Coach Up your Golf in 2015

Set your Goals and Go After Them

It really doesn't matter what level you are playing at now, you can get better. And helping you design that

plan to get better is a good golf coach. 

I just attended a Golf Coaching seminar recently for our PGA section. A Mr. Henry Brunton was one of the presenters and he blew us away with some great information from his experiences and anecdotes. For instance the next Olympics in Brazil will include golf and how this is bringing more international attention to the sport and with it better training, science and coaching for athletes in golf.

Mr. Brunton is thought leader in the golf coaching space and has shared his vast coaching experience and details it in this book, High Performance Golf which I highly recommend for anyone with a serious passion to improve.

Mr. Brunton is a Top 100 PGA golf coach and has worked with most of top talent from Canada for the last ten years including Mike Weir, former Masters Champion.

His presentation was essentially bringing all the best practices from other sports into golf and I'm thrilled to share some of these with you.

Here's some important aspects to what a good coach will bring you:

• Help you identify your goals
• Give you a comprehensive physical screen
• Teach strategy and tactics course and game management skills
• Work with you to monitor, measure and reset goals as necessary
• Provide advice and strategies for improving
• Ensure that your equipment and ball is optimally fitted

 And then the next steps:

•         Teach you how to practice effectively
•         Teach mental skills and strategies
•         Teach the rules of golf
•         Teach competitive skills- event preparation/ game plans
•         Help formulate a detailed goal-setting program and training regimen
•         Help establish a balanced and challenging competitive schedule
•         Collect accurate data from rounds
•         Teach proper nutrition and hydration
•         Help create a strength training and flexibility regimen
•         Communicate openly with the athlete, parents and collegiate coaches
•         Encourage and support you on and off the course

Example of a follow-up letter I sent one of my elite junior golfers after nine-hole playing assessment

I enjoyed meeting you and having the opportunity to evaluate your daughter.

Here is my assessment and recommendations:

Strengths- Above average swing speed, confidence on full shots and she enjoys the game

Gaps- Mostly in the scoring zone. I'd like to see her track her putts and average 16 putts or better for nine holes. This will require lag putting practice and getting better at short putts. I told her I'd like to see her be able to make 15 four footers in a row as one of her practice exercises.

I'd like to see you guys sign up for this service that will help her quantify her rounds. From Shot by Shot, you can print out and she can start tracking her nines, http://www.shotbyshot.com/images/scorecard.pdf for us to review. Stats are huge in modern coaching!

Another area in her game for her to improve is for her to take advantage of her length off the tee is to finish with better wedge shots. She needs to learn how to deloft her wedge through impact. To essentially "cover the ball" with her body pivot to create more lag angle through impact. This will give her better compression and distance control.

Looking ahead- I think she can get onto a good college team if she stays motivated, gets good coaching and practices hard.

Suggested coaching program- Two private lessons and two supervised practice sessions a month with other golfers her age. This would be $300 a month.

Our course fully embraces the Youth on Course program ($1 rounds) and we have a great short game practice area and amazing par three course which I'd like to see her playing a lot to fine tune her scoring skills.

Next session- I'd like to bench mark her skills on my radar system at Alameda. This is a combine test of 60 shots and six different clubs. Here's a video describing this bench marking, http://mytrackman.com/public/trackman-combine-intro

Here's a slide show on the Long Term Development Program, http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/tpigreg-264945-parentnightvideo-tpi-junior-golf-parent-workshop-sports-ppt-powerpoint/

Find out more about my golf schools in Napa, www.krismoegolfschools.com

Golf coaching programs in Alameda, www.alamedagolf.com/kris-moe

Call me for more information, 707-529-6458.

New Golf Technology to Improve Game

Hi, Kris Moe here, I've just found a new toy called Game Golf (shot tracking software, yes cyber-metrics is coming to golf). I'm fascinated to see how as a coach I can make this work with my students.

 

Anyone is welcome to join me for a round this Thursday at Stevinson Ranch to test it out. I'm teeing off at noon and all you have to pay is the $50 green fee and that will include range balls. Just call or text to grab a spot or two.

I'm planning on making trips down to Stevinson through the year. It is 90 miles from Alameda so it's a drive but it's truly a great golf course and has one of the top practice facilities in California! I plan having a few golf schools there through the year and they have lodging there if you want to make it an over-nighter.

BTW- we just started doing regripping at Alameda so if you like to come over I'll show you all the grips we

have, fit your hand then have one of our staff put the grips on while you putt or hit some balls (about $8 a club). You can always reach me at kmoe@greenwaygolf.com or check out our website, www.alamedagolf.com

Here's a superb video if your digging too deep of a divot or leaving the ball out to the right, Trackman Maestro on Handle Dragging-

Look at the Improvements for Alameda and East Bay Golfers at Chuck Corica

Greenway Putting Together a Golfing Jewel in Alameda

Alameda is in store for an amazing transformation of their golf facility and it is great for golfers inside of driving distance.

The new driving range was opened a few months ago and a renovated par three golf course will become the talk of the entire bay area if not country (yes).

What's so special about a little par three course? Have a look a this short video:

I have the great pleasure to invent fun ways to use the par three and it will be fun since all levels will enjoy it even though the holes distances range from 70-155 yards. Marc Logan who is the grass expert in the group, holding Masters degrees in both Botany and Agronomy. Just about as impressive is where he got his early experience and that would be at the famed Alister MacKenzie golf course in Australia Royal Melbourne.

FYI- I believe Australia has the best greens in the world and they are bent grass greens. Marc and Greenway Golf have numerous golf courses now that are bent and remained bent for ten years with a proven model and they are on a crusade to bring others on board but strangely enough this hasn't happened. So they continue on their merry way consulting more enlightened courses on how to construct and maintain bent grass greens.

Good news for Alameda folks is that bent greens will soon be what they putt on and I have a feeling many more courses will get in line. 

So beginning in April 2014 golfers will have a chance to play the new par 3, hit balls on the new grass tee on the back of the range and practice their chipping and sand shots in the new short game area. Whew, can't wait!