GOLF FITNESS
1 Jun 2016

GOLF FITNESS

In the past few years, nagging lower back issues have hampered my golf swing and everyday lifestyle. I have hit over 5 million golf balls over the last 30-plus years, and it has taken its toll. The interesting thing is that when I am warmed up, the pain often subsides. I enjoy many different sports besides golf: cross-training, cycling, swimming, running, triathlons, tennis, etc. I have noted often that I am capable of lifting or moving large amounts of weights during the exercises, but sitting at a desk for three hours can sometimes be excruciating. The same scenario has also happened to my should and upper back. Different doctors, therapists and chiropractors have told me different theories and treatments, some which have aided, but none in a great way. However, recently I have found something that seems to offer a solution that seems to be a long-term treatment and solution: yoga and yoga-like stretching! For the first time in years, my lower back and hips have ached dramatically less. I have seen an advancement in my hip mobility and ability to maintain my spine angle throughout the golf swing. Maintaining your spine angle in the golf swing is one of the key components of good ball striking and a trademark of all the great players. It is impossible to achieve with tight hip flexors and small-muscles imbalances. The body is holistic, with the muscles and tendons very much dependent and interconnected to one another. For years I trained in the typical weight-room manner. Now, I rarely do the traditional weight training like you see most people in the gym focusing on, i.e. bench presses and static weightlifting. I am much more focused on dynamic motion and body-weight-type movements. Combined with this, I do dynamic stretching and yoga. These changes have contributed greatly to maintaining and improving my swing. Swinging a golf club for years causes imbalances in muscles, which in turn creates compensations and overuse of certain muscle groups. This leads to injuries and swing flaws. Next time when working with a student, take into consideration that some of the swing flaws noted could be a direct result of injuries and/or lack of mobility. Maintaining the spine angle, for example, is more than a function of “keep your head down.” The flaw could be a result of the lack of the ability to physically do the proper movement because of body compensations. Remember to look at the golf swing in a “holistic way” which will contribute to the longer improvement and longevity that students are looking for. As a golf instructor, educate yourself and use as many resources in the physical fitness field to further enhance your students’ enjoyment of the game of golf.
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THE PERFECT TIME TO FIND YOUR JOY IN TEACHING
25 May 2016

THE PERFECT TIME TO FIND YOUR JOY IN TEACHING

Spring is the most exciting time of year for golfers. That is obvious to anyone that plays the game. For teachers of the game, summer brings the opportunity to find the true joy of teaching. As I moved through my career and began teaching better and more serious golfers, I found myself gradually developing a very dour attitude towards lessons. I didn’t notice the change as it was happening, but now looking back, I should have been more introspective. While on the subject, being introspective is a very important trait for a golf instructor. At one point, I began to realize the joy I had been addicted to early in my teaching career wasn’t there. So, the opportunity presented itself – almost out of fate, it seems, as I reflect back on it now: Our assistant professional had decided to move on to another facility. She had taught the junior clinic the last few summers. Before she arrived at the course, the young girls in the pro shop would pitch in and teach the kids. The director of golf was adamant that the summer junior clinics would be taught one way or another every summer. Our weather in the summer was spectacular. Cool in the early morning, sun around 10, then at 10:45 am every day a slight breeze from the Pacific Ocean would contrast the summer sun. Seventy-eight degrees and sunny every day. So how could we not do a lot of teaching? One day while having a conversation in the shop with the boss, I somehow volunteered to teach the junior clinic. Immediately after I announced my intention, I had a sense of panic come over me. How was I going to do this? I had not taught kids for several years. All of these life-and-death golfers I had been instructing; how was I going to handle children? After those first few moments of panic, I started planning the clinics in my mind. The more I planned, the more excited I got. I have often read about the “grandparent” effect that can come over older adults. The pleasure one gets from seeing the innocent, pure joy kids display at a young age. That is my reasonable explanation. The kids were from age 7 to 10 or 11. We did three hours a day for four days. I bought candy and juice boxes, and thought of as many games as I could. We had relay races, putting contests, and the kids genuinely had a great time. As much fun as it was for them, it couldn’t match the joy I received from teaching them. Watching the kids discover the true essence of the game was exhilarating. I felt like I should have paid the parents instead of the other way around. I loved watching them jump up and down when they holed a putt or their team won whatever game we were playing. The girls giggled, the boys gave high fives. As a byproduct, hopefully some of them kept playing after that week. To say it was an awesome experience for me would be an understatement. That week I rediscovered the joy of teaching golf. Because of my current position, I haven’t had the opportunity to duplicate that junior clinic. I would love to have the time and facilities to do it again. Today there is better equipment for children. If you look, you can find special tools for kids learning, and all sorts of various games and unique ideas for teaching our youth the game of golf. Personally, I love the velcro outfits and the giant clubs. It is easy to get caught up in the financial gain of your teaching business. The seriousness of your students trying to improve at a very difficult game can affect you over time. We all want to help golfers. Most of us have to also make a living at it somehow. Finding opportunities to teach the fringes of the golfing public can give you a new perspective. It could even be teaching disabled adults. Golf at its core is supposed to be fun.
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NO RESPECT FOR EVERYDAY GOLF TEACHERS
19 May 2016

NO RESPECT FOR EVERYDAY GOLF TEACHERS

Just saw an ad recently that finished with this: “Go directly to the place that will improve your game with all the equipment and apparel you need.” What a country – you can buy improvement. And people continue to buy into this nonsense. If it was just the equipment, then how come some top tour pros struggle when they change brands? I have a friend who buys every new driver that TaylorMade puts out. His scores are still the same, but he swears he is just killing the ball. I guess whatever makes you happy. Another fellow came to me for some lessons and said he could not hit his new irons. So I watched him hit a few shots. Top, top, fat, top and slice. I asked him how he hit his old irons. Not much different, was his reply. After I worked with his swing for a few weeks, I caught up with him on the range to see how he was doing. “Man, these irons are the best thing I ever invested in,” was his reply. I felt like Rodney Dangerfield. If you’re one of those big-name instructors on TV, everyone listens to what they have to say and often when you are working with a person, you’ll hear that so-and-so said to do this. Sometimes you just want to respond like Hogan would and say, “Well, then go take a lesson from him, then.” A lot of this stems from the manufacturers who have basically driven the game. We, the teacher, get very little credit from them. Just look at the ads. They all tout their brand as being the one that will make one longer and more accurate. Yet, I have never seen a person from scratch with a brand new $2,000 set of clubs step up to the tee box and stripe one. I have seen several people who work diligently with one of us run-of-the-mill everyday teachers become decent players. Maybe there is a lesson in there somewhere.
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THE FUTURE OF GOLF AND VIRTUAL REALITY
17 May 2016

THE FUTURE OF GOLF AND VIRTUAL REALITY

By: Ben Bryant, WGCA contributing writer In 2014, Facebook bought a small virtual reality startup company called Oculus for $2 billion.  Such a large investment by one of the world’s leading tech companies caused the world’s ears to perk up. People began to ask whether or not virtual reality – or VR – would be the next big thing in entertainment.  And so I feel it’s a good time to ask: How will VR change the future of the golf teaching industry? As it turns out, many in the sports world already believe VR is the next big thing and have begun using it in one way or another.  For example, NFL teams like the Dallas Cowboys are using virtual reality to train quarterbacks and other players.  In golf, Dell has announced the creation of a virtual reality simulation that lets participants play golf on the moon.  Right now, with a VR headset, you can experience 360-degree photos of this year’s Masters ceremony.  Some see the future of VR in live sports consumption, placing the user on the green with Jordan Spieth as he lines up a putt, or with Tom Brady on the field right in the middle of the action. A few weeks ago, I bought a VR headset made by Oculus for Samsung to test things out for myself.  The device works by placing your (Samsung only) smartphone on the front of the headset and then strapping the whole contraption over your eyes.  The first time I used it, I literally said “wow” out loud to an empty room.  It’s incredibly immersive and realistic. After a two-minute tutorial, I found myself exploring an Egyptian tomb and walking through the halls of the Louvre.   With features like 360-degree photos, I could transport myself to anywhere in the world. This has the potential to go way beyond your local indoor golf simulators.  While in a VR environment, everywhere you look you see your simulated surroundings.  The most amazing part is that you don’t feel like you’re looking at a screen.  You really feel like you’re playing golf at Augusta or St. Andrews. As a golf coach, I immediately began to envision how I could use this new technology with my players.  As a teaching tool, the implications for being able to recreate total 360-degree environments will have a profound impact on the golf industry.  Students will be able to see their swing in a whole new way – not a 2D video that only shows one angle, but a total 3D environment to truly see themselves as their instructor does.  Another opportunity may be in recreating golf courses in VR.  Suppose a player has a tournament the next day on a new golf course they haven’t been able to play yet. In a VR simulation, you could walk the course like you were really there.   Lastly, imagine both you and your student put on VR headsets and are able to meet online, on a virtual golf course, for a golf lesson, without even being in the same country. Scenarios like this may be a few years away and there are still some issues to work out.  Oculus, for its part, will be releasing a much anticipated headset known as the Rift sometime later this summer (https://www.oculus.com/en-us/rift).  It won’t use your smartphone; it will have its own screen and will require a high-end personal computer to operate.  As a result, it will be expensive and non-portable.  But it will be the gold standard as far as graphics go.  However, I’m far more interested in the portable, smartphone-based headsets.  They are easy to use, inexpensive, and could be far more ubiquitous than the Rift, because who doesn’t have a smartphone?   Oculus just announced that over a million people used its portable headset during the month of April 2016. For the last 20 years or so, VR has been stuck in neutral, positioned somewhere in the realm of novelty video game, but outside the purview of practical use.  With serious investors now on board and with the sports world leading the way, and with a clear vision of how this technology can be used, we are now on the brink of major changes in the way we experience entertainment and communicate with each other. Now we live in a world where nearly every man, woman and child on earth has a supercomputer in their pockets.  With technology no longer a barrier, the promise of virtual reality has returned the worlds of business and sports are on the cusp of undergoing a dramatic transformation, thanks to VR. Like many people of my generation, my first experience with “virtual reality” was the Nintendo game system known as the Virtual Boy.  The system consisted of a large stationary headset you placed over your face and a controller you used to play games.  It was a big risk for Nintendo, but it ended up being a commercial flop.  The headset was uncomfortable and hurt your eyes.  The graphics were thoroughly unimpressive, consisting of grids of red lines used to create an illusion of depth.  There was certainly a novelty factor, but usually after ten minutes or so of use people lost interest.  That was nearly 20 years ago.  It was clear that technology was still a long way away from catching up to the idea of VR.
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