About Roger Gunn:

California born and raised, Roger has made a career of playing, instructing and designing for golf. Credits include PGA Teacher of the year in 2001, winner of more than 25 professional tournaments over a long and varied career, and designer of True Custom Golf Clubs. Roger’s website golflevels.com provides his own unique style of teaching: “ The generic nature of golf instruction has always bothered me. The beginning golfer certainly doesn’t need to hear the same information as the player trying to win the club championship. It’s for this reason that I created “Taking it to the Next Level” Hopefully you’ll enjoy this style of instruction, tailored right to your ability!”

- Roger Gunn

visit Roger's website: www.golflevels.com

• Healthy Back for Winter Fitness Tip - K.R.
• Mental Tip by Dr. Joseph Parent, guest contributor
• Golf Tip Roger Gunn, guest contributor
• Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper-Feta Dip
• Upcoming Events

In a Nutshell:

Have a Healthy Back through the Winter:
by Katherine Roberts

arms, all the way to your hands holding the putter. Commit to this soft grip pressure, then look once more down the path to the hole. When you look back toward the ball, start your stroke. You'll find that relaxed arms and a consistent grip pressure allow you to make smoother strokes, better rolls, and more holed putts.

Golf Tip from Roger Gunn: Closing the Deal

After that great drive... You've laced it off the tee on the hardest hole on the course, leaving you with just a seven iron. You've never hit less than four iron to this green! True, you've gotten past the hard part, but there's still plenty of work to be done. Many bad holes have been played with perfectly good drives.

My advice, as it will be throughout this article, is to keep attacking. Make sure you have a crystal clear picture of the shot you want to play and that you stay relaxed. One of my favorites is to not only see the flight of the ball, but to see the ball falling into the hole after it lands. This focus on a positive outcome helps to block out any negative thoughts, thoughts that can potentially wreck your shot. The clearer you can make this positive image, the better your chances of having a positive outcome. Never forget that positive thoughts can literally block out negative ones

Finishing your best round... Attacking to the end is also the secret to closing the deal on a great score. So many times we get to the end of a good round just hoping not to blow the last few holes. If you’re having a good enough day, you might even be able to have a couple of weak holes and still have your best score ever.

Anyone who has been in that situation knows how that type of mindset is the surest way to lose it. Your mind is very task oriented, which means you have to give it the mental cues necessary to perform a certain task. It really can’t deal with “don’t blow it” as a thought process.

Instead, ask yourself to do the opposite. Example: Let’s say you’re a 10 handicap and you’re on the 16th tee just four over for the day. Sure, three bogeys would still yield a good score. But just imagine what three birdies would do for you! Tell yourself, “Okay, I still have a chance to shoot one over, now let’s go get it!”

I can’t emphasize enough how much this will help you to post a great number, no matter what your handicap level. A positive, attacking mindset is what got you there in the first place. This simply allows you to continue that mindset all the way to the end.

As an added bonus, you won’t believe how good you’ll feel about that great round when you finish it like a champion. If you’re guiding the ball, scared to death for the last few holes, it just doesn’t feel the same. This type of play will undermine the way you look at your game and make it more difficult the next time you’re coming down the stretch.

When you charge all the way to the end, you’ll not only feel better about that game, you’ll be in a better mindset for the next time you’re there.

The Big Tournament... Most of us only play one or two multi-day tournaments in a year. These too can be a challenge when you’re away from the course, thinking about how nice it would be to have that trophy on your mantle piece.

As you may have guessed, this isn’t much of a cue for your brain either. When it’s time to play, make sure you’re out there to attack the course. Not necessarily taking foolish chances, but swinging and playing without fear. Make it a conscious decision that this will be your style of play during the event.

Let that trophy be a reminder of how boldly you played to win it, and not a reminder of how scared you were on that back nine. Every time you see it, you’ll be reminded of what a fine, brave player you are under pressure. While the others wilted with the tournament on the line, you stood strong.

Now that’s what I call “Closing the deal!”

If you would like to receive Roger’s free 80 minute Golf Levels Selects DVD, just e-mail him a Roger@GolfLevels.com

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Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper- Feta Dip

Using a pastry brush, baste peppers with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Char peppers directly over a gas flame or under a broiler, until blackened on all sides. Place peppers in a plastic sandwich bag or brown paper bag for 15 minutes. Peel, seed and cut peppers into slices. Heat remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat: add shallots and saute until golden. Add walnuts, cumin, chile powder, garlic, honey and salt; mix well. Remover from heat and let cool. In a food processor, combine peppers, shallot mixture and feta cheese; process until smooth. Cover and chill until ready to use. Serve at room temperature. Serve with :

Salt and Pepper Pita Chips:

4-6 pita breads
2 Tbsp. olive oil or melted butter
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp coarsley ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut each pita into 8 wedges. Separate the pieces into two layers. Brush each piece with olive oil (butter) and place on a large baking sheet. Sprinkly with parsley, salt and pepper. Bake for approximately 5 minutes or until golden and crisp. Serve warm or cool. (can be stored in an airtight container until ready to use.)

Recipes courtesy of Brandon Boone.

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