• 7 hours ago
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.
Transcript
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. And 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 about making loads of birdies it's about I guess playing to my strengths
02:06and 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. Yeah. And it's been an interesting experience
03:16watching the various different bits of advice that you've given Mike along the way and we're
03:19going to divide this part of the video up into five different sections and Nick I wanted to
03:25talk to you about in this first section about managing stress and nerves because I think part
03:30of Mike's issue is that he wants to be able to manage stress and nerves and he wants to be able
03:34to manage stress and nerves and he wants to be able to manage stress and nerves and he wants to
03:38stress and nerves because I think part of Mike's issue is that he wants to play well but he's not
03:43fussed really about playing well all the time but he wants to play well when it matters.
03:47So what advice would you give people about managing their nerves around the course?
03:51I think it's an overall mentality and sure we all want to play well you know when we go away
03:57for that trip or when we play in that club championship or whatever it may be but unfortunately
04:01it's like a wet bar of soap the more we want it the more it tries to get away from us. So I think
04:04a lot of it comes down to acceptance first of all you can only do what you can do you can only be
04:08the best that you can be with the game that you have and accepting that golf is a hard game first
04:12of all and you it's going to go wrong you're going to hit shots that don't work out you're going to
04:16do lots of things right that don't get the results that you expect they're going to do there are a
04:20few little things that you can do on the golf course that can assist so for instance you know
04:24one of the things with Mike there was with the putter and he said to me on the 10th hole here
04:27at Wentworth that the I have the birdie putts and I sort of think yeah I really want these ones
04:32because I know I need it because it'll get me going but the fact of the matter is you need to
04:36again accept that every single putt is worth exactly the same if it's for a two or a seven
04:41we 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 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 failure can be
07:29quite a fine margin in this game and i know from having used rangefinders but also all the years
07:34of playing the game within a yard or two what a slope is but a lot of the rangefinders now you
07:39can find that or you know you can find devices that will give you that sort of information
07:43so it was 5 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
08:15if it's 10 mile an hour downwind it's going to play about 10 yards less okay into the wind though
08:19it's double so when if you're playing it into a 10 miles per hour wind it's two yards per mile
08:25per hour so it's 20 into yet most people i'd hazard a guess would say well if it's a club down
08:31it's a club into and it's not it's double the difference and again it's a generalization but
08:35it's remarkably close to to being factual in terms of the way that a wind will affect the
08:40balls so it's really important to calculate those things pick your landing point as well
08:43know where you want to land it take the slope into all that as well and and that gives you a number
08:47and only when you've done all that work before you even take the club back can you honestly say
08:51i know what the distance is and regardless of who you are if you're if you're john rahm or or you
08:57and i we all have the same ability as john rahm before we take move the club so we can do this
09:03this is not really it's not rocket science no no but it does take a bit of learning and remembering
09:08to do the right processes so for mike there we just said we'll make it easier have more control
09:12because actually as much as the total number we've got now is correct for how it's playing
09:17we need to hit a shot that we can make get there without having to swing out of our shoes especially
09:21into the wind so i mean there are some mistakes in there that i know that i make and i'm sure
09:25many of you do too picking the right club there is more to it than just saying ah that's a one
09:30club wind use some of nick's tips there should 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 talk us through
09:47the first you can talk through the importance of posture if you've got poor posture and for
09:50most 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
13:08now if it's right there and it's only sort of three or four on the green it's that 60 degree
13:11definitely because i haven't got any room if it's another 10 feet on it might be a 56 or 52 degree
13:17it's across the other side of the green it might even be a five iron or something like that if
13:21you've got a nice slide to do it okay but what i'm always doing is land it in the same place
13:24so then all i need to do is i've done enough practice and hit enough shots which most of us
13:28have so now roughly how far would a seven iron run if i landed it there roughly how far would
13:32my sand iron run or my 60 degree run if i landed it there which doesn't take a lot of work but what
13:37it does it takes away all that indecision of where do i land it what sort of shot how high
13:41should i hit it you just think well i've got to land it there and it's got to roll to there
13:45so that would be a 52 nice so often people reach for too much loft actually it's a higher tariff
13:52shot with that sort of sort of club yeah for me it's the simplicity and the commitment and if you
13:57can do both of those things no doubt about it you'll get it up and down more often
14:00so nick the final area to talk to you about then is a bit of strategy and a bit of course
14:08management something that you covered quite a bit with mike during that that three whole
14:12period what was the sort of general advice that you're giving like i think taking medicine is the
14:18is the best one you know in terms of scoring so often the big numbers come because we won't accept
14:23that we've made an error and we try to get it all back straight away when you do hit it in trouble
14:27looking at the lie damage limitation okay horrible lie like mike's ball there in the um in
14:33the heather awful life tree in front of us well yeah yeah the shot's the low one under the tree
14:39but you can't physically come out of that you can't lift it out of that which needs loft yeah
14:44you need to get under that so just because you want it mike fortunately bud it can't have it so
14:50the first job is get it out of that which means we can't do that so now we have to make our
14:54decision you've made that strategy shift before you've ever gone to you know pull the club out
14:58the bag okay that's the plan i have to take it on the chin that's what's happened chip it out and
15:02then you build from there whereas the eights and nines and you know whatever else it may be come
15:07from that we try to do more and it's only worth a shot the same as the one you hit off the tee so
15:12you know i think that's really important uh the other shot we looked at when we're in there uh
15:16with my other opportunities if the lie was clean i think it's a nice little tip just a bonus one
15:20but if you're punching out through trees when you're punching out through trees and there's a
15:23gap don't aim for the gap picture a flag in the distance it might be in the middle of the gap
15:28assuming that's where we're going right in the middle of the gap it's amazing how often we miss
15:31it when we just try and steer it through the gap right because we start to steer it like this
15:35towards it rather than if it was a flag we wouldn't try and steer it down the line we'd make
15:39a swing towards the flag so be really precise when you're picking a spot that's through a gap in the
15:43trees that you're aiming for and then let it all hang out because if you aim small miss small sort
15:48of mentality and i think it will help people to find their way through that gap more often
15:52so there you have it play smart shoot lower scores simple so that's us finished mike you've
15:58played your three holes with nick from what i could see just so much really helpful information
16:03in there what did you find to be most useful do you think the stuff that nick was telling you
16:08so 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
16:18two things were check my alignment and i know i need to do that better i tend to stand a bit
16:23closed and then with my posture he gave me the really cool tip of and i used to be a goalkeeper
16:27when i was a kid have that goalkeeper posture ready to try and save a penalty so those are
16:32two things that are really easy to remember don't need to do anything changing my swing
16:37he talked as well about if i start to overthink concentrate on your breathing
16:42yeah he said if you are breathing and in as you're addressing the ball and out as you swing
16:48that's actually what you'll then think about you're not thinking about all the techniques
16:50he just said be in on every shot and i think what nick was saying there is just really commit to it
16:56have a line have a target and then commit to the shot don't don't poke it don't be nervous
17:02last question then mike so 10 handicapper of all the the advice that nick has given given to you
17:08then what does success look like then for you i think success would be playing under my handicap
17:17whatever that handicap was at that given point in a round that really mattered so there you have it
17:23that completes our look at how you might just be able to shoot lower scores without changing
17:29your goal swing some fantastic advice from nick dirty as i said at the beginning if you haven't
17:33checked out tea time tips do go over to nick's instagram have a look you'll find loads of great
17:39information on how to do everything better in the golf game frankly but that's it for now
17:43from wentworth thank you very much for watching we'll see you next time