Make Golf Easier

I have just been looking back at some recent scores in the belief that this may give me an indication of what effect (if any) The Simple Golf Swing is having on my golf.  I play about twice a week on average.

Here are my scores (don’t laugh):

March Scores.

83, 81, 83, 92, 82, 92, 87 and 91

April Sores.

82, 82, 88, 77, 84, 84, 88 and 84

May Scores.

Before I got the Simple Golf Swing e-book.

81 and 88.

Since getting The Simple Golf Swing e-book.

82 and 78!

Is there a pattern there?

I think so because of the way I felt in my last two rounds but …………..

for skeptics it may  still be too early to tell.

Another 4 or 5 rounds breaking 80 should prove that The Simple Golf Swing really works.

Watch this space for tomorrow’s round scores.

Tags: Simple Golf Swing Review by bredies
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Is it a coincidence or is it because of The Simple Golf Swing?

I have given this a lot of thought and come to the conclusion that the coach has benefited from coaching!

I did not expect to get a game in this weekend due to other commitments but things turned out differently and on Sunday I got 18 holes in.

I arrived at the course early and as I usually do I hit a bucket of balls to warm up.  With my arthritis I am fairly stiff in the mornings and need a few shots to loosen up – particularly my wrists.

On the range I decided to concentrate on the few things that I had been practicing from The Simple Golf Swing. These were:

• My grip – making sure I held the club correctly and that the V’s were pointed at my left shoulder.
• Alignment – picking a spot a few feet in front of the ball along the ball-to-target line as my point of reference.
• My spine – ensuring that it was straight.
• The Backswing – keeping the “triangle” in tact and ensuring that my arms and chest remained attached.
• The Backswing – paying particular attention to taking the ball back along the line of the ball-to-target line and keeping my right elbow tucked in.
• The downswing – still keeping that right elbow tucked in as my arms moved with my chest returning back along the line of the ball-to-target line.
• The follow through – making sure I finished high.

During the warm up I also made sure that once I had selected my point of reference the target was totally ignored and so was the ball.  This meant that I could concentrate solely on the execution of the swing and not the result.

30 or so balls later I had a few warm up putts and was ready to go.

Out on the course I continued to ensure that I aligned myself up properly, took the correct grip and simply turned the shoulders to execute the shot.

I never once forced a shot and during the round my playing partners commented several times that I was making a really good swing.

The end result is I shot 78 (par 70) with no double bogeys.

Where did I drop shots?  4 of them were on Par threes!!  Very unusual for me.

All in all the drop shots came from bad putts with 2 three putts in the round and a few shortish misses.  I also had 2 rather embarrassing chips.

But I have not broken 80 on my home course for some time.

I was playing with a 5 handicapper who hits a fairly decent length ball and noticed that our distances were identical despite the fact that I was swinging well within myself.

And I think that is the big secret of The Simple Golf Swing.

So distance was good and accuracy was incredible.  I hit 8 out of 12 fairways and the 4 that I missed were just wide and did not result in any recovery shots.  In other words I still had fairly easy second shots.

The 5 handicap golfer shot a 77 – only 1 shot better than me playing off a 12.

My verdict is that The Simple Golf Swing has already (after 2 rounds) made a difference to my game – particularly my confidence.

My next game is on Wednesday.

Tags: Simple Golf Swing Review by bredies
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I never got time to sit down yesterday and write about my experience of the first game I played after getting The Simple Golf Swing.

So what happened to me out there?

First of all I got to the course early to warm up with a bucket of balls and during the warm up I did concentrate on what is taught in the manual but …………. it was a windy and wet day and I knew that trying new stuff on the golf course is not a good idea.

Instead I decided to make sure that my grip, posture and alignment were as coached in The Simple Golf Swing but not to eliminate all  new swing thoughts during the actual execution of the shot.  This is not always easy to do as there is always “stuff” on your mind when you are working on specific things.

All in all it went pretty good and I was, for the most part, able to blot out any new swing thoughts.

I played well and can honestly report that I was hitting the ball much straighter and with more confidence than I have for a while.

With the wind so much in play and always seeming to be against us I was not too worried about distance.  Keeping the ball in play was my priority.

To this end the correct grip, posture and alignment were a great help and it was these three things that gave me the confidence to swing through the ball and make solid contact.

All in all The Simple Golf Swing is a winner for me (so far) and that is before I have taken a backswing!

Today there was no rain but a strong easterly was blowing again which meant I could do nothing about distance on the range.  This might not have been a  bad thing though as I could  concentrate on the drills.

For me the biggest challenge is to “stop my left elbow” as described in the Simple Golf Swing.  It is getting easier and is best practiced in slow motion.

I paid particular attention to my set up and once again the balls were flying exactly where I was aiming.

In 4 short days, with the minimum of practice, the Simple Golf Swing has been a tremendous help to me.  I only wish the wind would stay away so that I can check the distances – that looks unlikely to happen as the forecast for this week is more of the same (and worse).

I am moving on Wednesday and then have a 4 day seminar so the first time I can get out to a practice facility will be a week from today.  I will however practice The Simple Golf Swing drills indoors and in slow motion without a ball at every available opportunity.

I did not take 7 shots off my round but the shots I dropped were all due to my short game and particularly my putting.  Annoying to say the least as my putting is by far the strongest part of my game.  I must have had 6 or 7 putts that lipped out and I missed 2 that I wouldn’t miss if you gave me a million putts like that.

See you next week at the latest.

Tags: Simple Golf Swing Review by bredies
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Ive had The Simple Golf Swing for 2 days now and today I started off in front of the TV practicing the drills while watching The Players Championship.

That’s the first bit of good news:  you can do the drills in slow motion in front of the TV in the lounge.

I then went out to the range and hit some very soft shots (about 200) again in slow mo’ to get a feel for what I was trying to do.

I learned a bit about myself:  even as a coach, who daily tells others what they are doing wrong, I had developed bad habits.

So the second bit of good news was that it brought my own game back on track and highlighted the fact that we do need to regularly check on the basics before we get into very bad habits.

Finally I took the swing out on to the range where I hit fuller but not full shots.

The results were amazing.  I am definitely hitting the ball straighter due mainly to the fact that I was doing the basics right: starting with the grip and alignment and ending with the take away and follow through.

I will go out again tomorrow and repeat the exercises I did today and on Sunday I am scheduled to play.  Rain is forecast so it may be washed out and if that happens I will do range work.

So far I think The Simple Golf Swing delivers – but like all changes you will need to practice to ingrain them.  There is no pill for an instant swing.

Tags: Simple Golf Swing Review by bredies
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I got my copy of The Simple Golf Swing last night and read it before I went to bed.

As a golf coach I didn’t think I needed it but because my game had deteriorated over the past few years (which I attribute to my worsening arthritis and a lot of personal issues) I thought it was worth looking at.

I had my first reading of it last night and found it interesting for a number of reasons:

1. It only covers the swing – but that is all it promises to do. There is nothing about the short game and yet it promises to drop several shots off your handicap.
2. There was some pretty basic stuff in there as well as some, shall we say, unorthodox but good, advice.
3. Unlike most tutorials The Simple Golf Swing does not promise to get you swinging like a pro – in fact you are told you will never swing like a pro no matter how hard you practice.  Different yes but once again as a teaching coach I fully agree that the average club golfer will never swing like a Pro.
4. No mention is made of weight transfer – hello this is something new to me.

Today I took it out on the range.

It was a cold day and the wind was blowing straight into me so I knew up front that I was not going to be able to get any distance.  This was a good thing as it meant I could concentrate on the other stuff and not worry about how far it was going.

The first thing was the grip and the set up.  All very simple and stuff I should know but it was interesting to note that my set up (and particularly my spine angle) had slipped back into bad habits.

My first few shots went OK as I tried to adapt to the concept of “stopping” the left elbow at a particular imaginary point to facilitate my right hand “flipping over” my left.  It all sounds a bit complicated but is in fact very easy – or Simple as promised.

But………I noticed I was starting to pull hook my shots.  So I concentrated even harder and nothing improved.  So I checked my grip again and found it was too strong causing the club face to close before impact.  A slight adjustment here and I was back on track with a nice ball flight with the large majority of shots having a very nice little draw.

All this was done on less than a 75% swing.

So my first impression of The Simple Golf Swing is that on first reading it makes sense.  On first attempt it feels a bit foreign and old habits are hard to kill.  With a bit of persistence and an open mind it does seem to work and that after only 30 balls.

I’ll take it out on the range again tomorrow and on Saturday. Sunday I am playing and if I am confident enough I will try it out to see if it improves my scores by improving the number of greens and fairways hit in regulation.

The following is a screen shot of my most recent scores.  Let’s see how I go over the next few weeks with The Simple Golf Swing.

Tags: Simple Golf Swing Review by bredies
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