The big match is tomorrow and you only have a little bit of time to figure it all out.  Let’s walk through an hour long cram session.

00:00

Stretch! Rushing into hitting balls is only going to lead to a frustrating session.  Get your hamstrings and upper body loose.  Take a few minutes to get yourself moving before you even touch a club.

00:04

Regardless of time restraints, always start your practice session small, and grow it into bigger swings. Put away the driver and grab a wedge or 9 iron.  The initial goal is to find some rhythm.  The first swings I make are with a very loose grip. These swings are based solely on shifting my weight from my back foot to my forward foot on the downswing.  After you can feel your hands following your body, grab a ball and make some half swings (just swing the club from your back hip to your front hip).  Distance is not a focus right now, just make solid contact!

00:10

I’ve taken some time finding some rhythm, now I’m feeling a lot more comfortable and ready to get to business.  Everyone has something they are working on with their swing, so this is the point in a practice session where I want to focus on that.  The new stance or swing move we learned a couple weeks ago in that lesson are still not second nature, so now’s the time to make swings with only that new feeling in mind.  Remember to stay loose and keep in mind this struggle will pay off when things start clicking.

00:35

I spent the last 25 minutes working on the drills and new moves I want to incorporate into my game.  Now it’s time to get ready for the match tomorrow.  Start working through the bag.  Hit a few short irons, then start hitting every other club in the bag up to the woods.  I always want to work my way up to the longer clubs.  This helps continue a rhythm and reminds me that the small moves I make on a wedge swing are similar to what I do with a driver or fairway wood.  Throughout this part of the session, I want to make sure I’m hitting at targets on the range and focusing on making solid contact.

00:55

By the end of this run through the bag, the hour is almost up.  Before you close out the range session, think about the shots you have to hit tomorrow in your match.  What are the challenging tee shots you need to hit?  The first hole is always a struggle, so try to create that scenario and hit a shot towards a target visualizing the first hole.  Get confident in that first shot now, so it’s easier tomorrow!

Golf is hard.  We can’t get better without some regular practice.  If all you have is an hour once a week aside from playing, make sure you use that hour to it’s fullest.  In an hour time crunch, it’s great to hit the range and get some swing confidence.  I strongly recommend getting to your match early and hitting balls for a short amount of time. The focus has to be on short game once you’re at the course.  If you are able to practice at a facility with a good short game area, take the concept of practicing shorter shots then longer shots and run through your putter and wedges in the same fashion for an hour every other week.  Be confident, stay loose, and have some fun.

01:00

Range closed

New Features:

1. Most Notable Feature:

The New Tour V3 has a new technology called JOLT. This JOLT technology is my favorite innovation with range finders and should be in all laser going forward. Once you hit the target/pin, you feel a little vibration and the yardage pops straight up in front of your eye. Its simple and effective.

2. Most Important Feature:

As for the most important feature, it has to be the newly designed look and feel. This range finder is very easy to hold even for people with shaky hands, like myself. The Bushnell Tour V3 is sleek, and sports a white case with a red bottom, making it nearly impossible to lose for all you forgetful golfers out there.

Pros:

– The JOLT technology makes it much faster than most other range finders.

– Works great for people with shaky hands.

– Can shoot distances to anything, not just pins.

– Extremely, extremely accurate.

Cons:

– GPS watches simplify the process for your average golfer

– It does not show the hole, rather just gives you distance to what you point it at.

Recommendation:

My Recommendation has to be, BUY THE BUSHNELL TOUR V3!! This laser is on point and very quick. I originally was not a fan of laser range finders because I felt they took too long, but not this one. Once you feel the vibration you know you have the pin. It works great, looks great, and will really help lower your scores. Unlike watches, it works great even in cloudy conditions because it does not need any satellites. Speed up your game, and become more accurate.

Slow play exists at every level of golf. Starting from beginners analyzing each contour of the fairway, and perfecting their practice move, only to advance the ball a few yards; all the way to Tour Pro’s being put on the clock, or even penalized a shot. Slow play is stunting the growth of the game.  People don’t want to wait for you to check out at the grocery store, let alone watch you take your sweet time reading a putt!

As a Golf Professional in the Met Section, I see slow play everywhere I look. But where did slow play come from?  It seems like only in the past few years we have started getting vocal about the issue.  Did it pop up over night?  Did Sergio spread the bug years ago?  Probably not.  In all honesty slow play has always been around.  Golfers who aren’t good enough to be over-thinking still crunch the numbers on each shot and Tour Pros have always moved at their own pace.  However, we’ve all gotten a bit impatient and expectant of instant results.

Here are a few tips to move into the fast lane…

1) Be on the move: Don’t wait until your turn to start the thought process for the shot at hand.  After you hit a shot, watch where it lands and start your planning.  As you walk to your ball you can be making club choices and decisions on how to hit your shot.  While your playing partners are hitting, you can have a club out to be ready for your next shot.  This helps when on the green as well.  If you aren’t in your playing partners’ field of vision, get down and read your putt while they play.  The green isn’t going to reconfigure itself between your partner’s putt and your roll for par. Preparation helps put that extra knowledge to use.

2) Don’t be afraid to play out of turn, its called Ready Golf: Even in the professional events I play in, guys and girls play out of turn all the time.  As long as you’re in a stroke play event (playing out of turn in Match Play is loss of hole!), if you see your playing partner dealing with something (lost ball, club choice, slow caddy…), don’t be afraid to say, “I’ll play, take your time.”  You just took a ton of pressure off a struggling golfer and also got to play at a better pace for yourself.

3) Know your way around:  If you are walking or riding, always know which side of the green to park or put your bag down to get to the next tee.  That might seem like a small thing, but those few less steps save time and energy.

4) Fewer practice swings: Those 6 practice swings you made didn’t make the low runner you just hit any better.  Make one practice swing, two on the really tricky shots.  Any more than that and you’re going to find yourself guessing on what move to make.  Trust that in hitting those balls last week something actually stuck and can be put into use.

I’ve always tried my best to avoid being the slow player out on the course. Everyone dreads playing with the ‘slow guy’.  Thats why the slow guy doesn’t get asked to play (jk, but not really).  And it is ALWAYS the slow guy’s fault.  Doesn’t matter what it is, but I guarantee the slow guy had something to do with it.  So instead of being the root of all that your buddies see wrong with the golf course, pick up the pace, don’t get dragged around out there, and enjoy being outside for a few hours.  Now let’s pick it up, I think the guys behind us are waiting to hit…