Neil Tappin is joined by PGA Professional Alex Elliott look at the keys to breaking one of golf's biggest milestones - 100. Alex offers some simple guidance on how think while you are out on the course, what to practice and he also offers some practical advice on the shots you'll need to develop. These tips are designed to be simple and achievable for any golfer looking to break 100.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the London Club. Now in this video we have 10 top tips that
00:06are going to help you break a hundred. We look at everything from what clubs you
00:10have in your bag, some mental tips and how to get out of trouble. Yeah let's head
00:14out onto the golf course here at the London Club and look at our first tip on
00:17our list.
00:21So the first tip on our list, number 10, is about relaxing between shots. Now golf
00:28is for a lot of people, myself included, quite stressful. I can join that club.
00:32Yeah but it's crucial that you don't get kind of caught up at trying to focus for
00:36large periods isn't it? Yeah I mean like golf's one of them sports we perceive
00:41there's a lot to think about over the shot and for some time there is. So it's
00:45about concentrating at the right point. Okay so how do you do it then? How do you
00:48switch off? Because that's the key isn't it? We've seen a trend of all the top
00:51players now they have like one of their best friends on the bag or a companion
00:55on the bag. So having someone that you can relate to and talk to is key. Now for
00:59most of us we don't have a caddy. I don't have a caddy. But we play with our friends on
01:02the weekend right? Yeah. So having a chat with them whilst walking around from the
01:06tee to the green and then when you get close to your ball then switch on. Yeah.
01:10Not having to concentrate for four and a half hours, you're just doing 30 to 40
01:13second stints. And I guess it's important to remember this, particularly when you
01:16signs get nervous, you've got a good score going, maybe with a few holes to go.
01:20I can imagine this shot, one of the last few holes here in your round, you've missed
01:23a three and a par three, it's a difficult chip. You want to be fully
01:26concentrated on it. Yeah you could have been thinking about it for five minutes
01:28while you're walking here, it's maybe not a great preparation. Definitely not. Yeah so a
01:32really simple tip, try and focus when you need to and relax when you don't need to
01:36be concentrating.
01:41So the next tip for golfers looking to break a hundred is to avoid three
01:46putting. Okay we all do it, doesn't matter what handicap you are, everyone does it.
01:49But Alex, what do you think the mistakes are that cost people in this scenario? I
01:54think when we get to a distance like we've got now, we just sort of go into
01:57the green, oh yeah it's about this, hit the put away. A bit of autopilot comes
02:02into play. Yes so we've put up some alignment sticks around the flag and
02:07what are you trying to do then from here? All I want you to focus on is getting it
02:10inside that bin lid, that three foot range where actually we make our next
02:15put as stress-free as possible. Okay go on then. So this is a little bit uphill
02:21right to left, so I know I'm aiming a little bit right of the hole, I'm trying
02:25to die it into that space. I always picture that ball dying near the hole,
02:29not accelerating too far past. Yeah okay.
02:37Perfect, I mean this just shows you if you can get the pace right the
02:40odd one will drop in the hole but the crucial point is scenarios like this
02:45make them stress-free, get it down in two, you'll keep the score ticking over.
02:52Tip number eight is so important and it's about developing a fairway finder.
02:58So every golf course you'll ever play there will be holes on that course that
03:02you don't fancy the look of off the tee. You're worried about losing the ball off
03:05the tee or you're just worried about hitting a bad shot. So every golfer needs to find a
03:09fairway finder. Yeah. How do you do it Alex? I think there's sort of two
03:12scenarios we can look at here. Doing it with a driver, preferably. Now if you're not
03:16comfortable with driver, finding a club like maybe a fairway wood that allows
03:20you to hit that fairway and you've got more confidence. But I guess the main thing is
03:24it's just going the range, finding a swing with some nice rhythm, with a club
03:28that gives you a repeatable shot. Okay so what are you going to do? Well I'm going to go down that
03:33route of I think most golfers have a bit of a love-hate relationship with driver
03:37but their fairway wood, their five wood, their three wood, it's probably something
03:41that they get on with more often than not. Okay. Just because it's a bit shorter, a bit more
03:45loft. Okay so what's the swing thought that you would have when you're a fairway,
03:48like a hole like this, bunkers everywhere, tricky shot. What's the fairway finding
03:52swing for you? I just put my seven iron rhythm on it. Okay. So for me, getting
03:58good rhythm gives me a better chance of squaring that face. With driver, I'm more
04:02prone to giving it a bit of a welly. Yes. So rhythm is key and don't over
04:07complicate it too much. Most people, if you're balanced through the shot, you're
04:11going to hit a better shot than if you're unbalanced. Okay. Well show us your
04:14seven iron rhythm then. So I have two practice swings. One, two. Most people are
04:23comfortable with seven iron, right? And we're in. Account for the wind a little bit, it's off
04:28the left today. Then put that rhythm on. Yeah, very good. I think actually it
04:37doesn't really matter what the club is or what the swing thought is, but the key
04:41thing is you need to practice it. You need to go to the range, you need to
04:43groove it, so that when you are stood in a position like this, it's not alien, it's
04:48not new to you. You've done it before, you've repeated it and then you might
04:51just produce a shot like that one.
04:54So this one is about bag setup and the clubs that you choose to carry. Alex,
05:01what's the advice here for people? I think really nice and simple. I prefer
05:05most golfers to carry a five wood over a three wood, a little bit more loft, a
05:09little bit shorter club and then hybrids over long irons. Just a little bit more
05:13forgiving. Yeah, I mean it's that simple. If you can do those things, you should
05:17find a setup that's just that bit more forgiving, that's going to let you get
05:20away with the odd dodgy swing and not going to cost you too much while you're out on
05:24the course.
05:28Okay, so number six on our list is about pressure and how you handle pressure on
05:33the golf course. It's something that we all need to do. It might well be the
05:37first tee shot's incredibly nerve-wracking, but then there's also
05:40going to be holes like this one. This is the ninth hole here at the Heritage
05:44Course in London Club, really tough par four. You might want to go for your
05:47fairway finder Alex, we've already discussed, but equally you might want to
05:50just hit driver because it's such a tough hole. In this scenario, when you
05:54need to do it most, what can we do to get a good shot? That's the golden nugget, isn't it?
05:59Well, I mean if we're looking to break 100, this scenario here, we're
06:03probably going to have two shots. That's going to hopefully calm us down a little
06:06bit, but the key thing here is not just to pick your club rush and just get it
06:11over and done with because you don't feel comfortable. Yes, which I have
06:14definitely done in my past for sure. If we actually look at golf, we want to be
06:18in scenarios where we're playing good golf and we're not feeling comfortable
06:21because that means we're doing something different, we're playing well.
06:23I want you to think about aiming really small, so if you aim really at a
06:27small target rather than just a general fairway, if you just miss a small target
06:31by a little bit, you're still going to be okay. We're going to talk later in
06:34this video about how to aim, but in this particular scenario, what are you
06:38aiming at and what's your miss, I guess? For example here, trouble
06:43looks to be more left, so I'm going to take something that's a very small
06:47target to the right of the trouble. I'm going to hone really in small, so
06:51if I take this tree straight down, I've got the one that sticks up a little bit
06:55more, I'm going to use that. I know if I miss just a little bit left, I'm okay, but
06:59equally if I miss just a little bit right, I'm still okay as well.
07:02Aim small, miss small, still end up on the fairway. Exactly. Let's see if it
07:08works, Alex. Here we go.
07:14Bingo. It's like cut off that mark, middle of the fairway, no trouble. Aiming
07:19small, it really is very important and it could help you in a scenario like this.
07:27This one is all about club selection and I think, Alex, we've chosen this
07:32particular hole here at the London Club for a very good reason. So we've got
07:35water short of the green and most golfers would know in this scenario to
07:39do what? Take one club more, avoid going short. Yes, and the problem is that how
07:44often do you take the same approach on holes where there isn't water short but
07:47there is other trouble like bunkers or other things that might be short of the
07:50green? Well, where do most club golfers finish even on a good strike? Short,
07:53right? Yes. They don't take that advice. So what we're saying here is think
07:57that you're always in a scenario like this. There's water short or the trouble
08:01short, put the bunker in the same category, take one more club and make
08:05sure you're in the green. Yes, so that you are avoiding failing to carry the front
08:09of the green, which is the big mistake I think a lot of players make.
08:12Exactly. So, Alex, you've got 153 and you would usually hit? Seven iron,
08:17usually. So I will look for your six iron. There you go. Thank you. Now, being a pro,
08:24I expect this to finish close to the flag. I feel a bit of pressure. Even this is a
08:27tough one with the wind into as well, you might have to adjust that even further
08:30sometimes. Lovely contact. Very good shot. But has it made the green? Yes, pin high.
08:46So number four on our list is developing the punch shot, being able to hit a shot
08:52when you're in a scenario like this. Yeah. How do you play it? So essentially, if we
08:55want the ball to go lower, we need to lower the loft of our club. So use less
09:01loft. Lower the loft of our club at impact and hit down on it more. That's going to
09:05lower the launch. Okay. So set up for the ball then, explain to me what you do.
09:09How I would do with this is I would put the ball towards the back of my stance
09:12that allows me to hit down on it more. I'd grip down on it. Now, with that ball
09:17going towards the back of my stance, that's going to encourage a bit more
09:19forward shaft lean, taking some loft off the club. Now, all I want you to feel is
09:24you're going to keep your weight left throughout and just make a bit of a
09:27slower swing. I always like to feel it's more of like a curtailed follow-through
09:30with my chest pointing to target rather than this nice full follow-through on a
09:36full shot. Okay. Go on then. Let's have a look at it. So this is a real toughie
09:39actually because we're not too far from the green. So I've gone 8-iron and I'm
09:43trying to picture that ball flying through this window here, down, and I'm
09:46running up. Yeah. So ball back, hands forward, grip down.
09:54Well, it clipped the tree but it's fine. As Alex said, it's a really
09:59tricky shot and I think the key thing is often in a scenario like this, the punch
10:04shot is really important but it's about getting yourself back into play. So not
10:07trying to do too much with it, just get yourself back in the game and then take
10:11it from there. The punch shot is a really important shot for golfers no matter
10:14what their handicap.
10:19Okay, so number three on our list. It's a simple one but it's so important. It's
10:24knowing exactly how to aim the club. Alex, what's the advice here? I mean, what I think is
10:29is always coming to the range and pressing the reset button occasionally
10:33where you can get into bad habits that creep in at time after time, aiming a
10:37little bit right or a little bit left and there's nothing worse than the right.
10:40Ripping a swing, feeling an amazing swing out the middle and the ball just sailing
10:45in the wrong direction. Yeah, and I guess the point here is that if you aim wrong, then
10:48suddenly your swing path is out and you can get other faults that creep into the
10:52game. So it really is important to get this right. Yeah. So how do you do it? So I
10:56always have a bit of a process. I always come to the range and I'll place one
11:00alignment stick down first. That's my ball to target line. So we've chosen this red
11:04flag down here. I would then put my feet line which runs parallel to that. Now
11:09this is getting me to have two parallel lines on the golf course. If we're
11:12drawing or fading, we would slightly aim different to that, but use this as like a
11:17coming back to neutral reset button. So now I can stand over here. I've also used
11:23the line of a ball to extend that line, address the ball, make sure everything's
11:28neutral and you know what? It might feel like aiming a bit left or it might feel
11:32like aiming now a bit right, but it's getting both target line and shoulders,
11:36feet, hips and knees running parallel. Yeah. Take pride in getting this part
11:40right. If you do, it will definitely pay off.
11:47Okay. So number two on our list is to have two different short game shots up
11:52your sleeve. Two that you feel really comfortable with. One Alex is a chip and
11:56run. You'll be able to find advice on how to hit the chip and run on the golf
11:58monthly website. Alex, I'm sure you'll have some content on your YouTube
12:01channel about how to do it, but we're now going to look at how to hit a bunker
12:04shot because this is so important. You're going to face it. Yeah. A lot of golfers
12:08struggle with it. So give us a tip Alex. So first thing, choose your most lofted
12:13club. I tend to buy wedges that have a lot of bouts. This helps the club sort of
12:17glide through the sand. Also, I think it's all to do with setup really. If we set up
12:22to this club correctly, we've got a better chance of hitting it good. So nice
12:26quickly here and simple. Dig your feet in. We've got ball position of club head
12:30inside a left heel. You want to then grip it with the face open, sit down and left.
12:35And all I want you to do is feel like you're sliding that club underneath it
12:39with some speed. Okay. Go on then. Just like that. Yeah, and you'll notice, I mean Alex has
12:50swung at that really quite hard. It's just popped it straight up into the air.
12:53Loads of control, not gone very far. It's a simple way to do it, but it does take
12:58some practice. Put some time into it. It will really pay off.
13:01Okay. So our number one top tip for breaking 100, Alex, is to break the round up into small
13:12segments. Explain what people should be doing here. I mean, most people who are trying to break
13:17100, they'll go out there going, right, okay, well I've got to do this and this on each nine.
13:21And that whole focus is coming to that end score. So breaking that round into six sets of three,
13:26you can set yourself a target on those sets, reset after one, go on the next.
13:32Right. Okay. So it might well be that you look at the first three holes and think they're three
13:36of the hardest holes on the golf course. Try to get away from there no more than four over par
13:40or something. Exactly like that. But also equally, if you have a bad set of three, don't let that
13:45impact the nine holes. Because most people go, oh, I'll reset after the ninth. We'll start again
13:49on the 10th. Reset after three, start again. But equally, if you have a good set of three,
13:53don't get too far ahead of yourself and start trying to chase it even more.
13:57Yes. So managing a score across 18 holes is a lot to do. Managing the same score over three
14:03hole chunks is much more achievable. Give it a go. Okay. So that's our look at our top 10
14:08tips to break 100. Breaking 100 is such an important barrier that so many golfers
14:13are looking to get through. If you can just do a few of those things that Alex said,
14:17not many of them very technical, all of them really, really useful, they should really help.
14:21If you think there's anything that we've missed that you have used in the past that really helped
14:25you, leave some comments below. We'd love to hear your thoughts. But that's it for now
14:29from the London Club. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.