One of my pet peeves is when an announcer on TV says that a putt on the first hole will set the tone for the day. Does that mean that if the player misses that he is set up to play poorly.  That is ludicrous! One of the best mental lessons I ever got was from Fred Shoemaker, owner of the extraordinary golf school in Carmel, CA. He said that the reason people play poorly if they start off poorly is that they expect past experiences of struggling to manifest themselves. It then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But he then offers an alternative. What if your next shot or the rest of the day could be the best you have ever played. If you open yourself to this possibility, you will have a great attitude on the next shot and now you have a chance to succeed! What if I told to you that you were going to shoot your best score ever and you knew this before you teed off. You then proceeded to pump your opening tee shot out of bounds. Would you be upset? Of course not, you can't wait to hit your next one and enjoy the round because magic is going to happen. This should be your attitude on the next shot. I once heard Tom Watson say that he never hit two bad shots in a row in a major championship. This is a testament to his mental strength and a personification of Fred Shoemaker's point. Let's prove that announcer wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

Have you ever stopped to think about how you perform your best on the course from a behavioral point of view?  My advice is to get out a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle.  On the left hand side, write down how you act when you play poorly. On the right hand side, write down how you act when you play well. The formula is simple, choose to act the way you do when you play well. You can fake it even if you don't feel like it. You will be amazed how you can trick your brain. As my friend Chuck hogan used to say, you can't play a sad song on a banjo! You also want to pay attention to how you behave when you play poorly so you can recognize it and change it. You will have more fun this way and your friends will love to play with you. Positive energy is contagious, unfortunately negative energy is as well. 

Putting from off the green has always been a pretty good play. My philosophy has always been, putt if you can putt, if you can't putt, chip, if you can't chip, pitch, and if you can't pitch, then lob. Martin Kaymer took this to another level at the US open last month. Boy did it work! I think people don't use this strategy enough because they don't practice it. But think about this, how often do you miss-hit a putt versus a chip. Ken Venturi would always make that comment when a player was deciding whether to chip or putt. Use the following logic next time you face that decision. If you chipped it 100 times versus putting it 100 times, which would average out to be closer. Therein lies the answer to your decision. Martin Kaymer's led him to his second major.

We've all encountered this shot. The ball rolls up against the fringe which makes  it's difficult to make clean contact. You would like to putt but the putter sticks in the grass. This shot is not as difficult as it may seem. Just take your sand wedge and set up like a putt. You can even use your putting grip. Hover the wedge just above the equator of the ball. Now just make your putting stoke. The wedge will cut right through the grass and the ball will come out with topspin. After all, you did just hit the top of the ball. Because of the topspin, the ball will roll out a bit so practice this to get your distance control right. Check out the video later on in this newsletter to see the execution of the shot.

The picture you see on the left is master craftsmen Bob Vokey working on one of his wedges. Titleist Vokey wedges are the #1 wedge on tour and #1 selling wedge in the industry. I got a chance to meet Bob Vokey recently and he mentioned that fitting to the grind of the wedge is the key to performance for the player. While having the correct bounce on the club is important, the correct grind is King. That is why Bob has designed six different grinds in his SM5 wedge line. The correct grind for you depends on whether you are a digger or a sweeper through impact. The K grind is designed to help the club go through the grass and sand for the steeper impact player while the S grind favors the player who sweeps it more like Steve Stricker. The "S' grind was actually named after Stricker. I carry a variety of grinds in my bag to help me with different shots. The best way to figure out what grind works best for you is to try them. Don't go in with any pre conceived notions. Just try them in different conditions and you will see the one that works best for you. For those of you who are local, I have demos of all the grinds, bounces and lofts for you to try. With the proper grind, you are fit to be awesome around the greens. Thanks Bob!

Create Fluid Motion…On Demand | By Buddy Biancalana FluidMotionGolf.com

Have you ever had the experience on the range or course in which you felt as if your swing slowed down and your mind became quieter with fewer thoughts? If so, it is likely you were striking the golf ball very well. This is the experience I had as the shortstop for the Kansas City Royals in the 1985 World Series. It is an experience that most athletes in all sports are familiar. It is one that “keeps us coming back” and allows us to enjoy our sport on a deep level. It is often referred to as, “the zone.” However, the zone is often fleeting as it was for me. I was out of the Major Leagues 18 months after my zone experience because I did not understand what took place in my brain that allowed me to play so well, and therefore, I had no idea how to repeat it. Can you relate to this? I would like to introduce you to The Fluid Motion Factor, a program now taught by Josh Zander and for the sake of keeping this article on the shorter side, jump right to providing you a Fluid Motion Cue that will help you replicate that wonderful freedom you may have experienced when striking the ball so well. The next time you go to the range, once you are relaxed over the ball, gently place your tongue up on the roof of your mouth and keep it there throughout your swing. Simple, right? And powerful! Making the tongue on the roof of your mouth the priority over any other aspect of your swing, will activate the Fluid Motion Factor which will allow for fluid motion to be produced. See if you can completely detach from your swing and the desired result, while your attention is on the Fluid Motion Cue. Enjoy the freedom!