What does a golf pro who has watched your game up close actually see that you don't?

This week on How Low Can You Go?, Dave and Chris sit down with Jonnie Cliff, Head Professional at Murrayfield Golf Club — our home course and the coach who probably knows our golf games better than anyone.

Jonnie has seen the good, the bad and the occasional absolute disaster, so we're putting him on the spot.

What are Chris's biggest blind spots? Can he really get to scratch? Can Dave finally get himself to single figures? And what separates the golfer who hits it beautifully on the range from the golfer who can actually take that game onto the course?

We get into clubface control, pressure, external focus, mental performance, practice and one of the biggest themes of the conversation:

How to make practice more like actual golf.

Jonnie explains why testing matters, how to gamify your practice, how random practice can improve your ability to deal with real golf situations, and how tracking your stats can uncover the small weaknesses that are holding your handicap back.

And there's plenty of honest HLCYG chat along the way — including Jonnie's diagnosis of both Dave and Chris's games.

If you're serious about getting better at golf, this one is packed with ideas you can take straight onto the range and to the golf course.

Jonnie Cliff

A big thanks to Jonnie Cliff, Advanced PGA Professional and Specialist Performance Psychology Coach at Murrayfield Golf Academy, for joining us.

If you want to find out more about Jonnie’s coaching, TrackMan studio, performance psychology and Edinburgh's L.A.B putting fitting centre, check out:

👉 Murrayfield Golf Academy

💌 Or email Jonnie directly at jonnie.cliff@foremostgolf.com

ABOUT THE SHOW

How Low Can You Go is a golf improvement podcast exploring how amateur golfers can improve their game, lower their handicap, shoot lower scores and understand what actually moves the needle — without wasting time on the wrong things.

Chris Donaldson and Dave Alexander speak to leading golf coaches, performance experts, sports psychologists and some of the smartest minds in golf to discover practical golf tips and strategies that everyday golfers can use to play better golf.

Whether you’re trying to break 100, break 90, break 80, reach a single-figure handicap or get closer to scratch, How Low Can You Go is about finding out what really helps golfers improve.

🎧 Listen now and start turning bad rounds into better golf.

📸 Instagram

📺 YouTube

💌 Contact
howlowcanyougopodcast@gmail.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and share it with a golfing friend. It genuinely helps us reach more golfers who are on exactly the same journey.

HLCYG LIVE — TAKE ACTION

World-class coaches. Small groups. Real golf improvement. With Dave and Chris… in Scotland.

Join us for our launch in 2027.

No commitment — just register your interest.

👉 JOIN THE HLCYG LIVE PRIORITY LIST

"Driver sets the stage for everything."

In Part 2 of our conversation with Michael Leonard of Wicked Smart Golf, we get into the stuff that can genuinely move the needle for club golfers — from speed and distance to strokes gained, practice, tempo, course management and the mental side of actually playing better golf.

Michael explains why you don’t need to keep changing your swing to improve, how tracking your stats can expose the weaknesses you don’t even realise you have, and why simply hitting more balls isn’t necessarily making you better.

We also get into:

• Why distance is scoring potential — and why more speed doesn’t necessarily mean less accuracy
• How Michael added around 5mph of clubhead speed and what speed training has done for his own game
• Why strength training can be the engine behind speed
• The importance of analysing trends rather than obsessing over individual rounds
• Why you should never analyse your stats during the round
• How to turn your data into much more focused practice
• Why golfers need to stop guiding the driver and start committing to their shot
• The surprisingly powerful role of tempo
• Why “slow and slow” might be terrible advice for many golfers
• How to use a simulator or TrackMan to practise the shots you actually need
• Why you shouldn’t abandon the golf course completely during winter
• The myth that hitting 3-wood automatically means hitting more fairways
• Why driver should potentially become your best friend rather than your biggest fear

And Michael gives Dave some fairly clear marching orders for the winter…

This is a brilliant conversation for any golfer who wants to play better without getting trapped in the endless swing-fix cycle.

Part 1 of our conversation with Michael Leonard is also available now — go and listen to that first if you haven’t already.

ABOUT THE SHOW

How Low Can You Go is a golf improvement podcast exploring how amateur golfers can improve their game, lower their handicap, shoot lower scores and understand what actually moves the needle — without wasting time on the wrong things.

Chris Donaldson and Dave Alexander speak to leading golf coaches, performance experts, sports psychologists and some of the smartest minds in golf to discover practical golf tips and strategies that everyday golfers can use to play better golf.

Whether you’re trying to break 100, break 90, break 80, reach a single-figure handicap or get closer to scratch, How Low Can You Go is about finding out what really helps golfers improve.

🎧 Listen now and start turning bad rounds into better golf.

📸 Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/howlowcanyougopodcast/

📺 YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HowLowCanYouGoPodcast

💌 Contact
howlowcanyougopodcast@gmail.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and share it with a golfing friend. It genuinely helps us reach more golfers who are on exactly the same journey.

HLCYG LIVE — TAKE ACTION

World-class coaches. Small groups. Real golf improvement. With Dave and Chris… in Scotland.

Join us for our launch in 2027.

No commitment — just register your interest.

👉 JOIN THE HLCYG LIVE PRIORITY LIST

What if you could play better golf without changing your swing?

Michael Leonard of Wicked Smart Golf joins How Low Can You Go? to explain why better scoring isn’t always about changing your technique.

A plus-two golfer, author and host of the Wicked Smart Golf podcast, Michael shares his approach to improving through the mental game, short game, putting, course management, breathing, confidence and self-talk.

We also get into what happens when a round goes badly and you start convincing yourself that your swing, equipment or entire game needs changing.

Michael explains why sometimes you haven’t lost your golf swing at all — you’ve simply lost access to it.

If you’ve ever walked off the course after a terrible round wondering what the hell happened, this one is for you.

Topics include:

• How to play better golf without changing your swing
• The mental game of golf
• Confidence and self-talk
• Breathing and handling nerves
• Short game and putting
• Course management and scoring
• How to bounce back from a bad round
• Why golfers can get in their own way
• Building a better golf improvement process

What if we could spend two full days with Karl Morris?

Well… that's exactly what we're planning.

🎟️ HLCYG LIVE — TAKE ACTION — JOIN THE PRIORITY LIST

We're incredibly excited to be putting together HLCYG LIVE — a premium two-day golf improvement experience with Karl Morris at the stunning Cameron House on Loch Lomond.

Two days focused on improving your golf, working on the mental game, getting out on the course, learning from Karl and spending time with a small group of like-minded golfers.

There will also be a live How Low Can You Go? podcast recording and Q&A as part of the experience.

The Pre-Sale price is £599 per person.

Spaces will be very limited.

If you'd like to find out more and get first access when bookings open, join the HLCYG LIVE priority list:

👉 JOIN THE HLCYG LIVE PRIORITY LIST

🎙️ ABOUT THE SHOW

How Low Can You Go is a golf improvement podcast exploring how amateur golfers can improve their game, lower their handicap, shoot lower scores and understand what actually moves the needle — without wasting time on the wrong things.

Chris Donaldson and Dave Alexander speak to leading golf coaches, performance experts, sports psychologists and some of the smartest minds in golf to discover practical golf tips and strategies that everyday golfers can use to play better golf.

Whether you’re trying to break 100, break 90, break 80, reach a single-figure handicap or get closer to scratch, How Low Can You Go is about finding out what really helps golfers improve.

🎧 Listen now and start turning bad rounds into better golf.

📸 Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/howlowcanyougopodcast/

📺 YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HowLowCanYouGoPodcast

💌 Contact
howlowcanyougopodcast@gmail.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and share it with a golfing friend. It genuinely helps us reach more golfers who are on exactly the same journey.

HLCYG LIVE — TAKE ACTION

World-class coaches. Small groups. Real golf improvement. With Dave and Chris… in Scotland.

Join us for our launch in 2027.

No commitment — just register your interest.

👉 JOIN THE HLCYG LIVE PRIORITY LIST