Q&A: Brooks, Game Improvement, DJ's form & more

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those energy bites a try out. But again that's the code c H three at for Wellness dot com backslash podcast. All right, so now let's get um, but a lot of really good questions. A lot of the questions, UM, I think a lot of people that our golfers want to know kind of how golfers practice. Um, what goes into that whole process? And UM, I had a lot of questions about the work that I've been doing with Brooks.

Haven't really talked about that. UM started working with Brooks again, UM about maybe a month and a half two months ago. It was at the live event in Bedminster, and UM, he asked me for some help on the Saturday night and UH, watch him hits the balls for about minutes on the on the on the Saturday night. And then on Sunday he asked if I could get to the golf course, UM, a little bit early before they teat off, and we did some work. And UM We've been working,

you know, pretty much ever since. I think everybody knows. He finally got to win, which a couple of weeks ago, which I think was really really big for Brooks. UM. But I mean the interesting thing is, and in this whole kind of PGA tour lives stuff. UM, you know, I worked with Brooks for eight years when four majors a bunch of golf tournaments got to number one in the world. UM. And this is not propaganda, this is

not spin. I have never seen him work harder in the last two months then he I mean, he didn't work this hard, didn't practice this much, wasn't putting in this amount of time on his golf swing, UM, when he was the number one player in the world. And UM, I think it's been really really interesting to to to watch um just how dedicated he is. Listen, I mean Brooks. Everybody knows the type of character Brooks is, right, I mean, Brooks has UM he plays with a chip on his shoulder. Um,

he's got you know, a big, big ego, big persona. UM. And he didn't like the way he was playing golf. He didn't like the way he was performing. He didn't like the shots that he was sing on the golf course. UM. And you know, full disclosure, we we really hadn't even really talked. I mean, I guarantee you and I got let go by Brooks at the end of November, um or right after the Masters that DJ won in November, and up until the time that that that we kind

of started working back together again. Uh. We we didn't talk, we didn't spend any time together. So UM, I just think that anybody that thinks that professional golfers, regardless of where they're playing, don't care. Um, it's it's just not the case. And and Brooks is working as hard as I've seen him work. Um. A out of what we did was just kind of getting back to basics a lot of Brooks's problems. UM. And this is something I think everybody listening can can kind of take to their

own game. A lot of what goes wrong for Brooks happens before he hits the golf ball. My dad has always said that it takes no athletic or golf ability to set up to the golf ball, ball position, posture, alignment, all of those things. Uh So, when I when I saw Brooks, and I hadn't seen him really play in almost two years. UM, a lot of the changes that

we made to his golf swing were set up related. Um. He had gotten the golf ball a little bit back in his stance, which when he tries to fade the golf ball, which is the predominant shape that he likes to play, it's tough to fade it from that position. Um. The ball position had gotten back, which for Brooks always tends to get his shoulders a little bit on the close side. Um. And it's someone that likes to fade

the golf ball. That's a tough fit when you're trying to hit a fade with the ball position back and your shoulders kind of close. His left arm tends to ride up really really high, the right arm tends to get a little bit on the low side. And um, so, a lot of the changes we made and and he was starting to aim a little bit kind of a little bit too far to the right, and his shoulders

were getting a little bit open. So he kind of had the open stance to the right, open shoulders to the left, close stance to the right, ball position back. And even though he was trying to take the golf club a little bit more on the outside, which is where Brooks plays his best golf, because of the setup, because of the ball position, and because of the shoulder position, he just couldn't get the golf club to go back

in the in the right way. So as soon as we moved the golf ball a little bit forward, I actually had him. I feel like his shoulders were almost open, like the right arm, the right forearm was higher than the left. Um that wasn't the case, but it was an exaggerated feel and it was funny, you know, I said, listen, get the ball position. We're hitting seven irons. I said, listen, get the ball position a little bit more forward. Um, I feel like your shoulders are more open. Um aim

a little bit more left. And we looked at some videos and we looked at some pictures, and I think he was he was blown away at at how strange that felt relative to what he thought it was going to look like. I mean, he thought the ball was gonna be off his left toe. It wasn't. He thought his shoulders were going to be wide open. They weren't.

But as soon as we were able to get the set up and what was happening before he started making a golf swing, it then was part of the domino effect that allowed the backswing to get into a better position. And that is one of the things that we've worked on. We've tried to get the takeaway to get more square, more outside. He was getting the golf club a little

bit on the inside. Brooks has always played his best as a fader of the golf ball when the golf club works in front of him going back, and then the club works in front of him coming down, and then he's able to rotate and turn through impact. When when we started back together. His divot pattern was really really deep. He was taking really really deep divots, and his trajectory was kind of all over the place. He'd hit a high one, he'd hit a bullet low one,

and he honestly he had a double miss. He'd had balls that would start left and go left. He'd have balls that would start right and go right. So we went back to some of the things that we worked on UM in the past. And one of the things that I worked on that we worked on a lot um that I like to work on with players is is where is the golf ball starting relative to what

shot you're trying to hit. So I had Brooks, you know, go ahead and pick out a target, and I said, okay, let's just hit me ten balls that start left of your target. I don't care where they go, but hit me ten balls that start left of your target, and let's just focus on where they're starting. Let's don't worry about where they're going to go. Let's worry about where

they're going to start. And if we can start them left of the target consistently, then we can start to manage the face because we know UM, for Brooks, if he's starting the golf ball consistently left of his target. He's doing a good job with managing what the path

is doing. Um And the other thing that tends to happen when when Brooks gets the golf ball back and the shoulders get a little bit closed at address coming down, the path gets a little bit too neutral, and then Brooks can really really kind of drag and drive the handle forward with For a lot of people that's a great impact position, but for what Brooks is trying to do, that's the death move for him with all of his speed and his power, because he basically just holds the

face and just hits kind of what you know what I kind of term is kind of big block white cuts, or he gets tired of doing that and he hits the snap book. So as soon as we were able to get the path in a better position, he was also better getting into a better impact position. Brooks can also at times hang back behind the golf ball and get a lot of what we would call side bend where he's hit the left shoulder gets really really high,

the right shoulder gets really really low. There's a lot of you know, hang back and and and bending back to the right. For him to try and start it online. Once we were able to get him to feel like the club was a little bit more in front of the body, get the club exiting a little bit more around his body to the low and to the left, then his shoulders actually start to turn a little bit more level through impact and they don't get kind of so kind of left shoulder high, right shoulder low. And

and the divot pattern. He's the one thing that I noticed UM last week in Miami. The divot pattern is actually he's actually you using the bounce on the on on on all the irons that he's using. And the quality of the contact, the contact the mean the club and the ball and the way the club is interacting with the ground has been basically what it was back in two thousand and nineteen. UM. I know Brooks, which is there was three or four more tournaments that he

could play in UM because he's playing that good. His ball striking right now UM is on a par with what it was when he was number one in the world. And the quality of the strike the hit. Brooks has always had a very very heavy, heavy hit to the golf ball. UM, so that's really started to come back. He started to drive the golf ball better. Um, he's

starting to drive the golf ball further. Um. A lot of the guys that have played with him in the last month have come up to me afterwards and said, Dude, this guy's hitting it as far as I've seen him hit it. Um. But to be honest, a lot of the changes that we made were all happening before anything happened with the golf swing. It's just the way that he was setting up to golf ball and it is something that that I think everybody listening could could take

something from grip, posture, alignment, all of those things. They're not fancy, they're not sexy, but they have a dramatic effect on what's happening with the golf club and what's happening with your your shots. So Um, as soon as Brooks gets the golf club in these positions and starts to see the golf ball in practice, in his warm ups, in his practice rounds UM, it gives him a tremendous amount of confidence. I mean, tour players guys are no different than than the rest of us. We we all

play golf through confidence. If you're hitting a lot of fairways, if you're hitting a lot of greens. Um, you're going to make better swings. You can get the golf ball and play off the tea regardless of what your handicapped level is. You can get the golf ball in a fair way. You're going to play better golf because your

your confidence is gonna go up. So it's been fun. Um, it's been fun to see kind of Brooks Um, you know not it's it's actually been fun to kind of see him get a little bit of swagger back, um and have the confidence back. Um because you know when I when he asked me to start you know, helping him again, Um, he had none of that. I mean he had no idea where the golf ball was going. Um, he didn't have a consistent shape. And for him to

get that shape back has been you know, massive for him. Um. So I think we're gonna see Brooks three comeback healthier, Um, ready to go. And you know, I think you're going to see him have chances to win golf tournaments regardless of where he is playing. Big week last week for Pat perez Man, I mean we did some big time overhaul uh to his golf swing. Last week. He did not play good in in Saudi Arabia, especially the last two days, he just he just didn't have it. It

was windy, he wasn't hitting it solid. Um. We were trying to cycle through a bunch of ideas and swing thoughts. Um. We got down to Miami, Um, we were that. I mean, they didn't play until Saturday, and we grinded Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday pretty much all day. Um. So I was talking about Brooks, how Brooks likes to fade the golf ball when the golf club gets too much on the inside, he struggles. Pat wants to be able to

draw the golf ball. So basically, Um, all the stuff that we were working on I was working on with Brooks last week, I'm working on the hundred and eighty degree opposite with Pat. We were trying to have him get the golf club to go a little bit more on the inside, because one of Pat's issues is the golf club tends to go a little bit. He kind of has to where he addresses it almost in the heel, and then on the back swing the club almost goes

a little bit on the out. And when that happens, Um, it's not so much what's happening with the golf club on the back swing? Pat, Then on the back swing, his lower body starts kind of going towards the golf ball a little bit on the back swing. We call that early extension. Had a question about that, can you, you know, be a great ball striker if your lower body is getting closer to the golf ball m on the down swing. Pat's always going to have a little bit of that move on the down swing because he

plays very much UM as a lateral player. He doesn't have a lot of rotation in his golf swing. UM. So one of the ways that he has to draw the golf balls, he has to draw the golf ball by feeling like the backswing and the downswing are working really kind of inside on the backswing and then into

out on the down swing. But by letting him or by having him feel like the golf club was going very much on the inside going back, his right leg was actually straightening a little, but it was actually helping his lower body not move out of the way, not move closer to the golf ball. UM on the back swing. And he changed on Monday. He changed to a new driver, changed to a new chef, and changed to a brand

new golf ball. Um and played really really good um on Saturday in the in the team competition with Taylor Gooch and then on a really really hard golf course. UM. I don't know if anybody's played trump de ral, but um, they call it the Blue Monster for a reason. It's a hard golf course. Um, it was blowing. The rough is really really I mean the rough just berries. I mean you hit a ball in the rough in the practice rounds, we were struggling to fine golf ball. So

um he shut two under. UM. I think they're only maybe two other guys that shut lower scores than he did. Um. Listen, he's an easy punching bag. Um for a lot of the people that you know, I want that as their narrative. But I was really proud of the way he played last week. Um and uh it was a really really solid performance. UM. I think he was really proud of himself.

Um and uh he needed to come through. UM. You know the way the team format works, all four scores counted on Sunday, and you know, Pat made a lot of really good clutch par pots from five eight, ten, um fifteen ft um. Any of those pots don't go in, they don't win. And then um, he was finishing on the eleventh hole. Ninth hole is a long, long, part three water all the way on the right, bunker's left. He stood up, hit it left of the flag, right in the middle of the green, pin high and hold

the pot. He could have easily bailed out hit in the bunker, which a lot of guys were doing. Um, he could have rinsed one in the water. But he needed to stand up and hit a good shot. And he did the ten poles Part five. Um, the further obviously down you can get it, the better. And he said that he said to his caddy, um, h, I've been doing this on the range all day, every day, all this week. I've just got to stand up and trust it and hit a great shot. And I think

that's something really really important for everyone listening about that. Um, the mindset of standing up and trying to hit a good shot as opposed to trying to not hit a bad shot. And and Pat said afterwards that, um, he was really, really really it was proud of the fact that he stood up. And he said on both nine and ten when it counted at the end of the round.

At the end of the tournament. He hit the shots that he needed to hit, and partly, you know, Pat can have a really really negative attitude at times, you know, really negative. And um, he stood up and he said on nine, he said, I didn't think about the water to the right. I didn't think about the bunkers to the left. I said, I'm gonna start this at the flag and hit a little draw and try and get

it in there about pin high. And that's the shot he executed, standing on the tenth faraway dog leg from right to left, water all the way down the left hand side. So any miss that's left is in trouble. Any miss that's to the right is gonna end up in the rough and you're not gonna have a chance to get to the green. Same thing. Stood up, said that he focused on hitting a good shot, wasn't thinking

about any of the negative things. Wasn't thinking about the water to the left, wasn't thinking about you know, the thick rough to the right. But stood up and made a really really good drivers swing and he said, trusted it. He said, I trusted what I was doing all week. And I think that is so important for everybody listening to take to their own game, to take to the

driving range. It's so easy to go into all of these shots and think about all the places you could hit them, or all the places that you don't want to hit them, But to stand up and actually focus on hitting a good shot as opposed to trying to not hit a bad shot, trying not to hit it in the water, trying not to hit it into the bunker. You're not going to hit good shots when you do that. That's just it's just not to happen. UM. You know, negative thoughts in your head will make your body do

things that you're trying to have them not do. It's the opposite. And UM, I think it was a great example in watching UM those two shots of what being under pressure but standing up and focusing on a lot of positive things as opposed to a lot of negative things. And UM. Lastly, Dustin Johnson. UM, listen, Dustin Johnson is playing. So I've worked with DJ for over decade now, and Dustin Johnson is playing some of the best golf I've

seen him play. UM. If there was a major championship next week, UM, Dustin Johnson is going to be one of the favorites. UM. I think Um Brooks Kepco would be one of the favorites. That's how good they're playing. Um. You know, I've heard a lot of comments no competition, weak fields. At the end of the day. Last time I looked, UM, you're not playing against the field, You're playing against the scorecard. You're playing against the golf course.

So regardless of where you're playing golf. You know, I remember my dad once, Um he I think he either shot fifty nine or sixty and UM, I think it's one of the lowest scores he's ever shot. But it was a nine whole municipal course that he played twice. And somebody said, oh, well, you know, I mean, doesn't he can't really count if you're playing, you know, the same nine holes, And he's like, I still have to

hit all the shots right. And regardless of what people's opinions are about live or what you're you know what side you're on. Um, Dustin Johnson is playing some of the best golf right now that I've seen him play. And the guy has been the only two people that have been number one in the world longer than than DJ or Tiger and Greg Norman. That's it, um, and So if I'm telling you that the guys playing some of the best golf I've ever seen him play, UM,

I think you should believe it. Because he's hitting the shots. UM. He's driving the ball as good as I've seen him drive the golf ball in a very, very long time. UM. His wedge game has really really come back. Really for the last two years, he's driven the ball like ship and he's his wedge game has been horrendous. UM. And he'd admit that. And you know, he's been putting in the work. UM. And I think partly for DJ, and again this is something that everybody can listen to. It's

confidence you put. You know, in the eight events that that DJ played on the Live Tour in fourteen rounds in the sixties, UM, he was playing like the Dustin Johnson that was the number one player in the world. UM. And you know, I think the way he played UM in the last eight tournaments, UM, it gives me a lot of confidence moving forward with where his game is at. And UM, I know I keep saying this, but confidence

is so so big for these guys. And you just don't you think that all of these guys you know that you watch on TV, the girls on the LPGA tour. UM. Wherever players are playing golf, you think that everybody is just hugely confident and has a hundred percent you know, control of what they're doing. And you know, most of the times it's not like that. UM. But it's been really fun UM to watch DJ play, UM, to watch him drive the golf ball the way he's driven it. UM. It's it's been a lot of fun UM, a lot

a lot of reps with DJ. UM. DJ's warm ups I've talked to about this before. UM. He's about an hour and a half UM, so he's hitting a lot of balls in his warm ups. UM. And he sometimes every now and again, you know, in around you know, we'll get to get about thirty minutes before he t is off and he'll say, you know, I just felt something.

And I actually always think that it's really really good when a player that I'm working with, especially at the at the tour level, if they find something or feel something on their own that I'm not telling them that they as the player are able to go you know, I felt this, and it I always kind of like it when it's in a way that I'm not telling

them to do right. I kind of like that when a player says, you know, I kind of felt you know, and they put what they're trying to work on in their own words as opposed to just me telling them what to work on. And DJ does that a lot. I think DJ probably does that more than you know, any player that I've ever been around, because, believe it or not, he is the ultimate field player. You wouldn't think so the way he plays golf because his strength is speed, power dominating with the driver. But DJ is

very very much a field golfer, a field player. UM yeah, I mean it's it's been fun to watch the way that he has played. It's been fun to watch the way that Brooks has played because when those two guys are playing at the top of their game, UM, I don't care what tour you're on, I don't care where you're playing. Um, they're in that group of players with

John Ram and Rory McElroy. Um, the way Cam Smith is playing right now, the way he puts the golf ball when Justin Thomas is in full flow, when Calla Morikawa's and you know has there are about ten players in the world, UM playing that when they're on they're tough to be and you know, Brooks and DJ are definitely two of those players. I'm looking forward to seeing what holds for them and UM, I'm excited um to

see how things go. Let's take a quick break and we are back workout drills or movements for people that are on the road often. UM, Listen, if you're traveling a lot and you don't have the opportunity to hit a lot of golf balls and stuff, um, and you've got your clubs with you, I think shadow swings in um in your hotel room, especially now on the east coast of the US with the weather getting bad, um in Europe, the weather is going to start to get

a little bit rough for a lot of people. UM. Hitting balls inside, hitting making practice swings to where you're just making you know, swings with the golf club. You know, the things that you as the player are working on. If you're trying to get the golf club less inside, trying to get a feeling of the club going more you know outside, if you're trying to get the golf club more inside, if you're trying to get more depth, um, if you're trying to get more with with whatever it is,

you're trying to work on in your golf swing. You can do that without a without hitting balls. You can

work on it. Um. One of the things that I do with a lot of my students is if we are having them make a specific change or move in their golf swing, I would say, okay, go ahead and take a set up, no ball, and close your eyes and go ahead and make me a kind of conicum mon alta biz hub super slow mo golf swing all the way up to the top, and then a super slow motion swing all the way back to impact and

then follow through. So you can do it in three stages. Right, You've just got a golf club, you've got no ball, take your set up, close your eyes. Whatever you're trying to feel, the positions, the movement patterns, the things that you're trying to work on in your golf swing, do it with your eyes closed and say, Okay, I'm gonna make as much of a slow motion back swing as I can and go up to the top and stop with my eyes closed, And just what does that feel like?

The eyes closed just kind of gives you that you're not looking at what your body is doing. You're you're kind of getting an opportunity to feel what your body is doing. Um, go up to the top, do that and super slow motion a couple of times. Then go up there, go up to the top and stop, and then think, okay, I'm gonna start my down I'm gonna

start the down swing. I'm going to do this in as slow emotion as I can possibly do back to impact, and then do that a couple of times, and then say okay, I'm gonna get back to impact and I'm gonna stop. Okay, and now I'm going to do a super slow motion version of from impact all the way up to my follow through. And those type of slow motion golf swings can be really really helpful. UM practice swings. I mean, there are a lot of instructors that talk a lot about that. I know, UM, Hank Haney is

a big, big UM practice swing guy. Make as many practice swings as possible. So if you are traveling, UM and you've got your golf clubs, you can't get to the range and you you can't hit balls making swings just whatever, you're trying to work on those swings. If you're trying not to get the golf club too far behind you on the back swing. Get up against a wall, get your pockets of your shorts, your pants up against that wall, and try and make some slow motion backswings.

And the idea would be to have the club head not hit the wall behind you. Right if you were someone that was taking the golf club too much outside, take a couple of steps away from the wall and in slow motion, try and feel like you're going to get the club head to hit the wall behind you. There are lots of things that you can do that are just kind of mimics the no ball, but isolating whatever motion that you have UM, I think can be hugely, hugely important, UM for a lot of golfers, especially UM.

Now if you don't have the time and you don't have the weather to get out in practice, UM, what do average ams have to do to get to the next level? Mentally? I think that's a question that I get asked, you know a ton and I think I touched on that earlier, UM, you know and talking about Pat um Perez. It's easy to go to the range and and work on your golf swing. I think a lot of people do that, UM. But I think thinking

your way around the golf course is hugely hugely important. UM. I was working with a high school golfer today just UM one Regional is qualified for the state championships UM next week up in Orlando. Here in Florida where they hold the state championships mission in. It is a very kind of funky, fiddly kind of golf course, right. Um, it's tight. Um. It can kind of make you feel

really really close to phobic. And I think one of the things golf courses like that can do is put you playing defense, right and put you on the defensive. So what we did was we went through, we went to Google Earth. We kind of looked at all of kind of what the holes were, kind of looked at um, you know, got a score card off the internet, looked at you know, what the scores were or what the yardages were. And basically we just kind of plotted his

way around a tricky, difficult golf course. UM. And that's one way you can kind of change your mindset when you're thinking about going out and playing golf. It's your if it's your home course, if you play a lot of times, Let's say you're gonna even if you're just gonna go play casually. You know, if you're gonna go play nine holes or eight holes you're not playing in a tournament and say all right, the day before or while you're having your coffee go through you're around and say, okay,

what am I going to hit off the first hole here? Um? What do I want to hit? You know? Where am I gonna hit? Driver? Where am I going to hit not driver? What holes am I going to lay up on? What holes am I not going to lay up on? What do the part three's look like? Where it's the easiest place on this green for me to um? I've

talked about this on the pod before. If you think about the first green at your club, if you just went down and dropped the ball in the middle of every green, right, regardless of where they put the pins, how far away are they are you actually going to be from the hole? And that that would be a really cool thing to do, right, is to drive out

um on your golf course. Do it one afternoon something, Go out and just drive out in a cart, drop the ball in the middle of the green and see if you just hit it to the middle of the green what kind of put you would have. I guarantee you you'll hit from if you hit the bland the ball in the middle of every green based off of where the pins are going to be. For eighteen holes, you're probably gonna hit You're gonna hit some good shots

doing that based off where the pinions. But what you're not going to do is you're not going to miss green stuff. So actually going around your home course before you play and getting into that mental frame of mind, um, where you want to hit the golf ball. I think so many of us go out on the golf course. What I was talking about earlier with Pat Perez and all we is think about where we don't want to hit the golf ball, right, don't want to hit it in this direction, and we don't want to hit it

in that direction. We don't want to hit it in the water, we don't want to hit it into um the bunkers. How about doing the opposite. How about standing up on the first hole and saying, this is where I want to hit the golf ball. Obviously you're not going to do that every time. Right, we're not tour players, were not tiger Woods. We're not justin Thomas Ruory McIlroy. Right. We may not have the command and control that the

best players in the world do well. One of the things that we do have command and control over is the way that we think about the shots that we're hitting. So stand up and say, okay, this is where I want and I'm going to try and hit the golf ball. And if you don't do that, keep trying to do that,

because I think what so many golfers do. I heard Bob Rotella wants um, Bob Rotella, the great you know golf sports psychologists would love players to go to the golf course with no swing thoughts, none, which is very, very difficult to do, and but he will. And I was I was working with Trevor Immelman, who has been on the pod before. UM. I was worrying with Trevor and Trevor was working with Rotela, and Rotella said, listen, I want you to go to the golf course with

one swing thought. And Trevor was like, man, I just I can't do that. I need I need, I need at least two maybe even three. I just can't go to the golf course with one swing thought. And Rotelo was like, I want you to go with one swing thought, but I want you to keep that one swing thought for the entire round. So if you hit a bad shot,

you can't throw it out. Because I think that's what a lot of us do, right, we have a even if we even if we are going to plan, and even if we are going to have a game plan and and and go to the golf course and and try and and stay positive. Yet one bad shot and you just we all do it. We throw it out and I'm gonna try something different. Now that didn't work.

I didn't know. So taking one swing thought to the golf course and keeping it for eighteen holes because Rotella would say, if you're take king swing thoughts, which he doesn't want players to do, I think their minds shouldn't be thinking about technique. Their mind should be thinking about

scoring an execution. But he'll let players take the one swing thought to the course, but he wants you to keep it for all eighteen holes because his theory is, if you take it to the golf course and you make one bad swing and you throw it out, what the hell was the point of taking the swing to the golf course in the first place if you're just going to throw it out, if you're not going to

stick with it. So that's another thing. That getting for amateur golfers, getting to that next level mentally is saying, Okay, what is what is the key thing I need to do today on the golf course? Right? What is my one swing thought? And then I'm going to take that one swing thought and I'm going to keep that one swing thought for eighteen holes, regardless of what the outcome in. I'm going to stand on every t box, on every part four, every part five, every part three, and I'm

going to have intent intention. I'm going to have an idea of what I try. I'm trying to do. Okay, I'm gonna pick a club, I'm gonna pick a shot, I'm gonna pick a shape, and I'm going to focus on trying to hit that. And if I don't do that, I'm gonna pick up where I left off on the next hole and try and do the exact same thing.

And I think that is a huge, huge mental shift in in going to the golf course with positive thoughts, positive intention as opposed to go on the golf course and just kind of winging it and if it doesn't work, you try something else, and if it doesn't work, you try something else. And by the back nine you've tried four or five things, and let's be honest, it's not a surprise I'm not working because you're not giving them

a long enough time to do it. UM. So I think that mental frame of mind on trying to stay positive, trying to stay in the present, focusing on each shot as they come, as opposed to thinking about the past or thinking about the future. UM, because I think that's really really hard to do. UM. Lastly, listen tons of questions about Live. I mean, obviously, UM, I work with three players on Live at the moment. I don't currently work with any players on the PGA tour. That's not

because I don't want to be on the PJ tour. UM. I go where the players are, and currently the players I work with UM are on live. UM. It was a really really interesting UM. There are eight tournaments and it was it was a new experience. I mean, one of the questions I asked I got asked, UM. We've heard from live players and caddies, UM as to the differences of of being on live. What's the differences on coaching on live? UM, And a lot of the things

that I've seen about UM. You know what's happening on live. UM. A lot of stuff that you see on Golf Channel, that you see on TV that you see reported, are are being reported and comments being made by people that have never experienced any of the term eaments. UM. So UM, My experience has been really really positive. UM. It's been a really interesting working environment, and it's been a very very different working environment as a coach UM than it

than it has been in the past. On the PGA Tour, UM, I get to spend a lot more time with the player and the players UM during practice rounds from start to finish. UM. We have tended to kind of UM, stay in the same hotels. We're driving to the golf course at the same time. One of the game changers is, UM, we get to the golf course in the morning, UM, and we can eat breakfast together. I can actually sit down with a player and a caddy and eat breakfast with him. Never been able to do that on the

PGA Tour. The players go one place, the caddies go somewhere else. The coaches sometimes they let coaches in with what the caddies are doing. But then there have been many tournaments UM that I've worked on the PGA Tour where you're not allowed to sit with the caddies, you're

not allowed to sit with the players. So that interaction, that team interaction of being able to sit down with the player and the caddy you know before around the interaction that you're able to have with a player and a caddy to sit down with them, you know, and have lunch after around. UM, that has been really really different, UM, and it has been, in my opinion, you're very UM kind of game changing. UM. It's it's it's made I think all of us feel a little bit more like

we're part of the team. UM. And then the team concept that UM. A lot of people I don't think understand or get UM. But as someone that has been to all of the live events, as as someone that has coached UM and been a part of it was six winning teams, the team concept for the live guys is real. UM. Dustin Books their team captains. UM, they are looking at this UM in a very different way than I think they've ever looked at golf before. UM. They're looking at what the players are doing when they're

on the golf course. UM. They're conscious of what the guys on their team are doing. UM. It's funny after some of the rounds when the guys get off. Everybody finished this at the same time because of the shotgun starts, So guys are finishing and you know DJ, who everybody thinks is kind of out there and doesn't even think,

you know, he'll get out of scoring. He'll be coming out of scoring, and and Pat Perez or Taylor Gooch or Patrick Read the guys that are on his team, he'll say you finished on four under, you finished on three under, meaning he knows what they're doing. He's watching what their scores are doing on the golf course. Um, half the time, you know, we'd get back to the range and uh, you know when we were on on the PGA Tour, somebody be hit and balls, Hey what'd

you shoot today? You know, he wouldn't have a clue. So the fact that he's got guys, and each of these teams have guys on their team, Um, that part of it has been I didn't expect that to be as real and I sure as hell didn't expect it to be as fun as it's been. Um, it has made everybody. I mean, that's the cool thing. Um, you know DJ's team, the four races we breakfast together, we go to the range together, we play practice rounds together,

we lunched together. Um, we go out to dinner together. Um. The caddies are doing team dinners. UM, the players are doing team dinners. And then you know, at least once a week, the entire team, players, coaches, caddies, everybody associated with these teams all get together and go out. Um. We never did that on the PGA Tour. UM. So that has been really really unique and refreshing and UM a lot of fun. And UM, Listen, I know this whole thing, you know, between Live and the PGA Tour

is very very political. It's very polarizing, and I know it there. It's like there's a line in the sand. Um. All I know is my experience on Live was great this year. UM. And I think the frustrating thing for me is, UM, I saw some unbelievable golf being played. Um, I really really did. UM. And I don't listen. I have seen, I've I've I've been a part of seven major championship teams. I have worked with and helped on a team to get two separate players to number one

in the world. And I've probably helped players win over fifty tournaments. Um, I know what good golf is. I know what good golf shots are. UM. And I saw some unbelievable golf this year on Live. Um, I saw some unbelievable golf this year on the PGA Tour. And I I love golf, right. I love watching golf swings, I love watching players. I love watching players stand up and hit shots. UM. And I've seen that this year. UM.

And I've I've been impressed with the golf that I've seen. UM. I've been so impressed in being able to watch Cam Smith play up close. Um, it's been a lot of fun. It's been a lot of fun to watch some of the players that Yeah, okay, it's easy to look at a guy like Peter you Line. Mean every time Peter you Line plays good now and live everybody just as well. He couldn't win on the PGA Tour, and he couldn't do this, and he couldn't do that. Okay, fine, if

that's the narrative you've got, fine. But the way Peter u Line has played this year and the confidence he's taken, UM, it's been fun to watch. UM. I got to watch you know, a bunch of players who's you know, names that I struggle to pronounce. I got to watch them, you know from Asia. Um that aren't household names that maybe everybody doesn't know. But I've gotten to watch these kids a golf um, watch them, watch their golf swings, watch them practice. UM. And that's what turns me on.

I'm I'm a fan of golf. I'm a fan of golfers. UM, I'm a fan of golf swings and UM, you know, I don't. I had a lot of people ask me questions where all is play out? You know, what happens moving forward? Listen. I wish I knew the answer to that question. I don't know, UM, But what I do know is, UM, I think Live is here to stay. UM. I think the PGA Tour is not going anywhere. I think the new schedule, the elevated events, and all the things that have changed this year in this crazy, crazy

year of of of professional golf. UM, I think we're going to see a very very strong PGA Tour next year. UM. I think you know, the PGA Tour has so many good players playing on it. You know, Rory McElroy, Justin, Thomas, John rom You know, if you look at the players that play on the PGA Tour right now. I mean, they've got some of the best players in the world. I believe that Live has some of the best players in the world as well, And I personally believe that

they can both be true at the same time. The PGA Tour can do what it does, Live can do what it does. And if you're a fan of one, that's fine. If you're not a fan of the other, that's okay too. I mean, that's I don't have a problem with that. There are people that don't like Live for whatever the reasons are. That's that's your choice. That you're prerogative. If you are a fan of what's happening on Live and you like it and you're watching and

it appeals to you, that's cool too. But UM, I hope that in three we see UM I'd like to see less animosity between the players. UM because to me, I support players, I support players competing playing, and I also also massively support every professional golfer and professional athlete making money. I have no problem with it because when you're in sports at the highest level as a coach like I am, you realize that you can't fake it and phone it in you. It just it just doesn't happen.

You have to stand up and hit shots when it counts, and you have to play good, right, And yeah, the money they're playing on at Live is more than they're playing on at the PGA Tour. So there are some guys that made a lot of money, um, but they didn't make a lot of money because they can't play. UM. And that no Joe, that goes towards the the anti liv pinata. You know, Pat Perez, Yeah, Pat wishes he would have played better in some tournaments this this year,

for sure. But to make out like this guy's a bum and he's got no talent and he's just riding DJ's coattails, I think if that's your opinion, UM, I think you're misinformed as to what's actually happening UM, because

I just don't see that. Um. And like I said, I'm a fan of golf, and UM, I'll continue to be a fan of golf, whether it's on the PGA Tour, whether it's on Live, whether it's on the DP World Tour, whether it's in Asia, whether it's on the l p g A, whether it's on the Champce Tour, I'm a fan of golf, and I am a fan of golfers first and foremost, and hopefully in three UM, some of the the aggressive um us against them, them against us, maybe some of that changes, maybe it doesn't. Maybe I'm

naive and thinking that. I don't know, but I saw some great golf um on all the tours this year. And you know, as we're going into offseason now, the PGA Tour has got a couple of weeks left, LPG not long and lives off until next year. Hopefully in this offseason, you know, everybody takes step back and UM, hopefully we can get talk get back to talking about players hitting great shots and winning tournaments, regardless of where that is. Because like I said, I'm a fan of golf.

I know everybody is, and hopefully cooler heads will prevail. So I want to thank everyone for listening. UM, if you like the the questions shows, UM, let me know on social because I'm happy to do more of these and I'm happy to devote some you know, maybe some shorter episodes to just questions UM, no guests, and you guys get an opportunity to hear what I think about golf. So UM, thanks everyone for listening. Son of a Bunch comes to you every Wednesday. We'll see you next week.