China Girls Camp

As I mentioned in an earlier post we held a girls training camp recently in China. This was held in the Chinese city of Xiamen at Orient Golf Course. This golf course is part of the Orient Golf Group which runs eleven golf courses all over China as well as one in Taiwan. This golf course allowed us to stay at the club in the caddy accommodation and utilise the golf course and practice facilities.

In previous training camps I have run in Taiwan we have had a mixture of boys and girls and quite a large number of players. This camp was different in that we had only girls and the number was kept to six. This allowed me to run things a little bit differently and get into some more detail in certain areas.

One of the challenges of this camp was some of the players have spent a fair bit of time with me over the past year while some of the girls were either new students or players that, for different reasons, hadn’t spent a lot of time with me over the past year. The main focus I wanted for this camp was “playing golf” as apposed to technical golf. We have worked fairly hard last year on the player’s golf swings and this year I want them to have a greater understanding of all the other pieces that make up successful golf. As some of the girls hadn’t spent a lot of time with me last year, I did some technical coaching with them along with the “playing golf” sessions with the rest of the players.

One of the first things we did with all the players is run them through a physical evaluation. We did a basic body screening as well as some basic physical fitness tests to evaluate where their bodies are currently. The video on this post shows one of the players running through the body evaluation. We run them through a number of tests which highlights a player’s body weaknesses and allows a total body conditioning program to be written. These tests are used periodically through the year to assess a player’s progress.

Another focus of this camp was fitness. Each morning the players completed a physical training session. We were lucky enough to have one of the girl’s mothers at the camp. She has a background in physical education and basketball coaching so the players had some basketball style training combined with some golf specific exercise. This cross training kept the players interested and the sessions fresh.

Competitive practice also played a large role during this camp. Lots of games and competitions where used to simulate on course pressure. Putting challenges, with the bridge as a punishment for the losers, as well as ball flight control games were all used during these sessions. Everyone disliked doing the bridge so the competition was intense and serious, just like on course play.

We also utilised the golf course on several occasions and used these sessions to develop and finetune warm-up and tournament day routines. Each player designed a perfect warm up plan and listed the steps they would take to warm up before a round. I then asked them what would happen if the golf course didn’t have a driving range/practice fairway (like a lot of Taiwan golf courses) to warm up on? They then had to design a warm up plan that they could use if they faced this situation. After these two were designed and finetuned I asked them what would they do if their car broke down on the way to the golf course and they only had 10 minutes to warm up? They then had do design an emergency plan that they could use if they ever had to face this situation. The players now had three separate warm up plans that they could use to handle any situation they found themselves in.

Overall, the camp was great fun and I finished the two weeks learning more about each of the players and I am sure the players also learnt a lot about themselves and how to continue their improvement.

Until next time,

Brent

Winter Cup

The first of the quarterly ranking tournaments, the Winter Cup, was just completed last week. These four season cups combined with some other Taiwan events, such as the Taiwan Amateur, form the list of ranked players that players are selected from for overseas tournaments throughout the year. Obviously, they are important for the players and everyone tries their hardest to score well.

The boys section was close with two of my students, Hung Chien-Yao and Hsieh Chi-Hsien, tied for the lead on 6 under heading into the final round. Hung Chien-Yao made a great start to the final round and was 4 under after nine to take a 4 stoke lead heading into the final 9 holes. This lead was quickly cut to 1 after 12 holes due to 2 bogies made by Hung Chien-Yao and a birdie by Hsieh Chi-Hsien. Hung Chien-Yao regrouped and played the last 6 holes in 2 under to shoot a final round of 68, finish 10 under for the tournament and 4 strokes clear of Hsieh Chi-Hsien in second place on 6 under.

Overall, in the boys section, my students won the open section (Hung Chien-Yao 70, 74, 66, 68), the over 18 section (Hsieh Chi-Hsien 69, 72, 69, 72), the 16-17 age group (Yang Fei-Hao 71, 75, 71, 71) and the 14-15 age group (Lee Chieh-Po 75, 71, 73, 69).

The girls section was even closer than the boys section. The leader after three rounds was one of the students from one of the Sports Colleges in Taiwan. She was 2 under par and 2 shots ahead of another girl with two of my students Yao Hsuan-Yu +1 and Liu Yi-Chen +2 sitting close behind. In the end, the leader had a tough day on the last day and shot 77 which gave the other girls a chance.

The final round was exciting with three girls coming down the final hole with a chance to win the tournament. In the end Yao Hsuan-Yu had a final round of 72, Liu Yi-Chen had a final round of 71 and the girl that was coming second after three rounds had a final round of 73 which led to a three way tie at the top of the leaderboard. As it is difficult to actually get on a golf course in Taiwan, let alone have a playoff, the final results were determined by countback. This meant that Liu Yi-Chen finished first and Yao Hsuan-Yu finished second. Although these are the official results, I consider all three girls as joint winners.

Another of my students, Hsieh Yu-Ling, charged home with a 68 on the final day to only finish two strokes away from the girl winners.

Until next time,

Brent

My Golf Game

Today I decided to head out on the golf course with three of my students. Now, this may or may not have been a good idea as the three players I decided to play with are the three top ranked players in Taiwan and we were playing on Sunrise Golf Course in Taiwan which is not exactly the easiest course in Taiwan. We were also playing from the back tees because the players were preparing for a tournament that starts on Wednesday. This combined with the fact that I haven't played a game of golf except for two rounds with borrowed clubs when I was back in Australia for Christmas and my total number of rounds for 2008 would be approximately six 9 hole rounds.

Standing on the first tee I (foolishly) decided that we should play for some money. I asked them to give me 4 shots start and we would play for $100 NT (approx $4.50 Aus) for every shot the winner finished in front. The players had the cheek to ask if 4 shots was enough!

We started on the 10th tee and as you can see from the picture it is not the easiest tee shot to face when the last time you played a golf course was two months ago. I managed to keep the ball out of the water and actually played some fairly decent shots for the first three or four holes. I was being accused of being a hustler as the players have seen my attempts to hit a few shots on the driving range this year.

Things were not going too badly until the first par 5 we came to. This is when I let my ego rule my brain and attempted a 250 yard water carry with my 3 wood and splashed in the water. I then proceeded to do exactly what I tell the Taiwan players to never do. Still thinking about how stupid my previous shot was I dropped another ball and, without thinking, dumped a wedge in the water as well. So I had just committed the sin of following one mistake with another. A score of 9 was the result and much laughter from my playing partners as we made our way to the next tee.

I managed to find the fairways and greens over the next few holes and made a few pars and even a birdie and as the rain and fog closed in on us as we headed up the 6th (our 15th) I still had all 4 of my strokes over one player, 3 strokes on another and 2 on the final player. I was also enjoying the fact that a coach who doesn't play anymore was keeping up with the top Taiwan players and I was letting them know! Actually, I shouldn't say too much as I think it was me dragging them down to my level rather than me playing to their standard.

It was interesting, from my perspective, as I found that my ball striking was not that much different from when I was playing more often but my chipping and putting was disgraceful! I think I had over 30 putts for the 15 holes we played and didn't hole a putt over 4 feet for the whole day. That being said, it was fun to get out there on the course again and I will try and play a bit more this year.

Until next time,

Brent

Taiwan Winter Cup

The players in the Winter Cup ranking event here in Taiwan are starting to finish their second rounds. The common theme amongst all the players is problems on the green. A lot of them are striking the ball well but not holing putts. Lots of 3 putts are being reported as well as a couple of 4 putts and even a 5 putt!

It is interesting to watch them practice as well. Looking out the window now I can see one player chipping with one hand while talking on the phone and another two players standing on the green talking. The two biggest complaints seem to be that the players are having trouble reading the green or judging the speed yet none of them are doing any green reading or speed control drills.

The leading score after one day in the girls section was 67 with a 69 and 70 close behind. The boys section is being led with a score of 68 with a 69, 70 and 71 close as well. I will update the final results after the last round on Friday.

Liu Chen-Lin, who I mentioned in an earlier post was currently in America is playing another International Junior Golf Tour event this week. You can watch his progress here http://www.ijgt.com/details.php?id=276

Until next time,

Brent

My Australian Students

I sent an email to all of my students in Australia this week with a link to my new blog and asking for any news that they had to share. I always enjoy hearing from my students and love hearing about their successes and struggles with this game we all play.

It was great to see Box Hill Golf Club win the Division 5 Pennant last year and hopefully they will continue the form into the next season in the higher division. Box Hill was the first golf club I worked at when I made the move from country New South Wales to the city of Melbourne. Hopefully they will keep up with the success. Check out the club's website at http://www.boxhillgolfclub.com.au/

One of my students from Box Hill Golf Club told me in his return email that he had his best score ever recently at Box Hill. He shot a 78 off the stick and wasted a number of shots during the round as well. This was the first time he had broken 80 and I am so excited for him! It was also interesting that he said he hasn't been playing much recently due to other commitments and he went out and just played golf without thinking about the score, his swing etc. It made me think about how much importance we put on swing mechanics and trying to build a "perfect" golf swing. It always amazes me how well people play when they just stop thinking and just swing the club. I think there needs to be a blend of swing mechanics and freedom from thinking but in an ideal world we would just let go and only think target when we are on the course. Feel free to post any comments/thoughts you might have.

Another one of my students and an ex workmate from when I was at Burnley Golf Course also had some great news to report. He is currently coming second in his club championships with the final round left to play! I am sure he won't mind me mentioning that his swing when I first met him was a little..... how should I put this?...... Unusual! It is a credit to his dedication and work ethic that he has changed his swing and improved his scoring skills to the point that he is contending in his club championships. I am extremely proud of him and hope he continues to get better and better.

For him, working at Burnley Golf Course, is a great asset to his golf. Burnley Golf Course is a great little short course which really tightens up your short game. It has a great chipping and putting green to work on those little chips that really save you shots and the course is short enough and the green small enough that you need to be precise with your short irons and wedges. A link to their website here http://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/Leisure/Golf/index.asp It is a great course for working on these important scoring shots and if you are driving past, drop in for a hit. Tell the shop staff that Brent says hi.

Until next time,

Brent

Girls Camp/Winter Cup

I just got back from a two week training camp in China with six of my girl students. We worked hard and covered lots of fitness, short game, putting and introduced them to some recovery tools we will be using through the coming year. I will post some more details about the camp in the next day or two.

Next week is the first of the quarterly ranking events here is Taiwan. All of the top players from Taiwan will be playing and the results will help us pick teams for the upcoming Queen Sirikit Cup in Bali and the Asia-Pacific Junior Championships in Thailand. I will post more next week as the tournament unfolds.

Brent

International Junior Golf Tour

One of my Taiwan students has recently moved to the United States to continue his golfing development. He has moved to Oak Valley in California and is using Oak Valley Golf Club as his training base. He is living with an American family and going to school there which will help him develop his English skills and move closer to his goal of going to college in America and playing professional golf.

Oak Valley has set up a nice training facility with a good emphasis on fitness and golf training. A few of my students have spent time there and the golf club was our base during our trip to America last northern Summer.

My student's name is Liu Chen-Lin and he played his first event in America this week. He emailed me his statistics after his first round and was very excited to shoot a score of 8 under 64. This placed him tied first after the first round and was a huge boost to his confidence. He shot 72 in the second round and missed out on a playoff by one stroke. Second place in his first tournament in a strange country was great and I was very proud of him. A link to the final results is here http://www.ijgt.com/results.php?id=294

I spoke to him via MSN after the final round and we spoke about what he was feeling and how he was finding the new settings in America. He was excited about his scores and also a little surprised that he was only tied for the lead after scoring 8 under. We spoke about the amount of talent in America and how he will get a more realistic idea of what level his golf is at and what parts need to be improved. Overall he was justifiably excited with his results and I was very proud of him. He was also enjoying the training at Oak Valley and I am sure he will be fitter and stronger when I see him next.

Until next time,

Brent