Rob Smith’s

Golf Learning Bible

How to Learn and Practice

to Play Better and
Have More Fun!

ROB SMITH
with Andy Smith

SALISBURY PRESS
Contents
Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................................................

Foreword by Jack Nicklaus.............................................................................................................................

Introduction............................................................................................................................................................

Chapter One How to Learn.......................................................................................................................

Chapter Two What to Learn.....................................................................................................................

Chapter Three Learn Through Practice...................................................................................................

Chapter Four The Learning Plan..............................................................................................................

Chapter Five Learning to Play.................................................................................................................

Appendix One Lessons

Acknowledgements
This Bible brings together the theories, ideas, advice from a wide range of books, articles,
magazines. Very few of the ideas or theories presented are original and are drawn from
most of the top teachers of golf; the following have been the main reference sources:

Pelz, D. (1999) London: Aurum Press.

Pelz, D. (2000) London: Aurum Press.
Gould, S. and Wilkinson, D.J. (2009)
London: Elliott and Thompson Limited
Gould, S. and Wilkinson, D.J. (2012) London: Elliott and Thompson
Limited
Coyle, D. (2012) , London: Random
House
Jones, E. (2011) Orinda CA: Birdie Press
Guadagnoli, M. (2009), Penryn: Ecademy Press
Toski, R. And Love Jr, D. (1988) New York: Random House
Leadbetter, D. (1993) London: Harper Collins
Syed, M. (2010) , London: Fourth Estate
Sieghart, W., Gould, S. and Wilkinson, D.J. (2004) , London: Simon &
Schuster UK Limited
Introduction
Like most golfers, I want to improve and play better but find it so difficult to change the
swing that I have spent the last 20+ years grooving. My swing is poor; it has been assessed
and I have the same faults as 90% of golfers, I roll and twist my wrists in the takeaway. I
also know that I will never really be content playing at the standard I am now and I need
to refine my mechanics to reproduce those of good players. Once I have these mechanics
in place, I can then focus on learning to play the game.
The frustration is that I love reading golf instruction books and articles and feel that I have
a pretty good knowledge of what a good swing is, I just don’t know how to change my
poor swing habits into good ones…. I believe this is true of 99% of golfers who have had
lessons or who have used tips to improve.
I recognise that having played for over 20 years, my current swing is a habit and most
golfers find this habit too hard to change but I’m confident that with the right attitude,
dedication and a plan, I can start to slowly learn a much better golf habit.
Most golf instruction books tell you how to swing and set out drills for you to practice but
give no idea on how long it will take to own the changes they seek to achieve; they don’t
tell you how to learn to do it. This is vital because learning is the key to improvement; how
well a person learns determines how well they perform. Isn’t it interesting how many tennis
players become good golfers, where learning technique is so critical to success.

Dave Pelz, Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible

It you want to gain a qualification, you can reasonably work out the stages you need to go
through, the methods you would use to learn the knowledge and skills required to pass
your exams and how long it would take. But golf requires us to learn physical, emotional
and mental skills and most of us just don’t know how to learn these. I’m not looking to
achieve the standard of the top golfers who know how to learn and practice properly but
I do want to learn effectively and not waste my time beating balls on the range.
Also, because I won’t have a teacher for much of the time and I’ll be teaching myself, I
need to understand how people learn and design my ‘curriculum’ accordingly. I need a
direction and especially, short term goals. I believe that there is nothing mysterious
about the golf swing, in that if you move your body in a certain way and practice so it
becomes your sub consciousness.
Want to see a path step by step with feedback along the way to show progression.
Teacher and pupil - what should be taught and how should it be taught.
Where do I want to be; single figure player for now, with an efficient swing that doesn’t
have any death moves and sharpen my short game.
This is that curriculum. plan, road map, framework to get better at golf. It’s my personal
approach, the way I feel. Reference to help me, a place to keep my notes, thoughts,
feelings, log book, reminders, curriculum. It’s the curriculum, lessons, text book and
exercise book all together in one place. It is a work in progress.
The aim is to increase my enjoyment of golf through improving my performance because:
● I enjoy golf more when I play well
● I get pleasure and satisfaction from getting better and overcoming a challenge
● I’m interested in golf technique
I need a plan setting out how I will improve.
Chapter One what to expect, prepares, understanding, explains the background to learning
and improving at golf and why it is so difficult to achieve and the approach needed for
success.
Chapter Two covers the process of assessing your current swing technique and draws the
best aspects on the swing and the main concepts, common checkpoints and explains why
golfers have poor swings.
Chapter Three works through the theory of learning and drills, how to carry out purposeful
practice and then applies it to achieving the key moves in the swing.
Chapter Four takes a range of drills and applying the practice ‘rules’ from the previous
chapter, sets out the curriculum. This is a collection and unique to me.
Chapter Five then looks at taking this to the course.
Chapter One

How to Learn
In the Zone
The first thing to think about is what does good performance look like. Top sportsman talk
about being in the ‘zone’, a state where the player only thinks about the target and has no
conscious thought of technique yet the ball flies accurately to the target.
The best analogy for most of us is driving; we drive automatically without conscious
thought, it comes from our sub-conscious and we need to achieve the same state for golf.
This is the zone; the magical culmination of well practiced skills that are free to flow without
interference.

You need to create the skill necessary for success, then get out of your own way and let
the skill happen, you will only be as good as your skill level allows. You need a good mindset
and a good skill set.

Performance is determined by:

Ability minus Interference

(Skill set/technique) (Mindset/attitude)

Figure 1.x: Performance formula

Going back to the statement that performance is ability minus interference, both of these
must be practised and are very different
Ability/Technique:
this about how you move your body (mechanics) in an efficient way to create the
conditions needed at impact. This is what most golf instruction books are about,
explaining how to swing the club and is what most golfers work on when they
practice but they judge the quality of their mechanics on how well they are hitting
the ball rather than how well they are making their physical motion; this is why the
 golf swing can be learnt in a squash court! Your performance will always be
influenced by your ability, no level of focus or confidence will allow you to hit the
ball well if your technique is unable to.

Interference/mindset:

This is about being able to focus purely on the shot in hand so that your body can
perform; and is judged by your ability to get the ball to the target (scoring). If you
stand behind the professionals at a driving range, their mechanics are pretty similar
and produce powerful and accurate shots; so the difference in their scoring is in
their ability to focus on the shot in hand. It is also the reason why we can all hit the
ball well on the practice ground but not reproduce it on the golf course, the different
conditions for each shot and the distractions of posting a score cause us to lose
focus.

Why Learning Is Important

How well you perform at these is a direct result of how well you learn and you learn through
practice; learning is defined as the “act, process or experience of gaining knowledge or skill
that can be applied in a different environment”. So, the best golfers are those that can most
effectively learn/practice the skill needed and apply the learning on the golf course.
To summarise……

Learning to Learn
Most instruction books tell you the technique needed or the mindset to win but not how
to learn them. This is demonstrated by the fact that the average handicap has not improved
in the last 30 years. Most golfers have a lesson and hit the ball better on the range but
quickly revert back to their old technique back on the golf course…….Why?
This is because the golf swing is a collection of habits, executed automatically and habitually
without conscious thought – changing your swing means overcoming all of these but isn’t
about changing habits but creating a new habit that becomes the dominant habit; you
have to apply narrow focus to specific motion over period of weeks or months until it
becomes the dominant habit. This is the problem with tips – if focus attention on new
movement it works but if your attention shifts to different focus, the old dominant habits
take over and the ‘magic’ of tip evaporates
Some Learning Truths

It is an abiding assumption of modern society that natural talent determines success

and failure and that champions possess special gifts not available to the rest of us;
that someone like Tiger Woods was born to play golf. But, studies have shown that
the difference in the very best performers is the amount of serious practice; they had
devoted thousands of extra hours to the task. Child prodigies have actually
compressed hours of practice from an early age and that a minimum of ten years is
required to become an expert in any particular complex task. This is referred to as
the Iceberg illusion; when we witness a feat of sporting prowess, we are witnessing
the end product of a process measured in years. If you believe that it is purely talent
and intelligence that determines your success, then you will tend to hide future failure
(like the management of Enron) and pursue easy challenges that reinforce this image,
rather than use mistakes as a learning opportunity with the mindset that it is the effort
through which intelligence can be transformed that is important. Therefore….

Dispel the idea that working on your game means that you are less capable than
others and that there is something wrong with you. All good players work really really
really hard on their games. They are not ashamed to practice a lot, so you shouldn’t
be! How many of those you play with are actually improving? Not any of them I bet,
what you get out is what you put in. Be honest, with the little time you actually spend
practicing and playing; can you expect to improve? What you are doing now is not
working so do something different and practice properly. You’d be surprised how
hard those who are successful are working, the game doesn’t come easy to anyone,
we all have to work at it.

Studies have shown that all of us can achieve great things and that we all have the
capacity for change but there are ways of accelerated learning or purposeful practice
that are more effective. The typical golfer who goes to the range to beat balls learns
very little since they rarely monitor what they are actually doing or using feedback to
learn from. Champions have a specific and never changing purpose; progress by push
themselves beyond their outer limits of their capacities and extending their mind and
body. To engage so deeply in the task that one leaves the training session, literally,
a changed person. World class performance comes from striving for a target just out
of reach, but with a vivid awareness of how the gap might be breached.
Don’t think in terms of fixing your swing and start thinking in terms of refining, your
goal is simply to keep moving up the continuum to a competency level you choose.
You don’t need to fix, you’re not broken. If you focus on results, you will never change;
if you focus on change, you will get results. The objective is progress – not perfection.
Embrace the feeling of joy and accomplishment rather than a problem that needs
fixing.

As stated earlier, the golf swing is a habit and habits are hard to replace. If you have
swung the club in a certain way for any length of time, you won’t be able to suddenly
swing in the new way because your subconscious will revert to your old swing. This
is the main frustration of all golfers who want to improve. But, you are built to improve
little by little, connection by connection, rep by rep. So, seek the small improvement
one day at a time, that’s the only way it happens, and when it happens, it lasts. This
ain’t magic and it ain’t rocket science It’s about working hard and working smart.’

Hard, high precision skills are actions that are performed as correctly and consistently
as possible, every time. They have one path to a reliable result, To improve these, you
must work like a careful carpenter, precision matters. Nail one simple move at a time,
repeating and perfecting it before you move on. If you build the right pathway now,
you’ll save yourself a lot of time and trouble down the line. Prioritise the hard skills
because technique is everything, playing without technique is a big mistake. (Soft
skills are those about being agile and intuitive, choosing the best shot for a particular
situation).

Efficiency is the economy with which you produce the motion that moves the ball to
the target, its your ability or skill set. Effectiveness is the ability to get the ball to your
target. Efficiency is about mechanics while effectiveness is all about scoring. You need
to practice both. Feedback for efficiency can be how closely you make certain
movements or achieve certain positions and can be done at home, feedback for
effectiveness is how often you hit the ball close to your target.
 The key to learning is immediate, accurate and reliable feedback. If you don’t receive,
internalise and benefit from the feedback provided by your shots - if you don’t both
consciously and subconsciously correlate your shot results with your actions and learn
from your experiences, then you will never improve.

To improve, push the boundaries of the possible. The only way that happens is to
build new connections in the brain which means reaching, failing and yet, looking
stupid; mistakes are guideposts you use to get better.

The Goal
The goal is to improve my mechanics to eliminate the ‘death moves’ I currently have
resulting in a more efficient swing to allow me to have a long and short game to be a single
figure player. Once I have my mechanics in place, I will focus on improving my swing
effectiveness. So…. identify one or two mechanical issues that would have biggest impact
and develop and refine it until it becomes the dominant habit. Then move on but on the
golf course, forget new mechanics, don’t try and play with your swing of the future and
focus should be on the target.

The Process
1. What you need to learn

2. How to learn it

3. Methods for ingraining your learning so your results will serve you on the golf course

I want you to understand what your perfect pitch swing looks and feels like so you can
learn it, feel it, own it, and then forget about it. I’m not going to teach you to think your
way through your pitch swing. That’s not what you want to do. Instead, I’m going to have
you first understand it. And then learn it well enough so that it automatically comes out of
memory as a habit, without thinking about it, when you use it.
Chapter Two

What to Learn

The Six Games of Golf

Most players think of golf as being the power game off the tee and the next shot onto
the green, but they will usually take three or four more scoring shots before finishing the
hole; putting accounts for normally 43% of all strokes taken in a round and a two foot
putt counts the same as a 300 yard drive. Interestingly, the best ball strikers have never
been the best putters and the best putters have never been the best short game players.
This is an illustration that the six games are unique and different and require different
skills.

Golf is a combination of six unique games, as shown in figure 2.x below:

Power Putting
Short Physical Fitness
Mental Management
Figure 2.x: The Six Games of Golf

Which Method?
There are thousands of golf instruction books. Which cover the fundamentals, then each
aspect of the full swing, pitching, chipping, bunker play, putting, escape shots and then
attitude and course management. They use still photography and suggest drills to adopt
to ingrain the correct moves. There are also numerous articles and videos online and in
magazines which deal with different faults, challenges etc. While many teach the same
swing, they will focus on different aspects
David Leadbetter - body swing and the use of drills
Bob Toski - feel the golf swing
Harvey Penick - take dead aim
John Jacobs - the flight of the ball tells you everything
Jim McLean - the X Factor
Ernest Jones - swing the clubhead
Having read most instruction books, the approach of Leslie King and the Knightsbridge
Golf School (where I have had lessons….) outlined in their four instructional books seems
to be the best approach. Therefore, for the power game, I will follow their approach and
instruction.

The Power Game: Leslie King

Leslie King proposed a ‘basic model’ of the golf swing based on his analysis of the great
players and that this swing shape needs to be learnt in great detail, a step at a time
under controlled conditions such as a bedroom or squash court and only once the
correct movements have been learnt and can be replicated, can the golfer learn to strike
the ball. The player must know and learn where to be at each and every stage of their
swing and once achieved, only then can they blend the swing’s structure into one
beautiful free-flowing movement.
The ‘Swing Factory’ book focuses on four main positions to be achieved to create a
swing shape like the great players, along with five fundamental swing thoughts or
principles.
The ‘Golf Delusion’ book emphasises the hand line and particularly the need to eliminate
any wrist roll or twist during the swing; this is the main reason why 90% of golfers will
never get better. It also identifies the other DNA of the swing being a dynamic position
at impact (pre square the face six inches before impact) and that the finish must be
learnt in great detail.
‘Golf’s Golden Rule’ book focuses on what happens through the hitting area or the
impact zone, impact is everything. While each of these books emphasise different
aspects, they all present the same method and swing shape. All books provide a range of
drills to achieve the swing shape such as front end therapy, perfect halfway back position
and swing in a door frame.

The Short Game: Dave Pelz

Dave Pelz states that the short game dominates, based on his analysis of the winners on
the PGA Tour. Those players with the best short game take home the prize money.
He breaks with short game into four types of shots;

1. Distance wedges 30-100 yards

2. Pitches from inside 30 yards
3. Chipping and the bump and run
4. Sand shots from inside 100 yards
All of these are based on a finesse swing using a smooth synchronised rhythmic turn
with all parts of the body moving together. He states that you need to work on
mechanics first which include the finesse swing, alignment, ball position, short to long
swings for stability, a synchronised turn, 3x4 wedge system, preshot routine/ritual.

Putting
Dave Pelz has studied putting in great detail to base his teachings on testing and
research; not beliefs and opinions. Putting is important because it accounts for 43% of all
strokes taken.

Dave Pelz breaks putting into 15 independent skill sets or building blocks, each of which
all golfers own to some extent but we all are better at some than others. The first thing is
to measure and determine which of the blocks need the most improvement. Seven of
the blocks look at stroke mechanics, five are non physical, two are artistic and the final
one is green reading. You must practice smart on the right things with good feedback.
Overall, he promotes a pendulum pure no-hit in-line square stroke, with dead hands.
Speed is more important than line and face angle is more important than putter path.

Where Are You Now?

Before starting on any improvement programme, its vital to

analyse your game. Its likely that if you are a high
handicapper, then you have some major death moves in your
mechanics. For me, I know that it is my long game mechanics
that need improvement but it could well be that it is my short
game that is losing me strokes. There are a number of systems
of recording your current performance to monitor your
current level.

Comparing Performance

A Lesson with the Professional

You may wish to go for a lesson with a professional and ask

them to look at your swing and suggest improvements. The list
below suggests the steps that you should go through during
the lesson.

At your golf lesson……

1. Pro demonstrates how his swing is efficient, hits the ball long and straight
 2. Pro explains why and how his swing produces its results, what makes his swing
efficient
3. You swing and pro records your swing
4. Pro explains the differences and reasons why your swing sucks, what you do
wrong
5. Pro explains the key things you need to achieve, visualise them and why you need
to do them
6. You need to understand and record the key points
7. You swing at super slow speed and pro guides your body to correct key points
8. You begin to get feeling and can see positions through feedback
9. Pro explains what to work on; drills to take home (practice)

Thoughts on My Own Game

As stated earlier, I have had lessons at the Knightsbridge Golf School and had my swing
videoed. Steve Gould confirmed what I already suspected. Essentially, I take the club away
with my hands and arms, then turn with my body later in the swing but not enough, which
creates a fairly flat swing. I then hit from the top, stopping my body through impact while
my arms swing past into a chicken wing position. I have the awful combination of wrist roll
and a static impact position. I’m fairly straight, my usual fault is a mis-hit, which tops the
ball 50 yards along the ground. I’m not long but now short either, typical length for my
handicap, about 200 yards with my driver. Most of this is achieved through being relaxed
and decent timing, that is the main compliment I receive but I never hit the ball with any
real conviction! I can play decently if my timing is on and I am feeling relaxed.

What I Need to Change

My priority is to improve my power game mechanics and I have identified the following
as the key aspects I need to change:
● Grip, Aim and Posture: I need to improve my stance and posture
● Hand Line: this is the master key to good golf! I need to eliminate all twisting and
rolling of the wrists, with a one-piece takeaway that turns my body in sync with the
swinging of the arms. I then need to swing my arms up into the top of the backswing,
turning over a flexed right leg and with a full turn of my body
● Relaxed Arms: During my takeaway and backswing, I need to be more relaxed and
tension free and consider them as merely placing the club into the right position
ready for the downswing. I also need to work on a relaxes yet constant grip pressure,
especially from the quarter position. Then in the downswing, need to gently put
 weight onto left foot and swing arms and hands under gravity and let body get out
of the way. Feel the clubhead!
● Follow Through: learn this in detail
67 What to Learn

Chapter Three

Learn Through Practice

So, to recap, we’ve learnt that champions are made, not born. We all have the ability to
improve if we practice smart, and make small but correct changes that we repeat with
feedback to build our new habit, Also, we must improve our mechanics first, then we learn
how to play the game. We have also identified the problems in our swing and understand
what we need to improve. The next step is to learn this.

Learning and Practice

To repeat, how well you perform is a direct result of how well you learn and you learn
through practice. Great practice is the key to great play.
Learning is defined as the:
“
”.
For golf, this is learning to improve your swing and hitting the ball well on the range
(practice ground), but then being able to take this performance onto the course (playing
ground). Another frustration of golfers is hitting the ball well on the range but not as well
on the course.
Practice is the process of gaining skill and knowledge so that it can be applied on the golf
course. Practice has a number of definitions; to do something again and again in order to
become better at it, to do repeated exercises for efficiency. My definition for the purposes
of this bible is to ‘do a deliberate motion consciously with feedback so it becomes a more
efficient habit for the intended action’. Practice is necessary; golfers become frustrated
because they can’t play to their knowledge level but the golf club swings by feel and
awareness ingrained as habit. For you and for me. To quote Jack Nicklaus,
‘

’.
The best golfers are those that can most effectively learn/practice the skill needed and
apply the learning on the golf course.
What to Practice
Going back to the statement that performance is ability minus interference, both of these
must be practised and are very different. Your performance will always be influenced by
your ability, no level of focus or confidence will allow you to hit the ball well if your technique
is unable to.
Ability/Technique: this about how you move your body (mechanics) in an efficient way to
create the conditions needed at impact. Most golfers work on mechanics when they practice
but they judge the quality of their mechanics on how well they are hitting the ball rather
than how well they are making their physical motion; this is why the golf swing can be learnt
in a squash court! New skill or shot, curve the ball, lob shot, getting out of the rough.
Interference/mindset: this is about being able to focus purely on the shot in hand so that
your body can perform; and is judged by your ability to get the ball to the target (scoring).
If you stand behind the professionals at a driving range, their mechanics are pretty similar
and produce powerful and accurate shots; so the difference in their scoring is in their ability
to focus on the shot in hand and manage their games. Gaining knowledge on the best shot
to hit. Judging risk and reward.

The Art of Distinguishing

You need to be able to tell when doing the drill correctly. Mechanics are ok but target focus
skills and mental skills difficult to judge objectively. Sometimes have to rely on feel as only
way and we have blind spots when what you think you are doing is not the same as what
you are actually doing. The art of distinguishing can be mastered in steps. Focus on specific
area of swing with inner eye when exercising; don’t watch the ball. Focus on one objective
and specific focal point of feedback. Next need to distinguish and note a control or baseline
swing to compare current action to; this is the reason why drills are an exaggeration.
Baseline Control Swings
Compare baseline and regular swing and make adjustments; repeat process and continually
compare and adjust. Need to be precise and deliberate when execute baseline swing.
Baseline swing normally made without hitting balls and executed at ‘learning speed’ 76 or
1-% of normal speed; speed doesn’t matter, focus on precision.
15 minute drill everyday
Golf delusion, swing learnt in controlled circumstances, smallest possible segments
Note: golf swing is a collection of habits, executed automatically and habitually without
conscious thought – changing swing means overcoming all of these but isn’t about
changing habits but creating new habit that is the dominant habit; you have to apply
narrow focus to specific motion over period of weeks or months until it becomes the
dominant habit. This is the problem with tips – if focus attention on new movement it
works but if your attention shifts to different focus, the old dominant habits take over and
the ‘magic’ of tip evaporates
So…. Identify one or two mechanical issues that would have biggest impact and develop
and refine it until it becomes the dominant habit. Then move on but on the golf course,
forget new mechanics, don’t try and play with your swing of the future and focus should
be on the target.
Compensations you have made, worse before better
Dave pelz rules of practice and secrets of the short game
Dave pelz pyramid of learning
Variety spice of life
Framing a productive practice
Organise practice into sections
Get out of the way and let skill happen
Skill set and mindset, example typing
Two real purposes to practice
1. New skill acquisition – new shot, mechanical aspect of swing (changing swing
plane)

2. Skill refinement – improving reliability of results

Effective practice, efficient practice, focused practice

Lead – determine ‘what’
Manage – execute ‘how’
80/20 Rule
Focus primarily on bottom 20% & top 20%
Bottom 20% - costing you the most strokes
Top 20% - strongest skills you want to play to and use more often
Effective v Efficient Swings
Need to practice both – not just mechanics
Effectiveness practice example; hitting balls into a certain area
Framing a productive practice
One aspect of efficiency
One aspect of effectiveness

Chunking: this is a process of how the brain connects a sequence of actions into an
automatic routine and is at the root of how habits are formed. There are hundreds of
behavioural chunks that we rely on every day from brushing our teeth to driving the car.
Framing; ‘deciding what you are going to do in the time available’
Determine your learning objective at beginning, then measure your progress at the end
For one practice session, pick just one aspect of target centred skills and one aspect of
swing mechanics
For target practice – work on skill of staying focused on target and improving one
element; direction, distance control or shape. Then…. Pick three drills designed to
provide feedback and measure progress. Then rotate through 3 drills hitting five ball sets
with each drill
“Practice like an Olympian” – random block practice
‘block’ – set of five golf balls hit with some focus on one aspect of swing effectiveness or
swing efficiency: focus should be on feedback from drill – not outcome of shot: don’t
judge shots, learn from feedback
Keeps you focused on learning objective which increases retention rate. After about 7
reps we start to lose focus
‘randomising’ – rotating through 3 blocks each with a different related drill – forces brain
to engage at a deeper level since forced to rethink the first drill
Effectiveness practice – effective swings focus on target
Efficiency – nice looking swing; effectiveness – nice looking scores
Repetitive equals weak memories, elaborative equals strong memories, attach meaning
getting to know the doorman
Optimal challenge
Too much v too little challenge long term learning over short term success
Let go of good to be great
Feedback is a friend
Stages of learning new skill
If you are learning algebra, you start with basic algebra
Stage one Super slow motion with feedback
Slow motion with feedback
Quarter speed with feedback
Half speed with feedback
Three quarter speed with feedback
Full speed with feedback
Stage two Quarter speed

Half speed… Three quarter speed… Full speed…

Stage three Quarter speed

Stage four Quarter speed

Stage five Quarter speed
Stage six Quarter speed
Stage seven Quarter speed