For the first time in a long time (eight years) the US team won the Ryder Cup, and this time with a good old fashion team effort. And it’s about time. The team made the big shots and sunk (or is it sank?) the big putts like they hadn’t since the miracle Sunday at Brookline, MA in 1999. It just shows you how unpredictable golf is. Actually, the same can be said about pro sports in general. In football they coined the phrase, on any given Sunday any team can beat any other team (or something like that). The golf phrase I coined in my newsletter July 7, 2008 article is “if the putts don’t go in, you don’t win”.

Congratulations to coach Paul Azinger, his assistants and all the team members on defeating the European team. What a historic day in sports, as it’s also the day the last baseball game is ever played at Yankee Stadium. Quick trivia question: what player hit the first home run at Yankee Stadium? What player hit the last?

In the case of this year’s competition, it looked like the coaching staff cooked up a simple formula for success on the chalk board that goes something this: The power of teamwork + the power of positive coaching.= the power that makes the ball go into the cup more often.

More so in this year’s event, the media played up the amount of pressure that each player felt and how nervous they were on each shot, especially on the final day. Yes, if they put a heart meter on the players just before and just after hitting their opening tee shots, they’d all read off the charts. That’s because the anticipation and anxiety created by the media is even more off the charts, until the players are on the course playing. Then they’re back in their element, where pressure is a part of the game.

I don’t buy into the heart throbbing nervous feeling on almost every shot, as described by the announcers. I’ve found from my own match experiences that the nerves disappear when the intense concentration and focus of competition kicks in. Kenny Perry said it best during his post Ryder Cup interview by saying he felt a sense of calmness as the matches got going, especially on the final day.

Even though I’ll never experience the same atmosphere as the Ryder Cup, you’d be surprised how similar it is to play in any tournament competition for recreational amateurs like us. In my special report called, “Refuse to lose, the mental side of tournament golf”, I describe my on-course experiences and how calm, cool and focused I was during the highest pressure situations during my club championship matches in July 2008. Getting “in the zone” mentally just seems to make the nerves disappear. At least that’s what I’ve found and Kenny Perry confirmed it. Bye the way, it always helps the psyche when the shots happen and the putts go in more often. For a free copy game, email a request to ajm.me@thumbsdownmethod.com and I’ll send it to you.

60 second golf tip:
The role of the hands in the golf swing

Anyone who’s followed anything about the Thumbs Down method and my beliefs about the importance of the hands in the golf swing, knows how vital I feel the hands are. When I had my own ball striking problems, I purposely didn’t think in terms of using my hands, mainly because the typical lessons of the day stressed the mechanics of making the perfect “on-plane” swing. To this day, that swing thought never helped my ball striking.

When I couldn’t square the club by swing on-plane and letting it happen naturally, I needed to find a method that made it happen, dynamically. The secret missing ingredient was the proper use of the hands and wrists, with the Thumbs Down rotation at impact.

I hate to make it sound so simple, because golf isn’t a simple game. But adding that magic move and changing my swing priorities to the impact zone did the trick for me. It cured my out-of-control slice and added over 20 yards with every club (except putter). The harsh reality is that for a majority of all golfers, hitting the ball solid and on-line seems almost impossible. It doesn’t need to be any longer.

During the process of looking for professional golfers and instructors who believe and preach the importance of focusing on ball striking versus a pretty swing (like I do), I discovered Clive Scarff and his “Hit Down Dammit” newsletter and line of products. Clive’s October 3, 2008 newsletter had a section devoted to the role of the hands in the golf swing, with a short video, that says it all in under two minutes. I couldn’t have said it better, so I encourage anyone who wants more distance, more accuracy and more control, more often to read the next paragraph and view the attached video link. Lower scores are not a guarantee; they are the natural results.

There is a LOT of confusion over use of the hands in the golf swing. Ironically, most players don’t use their hands enough. Especially their dominant hand (right hand for righties, left hand for lefties. Hand use has traditionally been discouraged, rather than recognizing that what most struggling players were doing with their hands was hitting up. The answer isn’t to discourage hand use, it is to encourage hitting down with your hands. http://www.string-thing.com/hitdowndammittemp.htm#Video

Next watch my video from Inside Golf, which shows me improving the producer’s ball striking in a few minutes by adding the Thumbs Down method, (the missing ingredient) to his existing swing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XKvRneuc_8

Lastly, checkout my website and see my trilogy of how-to guides for better ball striking.
http://www.golfinstructionmadesimple.com/Products/Products.htm. They make great gifts for golfers on your holiday lists (coming sooner than you think).

Very lastly, Thumbs Down, Golf Instruction made Simple is now a published paperback, in addition to the eBooks and pocket sized editions seen on the website. See attached press release and Tell-A-Friend to do the same. http://www.golfinstructionmadesimple.com/PDFs/ThumbsDownPressRelease.pdf

If you’re interested in Clive’s series of lessons on DVD, contact me and I’ll put you in touch at the best price.

Ryder Cup facts (more records than you probably wanted to know):

Most Appearances:
Europe
Nick Faldo, 11
Christy O’Connor Sr., 10
Bernhard Langer, 10
Dai Rees, 9

USA
Billy Casper, 8
Raymond Floyd, 8
Lanny Wadkins, 8

Most Matches Played:
Europe
Nick Faldo, 46
Bernhard Langer, 42
Neil Coles, 40
Seve Ballesteros, 37
Christy O’Connor Sr., 36

USA
Billy Casper, 37
Lanny Wadkins, 34
Arnold Palmer, 32
Raymond Floyd, 31
Phil Mickelson, 30
Lee Trevino, 30

Most Matches Won:
Europe
Nick Faldo, 23
Bernhard Langer, 21
Seve Ballesteros, 20
Colin Montgomerie, 20
Jose Maria Olazabal, 18

USA
Arnold Palmer, 22
Billy Casper, 20
Lanny Wadkins, 20
Jack Nicklaus, 17
Lee Trevino, 17

Most Singles Matches Played:
Europe
Neil Coles, 15
Christy O’Connor Sr., 14
Peter Alliss, 12
Nick Faldo,11
Tony Jacklin, 11
Bernard Gallacher, 11

USA
Arnold Palmer, 11
Billy Casper, 10
Gene Littler, 10
Jack Nicklaus, 10
Lee Trevino, 10

Most Singles Matches Won:
Europe
Nick Faldo, 6
Colin Montgomerie, 6
Peter Oosterhuis, 6
Peter Alliss, 5
Brian Barnes, 5
Neil Coles, 5
Dai Rees, 5

USA
Billy Casper, 6
Arnold Palmer, 6
Sam Snead, 6
Lee Trevino, 6
Gene Littler, 5
Tom Kite, 5
Most Points Won

Most Matches Played:
Europe
Nick Faldo, 25
Bernhard Langer, 24
Colin Montgomerie, 23.5
Seve Ballesteros, 22.5
Jose Maria Olazabal, 20.5

USA
Billy Casper, 23.5
Arnold Palmer, 23
Lanny Wadkins, 21.5
Lee Trevino, 20
Jack Nicklaus, 18.5

Most Singles Matches Lost:
Europe
Christy O’Connor Sr., 10
Tony Jacklin, 8
Neil Coles, 6
Harry Weetman, 6
Ian Woosnam, 6

USA
Raymond Floyd, 4
Phil Mickelson, 4
Jack Nicklaus, 4
Mark O’Meara, 4

Youngest Player
Europe
Sergio Garcia, 1999 - 19 years, 8 months, 15 days

USA
Horton Smith, 1929 - 21 years, 4 days

Oldest Player
Europe
Ted Ray, 1927 - 50 years, 2 months, 5 days

USA
Raymond Floyd, 1993 - 51 years, 20 days