Hope all is well and that you are enjoying the holiday season.  
 

Please find below an instructional tip to improve your game this winter, information on indoor winter golf lessons at Alpine Country Club, Golf Digest recognition, and an announcement on a new junior golf program I will be helping to launch this summer. 
 

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at any time.

When golfers can quickly diagnose misses they are surely on the right path to improving and lowering their handicap. First and foremost it is very important to know where exactly on the clubface you are contacting the ball. This has a huge influence on where your ball is going. As you can see in the picture in the bottom right hand corner (courtesy of Andrew Rice Golf), this is a clubface that is massively open right after impact, however because the contact point was towards the toe the ball went to the left of the intended target.  

 

With the improvement in technology today, both heel and toe hits feel very solid to golfers because of how forgiving the latest equipment can be. Several times a day golfers, including low handicaps, will tell me a specific shot was solid off the center of the clubface, when in fact it was an off-center hit. A little bit of powder spray on your clubface, I use Dr. Scholl's, can tell you a lot. Using a spray is more effective than using face tape because of the fact that tape has more of an influence on changing the spin and launch of your golf shots.
 

If you hit a shot right or left and it was off the center of the clubface, then you know it had more to do with the clubface position and your swing path at impact. But if for example you hit a ball that went well left of your intended target line, and the ball was hit off the toe end of the club, then your clubface and swing path might not have been all that bad.

 

Start the diagnosis process by first checking contact point.  Keep these simple thoughts in mind the next time you are thinking about improving your golf game.

 

 

 

Winter Instruction

Just a reminder that the weekend of December 1st will be the start of full-time indoor golf lessons throughout the winter months. There is no better environment to improve your game in the off-season then working indoors utilizing the best in technology.  

 

A combination of AboutGolf Simulators with built-in video cameras from three different angles, along with Trackman, ensures that you are focusing your attention on the right areas in a controlled environment with less pressure.

 

"I have been utilizing indoor technology and offering indoor instruction for the last ten years and can honestly say my students that devote time to their game in the winter months are more prepared in the spring and throughout the season, and most importantly have a better understanding of their golf swing," said Birnbaum.

 

Winter instruction is available on an individual basis, with packaged discounts available through March. Gift certificates will be available throughout the holidays as well. For more information please contact Jason directly at (201) 647-9010 or via email at jason@jb-golf.com.   

Mark Broadie is a professor at the Columbia School of Business in New York City and is responsible for inventing the "Strokes Gained" category for putting statistics on the PGA Tour. This coming March Mark will be releasing his new book, "Every Shot Counts" where he will reveal, based on hard evidence and research, that it is the long-game and not the short-game that has the biggest influence on scoring for all levels of golfers.

 

There is no doubt that this will make for a controversial topic, but will be very interesting to digest and learn more about Mark's research. Several of the worlds best players have consulted with him in order to pinpoint where they can continue to improve the most and Mark has quickly become a well respected source of information within the industry. 

 

"Every Shot Counts" will be available online and in bookstores across the country early next year.