1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: It's the Son of a Butch podcast. I'm your host, 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Claude Harmon solo episode of the pod. But before we 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: get to it, this episode is being brought to you 4 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: by Platform Golf, the world class solution bringing uneven lies 5 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: to off course golf. Whether you're hitting indoors or on 6 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: a simulator, or training from an into out bay, Platform 7 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: Golf lets you practice like you're on the course with sidehill, 8 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: uphill and downhill lies adjusting right beneath your feet. It's 9 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: the first of its kind solution giving players and coaches 10 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: the ability to replicate real world conditions in and out 11 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: of the studio. You don't need to be on the 12 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: tenth fairway to learn how to handle an awkward stance 13 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: or a sloping green. Now you can train for it 14 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: inside the studio. Trusted by me and top PGA teaching professionals, 15 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: Platform Golf is changing how golf is practiced. To learn more, 16 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: visit platform goolf dot com. That's platform goolf dot com. 17 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: So I wanted to talk this week a little bit 18 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: about skill acquisition and kind of an experience I had 19 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: over at the Open Championship with Dustin Johnson. So I 20 00:00:57,680 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: was thinking about skill acquisition? 21 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 2: What is that? So? 22 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: I went online found a definition skill acxiition motor learning, 23 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 1: the interdisciplinary science of intention, perception, action, and calibration of 24 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: the performer's environment relationship. 25 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 2: What does that mean? 26 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: Simplified terms, skill acquisition refers to the voluntary control over 27 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: movements and joints and body segments in effort to solve 28 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: a motor skill problem or achieve a goal. So when 29 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: we talk about skill acquisition, I think a lot of 30 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: players think of practice as just that they're just going 31 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: to practice one specific thing. 32 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 2: They're going to practice it over and over and over again. 33 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: A lot of times we divide practice, you know, for 34 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: our golfers, for our athletes, into block practice and random practice. 35 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:45,960 Speaker 1: And I've spoken about this on the pod before. I 36 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: think a lot of players spend a lot of time 37 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: in block practice, Right they get their seven iron, they 38 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: pick out a target, and they're working on a move 39 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: and they just do that over and over and over 40 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: and over again. And I think a lot of players 41 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: that I talk to think they're going to get to 42 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: that next level. They think they're going to lower their 43 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: scores by just practicing their golf swing enough, making that 44 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: golf swing better. And yeah, I mean, obviously that's going 45 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: to help, But there's so much more to practicing golf 46 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: and how you practice golf. I've talked before the difference 47 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 1: between random and block practice. Block practices where you're just 48 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: doing the same thing over and over again. Randomized practice 49 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: is kind of saying, Okay, I've worked on my golf swing, 50 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: I've worked to my technique. The random part of it is, 51 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: now I'm going to kind of take different targets, different lies. 52 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:31,959 Speaker 1: Something that Platform Golf is trying to do is trying 53 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: to simulate in practice what you're going to see on 54 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: the golf course. So the randomized practice is changing the lie, 55 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: changing the target, changing the condition. Block practice is just 56 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: kind of doing the same task over and over and 57 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: over again. So specifically with the short game, I think 58 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: a lot of times players are really just using one club. 59 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: They're going to their loob wedge, They're going to the 60 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: club that's got the most loft in their bag, and 61 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: they're trying to hit all of the shots with that. 62 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: So from a skill acquisition standpoint, are you trying to 63 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: learn one specific shot with your lob wedge or you know, 64 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 1: if you're thinking about chipping around the green. Right, So 65 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: if you go throw some balls all around whatever short 66 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: game green you've got, around your home course, whatever bunker, 67 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: you have your own course, right chipping, and then that's 68 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: what's going to be happening where we're close to the green, 69 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: and then as we get further away, that's pitching, but 70 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,959 Speaker 1: specifically in terms of pitching. So we were at the 71 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: Open Championship at Port Rush. I was working with Dustin 72 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: Johnson DJ. Good week for DJ twenty third, only one 73 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: bogie on the on the weekend, so yeah, definitely moving 74 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: in the right direction. But we were in the short 75 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: game area and he was looking at I mean, the 76 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,119 Speaker 1: ground is very very hard. The ground is very very 77 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: firm at the Open Championship. So we were trying to 78 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: figure out what kind of bounces we were going to use, 79 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: what kind of losts we were going to use. So 80 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: he was having some wedges made up and one of 81 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: the manufacturers came over and said, hey, listen, we're gonna 82 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: make you up some wedges. Can we take the two 83 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: wedges You've got the fifty eight and the fifty DJ's 84 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: got a fifty eight that sometimes is at fifty eight, 85 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: sometimes it's spent to sixty and then he's got a 86 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: fifty four. 87 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 2: That he bends. 88 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: But basically he's got two wedges in his bag, and 89 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: then he's got his pitching wedge. And so they took 90 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: his wedges away from him because they wanted to weigh 91 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: them and measure them and make sure the lies and everything. 92 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 2: They were building up some new ones. 93 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: So he just had his pitching wedge and DJ started 94 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: just kind of chipping with his pitching wedge, and it 95 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: was unbelievable the difference and the change and how much 96 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: utter the shots that he was hitting with a pitching wedge. 97 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: He'd been hitting a shot to a pin that was 98 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: kind of just on the front edge of the short 99 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: game area. He's trying to hit, you know, a lob wedge, 100 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: trying to hit you know, something high in there and 101 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: one bounce, spin it and stuff. 102 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 2: Having some success, hitting some bad ones. 103 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: But because he didn't have his lob wedge or a 104 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: sand wedge, he pulled out his pitching wedge. I mean, 105 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: it was unbelievable how much better his technique got, how 106 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: much better the shots were, how much better the quality 107 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: of the strike was. 108 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:12,600 Speaker 2: Why right, why. 109 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: Was it better with a pitching wedge to a short 110 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 1: sighted flag that he was trying to hit a lob 111 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: wedge too. Why was the shot better? Well, A lot 112 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,039 Speaker 1: of I think what happens with players is dependent on 113 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: kind of their grip, their setups, and in DJ's case, 114 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: at times his short game can get a little bit 115 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: off because of the grip that he has, of the 116 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:34,840 Speaker 1: forward press that he has, he tends to take the 117 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,159 Speaker 1: golf club back. You know, he's got that kind of 118 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: a little bit of a move to where he's get 119 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: a little bit of a forward press, the golf club 120 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,359 Speaker 1: goes back a little bit on the shut or the 121 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: closed side gets up to the top and that really 122 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: really closed side, that really flat left wrist. 123 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 2: Coming down, he can bote down. 124 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: That's all great for hitting iron shots, for hitting really 125 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: good solid iron shots, but at times, because of his 126 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: grip and because of what he does with the forward press, 127 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: it affects his short game. So in videoing it and 128 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: looking at it, because he had a pitching wedge in 129 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: his hand, there wasn't nearly as much forward press at address. 130 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: He was opening the face of the pitching wedge a 131 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,599 Speaker 1: little bit, which meant as the club was going back 132 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: on the backswing, the golf club wasn't going back as 133 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: closed as it does in his full swing, but as 134 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: closed as it does sometimes in his short game stuff. 135 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: And it was just amazing how much better his technique got, 136 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 1: the way the club was interacting with the turf, the 137 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: quality of the strike, his ability to kind of I mean, 138 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: we had a pitching wedge and I said, okay, we've 139 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: got a backflag in here. I said, hit me one 140 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: that goes in there a little bit higher and kind 141 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: of one bounces and stops it. So with a pitching 142 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: wedge in his hand, that's easy to do with a 143 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: lob wedge, right, That's easy to do with a sand wedge. 144 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: But with the wedge, he has to do something different. Right, 145 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: there's a problem that he has to solve, and it's 146 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: a loft problem. 147 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 2: Right. 148 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: We were asking him to hit a high, one bounce 149 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: spin shot with a pitching wedge. Like I said, it's 150 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: easy to do that with a lob wedge because the 151 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: loft helps you. 152 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 2: Easy to do that with a sand wedge. 153 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: Because fifty four, fifty five, fifty six degrees a loft. 154 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: Your lob wedge anywhere between fifty eight to sixty. Some 155 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: guys even have sixty four's in their back. Some guys 156 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: have sixty twos in their back. But when you have 157 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: a golf club that you know doesn't have enough loft 158 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:41,840 Speaker 1: on it to hit it high, you have to then 159 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: do something different. And that's where it's a skill that 160 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: you're trying to manufacture. So that's the skill acquisition part 161 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: of it. Because your pitching wedge inherently wants to go 162 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: low right, It doesn't want to go high, especially if 163 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: you're hitting it around the grip. So what do you 164 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: have to do as a player. And I think sometimes 165 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: as well, because DJ has a very very strong, you know, 166 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: strong grip, lot of forward press. The back swing can 167 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: go back, it can go back a little bit on 168 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: the outside like his full swing. The club can get 169 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: a little bit shut on going back. Then he's trying 170 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: to get the golf ball to go a little bit higher. 171 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: And a lot of times DJ to do that, can 172 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: kind of drive a little bit with his knees, back 173 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: up a little bit with his chest and maybe hit 174 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: a little bit behind it, catch it a little bit 175 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: high on the face. The quality of the strike is great, 176 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: and that's something that I see a lot of regular, 177 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 1: you know, just normal golfers trying to non competitive tour players, 178 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: non competitive college amateurs, just they're trying to get the 179 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: golf ball in the air. They've taken the golf club 180 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: that's got the most loft. They've opened the face, but 181 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: now they're going to try and feel like they have 182 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: to get underneath it. So they drive a lot with 183 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: their knees. Their upper body goes back, the head goes back, 184 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: the handle gets way way forward, and at times DJ 185 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: can can fight that same thing. So with this pitching wedge, 186 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: all of a sudden and videoing it, his knees weren't 187 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,079 Speaker 1: moving around as much. Right, He wasn't trying to get 188 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: underneath it as much. What he was doing was he 189 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: had a problem that he was trying to solve. Right, 190 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: it was a loft problem. We were telling him to 191 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 1: hit some high soft landing chip shots with a pitching wedge. 192 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: So he opened the face, the golf club went it 193 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 1: was a little bit more rounded, so it was going 194 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: back a little bit more for him on the inside, 195 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: which was getting the face in a little bit more 196 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: open position. But I just think it was getting him 197 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: to start to think about what he had to do 198 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: to get this golf club to perform in a way 199 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: that it's not designed to be performed. We actually went 200 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: over to the bunker and got him in the bunker 201 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: with a pitching wedge and had him hitting, trying to 202 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 1: hit and to a short sighted flag. Again, that's a 203 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: problem he's got to solve, right, because he's got too 204 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: much golf club. He's got a pitching wedge which is 205 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: longer than his sand wedg, which is longer than his 206 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,439 Speaker 1: lob wedge. He's got less loft than his sand wedge. 207 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 1: He's got way less lost when his lob wedge. So 208 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: he had to try and figure it out. And the 209 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: cool thing is, I wasn't saying anything right, It wasn't 210 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,199 Speaker 1: me trying to. 211 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 2: Teach him how to hit it higher. 212 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,880 Speaker 1: I was just telling him, listen, this is a shot 213 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: I want you to hit, and you've got a pitching 214 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: wedge in your hand, so you, as the player, have 215 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: to solve that problem. And we got him in the 216 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: bunker and all of a sudden, he was hitting high, soft, 217 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: little bunker shots because he was solving the loft problem. 218 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 2: He was saying. 219 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: You could see his brain kind of working out what 220 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: he was trying to do. And I think This is 221 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: a fantastic way. 222 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 2: For you to look. 223 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: There's a big difference between practicing a chip shot right 224 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,680 Speaker 1: and then learning how to chip. So if you give 225 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: someone a golf club like a pitching wedge around the 226 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: green and say, okay, you've got to hit a variety 227 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: of different shots here. Yeah, you can hit some where 228 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: you put it back in your stance and hit a 229 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,440 Speaker 1: little bit of bump and run. But we're going to 230 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: ask you to hit some high shots with a pitching ledge. 231 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 1: So what are you is the player going to do 232 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: to try and solve that problem? And so what I 233 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: try and do in teaching and in coaching is to 234 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: try and first and foremost see if the player can 235 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: solve that problem themselves. And that's another thing that I 236 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: think is really important. If you want to try and 237 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: improve your short game, give yourself problems to solve, give 238 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: yourself shots that you have to try and figure out 239 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:51,679 Speaker 1: how to make the golf ball perform. So we started 240 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 1: just hitting some real I mean, DJ just started hitting 241 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: some beautiful, little controlled spin shots, and all of the sudden, 242 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: because he has a golf club in his in his 243 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: in his hands, that wasn't necessarily the right club for 244 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,439 Speaker 1: that shot, right, it wasn't the right choice. His brain 245 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:12,439 Speaker 1: had to work, Okay, what do I need to do 246 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: to hit some higher? So we were we short sighted 247 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: ourselves a couple of times. We got down in a 248 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: little bit of a kind of a swale. There was 249 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: a swale to kind of the right side of the 250 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: chipping green at Port Rush, which is basically at a 251 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: lot of the Open Championships, specifically the ones that have 252 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: more than just one nine or an extra nine or 253 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: an extra eighteen or kind of a practice course, right, 254 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: some of the Open Championships have a nine whole course. 255 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:40,880 Speaker 1: But the short game green for the Open Championship was 256 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: one of the greens on one of the other golf courses, 257 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: and so it was actually a real green, a couple 258 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: of bunkers, and it had all of the runoff areas 259 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:50,439 Speaker 1: and stuff very similar to what we were going to 260 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 1: see on the golf course. So we kind of threw 261 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: some balls down into kind of a low area simulating 262 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: that he short sighted himself and now he's got to 263 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: really get the golf ball up. Could stop, but he's 264 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: got a pitching wedge. Now. Obviously he hit some to 265 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,480 Speaker 1: where he kind of bounced it into the slope and 266 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 1: tried to control it that way. But once he started 267 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:11,959 Speaker 1: hitting it to where I said, okay, hit me some 268 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: a little bit higher with the pitching wedge, he hit 269 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: better shots than trying to hit a bump and run 270 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: with a pitching wedge, which you would think that would 271 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:22,679 Speaker 1: be the right shot. 272 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 2: And so it was this situation. 273 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,360 Speaker 1: It was a problem that he had to solve, right, 274 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: And I think, as a player, don't be afraid in 275 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: your practice sessions to say, okay, whatever you could do 276 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: it in full swings, Okay, the yardage is I do 277 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: this a lot when we're working on people's own players 278 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 1: wedge games, right, we give them Yardages'll say, okay, we've 279 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,560 Speaker 1: got eighty five yards to a flag, and then we've 280 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: got one oh five to a flag, and then we've 281 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,240 Speaker 1: got kind of one ten, one fifteen to a flag. 282 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: And so the first thing that everybody wants to do 283 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: is they want to take their lob wedge or their 284 00:13:57,640 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: sandw edge to all that. And so what I try 285 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: and do is say, okay, take one more club, So 286 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: eighty five yards, what's that going to be most people 287 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: from eighty five yards, you know, competitive players are probably 288 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,719 Speaker 1: going to choose a lob wedge. And then if you've 289 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 1: got a lob wedge in your hand and you're just 290 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: a regular, average handicap recreational golfer, you're probably going to 291 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: be hitting lob wedge from distances where the golf ball 292 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: you're gonna have to make a massive swing, it's going 293 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: to balloon on you and it's not going to go 294 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: into the air. So one of the skill acquisition things 295 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: that I like to do is especially for competitive players 296 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: who come in and say, listen, I'm really I feel 297 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: like my wedge games, you know, one of the things 298 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: that's holding me back, one of the things that I 299 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: struggle with. And I'll have them go, Okay, give me 300 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: some baseline yardages that you struggle with, and whatever those 301 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 1: baseline yardages that you struggle with will have them hit. Okay, 302 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: what club would you hit for this yard? So let's 303 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: say we're doing you know, baselines. I kind of think 304 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: baselines from a short game, you know, pitching standpoint kind 305 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: of fifty seventy five, one hundred, one hundred and fifteen 306 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: one hundred twenty five. You can randomize the numbers any 307 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: way you want, but you know, just make it easy 308 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: go fifty seventy five, one hundred, one hundred and ten, 309 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty five. Okay, pick those out as 310 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: your wedge. Just then ask yourself what clubs that you 311 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,960 Speaker 1: would hit to those, and hit some to them and 312 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: say okay, now, whatever club I was used, And if 313 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: you're using your lob wedge, I'd go pitching wedge, If 314 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: you were using your sand wedge, I'd go nine iron, 315 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: I'd go one or two clubs down in loft. Right, 316 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: so we're getting you away from a loft that you're 317 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: comfortable with. We're getting you away from a loft that 318 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: you're used to using, so that you have to solve 319 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: the problem. 320 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 2: Right, what do you have to do? Do you have to. 321 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: Change the ball position? Do you have to change how 322 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 1: much you're leaning the shaft forward at address, how much 323 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: you're leaning the shaft back at address? You're going to 324 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: have to adjust your golf swing because if it's eighty 325 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: five yards and we give you a nine iron and 326 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 1: we ask you to hit a green from eighty five 327 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: yards with a nine iron, you're going to have to 328 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: do You're going to have to do something number one 329 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: to take the distance off the ball, and number two, 330 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:07,480 Speaker 1: you're going to have to do something to solve the 331 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: loft problem because you've got too much loft. And so 332 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: do you move the golf ball more forward in your stance, 333 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 1: do you open the face? Do you change your alignment 334 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: and stuff? And so I think it's a very good 335 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: way to learn how to hit a shot. But specifically 336 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: what we were asking DJ to do was I think 337 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: it was a very interesting time for him to kind 338 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: of learn how to chip, not learn a chip with 339 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: one club, learn how to chip. There's a big difference 340 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 1: between just doing the same thing over and over and 341 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: over again. You know, if you think about the putting green, everybody, 342 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: if they have let's say you have thirty six pots, right. 343 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 2: You have a bad bunch of putting, bad putting. 344 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: Most people are going to say, listen at thirty six 345 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: putts today, had a bunch of three pots, missed a 346 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: bunch of short putts and stuff like that. 347 00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 2: So what am I going? What am I going to do? 348 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:00,600 Speaker 1: First thing they're going to do going to go straight 349 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: to In my opinion and in my experience, most people 350 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 1: have a bad putting day. The first thing they do 351 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 1: they go to the putting green and they practice putts 352 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: inside of three to five feet, that's it. They think 353 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:17,119 Speaker 1: that's going to help them put better because they've missed 354 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: some short puts for par. But maybe you missed the 355 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: short putt because your lag putting is bad. So again, 356 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: as opposed to just going and saying, listen, I'm just 357 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: going to practice three footers and that's going to help 358 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: me putt better. That is one specific task from one 359 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: specific distance, as opposed to saying, okay, a great drill 360 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:40,159 Speaker 1: that I saw Cam come up with, who works with 361 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:44,400 Speaker 1: Jordan Speed. Six pots, randomize them from three to kind 362 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: of six feet, six pots randomize them from kind of 363 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 1: ten to twenty feet, and then six putts, randomize them 364 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: from twenty. 365 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 2: To forty feet. 366 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: Right, most people, if you give them six puts between 367 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: three to six feet three to five feet, they're going 368 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,479 Speaker 1: to expect to make all of those. And if you're 369 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 1: a really good golfer, if you're trying to play competitive, 370 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: you're probably going to make pretty much all of those. 371 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,520 Speaker 1: So think about that, six puts from three to five feet, 372 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: three to six feet, then six putts from ten to 373 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: twenty feet. Most of the times, that's where I see 374 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: players not really make a lot of putts right. If 375 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,399 Speaker 1: they're a competitive golfer and they're struggling with their putting, 376 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: they're probably going to two put a lot from that range, 377 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: but they're not going to make a lot of ten 378 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 1: to twenty footers. I remember asking Phil Mickelson about putting 379 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: once and he said, the weeks that I have won historically, 380 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,920 Speaker 1: I make a lot of putts from fifteen to thirty feet. 381 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,399 Speaker 1: That's not always for birdie, but that can also be 382 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:44,199 Speaker 1: for hard to save from making a bogie. That can 383 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 1: also be a twenty foot bogie putt, so you don't 384 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: make double right, and then randomize twenty six puts from 385 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,160 Speaker 1: twenty to forty feet and then figure out most people 386 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: are probably going to be fairly good at the putts 387 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: from three three to five feet. Most golfers are going 388 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: to probably two pott from ten to twenty feet, maybe 389 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,480 Speaker 1: not make any, but they're probably going to three putt 390 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: a bit from twenty to forty feet because they never 391 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: practice it. So if you do that drill all the time, 392 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 1: what are you learning how to do? You're learning how 393 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 1: to putt, You're not learning one specific task. I watch 394 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:26,480 Speaker 1: Brad faxon once do a drill. He calls the imagination playground. 395 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 1: He has he puts five you know, five foot potts, 396 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:33,479 Speaker 1: So take balls, do a circle, go one to go 397 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: two steps away from the hole. And then what he 398 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: makes you do is he makes you make potts. But 399 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: you have to use every club in your bag except 400 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,400 Speaker 1: your putter. So you'd start with your driver. So you've 401 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 1: got to make a putt from three to five feet 402 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,360 Speaker 1: with your driver, with your three wood, with your hybrid, 403 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:56,320 Speaker 1: with your four iron, your five iron, your six iron, 404 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: your seven iron, your eight iron, your nine iron. You're 405 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: pitching wedge, your sand wedge, your lob wedge. You've got 406 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: to learn how to putt with a tool that is 407 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: not designed for you to put with. But you have 408 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,399 Speaker 1: to use your imagination. And there's no right answer. 409 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:12,640 Speaker 2: Right. 410 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: You can use different grips, you can hold the clubs 411 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: in a different way, but again, you're learning a task, 412 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: you're learning how to solve a problem. So I just 413 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,680 Speaker 1: thought it was really fascinating that DJs And then throughout 414 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: the week DJ's short game got better. Right, The quality 415 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 1: of the shots, the quality of the strike on the 416 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: golf course during the tournament got better, so much so 417 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,479 Speaker 1: that every single day we were starting kind of at 418 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: the short game area, which which is rare for DJDJ 419 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: likes the putt first, so in the practice rounds we 420 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: were going over and starting at the short game area, 421 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: and once he got his new wedges, we were taking 422 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: over his pitching wedge, his sand wedge, and his lob wedge, 423 00:20:55,160 --> 00:21:00,720 Speaker 1: and he was spending a lot of time practicing with 424 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: the pitching wedge from all different lines. So there was 425 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: there was a pin so we were kind of standing. 426 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: There was a bunker to the left. See if I 427 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: can kind of describe this or so there's a bunker. 428 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: We're probably about you know, fifteen maybe twenty paces, and 429 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,359 Speaker 1: we were kind of over by a bunker, and then 430 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,280 Speaker 1: there was a pin cut just over this bunker, about 431 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: kind of three to five paces just over the bunker. 432 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:26,680 Speaker 1: So he was taking the pitching wedge and hitting some high, 433 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: little soft ones with the pitching wedge, trying to hit 434 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: that one bounce, one and stop, and he was. 435 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 2: Doing a really really good job. 436 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: And then just on his own, the bunker had a 437 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 1: really big kind of lip on it that kind of 438 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: had some slope to it, and then all of a 439 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:42,920 Speaker 1: sudden he put it back in his stance with the 440 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: pitching wedge and kind of hit a little low runner 441 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: and it kind of hit the right corner of this 442 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:54,119 Speaker 1: slope and kind of went up and then over this hill. 443 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:56,679 Speaker 1: So he was trying to hit kind of a little 444 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,919 Speaker 1: hook low draw into kind of a bump and run 445 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: area to where he could kind of sling shot this 446 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: ball off of this hill and get it to kind 447 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:09,639 Speaker 1: of go up and over. In the first one he 448 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:11,400 Speaker 1: lipped out, he kind of looked at me and goes, man, 449 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: that was cool shot. And then he just started choosing 450 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: shots like that where he was using the slopes and 451 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 1: trying to roll balls off of slopes and trying to 452 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: use the curvature again again, learning how to chip, getting 453 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: him out of so much of his technique. But the 454 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: funny thing was you could see that he wasn't necessarily 455 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,959 Speaker 1: thinking about his technique. He was thinking about how to 456 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: solve the problem of having a golf club that's got 457 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,400 Speaker 1: way too much loft. It's a little long, and it's 458 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: just different than the one that he would normally use, 459 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: So he wasn't necessarily thinking about his technique. But as 460 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:53,040 Speaker 1: a result, his technique got better. I mean, I went 461 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: back that night and put some side beside videos of 462 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: him hitting the exact same shot with a lobwedge in 463 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: his hand, and the exact same shot the pitching wedge 464 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,280 Speaker 1: in his hand. He wasn't losing as much height, he 465 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,919 Speaker 1: wasn't backing up as much, the quality of the strike 466 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 1: was better. 467 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 2: Everything. 468 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:08,719 Speaker 1: He kept saying, Man, all of these are right out 469 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: of the center of the face. They're not off the toe, 470 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:12,879 Speaker 1: they're not off the heel, they're not high on the face. 471 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,160 Speaker 1: So even when he was trying to hit it higher 472 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: with the pitching wedge, all the shots were good. So again, 473 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:23,360 Speaker 1: he's learning how to solve a problem. He's learning how 474 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 1: to chip. That's what skill acquisition is. And I think 475 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: so many players through all aspects of their game, but 476 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,240 Speaker 1: specifically with the short game. You put some balls in 477 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: rough and you don't have a lob wedge, and she 478 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: short sized yourself. So what are you going to do 479 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,359 Speaker 1: if you've got a pitching edge in your hand. You're 480 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: going to have to figure it out. You're going to 481 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:46,879 Speaker 1: have to maybe open the face. You're going to have 482 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:48,439 Speaker 1: to maybe put the golf ball a little bit more 483 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: forward in your stands, let the club go a little 484 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,399 Speaker 1: bit more inside. So that the face opens, and in 485 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: DJ's case, the knee drive that he had in an 486 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: effort to try and get underneath a lot of his 487 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: shots to where he can catch it high on the face, 488 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: the quality of the strike can get a little bit off, 489 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: he can hit it a little bit short of the 490 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: distance that he wanted to. 491 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:08,960 Speaker 2: All that went away. 492 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 1: He I mean, the amount of good shots versus bad 493 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: shots really exponentially got better in practice, right, using a tool, 494 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: using a club that is the wrong club for it. 495 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:28,679 Speaker 1: But he's learning how to chip. So when you're looking 496 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: at a skill, whether it's your putting, whether it's your 497 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: short game, whether it's your iron game, whether it's your driver, 498 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 1: whether you're trying to learn how to flight the golf 499 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: ball down, whether you're trying to learn how to hit 500 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,880 Speaker 1: the golf ball higher, whatever you're trying to do, think 501 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,959 Speaker 1: of it in terms of a skill acquisition sense. Okay, 502 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:52,399 Speaker 1: give yourself a problem that you've got to solve. Okay, 503 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:57,399 Speaker 1: give yourself too much loft, give yourself too much club, 504 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: give yourself not enough club. Learn how Okay, let's say 505 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:04,119 Speaker 1: you're working on your iron game, and you've got your 506 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,160 Speaker 1: your seven iron, you kind of consistently hit your seven 507 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: iron right around that one hundred and fifty mark. You 508 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,960 Speaker 1: consistently kind of hit your eight iron around that one 509 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,280 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty five yard mark. So shoot one point 510 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 1: fifty and instead of using an eight iron or seven iron, 511 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: which you want to, take one club down and say, Okay, 512 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,440 Speaker 1: how do I teach myself how to hit the golf 513 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,160 Speaker 1: ball further? Okay, put it back in my stance, maybe 514 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: close the face, maybe get a little bit more shut 515 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:32,159 Speaker 1: with my setup. 516 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:33,880 Speaker 2: I'm going to hit a little bit more of a draw. 517 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: See if I can get this eight iron to go 518 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,680 Speaker 1: the distance that my seven iron goes. 519 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 2: Right, So then you're learning a skill. 520 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:47,560 Speaker 1: You're not just practicing the same thing over and over again. 521 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: And I think skill acquisition is a vital part to 522 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,880 Speaker 1: improve and doesn't matter what your handicap level is, right, 523 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 1: doesn't matter if you're trying to break one hundred for 524 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,399 Speaker 1: the first time, ninety for the first time, eighty or 525 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 1: break par for the first time, what skills you have, 526 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: and the amount of skills and the amount of tools 527 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 1: you can put in your toolbox, right, the amount of 528 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: shots you can have in your arsenal is only going 529 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:17,000 Speaker 1: to help you become a better player. Is only going 530 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:20,960 Speaker 1: to help you learn how to hit different shots. But 531 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: I just thought it was really, really fascinating, and I 532 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:27,119 Speaker 1: think I learned a lot at the Open Championship by 533 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: watching DJ do that, and I think it's something that 534 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: I'm going to really use moving forward with players that 535 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: are trying to learn how to improve their short games, 536 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,160 Speaker 1: trying to learn how to bring the flight down. Give 537 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: them a tool, give them a golf club that isn't 538 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: normal for them, that is the wrong club for that 539 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: shot in their eyes, and say, okay, and without any 540 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,800 Speaker 1: coaching for me, solve this problem. Think about it logically, 541 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: you've got too much club, you've got too much law, 542 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:00,919 Speaker 1: you don't have enough law. What are you going to 543 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: do as the player to try and solve the problem. 544 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 2: So that kind of. 545 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 1: Falls into the randomizing your practice, the skill acquisition part 546 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: of your practice. And then there's the block part of 547 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,640 Speaker 1: your practice, to where you're doing the same task over 548 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: and over and over again. But just remember when you're 549 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: in block practice, you're not really learning a lot. You're 550 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: just learning how to do one specific thing. You want 551 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,320 Speaker 1: to learn how to chip, you want to learn how 552 00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:32,199 Speaker 1: to putt, you want to learn how to become a 553 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 1: better chipper, a better pitcher, a better short game player. 554 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: You want to learn how to become a better putter. 555 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: Learning how to become a better putter is not standing 556 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:44,760 Speaker 1: and just doing three footers, five footers, fifty in a row. Yeah, 557 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:47,439 Speaker 1: you're going to get great at doing one specific task, 558 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:51,560 Speaker 1: but always remember that the game, for the majority of 559 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:55,040 Speaker 1: people that are practicing golf is practiced in a very 560 00:27:55,280 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 1: very block practice repetition, over and over and over and 561 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,720 Speaker 1: over again. Yes, that's great for technique, but as I've 562 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:07,200 Speaker 1: talked about on the pod loads of times, there's technique 563 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 1: and there's execution. And what DJ was learning how to 564 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: do at the Open Championship with a pitching wedge because 565 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: he didn't have a sandwich and he didn't have a 566 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: lob wedge. He was learning how to learn a new skill, 567 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,000 Speaker 1: but he was learning how to execute. He was learning 568 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: how to execute and solve a problem. So in your 569 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: practice sessions, give yourself problems to solve as much as 570 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: you're just giving yourself repetitive over and overshots from the 571 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,240 Speaker 1: exact same position, because that is one of the reasons 572 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,280 Speaker 1: why I think players struggle when they get out on 573 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 1: the golf course. So really cool story and I learned 574 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: a lot from that story. The son of a bunch 575 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: of podcasts comes to you most weeks. We will definitely 576 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: see you next week.