Tri County Golf Ranch

 I study movement.  It's what I do.  And then I help students actualize their desired results by optimizing the movement. There is a concept in the movement industry known as the SAID Principle. SAID is an acronym for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. Basically when stressors are added, the body will adapt. For example, if you have known Moby and Toby for awhile, you will notice how Toby has beefed up in order to have a sronger presence when playing with Moby.  If he didn't grow and adapt in response to the stressor (Moby), there could be a good chance of Toby getting hurt. And this isn't just an animal instinct to adapt. It is very real for people too. If you are trying to develop a better golf swing, you must train the golf swing. To become a putter, we must learn how to hit better putts. If we are trying to play better golf, we must get on the golf course and learn to play better golf.  We can also use cross-training and functional training to enhance t...

 If we want to get really technical, a seasoned golf professional will tell you that the perfect chip shot spends about one-third of its time in the air and the remaining two-thirds on the ground rolling toward a target.  Some golf professionals will tell you they only chip with a sand wedge and for others it's only a 7 iron. I don't want to get technical. I believe a good chip shot looks like a golfer that has chosen a club that she feels GOOD about that will allow her to create a shot that finishes near her target and gives her a chance to make a putt. Sometimes that chip shot is low and rolling and other times that shot is higher and softer.  However, the perfect chip shot is one that is enjoyable to hit and matches the vision that the creatrix had in mind. So how do we know what kind of shot we want to hit? First, look at the grass.  It will tell you what kind of shots are available. Fluffy, thick grass may require a club with more loft like one of our wedges, es...

  They say "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear."  And almost on a daily basis, the reality is that "when the teacher is ready, the student will appear." My students are BRILLIANT.  And I am so grateful that I get to be a witness to the brilliance.. My most recent encounter of greatness involves a hardworking mama of two; one by birth, one by choice.  She regularly fosters cats and dogs. And is diligently working on a game that she shared with her late father. She and her 7 year-old take back-to-back lessons weekly, and every now and then, share a lesson together. Last week, we went on the golf course and played a few holes.  I prefer to give lessons on the golf course because that is where the magic happens, that is where the game is played.  As we were riding along, mama shared with me that she had been watching  women hit golf balls on TikTok who had a different body type than the majority of professional female golfers. Then she went...

  It starts out as a friendly tip but quickly evolves into an ego trip of “I know a lot about golf because I used to be a beginner too.” Or is it “I found this golf pro on You Tube that used to play on tour and he said to do this...”? I’ve been the target of a ton of unsolicited golf advice. As the recipient, it can make one feel small, insignificant, and not good enough. It can turn a fun day of golf with a friend into lousy day on the links. I’d like to believe that it ends once you’ve achieved a certain level of proficiency, but that hasn’t stopped it yet. At least not for me. Even as an instructor, I still have students’ significant others trying to out-teach me when I am not around (but sometimes I am standing right there). This is what I know about golf and golf instruction. Words matter . The quality and the delivery of the words matter more. Students can only handle one thought at a time regardless of how accomplished they are in golf or how bright they are in other areas....

  Anyone who is close to me knows I have one to eight books with me at all times.  My current indulgence is The Lost Art of Playing Golf   by Gary Nichol and Karl Morris. It's a book that is easy to pick up and jump back into if you've taken off a couple of days...and I'm beginning to feel like they wrote this love story specifically for me. Every time I turn the page, it gets better and better, one idea resonates more than the one before it. I am currently loving their idea of playing to learn .  Although this is not a new concept, there is definitely a not-so-subtle disctinction between learning to play and playing to learn . To me, learning to play has a final destination, an end date, a mastery of some sorts.  Last time I checked, golf was none of these. On the other hand, playing to learn has so much potential! It allows us to take chances, create new shots, exhaust the possibilites and then discover a new one. And that is just it, golf is so much more ...

Late winter, early spring is normally the time of year when Larry and I kindly ask our range hitters to aim towards the right side of the driving range towards Hole 1 as the range balls don't plug as much as the rest of the range. We normally get the response, "well, I'll try, but I can't control my golf ball very well!"  And as we giggle at this, we recognize the the deeper issue here.  Right-handed amateur golfers tend to dislike aiming to the right because they fear it makes the golf ball go more to the right.  In similar fashion, left-handed golfers tend to hate aiming left.  I can totally sympathize with the former.  As a junior golfer, I hated aiming at a target to the right of me.  On the range, I would aim left all day long.  Now, as a more accomplished ball striker, I'll aim at any target. In fact, my practice on the range consists of frequently changing targets, using the same club to hit high shots, low shots, fades and draws.  I get bo...

 I giggle every time I hear someone say, "I better save those birdies for the golf course" or "you might wanna save those drives for the tournament".  Where did we ever come up with a fear of not having enough when we perform and that we will have a shortage of pars or birdies or good swings when we want them the most? I have had students tell me that they do not take practice swings on the course because they are afraid they will use all of their good swings up as practice swings. What if I told you, you could create a good golf shot whenever you wanted to, regardless of the savings you have in your golf piggy bank? Hitting good golf shots does not require a perfect swing or the perfect conditions.  Hitting great golf shots requires that you pick the best golf shot for you. This requires an understanding of where your golf ball impacts the club face and understanding how you play your best golf.   None of us have perfect golf swings.  Our body (and mind) ...