13:39 Thanks for watching.
13:40 We'll see you next time.
13:41 (upbeat music)
13:43 (upbeat music)
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