Chris Gibson Golf Blog
In the past few years I have been lucky enough to work alongside some of the best coaches, physiotherapists, strength and conditioning, nutritional and players of the modern game. This group of people go about business in the most unassuming way, yet have had a significant influence on me personally seeking out better ways to deliver my chosen craft.
The addition of video a number of years ago proved to be the most significant advantage for a coach and has been used extensively to improve how we deliver as coaches. There has been other editions to aid the coaching fraternity such as 3D, force plates, high speed cameras e.t.c. Over the coming weeks I will be spending some time with the most important piece of equipment since the video camera, Trackman. I have had the opportunity in the past to work with Trackman, thanks to Golf Australia and some very good friends that currently use and have this amazing piece of technology.
Trackman has answered a number of questions that didn’t make sense or were difficult to explain previously to us ‘The Coach’. And of course if the coach doesn’t understand it, how is the pupil going to get their head around it.
Now, in this ever changing world with gadgets and gizmo’s ( and let’s face it, Golf has more than enough of those), we are required as coaches to provide the best knowledge we can access. The art form as a coach is to deliver this information/knowledge in the simplest and easiest form the student can comprehend. The difference between great coaches and professionals that teach our game is understanding how a student learns. A great man once said ‘it’s not the tricks you have, it’s how many you have’. If a student is struggling with a concept, I change tact and give them a drill/feeling/image that will conjure up what allows them to grasp the concept that I believe will enable them to achieve their goals.The use of cameras and Trackman e.t.c. allow us to do this on a whole new level.
Science is a wonderful thing. Geometry and Physics are part of my day to day life through teaching the game I love. I wouldn’t have thought this was the case when I was debating with a teacher at school about ‘when am I EVER going to use this garbage?’ However this gets me back to tools that I use in coaching on a daily basis. High speed cameras, data from Trackman, 3D analysis e.t.c. It still amazes me that some of my new accomplished students that have access to these wonderful tools, still don’t utilize them or have never been exposed to these outstanding pieces of technology. What amazes me even more is that some of my colleagues don’t use them and more importantly don’t think it is necessary for them to know about the information this technology provides for their clients. Especially with YouTube providing increasing amounts of information, a considerable amount of which is astoundingly uneducated and incorrect.
Stay tuned for more of my discoveries over the coming months regarding Trackman e.t.c. Ciao
Regards
Chris Gibson
March 16, 2012After nearly 4 months back in Australia and some intense sessions on and off the course, Gordon Parker is ready to take on his Professional status back in his homeland of Canada. It has been a pleasure to work with a player that in an extremely short time has seen dramatic improvement in both his playing ability and error detection for his clientele back at Whistler Golf Club in Canada. I am certain that Gordon will be a great edition to the coaching staff and will keep learning and improving his craft as a Professional Golfer. Gordon will also be playing several events on the Srixon Tour mostly based in Vancouver and I look forward to Gordon having a number of top ten finishes and hopefully put ‘W’ on his resume. Please take the time and follow this talented young Canadian on his website www.gordparker.com
I will keep you posted on his progress over the course of the year.
Regards
Chris Gibson
When practicing be sure to go to the range or the short game area with a purpose. Many players including elite players hit golf balls for the sake of hitting golf balls. They really have no goal for that session. This leads to boredom and incorrect management of time. As most of us have little time on our hands in this ever changing world, we need to be sure that we have specific goals for each session. Use a practice diary and take five minutes out of the session to set goals. This will include technical changes, skills tests, building a routine and course management sessions. These areas alone will keep you busy for a number of practice sessions. Set the goal and tick that achievement off. Write notes on how to improve that skill or how it felt when you were under the pressure of a skills test e.t.c. We can all benefit from EFFECTIVE practice. Try a practice diary for the next month in your practice sessions and watch the sessions become more meaningful and productive.
Regards
Chris Gibson
If you go to any of the major world tours websites, you will find statistics on Greens in Regulation (GIR), Fairways Hit, Scrambling, Putting and so on. What does this mean to the average player? We see so many people on the driving range practicing ‘full swing’ grinding on technique. Yet the most under utilized area at our facility is the chipping/putting green.
The top three GIR average players on the US P.G.A tour 2011 were:
1. Boo Weekley Played 66 rounds, 71.68% GIR, 180 Order of Merritt, $279,531
2. Heath Slocum Played 89 rounds, 71.4% GIR, 112 Order of Merritt, $767,216
3. Joe Durant Played 71 rounds, 71.26% GIR, 160 Order of Merritt, $358,790
Very impressive earnings to us mere mortals, however Pat Perez finished in 100 in GIR statistics playing 76 rounds, 65.42% GIR, 73rd Order of Merritt, $1,295,253. Better still, Ricky Fowler finished 36th Order of Merritt playing 84 rounds, 64.47% GIR, 120 GIR and winning $2,084,681. Does this mean that he is a bad ball striker. Absolutely not. That means his all round game including scrambling, of which he was No: 2 after his first tournament of the year, is fantastic.
It doesn’t make sense to me as a coach that we spend more than 80% of our time practicing trying to hit the 150 M green and asking why can’t I get to the 200 M green. When in most cases we can’t hit the green from 80 M.
Now of course we all know the answer to the question of WHY don’t we practice inside 100M. It’s BORING according to most people. The satisfaction of hitting a screaming driver past 200 M straight and with the perfect shape to it, far out ways getting it in a net from 30,40 or 50 M away let alone practicing our putting stroke or learning how to read greens properly. I can assure you that if we are more diligent with our practice from inside 100, our ball striking will become better and our scores dramatically improve due to increased percentage of up & down made.
Food for thought as you plan your practice for the future.
Take care and great golfing.
Regards
Chris Gibson
Star of the future.
Josh Horswill is a 10 year old who hales out of Keperra Golf Club in the Western Suburbs of Brisbane. Josh is a high-performance and results-driven athlete with an impressive track record of success in multiple sporting disciplines (Soccer, Basketball, Tennis & Golf). Josh’s passionate and positive attitude towards golf is evident from the success he has had in 2011. His strong skill set, training ethics and course management skills displayed at all times are the secret to his success.
2011 was the first year on the Greg Norman Junior Golf Foundation and The Invincible’s Tour on the Sunshine Coast and both tours were a valuable learning experience. The opportunity to play on different types of golf courses in various types of playing conditions saw Josh’s game soar to new heights whilst ‘Wowing’ all who came into contact with this intelligent fun loving 10 year old. Apart from achieving all goals set for 2011, Josh also exceeded some of his own expectations by winning several tournaments on both the GNJGF and Invisible’s Junior tours. It is a pleasure and an honour to coach this talented 10 year old and I have already asked for his autograph before he becomes a house hold name. Keep an eye out for this young guy on the fairway of a golf course nearby.
Regards
Chris Gibson
