On The Tee with Hank Johnson

Know your Golf Physical Characteristics

If you are currently working with a Golf Strength and Conditioning Professional, you should review your program with them to see if any adjustments need to be made as you approach your season. Off season training and pre-season training are not the same.
You should accept the fact that your physical makeup dictates your golf swing. Like everyone, your body just has movement patterns it likes to make and it will continue to try to go back to those patterns. These patterns are normally a result of previous activities or the strength, speed and flexibility you personally have in the different areas of your body.
I encourage my students to have a qualified sports medicine professional who is knowledgeable about golf do, a physical evaluation related specifically to the requirements of a golf swing. This evaluation is the basis for their Golf Strength and Conditioning Program. For years, I used the HealthSouth Golf Program, which I helped develop, as a physical resource to help me be more effective with my students. I now use the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) program to screen my students. This screening does a number of things.
1. The TPI Evaluation helps me be sure that I’m not asking a student to do things that are outside their physical capabilities.
2. If physical limitations are found, and the student is willing to do some training, the limitation can be improved and in some cases eliminated all together. I use a qualified sports medicine professional to design and supervise this training program for my students. Many golf instructors have been trained to do the TPI evaluation and they are very qualified to do it. However, in my judgment, you need a qualified sports medicine professional to design and supervise your training and conditioning program.
3. If the limitation is permanent, then I can modify the swing mechanics for the student to accommodate the limitation.
This approach reduces the likely hood of a golf injury. It accelerates the improvement rate of my students. And finally it assures them that if they are spending time and energy on a physical training and conditioning program they are getting the most benefit from it. For more information about TPI go to www.mytpi.com

WILL YOU BE A BETTER GOLFER A YEAR FROM NOW?

Are you getting better or worse at golf? Do you want to be a better golfer a year from now? If so, what do you need to do in order to accomplish this general goal?
First you have to be more specific in terms of exactly what you need to improve. You need to define your strengths and weaknesses. Next you have to develop a plan to improve both!
1. The best basis for your plan is statistical data on your overall game. Not keeping up with your stats is like trying to run a business with ever looking at any financial data. If you just depend on “how you feel” about your game you will eventually fail! If you are not using Shot by Shot, go to www.dewsweepersgolfshow.com and sign up today!
2. Next, you need to make a doable improvement plan for this year. Your plan needs to include some realistic goals and an action plan to accomplish them. You also need to be diligent in monitoring how you are actually doing in carrying out your plan from day to day. Keeping a diary of your activities is the best way to be sure.
3. It’s important to keep a long term view of improvement in golf. Golf games just don’t seem to change quickly. If you’ve been operating without any real structure it will take some time to get things back under control and moving in a positive direction. The key is to stay at it on a consistent basis.
4. If you have a teacher, include him/her in the planning process. If you don’t have a teacher you should consider starting to work with one. A qualified teacher can help you in a number of ways. Schedule regular lessons to build in some accountability and to make sure that you are not spending time and energy working on the wrong things. It’s amazing how many golfers are out there on their own working hard to solve the wrong problem.
To be successful in golf, you have to have a plan and follow it. Otherwise you will probably just keep repeating the past over and over.

ARE YOU A BETTER GOLFER TODAY THAN YOU WERE A YEAR AGO?
In golf, you’re either getting better or getting worse. Very, very few players just stay the same. You have to continually review results to know which direction you are moving in. Here are some ways you can do that.
1. If you set goals at the beginning of the past year, review your performance against them. Did you improve in the areas that needed work? Did the areas where you were strong stay that way?
2. Review your statistics. Did you hit more fairways and greens? Did you have fewer putts? Did you make more birdies? Did you have fewer blow-up holes?
3. Which way is your handicap trending, up or down? The USGA GHIN Handicap system can tell you. It can even give you your trends for the year.
4. What about your performance in the same tournaments you played in the previous year? Did you do better or worse? You can even go back several years to do this comparison.
5. Did you win more bets with your buddies than last year? You probably don’t keep formal records on this but you know because there’s money involved.
6. Were you able to qualify to get in the tournaments you played in the previous year? How about special teams at your club or course? Did you qualify for the same things this year that you did last year?
7. If you made any equipment changes? Did they help your performance or not. You need to be brutally honest with yourself about this subject. It’s hard to accept that you may have invested in new equipment that not only didn’t help you but actually hurt you. Tour players deal with this reality all the time.

Taking the time to review the year will help you avoid making the same mistakes again this year.