What's New

Golf Professional Plays Santa

It is hard to believe the Holidays are upon us and yes we are running out of time to shop.  The temperatures are definitely colder in Charlottesville, Virginia this week so it is much easier to get in the holiday spirit.   My tree is finally up and the house is decorated thanks to my two wonderful kids.  I am slowly finishing up my shopping.

The joys of the holidays for me is playing Santa for other families.  This has been the week I have met with several parents on what their junior golfer needs for the 2012 season.  I use this time of year to evaluate their equipment and try to fill the gaps in their bags or replace equipment as they grow.  The other popular gifts are gift certificates for lesson programs and fitness sessions during the winter, new golf bags (lot’s of awesome new bags from Callaway golf), golf balls, golf shoes, and hats.  It is fun to see so many young golfers totally absorbed in the game that they are willing to have a totally “golf” Christmas.

Wishing everyone happy shopping and make that visit to the golf professional elf for your shopping needs.

What is the Most Pressure Filled Week in Sports?

This is the toughest time of year for a lot of golfers that have the dream to play on the LPGA or PGA tour.  This week is the final stage of qualifying to reach the goal that many of these players have had their entire life.  It is also a week that many players who lost their tour cards are trying to regain their card or improve their status so they can play in more tournaments.  It is hard to believe David Duval, Rich Beem, and Lee Janzen are all major championship winners and they are playing this week.   It is hard to believe it all comes down to one week.

I have three players at the LPGA qualifier and two are there for the first time.  Having experienced the qualifying school myself I know exactly what they are going through.  As I try to prepare these players for the week I emphasize to them that all the hard work is done before you get to the tournament and now it is time to have fun and enjoy the week.  They have to control the things they can control and worrying about results is not one of them.  It is important to stay in the moment the entire week, it is important to go through your routine on every shot and it is important to keep your emotions in check.  Everyone will be nervous and if the golfers can just find a way to enjoy being there and realize they have done all they can by preparing ahead of time for this week and now they need to treat this week as the party.  Easier said than done.

The good news about this week as most of the players will leave with some status whether it is on the LPGA or PGA tour or a mini tour most of them will be playing somewhere next year.  For the young players that are there for the first time, I tell them to go into the qualifying school with no expectations and to play golf like they are playing with their friends at home.  This will give them a much better chance of playing well and they will learn a lot as they go through the week.  Whether they make it or not it will definitely be easier the next time they have to go to qualifying week.

I also feel for the young players that it is not a bad thing if they do not qualify.  They can learn so much on the mini tours.  Playing professional golf is a lot different than amateur golf or college golf.  The golfer will now have to make all their own travel arrangements, learn about new golf courses, learn to play for money, and manage their schedule weekly.  Managing your schedule can sometimes be tricky.  You now have a full day without anything scheduled.  However, to make it as a professional golfer you have to workout, practice, practice rounds, pro-ams, laundry, travel days, clinics plus much more and this can be overwhelming when you are new to this lifestyle.  So as glamourous as the tour life looks it is only glamourous for the top money winners and it takes a lot of hard work to reach that level.

So I encourage the players to enjoy the week and I wish everyone the best of luck.  I encourage the fans that are looking at the final rounds on television to remember how much pressure is on these golfers (as they miss short putts, hit bad approach shots and just hit shots they would not normally hit) and what an amazing accomplishment it is for them to just make it to the finals.  Some will make it, most will not and the sun will still shine tomorrow and they will continue to work hard to reach their dreams.  I especially want to wish Kandi Comer Golf students Whitney, Leah and Riki the best of luck this week and to remind them to enjoy the week.

Golf Should be Fun for Kids

I spent a couple hours at an after school program that I am teaching this winter at an elementary school and it warmed my heart to see so many kids having fun playing golf.  It is always my goal as a PGA golf professional to introduce the sport to new golfers and I have chosen to go into the school systems this fall and winter.  The youngest kid was 4 and the oldest was a 6th grader.  We divided the kids into two groups; pre-k through 2nd grade and 3rd grade through 6th grade and they were each taught in a 45 minute session.

I can promise you these two 45 minute sessions made me smile and laugh and have a great time with some wonderful kids that just wanted to have fun playing golf.  We warmed up by doing some stretching, running, sit-ups, throwing a ball and basically working on coordination and running off some energy.  Then we worked on chipping and putting and the focus on each shot was the grip and posture.  We never put an emphasis on anything else.  We threw a couple targets out there and told the kids to try to hit the targets.  It is so fun to see their natural strokes and how they can get the ball to the targets.  Most of all they were not overloaded with too many thoughts, so they were still having fun just hitting the ball.

The important thing to remember is that we were in a gym and we were using SNAG golf equipment.  This means we were using plastic oversize clubs, tennis balls and large targets and it was easy for the kids to swing the clubs and make contact with the tennis ball so they were getting instant results which equals fun and a sense of accomplishment.  I feel it is so important when teaching young kids the game of golf that we do not overload them with the mechanics because they will get bored and that is the end of golf for them.

It is important to keep the kids moving and to also work on developing the motion through other activities so as they get older they will have the foundation to swing the real clubs and not get frustrated.  So we might swing a baseball bat and hit some balls off a tee to just start feeling the motion and again the kids think this is FUN.  Then we end the session for the younger kids by playing duck, duck goose and one kid comes up to me at the end and tells me about a new game and wants to know if we can play his game next week.  So the answer is yes and now the kids cannot wait until next week.

The name of the game is to get them to love the game and to keep coming back.  Next week I will learn the game of Octopus and let the fun keep happening.

For more information and ideas please do not hesitate to contact me at Kandi Comer Golf located in Charlottesville, Virginia. You can email me at kandi@kandicomergolf.com or reach me by phone at 434-817-0500.

Are You Practicing Correctly to Improve?

How many times do we hear, “I can hit the shots when I practice, but I cannot do it on the golf course?”  I always have students that tell me they practice their golf game a lot, yet they never seem to improve.  I always end my lessons by giving my students suggestions on how to get the most out of their practice sessions.  I feel proper practice habits are very important for the golfer to improve after a lesson, and then take what they’ve practiced to the course.

There are a couple ways to practice and I believe we need balance in our practice sessions to see results.  The first type of practice is called block practice. Block practice is used most often just after you have taken a lesson.  This is where you have a pile of balls and you are working on making changes in your swing or with your short game.  You hit each ball focused on the changes you are trying to make.  This is also the time you are working on the drills you received from your instructor during your lesson.

The second type of practice is random practice. Random practice is when you hit different clubs to different targets with your focus on target and not technique. It is important to have good fundamentals throughout your golf game, but you also have to be able to transfer the changes to the golf course.  I encourage golfers to go through their routine on every shot during the random part of their practice session.  It is important to treat these shots as if you were playing on the golf course.  I even encourage the golfer to play some holes on the range hitting the clubs they would normally hit on each hole.  Make each shot mean something. For example, “This shot is to win the club championship”, or “This putt is to beat my lowest score”.  This will allow you to be more comfortable when you are actually playing golf on the course.

It is also important to practice all aspects of your game.  You need to focus on your full swing, chipping, pitching, bunker shots and putting.  There are too many golfers that just go to the range and hit balls.  During their range time they are just rapid firing balls instead of having a plan for their practice.

So the next time you go to practice try these steps:
1.  Write out a plan before you leave for the course and stick to your plan.  Your plan should include a couple different areas of practice (full swing and short game).
2.  Include some block practice and end with random practice.
3.  Play a few holes on the range before you leave.
4.  Make notes on your practice session before you leave.  For example, What you were working on and the results you were seeing.  What were you feeling?  etc.

I hope these practice suggestions will help you lower your scores.  For more tips and information please feel free to visit our web site at http://www.kandicomergolf.com or come visit us at Kandi Comer Golf located near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Who is Your PGA Player Tour Player of the Year?

As the PGA tour winds down the year it will soon be time for the players to vote on Player of the Year. There have been several young players that have stepped up to deserve this honor as the year ends.  Unlike most years there is not a player that has clearly separated themselves from the rest of the players.

The PGA Tour has identified five candidates for 2011 Player of the Year. Here they are in alphabetical order:

1. Keegan Bradley
Wins:  HP Byron Nelson Championship, PGA Championship
Money List Rank:  #13
World Ranking:  #2

2. Luke Donald
Wins:  WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
Money List Rank:  #1
World Ranking:  #1

3. Bill Haas
Wins:  Tour Championship, Fed Ex Cup Winner
Money List Rank:  #7
World Ranking:  #21

4. Webb Simpson
Wins: Wyndham Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship
Money List Rank:  #2
World Ranking:  #12

5. Nick Watney
Wins: WGC-Cadillac Championship, AT&T National
Money List Rank:  #3
World Ranking:  #11

Out of these five players Luke Donald is also #1 in the Top 10 finishes category.  So I would have to cast my vote for Luke Donald for not only having a great year but also a very consistent year.  I feel that Keegan Bradley will get the Rookie of the Year Award.  The PGA Tour players will vote and the winner will receive the Jack Nicklaus Trophy.  It has been nice seeing some different faces at the top of the leader boards this year.

The big question that still remains is:  Will we ever see another dominant player like Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour?

How to Play a Golf Course that is not Flat

Why do golfers practice on a flat driving range when we all know the golf course is not flat? Having my academy Kandi Comer Golf located in Charlottesville, Virginia there are very few flat lies and I have had so many students that have asked me how to hit off the not so flat lies that I ended up adding some hills around my teaching tee.  Unfortunately to learn how to hit these different shots we must have a place to practice.

Learning to be effective with uphill, downhill, and sidehill (ball above and below your feet) lies is based on how we set up to the golf ball.  I hope the following tips for the different lies will help golfers feel more comfortable over the shot and the results will come.

Remember the set-up is the key for any uneven lie. Your stance will feel different than with a flat lie, therefore you MUST adjust your set-up. By adjusting, you will have a better chance to hit the shot more solid.

A smooth swing with a “gentle transition” from the top will take the fear out of these challenging shots.

Ball above your feet:

1. Aim more to the right (right handed golfer) as the tendency is for the ball to go to the left off this lie.
2. Play the ball in the center of your stance.
3. Grip down on the club
4. Lean into the slope so you do not fall back to your heels through the swing.

Ball below your feet:

1. Play the ball in the center of your stance.
2. Grip the club at the end of the grip to make the club as long as possible.
3. Aim more to the left (right handed golfer) as the tendency is for the ball to go to the right off this lie.
4. Sit back into the hill with the weight favoring the middle of the feet to slightly on the heels.  You will need to bend your knees more than for a flat lie.

Down Hill Lie:

1. Move the ball back in your stance
2. Align yourself to the left to allow for a slight fade.
3. Align shoulders to the slope of the hill.
4. Ball will fly with a lower trajectory than normal and roll more once it hits the ground.  Consider this when determining club selection.

Uphill Lie:

1. Play the ball slightly forward in stance.
2. Take a less lofted club (i.e. 6 or a 7 instead of an 8 iron), because the slope will naturally raise the trajectory (loft) of the shot.
3. Slightly grip down on the club to shorten the club and gain more control.
4. Align shoulders to the slope of the hill.

Good luck with these tips and please feel free to contact us at Kandi Comer Golf  (kandicomergolf.com) if you have further questions.

Start Enjoying Golf More

Golf is a crazy sport.  Sometimes when you start to learn the game it seems so easy.  Then you start to play and you start having some good results and bam the game gets harder.  You have even taken some lessons to speed up the learning process and those lessons are just not working.  What have you done to make the game so difficult?  It is called THINKING!

Everyone starts out playing golf for fun and just to enjoy being outdoors with friends.  Then you get a taste of  success by winning a small bet among your friends and then you try harder to do better next time.  The next  time you go out to play and you are playing your best round ever on the front nine and you then you go to the  back nine and beginning on hole 12 you are really trying hard to shoot your career best score.  Everyone in  your group is reminding you how well you are playing and you are really excited. Believe it or not the wheels  start to fall off and you can just not do anything right.  Before you know it you are totally frustrated, you can  just feel the tension throughout your body as you try to recover to continue your career round, you get quiet  and you are no longer having fun and out the window goes that great round.  You tried to think about everything your golf professional has told you about your swing, your putting, your chipping and on and on.  Now not only are you not having fun, you have become a mechanical robot and the emotions start to show.  Oh yea and your golf professional is awful.  How can this happen with all the lessons you have taken?

You have to answer a few questions.  Why did you start playing golf?  Usually the answer is for fun.  Are you still having fun and enjoying the game.  Your game should never determine if you are having fun.  If your game and how you are playing determines your enjoyment than you have gotten way too serious.  Having fun releases tension and less tension creates good golf shots.

Second question.  Have you practiced enough since your last lesson so you can totally trust your swing?  There is not a magic dust that a professional can put on you to make you better without practice.  You know you have practiced enough when you go to the golf course and all you have to think about is your routine and target.  No mechanical swing thoughts should enter your mind while you are playing.

Third Question.  Do you go through the same routine on every shot?  You should have a routine that you go through on every single shot.  In your mind you want to play one shot at a time and if you go through the same routine for each shot then every shot means the same.  You want to do this for all 18 holes and then add up the score when you finish.  This why players on the tour do not look at leader boards.  They are focused on the present and know if they take of the present then good things will happen.

Fourth question.  Can you block out your fellow golfers when they start trying to give you advice?  I am always amazed how golfers always want to help their friends when they are not playing well.  First of all there is not one swing for everyone.  When a golfer is told something from a golf professional that thought will not work for everyone.  That is why you are paying for  a private lesson.  It is just for you.  So you must learn to block out all the free advice you get from your peers.

I promise if you do the above steps, the game will remain fun and you will start winning those side bets more  often.  So remember keep the tunnel vision and get rid of the Thinking Cap and the fun will come.

Please feel free to visit us at Kandi Comer Golf located in Charlottesville, VA to make the game more fun for  you.

Couples Picks Tiger Woods for Presidents Cup Team – Do you agree with the Choice?

Fred Couples has until September 26th to choose his captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup team and  he has already announced he will use one pick on Tiger Woods. I find this very interesting as there  are some great players listed at 11th (Jim Furyk) and 12th (Rickie Fowler) which now means one of  those or both of those guys will be left off the team. Plus Keegan Bradley is probably the hottest young  player in the game today. Fred said he chose Tiger because, “There is no reason for me to wait until  Sept. 26 to pick Tiger. He’s the best player in the world forever.”

I agree Tiger has been the best player in the world for a long time, however he is not the best  player at this time. I feel it is the Captain’s responsibility to pick the golfers that are playing their best golf at the time of the matches. There are a lot of great golfers playing some great golf and have worked very hard trying to earn a spot on the team.  I know it would be tough to look past Tiger based on his past play.  However, as with any athlete they have good years and they have bad years and there is not one athlete that always stays on top due to age, injuries etc.  and to me this is the category that Tiger falls into for the 2011 season.

Yes, he played well at the Masters before he was injured but that was how many months ago and he has not shown anything since the Masters.  Not only has he been injured, but he has also decided to totally make a swing change with a new instructor that has a totally different philosophy than the prior instructors he has worked with.  I totally agree that Tiger is an awesome athlete and he can do things that most golfers cannot.  Based on his last couple performances I also believe that Tiger has not proven he can overcome a major injury and a swing change at the same time in order to be chosen for the Presidents Cup this early.

I would have loved to have seen Tiger play in a couple smaller events or overseas events to prove that his game is getting better and it is ready for the Presidents Cup.  After all what was the rush, Freddy?  You had until September 26th to pick your captain’s picks.

Written by:  Kandi Comer, Kandi Comer Golf located in Charlottesville, VA

Managing Expectations on the Golf Course

As a golf professional that works with a lot of tournament level players as well as the average player it always amazes me how golfers let the word “tournament” or “qualifying” change their entire game. Why can golfers play awesome golf when they are just out playing with their friends? Why can golfers play well in individual tournaments and then if they play on a high school or college team there seems to be more pressure? As a golfer that played in 5 US Opens and also played for the University of North Carolina I can understand.

The first advice I try to tell all my players is that they must give every round of golf the same importance. Every time you play a round of golf you should always be trying to play your best. You cannot expect to be successful if you make some rounds more important than others. After all a round of golf is a round of golf. You hit the white ball, chase it, hit it again, and again until the ball goes in the hole. With every shot counting as one stroke, why would you make one shot mean more than another? The second advice is to play one shot at a time and add them up when you are finished. Enjoy the moment and enjoy every shot you hit.

Okay I know this sounds so easy. I listen to players tell me there is just so much pressure in a tournament or I cannot let my team down. Remember you are playing because you love the game and you love it because it is fun. Pressure can only come from within. You cannot want to play so well that you let a bad shot or a bad round effect the fun or enjoyment of the game that you play because you love it. Keegan Bradley, the PGA Champion, said it best: “I tried to under-react to everything that happened on the golf course today, good and bad.” If you remember he made a triple bogey coming down the stretch but was able to shake it off and keep going and eventually won the tournament. Now that was a great exhibition of staying in the moment and playing one shot at a time.  You have to accept that you are not going to hit every shot perfect and regardless of the shot you must accept it and move forward to the next shot.

I think it is important that all golfers realize you are going to have good shots, bad shots, good rounds, and bad rounds and it is how we react to these situations that will determine the fun that we have. So my advice is to play every round as it is your last round — enjoy it despite the score. I know from experience if you play golf enjoying the moment instead of living and dying with every shot your scores will reflect the fun you are having on the golf course.

If you would like more information for your golf game please feel free to contact me at Kandi Comer Golf located in Charlottesville, Virginia by visiting kandicomergolf.com.

High Temperatures and Fun Junior Camps

It is hard to believe by the title of this blog that the high temperatures and golf camps can go together.  I am happy to say that I had junior camps this week at Glenmore Country in Charlottesville, Virginia and yes we were in the middle of the major heat wave that has covered the country.  I have to admit I was not looking forward to the camps because I really thought the juniors would be miserable with a lot of complaining about whatever we were doing.  I am happy to say I was wrong.

I am excited to say we had a great week with a great group of kids.  I have never had a group of junior campers that had more fun despite the high temperatures and humidity.  As golf professionals we kept them moving between working on fundamentals of chipping, putting, pitching, and the full swing and they left having practiced all the shots required in the game of golf.  I feel the key was that as professionals we did not complain and we stayed positive and just kept going.  That is what happens when you truly love what you are doing and it is nice to work with fellow professionals that love teaching.  We also tossed in competitions at the end of each shot we were learning.  I had a very competitive group of kids that thrived on the competitions and that made it fun to watch them compete among themselves.

What made the competitive events fun and what were they competing for? Icy pops did the trick when the temperatures are 110 with a heat index of 120.  I hate to think of how many icy pops were consumed last week during the camps.  I never knew icy pops could be so popular until watching these kids compete.  You would have thought they were trying to win the US Open.

Another key were the buckets of ice water with towels in them for the kids to take a wet towel and cool themselves off.  I have to admit at times I could not stop laughing when I looked up and saw the juniors hitting balls with these towels hanging over their heads.  Needless to say by the end of the day the bucket of water was being tossed onto the juniors and it was such a pleasure seeing the kids have so much being outdoors enjoying and learning this great sport of golf.

Again I want to congratulate this awesome group of kids and instructors for working hard, learning a lot and most of all for having fun.  It was so rewarding on the last day to hear the kids at the end say “are we already done?”  Mission accomplished by getting more kids loving golf.  I can hardly wait until our next camps in August.  Bring on the heat!