Sandy Wagner Wisdom

Master Mentor – Gayle Champagne

Gayle Champagne, center Gayle Champagne started playing golf to avoid answering the phone. On Friday afternoons the guys at the ad agency would ask, “Gayle, would you cover my calls?” as they headed for the course with a client. Pretty soon Gayle was out there too. (That’s Gayle sitting between Carolin Dick and me).
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She REALLY took to the sport, organizing trips up north for dozens of women at a time, landing a job at Golf For Women magazine, becoming an expert on the pleasures and perils of business golf. She’s been involved with the American Junior Golf Association for 16 years and is currently President of the Board of Directors of that national nonprofit. That’s in addition to her full time job at Self Magazine! This is a woman who gives to golf!
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I met Gayle the year I started playing golf – before I had golf shoes OR a golf swing. She hit a ball 90 yards over a little patch of wetland and I thought she was a golf goddess. What really stuck with me though, was the way she inspired a new player, with just the right blend of humor and helpfulness. I so appreciated the time she spent with me.

Whenever I play with Gayle I get inspired. So with summer on the wane, I’ve made a pledge – to get out there and play with some new golfers, to pass on those good golf feelings.
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Once again, Gayle, thanks!

Practice with a Purpose

Everyone likes to practice but not everyone’s practice leads to improvement. In almost 20 years of teaching I’ve found that it isn’t just practicing that makes you better. It’s HOW you practice. Many people wonder, “Why can I do it on the range and not on the golf course?” Well, what exactly WERE you doing at the range? Firing off 100 drives without a target, maybe?

When you go to practice there should be a purpose to what you’re about to do with those 100 balls. Is the practice short game based? Is it putting that’s causing you to lose strokes? Or maybe it’s bunker shots? Some people have trouble with uphill/downhill/side hill lies on the course but do we ever practice them? Yet we expect to hit a good shot when faced with that situation on the course. I don’t think so!

Your first step is to figure out what area of your game needs the most work or what area you have the most questions about. That’s your focus during a practice session.

Here are some simple things you can practice at the driving range that will help lead you to better outcomes on the golf course.

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Warm up
Get your 100 balls and warm up with some short wedge shots and then a few mid iron shots. Now you’re ready for your main practice.

Pitching & Chipping Practice – The Ladder Drill
Hit a ball 10 yards, then 20 yards, then 30 yards, etc, all the way out to a full wedge distance. For some that might be 60 yards and for others it might be 100 yards. Then work your way back to the 10-yard distance.

See if you can transition from ball to ball the distance you want it to go. On the course you’re never the same distance from the target each time so you need to practice shortening and lengthening your swing to accommodate those distances. I see many people having difficulty making smaller swings when they get near the green. That’s because golfers practice way more full shots than they do half swings.

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Putting Practice – Distance & Direction
To practice putting productively, separate it into 2 categories – distance putting (lag putting) and directional putting.

Distance Drill
Try putting a 30 foot putt to the edge of the green and see how close you can come without hitting the fringe. Try it with any number of balls. Taking the hole out of the equation works well for people because you’re not trying for a hole, just for distance.

Direction Drill
Lay 2 clubs down parallel to each other, just wide enough so your putter fits in there. Place the clubs in the direction you want to putt and not more than 15 feet from the hole. You want to swing your putter in this path to better guide your stroke to the hole. You will make a lot of putts this way so don’t be surprised!

On the course if a player is unsure of what she’s doing as she stands over a ball, her chance of hitting it correctly are about zero. She’s not committed to the shot she’s about to hit. If she’s practiced that situation, purposely at a range or with the guidance of an instructor, she will have the confidence to hit it successfully. Now THAT’S fun!

Who Needs a Practice Golf Swing?!

It’s a million dollar question. Why wouldn’t everyone take a practice golf swing before they hit a shot if they knew it would help their games? Over the years I’ve heard every excuse in the book as to why golfers don’t take one. If I told you that it would do your swing a lot of good to take a practice – would you take one? There are many reasons why you should.
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You perform an important pre-swing routine before you hit each golf shot. You determine your club, the distance from the hole, the type of shot you want to hit based on the lie and maybe the weather conditions that might affect the ball. You check set up, alignment and aim. Incorporating a practice swing into your routine allows you to “rehearse” what the swing feels like before there is a ball in front of you.

Here’s what I’ve been hearing about practice swings!

I don’t want to waste my good swing.
The practice swing is always better than the ball swing, so if we take one or two good practice swings and then one up-tight-not-as-good ball swing, we’ve just improved! Two good practice swings outweigh the one not-so-hot ball swing, and over time you will see your skill progress.
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In addition, your practice swing can be slower and you can think about the details of the swing better when there isn’t a ball in front of you. This is your time to process how to make the proper swing.

When there are people behind us on the course, I don’t take a practice swing because it slows me down.
Golf etiquette according to the PGA stipulates that from the time you select your club until you actually hit your shot, you should take no more than 45 seconds. At a driving range, practice hitting golf balls with a practice swing and see how long it really takes you. Then, on the course, you won’t be so self-conscious about how long it takes and won’t worry about the group waiting behind you. Everyone plays by the 45-second rule.
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I sometimes take a practice swing but then I get too tired because I hit so many shots.
Just think of the practice strokes you are taking as conditioning for golf! Over time, you may be tired only after the 6th hole, and then after the 8th hole, and then maybe not tired at all. That’s progress.

Remember you are just trying to tell your swing what you want it to do, so always take a practice stroke! That’s the path to improvement!

Power of Positive Thinking

womens golf power of positive thinking Ever ask yourself why you have golf holes that you love and golf holes that you hate at the golf course you play most often? Do you wonder why you keep hitting it in that same bunker? Ever wonder why you can’t hit it over the water on the 18th hole at Michigan? What about those pine trees that always swallow your ball on #1 at Georgetown?
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All of these questions can be answered if you look at your mental golf game. I think it is comical when I hear a player say, “I knew I was going to do that”. My comment back would be “then why did it happen?”

The power of your thoughts made it happen. We often tell ourselves what not to do instead of telling ourselves what we want to do with the golf ball. The next time you have to hit a ball over the water, why don’t you keep the same favorite ball you have been playing with instead of swapping it out for the “water ball”? Labeling it the “water ball” usually means one thing for that poor little white ball – it is going to get wet! Why don’t you try this exercise the next time you are faced with this situation – tell yourself where you positively want to hit that ball and say “watch this”!
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Think, see, and feel what you want to do with the golf ball, instead of what you fear you might do or have done in the past. It’s the healthier way to play this game and you will be surprised by the outcomes! Would we ever drive a car if we thought we would get in an accident every time we got behind the wheel? Probably not, but we continue to get in accidents on the course because of the way we approach the shots mentally. We approach with fear. Change your thinking process to something positive and the outcome has to change.
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Next time you are playing your least favorite hole, tell yourself what you want to do with the ball, pick the smallest target possible and say “watch this”! Those are confident words and need to be spoken with conviction either out loud or in your head. Whether the outcome is what you want it to be isn’t the important thing. What you believe you can do, is!