“We’re talkin’ about PRACTICE…”

Not a game …. “We’re talkin’ bout practice” were the iconic words from Allen Iverson during his post-game interview in 2002. Allen was adamant about inferring the difference between practice and competition, and he was right! In football, players practice on the football field. In baseball, players practice on the baseball field. In tennis, players practice on the tennis court. Golf is the only sport where our playing environment is profoundly different and more challenging than our practice environment.

In golf, the average practice environment has little, if any variables. Whereas the course provides many obstacles and extreme challenges. Fundamentally, golf courses take on a different degree of challenge due to course set-up, the nature of each hole, the shots needed to navigate those holes, and then there are the environmental variables such as grass, rough, sand, wind, bushes, trees, houses, water hazards, out of bounds, … you get the point. There is an unlimited number of environmental variables that make the golf course more difficult than the practice range.

 What we can’t do is build a “practice course” but we can find subtle ways to emulate the course environment. By incorporating a few diverse, unusual, yet effective training regimens, we can be on our way to playing better golf.

First, let’s talk about the ideal practice environment. Note to reader, everyone will have a different ideal practice environment. Factors like skill level, competitive tournament schedule, strengths and weaknesses, and practice environments are just a few things that will shape and alter your practice.

So let’s break it down. Practice can be categorized in many different ways. However, for the purposes of this article, let’s explain the three main ways golfers practice.

• Technical – Acquiring the proper technique by changing your motor pattern(s)

• Skill Development – Measuring how well you retain your technical changes in practice with drills/games

• Performance 101 & Competition – Practicing with pressure and simulating a competitive environment

We also encourage our players to set long-term and short-term practice “plans” or schedules in advance….

·      Long(er) Term Schedule: 6-weeks in advance, plan out which phase of practice you plan to be in during that given week. (Technical, Skill or Performance)

·      Short Term Schedule: a weekly running practice calendar

The best players in golf are also the best at reflecting and assessing their past practices or competitions. I commonly see this displayed by the best players in our sport.

Here are some additional questions you can ask yourself for practice…

The 3 C’s

·      Context

o   Why? Why am I practicing today? (Technique, skills, performance, prep?)

·      Content

o   What am I training today?

o   What kind of drills am I doing today?

o   What are you doing today to prepare you for your next tournament?

§  For example, “I’m playing a tournament with small greens so I’ll be working on hitting lots of chips and short putts as well as to smaller targets while holding myself accountable to PGA Tour wedge proximities.”

·      Conclusion –

o   If I could do that practice session over again, what would I do differently?

o   What did I do well today in that practice session?

At ForeCollegeGolf, we encourage our players to use all three types of practice by creating a practice schedule with technical, skill, and performance practice distinctions. We hold our players accountable to not only keeping a regular practice schedule but also, make sure they are assessing and reflecting on their past practices and performances. Gaining feedback in order to learn, grow, and ultimately perform better is paramount to a player’s game!

 Mike Smith is the Founder & CEO of ForeCollegeGolf and specializes in assisting junior golfers & their families through the college recruiting process. Email him @ mike.smith@forecollegegolf.com

Characteristics of Great College Coaches

For most players, your college coach is someone who will make a significant impact on your athletic experience and someone who you will spend a significant amount of time with.

How much time? Well, about 4 hours/day, 6days/week, which adds up to 200+ hours each semester!

However, prospects should NOT base their entire college decision on who their coach is because many head coaching contracts in college golf range from 3-6 years, but your head coach can still be a big piece of your final decision!

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with college coaches at every level in college golf. From my conversations and interactions, one thing is obvious – the best college coaches share many of the same characteristics.

Great College Golf Coaches …

· Are noble mentors, leaders, and motivators

· Aren’t caught “off guard” or flustered easily

· Know when/how to motivate their players & are trusted by their team.

· Have faith and passion in their players

· Have faith and passion in their plan

· Demand perfection (or near perfection) in their players, on & off the course.

· Understand that winning is the only thing that they will be judged on

· Create realistic goals & expectations for themselves, their coaching staff, and their players

· Successfully balance team activities, travel, recruiting, fundraising, and much more

· Learn from past experiences and take on traits of the best coaches they’ve worked for

· Expect to host tough and demanding team practices.

· Have strong relationships with other coaches across the country at every level

· Enjoy the process of Coaching, even the early mornings and long 36-hole days in college golf.

· Are open, honest, and completely transparent with their players

· Operate their program with clear-cut and precise team rules

· Verbalize everything that is expected of them, their coaching staff, and their players, regularly

· Expect their players to hold each other accountable

· Take time to listen and understand each of their players

· Put the “big-picture” in perspective, always

Please consider these characteristics when speaking or meeting with college coaches and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Remember, the best coach for someone else, might not be the best Coach for YOU and just because the school is a great fit for you, doesn’t mean the Coach is, and vice versa. The best coach for YOU is someone who shows endearing confidence in you, is persistent with their communication, and someone who genuinely cares for you, your future, and is open and honest about how they can actively help guide you there.

Best of luck on your journey toward college golf,

Michael J. Smith

Founder, ForeCollegeGolf

ForeCollegeGolf is a college placement and recruiting business where Mike aims to apply his background in competitive golf and recruiting education to help educate players, their families and coaches about the college recruiting process.

If you have any questions about the article above, any feedback, an article idea you would like to provide; you can contact us at mike.smith@forecollegegolf.com or www.ForeCollegeGolf.com.

Is it essential for Junior Golfers to compete during the Winter months?

Is it essential for Juniors to travel and compete in tournaments during the winter months?

My research and experience say – no! 

There seems to be an overwhelming sense of ‘playing paranoia’ with juniors and junior golf families. Many I speak with are under the impression that if they don’t play tournaments year-round they will not be recruited to play college golf. This is an inherent flaw and understanding in junior golf.

However, if you live in a warmer climate and are still planning to play tournaments during the winter months, you’ll want to make sure you’re fully prepared and ready to go.

It’s also important to note, everyone has a different “recipe” they execute in order to successfully prepare for tournaments. In this case, winter preparation depends on your area’s climate and your access to necessary resources.

First, let’s see what’s happening in college golf….

Many college golfers, especially at challenging high-academic colleges, have explained to me that having a little extra time off during the winter is a blessing in disguise, so they can get acclimated to their new class schedule and prepare themselves for the new semester.

Typically, when college players arrive back on campus in January, their training and practice will depend on a few factors: climate, date of their first tournament, and budget/resources. As a generalization, most NCAA programs tend to arrive back on campus the first/second week of January, then go back “in-season” a week or two after arriving back at school, and most will play their first Spring tournament in February. It’s important to point out, most programs will not immediately go back in-season when players arrive back on campus in January. Instead, some schools will rely on indoor facilities for off-season training and practice for a few weeks. Many elite D-1 programs have indoor performance centers, which include hitting bays, strength training studios, recovery rooms, team locker rooms/lounge areas, and adjustable putting/chipping greens! These same facilities often include the luxuries of Trackman, SAM Putt Lab, and state-of-the-art equipment that can be effectively utilized during the winter months for extra in-depth analysis.

While many of the schools in warm-climate regions have enough access to a “winter” facility to continue playing and practicing golf between the fall and spring seasons, the northern-based programs have to get creative. The NCAA’s elite cold-weather programs have adopted their own winter “recipes” to tackle the cold weather each winter.

Here is what’s interesting: the NCAA now allows college golf programs to finance practice outings anywhere (even outside their home state), as long as the student-athletes do not miss class for these practices. With this new rule in place, many of the NCAA’s elite cold-climate golf programs will fly south as many as three to five times during late January, February, and even March to provide an opportunity for their players to train, play rounds of golf and, most importantly, regain their feel for playing the game outdoors under real conditions. If there is one thing I’ve learned being raised in Florida and attending James Madison University in Virginia it’s that there is no substitute to “real” golf in a warm weather climate on green grass! Hitting indoors (even on Trackman) or practicing with 5 layers of clothes on can only be so effective at helping you prepare for tournament play.

So if you are a junior golfer facing geographical and climate challenges, my advice to you is figure out what your main priority is for the offseason, typically a HS freshman’s offseason in the Northeast should look much differently than a HS Senior in Florida.

A good philosophy is to, think of it not as the “off-season” but instead as your very own “player development” training to prepare for your upcoming events. Put together a well-thought-out, written plan or short-term goal sheet so you’ll be prepared and ready to go when the cold weather passes. The winter months should be utilized as your time to expand your Golf IQ, improve your swing technique, get properly fit for golf equipment, and spend extra time in the gym gaining the strength and flexibility necessary to achieve success in the upcoming golf season.

Best of luck on the recruiting trail!

Visit www.ForeCollegeGolf.com to learn more about the recruiting process or reach out to us to learn more.

Michael J. Smith

#collegegolfplacement #ajgagolf #collegegolf #juniorgolfexperts #juniorgolfhelp#americanjuniorgolfassociation #ajga #juniorgolftournaments #juniorgolf #preparation #ncaagolf

Let’s talk about POWER!

Junior development is one of the hottest topics in today’s game. I’d like to discuss the topic of power development in juniors, how that correlates to performance and give you a few tips to hit it further off the tee.  

The past few years, I’ve been tuning into the Long Drive championships on golf channel, seeing Bryson’s workouts and noticed guys like Cameron Champ and Wilco Nienaber come into the PGA Tour spotlight. If you’ve been doing the same, you probably know that many have been analyzing the swings, training routines and Coaching for the “long-ballers” in the game of golf. This isn’t anything new, as professionals have been studying the long ball intricacies for over 20 years but there is something to uncover here. 

The three intangibles that we can measure using a launch monitor or doppler radar tracking device like 

Trackman or GC Quad

• club speed

• ball speed 

• attack angle

Three tests to evaluate basic power output and body speed (correlated to ClubHeadSpeed)

• Seated chest pass (2kg ball) 

• Laying ball throw 

• Vertical Jump

What we know

Today’s statistics show that driving distance is the most important factor to success on the PGA Tour. The longest players in the game are keeping their cards longer and finishing higher on the money list. 

What this means

Keeping your drives in the fairway isn’t as important as you think. The new statistic, STROKES GAINED DRIVING shows that driving contributed 28% to the scoring advantage of the Top40 golfers on the PGA Tour in 2014, putting contributed 15%, and all other shots contributed 57%. 

Stats also show that a 20-yard driving advantage equated to .74 strokes per round. Three-quarters of a shot might not sound like a lot but last year that was the difference between 10th place and 110th on the money list. 

We also know that the Top40 golfers in the world drive the ball 10 yards longer than tour average but only 0.1 degree more accurately. Bottom line, to be ranked among the top drivers in the world, distance matters more than accuracy.  

What we can do

• Swing it FAST

• Have vertical pelvic thrust of (> 3”)

• Have a positive angle of attack (>3 degrees) 

How we do it… 

• Tee it high – more chance at a positive attack angle

• Impact point: hit the ball high on the clubface to minimize spin

• Create a HUGE X-Factor at the top of the backswing (separation between the upper & lower body)

• Club Fitting – making sure ALL your equipment is fit properly and optimized

• Personalized Strength Training Program – know where you can add strength

• Personalized Mobility/Flexibility Training Program – know your limitations & work on them

• Personalized Speed Training Program – SuperSpeedSticks or Mach 3 

**Disclaimer: Junior Golfers are GROWING individuals and these considerations for distance are purely individual and need to be covered on a case-by-case basis.

For Boys, the critical windows to add SPEED are 7-9 & 13-16 years old. For Girls, it’s 6-8 & 11-13 years old.

For most players, a strength training program from a TPI expert and learning how to optimize their swing and equipment does the trick. For others, it might make the most sense to find a qualified Coach to help right away and ask them to be honest about pinpointing specific areas to improve. Bottom line, getting qualified help from a teaching professional or expert consultant is a no-brainer way to go. 

Thanks for reading and best of luck!

Michael J. Smith

Founder, ForeCollegeGolf

Mike Smith is the founder of ForeCollegeGolf, a college placement and recruiting business where his goal is to employ his background in competitive golf and recruiting education to help educate players, their families and coaches about the college recruiting process.