One of my students today was chatting with me about how to make the most of his winter downtime in regards to his golf swing. I think this is a great question to ask yourself as we move into our winter season. Many of you may not be able to go to a warmer climate during the winter, so here are two goals I would suggest to help your game while there is snow on the ground:
1. Get golf stronger
2. Strengthen your mental game
Get golf stronger -
By this I mean, many of you are already in the gym staying fit and healthy. Wouldn't it be great to be able to incorporate some exersices that can make your golf swing better and stronger? Many of the people around you (fitness, medical, and golf professionals) have been certified in TPI. Each professional can take up to 3 certification levels through the Titliest Proformance Institute to become certified as a TPI instructor. You can check out how this can help you find a pro who can help you get golf stronger www.mytpi.com
Strengthen your mental game -
This is an huge part of the game and it is probably the most overlooked by amateur golfers. I would encourage everyone to do a little research into mental golf books or dvds this winter. Why not challenge yourself to get mentally better at the game while you are looking out at the snow on the ground? I have a few here that are great -
Zen Golf by Dr. Joseph Parent
Fearless Golf by Dr. Gio Valiante
Play your best golf now by Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson
any book by Dr. Bob Rotella
The Inner Game of Golf by W. Timothy Gallway
Welcome to Sarah Stone Golf! I am a Class A PGA member and a passionate teacher. I hope to help golfers and teachers alike with their golf. Please enjoy reading my instructional tips!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Winter Lesson Book Opens Up - Dec 1st
I will be returning to the Breakers Resort in Palm Beach, FL for the 2012-2013 winter golf season. I will begin teaching at Breakers Ocean on Sundays starting on December 9th from 8am - 6pm and I will be teaching at Breakers West during the week from December 6th through the beginning of April. Please email me if you are interested booking a lesson or a custom clinic with me - stono14@gmail.com
Look forward to seeing you soon!
Look forward to seeing you soon!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Making Practice Interesting
I have had a really great season playing in tournaments this year and I believe that my new practice habits have alot to do with why! This season I hosted a LPGA clinic with professional golfer Meaghan Francella for my lady golf members. Not only was Meaghan a wonderful speaker, she also showed us some new ways to practice our short game. Meaghan helped explain to our ladies that you need to work on things that will actually help you play better. Being an instructor and a player, I have struggled myself with making my practice useful. Many times I would go to the putting green, drop a couple of balls and roll putts at a hole. Or I would head to the range with one club and hit shots at it without much thought. I never took the time to practice how I would play. I believe as a teacher, my job is to help bridge the gap between the practice area and the golf course. I want to share with you three of the practice habits I have developed to help me to play better on the course.
1. Working on speed on the putting green: set up 15 ft and 25 ft from a hole with a tee or ball marker at those distances. Then place an alignment stick behind the hole about 3 feet behind it. Take two balls at one distance and practice rolling your putts just past the hole between the hole and the stick. After 9 putts, switch to the other distance. I use time intervals of 25 mins, with a water break for 5 mins in between. This clears your head and keeps you interested in your practice.
2. Short putts: while working on your speed putting, set up a tee about 6-8 ft from a hole near your distance putting station. This is a distance I have found to be where you can make a birdie or save par. After 3 rotations of 25 mins working on the above drill, I switch to the 6-8 ft range and work around the hole. This has helped me feel comfortable in this scoring range and much more confident in getting up and down around the greens.
3. Practicing on the range: I warm up first, then laser my closest target and begin hitting shots at it. I only hit 9 shots at a time with each club. One of the things that I have worked on this year is trying to land 3 different clubs to the same distance. So I can hit my pitching wedge, 9 iron and 8 iron all 100 yards. This I believe has helped me with feel and also to help me create different shots into greens. After every 25 mins of practice, I take a 5 min break for water then resume practicing.
Try these practicing tips the next time you are out at your course.
1. Working on speed on the putting green: set up 15 ft and 25 ft from a hole with a tee or ball marker at those distances. Then place an alignment stick behind the hole about 3 feet behind it. Take two balls at one distance and practice rolling your putts just past the hole between the hole and the stick. After 9 putts, switch to the other distance. I use time intervals of 25 mins, with a water break for 5 mins in between. This clears your head and keeps you interested in your practice.
2. Short putts: while working on your speed putting, set up a tee about 6-8 ft from a hole near your distance putting station. This is a distance I have found to be where you can make a birdie or save par. After 3 rotations of 25 mins working on the above drill, I switch to the 6-8 ft range and work around the hole. This has helped me feel comfortable in this scoring range and much more confident in getting up and down around the greens.
3. Practicing on the range: I warm up first, then laser my closest target and begin hitting shots at it. I only hit 9 shots at a time with each club. One of the things that I have worked on this year is trying to land 3 different clubs to the same distance. So I can hit my pitching wedge, 9 iron and 8 iron all 100 yards. This I believe has helped me with feel and also to help me create different shots into greens. After every 25 mins of practice, I take a 5 min break for water then resume practicing.
Try these practicing tips the next time you are out at your course.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Practice Pays Off - Finally!
Hey Readers!
It's been awhile since I've posted any information. It's been a very busy season up here in NY. I have enjoyed my new role at Trump National. One of the best things about being back at Trump is having the time to play and practice. My membership supports tournament play and seeing their golf professionals compete. I had the opportunity to play in the Women's MET Open, August 8 & 9. I prepared for this event by working on my putting for 2 weeks, practicing up to 40 hours each week. I only used speed drills, and listened to some tunes while I putted. Let's face it, practicing your putting can be boring! Our tournament was played at North Shore Golf Club in Glenhead, NY. Apparently, it is an old Seth Raynor. And if any of you know me, he is my favorite golf course architect. My first round I shot a 75, 4 over par and 3 shots out of the lead. I putted well and had 3 birdie putts within 1 foot. The next day I shot 81, was very tentative and nervous. I had a 16th place finish. Highest finish for me in the Met in 11 years. I was thrilled to see that all my practicing had paid off. I felt so comfortable over the ball and was able to putt well. The following week I had another tournament. This was the Women's Stroke Play event at Rockrimmon in Stamford, CT. This is a MET event, where all the female golf professionals in our area compete against each other in a two day stroke play format. Again, I practiced some putting, hit a couple of short wedges before the event. I was unfortunately pretty sick with a summer cold, and I didn't feel prepared for the tournament. My first round I shot a 76, 4 over par but still in contention. My second round I played much better, 1 over 73. I had birdie 2 holes and on the 16th tee I realized that I was 2 under par, a place I haven't been before in a tournament round. I mentally struggled to stay calm and not get ahead of myself. I bogeyed 16, 17 and 18 to finish 2 over and had a 4th place finish in the event. Overall, it was a great learning experience and I need to learn how to get mentally tougher out there!
If you want to follow upcoming events please check out www.met.pga.com
Thanks!
It's been awhile since I've posted any information. It's been a very busy season up here in NY. I have enjoyed my new role at Trump National. One of the best things about being back at Trump is having the time to play and practice. My membership supports tournament play and seeing their golf professionals compete. I had the opportunity to play in the Women's MET Open, August 8 & 9. I prepared for this event by working on my putting for 2 weeks, practicing up to 40 hours each week. I only used speed drills, and listened to some tunes while I putted. Let's face it, practicing your putting can be boring! Our tournament was played at North Shore Golf Club in Glenhead, NY. Apparently, it is an old Seth Raynor. And if any of you know me, he is my favorite golf course architect. My first round I shot a 75, 4 over par and 3 shots out of the lead. I putted well and had 3 birdie putts within 1 foot. The next day I shot 81, was very tentative and nervous. I had a 16th place finish. Highest finish for me in the Met in 11 years. I was thrilled to see that all my practicing had paid off. I felt so comfortable over the ball and was able to putt well. The following week I had another tournament. This was the Women's Stroke Play event at Rockrimmon in Stamford, CT. This is a MET event, where all the female golf professionals in our area compete against each other in a two day stroke play format. Again, I practiced some putting, hit a couple of short wedges before the event. I was unfortunately pretty sick with a summer cold, and I didn't feel prepared for the tournament. My first round I shot a 76, 4 over par but still in contention. My second round I played much better, 1 over 73. I had birdie 2 holes and on the 16th tee I realized that I was 2 under par, a place I haven't been before in a tournament round. I mentally struggled to stay calm and not get ahead of myself. I bogeyed 16, 17 and 18 to finish 2 over and had a 4th place finish in the event. Overall, it was a great learning experience and I need to learn how to get mentally tougher out there!
If you want to follow upcoming events please check out www.met.pga.com
Thanks!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Posture - So very important!
My last job I was called the "posture princess" by my boss. This term of endearment came from my (usual) first comment about a swing pointed out to me on the range was, "Their posture is terrible!". Did you know how important posture is for golf? And in life? I believe posture is your foundation to your golf swing. Would you build a house without a strong foundation? Probably not, as it would eventually fall down. This is also true with your golf swing. Working on good posture will help you to reproduce shots and gain consistency. Hmmm, consistency you say Sarah? Yes, it's true! So let's talk about Good Posture. The golf swing works from the ground up, meaning we are swinging a club, not hitting a ball. Good lower body stability will in turn allow you to have better balance and help produce power in your swing.
Here are some pointers to help you improve your posture.
1. Feet should be about shoulder width apart. Any wider limits hip rotation, any narrower allows you to over rotate your hips. (this is for iron shots, for driver you will need to be slightly wider than shoulder width because the club is longer and being swung on a wider arc)
2. Then picturing a wall behind you, bow (like you are actually bowing like in karate) forward and touch your butt against the wall. Your chest should be over the ball. Now bend your knees slightly, weight should be more on the balls of your feet instead of on your heels. This would be an athletic set up, if someone were to come up to you and push you, you would not fall backwards. Some relatable positions: return of serve in tennis, downhill skiing, or on the line in football.
3. You can now check to see if you are in correct posture by letting your arms hang from your shoulders. Correct posture would be if your fingers are dangling over your toes. Arms are freely hanging from your shoulders. This is a very tension free set up.
4. Weight should be evenly distributed on your right and left foot.
Try these pointers next time you are on the range and see how close your posture is to being up to the standards of the "posture princess".
Have fun and happy golfing!
My last job I was called the "posture princess" by my boss. This term of endearment came from my (usual) first comment about a swing pointed out to me on the range was, "Their posture is terrible!". Did you know how important posture is for golf? And in life? I believe posture is your foundation to your golf swing. Would you build a house without a strong foundation? Probably not, as it would eventually fall down. This is also true with your golf swing. Working on good posture will help you to reproduce shots and gain consistency. Hmmm, consistency you say Sarah? Yes, it's true! So let's talk about Good Posture. The golf swing works from the ground up, meaning we are swinging a club, not hitting a ball. Good lower body stability will in turn allow you to have better balance and help produce power in your swing.
Here are some pointers to help you improve your posture.
1. Feet should be about shoulder width apart. Any wider limits hip rotation, any narrower allows you to over rotate your hips. (this is for iron shots, for driver you will need to be slightly wider than shoulder width because the club is longer and being swung on a wider arc)
2. Then picturing a wall behind you, bow (like you are actually bowing like in karate) forward and touch your butt against the wall. Your chest should be over the ball. Now bend your knees slightly, weight should be more on the balls of your feet instead of on your heels. This would be an athletic set up, if someone were to come up to you and push you, you would not fall backwards. Some relatable positions: return of serve in tennis, downhill skiing, or on the line in football.
3. You can now check to see if you are in correct posture by letting your arms hang from your shoulders. Correct posture would be if your fingers are dangling over your toes. Arms are freely hanging from your shoulders. This is a very tension free set up.
4. Weight should be evenly distributed on your right and left foot.
Try these pointers next time you are on the range and see how close your posture is to being up to the standards of the "posture princess".
Have fun and happy golfing!
Monday, June 4, 2012
New Position
Hi!
I'm back blogging after a long break. Lots has happened. I have moved back to Rye, NY and accepted a new position as the Director of Instruction at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, NY. I'm very excited to be back in Westchester, and thrilled to be named a director of instruction! I recently found my 5 year goals when unpacking my stuff in my new digs, and my number one goal was to be a head pro or director of instruction. So neat to have written down 5 goals 5 years ago and have accomplished 4 of them! I strongly encourage everyone to take some time to jot down some goals for yourself for the next year, 5 years, 10 years, etc. If you don't write them down, how can you accomplish them?
Please check back weekly for tips and thoughts on the golf swing and everything golf!
And I'm an finally tweeting!! @sarahstonegolf
I'm back blogging after a long break. Lots has happened. I have moved back to Rye, NY and accepted a new position as the Director of Instruction at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, NY. I'm very excited to be back in Westchester, and thrilled to be named a director of instruction! I recently found my 5 year goals when unpacking my stuff in my new digs, and my number one goal was to be a head pro or director of instruction. So neat to have written down 5 goals 5 years ago and have accomplished 4 of them! I strongly encourage everyone to take some time to jot down some goals for yourself for the next year, 5 years, 10 years, etc. If you don't write them down, how can you accomplish them?
Please check back weekly for tips and thoughts on the golf swing and everything golf!
And I'm an finally tweeting!! @sarahstonegolf
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