Articles by Mark Blackburn with Matthew Rudy

November 26th, 2024

Tour Intelligence: How To Pick The Right Spot On The Range

Tour pros are very particular about it. You should be, too.

September 24th, 2024

Running Late For Golf? Steal This Tour Pro’s Quick Prep

All you need is 10 minutes to be ready for the first tee

August 28th, 2024

Do This, Not That

Eight ways to get smarter in how you practise and play

August 1st, 2024

Does a tour player’s talent make them easier to work with? Yes and no

One of the more popular second-guesses you hear on social media comes from the armchair analysts who believe that coaching the most talented players in the world is easy work. Fix that one thing or make that one tweak, and Player X will be flushing the driver, sticking wedges and making birdies all day long. Read more…

July 12th, 2024

Do you have to be friends with the players you coach? Not exactly

There’s nothing casual about being a tour player’s full-time coach. Nor should there be. A top-level player is essentially a multi-million-dollar business, and having a dedicated team in place is the same as what you would see at a dynamic, growing company with the same kind of revenue. Because of the stakes, there’s obviously an Read more…

July 4th, 2024

Fixing tour players starts with more basic stuff than you might think

Earn small victories with rock solid fundamentals first.

June 29th, 2024

The surprising reason the quickest swing fixes aren’t always the best ones for tour players

Max Homa works with with coach Mark Blackburn on the driving range prior to The Sentry at Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Club. Kevin C. Cox Why do tour players have coaches? The answer might seem obvious: to help them play as close to their potential as possible. But even if the coach has great Read more…

June 20th, 2024

Elite players are elite athletes. Here’s how they get that way.

When I started coaching on the PGA Tour 15 years ago, players who were dedicated to physical training were in the definite minority. Now, there’s no way you can survive long-term on tour—or expect to emerge as a young player—unless you have a plan for fitness securely in place. The culture of the PGA Tour—from Read more…

June 13th, 2024

Tour players are always calculating risk vs. reward. You should be, too.

The U.S. Open in the ultimate in risk management, especially when you have a venue like Pinehurst No. 2—where the traditional idea of par being a good score will be in full force. The challenge for a player (and for a coach) this week? Staying patient and being relentless about picking the least stressful shot Read more…

June 6th, 2024

What a tour player is really looking for when he scouts a new green complex

Bailouts, rough thickness and roll out are just a few of the usual suspects greenside.

May 30th, 2024

How tour players use feedback to tell feel from real

For some players, the practice area early in tournament week can look like a garage sale—with sticks, towels and training aids of all shapes littering the ground around their space on the range. These various aids and devices have their own individual purposes, but the theme is the same for all of them: They’re producing Read more…

May 23rd, 2024

Only got 10 minutes of range time before you play? Steal a tour player’s prep to get ready

Tour players have a very disciplined range routine before they play, and you can adapt what they do to make the most of your time when there isn’t much of it.

May 16th, 2024

PGA Championship 2024: Weather changes major championship prep in ways you might not expect

LOUISVILLE — Dealing with the nuisance of rain and schedule interruptions from weather delays early in major championship week is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to being prepared for play on Thursday. When a venue like Valhalla gets soaked like it has ahead of this week’s PGA Championship, it changes the Read more…

May 9th, 2024

When a tour player picks a spot on the range, there’s usually a specific reason

At a PGA Tour event, nothing much a player does is left to chance, especially when it comes to a pre-round warm-up. Unless the range is completely packed and there are no options, a player is going to do whatever he can to set a stage that lets him get his preparation done fully and Read more…

May 1st, 2024

What tour players are looking at when using a launch monitor on the range

On the practice range during tournament weeks, it’s more about informed decisions than refinement.

April 25th, 2024

Why practice on tour looks way different on Tuesday than on Friday

You don’t have to be a coach or a player to sense the difference in tone on a PGA Tour range during a practice day early in the week versus a competition day later in the week. There’s work going on both days, but the intensity is different, and so are the goals. One of Read more…