One of the things I am often asked is: “How do I get better distance control on wedge shots?”
At Boyne Mountain Resort we have installed Northern Michigan’s first Wedge Range. This area is specifically designed for hitting wedge shots. There are 8 targets place in the ground spread out every 10 yards in a baseball diamond fashion from 30 up to 100 yards. It’s a quiet unique place to work on your short game.
Distance control is so important in every faze of golf especially inside of 100 yards. I often see handicaps drop significantly as I work with players on their short games. In the video above Mike gives you three tips to help you control your distance:
→Length of the Backswing
→Speed of Your Arms
→Ball Position
Of course these elements must be blended together to produce a shot with the right trajectory, distance, and spin to land on the green and stop quickly. Really it all comes down to practice. There’s no doubt, having the Wedge Range has made my players practice more, because it’s fun.
For more information on adding spin to your wedge shots to control your distance please click here.
Mike Fay
PGA Director of Instruction
With over 30 years of teaching experience, it's easy to see why Mike has become a leader in the world of golf instruction. Everything from cutting edge social networking techniques to having his own podcast, Mike has helped to change the face of teaching golf. He currently is the Director of Instruction at Walnut Creek Country Club in South Lyon, Michigan.
On Tuesday October 28th, 2014 Mike appeared on the Back 9 Report radio show with Fred Altvater and Carlos Torres. They discuss the Boyne Golf Academy, Boyne’s Winter Golf Schools at PGA Village, the Ask The Pro Show, and Trackman and how it helps instructors coach better.
It goes without saying you need to be mentally tough to compete and possibly even win the United States Open. There is, obviously, a long list of players who have won the tournament, however, the list is quite short of players who were lucky to win. Most, if not all are or were mentally tough golfers.
What can this be attributed to? Or rather, who can this be attributed to?
Let me venture to say that most golfers or people who are successful in life’s endeavors have a mentor or figure that pushed them in the right direction. This could have been anyone. But on one weekend in June, we can look to one person in particular.
Dad.
In honor of the U.S. Open and its correlation with Father’s Day, this post is dedicated to the men who dedicated their time to shape and mold those of us into the people we are today. Now, I know many of you might say that mom is equally important. I agree. Totally. But, because we often see Dad walking the course with the next winner of the U.S. Open and getting a heartfelt embrace on the 18th green, this post is for dad.
One cannot minimize the affect a father has on a son (and daughter). Although at the time we are getting life’s most valuable lesson we rarely realize it. It’s not until we are fathers ourselves do we understand why dad did the things he did. Many of us have amusing life stories of when dad taught us a lesson. Many of those lessons we had to learn the hard way. I think dad knew this.
What about the lesson of mental toughness? What specific moment in your life can you look back at when dad taught you the value of being mentally tough? The lessons are numerous. The situations, although comical now, were not so much at the moment.
Take a moment when the winner of the U.S. Open and his dad meet on the 18th green to think about the times when your dad was bestowing a lesson upon you. I bet that many of life’s mentally tough lessons for the winner of the U.S. Open were the same as what you and I experienced. It just so happens the winner of the U.S. Open is good at golf.
What are you good at? I bet dad had something to do with it.
