Think Smart, Act Smart and Improve your Score

Sometimes it’s not just better technique that’s required to improve how we play, often it’s simply about thinking and acting smarter! The tips I’m about to share highlight improvements we can all make and they’ve been learnt through experience and endless analysis after good and bad rounds. They’re not in any particular order, just as they come to me, and I hope some of them help…

 

Get yourself an electric trolley.  I know some of you out there will disagree, but taking the strain out of your round is worth at least one shot every time you play! Using an electric trolley doesn’t mean you’re lazy – using one allows you to preserve energy for that next vital shot.

Use a GPS/laser device to help with your yardages. They not only tell you how far away the pin is, but give you certainty over the shot you’re about to play. If you know the yardage of each club in your bag you will be able to totally commit when playing every shot. Got to be worth at least 2 shots a round!

One often over looked part of the game for amateurs is food and drink, and the need to refuel. When your energy levels drop, your thinking diminishes and you’re not able to put positive swings on your shots – meaning your performance suffers. This is why so many rounds falter with only a couple of holes left to play. For more information, watch this short video

Improve your mindset. With a positive mindset everything is possible, if you’re out on the course thinking about avoiding hazards and blaming others for bad shots you’re probably not going to score well. Tell your mind what you DO want to do and NOT what you don’t want to do! For example, say I WILL hit it down the middle, NOT I don’t want to hit it in the trees . Positive instruction is easy for your brain to understand.

When you’re on the putting green learn to hit your first putt positively. Remember, putts left short of the hole DO NOT GO IN, and if it goes past the hole you get a free read of your return putt.

Get good at playing out of bunkers! You don’t want to play two shots from a bunker, and if you’re afraid to end up in one you’ll play away from it which may cost you an extra shot on that hole.

Practice! Practice shots that you’re weak at and not always the ones that you’re good at – like uphill and downhill lies, shots from the rough, low shots and high shots. I’ve never played on a perfectly flat course ever so why practice off perfectly flat lies? If you don’t know how to practise these go and ask for some professional help

Where possible have a look at pin positions on the greens you’re yet to play. So many amateurs simply walk past greens on their round without taking notice, when they could gain an advantage before they even get to that hole.

Relax in between shots, talk about stuff to your playing partners, count the number of green keepers you see working or simply admire the scenery – anything to stop you over thinking your next shot. The time to think about your next shot is when you’re about to play it.

Red Light, Green Light! So what does this mean? Very simple, if you’re certain about the shot you’re about to play and you get a green light in your head, go ahead and play it. However, if you’re not sure and you get a red light, walk away from your shot until you get that certainty. Time and time again you hear ‘I just wasn’t sure about that shot’ after it resulted in a poor outcome.

I hope some of these tips spark something within you and help to improve your next round of golf. There are so many scientific reasons for why they work, but by all means research them more – and REMEMBER it’s all the little things pieced together that make the big differences, not that booming drive you hit off the first tee!

Happy golfing everyone and remember I’m always happy to answer any questions you may have, and if you try any of the tips above…let me know how you go!

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional 

Positive impact Golf Coach

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

07595157452

Head down, arm straight, left foot still , eyes on the ball.

Hello, my name is Julian Mellor PGA Professional , Positive Impact Golf Coach based at Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club in Coventry.

A Question I frequently as my clients is , if I were a complete beginner and it just so happens that my set up seems ok what pieces of advice would you give me? 

I get a few varied replays but these 4 remain constant.

• Keep your head down.

• Keep your left arm straight on your backswing.

• Keep your left foot on the floor in the takeaway.

• Keep your eye on the ball as you hit it. 

So my questions to you are, do they serve you well? are they good pieces of advice?  Do they improve your Golf?  

I'm pretty certain you will answer yes to these questions so I'd like you explore something different  with me!!

Set up to your shot as normal,  and hit the ball with your eyes closed!! Repeat a few times and see what happens.

Next I'd like you to hit a few shots allowing your LEFT ARM to soften in the backswing. 

I'd then like you to hit a few shots allowing your LEFT HEEL to lift in the back swing, 

Which will look something like this.

And the finally I would like you to hit a few shots looking away from the ball prior to impact like so 

All of these exercises should be done with LITTLE to NO EFFORT, all I'm asking you to do is see what happens to your shots.

Now you may think I'm crazy asking you to do this but there is a serious point to it. You see modern teaching is all about Mechanics and Techniques, Measuring devices have become the norm and so to have teaching aids, just like these 

But do they really allow you to swing naturally?

 At POSITIVE IMPACT GOLF we use this saying.

“The current science-based understanding that we humans don't learn well when Teachers over – complicate their subject, we help identify and get rid of debilitating techniques that are not apt for you and your body.

P= P-I( PERFORMANCE = POTENTIAL – INTERFERENCE)”

The golf swing is a flowing movement and not a series of positions pieced together, to be successful you need these 6 big things 

 Turning

 Weight shift

 Coordination 

 Rhythm 

 Balance 

 Souplesse 

With these in mind I'm going to ask a few more questions.

• Can  you turn freely if your head and left foot are static?

• Can your weight shift  from one foot to the other?

• If one part of your body is moving and another still would this appear to be coordinated?

• Would your swing have rhythm or wood it look wooden?

• Would you be swinging in balance or would you be swinging to stay in balance?

• And finally would you swing with Souplesse?

If you were to describe a really nice golf swing in a few words I would imagine you'd use ones like  easy, effortless, flowing, simple, rhythmical etc etc, and if you were to describe a bad swing you'd maybe use words like , tight, full of effort, too fast, uncoordinated, tense etc etc am I right? 

With this in mind, why is it OK to take away somebody's natural swing and replace it with mechanics, something that feels totally unnatural, Creating positions within a golf swing leads to tension, tension leads to effort and effort results in bad golf swings.

I've been a PGA Professional for almost 30 years , I strived to be a tour professional but never made the grade, I was taught by one of the most successful coaches in the world and constantly worked on my swing believing that positioning my swing was the only way to get better and be consistent. 

Since becoming a POSITIVE IMPACT GOLF COACH and working closely with Brian Sparks the founder, I've realised how debilitating my old philosophy was. I now hit the ball further, straighter and with little effort, I absolutely love playing the game, it's fun and I'm no longer shattered by the end of each round. 

Can I urge you to try swinging freely , reduce tension, reduce effort and Stop believing all you read, allow your natural swing to shine and leave your technical swing in the garage with all the clubs that you no longer use. 

Discover your best swing by letting go.

If you have any questions please contact me and I'll be more than happy to chat through things with you. 

HAPPY GOLFING 

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional 

Positive Impact Golf Coach 

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

07595 157452

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

http://julianmellorpga.blogspot.co.uk

My take on golf lessons, and why people do have them

Before I start to teach a new pupil I always ask them lots of questions so I can fully understand the experiences they’ve had before with golf lessons (if any), how comfortable they feel taking them and what they’re looking to gain from my coaching.

I’ve had lots of interesting replies and wanted to sum up the most common here.

Firstly, I’ve found the biggest barrier to taking golf lessons is that people fear making a fool of themselves in front of a professional. Some people lack the confidence to come and give it a go, get nervous about just booking a lesson, and find the whole experience quite daunting.

Secondly, whilst some people have enjoyed excellent experiences of golf lessons in the past, many have not and all the negatives they’ve taken away with them have put them off from taking further tuition for years.

For example, a guy I taught recently was telling me about his first ever golf lesson. Let’s put this guy into perspective – he holds a very high position in a large company and he represented GB in Taekwondo for over 20 years, so he’s no stranger to giving or receiving instruction! His first experience of golf tuition wasn’t good, he had booked a series of 6 lessons and turned up for his first one full of enthusiasm. However, he got totally let down. He was made to feel useless and foolish, he was spoken ‘down to’ and the pro doing the teaching hit twice as many shots as he did during the lesson. Once the lesson had finished he told the pro in no uncertain terms what he thought of him and demanded his money back (which not many people would do by the way – so good for him)! After that he was reluctant to book anymore lessons and ended up watching the Golf Channel for his tuition. Not ideal in my book, but at least he was getting some guidance I suppose.

Thankfully this is an extreme example, but I do hear about lots of negative experiences which result in golfers steering clear of further lessons.

I firmly believe that there needs to be a strong relationship between player and coach, and if that first lesson together is one of enjoyment then there is no reason why it shouldn’t last for years.

Personally, I always make my pupils feel welcome, let them hit a few shots to relax and warm up and talk about the journey we’re going to embark on together. I always take a short video of their swing and then watch it back with them whilst clearly explaining what’s good and what’s not so good, and talking about how we could work on making things better.

This is all at a pace the pupil finds comfortable, not one I do! We all know how hard making changes to a golf swing can be, so why would I add any negativity or pressure to doing so? I’m there to help, advise and, yes, achieve results – but in a way that each individual responds to and is happy with.

So just to finish, if you’ve had a bad experience of golf lessons in the past please don’t be afraid to try a different coach. We all have our own way of doing things and some are better than others. Always ask for testimonials and look at the pro’s website to give you a feel about the person. Talk to the pro and see if you’re going to hit it off, and most importantly – never give up on asking for help and trying to improve.

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

07595 157452

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Winter Tips to help with your game

here are a few simple tips which will help this winter 

• Clean your grips with hot water, hand soap, scrubbing brush and then towel dry. 
• Play with the same ball all of the time, so you know how it feels and what it does when it lands on the green.
• Always have food and water in you golf bag.
• To keep your grips dry when you take a spare club with you, put a tee peg in the ground and rest your grip on it.
• Oil the wheels on your trolley as this will help prolong the life of your trolley battery.
• Check the spikes on your shoes, once they get too low they really do impede your swing and balance.
• Always keep spare gloves in your bag in case you get one wet or rip one.
• Keep a spare top in your bag, once you get cold it really restricts your swing.
• Grooves are really important – so keep them dirt free.
• Before you putt make sure your putter face is clean and dry, getting grit on your putter face sends the ball off line.
• Keep a spare packet of hand warmers in your bag, you never know when you’ll need them.
• Get the R&A rules app on your phone, you never know when it might come in handy
• You can down load a free golf GPS on your phone, you can’t use it in tournaments but you can socially.
• If you use laser gadgets keep a spare battery in your bag
• And finally, if you really want to improve this year – book some lessons with your local professional!
• Be tension free at set up and thoughtout the swing, this will lead to more distance and consistent shots 

Happy golfing! 

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional 

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

07595157452

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Why join my 12 month Programme ?

I would just like to explain why my 12 month Guaranteed Improvement Programme (GIP) is working, and helping players of all standards to play better golf.

I’ve been running the GIP for 2 years now and I can’t tell you how much I’ve learnt about teaching and making my pupils better at playing golf.

It’s a little bit like doing mini case studies, whilst I’ve been helping my clients I’ve also had the chance to see what happens to golfers when they are taught something new, let me explain.

First I video their swings and we chat through the things we are about to change and why. We then apply the changes and I encourage them to go away and practice.

Now quite commonly golfers book a course of say 5 lessons and we work though any required changes in their game, they then go away and within the space of 4 to 6 weeks of playing their swing reverts back to what I call their default movement and nothing has changed. However, the GIP is different.

The programme guarantees up to 4 hours tuition each month, which allows time to really fix golf swings permanently. It seems to take about 6 months before the old swing faults disappear and the new ones become the norm, which has been quite a surprise to me. One of the main reasons for this is a lack of practice, and don’t think playing 5 rounds a week is practice. A typical professional on tour would be hitting balls for at least 4 hours a day. I’m not suggesting that amateur golfers should start doing this because I know full well that they haven’t got the time nor would they enjoy doing it , but if you expect your swing to change without working on it, then you’ll be sadly mistaken.

The regular coaching my GIP clients receive every month on their whole golf game means they are all now beginning to reap the rewards. I’ve had one guy shoot his lowest round ever which was level par 72 (his previous best was 76), another has constantly started to shoot 3 or 4 better than his handicap week in week out, others have won tournaments they never thought possible, and without exception they are all enjoying their golf more and loving being on the programme.

Before I finish I just want you to have a think about this. To play your best golf you probably require Professional help, so here’s a tip – analyse your whole game, not just the bits that you’re good at. The things to look at are

. Rules and how to apply them
. The equipment you use
. Course management, this would take into account playing the right shots at the right time
. Driving
. Fairway woods
. Long irons
. Rescue clubs
. Mid irons
. Short irons
. Pitching
. Chipping
. Bunker shots including fairway bunkers shots
. Long putting
. Short putts
. What food and drink you take in during your round
. Your mental attitude on and off the course
. Your physical fitness and is there anything you could and should be doing

So you can see, taking all of the above into consideration it would take much more than a couple of golf lessons to improve your whole game and achieve your goals.

If this blog has made you think about the things you could be doing to become a better golfer then why not have a chat with your local PGA professional and see how you could work together? Or better still, contact me for more details about the GIP. I’m based near Coventry and I’m always happy have a coffee and a chat

Don’t wait – act today!

Happy Golfing 

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club

07595 157452

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Should your left heel come off the ground in the backswing? (Opposite if your left handed)

Hello, thanks for taking time to read this blog,

I'm just sat in my car watching golfers at Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club teeing off, I'm struck by how many golfers move their bodies in an inefficient way, they don't seem to grasp how much easier the swing is when you move your body correctly, golf is no different to any other throwing sport, for instance you wouldn't see any Javlin thrower leaning backward when releasing a Javlin, discuss throwers wind up their body by transferring their weight from the right to the left if they are right handed. 

So in its simplest form your weight should move to the right in the back swing and to the left in the follow through, at POSITIVE IMPACT GOLF we call this 

I've put a short video on YouTube that demonstrates the weight shift ( link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGoz5CJ-Mnw&sns=em ) 

The start of it shows me holding the club at hip height , watch what's happening to me heel on the takeaway and then on the follow through. 

A recent study by TPI has said that it's a must not a should that the left heel comes off the ground in the backswing, it helps prevent injury, takes away any restriction, allows a greater shoulder turn and feels so much easier once you apply it. 

I probably practise this movement about 100 a day, and now it feels totally natural, remember you could be doing this whilst you wait for the kettle to boil so you don't really have any excuses not to do it, and I promise you it will seriously help your swing. 

I have been told that 15 out of the last 17 major winners have done this, I will check this to make sure it's true but if it is I wouldn't be at all surprised. 

So give it a go and let me know how you get on. 

Happy Golfing 

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional 

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club 

07595 157452

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Natural swing v technical swing

Hello, thanks for taking time to read my Blog 

Question:- using a few words how would you describe a really nice golf swing? 

Question:- And what words would you use to describe a really bad golf swing? 

"Before you read on just spend a couple of minutes having a good think about these two questions". 

I like you,  have seen thousands of golf swings, some of them very pleasing on the eye and others make you want to look away, some golfers make it look easy and others make it look really difficult. 

When you were describing the two swings which one reminded you of you? 

When describing the really nice swing I would imagine you used words like " EASY, EFFORTLESS, NATURAL, FLOWING, RHYMICAL, BALANCED ETC ETC 

I bet you didn't use phrases like " that is a nice series of positions" , "that swing is on plane" , " the angle of attack was down 5 degrees" , I love the torque in the backswing" , " posture was maintained perfectly through impact". Am I right? 

I have another question for you - if a good swing is all of the words above then why is the golf swing taught as a series of Positions pieced together? does the golf swing have to be technical?

Why does modern teaching insist on making the golf swing more complicated and more and more unnatural ? 

Positive Impact Coaching is far more in tune with a persons natural swing, it is without restriction and allows a persons Talent to shine through.

How do we do that you ask? Firstly we get our clients to become mindful and tune into different  senses, we ask them to hit balls with their eyes closed, we get them to move their feet in a certain way to become aware of weight shift and balance, we encourage them to break the traditions of old, like , keep your head down, left arm straight & keep your left foot solid on the ground throughout the swing. 

We encourage golfers to hit shots without effort to see what happens, reduce tension in their set up and swing, quite simply we allow their natural ability to shine through. 

If reading this it's made you nod your head a few times then I feel I've made my point. 

If Golf equipment has improved so much over the past 40 years, teaching devices have given factual evidence of what happens to your club and ball through impact, body mapping measures precisely what you do when you hit golf balls then why have the handicaps of golfers not fallen in line with all this technology? 

Why? Because modern teaching and technology is too complicated!! 

If you agree with what I've said and would like to bring out your natural swing but don't know how,  please contact me and I'll happily chat through things with you.

Don't be afraid to share this if you've found it helpful.

Julian Mellor

PGA professional

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk.    

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

07595 157452