Expectations Influence Behavior

I came across a really interesting article about how expectations influence behavior. Wow. Now relate that to golf. Double wow.  

What do you expect on an upcoming shot? What would you like to expect? Click here to learn more. 

I also had the immense honor of creating a team to speak at the national Proponent Golf Group in Chicago. Kate Tempesta and Brendon Elliott were two of the young junior golf heavyweights I selected to present to nearly 100 of the top teaching professionals in the country on the importance of having a junior golf program for ages 2-6 at their facilities and in their instructional programs. 

Our speech discussed what adults can expect with age development and how that mixes in with golf, the business impact of such programs to a facility, the childhood development aspect of these programs (emotional, cognitive, mental, physical, social) and the importance of getting the youngsters and families out onto the course.  

Click here to read the article I just released to help parents and grandparents understand their youngster and how to let them more effectively learn golf in a fun environment. Our upcoming Thanksgiving and December holiday events are a perfect time to include young children!  

Click here for more information on upcoming golf programs for ages 2-12, 

Lastly, I was able to finally test the Iconic sun sleeves against the gnats and the verdict is.... GNAT PROTECTION! The sun sleeves are a great way to keep the gnats off the arms, don't require putting any chemicals on your skin and can easily be pulled off when not needed. Deer Creek carries the sun/gnat sleeves for your convenience.

New Article on Youth Golf

I'm very excited to be leading a presentation with two other teammates (Brendon Elliott of Little Linksters and Kate Tempesta of Kate Tempesta Urban Golf Academy) at The Proponent Golf Summit in Chicago tomorrow, October 2. 

It will be one of the first presentations of its kind with the topic: Expand Your Business, Grow the Game... the Power of 6 & Under Golf. Our topic targets how golf professionals should, and can, work with the 2-6 year old population to grow the game and catch juniors' interests early. It'll show all the benefits to the game and to your business if you working with this age group. Brendon, Kate and I are known in golf organizations and on key business Facebook groups for our interest with the very young golf population. It will be a fun but fast presentation! 

I've just released a new article that is designed to help professionals and adult mentors work more effectively with youngsters ages 2-6. This is a perfect article to help parents and grandparents understand what to expect with development stages and how to apply it to golf. I hope it assists Landings Club members who have young children! Enjoy!  

Click here to read the full article.

10 Benefits of Playing Sports

As a member of roughly 12 Facebook Professional Golf Groups, I share and learn about new ideas and communications with other golf professionals around the world.  I just found a very interesting article I thought I'd share with you about junior fitness and the benefits of playing golf.  It was written by Teresa McEntire as a blog for Families.com in the Parenting Advice Section.  Enjoy - it makes a lot of sense and is a great article for our youth and families living in The Landings community.

10 Benefits of Playing Sports

by Teresa McEntire | More from this Blogger

Playing sports offers children more than just physical benefits. Sports typically help kids academically and socially as well. The benefits are the same whether or not your child actually excels at the sport. Although if they are really good they will probably want to continue playing when they are older. If your child isn't good enough to play competitively on a school team try signing them up for a city league or encourage them to just go shoot some hoops with their friends or church group. Read on for ten ways playing sports and can benefit your child.

1. Playing sports is fun. It gives your child something to do and a group to belong to. They have a group of friends that has the same goals and interests.

2. Research has found that kids that play sports, especially girls, are more likely to have a positive body image and higher self-esteem. They also are less likely to be overweight.

3. Kids involved in sports are less likely to take drugs or smoke because they realize the impact that these destructive activities can have upon their performance. Girls who play sports are also less likely to become pregnant.

4. Physical activities are a good way to relieve stress and reduce depression.

5. Sports help kids develop discipline. They learn to set goals and then work to achieve those goals. They learn that by working hard they can accomplish the things that they want to in their lives.

6. Kids who play sports quickly learn that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. They learn to be a good sport in both situations. It also helps them learn to deal with disappointment and go on.

7. Statistics show that kids who are involved in sports while in high school are more likely to experience academic success and graduate from high school.

8. Sports help develop teamwork and leadership skills. Kids quickly learn that they have to work together as a team to win the game.

9. Motor skills, strategic thinking, and even math skills are learned by playing sports. Students develop strategic thinking as they figure out plays and the best way to get around a player or score a goal. Math skills are used as they calculate scores and stats.

10. Regular exercise increases quality of life. Children who exercise are more likely to continue the practice into adulthood.

Whatever way you look at it sports benefits your child.

Families.com
Parenting Advice
8-23-12

Edwin Shepherd Reflections

One of our Landings Club junior golfers, Edwin Shepherd, recently attended the PGA Championship. Here are his comments about the event (pretty perceptive for an 11-year-old golfer!):

1.  What was your BEST experience of the day?

The whole day was great. My favorite parts were meeting and getting autographs from Darren Clarke, David Feherty, Bill Haas and Rory McIlroy. I asked Bill Haas which hole was the hardest, and he answered, "ALL of them."  Everybody laughed. Also, I followed Rory for fifteen holes and I saw his shot on six in the rough. I was only about three feet away when he made his swing. I saw Bubba Watson smile when my Dad and I yelled, "How 'Bout them Dawgs" from the gallery as he was walking to the ninth tee.  

2.  What did you notice about how the players warmed up at the range versus how they practiced later?

Before the round, the players practiced everything. After the round, they practiced what they didn't do well that day on the course. Tiger Woods practiced putting after everybody else was gone. He had only made twenty-two putts on the first round, but he jumped up to twenty-eight putts on the second round. He wasn't happy with a three-putt on number eighteen, so he stayed and practiced putting for a long time.  

3.  Did the players eat or drink during the round? If so, what kinds of food?

I saw a couple of players eating granola bars and a lot of players drinking water.  

4.  How do you think you would have played that course from tee markers that were perfect for you?

Better on some holes than others. I would've had to lay-up a lot. The course was beautiful and seemed very difficult.

5.  Were there any shots that surprised you, good or not so good?

Rory's shots on six and seven in heavy rough were great shots. It was really cool to be there in person to see him make those amazing shots.  

6.  What types of reactions did the players have to their good and not so good shots?

I watched Rory the most, and he was pretty calm, even when he hit poor shots.  

  

7.  Any tips on going to watch a professional tournament?

If you want to follow a specific player, you have to stay a little ahead of him or you'll get behind. Before Rory started, I stayed on hole 8 for a while and it was neat to see different players coming through. I heard Francesco Molinari's caddy say about the golfers, "Forty mile-per-hour winds to the right, pin placement on the left. They're magicians!"  

8.  What advice do you have to get other juniors started in golf?

Go play golf. Have fun with it. You've got to keep it fun. Don't get frustrated if you make a bad shot.  Everyone makes bad shots sometimes, even the pros.  

The Importance of Feedback

Have you ever noticed that most sports have a coach on-site when a person or team learns, practices and scrimmages? Sports like basketball, tennis, gymnastics, baseball, football and karate all have someone there to provide feedback. 

In golf, unless you're playing competitively at the top levels, you are on your own for practice. Students can take a half hour or hour lesson, or attend a golf school for several days but then they're on their own. 

Feedback is SO crucial for improvement. Going it on your own may take longer because the idea may not be correct or may be over-practiced or, even worse, practiced incorrectly. 

The Landings Club golf professional staff highly encourages golfers to come back for follow-up lessons or walk-by's. I'd rather see a student three times a week for 5 minutes to just go over an idea instead of every 2-3 weeks when they've practiced the idea incorrectly. 

Make use of the staff for feedback, both verbally and visually! 

PGA Championship

What a treat to be able to go see the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. Ty and I spent all day Friday at the tournament and the television did NOT do the wind justice. At times it was even hard to stand up! We arrived at the main gate and stopped in with PGA passes. Anyone with a ticket could then see if their ticket was a lucky winner of fabulous prizes but alas, not ours. 

We passed through many huge tents with merchandise, performance, sponsors. Then we decided to meet up with friends to watch the players making the turn from 18 to 1 tee off on 1. Ty and I then moved on and walked backwards from 9 to 5 green. Big winds made it hard for the players to hit close to targets and we saw some very interesting short game shots we thought had a minimal chance to save par but wouldn't you know, everyone chipped within five feet of the hole from almost everywhere.  

Wow, these guys are GOOD! We were five feet from two players whose golf balls came to rest precariously on the edge of the rough overhanging a small cliff by the cart path right of 6. It was really fun to listen up close as they discussed wind, lie, hillside and wind again before making their shots. We were right up there in the action.  

Ty found a great spot for us where we could watch the players hit into 5 green and then we took eight steps and were right up on #6 tee with them, again just inches from their bags and tee shot. Seeing the great players on TV is one thing but being there in their presence that close is another. They're just people like us but for some reason, we just stare and admire and feel like we're watching golf Gods in action. 

Wouldn't you know it - on the farthest point from the clubhouse a storm hit. Luckily, we had huge golf umbrellas to help. I squatted under mine and was in my cozy 'tent' without getting wet while Ty helped shelter a few other golfers next to him. Good foresight to bring those umbrellas! 

We had a good lunch and made our long way back to the other end of the island to catch up with our friends on 13 green. We felt like fish going upstream when we hit Tiger's hole on 1 and everyone was going forward while we were going backward. We watched him leave his approach shot 20 yards short of the pin on 1, requiring a chip and a save for par -- he can certainly draw a crowd. 

The back nine reared its ugly head and made for some tough golf. Our friends were situated left of 13 green and in almost every group, we had to duck for 1-2 balls that were incoming into our area. Two people were hit within six groups, as the water right and the tight approach allowed for a small bail-out left. We also wondered why on earth we kept sitting in that area. It's very disconcerting to lose sight of the ball in the air and hear frantic "Fore!!' alerts. There was nothing to do but cover our heads, turn our backs to the player and hope it didn't hit!

What a wonderful day as we left windblown with sand in our hair, socks, ears and everywhere - the Ocean Course is one of the toughest courses I've seen but one of the most beautiful as well!

Q&A with Golf Digest Readers

It was certainly an honor to be able to work with Golf Digest writer, Pete McDaniel, on the distance article we shot in April of 2011 (the first story on putting was released in the July 2011 issue). Since then, I've had some very fun emails and notes come in from across the country. I thought I'd share a few with you since they have some good follow-up questions.

Q: I read with great interest your article in Golf Digest, August 2012. Using the 10-finger grip, I'm hitting higher and farther with my driver. This is my question, would you recommend the 10-finger grip for hybrids and fairway woods? My club slips occasionally, and instead of working on gripping tighter (which scares me), I'm wondering if I should start to experiment with the 10-finger grip. I just moved from Atlanta after living there for 15 years. I would have loved to visit you. Look forward to your response. -Woman from Troy, Michigan

A: I think working on golf swings is like a supervised scientific experiment and would recommend seeing how it works. I think that would be the easiest thing to do. I use the word grip in golf as a noun, not a verb, so I agree that "gripping tighter" might not be an advisable move. You must hold the club securely but allow the arms and wrists the mobility to create and deliver speed without being tight. Make sure the grip is secure and I hope the 10 finger works just as well for your hybrids and fairway woods!

Q: Thank you for the tips you gave me. I got some of them to work but need more practice on the others. Your tip on hovering the club when teeing off works great & the ten finger grip also, now all I need to do is work on my alignment & where to position the ball in my stance when I use a 3 wood 5 wood 3&4 hybrid 6 iron etc., etc. Any tips for those? I do know this -- if I lived down there I would surely come to you for a lesson. Thank you for your advice & when I need more help & answers I will email. Have a great day & thank you again. - A Gentleman in the Navy

A: Remember that in golf, since we stand sideways to the target and several feet to the side of the target line, we must aim the club head at the target and then align the body parallel left (for righties) or right (for lefties) of the target. We can't aim both our body and clubhead at the target, only if we stand on the same target line like croquet, basketball free-throw, etc.  I do what many top professionals and amateurs do in that I select my aim from behind the ball by picking out a small, intermediate target several inches in front of the ball... something on an imaginary line I drew from the target to my ball.  When I line up from the side of the ball, I just line up my club head to that little intermediate target and then align myself parallel to that.

For ball position, I teach a basic 3-ball position.  Shorter irons nearer the middle of the stance, mid-irons/hybrids/fairway woods near the middle front (about 1 ball closer to the target than the middle) and the driving club inside the lead foot instep. As with any golfer, these are just starting points from which to launch. Each golfer needs to find what works best for him or her based on how the swings works and bottoms out. Like most elite players, I would suggest putting down an alignment stick or club shaft between your feet perpendicular to the ball so you can just move the ball position around but have feedback so you can make that decision. Golf is not a static game -- it's dynamic! -- but you need to know where to start so you can adjust from there!