What is your swing preference? Active body or active arms?

In this video Kris Moe shares with you the difference in hitting styles. Active body and passive arms or active arms and passive body.

The way you position your right hand (for righties) on the golf club handle will help you encourage a rotary golf swing or discourage a rotary golf swing. There is no right or wrong way. We all just have a preference. A simple way to know what your style is the way you like to hit short shots. Would you rather sweep the ball and launch the ball high (pitch shot) hit down on the ball and hit low and let it run out (chip and run)?

It's important to know your bias since there are actions in the swing that will complement that style such as a rotary swing golfers power the swing with a shorter backswing and a well timed shift and rotation or spin of their body. They also have a stronger right hand grip position and the club is in a "shut" position or directional left. A great example is Dustin Johnson with his bowed left wrist which is essentially is making it easier to square the face from a club lagging position.

Watch the video here.

It's Great to Suck at Something...... Especially Golf

I want to start a Club for members who proudly suck at something and really don't care.

I'm not saying suck at being a surgeon or car mechanic but who cares if you suck at guitar, Spanish or golf. Why? Because many things aren't easy, and you know what, that's okay, because you aren't hurting anyone (well a sideways golf shot could actually hurt someone, so be safe). Golf is a whole lot more than getting good results scoring. It is a life sport and hopefully it calls to you because you might love the feeling of moving a ball long distances or you may love the occasionally sense of Zen you experience over a six foot putt. Whatever it is.... dig in and nurture that love despite how sucky you may be!

As a society we've become more specialized and our attention spans demand gratification "now", whether it's a Google search or a quick meal to be wolfed down. I've heard to learn something it takes about five years of doing it....that's a lot of struggling and that would be the antithesis of instant gratification. I'm afraid technology and our devices is speeding up the decline of us developing personal skills because it takes too long or we're just afraid of looking silly.

There are some activities on our wonderful planet that are just worth pursuing even if you never planned to become a master at it. These pursuits can last a lifetime and along the way bring one great joy, satisfaction, companionship and delight in challenging oneself.

When we were children we fantasized about doing something amazing like being a rock star, being in the Olympics or flying to Mars but we grew up, didn't have the time, money or the talent.

Whatever that childhood dream or new fantasy.... you're going to suck at it in the bginning.....and really you might suck at it for a long time. I will suggest that whatever you're wishing to do get some good coaching since you'll get "less sucky" faster and also realize the real key is being OK with sucking at something and instead enjoy the process of slowly getting better. I know golfers that have basically plateaued shooting in the 100's but they really enjoy playing at golf. And that's cool.

Sucking at something is getting harder especially since social media where you see your "friends" doing amazing things, so we naturally compare ourselves to them and that usually makes us feel inferior. But we forget most people are posting their positive accomplishments not their stumbling and bumbling along the way to proficiency.

Ideally we'll all relax more into looking silly, ridiculous or clutsy because you've given yourself permission since you realize that everybody looks foolish when they are beginning at something. I, by the way, struggle at so many things. I love playing guitar and singing but you probably wouldn't enjoy hearing me sing, at least for long, since I really don't have much of a singing voice. But I really enjoy playing at it and I'll continue doing it because "playing" at singing gives me a good feeling and that's enough for me.

Paradoxically letting go to "play" is hard because we're all caught up in this mindset that play is keeping us from our endless list of serious responsibilities. Society tells us there's just not enough room to be frivolous with our time. Hopefully we can learn a few things from most other cultures about having more free time to spend with family or what-have-you (golf) instead of working crazy amounts of hours.

So now when I meet people at a cocktail party I don't ask what they do? I ask what they suck at? I find that the conversations are richer and more interesting with this lead question. Besides that we're are so much more human and relatable when we share what we suck at!

Golf is easy to suck at. So I encourage you to enjoy your suckiness at golf. Don't get caught up in comparing yourself to others. Chuck looking cool out the window. Tell people proudly, I really suck at golf, but I like playing at it!

So there it is....leave room in your "play" hobbies to make mistakes and explore. There are plenty of places where you can be serious and masterful.

Do whatever it takes to make yourself OK with sucking at golf or whatever other activity brings joy even if you aren't the best at it.

---

By the way if you like the basic premise of this article the “real McCoy” with great writing is It’s Great to Suck at Something by Karen Rinaldi.

Geek out with info from Golf Biomechanists and Golf Participation is Enjoying a Spike because of Covid

In this newsletter I'd like to share a high level webinar (parts 1 and 2) from some of the world's top instructors Mike Adams, Terry Rowles, Scott Lynn and Sasho MacKenzie (the latter two being Phd's in biomechanics). I paid $250 for the whole program but these first two episodes are free and worth listening to especially if you like the technical side of the swing.

Click here to access part 1 (about finding your swing style)

Click here to access part 2 (on finding your best grip style)

Little update on golf- It's busy and parking lots are more full than they have been in decades and golf course owners would acknowledge Covid has been good for golf traffic.

Golf is enjoying this resurgence since there really aren't many other ways of getting out in a safe manner with the Covid pandemic hanging over our heads. So new golfers are coming into the sport along with golfers who quit years ago and are back to give it a shot again. "Cabin Fever" gets all of us at some point and getting out into a relatively safe environment is a relief even if it's dribbling golf balls down the driving range.

It'll be interesting to see if golfers stick around after the pandemic eventually subsides. Golfers were leaving the sport since it is challenging, fairly time consuming and pricey.

I hope golf strikes a chord with a good percentage of these golfers since it is a great break away from the connectedness or addiction we have for our devices and our busy lives. After one puts aside the notion of shooting par golf and instead takes on the idea that the game is a practice much like a martial art or musical instrument and that there are rewards in simply the process of improving or doing something. Or at the very least getting some steps in in a park like environment.

As a coach of the game I enjoy the technique for sure and enabling golfers to hit better shots. I also enjoy opening people's eyes to the wonders of being present with themselves and environment. There is a peace that comes from playing in this state but it takes a bit of practice since there are so many distractions while playing golf (eg scoring, other people, our cell phones etc.).

That peace or harmony one might find periodically during a round of golf is also a major contributor to performing at a higher level since essentially that is a "flow" state. Flow state? Meaning getting out of one's head or quieting the ego's constant chatter that actually creates friction in the body and mind's ability to move in a graceful and efficient way. Ironically the harder we try or think at the game the more we are sabotaging our ability to play at a higher level. We all suffer with this challenge and this makes for one of the fascinations of the game. "Try, but don't try too hard".

Top athletes are hacking into ways to perform in the flow state more often. It can be learned but like anything learned you'll also have to practice it to make it a habit. There are plenty of books on the subject like the Talent Code or Flow. I've also written about it in these other blog posts, Get of your Head or Sleep, the Secret Weapon of Top Athletes.

Or just take a pill. It seems quite a few professional golfers are using CBD (you can buy CBD gum at golf stores) or actually beta blockers to calm their nerves. 

Stay engaged with me- Check out my golf school website at www.bestgolfschool.net for the latest in golf improvement techniques mentally and physically.

I'm also a business broker if you know anyone looking to sell their business. I specialize in manufacturing, food production and e-commerce businesses, here's my firm. 

Why we love golf

SOME REASONS TO MAKE TIME TO GET OUT AND GOLF

Anything worthwhile takes a bit of grit through practice and hopefully some coaching. So whether you're a beginner or you've lost your mojo here are some reasons why I love golf and I hope it'll inspire you to get out more!

Reason #1 -You get to hang out with people you care about for most of the day. Whether it’s with your buddies that you want to win a dollar or two from or spending time with your sons or daughters it is quality time in a world where life is moving so fast that "quality time" seems to be from a bygone era. So as difficult as golf is if you can hit the ball in the general direction of the target forget how many over par you are and score some quality time with some people your care about. 

Reason #2 -And even if you don’t know the person you’ve been randomly paired with by the end of the round you almost always have a new friend. How cool is that? Somewhere in that 9-18 hole chunk of time you found some common ground with that stranger and that’s pretty special in our modern world where we are becoming more and more isolated in front of our devices.

Reason #3- Even when we’re not firing on all cylinders think about the places and conditions we get to see, feel and play on like a misty morning along the cliff holes at Pebble Beach? Or a dry hot afternoon through the desert in Palm Springs or Scottsdale? And if you’re walking, and I hope you are, you get a decent work out and there’s magic about hiking our earth in the open air. Let’s face it most of us spend too much time enclosed in our cars commuting or in a small space insulated from nature being busy doing something on our computers. Golf gets us outside and that is another reason we love golf.

Reason #4- While a few balls might be going sideways along with your score every once in awhile we connect squaring the face and compressing the golf ball with that beautiful sound and feeling of everything being just right at impact. And then the bonus is that we get to watch our ball soaring like an arrow toward the intended target, oh yeah, bliss…. the anticipation while it’s in the air four, five or even six seconds we’re asking ourself “is it going in the hole?” Then it hits the green and rolls out toward the hole, another few seconds… “get in” someone in the group yells, “one time” another yells…….come on, even if you miss every shot the rest of the day that one instance of greatness has filled your tank for at least a few rounds. After the round the rehashing of your shot is shared and you get to bask in it’s memory again and sometimes for months (or maybe that’s just me).

So these are just a few of the reasons I love golf and when you put them all together it is worth the schlog of hitting ridiculously poor and frustrating shots because there is so much value packed into the other areas of the game and hopefully we all remember that.

Try to enjoy something in every round!

Check out what else Kris Moe is offering at his golf school at www.bestgolfschool.net for more golf programs in Napa.

The Long View of Golf- It's really a practice

Tiger wins Masters!!

April 15, 2019

Wow what a Masters! So many great players vying for the coveted green jacket and lifetime invitation to the greatest golf tournament on the planet.

Tiger, most thought he'd never win again which makes his win, with what he's overcome, even more spectacular. The guy is one steely SOB and a real competitor and whether you love or hate him you have to take your hat off to him for what he’s come back from (physical and mental).

As someone in the golf business I’m thrilled because Tiger really does move the needle. More people will spend time and money playing golf whenever a great like Tiger wins a major.

These days I coach people to find more pleasure in their experience playing golf whether they're winning the Masters or just going out having fun with their friends. It's about being outdoors and the company you're with. Here's a Kris Moe bit of Zen and a "golf hack" (like my chewing gum tip a few years back)......when you are play golf with gratefulness, you'll tap into some really cool stuff in yourself that'll create better feel and with that better golf shots (huh? you might say).

Let me elaborate some on gratefulness. Gratefulness is a loaded word and has a different meaning to all of us and on so many levels. But really golf is a game....to play at...not grind at. You might remind yourself "I'm glad I'm out here, I could be in....fill in the blank". I also try to remember that I’m glad to be outside doing something I enjoy with a body that still is functional. Feeling my body move and propel a ball in the direction of a target (most of the time). I’m also grateful for the opportunity to practice my focus or attention since my ego likes to get too involved, thinking it really knows how to do it right. So part of my practice is keeping my "thinking mind" quieter. 

Golf for all of us, including Tiger should be thought of as a “practice”. As in.... it should be a life long learning process...and hopefully there shouldn’t be a groan from you about that type of long term mindset. I’d rather you think of golf like a musician might think about her music. It’s never really mastered, it evolves like along with the musician. The take away is that hopefully you'll see golf in the long view and enjoy your incremental improvement and the process of the process.

Kris Moe Golf Coaching

www.bestgolfschool.net or 707-529-6458

Why We Love Golf!

GET OUT with buddies AND GOLF!

I'm just returning from a fun golf trip with some of my golf buddies in Monterey where we played Bayonet, Poppy Hills and Blackhorse! So I'm practicing what I preach about making the time to get out with friends, family, colleagues or customers for some golf and even more a two or three day golf trip.

It's just Spring time and a good time to be the instigator in organizing a foursome or two for a golf trip to somewhere you've been wanting to visit and play. Life's too short...... and after a spectacular golf trip that includes laughs, some great shots, high fives, shared meals and couple 19th hole beverages....life feels bueno and the "refresh" fills your soul's tank that'll carry through life's inevitable bumps and grinds.

Four Reasons to Get Out with your Buddies and Golf!

Reason #1 -You get to hang out with people you care about for most of the day. Whether it’s with your buddies that you want to win a dollar or two from or spending time with your sons or daughters it is quality time in a world where life is moving so fast that quality time seems to be from a bygone era. So as difficult as golf is if you can hit the ball in the general direction of the target forget how many over par you are and score some quality time with some people your care about.

Tip from an old pro- I've personally become less interested in scoring. I find it to be a grind. I'd rather try to hit great shots and not guard against high scores. My goal now is to make five birdies in my round. If I hit a ball sideways, now it's c'est la vie. I'm also always working on tapping into my "flow" state. Here is some hacks to get you out of your "thinking mind".

I may get some grumbles from this suggestion but here goes.....I suggest for higher handicappers (shoot 95 or higher) to play a two or four person scramble format or best ball against the other two in the group. Golf is tough. You're on vacation, it supposed to be fun and stress-less. Try it, there's more camaraderie, great shots and less sulking.

Reason #2 -And even if you don’t know the person you’ve been randomly paired with by the end of the round you almost always have a new friend, how cool is that? Somewhere in that 18 hole chunk of time you found some common ground with that stranger and that’s pretty special in our modern world where we are becoming more and more isolated in front of our devices.

Pro tip- Our fourth injured himself the week before out trip so we went as three. After the first round we went to range to straighten out my buddy's banana slice and we met a nice chap on the range and asked him to join us the second day which he did and even joined us for dinner and the next day for another round (the guy hit it a ton, a bit sideways sometimes but over 300 yards, fun to watch).

Reason #3- Even when we’re not firing on all cylinders think about the places and conditions we get to see, feel and play on like a misty morning along the cliff holes at Pebble Beach? Or a dry hot afternoon through the desert in Palm Springs or Scottsdale? And if you’re walking, and I hope you are, you get a decent work out and there’s magic about hiking our earth in the open air. Let’s face it most of us spend too much time enclosed in our cars commuting or in a small space insulated from nature being busy doing something on our computers. Golf gets us outside and that is another reason we love golf.

Pro tip- Here's just a few ideas. 

Reason #4- While a few balls might be going sideways along with your score every once in awhile we connect squaring the face and compressing the golf ball with that beautiful sound and feeling of everything being just right at impact. And then the bonus is that we get to watch our ball soaring like an arrow toward the intended target, oh yeah, bliss…. the anticipation while it’s in the air four, five or even six seconds we’re asking ourself “is it going in the hole?” Then it hits the green and rolls out toward the hole, another few seconds… “get in” someone in the group yells, “one time” another yells…….come on, even if you miss every shot the rest of the day that one instance of greatness has filled your tank for at least a few rounds. After the round the rehashing of your shot is shared and you get to bask in it’s memory again and sometimes for months (or maybe that’s just me).

Pro tip- I love playing fast golf courses where the driver ball rolls out and so do the approach shots. I think it takes more creativity to play but it also adds to the thrill of the shot like I mention above.

So these are just a few of the reasons I love golf and when you put them all together it is worth the schlog of hitting ridiculously poor and frustrating shots because there is so much value packed into the other areas of the game and your golf experience whether it is for the day or couple days. 

Try to enjoy something in every round!

Check out www.krismoegolfschool.com for more golf programs in Napa, and Alameda's Corica Golf Complex (home to a brand new Rees Jones golf course in June 2018).

Play Better Golf- Get out of your Thinking Mind with this 5,4,3,2,1 Routine

So many of my students lament that they lose their games on the golf course after hitting it fine in practice or on the range before the round. And usually they'll blame their golf swing mechanics. This article is about thinking twice about that notion.

I put Jason Day's image in the article because he demonstrates better than any golfer a routine where he is resetting his mind to the right state for the shot. You'll see him close his eyes for a short bit and you can feel him grounding himself through a routine time and time again. You'll see baseball pitchers and hitters applying their own routines to try to accomplish the same thing.

What happens to us when we feel pressure over a shot is that we use a part of brain, the pre frontal cortex that is great for thinking about things but not so great for motor coordination. Try dancing and thinking at the same time, it'll be awkward. To operate any kind of complex motor coordination like a golf swing the "thinking brain" needs to take a back seat to other parts of the brain that carry out those functions. When the "thinking brain" wants to take over is just too slow to carry the timing of the swing and that's why often times we don't hit the shot we'd like to hit.

You might say, using a wi-fi analogy, that your pre-frontal cortex has a one bar connection (poor connection) to your muscle movement. At least for for the amazing sequencing and speed of a golf swing.

On the range or when a shot is seemingly "not important" we can be free with our motion and not over think it. You're trusting your action and it feels easy. But when we face that difficult or more important shot we think that we have to "bear down" or try harder and that when the thinking brain gets too involved and nice fluid swing is now a patch work of different pieces that aren't timed and anything can happen. This is what choking is and strange as it sounds we literally have to find a way of quieting the thinking brain since it'll choke out the motor cortex's commands to the muscles.

The easiest way to overcome this is to stay aware of your senses. To get out of your thinking mind try connecting to your senses in your body (sight, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting) with what is called 5,4,3,2, and 1.

So when you feel like your thinking mind is taking over try this before your shot:

5 is for noticing five things you can see in front of you. Your ball? The flag? The trees? Sky?
4 is for listening for four things around you. Can you hear birds? The wind? Cars?
3 is for sensing three sensations you can feel. It might be with your fingers like touching your pants or shirt. It might be the feeling of your shirt against your skin or even the wind against your skin. Just find three somethings that you can feel.
2 is for what couple things can you smell. Maybe in the air. The trees. Your golf glove. The grass.
1 is for what can you taste? Maybe it's the coffee you had this morning. It could be just noticing the neutral taste in your mouth. 

If you've gone through the 5,4,3,2,1 you'll at least be in your head less and more connected to your body and the present moment. With practice this routine will help you play to your ability since you'll be less in your thinking brain and more in the parts of your brain that facilitate your muscles firing in the golf swing.

Try it and let me know how it works for you.
 

Sleep...Your Secret Weapon on the Golf Course

I got another "hack" for better golf for all of you...and it's free.

This new hack is from Dr. Matthew Walker, author of the recently published book Why We Sleep. A quick take-away is that if you get a good sleep and go through all the phases of REM (Kris, what is REM sleep?) you're going to learn faster, jump higher and make more putts etc.! And it's no wonder that the military, elite athletes and performers of all kinds are jumping on the band wagon. Supporting articles.

"I always thought that sleep was overrated, and I had to kind of be knocked in the head to understand," Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll told the NY Times. "Like so many things, once it gets on the radar screen, it makes sense and you ask, why didn't we pay attention before?" Check out Fatigue Science who work with numerous sports teams including the Cubs and Seahawks.

The key to success is to get through to that last level of REM which usually occurs from 5:00-7:00 am (your sixth to eighth hour of sleep). That last REM level is like triple bonus points for your body and mind and most of us miss that power boost when the alarm cuts your sleep short or because of alcohol or some other outside agent that disables REM (bummer for me since I like to have a drink or two or three when I cook).

So bottom line, you got your big match with your buddy coming up. That night limit your alcohol (I know, the sacrifice... but too much alcohol inhibits your secret weapon, REM sleep) or sleeping pills, no blue light from your device two hours before bed, have your room completely dark, get your 7-8 hours and you'll give yourself your best shot at playing well!

Frankly I could go on and on about this. I'll only say get on the bandwagon for better sleep and you'll not only play better golf you'll feel a lot better in every aspect of your life. Better than any pill you could buy. Here's Dr. Walker at Google in a You Tube video (he is their official Sleep Scientist) laying it out better than I can.

So I can't recommend this book enough to read or listen to. It's a great hack into our health and well being and I guarantee you will perform better at everything with some its wisdom.

Visit me at my golf school location in Napa or for private lessons at Alameda's Corica Golf Park.

Podcast on Understanding External Focus

I'm a big fan of Golf Science Lab which has some great guests sharing their research and experiences from the science side of golf and other motor learning activities.

As a player and coach golf's zone has been there too infrequently and a blurry notion but thankfully now the world is circling in on how to tap into this wonderful "flow" state so that we may perform more better and effortlessly at anything. I like to think of golf as a practice much the same way a martial artist does or even a doctor since we're always striving to improve.

Even if you don't hit thousands of balls each week you can practice your focus or trust by putting. Since anyone can putt.... even with no experience it is a great exercise in the mental side of golf and the practice of tapping into "flow" (another way of saying less thinking).

I have personally struggled with putting in the past and the practice of clearing my mind, which is not easy, and trusting my own "touch" or "feel" that comes from not using thinking mind. My own focus practice each day for just ten minutes has built up my own ability to putt with trust instead of thinking too much. The end result has been improved distance control, more made putts and less effort. What you'll learn and develop through better focus in putting will apply to all of your golf shots and even into the rest of your life. Yes golfing warrior there is a great return in this practice!

Click the link below for another interview of PHd Gabriele Wulf of University of Nevada Las Vegas.

http://golfsciencelab.com/external-focus/

Get More Power with this Exercise

Since you're on the planet right now you are benefitting in so many ways from technology and golf is no exception. Motion analysis (Gears Golf) is leading the way to so many break throughs on top of what we learned from Trackman (doppler radar).

Here I am at the ripe age of 56 years and pretty darn good golfer and I'm making radical changes in my own swing because of new information learned from golf's top bio-mechanists. I'd always been a big lagger of the golf club (thanks Golf Machine) but I've always struggled to hit high shots well. I also had a tendency to make deep divots under pressure and now I know why and I've since shallowed my swing for improved results after 42 years of playing golf by just understanding the timing of the swing better through technology and those sharing that information.

This video I made may help you as well to get some more power by using the ground as another leverage source.

The Fast Track to Better Golf- Myelin

What the heck is myelin? That's exactly what I thought when I heard the word. We all know the value of practice in anything and now there is science research to back up this idea.  It all has to do with this process called myelinization which in a nutshell is the way your brain creates vast highway systems to speed up the way you do things. It is like muscle memory.

Myelin insulation wraps neural circuits in the same way electric wires are wrapped by plastic insulation.

The thicker your insulation the easier it is to repeat that habit or pattern you've trained to do. So if you've trained the correct technique that pathway has a thick sheath of insulation (myelin) so when you fire those commands to the muscles it fires quickly and powerfully (think muscle memory).

Poor habits are created the same way :( and myelin doesn't unweave itself. You will have to create a whole new pathway with new myelin until that pathway becomes stronger than the "bad technique" pathway. That's why old habits are hard to break.

Spoiler alert- Practice your technique slowly

As football coach Tom Martinez likes to say, “It’s not how fast you can do it. It’s how slow you can do it correctly.” New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady's college coach and coaching guru

 While I might be a pretty good golfer and golf coach I’m not much of a guitar player and so my process of learning and struggling to play a couple Beatles songs has a big effort and slow going. My guitar teacher is the one who suggested that I get the book and now I’m beginning to transfer some of this information from the book to help me play better guitar and I’m hoping inspire you to to practice DEEPER in golf.

I'm hoping I can make this analogy help you understand more. We create the electrical impulses that amazingly create movement in our body. So our brain is like a computer sending out all these electrical blasts to make our muscles respond in a desired way but until you’ve had time to practice something you’re going to be clunky like a Frankenstein creature for awhile. So the clunkiness is like your phone trying to operate with just a one bar signal. The signal between you and other phone is spotty at best and for that same reason your muscles respond less than efficiently since their not getting a clear strong signal.

The more you think about how complex new endeavors are for us the more you wonder how we’ve developed as a species. Pats on the back fellow human beings, the other living creatures on our planet don’t have the bandwidth in their brains to do what we have the capability of doing.

Still look how much you’ve accomplished, standing, walking, getting food in your month efficiently. Then there’s reading, writing, running, jumping etc etc. We’ve had to start from literally zero while some animals like horses pop out of their mom and presto they get up and actually walk then trot around! Turns out those little ponies come pre-loaded with that myelin to get up right away to be ready to escape a predator. Makes you wonder how we didn’t get that head start as well.

Struggle is not optional—it’s neurologically required..... in order to get your skill circuit to fire optimally, you must by definition fire the circuit sub-optimally; you must make mistakes and pay attention to those mistakes; you must slowly teach your circuit. You must also keep firing that circuit—i.e., practicing—in order to keep myelin functioning properly.

So we all know we can learn to do things and with decent coaching and the right drills or exercises from that coach you’ll be able to build your own highway system for all of your golf shots. A good foundation of fundamentals are key and the research is telling us that doing them slowly, correctly and with intense focus is the key to growing this free flowing highway system that gets those impulses to the right place super fast so you can have that well timed golf swing.

Give me a call at 707-529-6458 to discuss how my golf program can help you create a better myelin for you golf swing. www.bestgolfschool.net or www.krismoegolfschool.com

Why We Love Golf.......Enjoy the British Open this Week

One of the great things about the game of golf is the interesting and beautiful environments golf course are built on. This is the week of the British Open you might call this a celebration of links golf or oceanside golf. Links golf is a different game since you use the ground a lot more to get to the green. I think it's a lot more creative and rewards those with the ability to hit the range of trajectories into a target.

I've got a chance to play Royal Birkdale and it is truly one of the gems of links golf in The British Open circuit. I played in two British amateurs and two British Opens and looking back my best golf was on windy links courses. Low ball hitters like me like playing in wind.

I'm a coach for a Junior golf team in Alameda. And in our last practice we played a version of golf with a soccer ball and you move the ball with a kick. I played nine holes with the kids and enjoyed that. But most of all it reminded me of links golf since your rolling the ball on the ground. When I played regular golf later that day I had an much clearer sense of how I wanted the ball to carry and roll. 

My point is get out and find a links course to play or find a place where they have Foot Golf.  

Mind Blowing Reality of What Happens Through Impact

I had a magical scoring day recently playing with my son. I had two eagles and five birdies in 11 holes (shooting 6 under on the front with a double bogey) had the fewest amount of putts in probably 20+ years. 

I believe what's been making golf more fun for me will also do the same for you. So read on to learn what I'm talking about.

Handle is going up while golf club strikes down through the golf ball (I know...WTF?)

If you can wrap your head around this mind twisting reality it help you understand a key to striking the golf ball better. Click the video below to understand better.

Your hands, like the golf club, travel on an arc and you'll want to hit the golf ball after your hands have bottomed out in its arc and are actually on the way back up. Watch the video below with the three-dimensional demonstration of what's happening with the hands in a golf swing.

Those of you who struggle with chunking chips or just struggling from hitting a ball from the ground will be giddy after having success with this new perception. I know my chipping has improved tremendously since understanding this.

Triggering the Zone or Flow State- Being over whelmed with thoughts when trying to hit a golf ball doesn't work really well. You might say over thinking is traffic jam of thoughts that block your motor system from operating the way it's meant to. Flow is the complete opposite of being bogged down with needless thoughts and we're learning all kinds of triggers to make this flow state more consistent (eg breathing, humming, chewing gum etc.). Find out more here.

I just finished reading a great book on the subject called the Flow Motion Factor by John Yellen.  It's an easy read and will really help you understand how and why a quiet brain enables better timing and results in your golf game. Here's another source to improve performance at sport, Flow Genome Project.

I'm fairly challenged at quieting my mind and since meditating with this app called Calm for about ten minutes a day I'm focusing much better. 

This month (June 2017) at Dominican College, in San Rafael, there is conference exploring what the future of athletic performance and coaching will look like. I'm going and with this code, ITP, you'll get a 20% discount to it. Find out more.

Green Reading with my Feet-  By simply using my feet to read the greens instead of my eyes my green reading skill is so much better and I putt with more confidence. This technique is very simple to learn and typically can takes 5 to 10 minutes for students to pick up. It'll take the guesswork out of reading greens and it another easy way to keep your "body-mind" connection going through the round. Find out more

Getting Hooked on Playing Golf!

Getting Hooked on Golf

HOW MY YOUNGEST FINALLY TAKES THE BAIT
 

This week one of my more challenging golf students had a breakthrough. He is my son, 16 years old, love him to death but golf was about as enticing to him as a stubbed toe. Something clicked the other day and dare I say he is now wanting to play more golf. 

Of course as a dad and PGA golfer I'm tickled pink since what he likes to do mostly, like most young men, is play video games! Maybe it's generational or just the new normal but sitting in front of a video game fumbling around with a joystick is interesting for about.... 22 seconds....at least to me.

So nurturing this tiny glowing ember of interest with my son is a fragile operation not unlike trying to get the camp fire going with just one match on a windy afternoon with green wood. Ok, I'm being overly dramatic but do you feel me? 

Fast forward to the driving range. There's a light sprinkle, we're the only ones hitting. He's done my little warm-up drill of making good practice swings to brush the mat in the right place (left of where the ball would be) and now he's hitting but the balls are going to the right of the target. He doesn't know what to do so I suggest a little tweak and thankfully it works the balls shoot out straight at the target.  I see in his eyes a realization, "whoa my old man does know what he's talking about once in awhile". And there you go, hooked him like a big fish......I tried to be cool but inside I'm doing cartwheels because he's hitting "shots" and he is digging it.

So he's on a roll I decide to "double down" and I pull out his nemesis, the driver. And like magic, he's nailing that too. Of course I'm biting my tongue, since I'd like to see a little more hip turn for power but with 20 plus years of teaching, I know when to shut up since often times sometimes less is more. So he's having fun, even with the slight drizzle he continues banging out good shots and we finish off on a good note and jump in the car delighted.

So our next challenge is moving from the driving range to the golf course to golf. Playing golf is a whole different deal then hitting balls on the driving range as you all now. Playing tests us. Our egos get very involved and dealing with all the distractions as a newer golfer is usually overwhelming to say the least. Hence my quick little plug for playing lessons. Six or nine holes with a coach is invaluable to build confidence for all levels but especially the golfers teetering on the fence of becoming a golfer or not.

When I take golfers out on the golf course we start on the range. We’ll do a five-minute stretch to get loosened up but also to connect again to our body’s. Then we’ll make a few no ball swings to get dialed into the brushing the ground in the right place. Because the ball gets in the way of the swing instead the idea of hitting at the ball. Then after hitting a few short, medium and long distances we’ll line up a few shots by picking a spot down the target line and rehearsing the pre-shot routine. Now we’re ready as we’re going to be and we go tee it up.

Ideally we’re walking but that doesn’t also work out and some folks aren’t fit enough to walk so we’ll ride. In a playing lesson it’s less about golf swing and more about picking shots and trying to make them happen. I might suggest a shot or two along the way but I’m watching you play. I’ll also try to match my shots to yours. If you drive it 175 yards I’ll try to do the same. By watching a better player play you appreciate the consistency and tidiness inside of 100 yards. 

After our playing I’ll summarize our experience and suggest some tips on how to get better. Spoiler alert- Almost everyone can get better with their wedge shots around the green, that’s a given but I’ll find something in your game that you can take steps to improve whether it’s a miss pattern or a way to get more consistency through safer shot choices.

So I’ll be doing the same with my son Erik. I hope this fires you up for someone you’d like to see playing more or maybe it’s you.

All the best with your Golf! It’s a great game when you get over those humps!

What have you done to improve your experience on the golf course? Do you have a story to share about playing with your parents or kids?

Some Cool Videos and Information I Send my Golf Students After Golf School

Every golfer is really like a puzzle at first. Some are 50 piece puzzles and some are 500 piece puzzles. As a golf school coach for over 25 years the two days gives me enough time to sort through your misconceptions mentally about hitting a ball or the physical compensations that is rooted in say a poor hold on the golf club. Either way I enjoy playing Sherlock Holmes to unravel the clutter in your golfing mind.

The first day is always a good overview of my key concepts and I get to see you hitting all kinds of shots and playing on the course. There will be plenty of Q and A (questions and answers) to clear up some of the non-sense that has accumulated through dozens of golf magazine articles, Golf Channel shows and tips from your buddies or family members. The most most famous misconception is "keep your head still". I'm going to have you moving your head and you'll feel liberated.

So day one is about giving you a clear picture of what makes good contact on any shot. I'll start with the shorter shots, either putting or chipping and build progressively from there. By lunch we'll have covered a good grip on the club and why it's important, how to use leverage or lag angle in your shots and how to use gravity and momentum for distance control in the short distance shots. This foundation is what we'll build on. It's not rocket science and everybody can do it and so will you.

That night I'll get a deeper dive into your swings on video and the improvement plan the second day and beyond.

During the second day I'll also encourage you to pull out their cell phones to capture me doing a short video reminders for them to reference for their future practice sessions. 

And then after some more thought I'll send you a thank you email with links to videos and information that I think will help you progress through the process of learning. This resource bin is then available for you to explore if they want to dig deeper into understanding more.

I cut and pasted this email below from a recent thank you to a golf student:

First, thanks for coming up to my school. I hope you learned some cool new things and had a fun time along the way!

Here are a few other reminders of what we worked on and some links for you to watch or listen to:

Five Impact Dynamics

Stretching and strengthening website from Titleist Performance Institute. Here's a great one for your pivoting.

To improve your pivots

Learn the proper way to roll your forearms

Cool perspective from one of my favorite golf pros Shawn Clement, Hitting the Ball is not your Job, and here's another on getting speed. Here's that ribbon exercise video.

Another favorite, Clay Ballard and how to use your hips better in the swing. And here's another one.

Some ideas to help you measure your progress and reach your goals

To get more power.....Power Exercises from TPI's Jason Glass

Some of my videos from my website. Here's the scraping drill that you can practice at home.

If you're really geeky about golf biomechanics watch this video from Dr. Kwon.

30-Day Plan

Twice a week for five minutes- Set up a hitting station (aim sticks or using a line to check on your bottom of swing location). "Become a grass cutting machine".

Horizontal swings- Again five minutes twice a week to encourage rotary action.

Twice a week for five minutes- Simple tip to hit the driver better. Get a can of Dr. Scholl's foot spray ($5) and when you're at the range spray the club face with it and see where your impact mark is. Contact higher on the face with launch the ball higher. Toe contact creates hooks and heel contact creates slices. Try different swing speeds to find where you can hit the ball in the middle of the face consistently.

Lighten up your grip pressure to feel the club better. 

I'll get you on my newsletter list, I send out some pretty cool stuff that will help you. And always feel free to send me emails with any issues you are having with your ball flight. Until next time!

So in summary this is what you'll get when you visit my golf school:

1. Clear understanding of what you're trying to accomplish with every shot
2. Me demonstrating the shot so you can copy it
3. You doing the swing, first without a ball, working on making good brush marks or divots
4. You hitting balls (we always start with chips, then pitches and work our way back to the driver)
5. Look at divot marks, measure them from where we want them to occur. I'm trying to get you to be great at making the right scuff mark or divot (this is crucial for excellent ball striking)
6. Feedback from your swing videos. Is there anything we can do to make the motion more efficient?
7. Feedback from doppler radar. This system shows exactly what is happening at impact with your club but also the ball's flight through the air including it's height, speed, distance, spin etc.
8. From the doppler radar instruction you will start accessing your ball flight correctly and be able to make the appropriate adjustments to get your desired ball flight.
9. The afternoon is about playing golf. Learning to manage your golf ball around the course so you can start getting the results you wish (more fun playing, better scores or just great shots).
10. And you leave with a clear sense of how to improve in the next 90 days.

Get Better at Golf by Getting Out of your Head Part 2

Get Better at Golf by Getting Out of your Head Part 2

Triggers to your Flow state

Have you ever nonchalantly shot a paper ball into a trash can from 20 feet and put it right in the center of the bin? Of course you have and then you try another and it almost always misses. What's going on there? This article hopes to arm you with some tools and info to help you access that "super golfer" that resides in you.

What is Flow? 

Flow is where you feel and perform at your best. Your brain filters out everything that is not necessary and focuses only on what is important at the time.

Seems so easy doesn't it? But most us have brains that race from thought to thought and focusing on one thing for more than ten seconds is a massive effort and seems boring. LOL. Know this it is hard for everybody and practicing being "thoughtless" sucks at first, is not fun and it seems to be a waste of time. 

Here is a free app to build up your focus power. Really worth checking out and with a little practice you'll be able to channel this new strength into your golf practice.

Portals to Flow- How Do You Get There?

1. Focus. Any activity that requires lots of focus (like golf), will increase the chance of getting into a flow state. This can mean athletic, professional or artistic.     
2. Risk. The brain releases dopamine when we are at risk and out of our comfort zones
3. Rich Environment: Lots of novelty, complexity, beautiful scenery, lots of people, lights, contrast etc.

OK Kris so what you're writing is if I focus or try harder I will perform better? Well yes and no. When you focus with your mind and body you will. If you're just in your head (PFC pre-frontal cortex) you'll never get into the zone or flow from that disconnected stat

I have to admit much of my fascination with studying the mental game stems from my own struggles under pressure. So I've been on a quest to find answers and be more effective under pressure in golf and life. All too often you and I get too much into heads when we golf. But now neuro-scientists are breaking down how our brains work so we can use it more effectively in all aspects of of life.

Scientists like Steven Kotler who wrote the book The Rise of Superman which is about tricks and hacks to help you work and play more in the Flow state. If you Google "how to be in flow" you'll find many interesting articles and resources related to this subject. 

While I'm a golf coach and I still play at a high level at certain times I get overwhelmed by some pressure situations where my performance plummets from anxiety from a fear of failing. I hate choking over a putt but at the same time now I see a golf shot as my opportunity to put these practices to work. A true stress test!

You can practice being connected to your body verses being disconnected to your body by feeling or paying attention to one of your senses. Here's a helpful acronym BAT (attention to breathing, auditory and taste) to remember:

Breathe or smell- The easiest and most under appreciated trigger is just focusing on your breathing. When you focus on your breathing it does some amazingly cool things to connect you to your body. Find out more...

Auditory or Hearing- Just a few seconds of your attention on what you hear is a great trigger to connect to your body. Try humming a tune and notice what happens. It'll activate the parasympathetic nervous system (triggering the relaxation response in your body). Find out more..

Taste- Just another sense to engage to get you into your body for the body-mind connection. Just chewing gum helps get you out your head.

---

You have to be in the present to use your senses and when you do you are turning off or down what's called a dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex which is your inner critic that has a very low bar for who you are. That's essentially what happened when you made that crumbled up piece of paper. And then when you tried on the second attempt it switched back on when you "tried" or put more effort in.

An interesting experiment is to pay attention to when you are in "flow". I think almost all of us experience flow when we're driving a car at times. Another time might be when you're deeply engaged in a conversation. By just reflecting back on your day I think you'll notice moments that you were in flow. The next step would then piece together what got you there.

So circling back to golf. Watch the best players in the world in their pre-shot routine. Notice how they routinely prepare for a shot. There's a Zen to it. They are calming themselves to allow a deep sense of present. Truly black-belts of focus. The highest level players are able to get there in the most intense of scenarios and win majors.

These masters of focus in golf and other sports get there many times on their own and some others through coaching but the bottom line is their brains can now be monitored and researchers can see the brain waves have a consistent pattern in the top performers. Click here for more details

The brain waves can be observed with an EEG (or an “electroencephalograph”) – a tool that allows researchers to note brain wave patterns. Bottom line is now we know how what the formula for flow and you can train yourself to be in the highest state for golf.

Golf Coaching Overview

Here's some important aspects to what a good golf coach will bring you:

• Help you identify your goals
• Give you a comprehensive physical screen
• Teach strategy and tactics course and game management skills
• Work with you to monitor, measure and reset goals as necessary
• Provide advice and strategies for improving
• Ensure that your equipment and ball is optimally fitted

 And then the next steps:

•         Teach you how to practice effectively
•         Teach mental skills and strategies
•         Teach the rules of golf
•         Teach competitive skills- event preparation/ game plans
•         Help formulate a detailed goal-setting program and training regimen
•         Help establish a balanced and challenging competitive schedule
•         Collect accurate data from rounds
•         Teach proper nutrition and hydration
•         Help create a strength training and flexibility regimen
•         Communicate openly with the athlete, parents and collegiate coaches
•         Encourage and support you on and off the course

More about Kris Moe