james driscoll ‏ @jdriscollpga
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11:21 AM – 9 Apr 12 via Twitter for iPhone · Details

Cameron Tringale ‏ @CamTringalePGA
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Golden ticket winners: I.K. Kim, Amy Yang and Hee Kyung Seo punched their “Ticket to CME Group Titleholders” at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, each earning a spot in the season-ending CME Group Titleholders event, which will be held Nov. 15-18, 2012 at The TwinEagles in Naples, Fla. The second annual CME Group Titleholders is a season finale with a field made up of three qualifiers from every LPGA Tour tournament.

According to Lanny Bassham, Olympic Gold Medalist and a very highly respected Performance Coach to several PGA Tour players, consistency is a three step process. 

1)      First, “carefully choose what is primary”.   That means to think things through completely and then decide which set up and swing fundamentals you are going to commit to.  It will always be counter-productive to be working on the wrong things.  Get the guidance you need to formulate a long term plan that is both detailed and specific.

2)      After you have chosen what is primary, you must “master what you have chosen”.   This obviously is going to require an investment of time and energy, but hard work is not enough if you are apt to lose patience, get distracted from your plan and make unnecessary changes.  Every change you make starts the clock over on the mastering process.  Constant change negates mastery, which is why being careful in step one is so important.

3)      Finally, you must “learn to trust what you have mastered”.  Trust requires a disciplined mental management plan.  What you think, how you talk, and your emotional control.  In this scenario, you control the environment instead of letting it and the results control you.

It is the commitment to this three step process that leads to consistency and is the key to being able to play well in any environment.  On my own journey, having a plan that I understand and believe in has made the game and the improvement process much more enjoyable!   I am wishing the same for all of you in 2012. – James

Kyle Stanely- 1st.      Ben Crane- 2nd.     DJ Trahan- 4th.  

Great week for them and not a bad week at all for their short game coach!  I know how to pick my students.

San Diego Tribune Article after 3rd round of Farmers: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jan/28/stanleys-seige-torrey-gives-him-big-lead/

Read Full Article HERE

Simply put, going to the gym and doing traditional weight training exercises may be hurting your chances for low scores rather than improving them, while increasing your risk of injury. Like with all things, knowledge is power. The good news is that in the current age where information is often free and readily available, it will be quite easy to get started “sharpening the saw”. You can talk to a qualified fitness professional or simply visit golf related exercise web sites like www.mytpi.com. It is a free site listing hundreds of golf exercises all explained thoroughly using video, which have been proven to work in the real world by countless PGA and LPGA Players. If that site doesn’t excite you, then Google “free golf exercises” and over 29 million results pop up. My advice would be to pick a few that value flexibility across your back, hips, and shoulders, as well as developing your “core” strength. As always, if you would like specific advice, contact the Golf Academy, and let’s have a great season! – James

The practice that leads to growth demands high intensity and complete focus, and therefore should be somewhat short in duration. Annika Sorenstam always said that the key to her practice was that she always “paid attention to her intention.” If you are going to work for the next 15 minutes, you need to know what you’re trying to accomplish in that time. Focus has to do with the process and not the outcome. Real practice must be highly repeatable (you need to be able to do it a lot) and you need feedback on whether you are doing it right or not. Like I indicated above, if you are doing it wrong, you may be just ingraining a bad habit. This is the hard part. How do you know if you are doing things correctly? If you decide to make a change to get your take away “on plain”, you could easily set up a practice station using a couple of fiberglass sticks to guide you, practice in a mirror, or have a coach watch. There are a lot of possibilities, but they all take forethought and focus. They will most likely take you out of your comfort zone ,and may not be very much fun to do. Wow, no wonder not very many people really practice. Why would you, if you have to do all that?

The answer is passion. If you know what you want, then your passion for the game will see you through it and the fun will come when you are winning trophies or seeing improvement in your performance. This is the practice path that Benjamin Franklin used to become a better writer, Jack Welch used to run a better business, and that we can all use to become better golfers. Good luck! – James

Proper technique in the bunker begins and ends with how your sand wedge is designed. Imagine your sand wedge behaving the same way a sharp knife does. You have both a sharp leading edge designed to cut or “dig” and the side of the knife that is flat and dull (“the bounce”). In the green side bunker you almost always want the dull side of the club to interact with the sand and not the sharp leading edge. You accomplish this by rotating the toe of the club open in the back swing and letting the club head release past your hands at the bottom of your swing. The back of the club will contact the sand first (bounce) creating a splash of sand on which the ball rides as it is carried out of the bunker. The interesting thing is that if you produce this motion correctly and the club head enters the sand about two inches behind the ball (practice) with sufficient speed (confidence) the ball will likely come out fairly high and with enough back spin to make to stop. This high soft flight makes it somewhat easy for accomplished players to get the ball to stop close to the pin with regularity. When the professionals hit bunker shots, most of them don’t actually look at the ball, but rather at a spot in the sand where they want the club to enter and they aren’t really swinging at the ball but through it. Give it a try in our new short game practice area. If you have difficulty executing, as always feel free to contact The Academy Staff for help. – Best of luck! – James

How to Find Your Core
Not sure what your core muscles are or how to feel them. Try this simple exercise. Sit on a large exercise ball with your feet flat on the floor. The muscles engaged to keep you seated upright in balance are your core muscles. I like to feel it in my golf swing by trying to push my feet into the floor or ground as I prepare to swing. I have found that this is an awareness that you can develop through simple exercises.

Benefits of a Stable Core
Activating these muscles as you prepare to swing has a myriad of benefits. First, you will be much more powerful. Sixty percent of your body’s overall strength is in your body’s core muscles. Not only can you “load” or stretch your muscles better in the back swing and therefore fire them more quickly on the down swing, with an engaged core, but without core stability it will be very difficult to maintain posture as you rotate during your swing. Fluxation in spine angle or posture creates major inconsistency in performance, especially off the tee

How to Train Your Core
First of all forget the traditional crunch. It may give you a few more ripples and a few less jiggles, but all it is doing is shortening a few surface muscles with without strength elsewhere are pulling you forward creating poor posture. For improved core strength, better health and golf, make these three simple core exercises part of your daily routine (no gym equipment needed).

1. The Plank – Position yourself like you are going to do a pushup. You can rest either on your hands or your elbows. Push yourself up off the floor and hold that pose, making sure that your body is in one long straight line from head to toe. Don’t let your middle sag, and keep your neck straight. Hold as long as possible.
2. Side Plank – Repeat the same exercise above but on your side. Rest on one elbow, fore arm, and side. Push yourself up off the floor and hold making sure your body stays aligned from head to toe. Hold for as long as you can on each side.
3. Superman – Lay on the floor, stomach down arms up like you are flying like “superman”. Slowly lift your left arm, chin and right leg simultaneously four inches off the ground. Hold for five seconds and lower to rest for five seconds. Repeat with your right arm, chin and left leg. Do ten repetitions.

Greg Rose and Dave Phillips at the Titleist Performance Institute are absolutely the experts in Golf Fitness and Performance. MyTPI.com is loaded with great information. Also check out Joey Diovislvi and his new book “Fix Your Body, Fix Your Swing.