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In this video, Neil Tappin looks at the 9 things tour players do... that you don't!! These are the small things, the tips and tricks that add up to help them shoot great scores. Perhaps adding some of these things to your game could make a difference to your scoring!
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00:04Hello everyone, Neil Tappin here from Golf Monthly and welcome to this video in which
00:08we are looking at the nine things the pros are doing that maybe, just maybe, you're not.
00:13These are all things the pros are doing either in practice, on the golf course or away from
00:18the golf course that are really helping them to perform week in and week out. Those little
00:22tips and tricks that could make a big difference to your game if you start doing them too.
00:28If you're new to the Golf Monthly channel, please do hit the subscribe button to make
00:31sure that you don't miss any of our videos. Hit the like button if you like what you're
00:34watching and also tell us, have you seen the pros doing anything that you've tried that's
00:38really worked for you and your game? We would be interested to hear any ideas that you've
00:42got. But let's head out now onto the golf course here at the London Club and find out what
00:47the nine things the pros are doing that perhaps you're not.
00:55Okay, so the first one on my list relates to warming up. Now I appreciate this isn't
00:59the most exciting topic in the world and I'm sure that everyone out there knows it's important
01:03to warm up before they play golf. But how many of you out there warm up before you go to
01:07the range or you go to the practice ground? I expect the answer to that is not many. You
01:13often, me included, get to the driving range, do a few simple stretches like this, a little bit
01:18of that and then start hitting shots and that can cause you problems. It can cause you problems
01:22because the first few shots that you hit, you might fat and that sets the tone for the practice
01:26session. What you'll find with the pros is that they will do their stretching before they
01:30get to the practice ground. They'll do it in the changing room or they'll do it in the
01:33physio truck so that by the time they get to the driving range or the practice ground they
01:38are ready to hit balls. They are ready to sort of strike the ball cleanly and build up pace
01:42from their most lofted club up through the bag. So take a small leaf out of the book
01:47of the pros, do a little bit of stretching before you even arrive on the practice ground
01:51and that can make a big difference to your session as a whole. It can make sure that right
01:55from the first ball to the last you're warm, you're ready to go and your body is working
02:00exactly how you want it to.
02:15So the next one on my list relates to pitching and something the pros don't tend to do. The
02:20pros will very, very rarely hit a flat out pitch with their most lofted club in the bag. The
02:26reason for that is that if you're hitting and making a full swing at a short shot with
02:30your most lofted club you're going to be creating a lot of speed down by the ball. Speed means
02:34backspin and backspin means more flight and for the pros that is something that takes control
02:40away from them. Remember this part of the game is all about precision and in order to
02:45be as precise as possible you need to be able to control the trajectory. Often when the pros
02:49talk about hitting a full pitch with their most lofted club in the bag they're only ever really
02:54hitting the ball at 80 or 90 percent, they're never really going at it flat out 100 percent.
02:59By taking just a little bit of pace off the swing they're able to create more control over
03:05the ball flight and ultimately that helps them hit the ball closer from inside 100 yards.
03:14Okay, so one thing the pros do brilliantly well is whenever they're building a strategy for
03:20a hole they will have a very clear idea in their minds of where they absolutely cannot
03:25miss. Now to give you an idea of exactly that sort of thought process this is the 11th hole
03:31here on the heritage course at the London club and the number one place you cannot hit it on
03:37this hole is in the trouble over the black back. There is all sorts of very long grass flags
03:44right at the back of this green as well today and so your chance of getting up and down if
03:48you've
03:48gone over the back are virtually zero here. Despite the fact that it looks as if all the
03:54big trouble is at the front you're far better off being slightly short than you are being
03:58slightly long and that has a big impact on ultimately the strategy that you build, the
04:03club that you take and how you play the hole. This hole is 175 yards and for me that's probably
04:09a soft six iron but it's slightly downhill, it's slightly downwind if I absolutely flush it
04:14and I hit a six iron. I might just hit this over the back in which case I'm doing very
04:19well to make a double bogey. So I'm going to put the six iron down, I'm going to choose
04:24the seven iron instead with the specific aim that I shouldn't, I can hit this as hard as
04:28I want, I won't go past that flag. A little bit right but it's on the green, it's short
04:45of the flag, definitely shouldn't be making more than a bogey at absolute worst.
04:54One thing the pros are often very meticulous about in practice is when it comes to their
04:59putting, are they starting the ball on exactly the right line? It's very easy when you hit
05:06putt after putt after putt in practice especially to start slightly pulling or slightly pushing
05:10your putts without really even realising. Suddenly that can affect everything in your stroke and
05:16the way in which you stand over the ball and suddenly you can lose your confidence very
05:20quickly on the greens. Now there's a whole host of training aids out there that the pros
05:24use that help them just perfect that start line, make sure they're starting, if it's a right
05:30lip putt they are starting the ball on exactly the right line every single time. But you don't
05:35have to necessarily use a training aid, a simple gate drill like this where the gate is just
05:40slightly wider than the ball, hit a whole host of putts, just train yourself on getting the
05:47ball through that little gate. The more often you can do that the better your start lines
05:51will be and if your start lines are good then you should hold a few more putts.
06:01Ok so the next one on my list relates to understanding your game. Now the pros will have a very
06:06very
06:06clear idea about where their strengths and weaknesses in their game lies. They'll have
06:10a lot of detail as well, they'll know of the tee whether they're more likely to miss right
06:14or left, they'll have an idea about all the tendencies in all the different areas of the
06:20game. So that gives them a framework for what to work on in practice but more importantly
06:24when they're out on the golf course it helps them to build a strategy. So if they know they're
06:28more likely to miss right off the tee than they are to miss left and there's bunkers
06:31down the right hand side as there are on this hole they'll know that perhaps a strategy either
06:36a different golf club to lay up short of them or playing away from the trouble might just
06:40get them sort of a better score. So the question is how well do you really understand your game
06:45and even if you do understand your game are you putting the lessons you've learnt into play
06:51in practice and out on the golf course. Take those bits of advice with you, it could make
06:56a big difference to your game.
07:02Okay so number four on my list relates to the mental game and there's no two ways about
07:07it, the pros are definitely taking the mental side of the game very very seriously. Indeed
07:11they understand just how the mind when it works for you can have a huge impact on the quality
07:17of the performances you put in on the golf course and I suspect many of you watching this will also
07:21understand just the impact the mind can have on the way in which you play. The question is are you
07:27doing those little bits of work that really train your mind to think in the best way possible
07:32and the answer to that is well possibly not. There are lots of different things you can do from
07:36the way in which you practice, performance practice, putting yourself under pressure
07:40in practice to the way in which you sort of process every round of golf that you play. One thing
07:45that I've done over the last few years that's really worked well for me is that after every
07:49round of golf I play I get a notepad and I write down the sort of five best shots that
07:54I've hit,
07:54I sort of write them down in quite a bit of detail just to sort of reflect on them just
07:58to get a log
07:59of some of the best shots that I've hit. I'll then go over and I'll read them over again every
08:03now
08:03and again just to remind myself of some of the shots I've hit and the thought process that I had
08:07going into those shots it has actually really made a big difference to my game. So the advice here is
08:14perhaps just
08:14taking that little bit of time to think about and work on the mental side of your golf game could
08:21make a big difference in the long run.
08:28Now the next one on my list relates to building a very very clear vision in your mind for exactly
08:33the shot that you want to play and you need to do it on every single shot you hit on
08:37the golf course.
08:38I'm sure that you probably already know that you need to do that you need to have a vision for
08:41the
08:42start point and the ball flight you're looking to achieve but do you do it on every single shot
08:47you play? The pros do, the pros will have a very clear idea in their minds for instance when they're
08:52chipping they'll know the sort of flight they're looking for they'll know their landing spot and
08:56they'll know what to expect in terms of how much run they're getting so you need to build that picture
09:01on every single shot you hit. Now this is a par five here at the London club and this is
09:06a specific
09:06scenario which is really really important because it's quite open but unless you're focused it can be very
09:12easy to hit a wayward shot. So in this scenario I'm picking my start point which is on the the
09:17just on the right hand edge of the green bush on the left hand side just beyond the fairway
09:21and I'm looking to just hit a small fade off that bush and I'll be focusing very hard on trying
09:27to
09:27do that I'll have a picture in my mind of exactly the sort of ball flight I'm expecting it's something
09:32that Jack Nicklaus spoke about years and years ago something that he did he ran a sort of a almost
09:36like a movie vision in his mind for the shot he was looking to produce and it has a big
09:41impact
09:41because it acts as a very positive sort of mental rehearsal before you hit the shot. Right let's
09:47give it a go. A little bit necky but it goes to show I had a very clear idea of
09:57what I was trying
09:58to do it wasn't a great swing it wasn't a great shot but the ball's on the fairway.
10:11The next one on my list relates to practice and practicing in particular with a very very clear
10:15purpose in mind how many times do you go to the range or do you go to the practice ground
10:20and just
10:21start hitting balls and before you know it you've hit 40 or 50 balls and you've not really had a
10:25very
10:25clear idea in mind of what you're looking to achieve the pros are very very good about being
10:31crystal clear about what they're looking to achieve now it might be on the driving range that you're
10:35looking to improve something technically in your golf swing in which case obviously advice from a PGA
10:41pro and then going away and working with some of the drills they've given you or exercises they've given
10:45you can make a big difference other than that don't forget performance practice putting yourself under
10:51pressure in practice to help you out on the golf course can really help you and then also don't
10:56forget the short game so this is a drill that I often use I'd love to practice my short game
11:01a bit
11:01more often than I do sadly I don't and I suspect it's the same for many of you out there
11:05having a
11:06drill like this this is a I put a towel down roughly where I would expect the ball to land
11:11it's a landing
11:11zone drill so it gets me thinking about where I want to pull the the ball to pitch and giving
11:16me an idea of
11:17how far it will run with each club in my bag that can help me out on the golf course
11:21become very
11:22focused on the flight the landing spot and the role all good things when you're out on the golf course
11:27so
11:27have a very clear idea in your mind about what you're trying to achieve
11:30in practice because that can make a big difference to you when you're competing for real
11:41one thing that all pros do is they clean their clubs after every single shot now obviously they
11:46have a caddie to help them with that so usually the caddies job but you'll find that not only with
11:50their wedges but every club in the bag really the face of every club will be clean before they hit
11:55the ball doesn't matter whether you're talking about your irons your wedges or your putter anything
11:58that gets trapped between the face and the ball will affect the outcome ultimately that's what you
12:04need to remember now the face of my wedge here you might think looks pretty clean and might be good
12:08to go but actually I can tell you right now a tour player would want to give this a good
12:11scrub
12:12would want to get some sort of brush or t-peg out to get between each of the grooves you
12:17can see
12:17how much dirt is coming up between each of the grooves and actually this is going to affect the
12:22amount of spin you get this is going to affect your control when you're chipping and the ball flight
12:25and spin that you get when you're hitting pitch shots into the green so just take a little bit of
12:30time clean the face of your club before you hit it will give you a more reliable more consistent outcome
12:36so there you have it that was our list of the nine things the pros are doing that perhaps maybe
12:40you're not i hope you found that list interesting and useful and if you do have any comments anything
12:46that you've seen the pros doing that you think could help amateurs as well please do let us know
12:50leave comments below tell us what you've seen we'll get back to as many of you as we can hopefully
12:54we
12:55can share some of this information around also please do like the video if you've liked what you've seen
12:59and hit the subscribe button to make sure that you don't miss any of our videos but for now from
13:04the
13:04london club it's goodbye
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