“I Reduced MY Handicap by 7 Strokes After Just 11 Weeks of High Performance Golf Training at AHPGA”
By Tony | June 30, 2008
Philip Tan from Malaysia has now been training with us at Australian High Performance Golf Academy for 11 weeks, so I thought it was time to review Philip`s progress to date.
When Philip first arrived at AHPGA back in April of this year he was playing on a 13 handicap in Malaysia (with an average 18 hole stroke score of approximately 85). After just 11 weeks of high performance golf training here at AHPGA Philip is now on an official Australian Golf handicap of 6 here at the Palm Meadows Golf Course (scoring consistently in the mid to high 70`s with a personal best score to date of two over par 74 off the Championship tee`s!).
Later this week I will take you through Philip`s weekly high performance golf training program so make sure to log in.
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Putt to the Beat of a Drum to Improve Your Speed Control on the Greens
By Tony | June 19, 2008
Australian High Peformance Golf Academy AHPGA student Philip Tan has been training with us here at the Australian High Performance Golf Academy for the past 9 weeks.
Philip is an excellent putter from short distances (inside 6 feet) and mid length putts, but struggles some what with judging the speed control on his longer putts, say outside 35 feet.
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SPEED IS KING ON THE GREENS
We have been working with various drills to improve Philip`s speed control on the greens, and whilst he was improving, he was still three putting a little too often. Back home in Malaysia Philips `day job` is a musician, more precisely he plays the drums. So I suggested to him the other day to try to putt to the beat of a drum. What does this mean?
The putting stroke can be either fast or slow, but it must be rhythmical, and work to a one, two musical type beat. So that`s where the link with the drums come into play! I suggested Philip experiment on a one, two beat and discover what rhythm worked best for him. One beat on the takeaway and one at the point of impact. One, two, one, two…. So with some more experimentation and training Philip will start mastering the speed on the greens, and being a professional musician he was able to relate to this almost immediately.
So if you are struggling with speed control on your putts, give this a go… I recommend the use of a metronome as used by most musicians to improve your rhythm on not only putts but all shots that require less than a full swing.
NOTE: I find that short game shots work best with a one second beat between takaway and impact. So set that metronome to 60 beats per minute rhythm. One, two, one two………
Good golfing and let me know how you go with this one.
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Improve Your Ball Striking With The 9 Shot Training Drill
By Tony | June 15, 2008
After 8 weeks of intensive training with us here at the Australian High Performance Golf Academy Philip is consistently breaking 80 strokes and his skill levels in all areas of his game continue to improve.
Philip had his best score to date this week when he scored 74 (+2) around the Palm Meadows Golf Club layout. Take a look at his statistics of the round and you can see through the full swing technique training and daily skills training how his ball striking is improving rapidly.
Fairways hit- 64.2%
Greens in Regulation- 66.6%
Total putts- 29
Philip is currently working on improving his speed control with his putting, higher softer bunker shots, shaping his tee shots (fades and draws), shaping his approach shots and shot selection and strategies on recovery shots. A staple full swing training drill that Philip works on daily is the 9 shot drill where he hits low fades, low draws, low straight shots, standard height draw, fade and straight and high draw, fade and straight ball flight with his irons, fairway woods and driver.
By doing this daily exercise Philip is able to keep his swing path more neutral and therfore is learning how to shape and control his ball flight.
Next time you go down to the range to hit some shots give the 9 shot drill a go, I think you will learn more about your full swing tendencies and also identify which shots you can already play and which shots you need to spend more time developing.
NOTE: This morning I was watching the television coverage of the US Open at Torrey Pines where Tiger Woods was on the driving range preparing for the start of his third round, when Johnny Miller made mention of the fact that Tiger himself works on the 9 shot drill daily!
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AHPGA Juniors Continue to Perform Well
By Tony | June 9, 2008
Australian High Performance Golf Academy Juniors have continued on with their good form for 2008 and claimed a couple more junior titles last weekend.
Ellie Na continued her great from with yet another win last weekend at the Brisbane Junior. Toby Moloney won the 16 years junior boys championship at the Southport Junior Classic with a fine score of 76, which was just one shot off winning the overall boys classic. Toby has been working with me for 12 months, and during that time he has reduced his handicap from 14 to 6 and is well on his way to achieving his personal objective of a 3 handicap by the end of this year. Michelle Pericic finished third in the girls section of the Southport Junior Classic with a score of 5 over 78.
Congratulations Ellie, Toby and Michelle from the AHPGA team!
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With a Good Wedge Game YOU are ALWAYS In the Contest
By Tony | June 8, 2008
Philip Tan has just completed week 7 of his advanced golf training with us here at AHPGA
Philip (and all of the advanced golf students at the Australian High Performance Golf Academy AHPGA) has a pitching training program that he performs for one hour every day.
This one hour pitching training program is broken down into;
- 20 minutes of technique work (plane, angle of attack etc.)
- 20 minutes of skills training (distance control and trajectory control
- 20 minutes of testing and assessment over various pitching distances
This week Philip produced two magnificent pitch shots. On Thursday he holed a 75 metre pitch shot for an eagle 2 on the par 4 first hole at the Palm Meadows Golf Course, and then again on Saturday he holed his pitch shot from 92 metre`s for an eagle 2 on the par 4 sixth hole at Palm Meadows……two holed pitch shots from the fairway for eagle`s on par 4 holes in three day`s!
Great pitching Philip!
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Philip Tan Returns and Shoots His Best Round!
By Tony | May 26, 2008
Philip Tan resumed his 26 week`s of high performance golf training with us at the Australian High Performance Golf Academy AHPGA today after returning from a week`s break in Malaysia.
The week`s break back home in Malaysia to ‘refresh and recharge the batteries’ worked wonders for Philip as he breezed around the Palm Meadows layout in 76 (+4) today. This is the best round that Philip has scored to date around the Palm Meadows Golf Course since beginning his high performance golf training at AHPGA 6 weeks ago. Philip played beautifully today and apart from struggling with the speed of the greens ( he had four three putts),he had a real opportunity to score under 75.
After the round I sat down with Philip for the usual post round review. We are both happy with Philip`s progress to date.Philip`s new 4 week improvement cycle`s are as follows;
Putting- speed control from 7 metres plus
Strategies- when to go for the shot and when to play conservative
Full swing technique- higher percentage of fairways hit
Mind on the Game- Concentration ( Internal, External and Focus)
At the end of this week I will review the changes we have made to Philip`s full swing technique.
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AHPGA Junior Wins Queensland Schools Golf Championships
By Tony | May 22, 2008
Australian High Performance Golf Academy Juniors performed well in this weeks Queensland Schools Golf Championships played at the North Lakes Golf Club.
Ellie Na continued on with her great form and won the Queensland Schools girls 19 years and under championship by 5 strokes. Bobin Kang who is also playing consistent golf this year finished a credible 4th in the boys 19 years and under championships.
Both Ellie and Bobin will be part of the South Coast Schools golf team competing in the 2008 Australian School Championship to be contested in Rockhampton later this year.
Congratulations to both Ellie and Bobin from all of the AHPGA team.
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Philip’s Advanced Golf Training Continues
By Tony | May 18, 2008
Philip has now completed 6 weeks of his 26 week advanced golf training here at the Australian High Performance Golf Academy AHPGA, so it`s time to review the first 6 weeks of training and check up on Philip`s progress.
Philip arrived at the Australian High Performance Golf Academy playing off a Malyasian domestic handicap of approximately 11. Over the first 5 round of golf here at Palm Meadows Golf Course Philip`s scoring average was 84.3 or approximately 84 strokes per 18 holes. After just 6 weeks of golf training with us here at AHPGA Philip`s stroke average for his last 5 rounds is 79.8!
Philip is averaging 79, 80 in the weekly AHPGA Students Competition.
As Philip is enrolled with us here at AHPGA for a total of 26 weeks, he applied for and recieved an Official Australian Handicap which was calculated over his 6 best rounds. I am pleased to say that Philip is now playing on a 7 handicap here at Palm Meadows Golf Course!
Congratulations Philip from all the team at AHPGA. The training has just begun!
NOTE: Philip has returned to Malaysia for 1 week and will resume his training with us here at AHPGA in 2 weeks.
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AHPGA Golf Results - Queensland Amateur Medal Championships
By Tony | May 5, 2008
The final results of Australian High Performance Golf Academy (AHPGA) students at last week’s Queensland Amateur Medal Championships.
30th 288 +4 KANG Bobin (Arundel Hills) 72 73 69 74
44th 292 +8 MELROSE Matthew (Robina Woods) 74 71 73 74
49th 293 +9 WILLIAMS Matthew (Palm Meadows) 74 70 74 75
Unfortunately our AHPGA sudents will not advance to the Queensland Amateur Finals (top 16 qualify for the Queensland Amateur, not top 32 as previously mentioned). Congratulations to all of our players on their fine performances.
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Philip Scores 78 After 3 Weeks of Advanced Golf Training!
By Tony | May 5, 2008
After 3 weeks of advanced golf training I sat down with Philip to get his thoughts on his training so far at the Australian High Performance Golf Academy AHPGA. This is what Philip had to say about his first 3 weeks;
” I have no regrets coming to AHPGA foｒ my advanced golf training and I get an all around training on golf and the mental game and strategies of the game on a daily and weekly basis. My coach Tony is great, he explains what he wants me to do and I can clearly understand plus he can demonstrate all the shots, which gives me great visual feedback, and confidence in him as a coach. His creativity in coaching myself and the other students in the drills and exercises required to improve our individual golf swings really has given me confidence in myself and my self belief as a golf player is growing daily”.
Philip has been working daily on his 60 minute putting exercise ( which has him working on technique, short putts, mid length putts and long distance putts), and this is resulting in consistent putting stroke and better directional control and distance control. This improved putting was on display as Philip scored 78 (+6) at Palm Meadows Golf Club last Friday. This is Philip best score to date since he began his advanced golf training with us here at AHPGA.
Log in later this week as I talk about and show ( with photo images) Philip`s changes in his full golf swing technique to date.
Topics: General, Golf - Mental Game, Golf Instruction, Philip`s Golf Training | No Comments »