In this video Neil Tappin, Digital Editor of Golf Monthly explains:
How can you play better golf without changing your swing with guest Nick Dougherty.
In association with Taylor Made.
How can you play better golf without changing your swing with guest Nick Dougherty.
In association with Taylor Made.
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00:00How can you play better golf without changing your golf swing?
00:04That's what we're going to find out in this video and to help us we have a special guest.
00:08Now most of you watching this will know Nick Doherty from Fronting Up The Sky Sports golf
00:12coverage but also from his Tea Time Tips videos that he releases on Instagram that have been so
00:18popular with so many golfers. If you haven't already seen them please do head over and
00:21check them out. But by the end of this video we want to give you some inspiration so five
00:26simple action points that will help you improve your scores without you needing to head to the
00:32range and make major swing changes. Now the way in which this video is going to work is that Nick
00:37is going to play three holes here at Wentworth on the west coast with an amateur golfer. This
00:41is somebody who's played golf for the last 30 years. He's struggling with his game but he
00:46doesn't really have the time or frankly the inclination to head to the range and go through
00:51that sort of swing rebuilding process. So effectively we're challenging Nick to come up
00:56with the easiest and simplest ways to help our golfer improve. Now the last thing to say is that
01:01this video is coming to you in association with TaylorMade. They sponsor Nick and they've also
01:06kitted out our amateur golfer. Speaking of which I think it's time to meet the man in question,
01:11Mike Harris. Okay so Mike Harris our amateur golfer for the day, 10 handicapper, you've been
01:17playing golf for 30 years. Correct. Is that right? Yeah. Tell us what is it that's going
01:24ultimately going wrong with your golf game at the moment you think Nick might be able to help you
01:27with? I think it's a really interesting one. So like everyone I want to play better golf
01:32but I think as I've got older and I realize where golf fits into my life I actually just want to
01:37play well in the important rounds when it matters whether it's a medal or club championships or a
01:42trip away with friends and I've also realized that I don't have the time to really invest to
01:48get a lot better technically so I suppose I want to limit the mistakes. I know my better rounds
01:54when I look at my R-cost data would tend to be the rounds where I'm not having doubles and trebles
01:59in there. It's not so much much about making loads of birdies it's about I guess playing to my
02:05strengths and not making those silly mistakes. I'm hoping that Nick can offer me some advice on
02:12how to make the most of my game how to I guess enjoy golf more and you enjoy golf more by playing
02:18I think fewer bad shots. So specifically where do you think is the biggest area let's call it an
02:24opportunity? Biggest opportunity probably to be less bad would be in my iron play I'm very
02:31inconsistent on my iron play and my short game as well used to feel like I had a really good short
02:36game completely deserted me it's coming back a little bit but I still don't get up and down
02:41anywhere near often enough. So let's set Nick the challenge. Can Nick help Mike
02:46play better golf without swinging the golf club any better? Let's go find out.
03:12So Nick you've played three holes with Mike and it's been an interesting experience watching the
03:17various different bits of advice that you've given Mike along the way and we're going to divide this
03:20part of the video up into five different sections and Nick I wanted to talk to you about in this
03:26first section about managing stress and nerves because I think part of Mike's issue is that he
03:31wants to be able to manage stress and nerves and he's got a lot of stress in his body and he's got
03:36in this first section about managing stress and nerves because I think part of Mike's issue is
03:41that he wants to play well but he's not fussed really about playing well all the time but he
03:45wants to play well when it matters so what advice would you give people about managing their nerves
03:50around the course? I think it's an overall mentality and sure we all want to play well
03:56you know when we go away for that trip or when we play in that club championship or whatever it may
04:00be but unfortunately it's like a wet bar of soap the more we want it the more it tries to get away
04:03from us so I think a lot of it comes down to acceptance first of all you can only do what you
04:06can do you can only be the best that you can be with the game that you have and accepting that
04:11golf is a hard game first of all and you it's going to go wrong you're going to hit shots that
04:15don't work out you're going to do lots of things right that don't get the results that you expect
04:18they're going to do there are a few little things that you can do on the golf course that can assist
04:22so for instance you know one of the things with Mike there was with the putter and he said to me
04:26on the 10th hole here at Wentworth that the I have the birdie pots and I sort of think yeah I really
04:31want these ones because I know I need it because it'll get me going but the fact of the matter is
04:35you need to again accept that every single putt is worth exactly the same if it's for a two or a
04:40seven we still want it because it's still worth the whole shot so that first of all just a little
04:44bit of logic can put that to bed but then after that getting out of your own way so for Mike
04:49it was all about trying to have something to think about that takes him away from thinking
04:53about the meaning of making or missing that putt so we use something really simple for him which
04:58one help is stroke so physiologically it's a nice thing to do as well and it was the simple act of
05:03saying back roll as he hit it so you say back in the backswing roll as you go through because if
05:08you're thinking about saying those words you're then also he's saying that out loud you can yeah
05:13I would do but you know granted you know you someone's going to give you a bit of grief in
05:17your four ball maybe if you start talking to yourself when you're playing but the but it
05:21absolutely stay inside don't take something else you start to focus on it as you're doing it saying
05:25back and roll and it takes your mind away from thinking about the outcome and puts you into the
05:30process of doing what you're doing so you're not worried about if it goes in because you're just
05:32thinking about this the great thing about this is you can be a top top golfer or you can be somebody
05:38who's just starting out the game managing nerves managing your stress is a really important part
05:42of the game that should really help okay so the next one is about figuring out your yardages and
05:52picking the right club and nick as a as a pro as somebody who's done this so many times in the past
05:57there's an awful lot more to this as i discovered as we were working our way around the golf course
06:02today then the kind of i guess most amateurs would maybe give it credit for so what are the things
06:06that amateurs should be doing more often they don't currently do to find the right yardage find
06:11the right club well find the right yardage will be the first one right um because a lot of the time
06:16if you use some sort of a range finder or use a smart watch or whatever you use to get your
06:21distance you can get a yardage to a flag but that's not really it so if the flag for instance
06:26here on 18 you're hitting a wedge shot and it's 135 to go to the flag but 135 is not your yardage
06:31most of your yardages need to be your carry distances because you can't say oh with roll it
06:35goes this because every course you play if it's in the middle of winter and it goes but or in the
06:39middle of summer on a link score so it's going to bounce 15 yards further on your yardages would
06:42always change and hitting a five iron into a green is going to be different hitting a sand
06:46iron into a green so you know just having the exact number you need to calculate what that is
06:50so if we're hitting a five iron into the last green i'd need to take 10 yards off at least
06:55my landing point so yeah if the yardage was 205 to the flag actually my carry yardage is 195 because
07:02that's where i need to land it right and then you've got to take into account as well wind
07:06direction slope as well and one thing i noticed when mike was on the 11th hole he had 113 i think
07:12he had and i said we'll go on what else are we working out here and he said well it's uphill
07:16i mean so yeah and what's that and you could tell he just like uh it's playing further you know
07:25but but we need more right we do need more because the difference between success and
07:28failure can be quite a fine margin in this game and i know from having used rangefinders but also
07:34all the years of playing the game within a yard or two what a slope is but a lot of the rangefinders
07:38now you can find that or you know you can find devices that will give you that sort of information
07:43so it was five uphill so it's not 112 or 113 i think it was 113 it's 118 it was into the wind
07:50there as well and so when we play in the wind most people any sort of breeze will say it's 10 yards
07:55or it's a clever wind you're saying the wind's the same strength every time you've played there's
08:00been wind at the same strength no it's always different but a nice thing you can do you can
08:02always use your phone now to find out what the speed of the wind is going to be across the day
08:06and let's say for instance it is 10 miles per hour the wind if it's downwind this is a
08:10generalization but it's really close to the truth it's about a yard per miles per hour so if it's 10
08:15mile an hour downwind it's going to play about 10 yards less okay into the wind though it's double
08:20so when if you're playing into a 10 miles per hour wind it's two yards per mile per hour so
08:25it's 20 into yet most people i'd hazard a guess would say well if it's a club down it's a club
08:31into and it's not it's double the difference and again it's a generalization but it's remarkably
08:36close to to being factual in terms of the way that a wind will affect the balls so it's really
08:41important to calculate those things pick your landing point as well know where you want to land
08:44it take the slope into all that as well and and that gives you a number and only when you've done
08:48all that work before you even take the club back can you honestly say i know what the distance is
08:53and regardless of who you are if you're if you're john ram or or you and i we all have the same
08:59ability as john ram before we take move the club so we can do this this is not really it's not
09:04rocket science no no but it does take a bit of learning and remembering to do the right processes
09:09so for mike there we just said we'll make it easier have more control because actually as much
09:13as the total number we've got now is correct for how it's playing we need to hit a shot that we
09:18can make get there without having to swing out of our shoes especially into the wind so i mean there
09:22are some mistakes in there that i know that i make i'm sure many of you do too picking the right club
09:27there is more to it than just saying ah that's a one club wind use some of nick's tips there
09:32should really help
09:37okay so the next one nick is kind of it feels a bit more technical
09:41but it's something that everyone needs to get right and can do probably better
09:46talk us through the first you can talk through the importance of posture if you've got poor posture
09:50and for most of us especially me i'm terrible for it because i do it when i'm sat in a chair as well
09:54i'm this way i just switch off i come in this way and when i'm tired i naturally go like this and
09:59then that goes to the golf course then when i'm on the course next minute i'm stood like i'm you
10:03know 85 years of age and everything's constricted when we get into this position nothing wants to
10:08turn properly so we end up with lots of armsy swings so i really like this because if nothing
10:13else it means that you can turn up and feel the same every time it's like a reset button and it's
10:18a super simple one i like it because one it's easy to do but also super easy to visualize is the
10:24goalkeeper posture i really really like it so if you were you know most salads about to step up and
10:29take a penalty and you're on the goal line how would you stand to take that you know receive
10:33that penalty you'd have the weight naturally in the balls of the feet we're on a little bit of a
10:37slope here so it's more challenging but you'd have the weight naturally towards the balls of
10:40the feet so you'd be athletic there would be a little bit of bend in the knees there'd be a nice
10:44little angle the correct angle in the lower part of the spine there through the bum and then when
10:48the chest would be nicely up the chin would be slightly off the chest but you wouldn't think of
10:52any of that whereas you go for lessons sometimes and you might get a pro and you'll be like a bit
10:56of that bit of that bit of that get that knee twisted in it and next week you're like okay how's
11:00that and oh my god is this all i've got and of course you're rigid because you're trying you're
11:04trying aren't you but what about those people who feel like physically there's something restricting
11:08them if you think well you know i can't get into that position you are there we don't have to get
11:13there we can just do our best to get into a position that allows us to move as well as we can
11:17you have to play around what you have in the locker and a great coach will do that for you
11:22but we can you know you still have to make the effort to be the best that you can be and still
11:26have it if it's causing pain it's no good yeah so i mean finding the right posture
11:30vitally important as nick says hopefully that's simple and effective give it a go
11:39okay so for this part we're going to talk about short game
11:42nick what did you think of mike's short game firstly i thought you know what i really liked
11:46about it was there was the shot on the 12 where the pro shot so the right shot which is a dangerous
11:54way to label it was landing it on the green bit of check roll it down to the hole because
11:59otherwise you had to play deal with this upslope to judge then onto the flat then onto the down
12:03slope seemed harder but actually mike was just i don't i'd look at it and think oh don't really
12:08fancy it there's the tip in itself like if you don't like it then it's probably not going to
12:13work because you're going to start to go down that hole yeah and almost to the degree where
12:17you before you've hit it thinking i know i'm going to be annoyed at myself because this isn't the
12:20right shot because i don't fit i don't like this i knew i'd do that you know if that's what comes
12:25out your mouth i knew i'd do that that's on you because you had a choice if you knew you'd do it
12:29why'd you do it no one said you have to play this game a certain way that's your choice and there's
12:34a great satisfaction from doing it your own way all the guys on tour do it that way yeah you know
12:38they've all got a different strategy and and he played this lovely and beautiful shot as well
12:42you know with a low iron and just scamp it up the bank because he was comfortable and something
12:47that's a bad decision with commitment will always do better than something that's a good decision
12:50without commitment right i'd always try and land it a yard on the green you can do it two yards can
12:54be anything you want but i always try and think i'll land a yard on the green you know uh like i
12:59did on the 10th hole that was all the shot sort of gets me there yeah i didn't execute perfectly
13:04but i was all in with the commitment to it then where the flag is tells me what club to play now
13:08if it's right there and it's only sort of three or four on the green it's that 60 degree definitely
13:12because i haven't got any room if it's another 10 feet on it might be a 56 or 52 degree it's
13:18across the other side of the green it might even be a five iron or something like that if you've
13:21got a nice slide to do it okay but what i'm always doing is land it in the same place so then all i
13:25need to do is i've done enough practice and hit enough shots which most of us have so now roughly
13:29how far would a seven iron run if i landed it there roughly how far would my sand iron run or
13:33my 60 degree run if i landed it there which doesn't take a lot of work but what it does it takes away
13:38all that indecision of where do i land it what sort of shot how high should i hit it you just
13:42think well i've got to land it there and it's got to roll to there so that would be a 52 nice so
13:48often people reach for too much loft actually it's a higher tariff shot with that sort of sort of
13:53club yeah for me it's the simplicity and the commitment and if you can do both of those things
13:58no doubt about it you'll get it up and down more often so nick the final area to talk to you about
14:06then is a bit of strategy and a bit of course management something that you covered quite a
14:10bit with mike during that that three whole period what was the sort of general advice that you're
14:15giving like i think taking medicine is the is the best one you know in terms of scoring so often the
14:21big numbers come because we won't accept that we've made an error and we try to get it all back
14:25straight away when you do hit it in trouble looking at the lie damage limitation okay horrible lie
14:31like mike's ball there in the um in the heather awful lie tree in front of us well yeah yeah the
14:38shot's the low one under the tree but you can't physically come out of that you can't lift it out
14:42of that which needs loft yeah you need to keep it under that so just because you want it mike
14:47fortunately bud it can't have it so the first job is get it out of that which means we can't do that
14:53so now we have to make our decision you've made that strategy shift before you've ever gone to
14:57you know pull the club out the bag okay that's the plan i have to take it on the chin that's
15:00what's happened chip it out and then you build from there whereas the eights and nines and you
15:06know whatever else it may be come from that we try to do more and it's only worth a shot the
15:10same as the one you hit off the tee so you know i think that's really important uh the other shot
15:14we looked at when we were in there uh with my other opportunities if the lie was clean i think
15:18it's a nice little tip just a bonus one but if you're punching out through trees when you're
15:22punching out through trees and there's a gap don't aim for the gap picture a flag in the distance
15:27might be in the middle of the gap assuming that's where we're going right in the middle of the gap
15:30it's amazing how often we miss it when we just try and steer it through the gap right because we
15:34start to steer it like this towards it rather than if it was a flag we wouldn't try and steer it down
15:38the line we'd make a swing towards the flag so be really precise when you're picking a spot that's
15:43through a gap in the trees that you're aiming for and then let it all hang out because if you aim
15:47small miss small sort of mentality and i think it will help people to find their way through that
15:51gap more often so there you have it play smart shoot lower scores simple so that's us finished
15:57mike you've played your three holes with nick from what i could see just so much really helpful
16:02information in there what did you find to be most useful do you think the stuff that nick was telling
16:08you so it's really interesting there was so much good stuff i actually had to make some notes
16:13on my phone and write it all down i guess the most technical thing that nick said two things
16:19were check my alignment and i know i need to do that better i tend to stand a bit closed and then
16:24with my posture he gave me the really cool tip of and i used to be a goalkeeper when i was a kid
16:28have that goalkeeper posture ready to try and save a penalty so those are two things that are
16:34really easy to remember don't need to do anything change my swing he talked as well about if i start
16:39to overthink concentrate on your breathing yeah he said if you are breathing and in as you're
16:45addressing the ball and out as you swing that's actually what you'll then think about you're not
16:49thinking about all the technical stuff he just said be in on every shot and i think what nick
16:53was saying there is just really commit to it have a line have a target and then commit to the shot
16:59don't don't poke it don't be nervous last question then mike so 10 handicapper yep of all the the
17:06advice that nick has given given to you then what does success look like for you i think success
17:12would be playing under my handicap or whatever that handicap was at that given point in a round
17:21that really mattered so there you have it that completes our look at how you might just be able
17:26to shoot lower scores without changing your golf swing some fantastic advice from nick dirty as i
17:32said at the beginning if you haven't checked out tea time tips do go over to nick's instagram have
17:37a look you'll find loads of great information on how to do everything better in the golf game
17:41frankly but that's it for now from wentworth thank you very much for watching we'll see you next time