People ask me for golf advice all the time. And I usually end up sharing a lot of the same stuff... everything I've picked up from these great coaches over the years.

So I finally wrote it all down.

I desperately wish I'd had this list when I was a junior golfer trying to play competitively.

*plus at the end of this email I explain a new podcast series you're going to love. 😁

In this issue:

• Wind is a number changer, not a club changer. Here's the math.
• Most practice swings are useless. What to do instead.
• Two coaches, one disagreement: is zero path actually bad?
• Nelly won the Open while hating her grip the entire week
• They mic'd up a pro for 72 holes and he went and won the thing

SPONSORED CONTENT My most-asked-about gear of the year I've gotten more questions and people interested in the Rotex Motion product than any other gear this year! ​ I bought them after trying them out and probably use them every other day. ​ ➡️ Check them out here​ (Discount code: GOLFWELL10 on the ROTEXMotion Combo Bundle)

The Golf Advice I Spent Years Collecting And Wish I'd Had 20 years ago

If we played some golf together and you asked me for the best, most practical advice I've learned over the years... here's the list!

Run some experiments and try out some of these ideas:

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How to practice

When you go to the range try working on these specific things.

• What are you going to hit off the tee? Two clubs and a shot shape. Driver and a hybrid or 5-iron. Have real intent with it.
• One club, one simple standard chip shot. Use it as much as possible around the greens.
• Create a 4-foot circle around the hole with tees. Hit ten 30-40 foot lag putts into it and see how many you can keep in that circle.

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Wedge gapping. Get a cheap launch monitor and do wedge gapping. Spending time every month figuring out how far your wedges go would be a GREAT use of your time.

Even the $300 options will help you dial in these yardages. I learned from Dr Sasho MacKenzie that they're 95% accurate with just ball speed on shots under 150 yards.
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Practice plan. Write down a plan before you go practice. We all lack self-control on the driving range. You end up emotional and reacting to shots shotgunning balls and trying 8 different swing changes.
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Feedback. Get feedback during your practice. Video yourself. Get a training aid, or use what you have in your bag (a towel behind the ball if you're chunking, hit a tee in front of the ball to make sure your low point is after the ball).

Good practice has feedback on whether it's good or not. Can't recommend video enough. Just watch yourself go through a pre-shot routine, aim and setup, all the things beyond just swing technique as well.
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Hit shots on the range with a stick in front of your ball, pointed toward the target. Not just one at your feet. This shows you your actual start line or target, depending on whether you're shaping it or hitting it straight.

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Calibrate. Can't figure out where the ball is going? Go calibrate.

Massive slices? Hit hooks and see if you can get the ball to go left. Gain awareness of how to change the golf ball's flight.

Making swing changes is really hard. A real movement change means daily reps, probably at home without a ball, then work to take it to the course. IT TAKES WORK!

If you're not going to put in that time, stop trying to fix your swing. Do skill work instead. Hit it off the heel, the toe, and the center on purpose. Calibrate by hitting slices, hooks, and straight ones.

How to think

Expectations. Separate out each shot. No matter how good or bad the last shot was, this shot right now is its own challenge.

That means this 10-footer you should have the same approach and intent if it's a birdie or double bogey.

Or you short-sided yourself and feel like you need to get this up and down for par. Well, that flop shot is more likely to lead to a double, so let's get it on the green and two-putt.

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Scores. Your golf scores shake out on a normal distribution curve probably with a 12-15 shot range. So anytime you tee it up you could go from your lowest to your highest, but you're most likely bunched in the middle.

So when I get pissed off for shooting my average (which is where most of my scores will be bunched) that's ridiculous. But we all do it anyway.

Bogeys are your friend. Doubles and triples are your enemies.

Always work to guarantee the bogey. Chip it up there and two-putt. Make sure your recovery shot gets you back in play so you can wedge it on and two-putt.

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Play the hole to make bogey. If you're a 8 handicap you're expected to make 8 bogeys and still shoot better than your average. Change your mindset and start to approach the hardest par 3 as a par 4. Suddenly it's the easiest par 4 on the course and not a hard hole.
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On the course

Yardages. Lasering the flag and then basing all your decision-making around that one number is madness. Because I know on a wedge I'm likely to miss it 5 yards short or 5 yards long. With a wedge! So I need to make sure I've given myself room for my normal dispersion.

Know your front and back yardages to the green.

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Wind. Play wind as a number changer, not a club changer.

You take the wind speed as a percentage of your total yardage. For example, if you are 200 yards out into a 10 mph wind, 10% of 200 is 20 yards, meaning the shot plays like 220 yards

This simplifies it a little too much, because maybe you're hitting a 3/4 shot that takes spin off, or a full high shot with a lot of spin. That obviously impacts it too. But the mindset shift is adjusting the yardage first, then picking the club and shot for that yardage.

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Dispersion patterns. Rule of thumb is 10% right and left. A 150 yard shot could go 15 yards left or right of your target. So play like that might happen, don't freak out when you miss it 20 feet left or right, and celebrate when you've done better than average.

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Conservative chipping. Hit the green two putt and make a bogey. Sometimes you'll surprise yourself and make a par.
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Wedges are like an underhand throw. Your max should around 70% effort. Consistent launch angle and spin is the key we're looking for. Low launch, high spin.

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Rehearsal vs. practice swing. Most practice swings suck. It's just waving the club around with little benefit.

A rehearsal is an attempt to do and feel what's going to happen during the actual swing, even visualizing the ball flying off.

The better the rehearsal, the better your tempo and commitment, and it lets you feel what needs to happen.

​ 🙌 Well Played: This Week’s Top Finds: ​ 🎥 The story of long time tour coach Adam Schriber. Cool profile piece. ​ 🤨 This might be my most random pull from an IG video. At the US Women's Open they had a hyperbaric chamber in the fitness area. Hearing more and more about these. Anyone tried it? 🏆 Very cool stuff here. The production team had to be freaking out over this one. "We Mic’d Up a Pro Golfer for 72 holes… And he ended up WINNING!"​ ​ 🖐 Hard to believe Nelly won the US Women's Open while trying to change her grip and having it "feel" terrible. Crazy quotes to hear.​ 🎥 LKD nails another great gameplan video as usual. ​

Is Zero Path Actually Bad? Two Coaches Disagree

New awesome podcast with Luke Benoit and Justin Kraft.

We bantered about a few topics but dove deep into the idea of a zero path. Is it good? Bad? You'll learn some important concepts.

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Listen and subscribe here:

​SPOTIFY​

​APPLE PODCAST​

Have a great week!
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-Cordie

📚 If you haven't grabbed The Scoring Edge yet... it's 119 pages of drills, strategies, and frameworks from 12 coaches including Scott Fawcett, Mark Blackburn, and Ralph Bauer. Everything we've learned from filming with these guys, in one book. Grab it on Amazon.​
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🎥 Follow on Youtube to catch the latest videos.
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