Do you practice for emergencies? In other words, do you practice from bad lies, under trees, out of deep rough, or even out of water hazards? The list of situations you will experience on a golf course are endless which is part of what makes golf so much fun and adventurous. You hear tour players talk about how preparation is the reason they are able to perform and win golf tournaments. Preparation cannot only mean going to the range and hitting 50 six irons to the same target and then 50 drivers to complete your 100 bucket of 100 range balls. 

Think about Captain Chesley Sullenberger who was prepared to think clearly enough to land his plane in the Hudson river between two bridges and save everybody on board not to mention people on the ground. This amazing feat did not happen by mistake. He was able to adjust under the ultimate pressure. Think about this next time you pull a ball out of the bucket and give yourself a perfect perched up lie to hit the next shot. Are you really preparing?

Ben Hogan was a great distance wedge player. This was because he hit a lot of punch wedge shots and brought the ball in low. The 60 degree wedge did not exist in his day and if it did, I'm sure Mr. Hogan would have only used it for short chips and pitches around the greens. But for the 30-90 yard wedge shots, he took the less lofted wedge and drove it in low with spin. Mr. Hogan said: " Show me the golfer who hits full wedge shots. I want to play him for money." Enough said!

Did you know that the average club selection for a touring pro into a par 4 is a 7 iron? What club are you averaging for your second shot? If you are looking to figure out which tees you should play to have the most fun, I have your answer. Your seven iron carries  64 % as far as your driver carry distance. So lets say you carry your driver 200 yards, that means your seven iron carries 128 yards. In short, you should be playing par 4's that are 330-350 yards. Chances are you are playing golf from too far back. Think about why you play golf. Are you out there to have fun or to torture yourself for five hours. Golf courses are starting to create new tee boxes to accommodate more players. Take advantage of it so you can have more fun. 

Bear Crawls

There are many warm-ups you can do to prepare for a practice or round of golf. One movement that addresses all of our mobility needs is the bear crawl. Generally, it’ll help us prepare the tissues of our body by promoting joint stability, increasing body temperature, and improving coordination. Specifically, the bear crawl will help us develop arm strength and oblique strength. Strength in these areas will help improve your swing control and club speed.

To perform the bear crawl:

start off resting on hands and knees push through the feet to straighten knees (intentionally placing more weight in arms) push through hands, squeeze triceps and reach shoulders towards ears step forward with right arm, pushing hard through left arm after the right hand comes back to ground, exhale and crunch abs, pulling left leg forward towards left hand repeat on the opposite side keep hips in the air (also intentionally places more weight in arms) walk for 10-20 total steps Perform 1 set of 20 steps before a round of golf for 3 sets of 20-30 sets before each training session 4 times a week. To measure success, compare your initial long drive distance with your distance after 4 weeks of consistent training. -- Train intentionally. Move freely. Live with purpose. 

Christopher Gaines Founder/Director of Programming, PerformanceGaines Training Direct: 650.387.5400 Website: www.performancegaines.com Social: www.facebook.com/performancegaines