Derek Bobo's Blog

I really hoped to have some pictures or videos up to discuss some swing fundamentals before talking about muscle memory, but I just heard about this drill and wanted to share. This is another one you can practice in your house or in the yard and doesn’t require you to be on the course or range.

It’s really easy. Essentially you setup as though you were going to make a swing.  You take the club back about 2 feet along your swing and then just hold that position with the club hovering mid swing. Hold that position for about 10 seconds and repeat this. After a couple of repetitions take the club back slightly further and repeat. Do this until you have  gone through your full take away and then practice some normal full swings. If you spend 10 or 15 minutes doing this each day it should help to improve your muscle memory.

My only words of caution with this drill are to not spend time working on it if you’re not already happy and confident with your swing fundamentals. You don’t want to begin muscle memory training until you have sound fundamentals. Otherwise you’re just teaching yourself bad habits that will be harder to break later.

My last post was a little gloomy. I wanted to follow it up with one that is more optimistic. I think the following quote gives a good message and provides some inspiration for tough times:

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing. – Edmund Burke

When times are tough it’s easy to get into a mindset of negativity. I firmly believe that your attitude controls a big part of your ability to succeed in all things. If you are confident and optimistic you’re well on your way to success. It’s kind of one of those things where if you think you’re already beat there’s really no reason to even show up.

So remember that there is still hope as long as you believe it and that if you choose to do nothing then evil will surely prosper.

Along these same lines I think paying it forward is more important than ever. When time’s are tough everyone can use a pick me up and a reminder that there are still good people in the world. If the opportunity presents itself, help somebody if you can.

I generally try not to think about the nastiness that goes on in the world. I have not watched the news in years because I don’t like surrounding myself with the negativity. I get caught up on the highlights via a few websites and casual conversation, but otherwise I try to isolate myself from it.

Lately I’m having a more difficult time ignoring the reality. It’s bad out there. Gas prices look like they are back on the rise. The country is continuing to spend itself into oblivion… and aren’t you oh so happy with the way the bailout is going? Chrysler has announced they are closing 800 dealerships and GM another 1100. There is talk of looking at a national sales tax to raise funds. Unemployment numbers are the worst since the great depression. North Korea is doing nuclear testing. Banks are failing. I’m afraid that as bad as things are, the issues are magnified by greed and corruption.

It’s just really a dark time for the world and specifically our country right now. I suspect we will eventually pull ourselves out of these tough times but fear the worst may still be ahead of us.

At this point I think it’s important for us to get back to the basics of life. How are we able to protect ourselves, our families, and continue to survive with the worst ahead of us? What ways can we continue to provide for our families and ourselves if the worst were to happen? Could you drive on if you lost your job? How about when past due bills start building up? What if you went to cash in your savings and it wasn’t there?

I pray we won’t get to this point but I think it’s time to start looking at ways to help ourselves with the basic necessities of life, finances, and even our sanity to some extent. Trying times can leave a mark that never heals.

I recently ran across this article:

http://ecoble.com/2007/11/18/250000-bottles-amazing-recycled-mexican-island-paradise/

It’s old news but very cool stuff. It makes me wonder what other interesting ideas are out there. Have you seen any similar concepts that put junk to good use? I’ve got to think that economies down people have got to be looking for ways to innovate and make the best with what they have.

Any ideas?

There is nothing that can throw your game more than failing to execute on what you consider a routine shot. When you do this it’s easy to lose your focus and let one mistake snowball into more, resulting in poor golf scores.

To make the short putts, those inside of 3 or 4 feet, you want to hit them firm. Unless there is significant break in the putt do not give up the hole, run them firm to the back of the cup. In the worst case scenario you leave yourself another couple foot putt. By taking your putt and hitting in firm to the back of the cup you’ll make more of the short ones.

As your game progress try to become automatic on anything inside of 5 feet… then 6 feet, up until about 10 feet. You want to have confidence that your putt will drop every time you step over the ball. Being able to consistently make putts of about 10 feet and in is one of the key shots that separate a good golfer from a weekend hack.

Something like 75% of all golf shots come from within 100 yards of the hole. Understanding this it makes since that if you want to see the most noticeable improvements in your scores you need to work on your short game. Everyone wants to hit those 300+ yard drives, but the reality is your biggest gains are going to be realized through improved short iron play, chipping, and putting. As the saying goes: drive for show, putt for dough.

The great news is with even a small yard you can improve your chipping. When I was in 8th grade preparing for high school golf I saw the biggest improvement in my game ever. While I played a lot of golf during this period of time the biggest improvement was on my short game. I used to take a large bucket and put it out in the middle of the yard. It was a junk bucket that we put basketballs and things in to keep the garage somewhat organized. I’d then take every golf ball I owned and scatter them throughout the yard. I’d stay out there for hours on end chipping until I got every one of my golf balls to stay in the bucket. This is fine for practicing flop shops and pitch shots but probably not the best for practicing a bump and run.

For practicing those low, bump and run type of shots I’d essentially just do the same thing but instead of making every ball I’d try to just hit the base of the bucket as though that’s where I wanted to land the shot. Alternatively you could get a smaller bucket and lay it on it’s side and try to get the balls to land in the bucket and stay. Keep in mind that when hitting a bump and run with an 8 iron the ball will typically roll about 3/4 of the total distance. So if you have a 12 foot chip you only want to carry it about 4 feet and let it roll the rest. If you’re chipping with a lower lofted club it will roll a little more, higher lofted club a little less.

NOTE: This is just a general rule of thumb. You’ll need to also take into account how hard the greens are, if the greens are particularly fast or slow, and the slope to the hole.

These exercises essentially help you establish feel around the green. For the vast majority of the shots you’re going to be experiencing in your short game; it’s all about feel. You have a line and a target that you’re trying to hit and a distance that you want to carry the ball.

As for putting you can practice if you have carpet floors, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The carpet isn’t going to roll like a green would and will likely mess with your feel. If you are really set on practicing your putting in the house use the opportunity to work on alignment. Line up your puts and practicing hitting your lines, go through your pre-shot routine and work on timing and alignment rather than trying to establish your feel.

If you are practicing your putting on the practice greens the other thing to take into account is that most amateur golfers miss their puts below the hole. When you hear someone say “never up, never in” this is exactly what they are talking about. If you leave your put short it never has a chance to drop whereas rolling the putt past the hole you at least gave it the opportunity to drop, assuming your line was close. Similarly, the average amateur golfer usually doesn’t play enough break thus missing their putts on the low side of the hole. If this is you, try playing a little more break than you think you need. In time you will train your eye and will naturally line up your putts in a manner that gives them an opportunity to drop.

Above all just make sure you’re working on something specific and take it seriously. Go through your pre-shot routine and focus just like you would on the course. Bad habits you create during practice will undoubtedly show up during your real rounds.

I hope this gives you some ideas and gets you started down the right path. As soon as I get a video camera I’m going to try and post lessons that show some fundamentals for hitting these types of shots and perhaps demoing some of these easy to practice drills.

I maintain a couple of websites for real estate companies. One feature I have been thinking about lately is a way to leverage the website as a tool even when you’re not searching the listings. The idea I have come up with (and may or may not already exist on some websites, I dunno) is the ability to do a search while you’re not at the computer. It basically looks like this:

• As a user you  log in and set some search/preference criteria based on the type of property you are looking for. Some of the metrics might be: acreage, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, square footage, price, school district etc. You enter this information and some very basic contact information. Name, phone number and email.
• During initial account creation the feature would search the listings and send you an email with any listings that match your search criteria. After this initial search you would be notified of any listings the second they hit the market. That way your dream home finds you rather than you scouring the web for that perfect deal. When a match is found you receive an email with direct links to the properties that match your preferences.
• This provides a significant advantage to end users because they are now not forced to waste time. Realtors also get an advantage. They are able to capture information on buyer prospects. They have contact information for which they can send out newsletters with information on open houses, community events, or just general buyer help information. That being said the real advantage is realized at the point that a match is found. At the same time an email gets sent to the end user the Realtor gets notified that they have a potential buyer and seller match. They can then take a proactive approach to the client relationships rather than a reactive one.
• Seller clients also benefit by making sure their listing gets viewed by people who are particularly interested in their type of home. It truly becomes a match making type of service.

I would really like to be able to apply this concept to a larger audience than my couple of clients. I think it’s something that would really prove beneficial for MLS website, however the proprietary nature of such sites makes such an implementation very difficult.

Regardless if you think it’s a good or a bad idea let me know what you think. If you’re an agent or broker who would like to explore the potential for implementing this into your website please let me know.

I have an interest in survival. I enjoy watching shows such as Man vs Wild and Survivorman. I also try to do a minimalist camping trip once a year. I basically pack a small handful of items and then go rough it in the wilderness for a day or two without shelter or normal camping supplies.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the fancy survival knifes that have the hollow handle. Inside the handle are a few random items. Usually some fishing line, hooks, needle, thread, and matches. If you’re lucky you also get a compass on the end of your knife. Very cool stuff.

So I had a random thought today that instead of buying a survival knife, how about a survival thermos? It’s a bit bigger than a knife, but you get some considerable advantages. With only a little bit more bulk you now have a container for which you can transport food and water or use them for cooking. Additionally when not in use you have a pretty nice storage device for more items. In a survival thermos you might have fishing line, hooks, needle, thread, matches, compass, rope, mirror, emergency blanket, poncho, magnifying glass, straw, potable water tablets, knife, and maybe even enough room for a freeze dried meal.

So if you’re looking for an affordable, practical, and diverse survival kit, give the survival thermos a thought. If you do, please let me know how it turns out and what goes in your kit.

One of the things that makes Tiger Woods the best is his relentless focus and discipline.

I firmly believe that one of the biggest things that makes Tiger Woods stand out from the rest of the crowd is his relentless focus. He does a tremendous job putting everything he’s got into every shot. When you hit a bad shot the worst thing you can do is let it contribute to more bad shots. Instead, put it out of your mind, figure out the shot you want to execute and focus on making it happen. Think yourself around the course to improve your scores.

One of the best ways to help do this is by having a consistent pre-shot routine. This gives you something to focus on and think about instead of  your last swing. That being said don’t do it just to go through the motions. It’s easy to step up to the ball and take a couple swings with about 40% effort. The problem with that is you might as well not have taken any practice swings because the swings you took don’t resemble the swing you’re about to make. Having the discipline to stick to your routine is yet another part of your focus and what can set you apart from your competitors.

For me, my pre-shot routine looks something like this.

1. Determine the yardage.
2. Determine the wind direction.
3. Determine the lie.
4. Look down my line.
5. Make my club selection and look down my line again.
6. Take 2 practice swings simulating the swing I want to make.
7. Walk back behind the ball to visualize the shot and line I want to follow.
8. Address the ball.
9. Make a couple waggles until I feel comfortable over the ball.
10. Take my swing.

So the next time you step out on the golf course keep these things in mind. Focus all of your energy into each and every shot. Think your way around the course making decisions based on logic. Stick to a pre-shot routine which you take seriously.

One of my least favorite things I see out of management/leadership is negative reward for positive performance. This is when you do something great for the company or for your boss and the reward for good work is getting more crap to deal with. I see it on an almost daily basis.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to go back to the old “I scratch your back and you scratch mine” kind of mentality? I mean if I come to the rescue and save the day, the next time something comes up instead of immediately throwing me in to save the day again, why don’t you push back for me? Dig your heels in a bit and go to bat for me. It’s got to be a two way street, or eventually I’m going to stop coming to the rescue.

It’s unfortunate but I’m afraid the general thought process is all about #1. Everyone is looking out for themselves and what is best for them. People want the path of least resistance for themselves. They want to be everyone’s friend and make everyone happy no matter the cost. I think that’s fine to an extent but don’t forget to take care of the people who are taking care of you or one day they just may not be there to catch you when you fall.