Michael Breed with Lessons from The 88th Masters

Michael Breed is one of the foremost golf instructors in the game. He is the 2012 PGA National Teacher of the Year and a Golf Digest Top 100 Golf Instructor. He is also the host of “Course Record with Michael Breed” on CBS Sports, and is a regular contributor to CBS Sports HQ. Breed hosts “A New Breed of Golf” on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio and is best known for his infectious energy and insightful golf lessons. Michael joins Mark Immelman to recap the 2024 Masters Tournament and highlight lessons to be learned from the tournament’s leading contenders.

He illustrates lessons and tips on the golf swing, short game, course management and mental game from: Scottie Scheffler – The Value of Fundamentals Rory McIlroy – Freeing up the Mind Ludvig Åberg – Priorities in the Game Max Homa – Understanding Yourself and your Tendencies, and Jon Rahm – Attitudes for Success Breed also discusses game improvement elements like:

How to achieve Consistency What does a Good Shot look like? “Running to Your Fear” Embracing Moments for Success Having the “Moneymaker” in your Mind Praticing under Pressure, and Renaming the Practice Facility for Success on the Range and on the Course.

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ABOUT ON THE MARK: Mark’s knowledge, insight and experience have made him a sought-after mind on the PGA and European tours. Through his career, he has taught and/or consulted to various Major Champions, PGA Tour winners and global Tour professionals such as: Larry Mize, Loren Roberts, Louis Oosthuizen, Patton Kizzire, Trevor Immelman, Charl Schwartzel, Scott Brown, Andrew Georgiou and Rourke can der Spuy. His golf teaching experience and anecdotal storytelling broadcasting style makes him a popular host for golf outings.

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[Music]
for those of you that have watched the
Golf Channel for any extended period of
time will know that if I say let’s do
this then I have him on the line in fact
if you’re watching on YouTube there’s
his smiling mug and I got to spend time
with Michael breed last week at the
Masters Michael thanks for joining me
man how are you oh it’s a pleasure Mark
it’s a pleasure thank you quickly uh the
trip back from augustae national uh was
it hasslefree did you get home safely
you know what it was it was uh
fortunately thanks to you and Grant Boon
I was able to make all the flights and
the connections and so um not a bad trip
at all in fact got a chance to meet some
people um on the flight who were coming
back from Augusta as well uh It’s
Amazing Augusta National the Masters it
always delivers it’s incredible how that
works isn’t it truly does um okay well
folks our Global tribe please tell folks
a little bit about who Michael breed is
before we go anywhere so I’m a guy like
you that’s trying to uh and has a
passion for helping people play better
Golf and so that’s how I have made my no
pun intended Mark um and you know it
it’s it’s honestly how you have as well
um I think that’s the fun part about the
game and the fun part about the game for
for you and I is the idea of the word
hope right so I’m full of that that’s
how I kind of live my life that’s that’s
what I’ve been able to kind of carve out
in my in my life is to teach people how
to play and I’ve had the Good Fortune of
being able to do that um with Golf
Channel for a nearly a decade and then
moved to CBS and now I get to do that
with uh a show called course record
which is a a show that airs leading into
the PGA Tour coverage where obviously
you are with all the other very talented
CBS broadcasters and then also too I get
to do some stuff for CBS sportset and
cbsh HQ so if you for some reason maybe
you’re not able to to catch the the
broadcast on CBS you can just jump over
to the website and and see the stuff
that we’re doing over there and then I
get to do work with um SiriusXM I have a
radio show in the mornings uh pretty
much seven days a week honestly so we’re
busy doing that with my host our co-host
I should say Greg dharm um who’s making
a nice name for himself as well so uh
really just immersed in the game of golf
still doing a lot of teaching I’ve got I
I do a bunch of te teaching here in my
studio and put out a lot of content on
my in my social media channels as well
on YouTube and Facebook and Twitter and
Instagram uh and that’s all under
Michael breed so pretty busy having a
having a good time and like you probably
a little fatigued after what was an
incredible week at Augusta yeah a bit
exhilarated listen folks he’s being uh
Koy Michael is he is also the national
PGA coach of the year um
a couple years hence so highly decorated
and well respected okay Michael it’s for
that reason why I reached out to you and
I’m thankful you would join me um you
are on a show to me that’s really close
to my heart as a teacher called Masters
on the Range every year at the Masters
it’s the first one up and you guys camp
out on the practice facility there and
you just show cl’s Hing and the teacher
in you and Brian croll is on there
alongside Kelly Tilman you guys just get
footage of players and you watch them
and you go about watching what they do
and the warmup the practice rounds and
such and and it’s incredible and so you
get to see the guys before they out on
the golf course so I figured who better
there’s no one better to get than you to
get you on here and to help golfers to
do it like the pros so give me your
overarching theme before we dive into a
few players please well I I would say
this and again these are things that you
know well right so first there’s a
difference between practice and warming
up yeah so what what I like is I like on
the Range but the range changes and it
changes from what takes place Monday
Tuesday Wednesday to what takes place on
Thursday and Friday and then the weekend
um so I think that’s the first thing
when you when you go out there to
practice practice have an intention of
what you’re doing these players will go
out there and they’re working on a
certain something maybe they’re trying
to develop a certain shot shape for a
given hole um maybe they’re working on a
certain shot for wind conditions and we
obviously saw what that was like on
Thursday Friday and Saturday so that’s
one of the things that’s taking place
out there the other thing is that
they’re trying to um develop a skill and
that skill may be a certain motion that
they’re working on in their swing like
Jason day working on his uh side Bend
and shoulder uh Trail shoulder um
movement through the golf ball and
that’s all he’s working on and I I think
one of the things that happens with the
average player is they go out to the to
the practice area and they don’t really
practice as much as they try to feel
good about their game so they hit clubs
that they’re confident with like eight
irons and and maybe hybrids um and they
stay away from the clubs that give them
the challenge and I think the the
biggest difference and the glaring
difference to me is the PGA professional
the PGA Tour player the the player
playing at Augusta National is running
to strengthen a weakness yeah whereas
the average player is trying to
strengthen a strength and and kind of
avoid the weakness the problem is is
that the weakness always shows up um and
it shows up at critical times and that’s
one of the reasons why players as you
well know have a very difficult time
bringing their practice success to the
golf course because they don’t practice
the weakness hey I want to mind this a
little a little bit more and I love the
way you would name the range differently
given what day it is uh now for most of
our fans they show up there if indeed
they show up um and it’s a warm-up
before the round I want you to help the
guy or the girl who go gets on the
warm-up facility will rename it now and
then they hit it crappy they can’t get
the thing to go straight and then they
got the swing instructors Tipp in the
back of their head now they mixed up
between do this and I mustn’t do that
and I can’t H it and then they just
almost ruin before they get to the first
te what advice would you share in that
horrible situation so it it is a
horrible situation and um my answer to
that is you you have to you have to look
at Improvement like you’re going to
school right so let’s say you’re in
third grade and you’re working on
mathematics so you’re adding and
subtracting and maybe multiplying and
dividing but you’re not working on
trigonometry and I think what happens to
a lot of people is they um almost feel
like if they don’t hit it like a tour
pro when they’re on the Range that
they’re that they’re going to struggle
and when they’re struggling on the Range
they feel like this is hopeless and they
walk away from whatever it is that the
the coach ask them to to do to enhance
that skill so if you’re working on
turning your body and on a given day um
it’s not cooperating well what many
people do is they they bail from the
development of the skill and what I like
to tell people is hey you know what
you’re you’re still working on the
mathematical skills you just don’t have
it just yet but when you go out on the
Range don’t worry I mean on the golf
course don’t worry about your score
continue to work on it advancing the
skill because at some point what you
want to do is and you know this
extremely well this is something that we
hear all the time um it’s it’s that you
get so many thoughts in your mind that
you get paralysis by analysis no I don’t
think you get paralysis by analysis I
think you get paralysis by not
developing the skill and so if you go
out there and you continue to work on
the skill until you feel like you’ve got
it then you can start to work on another
skill and all of a sudden now we’re in
fifth grade and sixth grade on our way
to college and possibly working on um
those those parts of of the the um
wisdom that you have to have to be able
to perform a certain shot right looking
at a at a lie understanding Sid Hill
lies and understanding a flyer lie and
all that other stuff that’s really
that’s the advancement do is it
irrational for somebody to think that as
they’re developing a skill that they’re
going to be proficient at it no but but
why does it all of a sudden change when
we aren’t hitting it that well we all of
a sudden want to find something that’s
going to work really well on the golf
course which you’re not going to find
anyway so just stick with the skill
enhancement the skill development and
maybe you are going to have a Bad Day
playing maybe you aren’t but you you’re
that much closer to minimizing the bad
days is is kind of the mindset you’re
going to have certain shots that are
going to be bad you’re GNA have certain
days that are going to be bad but as you
continue to stay with the the skill
acquisition now all of a sudden you
minimize those so you’re telling me that
I mustn’t recruit the uh uh advice of my
golfing buddy who doesn’t know anything
anyway to somehow tell me what I got to
do now right well you know what I like
to tell people was I don’t go to my
electrician for my dentistry and I don’t
go to my dentist for my electrical
problems that I have in the house don’t
go to your dentist for your back swing
or your downswing or your putting stroke
don’t do that and the reality is and
help the people realize this because
they all watch golf and TV and they see
these guys and they hit it like super
humans they have bad warm-ups too I mean
yes you’ve been out there with elite
players you know
um this is a an overall mindset that I
think a lot of
people uh don’t really quite have right
the thought process is if I hit good
shots I’m gonna have good scores and if
I hit bad shots I’m gonna have bad
scores and what I like to tell my
students is a bad shot doesn’t mean a
bad score and so what you have to do is
you have to understand how to play golf
right we we see that every year at
Augusta National somebody misses uh a
whole location on a short side no matter
how well they played the shot they’re
shortsighted and they’re probably going
to end up with a a bogey or worst look
at what what happened with Justin Thomas
at the end of his third round he’s he’s
on 16 after making a double bogey at at
15 now he’s on 16 that front right ho
location and he misses it in the bunker
and the next thing you know he has
shortsighted himself and then he gets up
on the green and three putts yeah it’s
all because he missed in the wrong spot
and so if you’re if you know how to play
golf and you know how to get the golf
ball around the golf course you can hit
it poorly and still shoot a fairly good
score and so I think that um what what
people can really learn is yeah you’re
gonna have days where you swing bad but
don’t get your mind around the idea that
if you swing bad you’re going to play
bad you’re going to score bad that’s not
how it works ladies and gentlemen the
Reverend M uh Michael breed um okay
Michael let’s go through some players
here actually no one thing before that
the one thing about Masters on the Range
that I’d love you guys to do but the
hours would just be crazy long is that
that driving rench practice
facility it is the practice facility
then it’s the warmup facility and then
it’s the warm down facility and we saw
everyone from Rory to Scotty you name
them after a day even in the dark
sometimes for the guys who played
they will be out there just kind of
warming down or what are they doing
there and do you feel like it might may
be beneficial for the odd listener to
the show well you know it’s an
interesting thing right so um these
players this is what they do for living
so we go back to the dentist the dentist
doesn’t have the the the free time to be
able to to go and play and then warm
down but what I will say is this you can
absolutely learn something and that is
um what these players will do and I you
know you think about what was going on
with Scotty and what Randy Smith shared
with him was your ball position was off
yeah and as a result of being aware of
of the ball position now all of a sudden
he he got his his game back together and
so what what I always find interesting
is is that when players struggle with
their golf swing they always look to
their golf swing and what the very best
do is when they struggle with their golf
swing they look to their pre- swing
their ball position their weight
distribution um where they’re aiming
those are things that are essential and
so what I always like to do is you don’t
have to necessarily go to the the range
and hit balls afterwards but what you do
have to do is when you get in the car
and you drive home you got to think
about okay where was I missing my shots
was I missing it to the right or missing
it to the left was I short in my
distance did I miss my strike was the
ball I mean like all those little
different things and then try to figure
out either through the wisdom of a of a
PGA professional or just through your
own research and understanding of what
would cause a ball to start to the right
right so if I’m if I’m talking to one of
my students they say I started
everything to the right today I go okay
so what causes the ball to start to the
right and so now we start working into
well I could have been aimed over there
right okay great um I could have had my
ball position too far back and that’s
affecting the path of the golf club um I
could have had my weight distribution
too much out on my toes and so then you
start to run through all of the pre-
Swing stuff and what you find is the
pre-swing stuff affects the inswing and
that’s exactly what happened with Scotty
Sheffer he got his ball position back
and all of a sudden the guy went out
there and and one by
four I want to talk to you about a few
players and let’s go with the now
two-time Champion Sheffer and if people
had to ask me about Scotty I would just
in a word I would say
fundamentals um I’m guessing knowing you
and your approach to instruction you’d
go the same way you have talked about
the ball position already but this guy’s
he’s militant about checking his grip
even before he even hits a shot he
actually has a a grip um one of those
you know grip right uh clubs that that
it’s a molded grip that he puts on a
club that he hits with all the time one
of the things that I would say um about
Scotty is and and and you and I both
both know this I think he’s the most
consistent player in the game of golfer
right now he’s a ma a marvelous driver
of the of the ball wonderful iron player
he’s in the top two in both of those
categories not just through the year not
just from last year but also week in and
week out um his short game is is
phenomenal and what i’ like to tell my
students is if you want consistency in
your game you have to do things
consistently and so what he does
consistently is he does the same thing
over and over and over again he puts his
hands on the club with that molded grip
every single time he he warms up and
then he he he does the same thing with
with the golf club he goes through the
same routine every single time not in
his pre-shot routine but in the warm-up
part of it he’s going to hit the same
shots he’s going to put an alignment
stick down on the ground he’s going to
do all those things that are Essentials
to being able to create that consistency
and what I see that that happens with so
many people is they don’t do anything
consistently they don’t show up to the
to the practice area in the same amount
of time to allow them to warm up
properly and that’s a problem they don’t
show up and and think about I got to
work on my putting before I go out to
the to play they don’t work on their
short shots they don’t even hit any
bunker shots they kind of look at the
short game area instead of saying okay
you know what I’m going to give myself
uh 30 minutes to to loosen up I’m going
to stretch in the car going over there
and do the same stretches all the time
and then when you get there go to the
putting green hit you know putt for five
minutes walk over to the short game area
hit a couple of Bunker shots hit a
couple of chips and pitches find out
what the firmness of the green is and
then go over and loosen up make sure
that you hit some shots on the on the
Range that you’re going to use on the
course and this is a very easy one the
par threes you know most people are
playing the golf course that they’re
familiar with all the time play your par
Theses Ben Hogan was famous for playing
the golf course before he went and
played uh his round of golf he would
play it on the on the Range but maybe
you don’t have to do that but you can do
you can play the par three so you go
like my course that I play all the time
I know I’m going to have a four iron on
one par three I know I’m going to have a
seven iron on another part three I know
I’m GNA have six and eight IRS so I hit
that shot and I visualize in my mind
okay the flag is over here I’m gonna hit
this shot the flag’s over here I’m gonna
hit this shot and I go through that in
my warm-up hit a couple of t-shots you
don’t have to hit 57 drivers you just
have to hit drivers with purpose the
first T is this shot I’m going to I’m
going to hit this down the left hand
side and I’m going to cut it
practice that t-shot you’ll see that
every player Scotty sheffler included
The Last Driver they hit on a Thursday
or a Friday is that opening t-shot that
they’re going to have that faces them we
saw it all week long on Masters on the
Range and that’s one of the reasons
why he is so good because he does the
same thing over and over and over again
and it’s monotonous and the reason why
he is like a cyborg out there is because
he’s monotonous in how he prepares it’s
the same thing every single time and as
a result of that consistently doing
something now he has consistency when
he’s out there
playing if you want consistency do
things consistently I love that okay um
let’s go with ludvick obber um look the
guy looked like he fell out of Heaven
swinging a golf club um I want your take
on what people can learn from him him
because there’s an elegant Simplicity to
everything that he does but I want you
to unpack what he is please well I’ll
tell you this ludvig is a guy who um has
a world of talent and you know what’s
what’s interesting about the game at the
at the college level is you can beat
players with your ball
striking you can’t do that at the at the
PGA Tour level you have to beat players
with the totality of your game and so so
when I look at ludvig I feel like you
know we have heaped um a tremendous
amount of of pressure on him because
he’s such a a glorious ball Striker he
really is I mean it’s you know I I say
that that Rory mroy has the most
hypnotic golf swing on the PGA tour I
think ludvig is he is from a ball
striking standpoint not in the same uh
at the same level as Scotty Sheffer but
at the same time he’s very very close
and it’s quite frankly it’s it’s more
fun to watch him swing a golf club than
it is to watch Scotty Sheffer he makes
it look so easy but when you dig down
what you see with ludvig is the short
the short game needs a little bit of
work and he’ll develop that I mean he’s
he’s I know he’s got the Ridder Cup on
his on his side but that’s his first
major that he’s played in he’s got some
real growth that he has to go through
and so when I look at at LV I I feel
like we’re looking at a guy that is a
potential number one player in the world
and I’m not talking about in the few
weeks or few months I’m talking about
you know in five six seven years this is
a guy who when he develops um the skill
set that is Paramount in winning a major
championship and and I look at him like
he finished second in this event and he
did that with a very weak short game at
tour level standards and so I think when
he develops that skill and there’s no
doubt in my mind that he will I think
this guy is going to be one of the best
players uh on the PGA tour and and
likely um you know VI for number one in
the world agreed um in terms of lessons
takeaways for the viewer and The
Listener um I was struck as we watched
him make his way through the weekend now
he’s a part he’s in the mix for vying
for arguably the most coveted prize in
golf yet he was flashing a smile there
after every second or third shot where
you could see the pressure etched on
everyone else’s faces talk to to us a
little bit about just OnCourse attitude
because it looks like he had that lot
figured out you know it’s you’re your
spot on and and you think about Scotty
sheffler and in his press conference
he’s saying that you know all he really
wants to do is go home and see um his
family and um I I think I think ludvig
is at the same spot in his mind he has
the priority straight particularly in
his first year at a major not unlike
Neil Shipley
who’s uh an amateur um and he’s playing
in his first Masters I think they’re and
they’re both very similar ages uh Neil
graduated from from James Madison
University and then over to Ohio State
so they’re roughly at the same age uh
and I do think that you know at at this
point they’re very grateful to be at the
level that they are obviously they
deserve it but they’re also you know
they’re they’re wide-eyed and and taking
in the moments I do think that there
will be a time where um the quest is no
longer about having a great time as much
as it’s going to be about winning and I
think what what you have seen with with
ludvig is um a skill set that is that
very few have and um not just physically
but mentally and emotionally and I think
that that he’ll hang on to that there’s
no question in my mind that he will but
I think as he hangs on to that and then
develops those skills that’s why I think
he’s he’s going to be one of those guys
that that will develop that number one
in the world thing contrast that too to
John
ROM because John Rah was working his way
towards that sort of place where you you
have the freedom to be able to play golf
and he was almost on edge the entire
week and then afterwards postmasters he
had some Choice things to say about how
he was treated by some of the players
out there
and I think that that he’s not in a
great state of mind and I think it’ll be
interesting to see where he is come PGA
Championship in uh in just about a month
how important um because you’ve worked
with golfers of all skill levels and I
think maybe you talk about the mental
game and it’s it’s sort of trite in a
way because it’s immeasurable you know
you can measure Strokes gain something
but you can’t measure mental and
emotional Acumen how important in all of
your experience is that stuff because I
don’t feel I personally don’t feel like
it’s recognized enough say you well you
know it’s interesting I I agree with you
I I I you know I think the game of golf
is really a fascinating thing you can’t
play golf without a golf ball right you
can stand up to make practice swings all
day long but you can’t play golf without
a golf ball and you can’t play golf
without your mind and the problem is is
that people kind of feel like they’ll
train a golf swing so they can hit the
ball where they’re going but they don’t
work on training their mind and so and
it’s one of the things that have done a
lot of work on I have read a lot of um
books on the psychology Bob Rotella’s
books I’ve read all all of those Dr
coup’s books I have gotten into it and
I’ve read um a lot of books that are
away from I’m talking about John Wooden
he’s not a golfer necessarily but he’s
got incredible wisdom on how to prepare
the mind um John Gordon is another guy
he’s written uh phenomenal books The
Energy Bus and um just wonderful books
The Power of Positive lead leadership
which I think we all lead ourselves
that’s I I read a lot of books on
leadership and then try to turn it back
into you know how am I leading myself
and in particular on a golf course how
am I leading and then the other thing
I’ve done is I’ve also taken a lot of
tests to understand when I get under
pressure how do I behave what do I do I
become hyper aware so I start to to look
at wind and all of a sudden five M five
M hour winds start becoming really
really important and H become really and
I almost get so aware of something that
I shrink my my target down to where it’s
almost impossible to hit it and so
that’s something that I’ve had to work
on with my game and as I’ve done that
now all of a sudden it freesed me up and
and I start picking targets that I want
to start the ball at and I don’t worry
about where it where it finishes up I
just want to start it down the left and
Let It Fade to the right and the amount
that it fades doesn’t bother me and
that’s been something I’ve worked at I
don’t think people really understand how
to control their mind in a pro in a
positive way and one of my favorite
lines that I that I’ll share with with
you and obviously uh the viewers and
listeners is this that I got from Dr
Rick cessing house who you know well um
formerly worked with Colin moaa and and
works with a bunch of other really
really talented players uh at the
Collegiate level and he said this he
said when you’re standing over a shot
and you’ve got some nerves we all think
about what the bad shot looks like don’t
hit it right hit it left don’t top it
don’t do whatever and what he always
says is finish up with what does a good
shot look like and the good shot for me
is start down the left and Fade to the
right that’s a good shot and I carry
that with me all the time what does a
good shot look like and I think we we we
don’t really understand the mind as well
as we could or should and we don’t
practice or rehearse how to train the
mind so that it does what we want it to
do when we’re in the biggest
moments you mentioned to Barella he’s
been on the show and he said something
that to my dying day will stick with me
and he goes It’s amazing in all of his
experience with all the top flat pros
and he works with Rory amongst others
still um he goes the golf ball has an
uncanny ability to go where your last
thought was and I think about that I’m
like that’s so true now to that um you
were talking about freeing up the golf
spring freeing up the mind and we could
see that JN was almost beholden by
expectation maybe trying to prove a
point to uh the nayas whoever they are
and then he’s obviously defending
Champion that’s something and then
there’s Rory mroy who’s coming in there
with I would say now the burden of
completing the career Grand Slam and
winning the Masters now this is so
curious where the guy’s won four majors
right and there’s a and there somehow
his whole career now is going to defined
by winning just one that he hasn’t and
you can almost see it as he plays the
Masters because if he showed up there
today you could give him a half a set of
clubs and probably’d shoot 67 or eight
or nine so so let’s talk about that
because people watching this they’ve got
their Club Championship they’ve got
their member guest whatever the case
might be and there’s expectation what is
my family gonna think you know that’s
not a deal and that is handcuffing to a
golf swing so what say you yeah so um I
I would say this I I think you see the
pressure that Rory had at Augusta
National even before um the Master’s
tournament when he starts talking about
whether he’s going to play the week
before or not play the week before and
and the certain alterations that he’ll
make he will curiously um make a change
to a a driver length or to a different
putter or or things like that I thought
that he was in great shape in his mind
in 2023 after
2022 um and then after 22 went the way
it or 23 went the way it went I I felt
like man this is going to be a really
difficult time and then he shoots 66 in
his uh final round before heading over
to Augusta and I thought he was in good
shape again he played very clean he
played two rounds without making a bogey
but there’s a pressure that he puts on
himself that he is trying to deflect and
you know what what there’s a a great
book that I
read called run to the roar probably
haven’t heard of it it’s written by a
guy that’s a squash coach at uh a a
school up in in um Connecticut at the
college level and it’s a phenomenal book
run to the Roar and basically what it
says is that you have to run to the fear
and what I think is happening with Rory
is he is running from the fear you know
what like we want to win something that
doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re
gonna g to perform poorly and so develop
this game plan of what you have to do to
play your best golf
and it’s not found in whether you play
the week before or you don’t play the
week before and it’s not found with a
golf club that you do or don’t have
cutting it down or not cutting it down
or putting it’s not found there where
it’s found is embracing moments and
understanding that you know like if if
if Rory if Rory created a new goal and
the goal was not necessarily about
shooting a 67 but rather not missing a
shot mentally so when I had a when I was
younger I had a I I I played baseball
and I um I was a shortstop and so you’re
sort of the captain on the field and
what I always shared as a result of a
conversation that I had with my coach
was look physical mistakes are going to
happen and that’s okay we don’t want to
make a lot of them but we know we’re
going to make those right we’re
imperfect but mental
mistakes shouldn’t happen and so I
always felt like if I was Flawless in my
mental game I’d be much better
physically and so what I what I would
say is if I was coaching Rory and I was
coaching anybody to prepare for uh a
Club Championship or a member guest or a
big round of golf even a round of golf
where you’re playing good and it feels
like you’re going to break a threshold
maybe you’re G to shoot your lowest
score right what I would say is this one
never hit a shot with a mental with a a
mental thought of negativity okay so
what I would do is I would go out and I
would play rounds of golf before these
important rounds and I would chart how
many times I had a negative thought in
my mind and so and I’ve done this in
tournaments I played a tournament one
time and I had 14 negative thoughts in
my mind first time I’d played
tournaments in a while I shot 81 the
next round I said okay I’m gonna I’m
gonna cut that down I only want to have
seven negative thoughts and I actually
got to five and I shot 73 now do I feel
like I swung the club better well maybe
but did I swing the club better because
my mind was in a better spot and if I
was coaching Rory I would say Rory
here’s what I want you to do I want you
to never have a negative thought in your
mind and I always want you to have a
thought in your mind of where do you
want the golf ball to go what does a
good shot look like and let’s play a
little conservatively on whole number 11
with the wind blowing right to left
because what I want you to do is I want
you to miss this shot like Hogan did to
the front right portion of that green we
are no matter what happens with this
shot we’re not going to hit it into the
pond on the left and so if the if you
miss the green which is not a problem
but you leave it front right now all of
a sudden you might have hit a bad you
might have made poor contact and made a
bad swing but you have a check in the
positive column which is I hit it where
I wanted to hit it I missed it to the
right and at that point you can think
your way into playing good golf and so I
would if I was coaching him or anybody
else I would really harp on you want to
conquer these demons you conquer in the
Mind by forgetting about where you’re
hitting the golf ball don’t worry about
what your swing looks like worry about
I’m not going to fail mentally I’m not
going to have negative thoughts and I’m
not going to miss shots in the wrong
spots and at that point you start
playing golf again that is brilliant
okay and and I’ve kept you for long for
long so I want to ask you one more and
it’s kind of an a hybrid an amalgamation
of two observations you’ve made
pertaining to lvic and both Rory um
that ball he hit in the water on the
left of 11 that to me almost was
emblematic of the week and it really
scuttled his chances to make a weekend
run um wind wasung out the right flag
was kind of um back
rsh and so often when a goodish golfer
is in that situation like the wind’s off
the left so then you swing to the left
and he looked like he pushes the path
off to the right hand side obviously as
he does that the face shuts he puts hook
spin on her right to left wind shot it
was destined for the the water lvc when
he was in high school his coach tells me
for the first year the first year all
they do is study the ball flly laws and
how they pertain to self understanding
okay what have I going to do to move the
path here move the path there and
arrange the face to it where en Rory on
that shot if to just hit it front right
if he just kept the face a touch more
open with the wind out of the right it’s
a different tournament so talk to the
folks about that mechanism because I
feel like winds out of the left we aim
left we swing left next thing it slices
you know the drill help us please man
yeah so what I like to do now you’re
you’re talking you’re at a slightly I’m
gonna say this is sort of a singled
digigit handicap individual at this
point right what I like to tell my
students is you have to swing to the
fear so if the fear is left you got to
swing left if the fear is Right You’ got
to swing right so swing to the fear to
your point Rory he doesn’t want to miss
left so he swings to the right and all
of a sudden he creates that draw Spin
and now on the Wind this thing is is
going sideways to morow did the exact
same thing on Sunday he missed to the
left as well so the the rule of thumb is
swing to the swing to the fear and the
second thing is this and I I call the
face the money maker okay you always
have to have the money maker in your
mind it’s the most important part of of
the game so what is the face going to do
like well if we’re in a bunker we would
never shut the face we always open the
face right you may you may play the face
a little square if you’ve got a plugged
lie whatever but you’re always thinking
about the face when you’re in the bunker
what am I doing with the face the bunker
is beautiful in teaching you the
importance of the face it’s the same in
putting face is most important we think
about path yeah and what what I want
people to do is understand that when you
when you take the money maker and you
control the money maker and then swing
to the fear now all of a sudden you can
play good golf so if I don’t want that’s
how I play golf I swing left and I face
right and that’s how I hit my my little
fade and I like to play Fades that’s
what I like to do and so what I would
say is is that the there will always be
fears when I work with better players I
ask them what’s the shot they hate to
see they say I don’t like to I don’t
most really good talented players don’t
like to hit it to the left or the pull
side and I go okay then we have to get
used to swinging to the pull side and
then what I’ll do with those players as
I’ll bring them to a practice te and I
want them to get on the far for a
right-handed golfer I want them to get
on the far left side of the range yeah
and then I want them to start that ball
down the leftand side and I want them to
swing into the woods and not let it go
into the woods now it takes a little
while to do that but once you get
comfortable swinging left and facing
right now all of a sudden you can play
you can do the same thing as well if you
want to play Draw you have to be able to
swing right and you have to be able to
face left and
so what I do believe is is that when you
understand how to control a club face
and how to swing a path you then start
understanding ball flight laws and I
think the one thing that that most
people don’t understand because they
don’t it’s very difficult to see the
face when the face is traveling 120
miles an hour yeah it’s easier to sing
to see the path when it’s traveling 120
miles an hour and so what I what I do
believe is is that if you do drills to
understand face and experiment if I open
the face here what’s going to happen if
I close the face what’s going to happen
if I open the face and I swing over here
if I close the face and I swing over
here and experiment a little bit and
start to understand how the golf ball
moves what causes the ball to move
what’s the deflection like off of the
face in the start line and how’s that
create uh spin now all of a sudden you
have a chance to be able to rely upon
motion and understanding when you get in
in that in that pressure and your mind
is now locked into success brilliant and
he shared a PR a pressure drill with you
guys too to say hey go to the wrong side
of the range the uncomfortable side
practice like that hey Michael this was
great thank you I appreciate your time
um to fit Us in um you’ve shared where
you are just for the folks listening or
watching please share the website so
they can find you so um I I am at
Michael breed.com you can go to Michael
breed on Twitter Facebook Facebook
Instagram and of course my YouTube
channel um and you know uh SiriusXM and
this is really the fun part for me um
you know 8 o’clock in the morning to 10
o’clock in the morning I get to do
exactly what you’re doing here I get to
talk golf I get to bring on um very wise
coaches uh you know insightful
individuals that understand the mind uh
we get to talk to touring professionals
as you get the chance to do on a weekly
basis and it’s an opportunity for all to
to satisfy that need that we have we’re
all golf junkies we love it we love
knowing more about it we love
understanding the nuances to it how to
play the game better architectural
skills all these different things and I
think that that’s the most fun part for
me is being able to give back to the
individuals like you do Mark where um
we’re feeding the Thirsty we’re we’re
bringing water to the Thirsty and it’s
it’s h it’s such a gift that we get to
to give isn’t it yeah you’ve done some
great shows one of the best was I was in
a car and I was listening to you going
over aliser McKenzie’s theories on Golf
Course design and this for me was the
perfect Prep Prep for Augusta National
so thank you thanks for joining us I
don’t know how you’re G to do it but uh
go get some rest please you deserve
thank you my friend and thanks for
everything I enjoy the the the show
obviously I love listening to the wisdom
that you provide us on CBS and also with
the podcast but I appre appreciate the
friendship too and I know you know that
so thank you for that as well