Neil Tappin is joined by PGA Professional Alex Elliott look at the keys to breaking one of golf's biggest milestones - 100. Alex offers some simple guidance on how think while you are out on the course, what to practice and he also offers some practical advice on the shots you'll need to develop. These tips are designed to be simple and achievable for any golfer looking to break 100.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the London Club. Now in this video we have 10 top tips
00:05that are going to help you break a hundred. We'll look at everything from what clubs you
00:10have in your bag, some mental tips and how to get out of trouble. Yeah, let's head
00:14out onto the golf course here at the London Club and look at our first tip on our list.
00:18So the first tip on our list, number 10, is about relaxing between shots. Now golf is,
00:28for a lot of people, myself included, quite stressful at times. I can join that club.
00:32Yes, but it's crucial that you don't get caught up and try to focus for large periods, isn't it?
00:38Yes, I mean like golf's one of them sports we perceive there's a lot to think about over the
00:42shot and for some time there is. So it's about concentrating at the right point.
00:46Okay, so how do you do it then? How do you switch off? Because that's the key, isn't it?
00:50We've seen a trend of all top players now, they have one of their best friends on the
00:54bag or a companion on the bag. So having someone that you can relate to and talk to is key. Now,
00:58for most of us, we don't have a caddy. I don't have a caddy.
01:01But we play with our friends on the weekend, right?
01:02Yes.
01:03So having a chat with them whilst walking around from the tee to the green and then
01:07when you get close to your ball, then switch off. Not having to concentrate for four and a half
01:11hours, you're just doing 30 to 40 second stints. And I guess it's important to remember this,
01:16particularly when your sides get nervous, you've got a good score going, maybe with a few holes
01:19to go. I can imagine this shot, one of the last few holes here in your round, you've missed the
01:23par three. It's a difficult chip. You want to be fully concentrated on it.
01:27Yes, you could have been thinking about it for five minutes while you're walking here. It's
01:29maybe not a great preparation.
01:31No, definitely not.
01:31Yes. So a really simple tip, try and focus when you need to and relax when you don't
01:36need to be concentrating. So the next tip for golfers looking to break 100 is to avoid three
01:46putting. Okay, we all do it. It doesn't matter what handicap you are, everyone does it. But Alex,
01:50what do you think the mistakes are that cost people in this scenario?
01:54I think when we get to a distance like we've got now, we just sort of go into the green,
01:58oh yeah, it's about this, hit the putt away. A bit of autopilot comes into play.
02:02Yes. So we've put up some alignment sticks around the flag. And what are you trying to do then from
02:08here?
02:08All I want you to focus on is getting it inside that bin lid, that three-foot range,
02:13where actually we make our next putt as stress-free as possible.
02:17Okay. Go on then.
02:19So this is a little bit uphill, right to left. So I know I'm aiming a little bit right of the hole.
02:24I'm trying to die it into that space. I always picture that ball dying near the hole,
02:29not accelerating too far past.
02:31Yes. Okay.
02:37Perfect. I mean, this just shows you, if you can get the pace right, the odd one will drop
02:41in the hole. But the crucial point is scenarios like this, make them stress-free, get it down
02:46in two, you'll keep the score ticking over.
02:53Tip number eight is so important and it's about developing a fairway finder. So every golf course
02:59you'll ever play, there will be holes on that course that you don't fancy the look of off the
03:03tee. You're worried about losing the ball off the tee, or you're just worried about hitting a bad
03:06shot. So every golfer needs to find a fairway finder. How do you do it, Alex?
03:11I think there's sort of two scenarios we can look at here. Doing it with a driver,
03:15preferably. Now, if you're not comfortable with driver, finding a club,
03:18like maybe a fairway wood, that allows you to hit that fairway and you've got more confidence.
03:22But I guess the main thing is, is just go in the range, finding a swing with some nice rhythm,
03:28with a club, that gives you a repeatable shot.
03:31Okay. So what are you going to- How are you-
03:33I'm going down that route of, I think most golfers have a bit of a love-hate relationship
03:37with driver. But their fairway wood, their five wood, their three wood, it's probably something
03:41that they get on with more often than not. Just because it's a bit shorter, a bit more loft.
03:45Okay. So what's the swing thought that you would have when you're a fairway,
03:48like a hole like this, bunkers everywhere, tricky shot. What's the fairway finding swing for you?
03:53I just put my seven iron rhythm on it. So for me, getting good rhythm gives me a better chance
04:00of squaring that face. With driver, I'm more prone to giving it a bit of a welly. So rhythm is key,
04:06and don't overcomplicate it too much. Most people, if you're balanced through the shot,
04:11you're going to hit a better shot than if you're unbalanced.
04:13Okay. Well, show us your seven iron rhythm then with your-
04:15So I have two practice swings. One, two. Most people are comfortable with seven iron, right?
04:25And we're in. Account for the wind a little bit. It's off the left today. Then put that rhythm on.
04:32Okay. Yeah. Very good. I think, actually, it doesn't really matter what the club is or what
04:39the swing thought is, but the key thing is you need to practice it. You need to go to the range.
04:43You need to groove it so that when you are stood in a position like this, it's not alien. It's not
04:48new to you. You've done it before. You've repeated it. And then you might just produce a shot like
04:52that one. So this one is about bag setup and the clubs that you choose to carry.
05:01Alex, what's the advice here for people? I think really nice and simple. I prefer most
05:05golfers to carry a five wood over a three wood, a little bit more loft, a little bit shorter club,
05:10and then hybrids over long irons. Just a little bit more forgiving.
05:14Yeah. I mean, it's that simple. If you can do those things, you should find a setup that's
05:18just that bit more forgiving that's going to let you get away with your dodgy swing
05:22and not going to cost you too much while you're out on the course.
05:24Okay. So number six on our list is about pressure and how you handle pressure on the golf course.
05:30It's something that we all need to do. It might well be the first tee shot's incredibly nerve
05:34wracking, but then there's also going to be holes like this one. This is the ninth
05:39hole here at the Heritage Course in London Club. Really tough par four.
05:42And you might want to go for your fairway finder, Alex, we've already discussed, but equally,
05:46you might want to just hit driver because it's such a tough hole. In this scenario,
05:50when you need to do it most, what can we do to hit a good shot?
05:54That's the golden nugget, isn't it? Well, I mean, if we're looking to break a hundred, right,
05:58this scenario here, we're probably going to have two shots. So that's going to hopefully calm us
06:02down a little bit. But the key thing here is, is not just to pick your club rush and just get it
06:07over and done with because you don't feel comfortable.
06:09Yes. Which I have definitely done in my past for sure.
06:11Yeah. And if we actually look at golf, we want to be in scenarios where we're playing good golf
06:16and we're not feeling comfortable because that means we're doing something different. We're
06:22playing well, right? Right. Okay.
06:23So I want you to think about aiming really small. So if you aim really at a small target rather
06:29than just a general fairway, if you just miss a small target by a little bit, you're still going
06:33to be okay. So we're going to talk later in this video about how to aim, but in this particular
06:37scenario, what are you aiming at and what's your kind of miss, I guess?
06:41So for example, here, trouble looks to be more left. So I'm going to take something that's a
06:46very small target to the right of the trouble. Okay.
06:49So I'm going to hone really in small. So if I take this tree straight down, I've got the one
06:54that sticks up a little bit more. I'm going to use that. I know if I miss just a little bit left,
06:58I'm okay. But equally, if I miss just a little bit right, I'm still okay as well.
07:01Okay. So aim small, miss small, still end up on the fairway.
07:05Exactly. Exactly.
07:06Let's see if it works, Alex.
07:09Here we go.
07:15Bingo. It's like cut off that mark, middle of the fairway, no trouble. Aiming small,
07:20it really is very important and it could help you in a scenario like this.
07:28This one is all about club selection. And I think, Alex, we've chosen this particular hole
07:33here at the London club for a very good reason. So we've got water short of the green and most
07:37golfers would know in this scenario to do what? Take one club more, avoid going short.
07:42Yes. And the problem is that how often do you take the same approach on holes where there
07:46isn't water short, but there is other trouble like bunkers or other things that might be short
07:49of the green? Well, where do most club golfers finish even on a good strike? Short, right?
07:53Yes.
07:54So they don't take that advice. So what we're saying here is think that you're always in a
07:58scenario like this. There's water short or the trouble short, put the bunker in the same
08:02category, take one more club and make sure you're in the green.
08:05Yes. So that you are avoiding failing to carry the front of the green,
08:09which is the kind of the big mistake I think a lot of players make.
08:12Exactly.
08:12So, Alex, you've got 153 and you would usually hit?
08:17Seven iron, usually.
08:18So I will look for your six iron. There you go.
08:22Now, being a pro, I expect this to finish close to the flag.
08:25Feel a bit of pressure. And even this is a tough one,
08:28the wind into as well, you might have to adjust that even further sometimes.
08:36Lovely contact. Very good shot. But has it made the green?
08:41Yes. Pin high.
08:47So number four on our list is developing the punch shot,
08:50being able to hit a shot when you're in a scenario like this.
08:53Yeah.
08:54How do you play it?
08:55So essentially if we want the ball to go lower, we need to lower the loft of our club. So use less
09:00loft. Lower the loft of our club at impact and hit down on it more. That's going to lower the launch.
09:05Okay. So set up for the ball then. Explain to me what you do at address.
09:09So how I would do with this is I would put the ball towards the back of my stance.
09:13That allows me to hit down on it more. I'd grip down on it.
09:16Now with that ball going towards the back of my stance,
09:18that's going to encourage a bit more forward shuffling, taking some loft off the club.
09:22Now all I want you to feel is you're going to keep your weight left throughout
09:26and just make a bit of a slower swing. And I always like to feel it's more of
09:29like a curtailed follow through with my chest pointing to target rather than
09:34this nice full follow through on a full shot.
09:36Okay. Go on then. Let's have a look at it.
09:38So this is a real toughie actually because we're not too far from the green. So I've
09:41gone eight iron and I'm trying to picture that ball flying through this window here
09:45down and running up.
09:47Yeah.
09:48So ball back, hands forward, grip down.
09:51Well, it clipped the tree, but it's fine. As Alex said, it's a really tricky shot.
10:00And I think the key thing is often in a scenario like this, the punch shot is really important,
10:04but it's about getting yourself back into place. So not trying to do too much with it.
10:08Just get yourself back in the game and then take it from there.
10:11The punch shot is a really important shot for golfers no matter what their handicap.
10:16Okay. So number three on our list, it's a simple one, but it's so important. It's
10:20knowing exactly how to aim the club. Alex, what's the advice here?
10:24I mean, what I think is, is always coming to the range and pressing the reset button
10:28occasionally where you can get into bad habits that creep in at time after time,
10:32aiming a little bit right or a little bit left. And there's nothing worse than the right,
10:37ripping a swing, feel an amazing swing out the middle and the ball just sailing in the wrong
10:42direction. Yeah. And I guess the point here is that if you aim wrong,
10:45then suddenly your swing path is out and you can get other faults that creep into the game.
10:49So it really is important to get this right. So how do you do it?
10:53So I always have a bit of a process. I always come to the range and I'll place
10:57one alignment stick down first. That's my ball to target line.
11:00So we've chosen this red flag down here. I would then put my feet line,
11:04which runs parallel to that. Now this is getting me to have two parallel lines,
11:09but use this as like a coming back to neutral reset button. So now I can stand over here.
11:16I've also used a line of a ball to extend that line, address the ball, make sure everything's
11:21neutral. And you know what? It might feel like aiming a bit left. I feel like aiming now a bit
11:26right, but it's getting both target line, then shoulders, feet, hips, and knees running parallel.
11:31Yeah. So I'm going to go ahead and place my feet
11:34ball to target line, then shoulders, feet, hips, and knees running parallel.
11:38Yeah. Take pride in getting this part right. If you do, it will definitely pay off.
11:47Okay. So number two on our list is to have two different short game shots up your sleeve. Two
11:53that you feel really comfortable with. One, Alex, is a chip and run. You'll be able to find advice
11:57on how to hit the chip and run on the Golf Monthly website. Alex, I'm sure you'll have
12:00some content on your YouTube channel about how to do it, but we're now going to look at how to hit
12:04a bunker shot because this is so important. You're going to face it. A lot of golfers struggle with
12:09it. So give us a tip, Alex. So first thing, choose your most lofted club. I tend to buy wedges that
12:15have a lot of bouts. This helps the club sort of glide through the sand. Also, I think it's all to
12:20do with setup really. If we set up to this club correctly, we've got a better chance of hitting
12:24it good. So nice, quickly here and simple. Dig your feet in. We've got ball position, a club head
12:30inside a left heel. You want to then grip it with the face open, sit down and left. All I want you
12:36to do is feel like you're sliding that club underneath it with some speed. Okay. Go on then.
12:48Yes. You'll notice, I mean, Alex has swung at that really quite hard.
12:51It's just popped it straight up into the air. Loads of control, not gone very far.
12:56It's a simple way to do it, but it does take some practice. Put some time into it.
12:59It will really pay off. Okay. So our number one top tip for breaking 100, Alex, is to break
13:10the round up into small segments. Explain what people should be doing here. I mean,
13:15most people who are trying to break 100, they'll go out there going, right, okay, well, I've got
13:19to do this and this on each nine and that whole focus is coming to that end score. So breaking
13:24that round into six sets of three, you can set yourself a target on those sets, reset after one,
13:31go on the next. Right. Okay. So it might well be that you look at the first three holes and think
13:35they're three of the hardest holes on the golf course. Try to get away from there,
13:39no more than four over par or something. Exactly like that. But also equally, if you have
13:43a bad set of three, don't let that impact the nine holes. Because most people go,
13:47oh, I'll reset after the ninth. We'll start again on the 10th. Reset after three, start again. But
13:52equally, if you have a good set of three, don't get too far ahead of yourself and start trying
13:56to chase it even more. Yes. So managing a score across 18 holes, it's a lot to do. Managing the
14:01same score over three hole chunks is much more achievable. Give it a go. Okay. So that's our
14:06look at our top 10 tips to break 100. Breaking 100 is such an important barrier that so many golfers
14:13are looking to get through. If you can just do a few of those things that Alex said,
14:17not many of them very technical, all of them really, really useful, they should really help.
14:21If you think there's anything that we've missed that you have used in the past that really helped
14:25you, leave some comments below. We'd love to hear your thoughts. But that's it for now from
14:29the London Club. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.