The 2nd Cut Newsletter: Edition #17

The Journal 18 Product Review, Hips Drill, The Dead Hand Pitching Method, Reader Giveaway and Favorite Club Poll

Oct 04, 2023

“Success in this game of golf depends less on strength of body than strength of mind and character.” - Arnold Palmer

📰 Edition #17 📰

Welcome back to The 2nd Cut Newsletter, Edition #17!

If you haven’t read last week’s Deep Dive, check it out here: Book Review: The Four Foundations of Golf

In today’s Newsletter: The Journal 18 Product Review, Hips Drill, The Dead Hand Pitching Method, Reader Giveaway, and Favorite Club Poll

If you’re new here, this newsletter is designed to provide valuable insights, tips, and ideas to improve your golf game from around the internet.

What you get:

1 - Newsletter every Wednesday
1 - Deep dive every Friday

📦 Product Review: Journal 18 📦

Today’s product review is on The Performance Journal from Journal 18. As most of you know, I’m a big fan of written post-round recaps. Here’s what I said way back in Edition #2:

A written post-round summary is a good way to unemotionally evaluate your round. I’ve always played back rounds in my head, but there’s something about writing it down that is so much more effective.
I’m often guilty of glossing over the positives, so noting what you did right helps balance out the reality of a round. I’m also better equipped to identify what my issues are and make a plan on how to improve them.

The Performance Journal is the perfect way to implement intentions pre-round and evaluate them post-round. It provides a feedback loop for the golfer. Between pre and post-round pages, there is a scorecard where you can record everything from, fairways hit, GIRs, OOB, and putts.

Below is my first pre and post-round entry: (please excuse the terrible penmanship)

I love how the journal organizes everything in one convenient space. It’s a friendly reminder while on the course and an excellent resource for reviewing past rounds. Recording pre- and post-round sections took me just a couple of minutes at most.

There is a practice section towards the back of the journal as well. It might seem like an afterthought, but I think this section could be even more helpful than the in-round section. Most amateurs tend to practice with zero intent. Adding intentionality and structure to your practice routine is huge for improving your game.

Overall, I think The Performance Journal from Journal 18 is a phenomenal product. The quality of the journal itself feels top-notch. You can tell the team at Journal 18 cares about the little details. The clear and concise layout allows the golfer to organize their thoughts productively. Most importantly, the journal forces you to be intentional and use feedback loops, which are proven concepts for increased performance. Highly recommend.

You can purchase The Performance Journal by clicking here.

🐦 Tweets of the Week 🐦

I’ve long had issues with getting my hips open through impact. It’s a common swing flaw. I compensate by sliding, which leads to my upper body falling back. This results in low-point issues with my irons.

In the video below, Jonathan (@jonathanyarwood) demonstrates a simple drill to feel your hips open up more. He pulls his left foot back while hitting little shots, emphasizing the hip’s open feeling. It’s an excellent little reminder drill for golfers struggling to open up that hip. It’s a quick 42-second clip. Give it a watch! LINK

PGA Tour player Michael Kim (@mike_kim714) has become a go-to source on Twitter. He brings a unique insight from a player currently on tour but also keeps the amateur player in mind when giving golf advice.

In the tweet below, Michael talks about his pitching technique, which is to use very little hands and let the body do most of the work. Jason Day is a big proponent of this method (more on that in a bit). I started to use this method from 25 to 75 yards. I’ve personally found more consistency, fewer low-point issues, and better distance control with this method.

As Michael said, there are many ways to chip/pitch, so this might not be for you. Tiger likes to use his hands more and FEEL the distance. That might be more up your alley. But if you have low point issues and tend to duff the ball or skull it across the green you might want to practice this method. Check out the videos below to see Michael demonstrate. LINK

📺 💻 T2C Media 📺 💻

Here’s the Jason Day video I alluded to in the previous section. Day is well known for having one of the best short games on tour, so much so that Tiger has consulted him at various times to work on his own short game.

I’ve shared this clip before, but Jason Day does such a good job explaining the simplicity of his dead-hand wedge method. It’s very similar to Michael Kim’s video above.

Day shows how he stays connected by using the towel drill and adjusting for low, mid, and high pitch shots. A must-watch. (1:38 min)

🏆🏆 Reader Q&A Giveaway 🏆🏆

Last call for the Reader Q&A!

You will receive a pack of Personalized T2C Western Birch Tees if your question is selected. Please submit your questions in the comment section below or email me at the2ndcut@substack.com.