Greg Baresel

Many times when you hear people talking about getting the most distance out of their drives or irons, you probably hear the word timing used as they talk about how to achieve this. Or, when you watch the professionals play (especially in person) the distance they achieve seems to come so effortlessly and smooth. Although a discussion of the entire golf swing isn't within the scope of this article, let's talk about the timing. Timing is a word that is often bantered about when discussing the golf swing and more precisely achieving maximum distance; but timing of what? And how do I achieve it? In a nutshell, when is comes to getting the most efficient distance out of your golf shot, the timing element is the timing of the release of the stored energy that has amassed during the process of your golf swing. Again, for the purposes of this article, let's fast forward just a bit to the point where you are at the top of your golf swing. At this point, if all has gone well...

People are always on the lookout for tips to make their golf game better.  Golf isn't an easy sport to master.  Those of us who love the game know that the more information you have regarding the swing, course management, putting, etc. the better the chance you have of scoring lower.  That's why we will take golf tips from almost anyone who's willing to offer. So what kind of golf tips can I offer up in this article?  Space is limited, so I'll try to focus only on those tips that are most asked for.  First, if you have a bad temper, you probably shouldn't take up golf.  I'm just kidding, really.  Actually, golf can be good for your mental state.  You may find that you can take out your frustration on the golf course in productive ways and perhaps you can gain better control of that temper! Since most people have trouble with their setup, our first set of golf tips will deal with the setup. * Position your body so your body is parallel wi...

Your swing will change, your accuracy and distance will improve with practice, and you'll become deadly with a putter, but you will always do these things while standing on your feet. Your feet need to be comfortable! Have you ever developed a blister while walking or running? It's all you can think about and it ruins the experience. Don't let uncomfortable shoes ruin your golf game. This is one area where you shouldn't let your frugality make the decision for you. You will be wearing these shoes many times and they should be considered an investment. Comfort should be your biggest concern when buying shoes. Your foot should not move at all on your heel when you walk, yet your toes shouldn't feel cramped. Have your shoes professionally fit to your feet and walk around in them before you buy them. Proper golf shoes should be waterproof so that your feet remain dry in damp conditions. Good socks are important too; they will wick perspiration away from y...

Tournament Preview This week the PGA Tour heads to Michigan to take on the Donald Ross designed Detroit Golf Club. This is the first year of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The course will play over 7300 yards. There isn’t much information out yet since this is the first year of the tournament.  Defending Champion - N/A Top Players In Field - Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland, Chez Reavie, Patrick Reed Course Information Tournament Set-up Par: 72  Yardage: 7,330 Course Statistics Average Green Size: 5,150 sq. ft.  Average Tee Size: 3,900 sq. ft.  Acres of Fairway: 30 Number of Sand Bunkers: 87  Number of Water Hazards: 1 Turfgrass Greens: Bentgrass /  poa annua  .085”  Tees: Bentgrass /  poa annua  .350”  Fairways: Bentgrass /  poa annua  .350”  Rough: Bluegrass mix 3.5” Additional Notes • Horton Smith, who w...

Many of the top touring professionals know that winning on the tour today takes much more than a great game of golf. The field is far too competitive to leave any of the key contributing elements to chance. Preparing their bodies for play is a critical component to a golfer's success under the most competitive conditions. How you structure your golf fitness program is essential to your overall performance on and off the course. Here are some ways you can ensure you are getting the most out of training program while utilizing the strength of your core as a building block for success. Specific to golf: Get rid of the traditional gym machines which focus on isolating specific muscle groups and require no stabilization work by additional muscle groups. Integrate some old and new fitness tools which allow you to move your body in a more functional setting. These include cable machines, fitness balls, medicine balls, balance disks, traditional dumbbells and don't forget about ...

Long time PGA Tour veteran, Chez Reavie, is back in the Winner’s Circle. His last win was back 2008. Heading into Sunday’s round Chez had a 6 shot lead, but history tells us that is not safe at TPC River Highlands. In the last 14 years The winner of the tournament was at least 6 shots back of the leader heading into Sunday’s final round. In the end Reavie was able to hold off Keagan Bradley to bring home the win. The Stats That Count In my Travelers Championship preview I predicted that a shorter hitter would have a chance this week since the course isn’t really long.  (Click Here to read the article.) Which meant to win it would come down to approach shots and putting. Reavie hit 75% of his greens in regulation and averaged 31.4’ from the hole which ranked him 2nd in the field. Chez hit 83.9% of his fairways (T3) and only averaged 279.2 yards off the tee. He ranked first in shots gained total. Just like most weeks the player that hits a lot of greens will have a ton of...

It's when you start to play golf that you learn fastest. If you have bad golfing habits today, you probably learned them when you first took up golf. But the good news is that anyone can break bad habits and learn good ones. Here are a couple of tips to help you on your way to playing better golf. 1. Your aim is vitally important. If you can't send the ball in the right direction you will never get it in any of the holes. The clubface is the only thing that propels the ball, so line up the clubface with the intended target first, then take your stance with your shoulders parallel to the target line. 2. Always aim away from potential problems. Tee the ball on the side where the problem is. This will help to keep the ball in play and avoid penalties. 3. Bad wrist action equals a bad shot in 90 percent of cases. Keep the left wrist flat in relation to the back of the left forearm and the back of the left hand, and don't swing the club back farther than shoulder turn...

Balance is very essential in executing the right golf swing and in this article I point out three reasons why you may be having difficulties achieving the required balance and I also give three golf tips for balance to correct the situation. A) Poor setup: A good setup as you approach your shot is essential to helping you maintain balance throughout the golf swing. Setup is easily the most critical golf tip on balance and being able to make a good shot. If your setup is good, even if your other technique is wrong the chances of making a good shot become very high. Part of making a good shot of course involves maintaining your balance throughout the swing. B) Trying to hit the ball with all your strength Here is a rather familiar problem amongst amateur golfers. You want to make your drive as long as possible and therefore you hit the ball with all your strength. Not surprising this action rarely has the desired effect and in many cases it results in loss of balance. The golf...

A good golf grip is essential to playing a good game of golf.  If you are gripping the club incorrectly or too hard, you will end up with shots that go places you don't want them to go.  There is no one exact science to the golf grip, but there are three basic golf grips that golfers use today: * The overlapping grip is the most common golf grip used.  It is used mostly by male golfers and those with strong wrists and forearms.  The little finger of the right hand lies on top of or overlaps the index finger on the left hand. * The baseball grip is most commonly used by younger golfers, females, seniors, and those with weaker wrists and arms.  The index finger of the left hand and the little finger of the right hand meet but do not overlap or interlock. * An interlocking grip will be used by golfers with shorter hands and fingers, those with thicker or chunkier palms, and golfers who have difficulty with the overlapping grip.  The index finger of...

This week the PGA Tour heads to Connecticut for the Travelers Championship. Bubba Watson has won this event 3 times and looks to become the only four time tournament winner since Billy Casper. The field includes many top name players including Brooks Koepka who is ranked number 1 in the official world golf rankings. 5 of the top 10 players in the world are playing including Koepka, Francesco Molinari (6), Justin Thomas (7), Patrick Cantley (8), and Bryson DeChambeau (10). Other big name players include Phil Mickelson and Jordan Speith. Tournament Information COURSE : TPC River Highlands LOCATION : Cromwell, Connecticut ARCHITECT : Robert J. Moss and Maurice Kearney/1928 2018 WINNER : Bubba Watson Course Information Tournament Set-up Par: 70 Yardage: 6,841 Course Statistics Average Green Size: 5,000 sq. ft. Average Tee Size: 1,200 sq. ft. Acres of Fairway: 26 Acres of Rough: 60 Number of Sand Bunkers: 69 Number of Water Hazards: 4 Soil Conditions:...

Gary Woodland is in the Winner’s Circle as the 2019 U.S. Open Champion! Woodland played Pebble Beach as if it was a regular tour stop. He kept to his game, played to his strengths, and didn’t let the nervousness of a major get to him. As he approached the par 5 18th tee all he had to do was make a bogey to claim the title. Gary went for it and ended up making a birdie to win by 3 shots over Brooks Koepka. Not bad for a former college basketball player. The Stats That Count There were limited stats this week due to the fact that ShotLink was not on the course since this was not an offical PGA Tour event. The U.S.G.A. did offer some stats for the rounds and Woodland did not excel in any particular catagory but was good enough in all of them. Which is normally the case when it comes to winning a major. Pebble isn't a really long course relative to the PGA Tour standards but it is the U.S. Open so it requires you to keep the ball out of the rough. Woodland hit ...

There are numerous golf terms that are used in almost every game that is played, yet often it is virtually impossible for someone who is new to golf or just does not understand golf to understand the terminology. Some of the most popular terms are listed below to ensure that you know exactly what is being said while you are out on the green.  Of course, this list is not absolute, but this list will help you get started successfully. Back Nine: This is the last set of 9 holes that are on the golf course.  This is determined by the order that the course is played in.  For example, if you start playing on hole 1, the back nine would refer to holes 10-18.  However if you started playing on the 10th hole it would actually refer to holes 1-9. Birdie: This is when a score for a particular hole comes in one stroke below par for the particular hole that is being played.  This means if the hole being played is a par -3 then the score must be a 2, if the hole is a pa...

A power golf swing is the dream of every golfer.  How many times have you hit one just perfect and tried desperately to remember what you did that caused this to happen? A power golf swing is not about swinging hard. So many times a golfer will try to input a little more into it to get a few extra yards.  If you've tried this what happened?  Did you get those extra yards or did it go shorter and even offline? Thatís the point I'm trying to make! To hit a LONG drive or add yards to every club in your bag, you need to be able to generate more clubhead speed, but under control.  That's where most golfers lose it. If your body can't physically make an optimum swing, from a mechanical standpoint, you have no business trying to swing any harder.  The result will be a blown up score and drives that go significantly shorter, not longer. The beauty of getting your body in better golf shape is that you can hit the ball with more force, but with much less e...

If you are starting to play golf after leading a primarily sedentary lifestyle then you are going to notice that it is going to be rather difficult for you to just run out and play and entire 18 hole round of golf.  However, if you have been playing for a while you are probably in much better physical shape, but overall your golf game will be greatly determined by your level of physical fitness.  If you are in great shape physically, in terms of flexibility, strength and endurance you will be able to play a much better game than someone who is in lesser physical shape. You are going to need to improve flexibility at the same time that you work to improve strength in order to have the best overall physical condition possible in order to play.  This means that you want to work to build lean muscle, rather than bulky muscles.  The primary differences is the amount of flexibility that the muscles provide.  Bulky muscles tend to be stronger, yet at the same ti...

It's when you start to play golf that you learn fastest. If you have bad golfing habits today, you probably learned them when you first took up golf. But the good news is that anyone can break bad habits and learn good ones. Here are a couple of tips to help you on your way to playing better golf. 1. Your aim is vitally important. If you can't send the ball in the right direction you will never get it in any of the holes. The clubface is the only thing that propels the ball, so line up the clubface with the intended target first, then take your stance with your shoulders parallel to the target line. 2. Always aim away from potential problems. Tee the ball on the side where the problem is. This will help to keep the ball in play and avoid penalties. 3. Bad wrist action equals a bad shot in 90 percent of cases. Keep the left wrist flat in relation to the back of the left forearm and the back of the left hand, and don't swing the club back farther than shoulder turn....

As I look at driving stats over the last month I can point out how this player has had some penalties off the tee, tee shots that resulted in not having a shot at the green or having to many poor lies in the rough.    All though these claims are true and we haven’t met our target handicap average, in this particular case this is not the most important skill to work on to lowering their scoring average.  When we look at overall performance, driving is more of a strength than a weakness. Even though there were some penalties and drives that may have cost some shots it is definitely more of a strength and our performance is on “par” with our goals. According to the chart, putting is an area we would need to spend more time on even though our handicap is lower than chip/pitch and sand. We have more total shots when it comes to putting then the other two categories.  What we can take away from our driving stats are it is key to keep the ball in play and min...

Being a thinker on the course and analyzing what shot you have in front of you will ultimately lead to success. I often see players find the yardage and pull the club they normally hit that far without any consideration of other elements that may come into play. When the shot is hit they are surprised that the ball ended up short of the green. Some things to consider before you hit your shot is yardage, wind, uphill, downhill, pin location, and hazards. These are key essentials when selecting the correct the club. Golf is a game of misses and if you can put yourself in the right positions from tee to green you will have much better results. Play to your strengths and stay away from the part of your game that you do not feel 100% about. Next time you go to play take some extra time and breakdown the shot in have in front of you. Find all the factors that will affect your shot and choose the right club based on that. You will have better shots and in the end your scores will lower.

Are golf radar systems like Trackman and FlightScope just for club fitting and working on swing mechanics? To me, they’re much more than that. They’re amazing tools for developing players. There’s a belief that Trackman and FlightScope can make the game too technical, and that a golfer has to be a scientist to understand all of the data the system calculates. That couldn’t be further from the truth. TrackMan offers an innovative way to test your golf skills through their Test Center. FlightScope has similar software called FlightScope Skills, but because I have a Trackman I will focus on Trackman’s system. The Test Center allows golf coaches to help develop golfers into players, giving them the ability to create a series of test and game-like situations to help golfers perform better. That means coaches can go through playing lessons and skill challenges right on the range with their students. As a coach, I have to know my players’ strengths and weaknesses to truly make them...