The Measured Golf Podcast
With so many amazing things happening in the Measured Golf Community, we have decided to start a podcast to discuss all of the amazing things that we are seeing have a positive impact on our athletes. Whether it be Ground Reaction Forces, Golf Biomechanics, or strategies for making the most out of your limited practice time, we hope that this podcast becomes a resource for you to finally become the player you know you can be!
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The Measured Golf Podcast
Are You Practicing For Change Or For Scores
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Brooks Koepka starts rolling in putts from 12 feet and suddenly the US Open feels a lot more dangerous. We kick things off by talking about what changes when a proven major champion finds even a small edge, why Koepka is such a “needle mover,” and how confidence under pressure can separate the stars from the field when Sunday gets tight.
Then we go deep on Shinnecock Hills, one of the best championship venues in the country and a course that doesn’t need circus rough to be brutal. We break down why the greens, pin sections, and firm landing areas force real decisions, plus why “rough quality” matters more than raw height. Along the way we hit the build-up that makes the US Open special, including the drama of qualifying and our frustration with how hard it is to actually watch the best moments when they happen.
From there, we shift from pro golf to your scorecard. We talk course management on holes that feel claustrophobic, how to reframe out of bounds anxiety into something believable, and how to practice between events without chasing swing changes. We outline a simple plan: check your TrackMan delivery numbers, move into performance practice with targets and windows, slow your tempo on purpose, and use alignment sticks every session so your routine holds up when it matters.
If you enjoyed the mix of major talk and actionable golf coaching, subscribe, share this with a golf buddy, and leave a review so more grinders can find the show.
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Welcome And Major Golf Buzz
SPEAKER_00Hello and welcome to another episode of the Measured Golf Podcast, where you, the listener, sit down and join Chuck and I as we discuss all things golf. And it is a glorious time to be alive if you were a golfer. We just had the LPGA wrapping up the U.S. Women's Open. We've got the men's U.S. Open in a week. We've got all kinds of golf going on all around us. Chuck's playing. I'm playing. It's a great time to be alive. And, you know, I'm going to go ahead and say it now, Chuck. We had, we're very fortunate to have Mr. Pete Cowan on the podcast. And I'm going to say that we're the reason Brooks is putting better because Pete and I had a nice little chat about Brooks' putting. And wouldn't you know it, if you look at the first page of the leaderboard on Provisional Poll, we have Mr. Brooks Kepka after round one making bombs, making several putts outside of 12 feet. So, you know, I I guess, you know, if you want to play better golf, this is the podcast for you.
SPEAKER_01And you're not joking. Like it's not uh satirical. He had the conversation with you, and you said, and then he got back to you and said, Yeah, you're right, he was putting terribly, and I'm fixing that. And they fixed it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, the funny thing is is Pete doesn't even do any putting. Um, so I don't know what's turned around. Uh it looks like he has a different putter again. Uh, he's got some kind of Cameron uh thing. I don't know what it is, but he he seems to be putting better, and I think that's really bad news for a lot of people on the PGA tour because we know that Brooks likes the big spotlights. We've got a U.S. Open a week away. And you know, from a ball striking perspective, you know, he's really been near the top of Strokes Gain T to Green for the vast majority of the season. So um, yeah, it could be a good bet if you're into that sort of thing to maybe uh throw a few quid on Mr. Brooks Kepka.
SPEAKER_01As he gets tuned up for is Shinnekock his last major win in 2018? That can't be that I don't think that's it.
SPEAKER_00I think his last one was a PGA. Okay. I could be wrong about that, but I think that's accurate.
SPEAKER_01But Shinnikock, he went back to that was his second in a was that his second one in a row?
SPEAKER_00I think so. Keep talking, and I'm gonna do a little producer.
SPEAKER_01I I want to say that either that sparked it or that he he went on that little run there where he was winning US Open.
SPEAKER_00He won back-to-back 2017-2018. U.S. opens. U.S. opens. Where was his that was his last US Open at Shinnekock? Okay. And then 2018, 2019, 2023, those three were all PGA championships.
SPEAKER_01Where was his 2017 win? It was at Aaron Hills.
SPEAKER_00Oh, at Aaron Hills, that's right. Um I've by the way, still looking
Brooks Kepka Putting And Persona
SPEAKER_00to fill the producer role. So if you're interested, as we do this, once again, please send your resumes to us and you get the job because we could use a producer around here.
SPEAKER_01Uh the uh I don't know if I'm like a massive Brooks fan. Like I I don't know that I would call myself a fan. I enjoy watching him play, and I think golf is better when he is in the hunt. Um so I don't know if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_00That I'm not like I would describe him as a needle mover. I think he's a household name. Uh, I think he's pretty well respected. I don't think I think you saw a pretty positive response to him join rejoining the PGA tour. Um I think a lot of guys respect him, like him. I think a lot of fans, you know, maybe don't appreciate him and maybe he rubs them the wrong way a little bit. But in my approximation, I would say Brooks is your closest thing to a how do I don't want to say it that way because it's gonna come off wrong. But I think Brooks is like your modern athlete, and I think a lot of people like their golfers to be golfers and they like the humbleness and the kind of quiet life away from the golf course, and they like a guy who doesn't really like they want their guy to have confidence coming down the stretch, but they don't want their guy to have confidence in an interview. And Brooks is just kind of Brooks, and he's gonna Brooks, and I I don't think that he holds back, I think he gives very honest answers in his interviews. I think he's very open uh for the most part, relative to a lot of other players that don't give you much. Uh, but I like Brooks. I'm I'm definitely a little bit of a fanboy when it comes to Brooks.
SPEAKER_01And like I said, I don't dislike him. I just I actually think it was his appearance in full swing that probably made me like him a little more because he was so open with his struggles. Uh I think that was season one. It was when he had the blonde hair, yeah, and he was kind of struggling with his game. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Which was not really struggling. Like he was he was like Peak Brooks, and then this injury kind of like snuck up and got him as his yeah, the injury, not that yeah, it wasn't true.
SPEAKER_01He was struggling to get back.
SPEAKER_00And I think it's pretty public knowledge. I don't think I'm talking out of school on this, but you know, he's coming off potentially career-ending injury. And when I say career ending, I don't mean that he was never gonna play golf again, but you know, anytime one of these high-level athletes gets injured, there's always that fear in the back of their mind that they're not gonna come back and be as dominant as they were, be able to compete the same way that they did. Um, so when Liv kind of came about, it caught Brooks at the perfect time because A, I think there was a lot of doubt in his mind because he's he's dealt with that particular injury. He had dealt with it for quite a while, uh, and it kind of kept resurfacing, and he he kind of had the injury bug there for a bit. And then, you know, they offered him a ton of money, guaranteed, you know, not performance-based. And I think the big part of it for him was they they gave his brother a place to play for a year, yeah. And I think that that that was the motivating factors behind Brooks. But, you know, one of the reasons I think that he was so well received when he came back to the tour, he was never part of the initial lawsuit that the guys on Liv had against the tour. He was never really a liver, like he was always kind of like a free agent that just happened to be playing golf there. He, I mean, he didn't even wear his team's logo when he competed on live. Like how he got away with that, I'll never understand. But you know, I I think that he is one of those guys that moves a needle, uh, going to as many professional events as I do. There's always a big crowd for Brooks. People talk about Brooks, people are interested in what Brooks is doing. You know, his wife is a quasi-celebrity, uh, being associated with Sports Illustrated. Um a lot of, I mean, it's just I think a lot of people look at him and they're like, you know, he's like got a ton of money, he's a good-looking cat, got a, you know, attractive wife that a lot of people seem to find attractive. Uh they I think just a lot of people look at him and think maybe life is a little too charmed. But, you know, I appreciate him. I think I told you, um, one thing I really never in my wildest dreams would imagine is this past year at Augusta National um walking with Mr. Pete Cowan. Pete was nice enough to introduce me to the Kepka family. Could not be nicer. Like you see his dad like walking around the grounds, and I've seen his dad a ton of times at tournaments, and his mom and like his dad and mom both, you know, dad in particular kind of has a stern, stern kind of vibe to him. Couldn't have been nicer. And his mom was just wonderful and very nice and interested in what I was doing, and just very, very nice people. But I I appreciate that Brooks has that confidence in himself, and I think that's what makes him dangerous in these tournaments is when the big light hits him, he doesn't shake and he doesn't have that stage fright, and he's willing to put himself out there and go compete, and he's had a lot of success. I mean, there's not very many tour players that have five majors to their to their name.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I do I I think that's um I think that's what I like about him, and I don't know why I'm not like a massive Brooks fan, because he has a lot of qualities that I like. Uh and and I'm not not a fan, but what I do like about him is this whole I need the stakes to be higher, and then he rises to it. I I think that's such a cool element of certain athletes that you get the guys that don't practice that great, like never practice well, like they don't look like anything special in the NFL, and then they show up on game days, and it is like this guy's a monster.
SPEAKER_00Um you want Jordan to make that shot, you want Jeter to hit the home run, you want these guys in the big moments to show up. Like that's that's what creates fans, that's what creates excitement. So, you know, you got Scotty who tends to rise to the occasion, you've got Rory who's done a better job of that later in his career. Uh you've you've got these guys now that are really I mean, there's just a lot of cream.
SPEAKER_01Go ahead, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00No, there's just a lot of cream that is now rising to the top. And I I think that's good for golf. I think that's good for the tour. And, you know, I think a lot of people, a lot of people get frustrated, you know, like people hate the Patriots. Well, you know, there's some reasons behind that, but I think the biggest reason is people just got tired of them winning all the time. And it's it's kind of like the old quote, right? You either die the hero or live long enough to become become the the villain, right? So, you know, I I think when you have these sustained runs of greatness, I think people just get tired of it and and generally start disapproving of what you're doing. But yeah, I I think I think it's good for the tour. I I think you want to have four or five guys that you know every Sunday when you tune in, they're gonna be near the top of the leaderboard, and that's great. And then the the guys that are there that aren't you know there every week, they're gonna have to debattle it out with those guys that are battle tested, and it's I think it just makes compelling TV, and I think it makes it more exciting for the fans.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I uh I'm I'm glad that he's back. Um and I'm glad that he's back. Speaking of Brooks, he's we're back from 2018. He
Shinnecock Hills As A US Open Test
SPEAKER_01is the past champion, so the past champion will be in the field next week at Shinnecock. Um I got to play it last year, uh, last fall. Um I am very geeked to get to watch this golf course um after having played it. And the the day we played it, um one of the assistants used to be at the honors, so he kind of he came out and chatted with us on the range for a bit, and we were kind of picking his brain about the the setup and the golf course, and he said, You're catching it basically in US Open shape, like we don't have to do a whole lot to get ready, which is I thought was such a profound statement. He was like, You playing the green speeds, he said the rough is maybe half an inch shorter, like it was he said, We're ready today, and it's just one of those golf courses that stays ready and Wingedfoot's like that too. Yeah, they're just like, hey, we're you know, we're we're kind of ready.
SPEAKER_00We need like a month's notice, let us know. We're we're ready to go.
SPEAKER_01Um and it's probably my favorite golf course. Uh, I think that place the the design.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, wow, that's a big statement. Yeah, it's a big state. I I I moved Cyprus into number one.
SPEAKER_01I mean, nothing tops the three holes that are I'm convinced they're CGI still, like what we saw was not real life.
SPEAKER_00Um I mean it's how could it be? Yeah. I mean, so I'm reading this amazing book. Uh the kind of it's um I got it right here. Let me get the the correct name. Really cool book, uh Alistair McKenzie's Cypress Point Club by George, or I'm sorry, Jeff Shackelford. Here's uh if you're watching on YouTube, I'm holding the book up so you can see it. Cool. Um really cool book, like really, really cool book. Uh, but it goes through a lot of McKenzie's thoughts about each hole and kind of what they were designing and what they were hoping to create. And it's just really kind of cool deep dive into Cypress Point. Um, but the thing that that has kind of stuck out to me after reading this book is can you imagine walking out to where 15, 16, 17 are and realizing, like, oh, I get to put a couple holes of golf here.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like, and he didn't mess it up, by the way. Like, he did not mess that up. But just like standing there and going, Oh, we're gonna put a hole here. Like, I mean, you gotta talk about being a kid in a candy shop if you're out Dr. Alistair McKenzie. Like, it's holy smokes, like, this is what you're giving me to work with. Like, I think we're gonna be okay here, boys.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um I hope that I hope that people this week will spend some time, which I've seen, I've seen it a lot on social media. I guess it's the golfers journal or something. Someone has this hole by hole of Shinnikok that they've kind of been uh advertising. And I hope that people go and watch it. And what is going to make this golf course difficult because the rough isn't Oakmont rough, um, where you're hacking at and and I kind of maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't know that I care for the rough that's so long that you've just gotta hack it out. I like give me the thick rough that there is some thought of can I get this to the green? And if I could get it to the green, how in the world do I stop it? And that's about like Shinnecock. But these greens, the sections they'll put these pins, you have five yards. It's like you have five yards to land this ball. And um I just think it is one of the coolest designs. There's a a par three on the back, number 11. They the we get to it, and the caddies are like, well, it's the shortest par five in America. And it this is the famous hole where Brooks in his win hits the green, it bounces over, then he chips it over the green, then he putts. He he makes a I want to say he makes a putt for bogey or makes a putt for double, then he fist pumps because he says afterwards he's like, I I could have made a quad or I could have made a triple. Like he makes some comment about it. Um and it is TV doesn't do it justice, the undulation that you deal with, and we played it with like a 30 mile an hour headwind. Um it's gonna be awesome, and the views are incredible, the the layouts are great uh of that golf course. And I just think I love everything that builds to the US Open with the longest day in golf.
SPEAKER_00And shout out to Neil Shipley getting it done and getting through.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Neil, uh one of your guys, and uh I've spent some time with. We'll put it that way. Spent some time with. Um Keith, my boy Keith. Um Keith get through.
SPEAKER_00He did. Nice. Kashmir Keith gonna be uh be looking good at Shinnecock. Bring a little class to the field.
SPEAKER_01I refuse we're not don't call him that. I make sure every time I'm like, no, no one call him this.
SPEAKER_00Does he do well? Like if somebody says that to him, does he laugh or is he not like that nickname?
SPEAKER_01Oh no, he he I guess it depends on the the setting, but he it's good for the brand when people call him cashmere.
SPEAKER_00So I mean the dude dresses well. He does. I mean, I grew up. He's got a great deal with Sid Mashburn. Yeah, they keep him looking great. He's got every foot joy tune known to mankind for the past 30 years. Uh, a fellow visorman like yourself. Yes. Uh flowing hair, glorious. It must be a Tennessee thing.
SPEAKER_01If you ever want to, if you anybody's following him out there like in person, the real nickname is Ned. He just call him Ned, he'll turn around, he'll be very surprised that you know that one. So call him that, not cashmere. Um, but yeah, it was big for him.
SPEAKER_00He's um a lot of points, man. I don't know that he's like the business side of man, like I get it. Like you want as a professional, you want to play in the biggest events, of course. That goes without saying. But the the real side of this is you know, if you're a corn ferry guy, um, or you're a journeyman, or you're a tour player that you know is is hanging on to a card, you know, at the end of the year, it it's a big opportunity to to have a ton of points to make some serious dough, and it really can kind of make or break a year for some of these guys. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I I don't know what it is. I I think it's the build-up, it's the longest day in golf, it is the quote national championship.
SPEAKER_00Um it's the most democratic.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I think that's what I like about it too, that you could get these incredible stories. I it's my favorite major um for that reason. And I think we talked about a little bit of three-hole, just so you know.
SPEAKER_00I know, I know you don't like it. But I do like it. I just I mean it's in the you can't it will never everything you just said is also true about the open. Correct. And I know you have an affinity. I oh, I love it. I love it so much. I love it. And then I just look, there's things I love about it, there's things I don't love about it, there's you know, you gotta take some things with a grain of salt, but what the masters has built is just incredible, and I think the thing about the masters that really sets it apart is it is the almost unofficial kickoff to golf season across most of the country. Like it announces spring, you know, and it's kind of like for me living up here in Michigan and it's snowing normally still and doing terrible things, it it's like the it's like the great hope. You know, it's like the great renewer. Yeah, yeah. Um that's good. I'm glad that the open's your favorite. I mean, it's it's probably one of the most fun to watch. And I think the USGA has done a tremendous job, and I like that what they're doing with the anchor sites. Um, I like that they're big boy golf courses. Um, I think they've done a really good job with this. I really I mean they've done as good of a job with this as the PGA has done a terrible job with theirs.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um and we've talked about it a couple weeks ago, I think. The um with the new PGA commissioner, if we don't get actual real coverage of these 36 hole sites in the future, I'm gonna lose my mind.
SPEAKER_00I don't think you're gonna get it.
SPEAKER_01It is the dumbest thing that we have the most dramatic golf happening in the country at 8, 12, however many different sites there are. That's the problem though.
SPEAKER_00There's too many sites.
SPEAKER_01Then give me give me cameras at two of them because I it is so dumb that we cannot watch. So nearly every one of these sites goes to a playoff. There and if you weren't watching on Monday, um Of these finishes, especially the one in um where was the one was it in Ohio? The Springfield that Homa was at? I think so. It had a bunch of pros in the playoffs. I mean and we've got this one camera that's behind the green and doesn't move, and the guys that are talking have no idea who's hitting, who have no idea what's happening, and they're trying to talk you through it. And this is, I mean, these guys, the pressure they're feeling, and then you've got the amateurs that are in these um, like hey, I'm Joe Blow, and I'm next to um whoever, um professional. Try they're trying to get in just like I am, and here we are playing the same golf. Like, where in sports does LeBron James and some guy off the street stand on the same court and they're like, hey, we're trying to do the same thing. Like it's I'm I'm so frustrated we don't get more coverage of it. And as we've talked about, like we want more coverage, give us more coverage on Friday of the cut line and what's happening. But like this, that was it. These these guys are amazing, dude.
SPEAKER_00They're terrible with what they're they're so bad. And look, I think Brian Rolap, the new PGA tour commissioner, is gonna make some changes and hopefully gonna do some things that are better for golf. But I I don't think coverage is anywhere near the top of the list. I I I I don't. I don't, and and look, it the the sick uh the sicko's like us, the djens like us, yes, we want more, but you look at the ratings that these tournaments pull, and it's a joke, it's dismal. And I'm sure some TV exec somewhere is going, Well, you have the Rocket Classic that gets you know how three million viewers, you expect like fry or the Monday, the longest day in golf, to do more than that. And the answer is is there are sicko's like us that that would watch it, but it would do such a bad TV rating, it would be unreal. Because people look, I mean, it's once again getting into that conversation, we're not gonna beat a dead horse, but you know, 95% of the people that participate in golf, it's very top line. They play in a league, they play on the weekend, they're not paying attention during the week, they they they have no real idea of what's going on in professional golf. It's it's just that's not where the market is. So I'm with you, and I would look, even if it's just a stream, like cool, yeah, fine with me. Like, no problem. I'd pay for it. Yeah, I just don't think that there's enough of us to make it worth their time to put that kind of investment into it.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I hate that because I think that stuff is so good.
SPEAKER_00Uh I don't disagree with you.
SPEAKER_01It's so good. Um
US Open Qualifying And TV Frustrations
SPEAKER_01yeah, I'm excited to just open my favorite. Probably my favorite course. And it's wild to think that my second favorite course, or maybe my favorite, is across the street in National Golf Lakes.
SPEAKER_00Um just good golf in that part of the country.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Um really good uh quick story, really good golf flex. This guy um I was up there last year, and we we just played Shinnikok, and we we go to Garden City the next day. And uh if you haven't been to Garden City, awesome place, men only. You kind of you wear the jacket in the clubhouse, but like once you're in, you could be in boxers in the sport coat. But as long as you're in the sport coat, like in the clubhouse area, you're good. So uh the guy's asking us what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_00You're always looking for an excuse to wear a sport coat. You have quite the collection of sport coats. Like that's that might be one of your your little actual flexes is how many color combos my man can pull off in a sport coat.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And so the the member is is asking us, you know, what do we think? And he goes, You want to hear a flex? And I said, Yeah, sure. So he says, uh, he's out there with the this member, and they're on the third hole at Shinnecock. And at that point, you're you're kind of in the corner of the property, very far away from everything. And there's no halfway house, turn house, anything at Shinnecock, and the and the member goes, uh, hey, I want to drink. And my friend John's like, uh Yeah, but are they gonna like drone it out to us? How are we getting a drink? He's like, Do you want to drink or not? He's like, Yeah, yeah, I'll take a drink. So they finish the third hole. The Shinnnecock member walks across the two-lane road to the ninth hole of National Golf Links and the Turnhouse, grabs drinks, comes back to Shinnicok. Being a member at both, he can just walk across the street. And I thought there may not be a bigger flex in golf than to be a member at Shinney, walk across the street to get your drinks at National Golf Links, and then come back over.
SPEAKER_00Pretty strong. That's pretty good. It's pretty strong. Um I mean, and like it's one thing to like be a member at some high-end places like that, but like you said, there it's not like you've got one here and then one over here, and like no no no, they're they're across the street from one another. Yes, touching each other. Yeah, that's that's pretty good.
SPEAKER_01Um I don't know that I've got any more on the the US Open. I'm excited about it. I know it's good high on your list.
SPEAKER_00Um, it is. I mean, I I think it's I think I think it's a great tournament because kind of going back to what we were talking about, generally you don't get a lot of weird winners. Uh the cream definitely rises to the top. It's a very challenging stern test, which I like. Um, you know, I thought the comment you made about the rough at um at Shinnecock was interesting because, you know, that was like the thing I always hated when I was playing some mini tour golf back in the day. I remember playing this tournament on the believe it's now defunct Hooters Tour. I don't think it's around anymore. Um, but I remember playing in this Hooters Tour, Hooters NGA tour event, and they they wrangled up as many volunteers as they could get for this thing because they had to put people on every single hole because the rough, I kid you not, came up to my knees on every single hole. And literally, if you hit one in the rough, there was a strong, strong chance that you were not gonna find that ball. It was just the the craziest thing I've ever seen. And and to your point, I think so many golf courses that are that are trying to host tournaments are are trying to make it more difficult, they they let this rough get long. But you know, I had a similar experience to what you're talking about at Wingedfoot, and it's not super long at all for the most I mean it really isn't the the deepest rough you've ever seen, but man, is it thick. And you talk about like wondering how far you can hit a golf ball out of that stuff, like you really think about it because if you do something stupid like try to pull six iron and hit it out of that stuff, it's not getting airborne. Like, I learned my lesson on the first hole out there, and you know, from then on, I was like, oh, okay, that's right. This is a real, real big boys golf course. Like, you gotta you gotta think about what you're doing out of that rough. And and I I really do think, you know, you can talk about green complexes, you can talk about you know, bunkering, you can talk about a lot of different things. I think rough quality is one of those things that really separates golf courses, though, and nobody talks about, yeah. But I I think some and look, I get it, people want to shoot low scores, people want to play well, but man, I I kind of like when you got some serious, nasty rough, not not just tall, but like thick, like really well-grown rough to deal with.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's the thickness of it. But I I'm like you, I think the places that have the best rough, it's the stuff that you get over it and you are it gives you the pause of what could I do with this? Like, I don't I don't want the guys to go into the rough and they're like, it's a wedge to right there every time. I want them to to get over it. And I think that's what makes the golf tournament better is when these guys can get creative or they think about how they're gonna do this, you know, can I get it on the green? If I can't get it on the green, where am I trying to put this to give myself the best chance? And I also like where you get some of the stuff where it's thick or you you get some lies. Um sometimes with the with Bermuda Rough, it'll sink to the bottom, or sometimes it sits kind of sits on top. Yep. And I also think that is such a tough one to judge because you really have to be good and you may have a different way of doing this. I I almost have to just hover my club at the equator of the ball because I have to make sure that my ball doesn't hit the top of the face. And if it hits the top of the face, it's going nowhere. Like because there's no compression. You're not the if you try and hit it, it it's just going into the into the rough if you try and trap this thing. And uh I think those are just as hard. So I think it's I think it's great when you get some some lies that give the golfer an opportunity to do something. I don't want to see I didn't care for the Oakmont rough as much. And and I've played Oakmont. I I didn't care for it. I then thought it would have been better had they.
SPEAKER_00I like when it's thick, dark, and sticky. Like that's that's when you you got the good stuff, in my opinion. Um, and I'm also, you know, that you don't see very often. You know, the only place I've seen it really, really good, like I just described, is is at Wingedfoot. Um, because most of your golf courses, the membership doesn't want to put up with that stuff, they don't want to deal with it. So, you know, you're gonna have to go to a place to where they they're in the rotate, they're one of the anchor sites. Uh they're they're hosting these big boy championships. Uh, that's the only places that are really gonna have that stuff. But, you know, I also really like uh you know my affinity for Lynx Golf and playing golf over in the UK. Well, even here in the States, you know, you go up to Kingsley Club and Northern Michigan, which is one of my absolute favorites, and I think I'm actually going in a few weeks, so I'm excited about that. Uh but when you go up to Kingsley Club, they have tons of Heather. And like I really like Heather too because while it's not as it doesn't have as much bite to it as the thick, sticky stuff does, it's really gonna affect the shot one way or another. And like being good at reading that Heather and how the club's gonna get to the ball, I mean, I just think it makes it more fun. I I like when when you have to think about things, I like when there's a challenge presented to you that's not your normal challenge, but good heather, I mean, just like good rough, good heather is also hard to find because there's really pure heather, and then there's heather with a bunch of weeds in it, and that sucks. Nobody likes that. Yeah, um, so when you get to a golf course and they've really got that beautiful heather that kind of blows in the wind, uh, I told you, I think one of the prettiest things I've ever seen, and I it's been years, it's probably been 15 years now, 20 years. Yeah, uh Chariot's Run over there in Indiana, uh, just uh across the river from Louisville. I mean, it just one of them I was out there in the evening, it was golden hour, and you've got this absolutely thick, lush heather, and it just is blowing it. It's like looking at the water, but it's heather. Uh, just incredible stuff. I think that's that's probably one of my favorite features on a golf course is when they have the really beautiful heather like that. Yeah. So good. No, go ahead. What do you got?
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, I'm I'm just glad we've got some major golf. And I like that we get nearly back to back to back. It kind of, you know, you you get the PGA, US Open, British Open all pretty close together, but it man, it seems like it moves fast. Um season's here and over, man. Real quick. It just feels like it's moving fast.
SPEAKER_00Once you get to Augusta, it just feels like it just it's a blink and it's over. Yeah. And that's that's one thing that I think, you know, we were talking about Brian Brian Rolap and the and the changes he's gonna make. I don't know that you'll ever get the majors more spaced out, but it it seems like it would be better for golf if they were. Um I get it, there's there's issues with climate and weather and things like that. Um, but it it just seems like it seems like it would be better if they were more spaced out. Like it'd be great if you know the the first majors in April. I'm fine with that. You know, I I don't think we need to be really before that. I don't want to watch a major in February when it's there's a foot of snow on the ground. Like that's not gonna make me feel good. Uh so I'm good with April, but man, it would be nice if the last major was you know somewhere in that like September, October time frame. Yeah. Uh, and then maybe we kind of wrap it up, you know, pretty close to that with the the FedEx uh championship uh and and kind of get that figured out. But yeah, it's I just think for so many people, once again, a lot of the golf fans being kind of more casual fans, it's if it's not a major, they're not watching. So the the race to the FedEx Cup and all that, like you get you got to be kind of a Sica fan like us to really kind of watch that and engage with that. And I once again, I think if if they're gonna come up with a better way to create ratings on TV, they're gonna have to really look at some of this stuff about how do they get the casual fan to stay engaged longer. Because right now it's just so condensed. Uh it's really like once again, if you blink, you missed it all. Yeah.
Playing Tight Holes Without Fear
SPEAKER_01Um with uh switching gears, with tournament season full full go, qualifying season full go. Um I think we've touched on it, like not you don't always get the best courses for some of these qualifiers. Like they're it can be extremely quirky. Conditions can be you know fair, uh but not always great. Um was playing last week in the Tennessee State four ball. And um we played this video. Yeah, we made they took the two days of qualifying, they took the top eight teams. I think we were like the two or three seed, and then went 21 holes in our first match. Uh guy made just tipped your cap, made two bombs on us. Um to win one to extend to go to the third playoff hole, and then one to win on the third playoff hole. Um I think he shot I think he shot 64 on his own ball that day. Um pretty strong golf. Yeah, yeah. We just I mean he made every putting needed to make. We we didn't lose it, that's for sure. Um and we played on this golf course that I've played before. It's not my favorite. It's got several holes out of bounds both sides. And nowhere to miss it. And for some reason, I don't know what it is, when I feel like I cannot miss it anywhere. I get the heebie jeevies and I don't like it, and there's a lot of holes like that out there. What do you tell? What's your thought process of when you get something, you get that look of a hole.
SPEAKER_00And it's not uh it's just where your attention is.
SPEAKER_01Well, that the and the hole's not very long, so someone was like, Oh, you just hit less club. And I'm like, I don't know that hitting That's not your MO though, right? My MO is driver. Driver is straight.
SPEAKER_00So I but once again, is it about not making a mistake or is it about executing your plan? That's true, and it it just kind of goes back to that same conversation we've had before. And and this is of all the things that there's been a little bump in the road getting you on board with, it's getting you to stop worrying about the mistakes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But I think that that I think what makes me such a good driver of the golf ball is that I have a history of hitting the look, I don't hit it the farthest by any means, but I hit it really straight, as you've seen. Um, I don't miss a lot of fairways. So what really makes me a good driver of the ball is I almost never, ever even consider like what's out of bounds. Don't care, not gonna be there. And if I wind up there, I wind up there and I'll I'll I'll make my peace with it. But at the end of the day, it's it's hey, I don't care that there's out of bounds on both sides because I'm gonna hit the ball here. And we execute our shot, and it's it's just reframing that. No, and and that's that's the hard part with golfers, is I think the thing that actually makes golf really hard for people is you spend so much time with yourself, and you you have this internal dialogue that's kind of constantly running. And the problem is that going back to my analogy that I made on a previous podcast, it's a storm and a teacup. And if if you keep things in your head long enough, man, they they turn into way bigger things than they actually are. And it's like, yeah, you're aware that there's an out of bounds right and an out-of-bounds left, but the more you internalize that and the more you think about it, those out of bounds just keep moving in and in. And before long, you're like, oh, there's no fair way at all. I don't know what to do. Yeah, so I just think it's it's kind of talking yourself off the edge. It's knowing that you can execute the shot. Is it hit less club? It might be, you know. I mean, it's I think you know, to steal from from Scott Fawcett and Decade, you know, I think if you've got a 40-yard wide good landing zone at a distance, I think hit it. And it's like, once again, if if you if you don't execute that, if you do hit it out of bounds, you know, it's not bad course management, it was a bad golf swing. And you just have to chalk that up to hey, did I commit? Did I go through my process? Did I go through my routine? And if you did those things, then it's like, okay, I made a mistake. I'm a human being, I'm allowed to do that. But I think you you've gotta you gotta map these things out. Um, that's that's one of the things I like uh about doing some of the GPS mapping that Scott talks about a lot is you know for a fact this like it when look, when you get on the ground and feelings start happening and you start looking at things, things seem a lot tighter than they are. Yes. And we especially if you've hit one out of bounds in a practice round or what have you, or in the past, you remember that hole a lot tighter than it actually is. Yes. But the nice thing about the GPS is like you know, like, hey, there's 55 yards out there. You get to that T and you're like, oh my God, this looks tight, and you start worrying about, and then you're like, oh, wait a whoa. You check your book. Hey, I got 55 yards out there. This is gonna be somewhere in those 55 yards, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But it's it's having that conversation, it's having the ability to reframe things. You know, I think, you know, one of the things that I hear all the time, parents, parents talk about junior golfers, they're like, oh, they just gotta stop thinking about that. They got to stop thinking about this, they got to stop. You're not gonna stop like if you stop thinking, you're a vegetable, and that's no way to live life. So you're going to think, and thank God you can think. So you're gonna have thoughts. I think instead of telling people to stop thinking about negatives or only think about happy things, or however you choose to learn some reframing skills and learn how to tell, like you hear it in your head, hey, there's out of bounds on both sides, and this is really tight. Or, hey, there's an out of bounds on each side, but but I have 55 yards out there, and I can land this within that 55 yards nine out of 10 times. So let's pop, let's party. And it's like the connotations that come. With each one of those statements is totally different.
SPEAKER_01I heard um somebody talking about the reframing, I want to get your opinion. That um it was like if you're trying to be overly aggressively positive that it would feel fake to you, and that it was if you could shift it to a love this is a t-shot that I've hit a hundred thousand times. I know how to do this. That that was like not a overly uh exaggerated comment. It was like, hey, I've done this before. And I thought, wow, that's pretty good. Like because I I get that too. I'm like, I don't I can't tell myself like the what seems fake. It doesn't reframe it for me.
SPEAKER_00You are not overly positive with yourself on the golf course.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I can't be that. I I have to go to like it's just simple.
SPEAKER_00You can do this. Yeah. So I played golf, happy little update. Uh I played golf on Monday, shot one under par at a golf course. I'd only played one other time with a client. He's back. He's back. Um, it was a weird round. I think I made like 15 or 16 pars in a row and just hit so many good putts, it just didn't go in. Like, I mean, great putts, speed was dialed in all day. Uh, but literally, um driving out was about a 40-minute drive to the golf course from where I live. And like I was kind of thinking, like, hey, how did this get off the rails last time? And, you know, like I said on the podcast, I kind of felt like I lost confidence early. And not, not, I hate when I say lose confidence because that implies I had it to begin with, but just never really found my confidence. See, there's some reframing for you. I just never really found my confidence out there. So I was like, okay, and I go out to the golf course. Like I said, I played beautifully. I think I missed one farewell day, and I think I missed two greens. Uh, so I hit it really well, putted really well, just didn't get, you know, score-wise. I was under par, but it, you know, like Jack said, the guy that I was playing with, he's like, dude, you could have told me you're seven or eight under par, and I would have believed you. Like you hit it great, putted great. But I driving out there was like, okay, we got to find a way to feel in the driver's seat. And we got to find a way to kind of get it going early and feel confident and build from that. Because once I get going, I'm fine. But if if it turns negative early, then I'm in trouble. So I we go, we get there early, we have time to hit some balls, which was nice, hit some putts. I'm not really hitting it very well in the driving range, and I'm not really having a great warm-up session. And I'm out there hitting balls and I'm kind of getting a little frustrated because like my mind is immediately like, oh, here we go again. Gonna be like last week. Here we go again. And finally, I was like, you know what? You're just trying to get loose, man. Like, just hit some balls, get loose. We'll get out there and and we always play better on the course. We're and I just told my like I kind of made this up, but I'm like, you're a terrible practicer, right? So like I kind of tell myself a lie, it's kind of believable in the moment. And I get out there, and my strategy, my plan, my swing thought, which wasn't a swing thought, by the way, was before I hit every single shot, though, last thing I'm gonna say to myself is you can do this. Like just mentally, internally, nobody hears it. I'm saying it inside my head, you can do this for every single shot. And it's just amazing at how when you when you tell yourself that and when you kind of believe that, and then you start seeing it come to fruition, it's amazing how just that little and and look, yes, it's pot, but I wouldn't say it's overly positive. You're just reaffirming that you can do something, yeah. So I think that that's huge.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's not this best ever. You're the best, yeah. I've if someone tried to tell me that before I hit a shot, I would yeah throw the club at them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I do say a lot of reaffirming things when I caddy for people, a lot of reaffirming things, but it it it isn't like outlandish things, it's just yeah, but I I will tell players damn near every shot. Like, you can do I try to say it every shot, you can do this. Yeah, like we've got a good plan. This is the right club, like you've hit this shot a million times before. We're just in the studio. Hit this shot for me, you can do this. Um because it is, it's not any different, it's the scenery's different, but like a hundred and fifty yard shot here is a hundred and fifty shot yard there is a hundred and fifty, like once you figure out that it's playing 150, right? I'm not saying every 150 yard shot's the same because they're not, but when you figure out that the shot is you need to hit it in the air 150 based off whatever circumstances there are, that's the same as any other 150 yard shot. They're not different, scenery is different, but they're not different.
SPEAKER_01Switching
Practice Between Events With TrackMan
SPEAKER_01gears again. We chatted about it uh yesterday. Um when you get a little break. Like I've got a little break before my next uh I've probably got three or four weeks before I play in something again that matters. Um and I had a shoe okay We've got a break. What do we for someone that's keeping their stats and someone that's listening, and even if they're not keeping their stats, but they're they their grinder, they're practicing. Where would you tell somebody to start and what would you be doing that you've got a month to kind of get ready for the next thing you've you've had success early or or you've not had success, but you've played in a bunch of stuff, you've got some good data points of what you've done, what's caused you issues, what you've done well. Where do we go in this little interim before the next gear up?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I I think I think the problem with the break is that you kind of come up for air and you start thinking about what you're gonna do differently or what needs to change, or you kind of can let your mind start wandering a little bit and you get away from that I have to get it done kind of mindset and I gotta play golf. So I think unfortunately a lot of people, you know, want to go take a bunch of lessons or want to go make a bunch of change or want to retool, uh, they want to do a lot of that stuff. But you know, like I told you, you're very fortunate and have access to track man. And you know, I think that how you practice in this break is important, and staying sharp is important, but not chasing change is important. So I would would tell you, or anybody else for that matter, that when you're trying to to kind of stay sharp and you're trying to kind of get into more play mode and less change mode, we'll call it, I think it's important that you know, when you start your session and your your practice session, I think it's important that you know hit some shots, get loose, get the body moving, do some activation work before you know your session, do what you normally do. But once you kind of have hit a few and kind of shaken the cobwebs out and kind of feel like you're doing you, you know, there's there's certain numbers, there's certain data points that I think are really important to check in on. And you should know the range that you need your club path to fall in. You should know what we want to see from a dynamic live perspective. You should know what we want to see for a carry number. You should like there's there's these data points that we should know very well, but the ones that I think are important to kind of keep an eye on are the delivery numbers. So I really like looking at club path, I like looking at face to path, and I look like looking at dynamic line attack angle. Those are kind of like the four that I'm really interested in. And once I understand those four and I understand where I fall range-wise within those four, it's like you start hitting some shots, and you're like, yep, that falls into that. Yep, that falls into that, yep, that falls into that. Okay, the swing's good. Like the swing is the swing. This is how Chuck swings the golf club, this is how the listener swings the golf club, this is how Michael swings the golf club. Beautiful.
SPEAKER_01And that's a good reassuring bit of your practice that yeah, I'm still in the range. So wheels haven't fallen off. Wheels haven't fallen off, I'm in the range. So that's a good, like early on. All right, I'm good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, keep going. And honestly, we're talking like, you know, for me, it's like I hit some wedges. Wedges are a little different than irons, so I hit some wedges, kind of check in on that, hit some irons, you know, like seven irons, five iron. Like, I don't hit a ton of five irons in practice, to be perfectly honest, but like I'll hit some like nine irons, seven irons, five irons, right? Or, you know, eight, six, what whatever odds evens I split it up. But I'll hit some irons, and then the one thing that I do like to do is hit some woods because I think fairway woods are a pain in the ass the way they're designed anymore. So I think getting in some good practice, and I unfortunately I have to hit them frequently. So it's like I'm good with my hybrids, I'm good with my woods, checking in on those, hit a few drivers, just make sure that's where it needs to be, because that's obviously a little different than the irons and wedges. But we're talking about like 30-minute session, I can kind of check in on all this stuff. And if I need to tweak a little here, I need to tweak a little, okay, fine, like whatever. But once I have it all within its ranges, then I'm going into more of a performance practice mindset to where I'm picking targets, I'm hitting shots, I want it to fall within, you know, this distance of the pen, right? Like I want to hit some drivers, I need everything falling within this 40-yard wide window. Like now all of a sudden I'm I'm way more practicing what I need to do on the golf course versus oh, well, let me change this a little bit and let me try to swing a little faster and let me try to because I think unfortunately, people get in there and they start chasing data points and they start trying to chase speed and they start trying to do all these things that's really not beneficial to them playing better golf. But I really think, you know, one thing that I've started doing here lately that's been really good is uh I've been looking into Tor Tempo a little bit, which I think is a good a good product. I like it. Uh is that is that Sasha's? No. No, no, he owns a stack, but Tor Tempo, kind of kind of a really cool thing. I've really enjoyed kind of messing with it, but I definitely feel like I have really good rhythm, feel like I have really good tempo when I'm playing well. When I'm not playing well, I don't feel that way at all. It feels very rushed. So the thing that I think has been fun here lately is, and this isn't a tour tempo thing, it's something that I've just kind of been messing around with, is how slow, quote unquote. If you can't see me uh tune into our YouTube channel, you can see me do air quotations, but how slow can I swing this golf club and still make the distance I need to make? I'm really interested in that. And I I really have been spending like the last five to ten minutes of a practice session doing deliberately slow swings that still go a certain distance and just really trying to get more comfortable with slowing the tempo down. Not saying that's the tempo I want to play with, but I also know that when I get on the golf course, things speed up. So feeling more comfortable making the slower swing feel, totally feel versus real, is really going to be beneficial for those days to where it does feel a little rushed. I now feel comfortable going to this place because I've done it before. Yeah. So I definitely think getting into that performance aspect of your practice, less about just whacking golf balls, raking over, whacking golf ball, like really, you know, going through going through your pre-shot routine. Like once you've checked in and got your numbers, every single shot you hit at a target has a routine attached to it. Practice your routine, get better at your routine. Do you like your routine? Does the routine need to change a little bit? Have you noticed on the golf course you're a little slow? Have you noticed that, you know, maybe you keep forgetting to take in certain things into account? Practice those things. Like those are skills that you're going to need on the golf course. But every single shot should have a routine. If you're really going for gold and you really want to get the most out of your golf game, hopefully you have clipped or you have circles. And look, this is not just fairways, greens, and putts. That is a bunch of crap and is not going to help you in the least. But when you have clipped and you can really dive in to the distances and the yardages that you struggle with, now like those are really going to be areas when we're doing this performance practice that we spend a lot of time. Like that is going to be super critical because there's clearly something going on at those distances that you're not executing well in the golf course. So guess what? That's what we're going to practice because we want to make our weakness our strength and then go from there. And then lastly, and and clipped once again can lead the way, or circles can lead the way on this, but you know, less time. Like once you've checked in, once you've been able to go through the performance practice part and hit your targets and you're feeling good about things, spend more time than necessary on your short game. And not just the the bunnies that are easy, but like find bad lies, spend more time in the bunker. Try to find a bunker you can hit some fairway shots out of. Like, do the stuff that you wouldn't normally do because you're in a good place. So let's go and take care of some of this other stuff that normally we don't get to because we're chasing our golf swing around. You think that's a a time where you can work on some specialty shots as far as you know, the super high flop, super like you know, how here's what I'm about to I had my junior doing this the other day. How low can you hit this wedge, this distance? Like, how low? He's like, Well, how low do you want it? I'm like, I don't know, show me how low you can do it. And it it's like it's it's a good when and this is the nice thing about checking in and having some actual objective data to support what you feel is now you feel free to experiment because when you go back the next day and you're still within your ranges, you didn't screw anything up. And I think so many golfers that don't have any objective data are just terrified they're gonna blow the whole thing up at any given time.
SPEAKER_01Is that uh also a time that okay, I'm gonna work on hitting this low cutty, I gotta get it around a tree, I gotta keep it.
SPEAKER_00No, no, no, no, and you don't like you don't like I am going to eventually beat this out of you. Your driver does one thing, and that's the only thing we ever want to see it do.
SPEAKER_01No, no, I'm I'm saying that the like you're a trouble shot, like oh okay, yeah, I'm good with that.
SPEAKER_00I thought you were gonna say low cutty driver.
SPEAKER_01No, no, no, like I'm I'm behind a tree, yeah. Behind a tree, and um and how can you move the ball?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's hard now, right? Like, I mean, that's that's the thing that nobody talks about with the current ball and the current equipment. It's hard to move the ball, it's like not easy. And you know, the the big thing too is if you can, and I look this is a big stretch, but you really need when you practice like those recovery shots from around trees, underneath trees, you need to go get in the trees to do it. So if you can like get out on the golf course, it's a slow night and nobody's around, like that's the time to do that stuff. Trying to create that stuff on the driving range is is really meaningless. And I see it all the time, but you know, I'm thinking back to an example. Um, I have a player who plays very little golf and and practices a ton, loves the driving range, doesn't really love the golf course, and and that's kind of a common thing these days, but um, he would he would practice all like moving the ball around at the driving range. Well, I watched him in a tournament absolutely line drive a tree trying to work it around low and around this tree, and I knew he was gonna do it before he ever pulled the trigger because he's lined up at the tree. And like the the thing that you you kind of need that tree there because you're gonna find out, well, if you're trying to hook it and the ball's gonna want to start moving left pretty quickly off the face, how far right do I have to be aiming to avoid that tree and hit this hook? And that's the thing that I see a lot of amateurs really struggle with when they do try to hit these recovery shots, is they think that they're just gonna, you know, kind of start it straight and then move. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You gotta aim around the tree and then move the ball around the tree, but you can't like push it out around that, ain't gonna work.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so you agree because that that's where I find myself getting in trouble, but I've found that that because it is so hard to move the ball, because it does it wants to go straight, that it's not a push draw. It's not uh it's not a um it's not a pull cut. You better get lined up because to make it like I have to feel for me to hit something low and right, I have to feel like it is a slice. Yeah. And and there is no pull to it. Like this thing is coming off straight, straight, and then it's off the planet, is what I'm trying to do. Because I you you can't pull it and get it to come back enough.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you gotta hammer it over there.
SPEAKER_01I think that's uh I think that's such a I I have not thought of it that way.
SPEAKER_00And I think here's my other one that kills me, and people don't seem to seem to get. And I think it was I think Kevin Kirk was talking to me about this, and it was something that him and Earl Woods had talked about. And you know, Tiger hit arguably some of the best recovery shots that were ever hit. Gosh. Um, but the funny thing is, is you see all these players that have like a four iron in the bag, or a five iron, like in some cases a five iron in the bag. And they have no earthly reason to have a four or five iron in the bag, none, like period. And I I see this, I see the four iron in the bag when people come in for lessons, and I'm like, what are you doing with this? Like, let's get you a seven wood, let's get you a hybrid, like let's let's do something other than this. And they're like, No, no, no, that's my punch club. If you are in the rough, and I know me and you have talked about this, if you are in the rough, the ball is going to do two things because of the rough. It is going to launch lower and it is going to spin less. If you are trying to punch a four-iron, which means you're not taking a full cut at it, it is going to come out way, way too low, if it even comes out at all. And because it's going to spin less, and a four iron doesn't spin that much to begin with. Now all of a sudden, instead of it jumping through the rough and getting back to the fairway when it lands, now it just nosedives into the rough and you're still in the rough. And I tell people this all the time, and I see people make this mistake all the time. Your six iron, like, look, and I've had people with like tight windows, they got to hit it underneath this tree, and I'm like, look, it's a six iron. No, no, no, the six iron is going to come out too high. No, the six iron is going to come out and behave like your four iron, like you're planning for the four iron to work. But if you try to hit the four iron, man, it's like trying to hit a driver out of the rough. It's not, yeah, not going to work out. So once again, it's, you know, like we were talking about, there was recovery shots, specialty shots. You know, if things are good with the golf swing, if you're within your parameters and hitting it well, it's a great time to mess with some of that stuff. And and just, you know, the best way to learn is to go out there with a few shag balls and and kind of put yourself into these situations and see what you can do and get yourself out.
SPEAKER_01I think that's a really unique um two things there with the how to get the ball to shape and where you need to be, and that comment about the rough, because that is that is so um I I don't know if enough people, and they probably don't know that. And I don't know that I fully understood that until you explained it to me that it here's what it's going to do. And it it makes once you explain it like you're losing you're losing spin, you're losing the loft, like so it's going to react this way. And once you understand those rules, it makes things a lot easier um to get up over shot and have some confidence in it and know you've picked the right club.
SPEAKER_00Um execute it, but at least you put yourself in an opportunity to execute.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I I really like the comments about shaping the ball and that you really need to look at it more of you gotta line up to where this ball is going to clear whatever obstacle you're looking at because it's going to turn if you're actually trying to turn it, it's gonna turn hard from that point. So you better have given yourself the window.
SPEAKER_00Um and it's like people just try to get so aggressive with their aiming on those shots, and it's like, look, the only thing you can't do in this situation is hit that tree, yeah, aim away from it. Yeah, like whatever you do, like a I would rather you miss it on the other side of the fairway from here versus clip that tree. Like this is like your only goal here is to not like aim away from it, like a lot away from it. Because the other thing, too, is is like, yes, if you execute this perfectly and sling it around this tree, good on you, right? Like, I don't know what to tell you, but if you pull this thing, which by the way, you're kind of trying to do with this hook kind of, right? Like, you better have a little like tolerance built in there to where it still gets around the tree. Yeah. So I just think that people really don't aim that nearly well, like, and aim is a whole other thing, like getting out more. It's been a big point of emphasis for me. I I think it had a lot to do with my last round of golf. I kind of went back to the beginner aim system, to where I pick my start line, pick my end line, and then have my spot, you know, two and a half feet in front of the ball, put the face to that, and then put my feet together. So I'm kind of doing like the beginner aim system, is what I call it, because I teach all the juniors this in the beginning. But I kind of went back to that and I was like I said, I I missed one fairway and I think two greens. Um sounds like the golf I'm used to watching you play. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's I think a lot of it's aim. So I mean, if there's one thing that I really think, you know, I didn't add to the to the commentary about this offs off time where we're we're trying to sharpen on our tools. I think every single shot that you hit, you should have an alignment stick down. Every single shot, period. Like no exceptions. Um, and I I really think that paying more attention to that on the golf course when you're out playing golf is huge as well. And and honestly, you know, I I just recently told one of my kids, I was like, hey, he's going to play a practice round. I was like, I want to line the stick down when you're out doing your practice round. And it was funny because he reported back to me, he's like, I I never felt lined up well. And I was like, Well, you had the stick down, right? He's like, Yeah. And I was like, Well, what's that say about your alignment without the stick? Right. So it's it's really it's one of those things, it's difficult to do, man. Like, there's a reason that you see look, you want to talk about things that every tour player does, uh, watch them practice because every single one of them has got something down helping them with their alignment every single sh session. I've yet to see it. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I think that's good. I think that's a good um a lot of nuggets right there at the end that they just start adding up. They start adding up um or stack the deck, baby. Stack, yeah. You're stacking the deck. You're just trying to shave little bits here and there, because they really do add up um over the course of 18 holes.
SPEAKER_00And you spend four hours out there, hopefully, maybe a little less if you're really doing well. But let's say you spend four hours out there and it adds up to like 72. Like, how are you gonna drop that? It's not a big number. 72 is not a big number. So, like, how are you gonna get that number lower over four hours worth of work? And it's it's the details, man. And you know, it's it's true. What makes a great professional is somebody who really sweats the details, and that's that's just the name of the game. It's it's not it's not unbelievable ball striking, it's not making every putt. It's not look, those things are nice, and those things happen from time to time, but it's really I mean, what's Scotty Shuffler known to be an absolute freak about his grip, right? Like one of the like you never see an amateur out there looking at their grip or deal, like they don't even care. Ah, hold it, whatever. And like people think that their grip doesn't change. People's grip changes throughout the round of golf.
SPEAKER_01It doesn't you heard that from Nelly Corda at Riviera that she had a small grip change, yeah. Small grip change, and she says it helped her. We gosh, we didn't even talk about that putt that she almost missed.
SPEAKER_00I don't know how it went in. I said that to you. I don't know how it went in. She's the chosen one. She's a great man.
LPGA Star Power And Better Venues
SPEAKER_00Um we'll hit on it real quick. But I you know, I think I hate to say this, but it's true. I think a lot of people, especially white males, are turned off by women's golf because of there being so many Asian, Korean, Japanese players out there. Um, and I I think that it's it's really it's been dominated for a for a quite a long period of time now. And I think having Nelly out there, um, I think it's great. I think, you know, I hate to say it this way, but the great white hope. Um, you know, she she's athletic, comes from an athletic family. Her sister played at a very high level. And I I think Nelly is good for the game, you know. I I saw, I hate to admit it, but I saw like her little like TikTok thing that was on Instagram, and you know, they're having fun here in Michigan with her partner. But, you know, I I think the same way that greatness brings people out, like with Scotty and his influence on the game and Tiger and his influence with the game, you know, I think women's golf could use somebody who just goes out there and dominates. And, you know, I wouldn't say I'm the biggest Nellie Corda fan in the world, okay? Just like you're not the biggest Brooks fan in the world. Like, it's not that I don't like her, it's just I'm not the biggest of fan. But you know, it could be great for the for the women's game. And I I think they need something to shake it up to get people interested in it. And you know, she's won the first two majors this year. Uh, if you're unfamiliar, they have five majors, not four. And wouldn't it be cool if she won all five this year? That would that would definitely bring a lot of eyeballs to the sport.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yeah. They they need something that's gonna get me interested because I am.
SPEAKER_00I told you about watching the uh the Dow this morning, the replay, and you were like, What? I just can't watch it. Um, and your future wife is out there, you know.
SPEAKER_01This uh Charlie Hull is out there. I will watch Charlie. Um big Charlie fan. If she's listening, I love you. Um she is not listening. I know she's not listening. Um they do need someone to bring eyeballs. I do think though, um the courses like I do think that hurts them at times, and I think it helped them that it was Riviera. I do. And that hey, I was gonna tune in for Riviera. Yeah, like that's it. That venue is is a true cathedral.
SPEAKER_00I thought I told you this, and I don't think I've said it on the air, but I was talking to Parker McLaughlin, aka short game chef, about our trip out to Cyprus, and we Riv came up, we were talking about Riviera, and Parker swears that if Riviera had any oceanfront holes, it would be the one that everybody talks about.
SPEAKER_02I believe it. It's so high on my list of places that I need to get to.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we need to do that. Yeah, we do know some people, yeah. We need a producer and we need somebody to host us at Riviera. These are on the top of our things that we need for this podcast.
SPEAKER_01But I I hope the women continue to get, and it look like they are from what I saw. Like they're going to Oakmont, um blanking on the other ones now.
SPEAKER_00I just don't understand why there's not more crossover.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I I want, I hope that like get rid of the like the non-signature events, and look, the signature thing's here to stay, like it's gonna get tweaked a little bit, but that's here. Uh, and that ain't going anywhere. But these non-signature events, man, like nobody cares. And I hate to say that, like, as a golf DG, but nobody cares. Like, they don't. The only one they might care about is the cognizant classic, which is awesome. How guys are trying to help their buddies get secured for two years on the tour, like the Fitzpatricks just did, which was awesome, like, super cool. They were able to pull that off. But at the same time, these non-signature events, do some mixed events with the LPGA. Oh, yeah, do some mixed events with the DP World Tour, the Asian tour, the whatever, man. But like that would make it interesting. Like, give us something different because you're not giving us the high stakes like we talked about earlier that get us interested in this stuff. So give us something different that we haven't seen before, because that's at least interesting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, I I just hope that the the women continue to get some really good courses because they need they need someone that's gonna bring some eyeballs. And if you're telling me that Nellie Corda goes four for four and she gets to that last one, five for five. And I mean, I'm gonna be glued to it because we're gonna be watching something that's never been done.
SPEAKER_00Um I mean, look what Caitlin Clark did for the WNBA. Yes, I seriously, I mean, like has literally turned the light on in a very dark place, yes, and and look, uh the WNBA deserves all their credit, amazing athletes, great basketball players, but it sometimes just takes one. And there's more attention going on with the WNBA than ever before. And I look, it's not right, it shouldn't be this way, but you're crazy if you don't think it's Caitlin Clark doing that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. Uh so I I hope that they continue to get these good venues, which it looks like they are, um, because that brings eyeballs.
SPEAKER_00Um I think the USGA is just stepping the game up across the board.
SPEAKER_01They must be. It's like they're bringing um uh the U.S. Women's Am is coming to the honors this summer. So like they're getting they're getting the venues that are putting eyeballs on.
SPEAKER_00The U.S. women's senior open is at Barton Hills in Ann Arbor, Michigan this year. Oh wow. Wow. Now I wouldn't say that that's a great venue, but that's a story for another time. I mean, it's a nice golf course, but it's one of those places that oh just gives me the heebie-jeebies.
SPEAKER_01Um well the I I you know for that reason I hope that they get they continue to get some eyeballs because I'm not I'm not interested.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's that's gonna be our goal. We're gonna convert Chuck. We're gonna make we're gonna make you the biggest fan of the LPGA to date. That's that's where we're gonna get you. I just don't know if that's gonna happen. If Charlie Hall said that if you watched every women's tournament this year, she would go on a date with you.
SPEAKER_01I am absolutely locked in. We've never met a bigger fan.
SPEAKER_00I am I am LPG, they don't even have this, but you would have to like you're very gentlemanly, like you're you're you're a true southern gent. So you'd have to start carrying a lighter, though. You'd have to lighter cigarettes for.
SPEAKER_01I dated a girl that that smoked long, long time ago, and it that's hard.
SPEAKER_00It's hard if you're a non-smoker. Yeah, it's it's tough. Yeah. I still love her. I think you'd still do it.
SPEAKER_02I still loved her.
SPEAKER_00I don't think that that would stop you at Charlie, though. I think you would get past it pretty quick.
SPEAKER_01The fact that the fact that she can beat me in golf, uh, that would be so cool. Handedly. I'd be enamored by it. Handedly.
SPEAKER_00She would be yelling at you because you're too slow and you're not slow, but she would be like const not only kicking your ass, but like telling you to hurry up. Wow, she kicked your ass. Yeah, she can't get around in fast enough.
SPEAKER_01And I I would bring some pretty good clubs to the table. Like if she were to get with me, I'm I'm bringing something to the table. I'm bringing it up.
SPEAKER_00We should start a campaign. We we should try to make this happen. Just for the simple fact that you would have to watch all the women's golf from then on.
SPEAKER_01That's she could she could at least be my um couple's member guest partner.
SPEAKER_00You should reach out, she might do it. I mean, you do have an by the way, it is early here. Chuck was very nice and woke up early, so we could do this today. But even as early as it is, the hair looks, I mean, it's prime time ready already. This early in the morning. I'm glad that you think it is. If if Charlie saw that hair, I think you got a chance. You gotta get into MMA or something though. That's what she's saying.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, see, unfortunately, I'm I don't think she wants the golf. Like, she's already the golfer. She wants the MMA guy.
SPEAKER_00She wants like Connor McGregor.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, I have immense respect for what they do. I could never do that, so that's I'm probably out.
SPEAKER_00No, and we have obviously digressed to a point where we probably ought to wrap this up.
SPEAKER_01Say anything, say anything that gets us in any more trouble than we maybe I'll find someone at the women's and when they come to the honors. There's like working registration for that.
SPEAKER_00There you go. You can come to the U.S. Senior Women's Open. You might find a nice 50-year-old.
SPEAKER_01I don't think that's my demographic. Unless they're telling me that they're a member at like Maidstone or Shinnecock or something then.
SPEAKER_00Maybe they're like uh maybe they're the ex of your buddy who just walks across the street at Shinnnecock to get a drink at uh national. Yeah. Would you make that deal? Sight unseen? Sold. True D Gen. I love it. That's what I love about this podcast. It's just a couple Djens uh yucking it up, talking about all things
How To Reach Us And Closing
SPEAKER_00golf. But it's been a great episode. Uh, we're on a roll. I know there's some potential that we're gonna have some other special guest episodes over the course of the summer. So we'll keep you up to date with that as that transpires. Uh, but once again, if you are new to the podcast or unaware, we love when you guys give us feedback and we love when you give us topics and things to discuss. So if you are somebody who would like to hear us talk about something or have a great idea for a future episode, you are more than welcome to reach out to us on Instagram. You can find Mr. Chuck Hudson at Hudlow423 on Instagram. You can find myself at the forceplate guy or at measured golf on Instagram. You can also uh leave us what you think in the comment section on our YouTube channel where you can view this podcast as well and also view a lot of the content we make about the golf swing if you're looking for some help on that. And if all of that is just too much to remember, you can always just go to our website at measuredgolf.com where we have everything linked, including a way to get in contact with me if you are interested in working on your golf game virtually or in person here in Ann Arbor, Michigan, or possibly coming to you. So, once again, you can go to measuredgolf.com, find all that information and all the links to get a hold of us. So thanks again for listening. We really appreciate the support. And until next time, keep grinding.
