Growing up in Endicott, NY, I learned quickly how to play in the fall. Our season was short and fall golf was a great time to play before the snow started to accumulate. Also, that is when our high school golf season would be played. Here are a couple tips to help you as the fall starts to roll in.

1. Take an extra club -When the weather starts to cool down it is important to adjust with it.  You might have been killing the ball in July when it was 100 degrees but the balls just won’t fly as far in cooler temps.  Drop down a club and make a smooth swing.   You’ll be happy you did!

2. Work on your lag putting – Normally in the south the fall is when the greens are at their best…but that also means they are quick too.  Lag putts that you could hit hard in the spring and summer and it would stop at the hole are non-existent in the fall.  The ball will roll out a little more this time of year so stroke your putts accordingly and you can tap it in for par!

3. Keep an eye on it – One of the things that pains me is when someone hits an okay shot but doesn’t watch where it lands.  It could have taken a bad bounce and moved into the rough.  With all the leaves falling in autumn it is extremely vital to watch the ball until it lands and pick a spot to go find it.  You’ll speed up play and also keep penalty shots off your scorecard!

4.  Ryder Cup-it! – Normally when you play with your weekend group you probably just play some stroke play or a variation of that.  Fall is Ryder Cup time and with that try a new game with your buddies.  Learn Match Play and how fun and exciting it can be.  Use your handicaps to level out the participants and play either individual or teams.  Better yet, get a group from your club and make your own Ryder Cup event.  It is a great change from dreery old stroke play.

5. Be prepared – Bring a light jacket or umbrella to the course.  Check the weather forecast beforehand and know what to expect.  Don’t get caught mid-round freezing your tail off because you forgot your windbreaker.  Put it in your golf bag and forget about it.  Also, especially in late fall, always have a knit cap in your bag to cover your ears on those cold mornings.  Making triple bogey isn’t fun…..try making triple bogey with frost bite….it’s brutal!

Use some or all of these helpful hints as the fall season rolls into play and just have fun and enjoy the cooler temps.  It’s a great time of year to play golf and one you need to relish!

It is easy to play this game and get frustrated when things done go well.  It’s tough, however; to be mad when there is no achievable goal in mind.  Let me explain further what I am speaking of.

It is difficult to know where you want to go in the game of golf without having a REACHABLE goal……Hitting the ball consistent, or putting better, or being more accurate are not reachable goals.

How can you track what hitting the ball consistent means?  How do you know if your putting better?  How is your accuracy better?  Go the extra step and write down exactly what you mean.  And then own it!  Then we you succeed you know you’ve truly succeeded.

So, let’s get more defined.  Let’s taking accuracy for example.  How can we make it more defined?

How about: I want to hit MORE fairways, or I would like to hit MORE greens in regulation, or I would like to limit my hazard penalties.  See these are all achievable.  If you normally hit only 3 out of 14 fairway a round and with practice and lessons you can now hit 7 then that is a goal reached.

This should also be down with your score too.  It doesn’t matter how you get there.  If your goal is to break a 100 then go and break 100 whichever way possible.  If that means hitting iron off the 18th tee to avoid water then do it.   There are only numbers on the scorecard.  Who cares how it is done.

Set your goals and work hard to achieve them.  If they are achieved, then you can look in the mirror and be proud.  If they weren’t achieved then you still have to look in that same mirror and question why?  Was the goal too extreme to begin with or did you not work hard enough?

Set your goals and get it done!  You’ll be happier on the course and be able to track improvements.

*Brian Ondrako is a member of the PGA of America and the General Manager at Triangle Golf Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on Golf Instruction, Ladies Clinics, Junior Camps, and Corporate Clinics please contact Brian by email at Brian@OndrakoGolf.com*

I notice a lot of my students tend to grip the club incorrectly in terms of pressure. Gripping the club too tight causes your body to tense up not only in your hands but throughout your arms and into your shoulders and chest. Gripping too tightly can be caused by nerves, poor placement of hands on the club, and worn or incorrect grip size. Check all of these factors when assessing your pressure. Here is a simple test to get it right:

1. Take your Grip

2. On a Scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the hardest you can grip the club try gripping it at a 10.

3. Now, try gripping it at a 1

4. So after you have the feel of those 2 extremes, I want your pressure to be somewhere between 3-5 on the scale.

This will let your hands move more properly in the swing and increase your clubhead speed and body naturally.

Swing changes and equipment are important and must be worked on continually but for some instant clubhead speed you have to try this drill.

*Brian Ondrako is a member of the PGA of America and the General Manager at Triangle Golf Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on Golf Instruction, Ladies Clinics, Junior Camps, and Corporate Clinics please contact Brian by email at Brian@OndrakoGolf.com*

I come to you on another breezy day here in Raleigh, NC but starting to warm into the normal spring weather. Good news is that April is just around the corner and the warmer weather shouldn’t be far behind. Anytime the Masters is close it makes us all giddy for our golf. I wanted to briefly inform you about some new things that are going on with my golf instruction that will surely be a benefit to your game this year and beyond.

New and Improved Website: As most of you know I have been changing my web page around yearly to make it more user friendly and informative. This year I will be adding a variety of different video lessons and tips that you can view from the website but also on your smart phones if you choose to. I will still be “blogging” periodically and adding written notes and tips but the video will be a lot quicker to thumb through and help you improve your game faster! The NEW website template will be up shortly and all updates should be done by April 1st. Continue to check back!

New State-of-the-Art 1200 fps (frame per second) video camera: This camera is one of a kind and can capture your swing perfectly so that we can see the club at any position without sacrificing the quality. This camera will help us look more closely at problem areas and will give you a better visual during our instruction sessions.

Addition of V1 Branded Academy/Personal Locker Room: I have upgraded my video analysis software to V1 Pro and have added a new feature that they just developed called the “Branded Academy”. This enables me to record a lesson review of your golf swing using helpful lines/circles, audio instructions, pro swings, and even add drills to the video. After I record that video for you, you will receive an email from me and be able to log into your Locker Room from my website. This gives you the opportunity to see all past lesson reviews I have sent and you can view them right on your smart phone as your out on the practice range. Having this capability will give you instant access to a lesson review whenever you would like.

Check out the section called “Online Academy” to view a sample video.

Please feel free to contact me for more information on these topics and your feedback is always appreciated.

Thank you for your continued patronage and trust in me with your golf game!

Look forward to seeing you in 2010!

*Brian Ondrako is a member of the PGA of America and the General Manager at Triangle Golf Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on Golf Instruction, Ladies Clinics, Junior Camps, and Corporate Clinics please contact Brian by email at Brian@OndrakoGolf.com*

I hope everyone had a great 2009!  I’m looking forward to working with you all on your golf game in the coming year.

I wanted to thank everyone who has visited the site and provided feedback for further improvement.  Over the next month or 2 the website will be going through a lot of changes for the coming year.  Please be patient as some parts of the “new” site will launch before others.  I think you all will enjoy some of the new features that myself and my web designers (Golf Web Design) will be adding.

Please do not hesitate to reference further comments to me regarding ideas for the site and I will take them into consideration.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season and I’ll see you next year!

Happy Holidays!

*Brian Ondrako is a member of the PGA of America and the General Manager at Triangle Golf Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on Golf Instruction, Ladies Clinics, Junior Camps, and Corporate Clinics please contact Brian by email at Brian@OndrakoGolf.com*

This is about the time of year in Raleigh that the clubs start to be hung up in the garage for the skis.  That’s fine.  Some players still come out throughout the winter to practice and improve their golf game.  That’s fine too.  Either way I see tendencies come Spring time when the weather starts to warm up.  Most players are not prepared for the new season and the main reason comes down to only a few small things.

1. Fitness – Whether you want to believe it or not during the winter is when we have a couple big holidays involving many delicious desserts and are accompanied by exciting football games.  This is all well and good but if you don’t do specific things daily to keep your fitness up you will not have the stamina, strength, or flexibility you had the previous season.  This might take weeks or months to get back.

Recommendation – Research a program that takes about 20-25 minutes to complete daily.  This could be involving core strength, flexibility, balance, etc.  I promise you will not only feel better but be ready to tee it up when March comes around.

2. Swing Mechanics – Nothing says just because it is cold you can’t practice.  However that also means you don’t necessarily have to be outdoors to do it.  The percentage of players that continue to play and practice throughout the winter won’t need to do this as much but it still might be beneficial.  Standing out in 40 degree weather with a cold wind trying to practice golf isn’t the best thing for your game.  It is probably more harmful than helpful.

Recommendation – Choose a part of the swing you have had issues with and focus on that for the off season.  Come in for 1 golf lesson and we can discuss practice you can do in your house or office.  Then, all winter you will have the correct knowledge on how to effectively improve your game and be able to focus more intently on one area.

3. Increase your Knowledge – Take the cold weather coming in as a positive instead of a negative.  Most likely you will spend more time indoors during the winter months which will leave time to do activities you normally don’t do during the summer; like reading.  The opportunity to read a good book or two will do wonders to improve your mental game and start you out next season with a better frame of mind.

Recommendation – Choose a book like Dr. Bob Rotella’s “Golf is Not a Game of Perfect”, or Tim Gallowey’s “The Inner Game of Golf”.  There are tons of books out there that will set your mind in a positive direction and have a direct impact on lowering your scores next season.

There are a variety of off-season activities you can do to improve your golf game going forward.  Use the ones listed as a starting point and go from there.  As always, let me know if you have any questions on your golf game.  Have a great day!

*Brian Ondrako is a member of the PGA of America and the General Manager at Triangle Golf Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.  For more information on Golf Instruction, Ladies Clinics, Junior Camps, and Corporate Clinics please contact Brian by email at Brian@OndrakoGolf.com*

Inside the quote: “Knowledge without Practice is useless, Practice without knowledge is dangerous”.

Let’s break this one down a bit.  The first part is so true.  I often hear from players that they have taken golf instruction or read a book or whatever but they can’t seem to shoot lower scores.  Then, after a few more moments of discussion, I find out that they have not practiced at all since that lesson.  That is not going to help the game.  In fact, it probably is worse because now your on the tee ready to play golf but your mind is racing about a swing thought you have that you havn’t practiced.  Your better off trusting your “old” swing for the round.  It’s like your car mechanic telling you that you must change your oil every 3,000 miles or your car performance will decline.  So, of course, you change it every 6,000 miles.

Second part is very true as well.  You have to know what your doing in order to improve.  If you didn’t know how to drive a car the first time you stepped into it, would it be safe to be on the roads?  If nobody taught you how to swim properly, would you be confident to be in the ocean?  If your trying to improve your golf game by “tweaking”  your swing plane having no idea where the club is actually positioned for your body type and build, do you think you will see improvements?

All these analogies work one in the same.  Don’t make your golf swing complex and hitchy because you try to use some quick tip you saw.  Make sure you understand exactly the steps necessary to improve your golf swing, or putting stroke, mental game, or….etc.   The goal of the game, remember, is not who can hit it the farthest, or the straightest, or chip the best.  It is the person who can put the ball in the hole in the least number of shots possible.

Find your strengths, build on them.  Know your weaknesses, and improve them to strengths.  Have a thirst for the correct knowledge and you will become a better player.  There’s no question about that.

*Brian Ondrako is a member of the PGA of America and the General Manager at Triangle Golf Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on Golf Instruction, Ladies Clinics, Junior Camps, and Corporate Clinics please contact Brian by email at Brian@OndrakoGolf.com*

I’d have to say that my recent trip to Wisconsin was definitely one of the best times I have had in recent memory. Besides the fact that my brother Nick got married which was pretty cool to see, we had the opportunity to play 2 of the top golf courses in the country. The group of four included myself, my brother Nick, our friend Erick Arbe, and our friend Jordon Arnold.

Firstly, we played Erin Hills just west of Milwaukee. They will host the 2011 U.S. Amateur and the 2017 U.S. Open. We played from the “Back Black” tees that measured out at a shade under 8,400 yards. The wind also was gusting at 30 mph on average. It was an unbelievable course and I have never hit that many 3 woods into Par-4’s in my life. One of the longest holes, the par-5 first hole, played at 672 yards into a gusting wind. Not how you want to start your round!

On Friday, we played Whistling Straits and specifically the Straits course. This was my 3rd time playing the masterpiece but I have not played it since 2003. The Straits course will host next years PGA Championship and a future Ryder Cup. There is no mistake why that course is ranked top 5 in the country. Every view is breathtaking and every shot challenges your nerves and feel. Truly a magnificent design by Pete Dye.

I added a few pictures in case anyone has never been up there. If you get the opportunity to play there do not pass it up or your will regret it. Both courses, although owned by different individuals, have remarkable character to them and a challenge that you don’t see most places.  I hope ya’ll enjoy!

*Brian Ondrako is a member of the PGA of America and the General Manager at Triangle Golf Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on Golf Instruction, Ladies Clinics, Junior Camps, and Corporate Clinics please contact Brian by email at Brian@OndrakoGolf.com*

Inside the Quote: “Success is not a random accident”

One of my favorite quotes of the last several years has been “Success is not a random accident.”  The reason is that it relates to golf perfectly.  Often times golfers get on the tee box after a long lay-off with the notion that they are going to better par on this day.  However, they haven’t ever broken 90 in a round but for some reason think that today will be different.

This exemplifies the quote.  The player that practices frequently, plays regularly, and thinks positively normally improves.  The player who takes off 2 months normally doesn’t improve.  It doesn’t get any more simplified than that.

The reason I stress this so much is that you have to lower your expectiations if you take time away from the game.  Don’t expect to knock down the pin or hole long putts right away.

The more you work on improvements in the swing, the better your swing will be.

The more putts you hit, the better your feel will be

The more 32-yard low spinning wedges to a back pin you practice. Guess what happens?  Bingo!  That improves as well.

Don’t get upset if you hitting poor shots if you haven’t been practicing alot or efficiently.  Calling a 30-minute session where you are hitting ball after ball without working on fundamentals is not practice.

I am honest because I care.  Put together a practice session.  I know work, family, and other activities get in the way.  That’s fine.  Find time to practice and you will succeed.  Don’t make excuses for playing bad.  Look in the mirror and realize the reason is lack of practice.  No worries!

Work on the game and you shall see better results sooner.  There is no miracle juice to drink here or no genie popping out of some bottle.  Practice does make perfect.  Well, in golf, perfection doesn’t exist so maybe Practice makes a better golfer.

Start there!

*Brian Ondrako is a member of the PGA of America and the General Manager at Triangle Golf Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on Golf Instruction, Ladies Clinics, Junior Camps, and Corporate Clinics please contact Brian by email at Brian@OndrakoGolf.com*

Here’s some advice when your on the golf course that I learned a long time ago from my Uncle Bill, a PGA Member and former Tour Player.

Analyze the hole that you are playing and the shot you would like to play before you plug a tee in the ground.

If you are playing a dogleg left and are trying to hit a draw around the corner then tee up your ball on the left side of the tee box.  Conversly, if you trying to hit a fade for a dogleg right then tee the ball up on the right side of the tee box.

This leaves a lot of area and room to work the ball in case a mishit happens.  Most players will double-cross themselves in these situations so if you leave yourself room for the mishit it can still work out.  Plus, you can visualize the hole for a draw a lot easier from the left side of the box.

Remember: Analyze the hole set-up and the shot you want to hit before you tee the ball up.  Then, use your judgement as to which side of the tee box to use.  Don’t just toss the ball in the center of the box.  Strategy will open you up to use your mishits more often and if you hit it how you want then the ball is in perfect position!

Great Golfing everyone.  Keep up the practice!

*Brian Ondrako is a member of the PGA of America and the General Manager at Triangle Golf Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information on Golf Instruction, Ladies Clinics, Junior Camps, and Corporate Clinics please contact Brian by email at Brian@OndrakoGolf.com*