GARY BOS.COM
Golf Instructional Tips
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Save your energy on the golf course

When you sit down and think about it, a lot of energy goes into your daily life and a lot of energy goes into a round of golf. That energy can be either positive energy or negative energy. You tend to waste a lot more of this energy reacting to things negatively. Golf is an 18 hole round and to keep yourself in the best state of mind possible, you will need your energy for that entire 4.5 to 5 hours that you will be spending on the course, especially over those last few crucial holes!

How many times have you seen a great round fall apart over the last couple of holes? How often have you felt yourself getting tired and your concentration lacking over the final holes of your round? Do you start walking slower on the back nine than you did on the front nine? Do you tend to make careless mistakes over the closing holes that you normally would not make?

Whether you realize it or not, these results have a direct relation to the amount of energy you have towards the end of your round. Energy helps your focus, helps you maintain your concentration, keeps you alert, allows you to think clearly and properly analyze situations, and generally makes you feel good!

Help yourself save and maintain your energy level throughout your round. Eliminate negative reactions to elements out of your control. Keep the same walking pace whether you are even par or 10-over par. As much as possible, make sure you are well rested before your round of golf. Follow proper nutrition. If jumping on the first tee right from the office in the late afternoon, pack an energy bar with you and keep yourself hydrated! Little things make a big difference in this game. Keep the odds on your side!

- Gary Bos

Stroke every putt as though it was a straight putt

Most players find that they have more trouble with putts that break in one direction than in the other. For myself being right handed, I find left to right putts much more challenging than I do right to left putts. In fact I would probably say that I can much more easily align myself and feel completely confident over a right to left putt than vice versa. Why is that?

I would say that it has to do with how the putt fits your eye. There seems to be a more natural vision related to a putt going out and back towards you, rather than going away from you. The same could be said with the natural vision of most players to want to draw the ball. Now if only that were so easy for most of us professional slicers, weekend warriors and bogey golfers!

Try this. No matter which way your next putt breaks, imagine it as a straight putt. Mentally take the break completely out of the putt. In doing so, visualize the line your putt is going to take and see it going into the hole. While visualizing your putt, find a spot along your line and make that your target spot. Your target spot will vary depending on the speed of the green and the amount of break in the putt. Now set yourself up and align yourself not to the hole, but squarely to your target spot. You can now comfortably prepare yourself to make a straight putt to that spot and let the green do the rest of the work for you.

- Gary Bos

What does your body language say about you on the golf course?

Think about the number of times you have been watching a professional golf tournament and how the players react to their shots. Think about their facial reactions. Think about their emotional reactions. Think about how they walk and how much they talk. Think about the look on a player’s face. Now think about whether many of these reactions change during the course of a round and think about the differences you may have noticed when a player is playing well vs. playing poorly, or after hitting a well executed shot vs. a poorly executed one.

The best players in the world don’t change very much do they? The best example is Tiger Woods and the best demonstration of his ability is when he is playing in a major championship. When Tiger is at his best, you wouldn’t know by looking at him how well he is playing. He walks the same way and looks the same. His emotions are always in check and it shows in his body language.

Your body language over the course of a round says a lot about you! Challenge yourself to keep your body language positive or neutral throughout your entire round. Maintain your posture. Walk at the same pace all 18 holes. Walk off the green where you made bogey or double just the way you would have were it to have been a par or birdie. Eliminate negative body language from your round and you will feel a lot better about yourself and how you went about your round at the end of the day!

- Gary Bos

Putt to the pro side vs. the amateur side

Have you ever heard the saying ‘never up, never in’? Have you ever seen a putt break up the hill and go in the hole? If you are like most players, you answered yes to the first question and smirked at the second question!

Many amateurs that I see get continuously frustrated missing putt after putt either short of the hole, or on the low side. I like to call this low side the ‘amateur’ side, and of course the opposite would be the ‘pro side’ or the side above the hole. Two things are necessary for a putt to go in the hole. The first is the proper speed and the second is the proper line. Of course to complicate things, we must also achieve the proper combination of both, sometimes with a little help from the golfing powers that be!

I want you to replay your last round of golf in your mind. Try and think about every time you missed a putt. Ask yourself whether you missed it short or long of the hole. Secondly, ask yourself whether your putt broke below the hole or stayed above the hole. Now get out there and practice giving all your putts at least a chance to go in. Think of being on the ‘pro side’ next time on the course. Experiment with different combinations of line and speed and observe what happens to your putts. I will let you draw your own conclusions!

- Gary Bos

Watch your own shot as though is was someone else’s

This is a fantastic and unique opportunity for you to look at your golf game in an entirely new way! I want you to think of the last time you were out on the golf course with some friends, or better yet the last round you played which had a competitive atmosphere to it. Think of the way you look at someone else’s ball when it is in the air, and think about how you react to whether that ball gets a good bounce or a bad one.

It doesn’t matter very much what the result is, does it? Now ask yourself if you can say the same thing about the result of your own perfectly struck 7-iron that just hit a sprinkler head and bounced 20 feet into the air and over the green! Golf is not always fair, but you already know that don’t you!

This is your challenge.

I want you to watch and view your own shots in the same way you would someone else’s. Think of it as stepping out of your own body for the time it takes for your ball to fly through the air and come to rest. Have as little or as much interest and emotional attachment to both the processes and the results of your shots as you do to those of your playing partner.

Watch your shots from an entirely new perspective!

- Gary Bos

Putt to a spot for long putts

This Limitless Golf Opportunity is based on a tip I read in a golf magazine from Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus said that on all long putts, you should putt aggressively to a spot about 3 feet short of the hole. I really like this tip and use it every time I am on the putting green and like to teach it to my students.

If you are like most average golfers, you probably have struggled at one time or other on the putting green with putts of longer distances. For most, the tendency is always to leave the putt short. This opportunity will help you develop better distance control, while improving your consistency by making a better stroke.

Go to the putting green or a green on the golf course and drop a few balls from at least 40 feet from the hole. Make a decision on your line and pick a spot about 3 feet short of the hole on your chosen line. Hit a number of putts to your spot focusing specifically on making an aggressive stroke to your spot. Forget about the hole and simply putt aggressively to your target.

Try this a few times with different golf balls to really get into the habit of making a good aggressive stroke. You will find with practice that you will often end up within a 3 foot circle of the hole. You will have a much better chance to two putt and every now and again, that aggressive long putt might even find the bottom of the cup!

- Gary Bos

Putt aggressively to a spot

This is a follow up to Limitless Golf Opportunity # 6 where the focus is to putt aggressively to a spot on long putts. This time I want you to adapt the same concept of putting aggressively, but now for putts of all distances.

Start with a putt of about 20 feet from the hole. Visualize your line and pick a spot in this case about two feet short of the hole. Putt aggressively to that spot. Repeat that a few times with different golf balls to get a good feel for what you are trying to accomplish. Now move in to 10 feet and do the same thing picking a spot about a foot short of the hole. Continue experimenting with this by adapting the distance of your spot to the hole depending on the length of your putt. With short putts, pick a spot only an inch or two from the hole.

I really like this method and this exercise in general because it takes your focus away from the hole itself and makes you more aware of the value of making a good aggressive stroke toward your target. This is a great way to improve your consistency and build your confidence on putts of every length. Get out there and see for yourself and let me know how you do!

- Gary Bos