5 lessons Dustin Johnson taught me in 37 minutes at the Driving Range

What was it like to have Dustin Johnson in the latest episode of ‘Heat up“? It was cool to hear immediately about the process behind one of the greatest players of his generation. It was also a real wave voltage to see one of the biggest drivers of the modern era, a few high and let them fly. But usually what is impressive about Dustin Johnson is what you don’t do, and he thinks you don’t think you are, and he thinks you don’t think you think of it of it, And there is something admirable in that.

For our purposes this also means that you can learn something. Here are five pieces of wisdom of a half -hour session with the former world no. 1:

1. He is not afraid of a pre-round workout.

It is no surprise to hear that Johnson gets a good warm-up in the pre-round of the gym. But I was intrigued by his recognition that he will stop two-day for a later afternoon T-shirt.

“It is clear that if it is Sunday and I am in one of the later groups, we leave quite late,” he said. “So yes, I will probably have already done a training and then I will go to the track and I will keep a warming up again, back in the gym in front, such as, 20 minutes, let the body move and shoot.”

Again, this is not shocking to hear from one of the world’s most famous athletic golfers. But in the context of golf history – and the relatively short timetables that golfers have actually worn as athletes – it is a reminder of how far pros has come.

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2. He leans on a simple wig exercise.

First of all I love Johnson’s Old-School Wiggapping: 60-degree, 54 degrees, 48 degrees. No need for a crack wedge if you don’t have an opening!

“I switched for a while and I went 46, 50, 54, [60]”Said Johnson.” But I have been playing since I was a child, I think. … and I just switched back a month or two ago. So I tried it for a year. It didn’t work. “

What has However, the details is calling. That means that we make three different wigschoten with each club.

“I have a little three shots with every wedge, like half, a three -quarters and a stock,” said Johnson. “I will work by people with all three my wedges.” On this day at Liv Golf’s Dallas Stop, his half 60 85 Yards, his three-quarters-60 went 95 and his stock 60 went 105.

Johnson did not use a launch monitor that grew up (nobody did it then), but as he got into the data more, he has focused closely on calibrating these wedge photos.

“For me that was probably the biggest difference, was just getting feedback immediately,” said Johnson. Who freed him to go back on certain holes; He mentioned another strategy for a second shot on a par-5.

“Instead of shooting it as close as possible to the green, I would impose it on 85, 95 or 105, depending on the flag. Suddenly you know that there is something, instead of pushing a 40 or 50-yard shots and then it is often to hit a perfect wave.

3. He thinks that studying video has its limits.

I asked Johnson if he feels that his swing has changed a lot over the years.

“No, I mean, it’s not,” he said, after a break. “I am now watching old videos and videos and they all look [the same]. It is clear that videos from when I swing very well and play very well if I have a hard time, and I compare them and they don’t really look different. “

This checks from; In general when I watch my own swing on video, I can only separate the best photos of the worst when I can see where the ball goes (or looks disappointment and frustration over my face). So what to do?

“That is the thing, you know, there are such small small differences that have enormous consequences for what you do. So that is why repetition and always trying to touch figures and things in general what helps me the most.”

4. He hunts Max Distance for a good reason.

Just before this session with Johnson I had a conversation with Louis Oosthuizen, who told me that he is going much further on the course than on the reach of the reach. Johnson agreed – kind of. He does not believe in the magic of the golf course so that you can suddenly break your personal ball, but he does believe in preparation.

“I always try to touch something, such as, try to hit it. Just put it as far as I can do with every club to know what my maximum songs are.”

I pushed back and wondered if it is possible to raise from That Max only because you are charged during the tournament game. DJ didn’t buy it.

“I think that is going again to know what your maximum distance is, because if you know your maximum distance, you can’t get it further than that,” he said and added this gem: “You don’t hit it further; there is just as far as you can touch it.”

Okay, what about the piece in the situation he described, in statement the last few holes, adrenaline pumps, feeling good, trust high – there is another level where you have access?

“Well, that’s there, but that’s why you try to open that on the range,” he said.

Case closed.

5. He will tell you how to get the blur. (He’s just better than you.)

There is an old viral clip from Johnson who talks about touching a blur in which he essentially says that when you try to hit a blur, it is most important to blur. I think there is real insight there – if you hit the blur, then press the blur! That is what it’s all about – but usually it is a funny clip that Johnson admits that he still hears about all the time. So how does he get a blur?

“My first eight years on tour I played a draw,” says Johnson. “I used to sign everything, I would not get faded unless I had to like it, go around the tree or something like that. And work with Butch [Harmon]The first four years together we worked on touching fades we were working on getting fades, but would never touch one [on the course]. “

Johnson remembers a BMW championship where he debuted the Secret-Weapon Fade at a big moment in the play. So how does he do? No surprise here, but Johnson makes it fairly easy.

“I have set feet a bit open. Club the goal. I take it again on my foot line. And then let it go to the goal.”

I asked for some clarification about what “releasing the goal” actually means, which Johnson essentially achieved. “I take it outside of a hair and then I will just release it to the target.”

Reasonable.

You can view the interview in its entirety here Or below.

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