GOLF - (Practicing with the Most Important Club in your Bag)

In the game of golf you are legally allowed to carry 14 clubs in your bag.  In almost every bag you will find the following:  Driver, Fairway Wood, set of Irons (usually 3-9), Pitching Wedge, and Sand Wedge.  Some bags may also include an additional Fairway Wood, maybe a 2 Iron, a hybrid 3 or 4 Iron, and probably another high lofted wedge, etc.  However, no matter what the make up of your club collection is, every bag is not complete without the most important club in the bag, THE PUTTER!

The putter is the only club in the bag that you will use on every hole that is unless you are lucky enough to hole out from beyond the green.  Unfortunately, the majority of the time, we are not that lucky.  Think of it this way, if you were to shoot par on every hole, and you also reached the green "in regulation", then that would mean you would use the putter 36 out of 72 Strokes during a typical 18 hole match.  That is right (18 holes times 2 putts per hole = 36 strokes).  That is 50% of your entire strokes for the round, if you are playing a Par 72 course.  Therefore, it stands to reason that this club needs to be the most reliable club that you pull out of your bag, if you want to lower your score.  Adding just one extra putt per hole, turns a final score of 72 into a 90.  Ugh!!!

The Pros that we have talked to, all agree that your goal should be to never putt more than twice on any hole.  When you can do this consistently you are well on your way to better scores.  Unfortunately, the only way to achieve this is to practice, practice, practice.  However, finding a putting green to practice on is sometimes difficult to do.  Many ranges don't have practice greens and most courses won't let you use their practice greens without paying to play a round of golf.  Also, there are bad weather days to deal with as well.  The odds may be stacked against you!  However, there are a couple of solutions to your problem and they are cheap.


SETTING UP YOUR OWN TEMPORARY PRACTICE GREEN

First you could spend a few bucks and buy one of those cheep green, foam holes with the little plastic yellow flag, located at the back of the inclined hole, and throw that down on you carpet  This device would instantly give you a target hole to practice hitting into.  However, with this setup, the entrance to the hole is only angled on one end, so you either have to always putt from the same direction, or keep moving the little foam practice hole around so you can putt from a different location in the room.  Bummer!

However, there is another easy solution you can implement at home that will give you more flexibility in the types of drills you can perform and it is practically FREE!  All you need is a little space, a ruler, some blue painters tape and you are in business.  If you have a fairly large carpeted space in you basement, then that would be the perfect to set up this practice system, but any room will do.

                                                 Here is what it looks like:

Although your design can vary, this is the training device we use because of the versatility for different drills, skills and games.

And here is how it is done.

1. Take a couple pieces of painter's tape and make a square about 3"x3" then round the corners to make a 3" diameter circle.  This is your hole.  I know that a regulation size hole is 4" in diameter, but some of the Pros we have talked too like the idea of having a smaller target to hit.  Another reason for this smaller target is for easier judgement of whether or not the ball would have fallen into the hole.  As a rule of thumb with this setup, if any portion of the ball touches the 3"x3" hole then you would treat it like the ball fell into a cup on a real green.
2. Place your hole any where you want on your carpeted floor.  Just make sure that you have enough room to comfortably putt from two feet away from the hole in any direction.
3. Now cut eight strips of painter's tape about 4" - 6" long or so and place these in an octagon shape around the hole.  (See above photo).  The center of each strip should be about 1' from the center of your hole.
4. Cut eight more strips of painter's tape, but this time make them about 9" - 12" long, and place these in an octagon shape around the inner octagon as shown in the photo above.  Make sure that these longer strips of tape are spaced approximately 1' way from the inner octagon.
5. Cut two more pieces of painters tape, approximately 2' long.  Now place one end of a 2' section on the outside edge of the inner octagon (about midway point of the hole) and run it straight up until it reaches the outer octagon.  (See Photo Above).  You will do this for both sides of the inner octagon.

Now you are finished and ready to go!  You don't have to do Step 5 right now, especially if you will have to remove the tape at the end of your practice session.  However, if you are placing the tape in a location where you can leave it down for several days or weeks, then it would be a good idea to just go ahead and complete Step 5.  The reason why you won't need Step 5 right now is because this section is used for a specific drill/game that we will discuss in a later post.



WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE SECTIONS?

I am sure you are wondering what to do now that you have placed several feet of painter's tape on you living room floor.  Well that is the easy part.  Just start Putting!  In up coming posts we will be revealing different drills and games you can play while using this practice green setup in your home.  But for now you can use the different octagons as markings to start putting.  You know that the inner octagon is 1' from the hole.  So start there and try to sink at least 10 consecutive balls from that distance.  Then move back a foot to the outer octagon.  Now sink at least another 10 consecutive balls in a row from that distance.  With this setup you also can take a large step from the outer octagon and drop you ball down at that location, which should be about 5' from the hole at this point.  The main idea at this point is you must be deadly accurate from these small distances if you want to improve you scores.  So step up and start practicing 1' and 2' putts until you have mastered them.  Then move on back a few feet and test your skills from those distances.

In actuality, this design serves three purposes.  The first purpose is for scoring scenarios in different training competitions and drills that were created after lengthy discussions with our golf Pros and insiders.  The second purpose was to give the individual who is putting a way to easily correlate distance and feel.  For example if I have a ball placed on or near the outer octagon shape, then I know for certain that the hole is 2' away.  So any putts that I attempt from that location, I will easily know that from 2', I must put a certain amount of effort or energy behind my putts every time.  Likewise if I take a step back way from the outer octagon, then I know that my ball is now approximately 5' from the hole and how hard I stroke the ball will need to change.  Another step back and I am now about 8' from the hole.  You may find that having the first couple of feet marked off correctly helps give you a visual reference for more accurately estimating distances farther from the octagons.  Finally, the third purpose for the design, is for lag putting practice.  From different distances, our instructors have different expectations for how close we should strive to lag the ball.  These markings help us to quickly know if we achieved our attempted lag position or not.  We will discuss lagging the ball up to the cup, in a later post as well.

Now that you have a general idea of what is behind the madness for the design of this cheap indoor putting green, I would suggest that you just start putting and checking back for our next post.

-CYU-

BASEBALL - Shortening Your Swing for More Contact!

Shortening Your Swing is a concept that many young baseball players have a hard time understanding.  Some wonder why they would ever want to change their entire swing during an at bat.  That thinking is sort of a misconception.  You are not necessarily changing your entire swing, but adjusting your approach at the plate.

The typical approach for a batter is to swing hard in an attempt to make contact on every pitch.  Many of the players swing for the fences every time.  This is really not the best approach to take at the plate.  Like everything else in life, you will be more likely to succeed if you have a solid plan, and if the odds are in your favor.

Remember, if you put the ball in play then you have a chance of reaching base, but if you swing and miss then you have no chance at all.  The only exception would be thanks to a dropped third strike, but that is a very rare occurrence.  So In order to get the most from every at bat, you may have to be a little flexible at times during any typical plate appearance.

WHAT IS SHORTENING YOUR SWING?

Shortening your swing means focusing on just putting the ball in play, and not worrying about crushing the ball into the outfield gaps.  Basically you want to give yourself the best chance for making contact with the ball and become more of a "singles" hitter.  This doesn't mean that you need to become a player that only hits singles.  It just means that there are times when it may be beneficial to be able to pull this trick out of the bag.

When shortening your swing, there are a couple of means which this can be accomplished.  First you could be a "slap hitter" and just try to quickly throw your hands at the ball without using much of your lower body stride to provide power.  This may be such a drastic change from your normal swing that it would be more detrimental to your plate production than helpful.  However, if you are comfortable swinging with mostly arm power then this might be the style for you.

Now the other and probably the most efficient way to shorten your swing is to set up with the bat pulled back only about 2/3 - 3/4 as far as you would normally setup for a typical full swing.  For example, if you normally hold the bat back so far that your hands are above your back shoulder, and out of your peripheral vision; then you need to move your hands out away from the shoulder until you can see your hands out of your peripheral vision.  With is new stance you will still take your normal stride, but your focus is to just quickly bring the bat throughout the zone and make solid contact.  In these situations contact is more important than power.  However, with this type of swing, you will still have enough pop in the bat to hit the ball hard and drive it through the infield and even hit it solidly into the outfield.  Your leg stride will remain the same as with your full swing, but the shorter distance that the bat has to travel will bring it through the hitting zone a little quicker and usually provides a little more control of the bat head.

WHEN TO SHORTEN YOUR SWING

There are a few situations when it is wise to shorten your swing.  First and foremost is when you have two strikes on you.  This is especially true if runners are on base.  In this situation you want to move runners, and the only way to do that is to put the ball into play.  You can't do that when you strikeout.  So shortening your swing will increase your odds of success.

The second situation is when you are facing a pitcher that "has your number".  If you are facing a pitcher which either you can't catch up to his speed, or he just seems to be able to hit the right locations for the holes in your full swing; them shortening your swing may give you the edge you need to get the proverbial monkey off of your back.

The third situation is when you are trying to break out of a slump.  Shortening your swing and focusing on just making contact on every pitch can help bring you out if a slump.  So as you start to gain more confidence at the plate, likewise you can increase the size of your swing.

Knowing when to swing for the fences and when to shorten up your swing can mean the difference between batting around .250 or becoming a .300 plus hitter.   It takes practice and discipline at the plate to perfect this technique.  However, once you have this kind of command of your swing, you will become a force to reckon with at the plate.

To some of you, this may sound impossible to do.  I assure you it is not.  We have seen this technique work for athletes as young as 9 years old.  Now at this young of an age, the athlete usually has to be reminded to adjust their swing at the appropriate time.  Any coach can easily shout these instructions from the coach’s box or the dugout.  So if little kids can implement these techniques effectively, then older athletes should be able to master them.

-CYU

BASEBALL - Tee Ball is Not Just for First Graders

That is absolutely true.  Using a "tee" to hit off of in practice is a great way to work on your swing.  It is also something cheep that anyone can purchase.  Once you have this tool at your disposal, you can hold a very valuable hitting practice in your own backyard or basement.  Now if you have a small backyard or are hitting in your basement, you should probably replace the real balls with plastic practice balls.  But you will still see the same benefits, no matter what ball type of ball you use.

You would be surprised how many youth league coaches think that hitting off of a tee is only for those youngsters who are just starting to play the game at ages 4 - 6.  This type of short sided thinking and misinformation is sad to witness.  The problem is that the coaches don't understand the value that can be gained by using a baseball tee.

By adjusting the location of the tee, the batter can learn how to handle a variety of different pitch locations.  The repetitive nature of being able to perfectly place the ball in the "zone" over and over again is something that is hard to replicate by any other means.  For example, if a batter is having problems hitting a pitch that is low and away, the tee can be part of the solution.  All you have to do, is lower the tee's height and place it back on the plate away from the batter.  (More on this later).

The tee is also a great tool for allowing the batter to visualize exactly where the location of each type of pitch should be when he makes contact with the ball.  It reinforces the idea of "taking what the pitcher gives you."  He can study the ball location for a moment, and think about the proper mechanics for hitting such a pitch before he actually takes his swing.  Repetitive uses of these techniques can be instrumental for developing a fundamentally sound hitter.  For instance, for an inside pitch, the batter would want to make contact just before the ball reaches the plate.  On the other hand, when he sees an outside pitch, the batter would want to wait a moment and make contact with the ball deeper and near the back of the plate.  By using a tee, the batter can see the exact same pitch location over and over, thus reinforcing the mechanics necessary to hit that type of pitch properly.


WHERE TO HIT THE BALL

Now you may be wondering what on earth is the meaning behind "taking what the pitcher gives you."  Well the basic premise behind this phrase is to just hit the ball to the part of the field that will best allow you to make solid contact with the ball.  For instance, if you are a right handed batter and the ball is thrown to the outside corner, it would be difficult to pull an outside pitch down the left field line.  Instead, the proper action would be to drive the ball into right field.  Thus if the pitch comes to the inside of the plate, it is easier to get full extension and pull the ball down the left field line rather than trying to slap it into right field.  Like wise, if the pitch is thrown down the middle of the plate, then hitting the ball back up the middle would allow for the most success for most batters.


HOW TO PRACTICE IT

Now you are probably thinking, okay this is great info and all, knowing which direction to hit the ball when a certain pitch crosses the plate, but how in the world am I supposed to do it?  To answer that question let's quickly review a few mechanics.  First, in order to get the maximum out of your swing, your arms need to be fully extended.  As a baseball player swings, at different pitches, that arm position will change slightly. 

• For a pitch down the middle, full extension of the arms, typically happens with the bat head even with the front foot.  The batter will step toward the pitcher as he starts his swing and attempt to strike the ball just as it crosses the front of the plate. 
• Now for an inside pitch, full extension of the arms, typically happens with the bat head out in front of the front foot.  The batter will slightly step out toward the shortstop as he starts his swing and attempt to strike the ball out in front of his leading foot, before the ball reaches the plate.
• Finally for a pitch that is located on the outside edge of the plate, full extension of the arms, typically happens with the bat head even with the inner part of the leading leg, to center of torso.  The batter will step toward the 2nd Baseman, as he starts his swing.  This motion gets the batters momentum moving toward the direction where he will most likely make the best contact with the ball.  Contact with the ball in this situation will happen as the ball reaches the back half of the plate.

Drill for Hitting a Pitch Down the Middle
Start of this three drill set by placing the practice tee on top of home plate.  However, do not place the tee directly in the center of the plate.  Move it slightly forward in the center portion of the plate to a place where the ball will be located at a point where it would just cross the plate.  This drill will condition players to know when to hit the ball if it is "coming down the middle" or "over the heart of the plate".  These positions are also known as the center of the plate.  If hit properly in this location, the ball should be hit up the middle somewhere between the shortstop's and second baseman's fielding position.  This drill should be performed until the batter hits at least 10 balls up the middle, before moving on to the next drill.

Drill for Hitting an Inside Pitch
The next location to set the practice tee is to the place it where the ball is located at a position about 6" off of the inside front corner of the plate.  For an inside pitch the batter needs to hit the ball before it reaches the plate.  This drill reinforces the mechanics needed for such a swing.  If a right handed batter hits this pitch location correctly, then the ball should fly through an area between the shortstop's fielding position and the left field line.  For a left handed batter the area would be between the second baseman's fielding position and the right field line.  Like the previous drill, the batter should hit at least 10 balls through the correct zone before moving on to the next drill.

Drill for Hitting an Outside Pitch
The final location in this three drill set, is to place the practice tee at a position located on the outside back corner of the plate, just inside the foul line.  This drill will teach the batter where to properly strike the ball for an outside pitch.  Since it is almost impossible to pull the ball from this position, it is a great way to teach a pull-hitter to take the ball to the opposite field.  If a right handed batter hits this pitch location correctly, then the ball should fly through an area between the second baseman's fielding position and the right field line.  If a left handed batter hits this pitch correctly, then the ball should fly through an area between the shortstop's fielding position and the left field line.  As with the other two drills, this one should be practiced until the batter has hit at least 10 balls through the correct zone.

Doing these drills during every practice should drastically help improve the batters' overall hitting ability.  If you can teach him to drive the ball to all portions of the field, and to take what the pitcher gives him, then he should start to see more quality at bats and fewer strikeouts.  In future posts we will continue to provide other batting drills as well as introducing pitching and fielding strategies as well.

So check back often!

By-the-way, if you are looking for a good quality tee, we suggest the Macgregor Batting Tee.  It is fairly sturdy and has received very good reviews.  It is one of the best tees we have found.  If it is something that interests you, then click on the blue link to find out more.

-CYU

GOLF - Taking the Right Approach to Your Swing

In a golf swing there are more than a few things that can go wrong and cause the ball to do strange things.  Well at least they will seem strange to the untrained eye, but to a Pro many of the problems can be fixed with patience, practice, know how, and possibly the right tool.

For many golfers the "Slice" is a common problem that haunts us at the most inopportune times on the golf course.  For many a golfer it seems like the longer the club the worse the slice.  When you think about it, that does make a little sense, and here is why.

A slice is caused by having an open club face at the time the club head impacts the ball.  So controlling the club head through impact is vitally important.  Also, the longer and heavier the club, the harder it is to control the club head through impact.  Making sure that you have a good solid grip is vitally important, as well as making sure that the club head is square to the ball at setup.  We will discuss the grip and setup in future blogs.

However, your swing can be just as important as the grip and setup in correcting a slice.  Many amature golfers who hit a slice have what is referred to as an outside - in swing or also known as "coming over the top".  Basically, this means that during the down swing, the club drifts away from the body at the top part of the swing and comes in closer to the body at impact.  The movement from out to in may be slight, but it can cause bad things to happen at impact.  This motion can also open up the club face and cause a left to right or clockwise spin on the ball, creating a slice.

Now the good news is that this can be corrected, the bad news is that this can be hard to notice by yourself.  As a golfer, you always have the opportunity to check your grip and club face alignment during setup.  However, the club is going so fast during your swing, that unless your outside - in motion is drastic, it can be hard to detect unless someone is behind you looking for it.  The only way that you may be able to tell if you took an outside - in approach, would be to study your divot after the swing.  If the divot is angled left of your target, and you are sure your set-up was correct, then that could indicate an outside - in swing.

The correct swing approach at impact would be an inside - out approach.  It is not that hard to achieve with a little practice.  However, just like noticing the bad habit of going "over the top", how do you know for certain that you are actually going inside - out without someone studying your swing?  Looking at your post swing divot may help, but we have found a tool that can act as a pair of eyes for you.

There are a number of golf tools out on the market that say that they will help you be a better golfer, and some will do just that.  Then again, some won't!  But there is a tool that we have used at CYU which we have found works for both new and experienced golfers.  The tool is called the Jack Nicklaus Inside Approach Swing Slice Correction Trainer . 

This training tool is basically a plastic apparatus that forces the golfer to take the proper swinging approach (inside - out) toward the ball, helping to ensure a more square club face at impact.  The swing trainer comes in five pieces that are very easy to assemble, and if you do swing incorrectly, you will know it.  The reason is because if you do swing outside - in, then the club will hit the trainer and knock the foam covered arm off of its support.  The trainer also comes with a video from the developer and Jack Nicklaus also goes through a couple of tips and reasons for a slice, which can be valuable information as well.

We, at CYU, have used this trainer several times and it has worked for all of us here that have tried it.  We were turned on to this product by an instructor who told us he used it while he was in school and loved it.  So we took his advice and purchased it.  We even had a 12 year old golfer, who had only been playing the game for a month, try it.  After a couple of practice sessions, he did not hit the trainer any more and was striking the ball really well.

The one draw back is the product costs about 50 bucks, but you also should take into account, that you would probably have to spend 50 bucks for a lesson with a teaching pro for him to try to help you correct this swing error.  Odds are, it may take several lessons to correct the problem for good, and at $50 a lesson, that can get pretty expensive.  At least with the trainer you could use it over and over, which should save you money in the long run.  We have also found that when we happen to let those old "over the top" habits creep back into our game, a session or two with the swing trainer seems to cure our problem.

This is not a miracle cure by any stretch of the imagination.  If you are going to correct your "over the top" approach, you are going to have to work at it.  Just putting in a few minutes one time with this trainer won't cure your ill immediately.  However, with some practice you should start to see results.  If you are interested in finding out more about this product, you can click on the blue link above.  We can't guarantee that this product will work for you, because we don't manufacture it.  However, we wanted to make our readers aware of this product because it has worked for the golfers here at CYU.  If you do purchase it, I hope you have the same success that we have had with it.

-CYU