Newsletter – November 2013
Upcoming events: I am conducting a Two-Day School on November 8th (4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) and Nov. 9th (8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.) with a limit of 3 golfers for only $99. This school is not for beginners. My next Get Golf Ready Ladies Boot Camp will be held on Thursday, Nov. 21 through Sunday, Nov. 24. There will be 4 hours of clinics, Thursday and Friday from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. We will conclude on Sunday by playing on the golf course from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Total cost is only $99 and includes everything. I will conduct a Ladies Only Golf Clinic on four consecutive Sunday afternoons on December 8, 15, 22 and 29. These clinics will be from Noon to 1:00 p.m. Total cost is only $40. Space is limited for both of these Ladies clinics and they are both great for beginners and newly dedicated golfers. Please call (727) 692-4679 or email, jh@johnhayesgolf.com to sign up for these clinics as space is limited.
There are two other great events coming up in our area. The Chi Chi Rodriguez tournament will be held on Sunday, Nov. 10 and Monday, Nov. 11 at the Golf Club. Go to chichi.org to see how to get involved and support Chi Chi’s Youth Foundation. The LPGA Legends Tour will be at the Innisbrook Resort on Saturday, Nov. 9 and Sunday, Nov. 10. You can see Nancy Lopez, Martha Nause, Shelley Hamlin, Jan Stephenson and Laura Davies among many other great swings. Go to lpgatour.com for info.
Your golf swing: Probably the number one enemy of achieving the distance that you should achieve with your clubs is muscular strain and tension. When you are at the address position you should let your arms just hang, free of tension as if they are just hanging when you are standing in a relaxed position. This will also give you the feel for the correct distance from the ball. Many would take this address position and realize that they have been standing too far from the golf ball. Once you set up and allow your arms to hang free of tension you should keep them with this same flexibility during the entire golf swing. Observe yourself when you swing and you can even rate the level of tension in your arms during the swing: a level of 1 could be with absolutely no tension or strain during the swing and a level of 10 could be so much tension that you can hardly move the club! Obviously we are trying to get as close to a “1” as possible.
I attended a teaching seminar yesterday in which Annika Sorenstam spoke about the learning she experienced during her great career. She described how one of her main goals during the swing was to achieve a tempo of 6 with 10 being the absolute fastest that she could swing. She did not really swing at a speed that was only 60% of her capability but this put her in the right mindset to become one of the most successful tournament players in the history of golf. So sudden strain and effort did not interfere with the swing.
As always, call or email with your questions or comments and I hope to see you soon on the lesson tee at the Chi Chi Golf Range & Family Sports Complex in beautiful ClearwaterFlorida.