Practice With A Plan & Get Out of Golfs Twilight Zone

The past two weeks I have been at The Highlands practice tee in Forest Park on Saturdays thru Tuesdays. On nice days I have never seen so many ball beaters hour after hour, new wave of hitters followed by another new wave. Thousands of yellow balls as far as the eye can see. Body builds of every type, age, sex, and ability. The most common noticeable attribute was golfers hitting balls with no real purpose or plan. Yes some were quite talented and did appear to be working on skills but they stood out like the old saying a rose among thorns. Swing after swing of poor grips, bad pivots, inside takeaways, open at the top, dead shut at the top, castings, steep into ball,etc. On the whole locked into to some type of golf trance of really believing they are practicing and totally committed they are going in the right direction. It is now my quest to figure out how to reach many of these ball beaters and help them down the path of becoming a golfer before they hurt themselves or quit out of frustration. If you are one of these ball beating piranahs stuck in golfs twilight zone give me a call or see your local PGA Professional for some golf changing and life altering assistance. Thank goodness winter is over. Next clinic 4/14 at kokopelli 5:30 join us there. Weather permitting at Salem C. C. 4/15 stop in and get a free tip.

Golf Thought

Golfers over-stress distance and they under-stress the importance of accuracy

WHAT YOU SET IS WHAT YOU GET

Do you know that the most critical part of the golf swing may very well take place before the club is put into motion. The grip, posture, ball position, alignment and shot visualization are critical to hitting consistent golf shots. Tour players practice their setup till it is second nature. This enhances their chances of being successful when the pressure is on. So as spring approaches get your setup and preshot routine checked. Enjoy the next week as the weather is starting warm up and dry out.

Thursday Night Show-up Clinic / Practice Session at Kokopelli

All times for clinic / practice sessions will be 5:30pm - 7:00pm on the dates stated below.

Class Format : The first 30 - 45 minutes of the clinic will be focused on the topics detailed below. The remainder of the session will be dedicated to individual golf questions or issues. 

Fee for Clinic / Sessions will be $15 ($10 for members) per session.

Schedule:

April 2011

• 7th – Setup / grip / core movement & putting
• 14th - Chipping 
• 21^{st -} Pitching
• 28th - Green side sand

May 2011

• 5th - Punch Shot
• 12th - Full Swing Irons
• 19th - Full Swing Fairway Woods
• 26th - Driver Shots

June 2011

• 2nd - Short Yardage (15,30,45,60,75)

Junior Golf Program at Kokopelli

The junior golf program at Kokopelli will begin on Wed. June 8th. This year there will be ten sessions in the program. The final session will be on August 17th.

 

Cost for the program will be $70 for members and $140 for non-members, or per session $10 for members & $20 for non-members.

 

Juniors will play after the intruction. Non-members in the program can play nine holes for $7 or eighteen holes for $10. Special greens fee available only as part of the junior program.

 

The Kokopelli Junior Klassic will be held on July 20th.

Kokopelli Junior Elite Golf 2011

Call NOW to schedule!

Junior Elite Golf is a program for the junior golfer who is playing in tournaments, high school golf team, or college golf. Each week Larry Emery will take a maximum of four players on the course for nine holes followed up by another hour on the practice tee/green. 

We will start at 8am on Thursdays from June 2^nd thru August 11^th. The price ($75/ $60 Kokopelli member) will be weekly so golfers may attend by calling Larry at (618) 727-3383 to schedule. Hopefully more golfers will take advantage of the flexibility of being able to attend the days their schedules allow.

JUNIOR GOLF STUDY

This is designed to give the junior golfer weekly private instruction June thru August. Instruction to be scheduled on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday each week.  Cost is $500.

JUNIOR GOLF TOURNAMENTS

Locally the SIGA will be publishing area clubs summer tourneys. For more competition check out the Gateway PGA Junior Tournaments and a new summer program called Accelerated Golf Tour also played around metropolitan St. Louis.

Get Your Golf Game Ready For Spring

I just finished watching the PGA Honda tournament finish and as normal the players with best shortgame that week make the money. The winner had 21 putts on friday, shooting a 64 and only hitting ten greens in regulation. As spring is approaching most of us have limited time to practice and play. Also the weather is inconsistent so take advantage of the good days or even late afternoons to get in some practice. I would start by working on putting. Get your feel back as it has been a long winter in the midwest. Work diligently on 3',6', and 9'. Work on hitting the putts at different speeds and get used to seeing the ball go in the hole. Next, roll some long putts from one side of green to the other, getting your feel back and working on solid contact between putter face and ball. Hitting the ball in center of clubface is essential to getting consistent distance no matter what club you are using. As you are getting more comfortable and your feel is coming back grab a 9 or 7 iron and move off the green for some chipping. The season is early so give yourself a good lie and work on basic chip shots. Again achieving solid contact and rhythm is great practice for all of our game. If you want to shoot lower scores this year keep working on your short game.