Synergy Golf Coaching
340 Burnhamthorpe Road L6H 7B2 Oakville, ON, Canada

As our journey continues, I’m forever drawn back to internal thoughts and language and what you’re actually saying to yourself, in the moments before a swing. I’d love you to actually write this down. What do you do in your pre-shot routine and what do you say? I have a wonderful idea that this one piece will change your golf at a deep level and forever. Now that’s a bold statement but go with me on this. Take the time to notice what you do and what happens to you in the ...moments before you hit a golf shot. What goes through your head? What do you consider? What do you think about? Are your thoughts positive or negative? Are they helping or are they pushing you back against a wall? Are you thinking about how to swing the club or about hitting your intended shot to your target? The list goes on and on of what you could think about or what you do think about. Having talked to so many golfers, I have a sense that most minds are cloudy before a shot. There’s little clarity and because the mind is muddled, the shot is too. Write down what your pre-shot is, what do you say and what do you do? Understand the bits you like and keep them. Then identify the bits you could do without and remove them. This piece is critical. The cool thing is that it’s controllable and absolutely up to you. Decide what to think about and confront the demons. If a negative thought crops up, let it slide and re-focus. This takes work but it’s worth it. And, the more you do it, the more you’ll strengthen your mind to ward off the demons and the negativity. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, More golf happens before the shot, than during it. #synergygolf365 #preshot365 #whatdoyousay? #whatdoyoudo? #talkyourselfintoit #discoveryourgame #wintergolflessons #scorebetter #golfcoaching #golfteaching #golfing #golf #golfer #golfcoach #golflife See more

The life of a pro golfer has its ups and downs for sure. But Dustin Johnson has had quite a year. And now, he’s the most recent Masters champion and has set multiple records on the way to his 2nd Major title. Congratulations go to him and his team. I was especially moved to see his brother Austin who carried his bag all week and has for years, get very emotional on the final green. What’s interesting, from a coach’s point of view is DJ and his brother’s mastery of patience, b...oth throughout the year and through their final round today. From a golf strategy point of view, this is a skill we all need and in some abundance. Remember back to 5 months ago? He won the Traveller’s shooting 19 under and then shot back to back 80’s in his next outing at the Memorial. Whilst the golf world reeled and there was talk of a complete collapse of his game, DJ merely put it down to being, one of those weeks. At TPC Boston in August, he blew the field away, shooting 30 under and winning by 11 shots. Then, in October, he tested positive for Covid-19. Could this season get weirder for the world’s number 1 player? He spent 10 days in quarantine, locked in a hotel room. He bought a putting mat and did nothing else for the duration of his stay. It seemed to work. Little over a month later, he’s a Masters Champion. Patience is one of those human traits that seems to elude most of us. We want instant gratification, the quick fix, we want everything now. We don’t want to wait. Dustin Johnson has managed to stay patient all year, capitalizing on his great days and remaining calm on his poor ones. His round today was a microcosm of his year. He had some wobbles, the field closed in on him, the commentators spoke of a collapse and then he took his chances when they inevitably came. A 5 shot win, a nonchalant stride up 18 and a Green Jacket presented by Tiger. What a year and what a day! Stay patient people. #synergygolf365 #strategy365 #discoveryourgame #dustinjohnson #themasters #patience #golfcoaching #golfteaching #golfing #golf #golfer #golfcoach #golflife #golfswing #instagolf #golfstagram #golfers

I know my posts have been growing in length and I hope in depth too, but some of my concepts and ideas can be described in a much shorter form. Here’s one that will help you play faster and with more courtesy to your group and the group behind. Now again, remember I’m trying to broad brush these ideas to all levels of golfer, so this one might seem remarkably simple. However, it’s only simple if you’ve heard and adopted it already. Picture the scene, it’s a slow day, your p...artner rolls in a putt for another 7 and then proceeds to look back down the fairway and point at his 5 shots that got him to the green, squinting his eyes and air counting them all. He then pulls his card from his pocket, fumbles for a pencil and casually jots it down, WHILST HE’S STILL ON THE GREEN!. Completely unaware of the fury being displayed by his own group and the group halfway down the hole, who are unsurprisingly on the brink of madness, he trots off to his cart. We’ve all seen it or my other favourite when he gets back to his cart parked in front of yours and proceeds through the same process, whilst you sit in the firing line as the group behind play up towards the green you are stuck beside. It’s maddening. Here’s an idea Mark your card on the next tee. It’s so simple. You get a chance to walk or ride and count your score on the way and then you mark it whilst the others in the group are teeing off. The key to faster golf is to overlap the less important bits. #synergygolf365 #golfetiquette365 #markyourcard #slowplay #hurryup #discoveryourgame #wintergolflessons #scorebetter #golfcoaching #golfteaching #golfing #golf #golfer #golfcoach #golflife See more

On Day 203, I talked about internal arrogance being a valuable weapon in golf and this year’s Masters Tournament has thrown up a perfect example of how it can go spectacularly badly wrong on one of the world’s biggest stages, by doing the exact opposite. In the run up to the tournament there was a huge amount of talk and hype surrounding Bryson DeChambeau. The current US Open Champion was widely tipped to outmuscle Augusta, hit it 400 yards and reduce the course to a mere pit...ch and putt track. He was a favourite with the gamblers too, as they were sucked in by the hype. Now clearly the hype had merit. He does hit it that far and on his day, he can beat anyone. The cracks soon began to appear when he started adding fuel to his own fire. In press conferences, he started to add weight to the story, explaining exactly where he was going to hit it on certain holes, what clubs he would hit into certain greens and what he felt the par of the course was for him. He believed Augusta would play to a 67 instead of a 72. Dechambeau shot a very respectable 70 on the first day, followed by a more up and down 74. He scrapped in under the cut line and at the halfway mark sat a full 9 shots behing the leaders. Clearly he didn’t do what he said he was going to do, but he shot 69 today and looked a lot better. Sometimes it’s best to just fly under the radar and historically at the Masters the winner comes from nowhere, sneaks up the leaderboard and pounces at the right time. Think Charl Schwartzel or Danny Willett. Now that may not happen this year with DJ being 4 ahead with 18 to play, but it’s happened before. I think it’s in all of our interests to play down our own chances and keep our own hype to a minimum. You can get internally strong willed and positive, but sometimes when you start telling everybody what you’re going to do, it can come back to bite you. Don’t upset the golfing gods. #synergygolf365 #golflanguage365 #talkyourselfintoacorner #tryingtoohard? #brysondechambeau outmusclethecourse #discoveryourgame #wintergolflessons #scorebetter #golfcoaching #golfteaching #golfing #golf #golfer #golfcoach #golflife #golfswing #instagolf #golfstagram

The Masters has, yet again, absolutely captivated me and I’m not sure my wife or babies will get a word in this weekend. (Sorry Tara and the wee ones x) One of the best stories from the first 2 days was Bernhard Langer. 63 years young and still able to rock it with the kids. Admittedly he wasn’t doing anywhere near as much off the tee as Bryson, Rory and Brooks but still. He shot a smooth 68 on day one and followed it up with a respectable 73. Just think about that for a min...ute. 68 and 73 off the furthest back tees at a soaking wet Augusta National on golf’s biggest stage. What a legend. Amongst multiple secrets of this elder statesman of the game was his ability to get up and down. Langer had 11 one-putt greens on day one. That’s massively impressive and shows his level of short game skill. A total game approach was very evident. What’s more impressive is the fact that he’s 63! His first Masters was in 1982 as an amateur. He is a true testament to his level of dedication to his craft, his determination, his methodical approach to every facet of golf and his sheer will. He is an avid fitness guy. He works out rigorously. He stretches at least twice per day. (Twice!) He eats every 3 hours whilst he’s awake to keep his metabolism and sugar levels ticking over and he is meticulous to a tee. He constantly looks to every possible way to keep him at the top of his game. Since he joined the Senior’s Tour, he’s won 41 times including 11 Senior Majors. The guy is a machine. Now of course, he’s one of a kind and he credits a lot of his longevity to his genetics. Still, I have an idea that if we took some leafs out of his every extending book, we could stay in OUR games longer too. For the guys and girls who are over 40, this is not over. We all have to commit ourselves to small, incremental changes in our daily routines and our golf routines to keep our fires burning. I’d be very surprised if anyone could ever ascend to Bernhard’s level of commitment and devotion but we’ve got to gice it a try. synergygolf365 #golffitness365 #themasters #augusta #bernhardlanger playthelonggame #over60fitness #golfheroes #discoveryourgame #golflessons

Watching the QBE Shootout this afternoon got me thinking about the most frustrating element of this great game. Millimeters. Golfers quantify themselves by one number, their score. And, of course, we’ve talked about this at length. But, just reign yourself in for a minute. What if, one day, everything went perfectly? You hit great drives, perfect approach shots and rolled every putt straight in the heart of the hole? What would you shoot? Now we’re getting in to fantasy ...land here, but come with me. What if you played like that, holed everything and shot 15 shots better than normal? Would that suddenly be the number you’d expect to shoot...? Of course not. So Kevin Na and Sean O’Hair were paired today and they shot 56 in the first round scramble 56! 2 eagles and 12 birdies. Amazing, and Na, down the stretch holed 5 or 6 20 footers like they were tap ins. Then think about this. The putts that went in miss by less than an inch, they sit on the edge of the hole instead of dropping in. You miss the middle of the clubface by a millimeter and it lands you in the front trap instead of the centre of the green. The same tour players, who win one week, miss the cut the next. This is the game we play. We cannot judge ourselves by that one metric. Gravity and the golfing gods sometimes conspire to turn a 70 into a 90, and you’ve got nothing to do with it! Sometimes putts fall in and sometimes they don’t. Somedays you’re on, sometimes you’re not. It’s a game that confuses and frustrates and confounds but we must stay on the path to getting better. Cherish the days that everything aligns, but don’t stress the days when nothing works. #synergygolf365 #postgameanalysis365 #millimetres #agameofinches #discoveryourgame #wintergolflessons #scorebetter #golfcoaching #golfteaching #golfing #golf #golfer #golfcoach #golflife

Well, it’s finally here. We’ve waited a long time this year but the Masters is up and running this morning. For me, this is the pinnacle of our wonderful game, in North America. Remember guys, I grew up in Scotland watching my heroes play The Open Championship on dry as a bone links golf courses all over the UK. That weekend was always special but the Masters had a romantic allure and a power over me even as a youngster. It would be on BBC late into the night because of th...e time difference and I’d sit up and watch it with my Dad. He loved his golf and his heroes, especially Nicklaus. I vividly remember Jack in 1986 and then, my personal hero, Sandy Lyle winning in 1988, followed in short order by Faldo twice. Ian Woosnam and Langer also brought the Green jacket back to Europe over the next few years. Halcyon days for sure. The tournament has thrown up countless memorable moments and for most it’s the one course that would be their number one on the bucket list. The 3 holes of Amen Corner continues to strike fear into players and it’ll be interesting to see who triumphs this year. Today’s post is really about your connection to the game. It’s tournaments like this that allow our love of the game to truly deepen. They are aspirational. They tell heroic stories of massive comebacks, triumph over adversity, winning against the odds or epic meltdowns. What’s great about golf is that we can all relate to the stories that the Majors tell. Remind yourself of your major moments. What do you remember about the tournaments you watched when you were young? Who were your heroes? But, more importantly, remember the days that you triumphed, played great, beat a rival, won a tournament or felt like a champion. We’ve all got some great tales to tell about our golf. Remind yourself that you can play this game and how great it feels to play it well. On this side of the pond, I guarantee kids on a practice green are muttering quietly, This putt to win the Masters. I think after this year, they’ll continue to do so... and who am I kidding? So will I. #synergygolf365 #golfstories365 #themasters #augusta #golfheroes #discoveryourgame #golflessons

The second you think you know everything, it’s over. Some posts ago I mentioned the phenomenal 63 year old, Bernhard Langer who finished in the top 30 of this year’s Masters field and beat the mighty Bryson DeChambeau over the 4 days. Both he and Fijian Vijay Singh standout amongst their peers for being unbelievably committed to continuous work and trying to learn this game from every conceivable angle. Padraig Harrington is of the same stock and has tried literally everyth...ing to stay in the game and continue to evolve. It’s absolutely imperative that we all continue to be students of life and every other pursuit that we attempt. And, you’ve guessed it; it’s the same for golf. The whole idea of not being able to teach old dogs new tricks is a myth. (If that was true, I’d be out of a job! Just kidding). Seriously, I think that this is just the human race accepting a false fate and our perceived limitations, far too early. Langer, Singh, Harrington and numerous others continue to evolve and adapt to changes in the game from methods and techniques, to fitness and club technology. Why should we be any different? If we just assume that we’ve peaked and we can’t or don’t need to learn anything else, I think we do ourselves a great disservice. Break that old mould. Immerse yourself in some strange new concepts and see what you can add to your game. You might just surprise the old dog in you. #synergygolf365 #strategy365 #olddogsnewtricks #astudentforlife #remainastudent #alwayslearning #discoveryourgame #wintergolflessons #scorebetter #golfcoaching #golfteaching #golfing #golf #golfer #golfcoach #golflife

As this crazy year draws to an end, it’s time to start thinking about 2020's golf season. How was it for you? For me, this is a great way to reminisce about your season and remind yourself of all that went into it. Take a few moments to remember the people you played with and remember the good times. Most of all, think about the highlights. Think about the great golf you played, the best shots you hit and the finest courses that you got to play. ... As the year comes to an end, aim to have a memory bank of the year filled with successes. Write them down and take yourself back to the great moments. You might have to dig deep to find them but they’ll be in there. For some, they are buried under a pile of negativity and bad rounds, unlucky bounces and lost balls. Find a way to sift through the pile and find the gems. Lock them in, keep them with you and imagine having another season full of them next year. It’s only 116 days to the Masters! You’ll be back on the first tee soon enough. #synergygolf365 #strategy365 #theyearinreview #staypositive #discoveryourgame #wintergolflessons #scorebetter #golfcoaching #golfteaching #golfing #golf #golfer #golfcoach #golflife See more

When I caddied and played at Gleneagles in Scotland, I always remembered the scene as you walked the last few holes of the King’s course. On the right of the 18th fairway, on a small hill stands a huge memorial to the fallen of World War I. Completed in 1919 and designed by the legendary James Braid, the King’s course is a majestic piece of land, a true test and rich in golf history. In the later hours of summer afternoons, you could here the bagpipes gently drifting across f...rom the Hotel as they ushered in people for tea. The warm breeze, that unmistakable somber sound and the towering memorial always made the hair stand up on my neck. They’re standing up again as I write this. Today of all days, we should remember the sacrifice made by so many souls. The fact that we even get to play golf at all is down to them and their unwavering bravery and determination. I’ve said before that golf isn’t important and there are many more facets of life that we should be aware of and sensitive to. We are massively lucky to be able to play golf in a free and relatively safe world. We should all be grateful, humble and respectful of the people that came before us and the commitment they had in preserving that freedom. #synergygolf365 #golfphilosophy365 #lestweforget #remembranceday #veteransday #discoveryourgame #wintergolflessons #scorebetter #golfcoaching #golfteaching #golfing #golf #golfer #golfcoach #golflife #golfswing #instagolf #golfstagram #golfers