- 2 days ago
Neil Tappin is joined by PGA Professional Alex Elliott look at the keys to breaking one of golf's biggest milestones - 100. Alex offers some simple guidance on how think while you are out on the course, what to practice and he also offers some practical advice on the shots you'll need to develop. These tips are designed to be simple and achievable for any golfer looking to break 100.
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00:00Hello and welcome to The London Club. Now in this video we have 10 top tips that are going to help
00:06you break 100. We look at everything from what clubs you have in your bag, some mental tips,
00:12and how to get out of trouble. Yeah, let's head out onto the golf course
00:15here at The London Club and look at our first tip on our list.
00:22So the first tip on our list, number 10, is about relaxing between shots. Now golf is for a lot of
00:28people, myself included, quite stressful at times. I can join that club. Yeah, but it's crucial that
00:33you don't get kind of caught up at trying to focus for large periods, isn't it? Yeah, I mean like golf
00:39on them sports, we perceive there's a lot to think about over the shot and for some time there is.
00:44So it's about concentrating at the right point. Okay, so how do you do it then? How do you switch
00:49off? Because that's the key, isn't it? We've seen a trend of all the top players now, they have like
00:52one of their best friends on the bag or a companion on the bag. So having someone that you can relate
00:57to and talk to is key. Now for most of us, we don't have a caddy. I don't have a caddy. But we play with
01:01our friends on the weekend, right? Yeah. So having a chat with them, whilst walking around from the
01:06tee to the green, and then when you get close to your ball, then switch on. You're not having to
01:10concentrate for four and a half hours, you're just doing 30 to 40 second stints. And I guess it's
01:14important to remember this, particularly when these signs get nervous, you've got a good score going,
01:18maybe with a few holes to go. I can imagine this shot, one of the last few holes here in your round,
01:22you've missed the real in a par three, it's a difficult chip. You want to be fully concentrated on it.
01:27Yeah, you could have been thinking about it for five minutes while you're walking here,
01:29it's maybe not a great preparation. No, definitely not.
01:31Yeah, so a really simple tip, try and focus when you need to and relax when you don't need to be
01:36concentrating. So the next tip for golfers looking to break 100 is to avoid three putting. Okay,
01:46we all do it, it doesn't matter what handicap you are, everyone does it. But Alex, what do you think
01:51the mistakes are that cost people in this scenario? I think when we get to a distance like we've got now,
01:56we've just sort of gone to the green, oh yeah, it's about this, hit the foot away. A bit of
02:01autopilot comes into play. Yes, so we've put up some alignment sticks around the flag,
02:07and what are you trying to do then from here? All I want you to focus on is getting it inside that
02:11bin lid, that three foot range, where actually we make our next put as stress-free as possible.
02:17Okay, go on then, so explain to us. So this is a little bit uphill, right to left, so I know I'm aiming a
02:23little bit right in the hole and trying to die it into that space. I always picture that ball
02:27dying near the hole, not accelerating too far past. Yeah, okay.
02:37Perfect, and if you can, I mean, this just shows you that if you can get the pace right,
02:40the odd one will drop in the hole, but the crucial point is scenarios like this, make them stress-free,
02:45get it down in two, you'll keep the score ticking over. Tip number eight is so important, and it's
02:56about developing a fairway finder. So every golf course you'll ever play, there will be holes on
03:01that course that you don't fancy the look of off the tee. You're worried about losing the ball off
03:05the tee, or you're just worried about hitting a bad shot. So every golfer needs to find a fairway finder.
03:10Yeah. How do you do it, Alex? I think there's sort of two scenarios we can look at here.
03:13Doing it with a driver, preferably. Now, if you're not comfortable with a driver, finding a club,
03:18like maybe a fairway would, that allows you to hit that fairway and you've got more confidence.
03:22But I guess the main thing is, is just going the range, finding a swing with some nice rhythm,
03:28with a club that gives you a repeatable shot. Okay, so what are you going to, how are you?
03:33I'm going down that route of, I think most golfers have a bit of a love-hate relationship with driver,
03:38but their fairway would, their five would, their three would, it's probably something that they get on
03:41with more often than not. Just because it's a bit shorter, a bit more loft.
03:45Okay, so what's the swing thought that you would have when you're on a fairway,
03:48like a hole like this, bunkers everywhere, tricky shot. What's the fairway finding swing for you?
03:53I just put my seven iron rhythm on it. Okay.
03:56So for me, getting good rhythm gives me a better chance of squaring that face.
04:01With driver, I'm more prone to giving it a bit of a welly. Yes.
04:04So rhythm is key and don't over-complicate it too much. Most people, if you're balanced through the shot,
04:11you're going to hit a better shot than if you're unbalanced.
04:13Okay. Well, show us your seven iron rhythm then with you.
04:15So I'll have two practice swings.
04:19One.
04:22Two. Most people are comfortable with seven iron right.
04:25And we're in. Account for the wind a little bit off the left today.
04:30And then put that rhythm on.
04:31Yeah, very good. I think, actually, it doesn't really matter what the club is or what the swing
04:39thought is. But the key thing is you need to practice it. You need to go to the range. You
04:43need to groove it so that when you are stood in a position like this, it's not alien. It's not new to
04:48you. You've done it before. You've repeated it. And then you might just produce a shot like that one.
04:57So this one is about bag setup and the clubs that you choose to carry.
05:01Alex, what's the advice here for people?
05:02I think really nice and simple. I prefer most golfers to carry a five wood over a three wood,
05:08a little bit more loft, a little bit shorter club, and then hybrids over long irons. Just a
05:12little bit more forgiving.
05:13Yeah. I mean, it's that simple. If you can do those things, you should find a setup that's
05:18just that bit more forgiving, that's going to let you get away with the odd dodgy swing
05:22and not going to cost you too much while you're out on the course.
05:29Okay, so number six on our list is about pressure and how you handle pressure on the golf course.
05:34It's something that we all need to do. It might well be the first tee shot's incredibly
05:38nerve-wracking, but then there's also going to be holes like this one. This is the ninth
05:43hole here at the Heritage Course at London Club, really tough par four.
05:46And you might want to go for your fairway finder, Alex, as we've already discussed,
05:49but equally, you might want to just hit driver because it's such a tough hole.
05:53In this scenario, when you need to do it most, what can we do to hit a good shot?
05:58That's the golden nugget, isn't it?
05:59Yeah.
05:59Well, I mean, if we're looking to break 100, right,
06:02this scenario here, we're probably going to have two shots. So that's going to hopefully calm us down
06:06a little bit. But the key thing here is, it's not just to pick your club rush and just get it over
06:11and done with because you don't feel comfortable.
06:12Yes, which I have definitely done in my past, for sure.
06:15Yeah. And if we actually look at golf, we want to be in scenarios where we're playing
06:19good golf and we're not feeling comfortable because that means we're doing something
06:22different. We're playing well, right?
06:22Right, okay.
06:23So I want you to think about aiming really small. So if you aim really at a small target
06:28rather than just a general fairway, if you just miss a small target by a little bit,
06:32you're still going to be okay.
06:33So we're going to talk later in this video about how to aim, but in this particular
06:37scenario, what are you aiming at and what's your kind of miss, I guess?
06:41So for example here, trouble looks to be more left. So I'm going to take something
06:46that's a very small target to the right of the trouble.
06:49Okay.
06:49Okay.
06:49So I'm going to hone really in small. So if I take this tree straight down,
06:53I've got the one that sticks up a little bit more, I'm going to use that. I know if I miss
06:57just a little bit left, I'm okay. But equally, if I miss just a little bit right, I'm still okay as well.
07:01Okay. So aim small, miss small, still end up on the fairway.
07:05Exactly, exactly.
07:06Let's see if it works, Alex.
07:09Here we go.
07:15Bingo. Slight cut off that mark, middle of the fairway, no trouble.
07:19Aiming small, it really is very important and it could help you in a scenario like this.
07:28This one is all about club selection.
07:30And I think, Alex, we've chosen this particular hole here at the London Club for a very good
07:34reason. So we've got water short of the green and most golfers would know in this scenario to do what?
07:39Take one club more, avoid going short.
07:42Yes. And the problem is that how often do you take the same approach on holes where there isn't
07:46water short, but there is other trouble like bunkers or other things that might be short of
07:49the green?
07:50Well, where do most club golfers finish even on a good strike? Short, right?
07:53Yes.
07:54They don't take that advice. So like what we're saying here is think that you're always in a
07:58scenario like this. Like there's water short or the trouble short, put the bunker in the same
08:02category, take one more club and make sure you're in the green.
08:05Yes. So that you are avoiding failing to carry the front of the green, which is the kind of the big
08:10mistake I think a lot of players make, right?
08:12Exactly.
08:12So Alex, you've got 153 and you would usually hit...
08:17Seven iron, usually.
08:18So I will look for your six iron. There you go.
08:21Now, being a pro, I expect this to finish close to the flag.
08:25I feel a bit of pressure. And even this is a tough one, with the wind into as well,
08:29you might have to adjust that even further sometimes.
08:36Lovely contact.
08:38Very good shot. But has it made the green?
08:41Yes, pin high.
08:42So, number four on our list is developing the punch shot. Being able to hit a shot when you're
08:52in a scenario like this.
08:53Yeah.
08:53How do you play it?
08:54So essentially, if we want the ball to go lower, we need to lower the loft of our club,
09:00so use less loft, lower the loft of our club at impact and hit down on it more. That's going to
09:05lower the launch.
09:05Okay. So set up to the ball then. Explain to me what you do at address.
09:09How I would do with this is I would put the ball towards the back of my stance.
09:13That allows me to hit down on it more. I'd grip down on it. Now, with that ball going towards the
09:17back of my stance, that's going to encourage a bit more forward shuffling, taking some loft off
09:22the club. Now, all I want you to feel is you're going to keep your weight left throughout and just
09:26make a bit of a slower swing. And I always like to feel it's more of like a tailed follow through
09:31with my chest pointing to target rather than this nice full follow through on a full shot.
09:36Okay. Go on then. Let's have a look at it.
09:38So this is a real toughy actually, because we're not too far from the green. So I've gone eight iron
09:42and I'm trying to picture that ball flying through this window here, down and I'm running up.
09:47Yeah.
09:48So ball back, hands forward, grip down.
09:55Well, it clipped the tree, but it's fine. As Alex said, it's a really tricky shot. And I think
10:00the key thing is often in a scenario like this, the punch shot is really important, but it's about
10:05getting yourself back into place. So not trying to do too much with it, just get yourself back in the
10:09game and then take it from there. The punch shot is a really important shot for golfers, no matter
10:14what their handicap.
10:20Okay. So number three on our list, it's a simple one, but it's so important is knowing exactly how
10:26to aim the club. Alex, what's the advice here? I mean, what I think is, is always coming to the
10:31range and pressing the reset button occasionally where you can get into bad habits that creep in
10:36at time off the time of aiming a little bit right or a little bit left. And there's nothing worse,
10:40is there, right? Ripping a swing, feeling an amazing swing out the middle and the ball's just sailing
10:45in the wrong direction. Yeah. And I guess the point here is that if you aim wrong,
10:48then suddenly your swing path is out and you can get other faults that creep into the game. So it really is
10:53important to get this right. Yeah. So how do you do it? So I always have a bit of a process. I always
10:58come to the range and I'll place one alignment stick down first. That's my ball to target line.
11:03So we've chosen this red flag down here. I would then put my feet line, which runs parallel to that.
11:09Now this is getting me to have two parallel lines on the golf course. If we're drawing or fading,
11:13we would slightly aim different to that, but use this as like a coming back to neutral reset button.
11:20So now I can stand over here. I've also used the line of a ball to extend that line,
11:26address the ball, make sure everything's neutral. And you know what? It might feel like you're aiming
11:31a bit left or it might feel like you're aiming now a bit right, but it's getting ball to target line,
11:35then shoulders, feet, hips, and knees running parallel. Yeah. Take pride in getting this part
11:40right. If you do, it will definitely pay off.
11:42Okay. So number two on our list is to have two different short game shots up your sleeve. Two
11:53that you feel really comfortable with. One, Alex is a chip and run. You'll be able to find advice on
11:57how to hit the chip and run on the Golf Monthly website. Alex, I'm sure you'll have some content
12:00on your YouTube channel about how to do it, but we're now going to look at how to hit a bunker shot
12:05because this is so important. You're going to face it. A lot of golfers struggle with it. So give us a tip,
12:10Alex. So first thing, choose your most lofted club. I tend to buy wedges that have a lot of
12:15bouts. This helps the club sort of glide through the sand. Also, I think it's all to do is set up
12:21really. If we set up to this club correctly, we've got a better chance of hitting it good.
12:25So nice, quickly here and simple. Dig your feet in. We've got ball position, a club head inside
12:30a left heel. You want to then grip it with the face open, sit down and left. And all I want you to do is
12:37feel like you're sliding that club underneath it with some speed. Okay, go on then. Just like that.
12:48Yeah, and you'll notice, I mean, Alex has swung at that really quite hard. It's just popped it
12:52straight up into the air. Loads of control, not gone very far. It's the simple way to do it,
12:57but it does take some practice. Put some time into it. It will really pay off.
13:01Okay, so our number one top tip for breaking 100, Alex, is to break the round up into small
13:12segments. Explain what people should be doing here. I mean, most people who are trying to break 100,
13:17they'll go out there going, right, okay, well, I've got to do this and this on each nine. And that whole
13:22focus is coming to that end score. So breaking that round into six sets of three, you can set your
13:27little self a target on those sets, reset after one, go on the next. Right, okay. So it might well
13:33be that you look at the first three holes and think they're three of the hardest holes on the golf course,
13:37try to get away from there no more than four over par or something. Exactly like that. But also,
13:42equally, if you have a bad set of three, don't let that impact the nine holes. Because most people go,
13:47oh, I'll reset after the ninth. We'll start again on the 10th. Yeah. Reset after three, start again. But
13:52equally, if you have a good set of three, don't get too far ahead of yourself and start trying to chase it
13:56even more. Yeah, so managing a score across 18 holes is a lot to do. Managing the same score
14:02over three hole chunks is much more achievable. Give it a go. Okay, so that's our look at our top
14:0810 tips to break 100. Breaking 100 is such an important barrier that so many golfers are looking
14:14to get through. If you can just do a few of those things that Alex said, not many of them very technical,
14:18all of them really, really useful. They should really help. If you think there's anything that we've
14:23missed, that you have used in the past that really helped you, leave some comments below. We'd love
14:27to hear your thoughts. But that's it for now from The London Club. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
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