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"I'm not sure that the most talented player I saw wasn't myself." |
-Johnny Miller |
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 "Certainly, golf has become a means to get a scholarship, and if that's the goal, there's sort of a formula," said Bill Cunerty, who earned a record of 506-47 in 26 years as the men's golf coach and a 94-7 record in nine seasons as coach of the women's golf team at Saddleback College. The road to a scholarship can run smoother when a junior starts competing well before his or her teens, or at least a couple of years before turning 15, the age of initiation for players to earn positions on junior golf rankings. Nevertheless, opportunities abound for juniors who got a later start as a competitor or whose tournament play so far has been lackluster. Just in time for the junior golf tournament season, here some sure-fire tips from a few of the Southland's top junior- and college-level instructors and coaches on how you can get your game tournament-ready. If you're already a better-than-average player or one who already has earned a ranking, adopting some of these methods should help you shave strokes from your round.
MENTAL TOUGHNESS A great game could fail miserably if a junior golfer has a poor attitude toward an instructor, coach or competitors. "The first thing a young golfer has to think about is being calm and professional at all times," said Mark Reid, director of the junior prep program at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy at Strawberry Farms Golf Club in Irvine. "If you have a bad temper or a bad attitude, you're toast. No one wants to deal with a prima donna." PRACTICE The results of regular practice speak for themselves. "The kids have to know why they're practicing," said George Pinnell, who runs a golf academy at Rowland Heights Golf Center. "They have to understand that practicing is a part of golf and that the payoff is a chance to perform well in a tournament. How well you prepare is how well you perform." The amount of practice will depend on a junior golfer's age and maturity. Pinnell says 6- through 8-year-olds should hit a bucket of balls two or three times a week with the goal of having fun, while juniors 10-12 who are playing in AJGA, USGA or other tournaments should practice every day. One of Pinnell's students, Kristen Park, the 2007 USGA Girl Junior Champion, puts in three hours of practice daily during the school year and six to seven hours per day during the summer. "You have to practice on a fairly regular basis to certainly have the proficiency to perform well on a consistent basis," USC's Gaston said. "Practice allows you to fine tune your skills and show steady improvement." The importance of practice can't be overstated, but becoming a better golfer and tournament player also should include time away from the game. "I've seen too many kids who were phenomenons at 15 years old and by the time they hit college, they were burned out," Cunerty said. "After one or two hours, I kick them out of the driving range. Most of them will practice until 8 at night if you let them. But golf shouldn't be their total life." THINK ABOUT IT Pinnell said practice should involve strategy. "You want to hit on a line to a target to have that shot be more effective," he said. Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club teaching pro Bobby Lasken, who has taught U.S. Junior champions James Oh and Sihwan Kim, said practice should involve "working evenly through the bag." "There's a tendency to hit a million mid-iron shots and not enough of the others," Lasken said. Lasken also suggests a post-round practice session that includes putting, chipping and hitting all your clubs. "Then take another 15 minutes to specifically practice a skill that needs more development," he said. "By establishing a routine and sticking to it, you'll get used to it, and then the next day when you go out to play, you'll feel better physically and more prepared mentally." Cunerty emphasizes short-game practice with his students. "They all want to go to the driving range and hit it 300 yards, but the smart kids chip and putt at least three to four hours per week," he said. "That's one habit that makes the biggest difference when you're trying to lower your score." PAINT A PICTURE "What the mind conceives, the body achieves," said Jason Denaro, a teaching professional and sports psychologist who founded Mind Power Golf Schools. "These are not my words, but I believe in them strongly." Denaro teaches students to visualize how a shot will play out in order to develop an optimum swing that produces consistently straight shots. "Swing thoughts are amazingly powerful and effective," he said. "When I'm on the first tee, I think to myself: On the tee from South Africa, we have Mr. Ernie Els. And I hear those words over and over. I have now mentally implanted an image of an easy, rhythmic swing. This message now has a reasonably good chance of being delivered to the muscles." However, it's not reasonable to imagine yourself as Tiger Woods. "Sometimes it's the worst thing when one of my students is trying to visualize Tiger's swing," Denaro said. "Tiger Woods is a freak of nature and what he does can be attributed to his dad's perseverance and his mother's devotion. He had it in him at a very young age to do what he does." EQUIP YOURSELF PROPERLY Cunerty and other teaching pros emphasize clubfitting when it comes to selecting the proper equipment. "I had a kid that at age 14 was really good with his clubs," he recalled. "By the time he hit 18, he had grown 6 inches, and because he was playing with the same clubs his golf swing had developed a hook." Lasken said juniors who want to play competitively should invest in a measuring device with GPS to help them with yardages around the course. "That's what tour players do," he said. "And juniors should at their age." PLAN YOUR ATTACK It's a big advantage for a youngster to know the golf course where the tournament is being held. "He or she is probably giving up two to three shots to the field because of not knowing the course - for instance, not knowing where to place balls on the fairways and where to hit the greens," Pinnell said. Early practice rounds also help, Lasken said. "Tiger usually gets the first tee time available for his practice round," he said. "That way, he gets more time on the greens and around the course and is able to get in more practice shots." In the month before a tournament, a player has one week to finalize any mechanical changes he or she is working on, followed by three weeks of prep work, said Chris Smeal, a PGA instructor at San Diego's Stadium Golf Center. "Not all courses are designed perfectly for you," he said. "I try to learn so much about the course prior to a big event that it feels like my home course." Scores aren't the important factor when preparing for a tournament on a new course. "Spend time dropping balls around the green to see how many short-game shots you may face during the event," Smeal said. "Hit two or three balls from the fairway to dial in your distance control. Hit different clubs off the par-4 tees to see if there is an easier and more effective way to play the hole." Just before the tournament, it's a good idea to cut back on practicing, Lasken said. "You'll have a better sense of feeling, as the layoff heightens the sensation of your hands," he said. "If you've truly prepared for the tournament in advance, all you need to do is go out and play." PEAKING AND TWEAKING An important skill to achieve is learning how to peak for competition and improve between tournaments, said Smeal, who also operates Future Champions Golf. "This is especially true for juniors because they always have something to learn," he said. "What I mean by this is that even though a player may be dominating as an 11-year-old, he may have weaknesses in his game that need to be improved so that when he becomes a high school or college player, those (weaknesses) have developed and are now strengths." Figuring out how to compensate for a weakness is an essential skill in tournament play. "For instance, let's say you missed nine drives in the right rough during your mock tournament round," Smeal said. "Work on the range the next day to figure out how to hit the fairway. If you are still struggling, discuss with your coach how to improve your driving." BE CONFIDENT Smeal tells his students that the key to winning a tournament is feeling confident. "If you are playing with fear or lack of confidence, then you will struggle," he said. "You will not commit to the shot you need to hit and you will second-guess everything that you do. I want my students to be firing on all cylinders when they enter an event. No shot scares them; they have prepared to go to battle with the course." However, doing battle doesn't include high-risk shots. Many juniors playing tournaments "always want to hit as far as they can and go for the pins," Pinnell said. He uses Tiger Woods as an example of a player who learned to judge risks and rewards when deciding what shot to make. "I talk to them about how Tiger prepares and the outlook he adopts," Pinnell said, "so they learn that they have to be ready for the tournament." |
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