The Grip, grip, grip, grip

Want to give everyone a quick story… hopefully will help you a little as the season begins, as you are trying to get your game in shape again, or maybe you are just beginning your journey toward the Moe Norman single axis swing.

We started our 8th year teaching golf schools yesterday here at our academy at Eagle Creek GC in Orlando. With each 3 day school, at the end of the 1st day, Todd performs a ball striking demonstration for the students and anyone else interested in attending.

Yesterday was no different, except for one thing… Todd had not hit a golf ball for a couple of months. You all may think we practice all the time… you would be greatly mistaken. With our teaching schedule, with all our responsibilities to our business and spending the winter months away from the warm Florida weather – doesn’t give us much practice time over the winter… if any. And this winter, Todd has been busier with more business responsibilities than ever… a great thing for our business, but a different story when trying to keep his game in shape.

Anyway, needless to say, Todd was a more than a bit rusty. He knew he needed to “knock a little rust off” before the demo, so he did something he very rarely does, he came to the school early in the morning and hit a few balls… As Brent and Ben were setting up the school, Todd was knocking the rust off his swing.

Now, most of you are thinking, “Ya right, I’m sure two balls into it, he was hitting just like he always does – just like Moe”…. if you did, you’d be greatly mistaken. Needless to say, wasn’t a real pretty picture when he began. It was obvious things were uncomfortable to him and obvious he wasn’t hitting the ball to his normal expectations and no way ready for a ball striking demo.

What to do??? About 1/2 hour till the school began, no time to get ready for the ball striking demo at the end of the day (teaching all day…)… what to do???

He could hit balls and hope his “swing” would return… He could guess and guess as to what was wrong with his swing…. He could find one of us (his other instructors to help him), but to be honest, we were too busy getting ready for the school to give him much help…. what to do???

He did what any “good student” would do in a situation like this. He started the check list in his head. Grip, stance, set up, take away, backswing, top of swing, downswing, impact… what was the issue?

Grip – check the grip. Maybe it had changed in the past few months. Not hitting balls, grip can change….. if you think it can’t, you are fooling yourself.

What is the easiest way to check the grip? Grip Training Club (Todd better use it – he designed it…….)

Todd picked up one of our grip training clubs (we have one at every station of our school…. pretty easy to find…)

As he put the grip in his hands, checked the position of his hands on the club (by the markings on the grip), he quickly realized something, his lead hand (left hand) had slipped a little to the right. In other words, it had gotten a little “strong” over the winter months.

He knew, from experience (ALOT of experience) – strong grip will lead to a closed club face in the backswing – a closed club faces in the backswing and hence top of swing, will lead to closed club face on the downswing, which will lead to a hook or pull. Also because of his experience, he knew he could feel this closed club face in the downswing and would try and “not release” the club to keep the ball from turning over. The result, poor/inconsistent ball striking.

Solution – check his grip with the training club. Take a few practice swings with the practice grip training club trying to “feel the club face” in the correct position. Next, hit a few balls 1/2 speed with the practice training grip club trying to again regain the feeling of solid impact. Eventually working into full swings with the training grip and finally with his own club…. problem solved.

In fact, even after only hitting a few balls (after figuring out the grip/closed club face with his issue) and teaching all day, the demo went off without a hitch. As usual, he “wowed” everyone – perfect shot after perfect shot after perfect shot – almost an hour demo – not missing a shot – you’d never have believed it if you saw him in the morning…..

So, how can this help you?… What can you do to help your game?

As I say in our schools, “Let me give you a hint…….” A BIG HINT – use this story to your advantage. What tools do you have to check your swing/game? If you don’t have any, you better find/create some. If not, you are going to fall in the average golfer’s trap – you are going to turn your golf swing/game into a guessing game. And guessing games get you nowhere, and worse of all, can sometimes make your worse. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not guess as to what I need to do.

Tool #1 – LEARN the swing. If you haven’t attended one of our schools/camps (even if you have) – get some information as to what you are trying to learn.

1. You can go to our website and see many pictures/descriptions written by the GGA about the grip (and other swing issues). Our Unified Hands Etip is specific grip.
2. You need to get a reference to learn the grip – the absolute best we offer is in our Total Game Overview and 7 Principles of Golf Instruction. If you read my e-tips in the past, I tend to “beat around the bush a little when it comes to purchasing our instructional material”…. our alumni are convincing me differently, and I am now agreeing with them – tell them what they need …. You need to get reference material – if you want to learn Moe’s swing CORRECT – you need the Total Game Overview and the GGA 7 Principles of Golf Improvement. Everyone asks me how to “short cut” the process – how can I learn if faster – this is it. If you don’t have our core instruction – you’re behind the 8 ball to begin….
3. Let’s see – Todd needed some help with his swing – where did he go first… the training grip he designed. Maybe that would be good for all of us???? If you think different, you are kidding yourself. Why do you think Moe called Todd “Little Moe” – because he acted like him… no, because he hit the ball like him…. and when he needed a little help to tweak his swing – first thing he pulled out was the GGA training grip. For all those that already have the training grip club, when is the last time you reviewed the DVD that comes with the grip, when is the last time you compared your grip vs. the markings on the training club grip, ALWAYS a good time for a refresher. (For those who want more information about the GGA Training Grip Club (and online video), you can go to the Training Grip page on the website.

Okay – let me give you the GGA Business Model – It’s very simple…. think you will appreciate it…

1. We will do everything in our power to help you improve your golf game by using the Moe Norman Single Plane swing as the core to your improvement.
2. We have produced instructional material and products (and schools/camps) to help you with your improvement. Will help you “short cut” the process of trying to do it yourself.
3. You use our instructional products, get help by the GGA (whether through our forum, emails, schools/camps) and you get improve.
4. You get better, your game improves, your handicap lowers.
5. You tell your friends why your game is improving (they will notice)
6. Your friends/fellow golfers become interested in the GGA and Moe’s swing because of your improvement.
7. More and more golfers become interested in the GGA – and I’ll be 100% honest with you – our business increases and gets bigger…!

So, let’s summarize – we help you get better at the game, your game improves, our business gets bigger… sounds like a great model to me!! As I tell our school students, “It’s a beautiful thing!”

So, here is another question for you….. would we recommend anything to you that wasn’t set up to make your game better? And, if we could get you better faster, wouldn’t that benefit everyone??? ABSOLUTELY!!!

I’ll be 100% selfish if you want – I NEED YOU to get better so my business will increase.

(So far, I think it is working – when we started 8 years ago, our schools had 4 to 5 students max., now they are all selling out… sounds like the GGA alumni are getting A LOT better and definitely spreading the word).

So, what do you need to do to help my business – IMPROVE YOUR GOLF GAME!!!!

Where do you start? Don’t guess anymore. Start on the path to better golf. START NOW!! If you are already working on the path, take it to the next level. Review the fundamentals, work on the “weak areas” of your swing, you are only as good as the weakest part of your game… Let us know what else we can do for you.

To see the GGA Path to Great Golf – Please go to the Path to Great Golf Page on the website.

This is our path to aid you in playing your BEST GOLF EVER!!!!

As always – please, please PRACTICE WITH A PURPOSE.

Good Luck, Please let us know if we can do anything else for you.