Make golf more fun!
Most of us have been around golf long enough to have heard “bend your knees”, “keep your head down”, “keep your eye on the ball”… I have even heard “don’t forget to breathe”. These tips won’t help fast track your child’s passion or learning for the game of golf, so skip them. Instead, do your best to create a fun non intimidating environment for them to play the game and sure enough they will improve fast just by DOING. Here are a few ideas to help create a fun non intimidating environment:
Play a course that is the right length! You are only doing your child a dis- service by playing a full length golf course. The object of the game is to put the ball in the hole, if the hole is physically far away and might take them 15 shots to get it in, they will feel intimidated and not have much fun. Start them close to the hole. They will want to put the ball in the hole right away and the sense of achievement will make them enjoy the game!
If they can hit their driver 40 yards don’t start them from longer than 80 yards from the hole. LET THEM TEE IT UP EVERYWHERE. The rules of golf are for competition play, alter them as much as possible to let your child have more fun. Let them take two whiffs and then allow them to throw the ball. Let them keep advancing along the golf hole so they get to their goal FASTER.
Golf should be fun for adults too!
How do we make golf more fun for adults too? This is a great question which needs to be addressed by the golf industry as a whole. With so many rules and so much etiquette the game can appear as NOT FUN to youngsters in the beginning. Make it fun for them, create new games on the fly. For this hole we are only going to use 1 club or the least amount of putts on this hole wins… GET CREATIVE, HAVE FUN and they will love the game just like you!
- James Presnail is a PGA of Canada Teaching Professional with the Golf Institute at Fraserview. He is also the Head Golf Professional at Gleneagles Golf Course in West Vancouver. You can contact James at 604-921-7353 (golf shop), 604-318-0306 (cell) or golf@westvancouver.ca.
Physical technique aside, picking a landing spot for the ball is something you always need to focus on while chipping. It’s kind of like driving your car to the grocery store. In order to get to the grocery store, you find a secondary target – the parking lot. Similarly in chipping the target destination is the hole, but you should only be trying to imagine a landing area appropriate for the ball to come to rest near the hole. So even if you are trying to sink the chip shot, the hole shouldn’t be where you are aiming. Aim where you want the ball to land!
What is your target? While I have you on the topic of targets I want you to ponder this: Let’s say I go out for a round of golf and shoot 78. The actual hole is only my target 5-10 times out of those 78 strokes. How is that possible? The hole isn’t my target off the tee, it usually isn’t my target from the fairway, it isn’t my target chipping, and it is very rarely my target while putting, unless the putt inside 2 ft and dead straight. So take the time to think about what your target really is.
If you have any questions about the hole not being your target or any other golf techniques please send me an email at jwpresnail@gmail.com and I would love to chat about it.
- James Presnail, TCCP Level 4, Head Golf Professional, PGA of Canada
We have expanded and golf lessons are now also available at Gleneagles Golf Course in West Vancouver from PGA of Canada Golf Professional James Presnail. James has taken on the role of Head Golf Professional at Gleneagles and will be offering his teaching and coaching expertise as well as his management skills to the facility.
To book a golf lesson with James you can contact him at 604-318-0306.
James and Mo hit the range to play. Having fun and playing is for sure the best way to practice. We weren’t sure that we were going to be able to pull off this shot, but we actually did it first try! After the first shot we started getting creative an exploring other ways to have fun with this exercise. Mo couldn’t resist giving the driver a swing… and sure enough he makes “SOLID” Contact with the SHAFT, and the head of the driver sailed down the range. His facial expression is priceless when this happens! Have a look, hope you enjoy. For lessons from any of our team, please contact the proshop @ 604 – 257 – 6923
Having consistent aim, trajectory and timing, so we could collide our golf balls in the air
This was an unusually hard video to create. Not only did we have to control our own ball flight direction and trajectory… We had to work as a team and hit the ball at the exact same moment. This exercise really made us focus on our intention. Our intention was to hit the ball head height over the stump directly towards each other. Then we counted to three, and swung. Lucky after about 25 minutes of deep practice sticking to our intention we achieved our goal of colliding our balls in the air. Have a view of the video, do you think you and a friend can safely do this?
Come visit @mokidane or @jamespresnail at the golf institute at fraserview for some short game lessons – 604 257 6923
How to Shorten your Backswing:
I taught over 70 lessons this past weekend @ the golf show in Vancouver. Over 75% of those lessons were on length of swing, and how it relates to the target. In my honest opinion I believe that a long backswing is a backswing away form the ball. But in fact, your golf swing should be away from your target. And on the flip side, your golf club release should be at propelling an object toward the target, not the ball! I made this quick video for Golfers that have a long backswing, enjoy!
Hint: the fairway is not a good target, the green is not a good target, they are too general and don’t give your athleticism enough visual information to help it propel an object accurately towards it. When I learnt how to throw a baseball, my coach always said “stare at the glove you are throwing to!” that is the best sport advice I have ever received, and it relates perfectly to golf. If your throwing a ball from outfield to infield and don’t have a specific target the ball could end up anywhere. This originates from before you even decide to throw it. When you pick someones glove as a target, your whole motion is designed away and towards that glove. If you don’t have a specific target in golf like “hit the fairway’ The motion your body creates away from the target can be so disconnected, and a direct reason you might not be hitting the ball where you are aiming. Think carefully before choosing your target!
As if the golf hole doesn’t seem small enough already! Anyhow, pick super small targets when practicing! It will make the hole seem bigger. In the case of this movie, I was playing pool with golf balls and a golf club, getting the angle right takes a precise target intention. If your target is more specific, you will definitely see better results. When playing golf, don’t try and hit the fairway, try and hit the 150 yard stake post. And when you’re near the green, try and sink every shot! Why not? That is the game isn’t it? Come by Fraserview golf course for some lessons this winter or spring. We would love to help you explore fun ways to drop your handicap! See you in Vancouver @ Fraserview golf course!
When I made this video hitting shots off a wall and then nailing them out of the air, I totally missed the ball a few times! So I included them in the video as I thought they were funny. Believe it or not, the toughest thing to do in this video is to hit the wooden board… Countless times in the beginning I didn’t even come close! So the lesson I learnt was being really aware of the club path and clubface through impact. Give it a try sometime see if you have the precision!
Come Visit us at TGIfraserview for golf lessons/instruction in Vancouver
- James Presnail is a PGA of Canada Teaching Professional with the Golf Institute at Fraserview. He is also the Head Golf Professional at Gleneagles Golf Course in West Vancouver. You can contact James at 604-921-7353 (golf shop), 604-318-0306 (cell) or golf@westvancouver.ca.
