- 22 minutes ago
In this video Neil Tappin, Digital Editor of Golf Monthly explains:
How can you play better golf without changing your swing with guest Nick Dougherty.
In association with Taylor Made.
How can you play better golf without changing your swing with guest Nick Dougherty.
In association with Taylor Made.
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00:00How can you play better golf without changing your golf swing?
00:04That's what we're going to find out in this video.
00:06And to help us, we have a special guest.
00:08Now, most of you watching this will know Nick Doherty from Fronting Up the Sky Sports golf coverage,
00:13but also from his Tea Time Tips videos that he releases on Instagram that have been so popular with so
00:19many golfers.
00:20If you haven't already seen them, please do head over and check them out.
00:22But by the end of this video, we want to give you some inspiration.
00:25So five simple action points that will help you improve your scores without you needing to head to the range
00:32and make major swing changes.
00:35Now, the way in which this video is going to work is that Nick is going to play three holes
00:38here at Wentworth on the West Coast with an amateur golfer.
00:41This is somebody who's played golf for the last 30 years.
00:44He's struggling with his game, but he doesn't really have the time or frankly the inclination to head to the
00:50range and go through that sort of swing rebuilding process.
00:54So effectively, we're challenging Nick to come up with the easiest and simplest ways to help our golfer improve.
01:00Now, the last thing to say is that this video is coming to you in association with TaylorMade.
01:04They sponsor Nick and they've also kitted out our amateur golfer.
01:08Speaking of which, I think it's time to meet the man in question, Mike Harris.
01:12Okay, so Mike Harris, our amateur golfer for the day.
01:15Ten handicapper.
01:16Yep.
01:16Right.
01:17You've been playing golf for 30 years.
01:19Correct.
01:20Is that right?
01:20And tell us, what is it that's ultimately going wrong with your golf game at the moment that you think
01:26Nick might be able to help you with?
01:27I think it's a really interesting one.
01:29So like everyone, I want to play better golf.
01:32But I think as I've got older and I realise where golf fits into my life, I actually just want
01:37to play well in the important rounds when it matters,
01:40whether it's a medal or a club championship or a trip away with friends.
01:44And I've also realised that I don't have the time to really invest to get a lot better technically.
01:50So I suppose I want to limit the mistakes.
01:53I know my better rounds when I look at my R-cost data would tend to be the rounds where
01:57I'm not having doubles and trebles in there.
02:00It's not so much about making loads of birdies.
02:03It's about, I guess, playing to my strengths and not making those silly mistakes.
02:08I'm hoping that Nick can offer me some advice on how to make the most of my game.
02:14How to, I guess, enjoy golf more.
02:17And you enjoy golf more by playing, I think, fewer bad shots.
02:21So specifically, where do you think is the biggest area?
02:24Let's call it an opportunity.
02:26Biggest opportunity, probably to be less bad, would be in my iron play.
02:30I'm very inconsistent on my iron play.
02:33And my short game as well.
02:34Used to feel like I had a really good short game.
02:36Completely deserted me.
02:37It's coming back a little bit.
02:39But I still don't get up and down anywhere near often enough.
02:43So let's set Nick the challenge.
02:45Can Nick help Mike play better golf without swinging the golf club any better?
02:50Let's go find out.
03:23Okay, so Nick, you've played three holes with Mike.
03:25And it's been an interesting experience watching the various different bits of advice that you've given Mike along the way.
03:30And we're going to divide this part of the video up into five different sections.
03:34And Nick, I wanted to talk to you about, in this first section, about managing stress and nerves.
03:40Because I think part of Mike's issue is that he wants to play well.
03:42But he's not fussed really about playing well all the time.
03:45But he wants to play well when it matters.
03:47So what advice would you give people about managing their nerves around the course?
03:51I think it's an overall mentality.
03:55And sure, we all want to play well.
03:56You know, when we go away for that trip or when we play in that club championship or whatever it
04:00may be.
04:01But unfortunately, it's like a wet bar of soap.
04:02The more we want it, the more it tries to get away from us.
04:04So I think a lot of it comes down to acceptance, first of all.
04:06You can only do what you can do.
04:07You can only be the best that you can be with the game that you have.
04:11And accepting that golf is a hard game, first of all.
04:12And it's going to go wrong.
04:14You're going to hit shots that don't work out.
04:16You're going to do lots of things right that don't get the results that you expect they're going to do.
04:19There are a few little things that you can do on the golf course that can assist.
04:22So, for instance, you know, one of the things with Mike there was with the putter.
04:25And he said to me on the 10th hole here at Wentworth that the birdie putts and I sort of
04:30think,
04:31I really want these ones because I know I need it because it will get me going.
04:34But the fact of the matter is you need to, again, accept that every single putt is worth exactly the
04:39same.
04:39If it's for a two or a seven, we still want it because it's still worth the whole shot.
04:43So that, first of all, just a little bit of logic can put that to bed.
04:46But then after that, getting out of your own way.
04:48So for Mike, it was all about trying to have something to think about that takes him away from thinking
04:53about the meaning of making or missing that putt.
04:56So we use something really simple for him, which one help is stroke.
04:59So physiologically, it's a nice thing to do as well.
05:02And it was the simple act of saying, back, roll, as he hit it.
05:05So you say, back in the back swing, roll as you go through.
05:08Because if you're thinking about saying those words, you're then also...
05:11Are you saying that out loud?
05:12You can't...
05:13I would do.
05:14But, you know, granted, you know, someone's going to give you a bit of grief in your four ball maybe
05:18if you start talking to yourself when you're playing.
05:21But absolutely, you say it inside.
05:22You're starting to focus on it as you're doing it, saying back and roll.
05:26And it takes your mind away from thinking about the outcome and puts you into the process of doing what
05:30you're doing.
05:31So you're not worried about if it goes in because you're just thinking about this.
05:33The great thing about this is you can be a top, top golfer or you can be somebody who's just
05:38starting out the game.
05:39Managing nerves, managing your stress is a really important part of the game.
05:43That should really help.
05:48Okay, so the next one is about figuring out your yardages and picking the right club.
05:53And Nick, as a pro, as somebody who's done this so many times in the past, there's an awful lot
05:58more to this, as I discovered as we were working our way around the golf course today, than the kind
06:03of, I guess, most amateurs would maybe give it credit for.
06:05So what are the things that amateurs should be doing more often that they don't currently do to find the
06:10right yardage, find the right club?
06:12Well, find the right yardage would be the first one.
06:14Right.
06:15Because a lot of the time, if you use some sort of a range finder or use a smartwatch or
06:19whatever you use to get your distance, you can get a yardage to a flag, but that's not really it.
06:24So if the flag, for instance, here on 18, you're hitting a wedge shot and it's 1-3-5 to
06:28go to the flag.
06:29Well, 1-3-5 is not your yardage.
06:31Most of your yardages need to be your carry distances because you can't say, oh, with roll it goes this
06:35because every course you play, if it's in the middle of winter and it goes boop or in the middle
06:39of summer on a link score so it's going to bounce 15 yards further on, your yardages would always change.
06:43And hitting a five iron into a green is going to be different to hitting a sand iron into a
06:46green.
06:47So, you know, just having the exact number, you need to calculate what that is.
06:50So if we're hitting a five iron into the last green, I'd need to take 10 yards off at least
06:54my landing point.
06:56So if the yardage was 205 to the flag, actually my carry yardage is 195 because that's where I need
07:03to land it.
07:03And then you've got to take into account as well wind direction, slope as well.
07:08And one of the things I noticed when Mike was at on the 11th hole, he had 113, I think
07:12he had.
07:12And I said, well, go on, what else are we working out here?
07:14And he said, well, it's uphill.
07:16And we said, yeah, what's that?
07:18And you could tell he's just like, it's playing further.
07:23Which is kind of what I'd say.
07:25But we need more, right?
07:26We do need more because the difference between success and failure can be quite a fine margin in this game.
07:31And I know from having used range finders, but also all the years of playing the game, within a yard
07:36or two, what a slope is.
07:37But a lot of the range finders now, you can find that or, you know, you can find devices that
07:41will give you that sort of information.
07:42So it was five uphill.
07:44So it's not 112 or 113.
07:47I think it was 113.
07:48It's 118.
07:49It was into the wind there as well.
07:50And so when we play in the wind, most people, any sort of breeze will say, oh, it's 10 yards
07:55or it's a clever wind.
07:57You're saying the wind's the same strength every time you've played there's been wind at the same strength.
08:00No, it's always different.
08:01But a nice thing you can do, you can always use your phone now to find out what the speed
08:04of the wind is going to be across the day.
08:06And let's say, for instance, it is 10 miles per hour of the wind.
08:08If it's downwind, this is a generalisation, but it's really close to the truth.
08:12It's about a yard per miles per hour.
08:15So if it's 10 mile an hour downwind, it's going to play about 10 yards less.
08:18Into the wind, though, it's double.
08:20So if you're playing into a 10 miles per hour wind, it's 2 yards per mile per hour.
08:25So it's 20 into.
08:26Yet most people, I'd hazard a guess, would say, well, if it's a club down, it's a club into.
08:31And it's not.
08:32It's double the difference.
08:33And again, it's a generalisation, but it's remarkably close to being factual in terms of the way that a wind
08:39will affect the balls.
08:40So it's really important to calculate those things.
08:42Pick your landing point as well.
08:44Know where you want to land it.
08:45Take the slope into all that as well.
08:46And that gives you a number.
08:47And only when you've done all that work, before you even take the club back, can you honestly say, I
08:51know what the distance is.
08:53And regardless of who you are, if you're John Rahm or you and I, we all have the same ability
08:59as John Rahm before we move the club.
09:01So we can do this.
09:03This is not really, it's not rocket science.
09:05No, no.
09:05But it does take a bit of learning and remembering to do the right processes.
09:09So for Mike there, we just say, well, make it easier, have more control.
09:12Because actually, as much as the total number we've got now is correct for how it's playing, we need to
09:17hit a shot that we can make get there without having to swing out of our shoes, especially into the
09:21wind.
09:21So, I mean, there are some mistakes in there that I know that I make, and I'm sure many of
09:25you do too.
09:26Picking the right club, there is more to it than just saying, ah, that's a one club wind.
09:30Use some of Nick's tips there, it should really help.
09:37Okay, so the next one, Nick, is kind of, it feels a bit more technical, but it's something that everyone
09:43needs to get right and can do probably better.
09:46Talk us through the, first thing you can talk us through the importance of posture.
09:49If you've got poor posture, and for most of us, especially me, I'm terrible for it, because I do it
09:53when I'm sat in a chair as well, I'm this way, I just switch off.
09:56I come in this way, and when I'm tired, I naturally go like this, and then that goes to the
10:00golf course.
10:00Then when I'm on the course, next minute, I'm stood like, you know, 85 years of age, and everything's constricted
10:06when we get into this position.
10:08Nothing wants to turn properly, so we end up with lots of armsy swings.
10:11So I really like this, because if nothing else, it means that you can turn up and feel the same
10:16every time.
10:16It's like a reset button, and it's a super simple one.
10:19I like it because, one, it's easy to do, but also super easy to visualize is the goalkeeper posture.
10:25I really, really like it.
10:26So if you were, you know, Mo Salah's about to step up and take a penalty, and you're on the
10:30goal line, how would you stand to take that, you know, receive that penalty?
10:34You'd have the weight naturally in the balls of the feet.
10:37We're on a little bit of a slope here, so it's more challenging, but you'd have the weight naturally towards
10:40the balls of the feet, so you'd be athletic.
10:42There would be a little bit of bend in the knees.
10:43There'd be a nice little angle, the correct angle, in the lower part of the spine there, through the bum,
10:48and then when the chest would be nicely up, the chin would be slightly off the chest, but you wouldn't
10:51think of any of that.
10:53Whereas you go for a lesson sometimes, and you might get a pro, and you'll be like, a bit of
10:56that, a bit of that, a bit of that, get that knee twisted in it.
10:59And next to me, you're like, okay, how's that?
11:00And then, oh my God, is this all I've got?
11:02And, of course, you're rigid, because you're trying.
11:04You're trying, aren't you?
11:05But what about those people who feel like physically there's something restricting them?
11:08If you think, well, you know, I can't get into that position, you are there, we don't have to get
11:13there.
11:13We can just do our best to get into a position that allows us to move as well as we
11:16can.
11:17You have to play around what you have in the locker, and a great coach will do that for you.
11:21Yeah.
11:22But we can, you know, you still have to make the effort to be the best that you can be
11:25and still have it.
11:26If it's causing pain, it's no good.
11:28Yeah, so, I mean, finding the right posture, vitally important, as Nick says.
11:32Hopefully, that's simple and effective.
11:34Give it a go.
11:39Okay, so for this part, we're going to talk about short game.
11:42Nick, what did you think of Mike's short game, firstly?
11:45I thought, you know what I really liked about it was there was the shot on the 12, where the
11:50pro shot,
11:51so the right shot, which is a dangerous way to label it, was landing it on the green, bit of
11:58check, roll it down to the hole,
11:59because otherwise, you had to deal with this upslope to judge, then onto the flat, then onto the downslope.
12:04Seemed harder, but actually, Mike was just like, I'd look at it and think, oh, I don't really fancy it.
12:09There's the tip in itself.
12:11Like, if you don't like it, then it's probably not going to work, because you're going to start to go
12:15down that hole.
12:15Yeah.
12:16And almost to the degree where, before you've hit it, thinking, I know I'm going to be annoyed at myself,
12:20because this isn't the right shot, because I don't like this, I knew I'd do that.
12:23You know, if that's what comes out of your mouth, I knew I'd do that, that's on you,
12:28because you had a choice.
12:28If you knew you'd do it, why'd you do it?
12:30No one said you have to play this game a certain way.
12:33That's your choice.
12:34And there's a great satisfaction from doing it your own way.
12:36All the guys on tour do it that way.
12:37Yeah.
12:38You know, they've all got a different strategy.
12:39And he played this lovely and beautiful shot as well, you know, with a low iron and just scampered up
12:45the bank,
12:45because he was comfortable.
12:46And something that's a bad decision with commitment will always do better than something.
12:50That's a good decision without commitment.
12:51Right.
12:52I'd always try and land it a yard on the green.
12:53You can do it two yards, it can be anything you want.
12:55But I always try and think, I'll land it a yard on the green, you know, like I did on
13:00the 10th hole.
13:00That was all I did.
13:01The shot sort of picked me there.
13:02Yeah.
13:02I didn't execute perfectly, but I was all in with the commitment to it.
13:05Then where the flag is tells me what club to play.
13:08Now, if it's right there and it's only sort of three or four on the green, it's that 60 degree,
13:11definitely,
13:12because I haven't got any room.
13:13If it's another 10 feet on, it might be a 56 or 52 degree.
13:18If it's across the other side of the green, it might even be a five iron or something like that,
13:21if you've got a nice light to do it.
13:22Okay.
13:22But what I'm always doing is land it in the same place.
13:24So then all I need to do is I've done enough practice and hit enough shots, which most of us
13:28have.
13:28So, you know, roughly how far would a seven iron run if I landed it there?
13:31Roughly how far would my sand iron run or my 60 degree run if I landed it there?
13:35Which doesn't take a lot of work.
13:36But what it does, it takes away all that indecision of where do I land it, what sort of shot,
13:41how high should I hit it?
13:42You just think, well, I've got to land it there and it's got to roll to there.
13:45So that would be a 52.
13:47Nice.
13:48So often people reach for too much loft.
13:51Actually, it's a higher tariff shot with that sort of club.
13:54For me, it's the simplicity and the commitment.
13:57And if you can do both of those things, no doubt about it, you'll get it up and down more
14:00often.
14:04So, Nick, the final area to talk to you about then is a bit of strategy and a bit of
14:08course management,
14:09something that you covered quite a bit with Mike during that three-hole period.
14:13What was the sort of general advice that you're giving Mike?
14:16I think taking medicine is the best one.
14:19You know, in terms of scoring, so often the big numbers come because we won't accept that we've made an
14:24error
14:24and we try to get it all back straight away.
14:26When you do hit it in trouble, looking at the lie, damage limitation, okay, horrible lie,
14:31like Mike's ball there in the heather, awful lie, tree in front of us.
14:37Well, yeah, yeah, the shot's the low one under the tree, but it can't physically come out of that.
14:41You can't lift it out of that, which needs loft, but keep it under that.
14:46So just because you want it, Mike, fortunately, bud, it can't have it.
14:49So the first job is get it out of that, which means we can't do that.
14:53So now we have to make our decision.
14:55You've made that strategy shift before you've ever gone to, you know, pull the club out of the bag.
14:59Okay, that's the plan.
14:59I have to take it on the chin.
15:00That's what's happened.
15:02Chip it out and then you build from there.
15:04Whereas the eights and nines and, you know, whatever else it may be come from that we try to do
15:08more.
15:08And it's only worth a shot, the same as the one you hit off the tee.
15:11So, you know, I think that's really important.
15:14The other shot we looked at when we were in there with my other opportunity,
15:17if the lie was clean, I think it's a nice little tip, just a bonus one,
15:20but if you're punching out through trees, when you're punching out through trees and there's a gap,
15:24don't aim for the gap.
15:25Picture a flag in the distance.
15:27It might be in the middle of the gap, assuming that's where we're going, right?
15:29In the middle of the gap.
15:30It's amazing how often we miss it when we just try and steer it through the gap.
15:33Right.
15:33Because we start to steer it like this towards it, rather than if it was a flag,
15:37we wouldn't try and steer it down the line.
15:39We'd make a swing towards the flag.
15:40So be really precise when you're picking a spot that's through a gap in the trees that you're aiming for
15:44and then let it all hang out.
15:46Because if you aim small, miss small sort of mentality.
15:48And I think it will help people to find their way through that gap more often.
15:52So there you have it.
15:53Play smart, shoot lower scores, simple.
15:56So that's us finished, Mike.
15:58You've played your three holes with Nick.
15:59From what I could see, just so much really helpful information in there.
16:04What did you find to be most useful, do you think, of the stuff that Nick was telling you?
16:08So it's really interesting.
16:10There was so much good stuff.
16:11I actually had to make some notes on my phone and write it all down.
16:15I guess the most technical thing that Nick said, two things were check my alignment.
16:20And I know I need to do that better.
16:22I tend to stand a bit closed.
16:24And then with my posture, he gave me the really cool tip of,
16:26and I used to be a goalkeeper when I was a kid,
16:28and have that goalkeeper posture ready to try and save a penalty.
16:32So those are two things that are really easy to remember.
16:35Don't need to do anything changing my swing.
16:37He talked as well about, if I start to overthink, concentrate on your breathing.
16:42He said, if you are breathing, and in as you're addressing the ball,
16:46and out as you swing, that's actually what you'll then think about.
16:49You're not thinking about all the technical stuff.
16:51He just said, be in on every shot.
16:53And I think what Nick was saying there is just really commit to it.
16:55Have a line, have a target, and then commit to the shot.
16:59Don't poke it, don't be nervous.
17:01Last question then, Mike.
17:03So 10 handicapper, of all the advice that Nick has given to you then,
17:08what does success look like then for you?
17:11I think success would be playing under my handicap,
17:17whatever that handicap was at that given point,
17:20in a round that really mattered.
17:22So there you have it.
17:23That completes our look at how you might just be able to shoot lower scores
17:27without changing your golf swing.
17:30Some fantastic advice from Nick Doherty.
17:32As I said at the beginning, if you haven't checked out Tea Time Tips,
17:34do go over to Nick's Instagram, have a look.
17:37You'll find loads of great information on how to do everything better
17:41in the golf game, frankly.
17:42But that's it for now from Wentworth.
17:44Thank you very much for watching.
17:45We'll see you next time.
17:53We'll see you next time.
17:54Bye.
17:54Bye.
17:54Bye.
17:55Bye.
17:56Bye.
17:56Bye.
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