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“Of what?” you ask.

Be aware and informed as to what ‘The 5 Set-Ups’ are … Posture, Grip, Stance, Ball Location and Alignment’. No golf swing anywhere in the world takes place without all five of these ‘Set-Up’ ingredients. Think about and learn them! Ponder them in your ‘Pre & Post-Shot Routines’.

Your ‘555 Team’ has also isolated ‘The 5 Essential Elements’ … Clubface Aim, Clubhead Path, Clubhead Speed, Sweet Spot and Angle Of Attack’ (AOA). Be aware of these and determine how they must fit into your golf activities. Every swing has these five elements. These are now ten ‘Foundational’ items!

There is no reason to fear grass or sand bunkers … fairway or greenside! The plethora of available ‘Bunker Advice’ is well-known. One must be aware that each individual will very likely have his or her own ‘Bunker Set-Up Variations’. That is ‘Cool’ as long as you are ‘Scientifically and Mechanically’ appropriate and your technique works in the heat of battle!

You know the myriad of ‘Instructional Drifts’ so I am not going to take more of your valuable time herein. A few points! If you have questions, simply call your personal ‘555 Team Member’.

Practise from an ‘Average Bunker’ … not too hard, soft or deep. ‘Buried Lies’ add to the challenge. Start with your ‘Sand Wedge’ as it will usually have about 56 degrees of ‘Loft’ and 12 to 15 degrees of ‘Bounce’. You can use any tools that will get your job done! With the Clubhead laying on its back, stand on the face. Doing so, your shaft and handle will show you the expected ‘Trajectory’ or ‘Ball Flight Profile’. That will suffice for now. ‘Keep It Stupid Simple’.

If you accomplish a regular or Slow-Motion Sweeping, Turn & Lift, Back & Up to the Top Of Back Swing (TOB - Swing Sequence #5) Your ‘Lever Assemblies shall cooperate and help make this TOB happen smoothly and rhythmically ‘On Path and On Plane’.

As you Load Coil to the Brace Side, your Brace Rear Pocket shall rotate back and up. The feel and mechanics is a ‘Sit Down Motion’ when at TOB. Picture this? If you wind up a sturdy elastic band does it get longer or shorter? Correct! Shorter! Hence ‘The Sit Down’ analogy!

Your once ‘Plumb Spinal Column, will have usually become ‘Aft-Tilted’ especially with long-shafted sticks! (see ‘A Little Out Of Plumb’)

If you desire to become a ‘Player’ you must think and act like one! ‘Getting Lucky’ will not cut ‘IT’. Decide on your reasonable goals. Define ‘Small To Big’ and ‘Short To Long’. Own these!

Practise With A Proven Purpose. Don’t just go to the range to discharge a large bucket of bullets! There is really no point and it is generally counterproductive. Don’t practise bad or lazy habits!

Get physically, mechanically and repeatably sound. Then strive to always improve on that platform. Do you ever dream of ‘An 18 Under Round’? How about a ‘Par Round’? Don’t quit!

Golf Targets have one of three energy components … 1) Positive, 2) Neutral and 3) Negative.

It is worth knowing that a ‘Grade 1 Positive Target’ and a Grade 1 Negative Target’ are very different in their hierarchy. From personal ‘Playing and Teaching Experience’, your ‘555 Team’ has come to realize that a ‘Negative Energy Target’ is twice as powerful as its counterpart, ‘The Positive Version’. ‘Fear’ comes with a punch in the gut! Flinch and you are history!

If you are on the 7th Hole, a Par 3, 132 Yards over water to a tight pin, wherein you went swimming yesterday, your splash memory will be both strong and ‘Negative’.

‘Grit’ is intimate ‘Perseverance’, frosting as on a cake. You golfers are a ‘Stamina Machine’ combined with ‘Formula, System and repeatable Science-Based Skills’ … learned skills.

We are all products of our tested and proven environments. (see ‘Pre-Shot Routines and Bullet-Proof Skill Drills’)

The 555 Team and method provides superior value with a blended and appreciated ‘Customer Experience’. (see ‘The 8 Step Putting and Chipping Pre-Shot Routine’. If you need assistance send us an e-mail and we shall accommodate your needs.)

Your ‘Pre-Shot Routine’ is very effectively a ‘Now or Present Tense Task’. Strive to design and accomplish this discipline during every single procedure … Putter to Driver! This simplicity loads your ‘Mental Process Computer’ … loads and aims the gun! Get proficient and monotonous in your total game! Do not be capricious and ‘Short-Cut’ this essential ‘Pre-Shot Element’.

Understand ‘Process vs. Outcome Golf’! ‘Process Golf’ is a “Now Activity”. It leaves little or no room and mental capacity to indulge in ‘Fear Golf’. Get and feel ‘Confident, Comfortable and Consistent’!

‘Outcome Golf’ (Future Tense and State Of Mind) often falls prey to ‘Fear Golf’ and its inescapable ‘Tension’. Musculo-Mental Tension affects your ‘Strike Capability’. Tight muscles are slower muscles (see ‘Clubhead Speed’) that tend to not cooperate. (see ‘Clubface Aim, Clubhead Path & Plane’ … ‘Initial Ball Flight Line’)

Remember this reality? Your ‘Sweet Spot (Optimal Impact Point - Center Of Mass - COM) only starts advancing or moving towards the target in the ‘Bottom Half Of The Swing Circle’. In the ‘Upper Half Of The Swing Circle’ (Brace Hand above your Lower Rib Cage), that critical clubface location (Impact Point) is actually ‘Retreating’ or moving away from the target - aft! Make several ‘Slow Motion Swings’ and you shall actually experience what I am writing. No point in stepping on the ‘Golf Machine’ throttle at the wrong time heading in the wrong direction! This lack of timing your proper mechanics is a primary cause of ‘Ball Flight Curvature’ and disappointment. (see Clubhead Path and Clubface Aim’)

You can directly improve the quality of your contact by making shortened or ‘Abbreviated Swings’. These might be 25% to 50% shorter. Become persistent in this pursuit of perfection.

Monitor your ‘Strike Point Purity’ by looking at the ball marks left on the face of your golf club.

‘Stance’ is one of our five primary ‘Set-Up Components’. Being a ‘555 Golf Family Member’, you shall be familiar with ‘Posture, Grip, Stance, Ball Location and Alignment’.

I just read a seven page dissertation on ‘Stance’ … enough to cause a Ph.D migraine! Adequate time interval to eat bacon and eggs with toast or to take a restless nap!

‘Stance’ is about our ‘Lower Body Machine’ (LBM) … Feet, Ankles, Lower Limbs, Knees, Upper Limbs, which are comprised of Thighs and Hips. Our ‘Biggest Workhorse Muscles’ reside in this aspect. (see ‘Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings and Gastrocs’)

We have a ‘Go Mode’ and an ‘Analytical Fear-Based Hold Mode’. One cannot ‘Loose The Hounds or Horses’ until the gate is open. We are certainly benefitted by preparation, but too much salt and pepper on a meal is not a beneficial seasoning. It may create bitterness?

There is a big difference between being mentally and physically prepared (ready for action) and having reached or achieved perfect analysis and preparation. We can overdo the ‘Getting Ready Part’! Perfectionism can become a mild infection of our lives on the golf course. This overkill can obstruct dreams, goals and lives. Being preoccupied with preparation can prevent execution. To accomplish ‘Maximum Speed’ one must be trusting and prepared to ‘Let The Musculo-Skeletal Machine Go’!

Thought can incite Tension. Tension obstructs speed! Tight muscles are slow muscles. In fact Tension can prevent our taking any action at all. (see ‘The Yips’ and ‘Stuck’) Our conscious thought process cannot keep up with our muscular processes. We know that our ‘Subconscious’ really controls movement.