4 Feb 2010

Introduction to Golf Club Management

By Dr. Patrick Montana USGTF Level IV Member and U.S. Golf Managers Association Course Director Scarborough, New York I have been teaching management to business executives at all levels in profit and nonprofit organizations for almost 50 years.  Futhermore, as a certified golf teaching professional, I believe strongly that the process I describe in this article will better enable you to meet your golf club management expectations. There are many similarities in management and golf as well as in teaching management and golf.  Both require strategic thinking, planning, execution, control, evaluation and feedback. Let me begin be stating that at the heart of a system of managing for results is managing expectations.  More often than not managing expectations seems to be the missing link in business practice.  However, it occurs seldomly in golf, because everyone knows what is expected.  There is an agreed upon standard of performance – namely, par. Standards of performance in management have one major purpose and that is to develop your people.  You may use them for merit, promotion, transfer and compensation purposes but primarily as a manager you want to develop your staff to meet expectations.  I might illustrate this point by the game of golf. Par on the golf course is the standard of performance for a professional golfer.  Now you can go out all by yourself in the morning, or join three other people in a happy foursome, and when you come in from #18, you know – no matter what the comments are – you know immediately whether you are a good golfer or whether you need development. The standard of performance for a job should be as clear as par on a golf course, at least to the extent language will allow. As golf club managers, we should be developing performance contracts with our staff so that they know what is expected on the job.  For every responsibility assigned to a subordinate, a standard of performance or condition that should exist when a responsibility has been carried out well, should be developed jointly by manager and subordinate.  It is an engineering of agreement as to the condition that should exist when a responsibility has been carried out well. In order to develop a system of managing for results which negotiates performance contracts through managing expectations, it is important to step back and review or learn the purpose of management and the management process and to break down the process to see how a results-oriented management system fits into the process.  Next, during the Golf Club Managers Certification Course, we ask the question: “why bother?”  Then, after answering this question, we take a look at the critical links that hold the management process together for the golf club manager and the skills that are necessary to make it work.  Finally, I discuss how one goes about implementing such a system back on the job. In addition to learning this system of managing for results, during the Golf Club Management Certification Course students hear from practicing golf club managers and professionals about customer relations and customer service, golf facility operations, merchandising operations, food and beverage, tournament management, golf club financial management, ownership management, turf management operations, golf instructional operations, and even learn about today’s modern golf equipment. If you’re thinking about a career in golf club or golf resort management, you may want to consider enrolling in a forthcoming U.S. Golf Club Management Certification course and increase your employment opportunities in this growing global field. For further information please check our website: US Golf Managers Association.com.
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4 Feb 2010

Teaching Beginners Just got Easier!

And A lot More Enjoyable Take away the frustration of learning and replace it with immediate, positive achievement. T-Golf® allows the student to initially stand tall with no spine tilt and hit the ball at waist height. The golf club is only 2 ½ feet long with a specially designed huge hitting face. The ball always gets airborne and the thrill of immediately hitting the ball is fun and builds confidence.  After success at this, the adjustable tee is then lowered slightly and more spine tilt is introduced. This continues until the student eventually replaces the T-Golf® Club for a regular 7 or 8 iron. The following testimonial is one example of what teaching professionals are saying: “Over the past six years, T-Golf® has been phenomenal for all areas of my golf business.  The beginner golfer is instantly introduced to proper ball striking and everyone from young children, to seniors, to players that had previously quit the game are thrilled with their immediate success.  Comments from my students include, “This is easy”, “This is fun”, “I can really play golf”, and “Where was this when I first tried the game?”  T-Golf’s portability and simplicity has also opened new teaching opportunities and markets for me including physically challenged individuals, rehabilitation hospitals, and Veterans Administration Hospitals. T-Golf® has been a win-win for my students and the game of golf.”   CV Golf – Saratoga, NY Charles Veeder, USGTF
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2 Feb 2010

Golf Club Management

Learning and Applying Management Skills in the Golf Business By Patrick J. Montana, PhD USGTF Master Teaching Professional, Scarborough, NY Recently I received a telephone call from a friend who asked if I would be interested in teaching golf at a major year-round golf facility in my geographical area. Since the golf facility where I have been teaching for the past three seasons closes at the end of October, I decided to explore the opportunity. I met with the General Manager who said she was looking for a Head Golf Professional to give all golf lessons, clinics, golf camps, and to assist her at times in managing the facility because the current teaching pro did nothing but stay in the office and rarely spent time interacting with customers and staff. As a longtime university professor of management and former President of two different divisions of the American Management Associations, before I became interested in teaching golf, it was obvious what was needed. Apparently, there was little communication, if any, between the existing Head Professional and the General Manager as to what was expected on the job because at the heart of managing for results is managing expectations. An “expectancy gap” existed in this situation. My definition of management is simply getting results effectively through others. A more formal definition of management is working with and through other people in order to accomplish the objectives of the organization and its members. Today there are approximately 17,000 golf clubs in the United States and an equivalent number worldwide. With many golf facilities and courses being constructed annually, and the industry continuing to grow, there is a need for more qualified, effective managers in the golf industry. The United States Golf Managers Association is fulfilling this need by training and certifying club managers from around the world regardless of the position they may be currently occupying in the golf industry. The program is very unique in that it combines an intensive five-day course with ongoing education through email learning. Participants are taught a variety of skills from actual golf managers that apply directly to golf facility management including: Customer Relations Management Expectations The Common Sense Factor Introduction to Agronomy An Introduction to Golf Course Construction Employment at Public versus Private Facilities Managing a Golf Course on a Strict Budget An Introduction to Food and Beverage Understanding and Working with Various Types of Grasses During Season Changes as well as Varying Geographic Area Evolution of the Modern Golf Swing An Introduction to Pro Shop Merchandising Day to Day Golf Course Operations – Inside / Outside An Introduction to Payroll, Budgeting and Accounting Marketing Yourself within the Industry Effectively Organizing Golf Tournaments The Basics of Today’s Modern Golf Equipment The Passion for Excellence  Participants see and hear from guest speakers who have a wealth of information in these various topics, and are able to network with other golf industry professionals who become a valuable resource and source of support. Five-day certification programs are scheduled year-round. The value of the United States Golf Managers Association to the industry is one of the most essential elements to the successful growth of the game. Any current or aspiring golf club employee or those with previous business backgrounds looking for a fulfilling career in golf club management are welcome to attend.  (Dr. Montana is author of Conquering The Course, Nine Steps to Managing Your Business and Golf Expectations)
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28 Jan 2010

Sports Hypnosis: The Key to a Winning Game

Dorado Beach #13 Photo by StonehouseGolfBy Dr. Errol Gluck My name is Dr. Errol Gluck, and for 33 years I have been helping people to transform their lives through the integration of Medical Hypnosis and Executive Life Coaching. Hypnosis was once a tool mainly used to cure addictions, phobias, and various emotional conditions, but over time, scientific discoveries have shown that hypnosis can be a powerful tool used for achieving success in sports. I am one of the most experienced and well-known Medical Hypnotists in the sports industry, with more clinical hours than most professionals reach in a lifetime. My work with PGA Tour players, as well as the countless individuals who have sought my services, are a testament to my practice and my knowledge of hypnosis. Golf is a highly strategic game that is based 90 percent on mental preparedness. For years, dedicated golfers have been searching for answers to their recurring golfing dilemmas. Golf hypnosis improves a player’s ability to concentrate, maintain focus, and control emotions during their game. Any golfer knows that a day on the course can often be emotionally draining, and often discouraging. Perhaps you made a bad shot, and couldn’t quite regain the stamina to recover from it. Our brains work in such a way that an emotionally unsettling event can continue to distract and burden us, despite our efforts to leave it in the past. This is where hypnosis comes in. Hypnosis, more than anything else, helps an athlete to stay in a productive mental zone, even after a mishap occurs in the game. During hypnosis, the mind is able to reach an intense state of relaxation, where the brain can be reprogrammed to deal with stress, distractions, and other powerful factors in a more dynamic way. Hypnosis actually increases the speed at which the brain works, and improves a player’s breathing, as well as their muscle and reflex function. Professional golfers all over the world have entrusted their time and talents to the method of hypnosis. With the help of hypnosis, you can actually develop and implement a pre-shot routine that works every time. In just a few sessions, your mind can actually be trained in such a way that it can completely recover after a bad shot, and actually make better shots more often. The ways in which hypnosis can help an athlete are truly endless. Once our minds have adopted the discipline that hypnosis creates, the possibilities for success are infinite. Our minds are extremely powerful, and the more we accept that, the more we can excel in sports and in life.
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28 Jan 2010

Developing Optimal “Muscle Memory”

By Mark Harman Ryder_Cup-12 Photo by nimeckOkay, I know what some of you purists are saying:  there is no such thing as “muscle memory” because muscles don’t have memory.  Strictly speaking, this is obviously correct, and “motor memory” would be more accurate.  However, the phrase “muscle memory” is so commonplace and the meaning so descriptive that I believe it does have its place in our golf teaching lexicon. Traditional teaching goes something like this:  the student hits a few balls, the teacher diagnoses the problem and cure, and then has the student try the new movement.  All of this is well and good, but is this truly the best way for a student to learn? There have been some fine motor learning articles published recently in Golf Teaching Pro, and certainly written by people more credentialed than I when it relates to this field.  What I wish to add to the discussion are my observations as a golf teacher of practical applications on the lesson tee.  When I am not working in my capacity as the National Course Director for the USGTF, I also serve as a teaching professional at Crosswinds Golf Course in Savannah, Georgia. Golf Magazine also published some motor learning articles awhile back, mainly studies about which drills work best.  They did have one article that was more general in the application of drills.  Today’s norm is for a teacher to show a student a drill, have them perform the drill for a number of repetitions, and then have them hit balls with their regular swing.  The Golf Magazine study showed this method is less than optimal. Instead, the study suggested that the student should do the drill without hitting the ball, do the drill while hitting the ball, hit the ball with a “normal” swing, and then repeat the process.  Like most teachers, I did it the “usual” way until I read this article.  I started incorporating this new method, and I have to say that the transference of the drill to the normal swing seems to be better for most of my students. Another issue in learning is the concept of distributed vs. massed practice.  Distributed practice is where the rest time during an activity equals or exceeds the activity time, while massed practice is the opposite.  Study after study confirms that distributed practice is better for learning than massed practice, and this includes golf.  Yet, in golf, most players use a massed practice schedule.  In other words, they practice by hitting shot after shot with little or no break.  Even the pros do this for the most part. Instead, for optimal learning, golfers should hit maybe 2-3 shots (which should take about a minute), and then take a one-minute break.  Yes, I know – this is extremely difficult for most golfers to do, including myself.  My compromise is that I will warm up in a massed manner, and then switch over to distributed if it’s a true practice session.  For pre-round warm-ups, I mainly adhere to a massed schedule.  This theoretically may not be ideal, but as I said, it’s difficult from a patience viewpoint to adhere strictly to a distributed schedule. Another issue for learning is random vs. blocked practice.  Random is where the activity changes with each repetition, while blocked is where the activity changes infrequently or not at all between repetitions.  For example, in golf, random would be to hit a driver, then a 3-wood, then a 6-iron, etc.  Blocked would be to hit the driver say 10 times, then the 3-wood 10 times, then the 6-iron 10 times, etc. Research suggests blocked practice might be better for novices while random practice is better for advanced participants (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/conditionsofpractice2.pdf).  Other research suggests a combination of “random blocks” works even better.  In golf, this would be something like hitting 2-3 drives, then 2-3 3-woods, then 2-3 6-irons, etc. The theories behind these findings are quite fascinating, but they are beyond the scope of this article.  Those interested in reading further in-depth should refer to the link listed in the prior paragraph. A book that gained some renown was W. Timothy Gallwey’s The Inner Game of Golf, published in 1981.  Gallwey’s main focus was on getting the golfer to feel what he was actually doing before making a change, instead of just trying to make a change. So, what does all of this mean in the teaching and the learning of golf?  In teaching, I almost never let a student hit more than three balls without taking a break.  Usually this is in the form of some discussion between us.  This avoids using too much of a massed practice schedule during the lesson. I never let the student use the same club for the whole lesson, even with beginners.  My students usually will use at least three clubs, even during a short 30-minute lesson.  This gets rid of some of the blocked practice that so many teachers use, and incorporates at least some random aspect to the lesson. I also like Gallwey’s idea of getting a person to feel what they are actually doing before trying to get them to make a change.  One idea on these lines, and one I borrowed from another mental book on golf whose title I have long forgotten, is to have the student make a practice swing using their undesirable habit, make a good practice swing, and then tell me how they did it.  For example, someone who comes over the top might tell me they did it by “throwing” their right shoulder out, but on a good swing they feel it moving down.  I would then ask them to monitor what their right shoulder did while they hit the ball.  This technique does work remarkably well in getting a student to make a change in relatively short order. The days of Tommy Armour, when he sat under an umbrella sipping a drink while he dispensed advice to students, are long gone.  The common practice of many of today’s teachers, where they have their students hit ball after ball after ball with little or no break, and other such non-productive practices should also be relegated to the dustbin of history.  A knowledge of effective motor learning techniques is essential if the next generation of golf teachers is to succeed. There are many other effective motor learning techniques that I did not discuss in this article, because it could take up the whole magazine.  The bottom line is to continually learn in our profession, not only with the physical aspects of hitting a ball with a stick, but in the mental aspects, too.
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28 Jan 2010

Pre-Shot Routine

Camron swing sequence down the line in hitting booth Photo by proforgedAll athletes seek consistency, especially golfers.  And, all golfers will tell you that consistency in their game is a fleeting thing.  However, one of the best ways to improve consistency is to employ a pre-shot routine. A pre-shot routine is a sequence of repeated actions which readies the mind and body for the upcoming shot.  A pre-shot routine has many important features which promote consistency. First, it helps relax the golfer, because during this routine, the golfer takes a couple of deep, relaxing breaths.  Relaxation promotes a consistent, rhythmic swing. Second, a pre-shot routine helps with concentration.  Once the pre-shot routine starts, the golfer focuses on only one thing – hitting the golf ball. Third, it builds confidence, because the golfer will use positive visualization at the start of the routine.  A golfer who is focused on the task at hand and who is confident about his abilities will produce consistently good swings. A pre-shot routine can benefit both your students and professionals.  My suggestion to you is find out what works best for you and use it in your pre-shot routine.  For example, try visualizing the ball landing at the desired spot before you hit the shot.  Or, try visualizing yourself on a TV screen making a smooth swing before every shot. The important point I want to stress is get a routine that you feel comfortable with and use this routine before every shot.  Don’t rush your routine in pressure situations.  Keep the same tempo in you routine that you would like in your golf swing.
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21 Jan 2010

Historically Speaking

THE SWEDES WERE GREAT, THE LINKS WERE GOOD, AND HICKORY GOLFERS ARE NOT CRAZY By Mike Stevens, Level IV member, Tampa, Florida
Mike Stevens, Rob Alschwede and Jay Harris of Team USA

Mike Stevens, Rob Alschwede and Jay Harris of Team USA

The headline, paraphrasing a popular country song, aptly describes my trip to Sweden to participate in the Hickory Grail matches and the Swedish Hickory Championship. It all began in June, 2008, at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, where I finished second in the National Hickory Championship. An invitation was proffered to join the United States team that would compete against the European team for the coveted Hickory Grail cup. In the world of hickory golf, this is quite an honor. The matches are held every two years on our soil or in Europe, and this year’s version was played at the Falsterbo Golf Links in, you guessed it, Falsterbo, Sweden. One would think this is an ancient ritual dating back centuries; however, this summer featured only the sixth rendition of Grail matches. It is the brainchild of Ralph Livingston III, who resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and historian David Hamilton of St Andrews, Scotland. The purpose, like any such competition, is to foster goodwill among international citizens and to remember and preserve the heritage of our great game. It’s funny how, when traveling to a country for the first time, you have all these visions of exotic things you will encounter, and then you find out everything is pretty much like home. For example, on the train ride from Copenhagen Airport to Malmo, I dozed off, and when I woke, there in front of my eyes was a McDonald’s. It truly is one global economy. My hotel was a short walk from the station, and after settling in to my dwelling for the next week, I was met by two of my Swedish hosts, who invited me to spend the day with them at the SAS Masters tournament. It was a beautiful afternoon as we watched Roberto Gonzalez birdie five of the last six holes to take the title. Getting back to the host hotel, I found congregated in the bar several of my American teammates and European opponents recalling memories of past Grail events. There seemed to be much embellishment involved, which might have had to do with several empty glasses of Sweden’s finest lager. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were warm-up days as guests of our Swedish hosts. It started with a trip to the Swedish Golf History museum. Just like most ugly Americans, we all joked about what a quick trip it would be. It turns out, however, that there is a rich tradition of golf in Sweden dating back to 1891. The museum was awash with some fantastic artifacts of early golf in the country, right on up to the exploits of Anika Sorenstam and Jespar Parnevik. It was quite impressive. We also played on three wonderful golf courses, my favorite being a nine-hole links course built in 1922 that had some of the quirkiest holes you could ever imagine. Four holes shared the same fairway, and the tee boxes were made of 4×4 plywood covered in that green indoor/outdoor carpet. The greens, however, were some of the purest putting surfaces I have ever played on. It was a hoot, and more fun than you can imagine. With predictions of rain in the forecast, Thursday turned out to be just magnificent as the Europe and US hickory teams paraded in for the opening ceremony. It was quite a site with county flags unfurled in the breeze and national anthems playing in the background. After a few words from each captain, the matches began. I was first up, along with longtime hickory golf friend Randy Jensen, seven-time US national champion, against Pierre Fulke (yes, the Ryder Cup Fulke) and Adam Mednick, former European Tour player. It was a close match, but Adam ran in a 60-foot putt on the 15th green to put us three down, securing the first point for Team Europe. Unfortunately, it would not get any better, as the Europeans had an answer for everything we threw at them that day, and the next, over the windy links. The Grail was lost. My only consolation was that several of the young Swedish boys and girls wanted my autograph before, during, and after play. The whole experience was great fun, however, and to the victors I must tip my hat. They were as gracious in victory as one would expect from gentlemen golfers. Wrapping up the week was the Swedish Hickory Championship. To say that Sweden is crazy about hickory golf would be an understatement. There were 182 players in the field, and I am told they had over 230 applications. I was in the second-to-last group, teeing off at 3:00 p.m. In spite of the record field, we rarely waited. One of the other things I love about hickory golf – it’s fast. I played very well going out (they said things like that in the old days), turning in 36 strokes. I also hit the ball well coming in, too well, as I flew the ball over several greens, resulting in a string of bogeys. Still I was one shot out of the lead heading down fifteen. Then, I pulled a wedge shot…a wedge shot…mother of mercy, a dumber bogey was nowhere to be found. On seventeen, I three-putted for a double that turned a fourth-place finish into a tie for 7th. The game has no favorites. It’s a battle to the bitter end, requiring constant focus, and mine blurred with the championship staring me in the face. As I trudged downtrodden toward the clubhouse, my playing partner, Adam again, said, “Come on, I’ll buy you a beer.”  All was not lost. After a pint and some good conversation, we donned our caps and watched the playoff between Fulke and Per Nyman. Nyman won with a birdie putt on the second hole. All in all, it was a great week with an exciting finish and camaraderie that is always a part of this wonderful game, be it hickory golf or titanium golf. It was a time and place I will not soon forget.
Author Curt Sampson, Pierre Fulke, Mike Stevens and Adam Mednik

Author Curt Sampson, Pierre Fulke, Mike Stevens and Adam Mednik

Mike Stevens is Southeast Region Director of the USGTF and golf teaching pro at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. He was the 2005 National Hickory Champion and the 2004 US Golf Teachers Senior Champion. Thus far in 2009 he has finished fourth in the National Hickory Championship, third in the Southern Hickory Four-Ball, seventh in the Swedish Hickory Championship, and second in the USGTF Southeast Regional Championship.  He also owns and operates the Mike Stevens On Target Golf School in Tampa and Sarasota.
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21 Jan 2010

The South African Golf Experience

Lion Photo by Arno & LouiseNot five meters from my tent the resident King of the African Bush roared again. I reached for my torch, flicked it on and looked around my tented abode, thinking of an exit strategy. The big male lion rubbed himself against my tent for the next thirty minutes before wandering into the dark night. The next day, after a delicious farm-style breakfast, I headed to Bushman Sands for 18 holes on their Gary Player-designed golf track. That evening, I took a boat cruise on a nearby dam, and then headed back to my tented lodge for a fireside dinner. This, ladies and gentleman, is my work! A warm greeting from sunny South Africa! It is my pleasure to be contributing to Golf Teaching Pro magazine, and I look forward to sharing the best our country has to offer with you on a regular basis. South Africa is blessed with natural beauty and is famous for Cape Town, the Kruger National Park, and, of course, Nelson Mandela! Added to this, we have great weather (year round), sunny skies, warm oceans and friendly people. World-class hotels, incredible safari lodges and game reserves are to be found throughout the country. As a tour operator serving the international market, I have seen that our golf courses are less well-known than our other, more famous attractions. It is my aim to highlight the country’s top golf destinations and best-kept secrets to you over the months to come. As I write this article, Sun City (the country’s main golf destination) is preparing to host the Nedbank Golf Challenge – previously referred to as The Million Dollar Challenge. It is being marketed as ‘Africa’s Major’ and the field includes Hunter Mahan, Henrik Stenson, Nick Watney, and Tim Clark. At the same time, the country is gripped with FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup fever. Golfing tours can be tailor-made to suite different traveler’s pockets as well as tastes, and South Africa is a good destination for the US market, as one dollar tends to buy you 7-8 rands (South African currency). Itineraries can include a Big 5 Safari mixed with a trip to Cape Town, the Winelands, a cultural tour, and a great golf track. The tented Lodge I mentioned above is Gorah Elephant Camp, my favourite Safari destination – you can have a look at the website at http://www.hunterhotels.com/gorahelephantcamp/ and Bushman Sands can be viewed at http://www.riverhotels.co.za/bushmans/. The boat cruise and golf track can be viewed in the gallery link. Please feel free to e-mail me on ron.mackenzie@neoafrica.com.
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21 Jan 2010

A Game Of Controlled Emotions

Grandpa Photo by sparktographyBy Bob Wyatt USGTF National Coordinator, Port St. Lucie, Florida This article was first printed in Golf Teaching Pro in the Spring 1995 edition when the magazine was known as American Golf Pro. This is another in a series that looks back through the archives of our member publication. How many times during the course of your golfing experiences have you been tempted to throw a club? I’m sure there are not too many of you that answered “never.” I’m not a doctor of psychology, but I do feel that after 25 years teaching golf, together with 40 years of playing this great game, I understand human nature. As a junior player, I was determined to become the best player I could as quickly as possible. This immature approach always carries with it a host of potential emotional problems, as you might imagine. As well-balanced instructors, we must not forget for a minute how much of a role emotions at any level can become prevalent in a student’s success or failure. There is an old cliché that goes, “The faster you go, the further behind you get!” I’m convinced the person who came up with this little phrase must have been a golfer. Teach your students the value of pacing themselves on the range, as well as on the golf course. This will go a long way toward reinforcing the understanding of the emotional and mechanical balance necessary when playing a good game of golf. As instructors, we should always be thinking of the emotional aspect of our game. How would you feel if, when taking a playing lesson, your golf instructor kept losing his temper? Your students, especially juniors, will watch you and attempt to emulate the image you project on the course. With this in mind, always strive to keep your personal profile in a strictly professional, organized, and, above all, emotionally controlled manner. You will perform more effectively, and so will your students.
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Genuine Improvement Requires an Investment in Time
14 Jan 2010

Genuine Improvement Requires an Investment in Time

Among the thousands of stories about Moe Norman, the late eccentric genius of golf, is a nugget that exemplifies just how precisely he could hit a golf ball. Moe was playing with the late Ken Venning one morning in Florida. Unable to hit balls before they teed off, they hit three balls each off the first tee. As they made their way down the fairway, Venning said it looked like he was walking toward a mushroom in the middle of the fairway. As he walked on, he was shocked to see Moe’s three balls – touching. So, how did Moe become arguably the best ballstriker in the history of the game? Between the ages of 14 and 19, Moe worked obsessively on his swing, hitting upwards of 1,000 balls a day until he had his move “trapped.” He built up calluses so thick that he had to cut them off with a knife to hold a club properly. According to Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the runaway bestseller Outliers, Moe did what enormously skilled people have always done: he put in his time. To become a master at anything, Gladwell argues authoritatively that you need to put in 10,000 hours at that skill. So there it is: If your students really want to get better at this game, they have to put in the time. Not 10,000 hours, but improving does involve a significant investment in time. It’s that simple. This will come as relief to your students, but some researchers argue it takes 21 days to learn a new motor skill until it’s patterned on the brain. The original 21-day theory was developed by Maxwell Maltz, M.D., a renowned cosmetic surgeon with New York Hospitals. The reason for it, according to Maltz, lies in the brain, but it goes beyond the structures of memory and lies partly in psychology. As a plastic surgeon, Dr. Maltz found a link between self-esteem and the brain. “When you change a man’s face, you almost invariably change his future. You change his physical image and nearly always you change the man – his personality, his behavior, and sometimes even his basic talents and abilities.” Of course, most golfers don’t want to hear about the time that they must devote to improving. In fact, most don’t like to work on learning new skills because they move out of their “comfort zone,” a phrase Moe often used. Teaching professional Todd Graves has some insights into this. He says hitting a good golf shot sends a shot of pleasure to the brain. Golfers want that “hit” which is accentuated when they are playing the game. “When you’re trying to improve, it doesn’t feel comfortable, and it actually makes you feel bad,” says Graves, a close friend of Norman’s, and co-owner of the Graves Golf Academy based in Edmond, Oklahoma. “Moe said he practised so much because it made him feel good. It gave him joy,” said Graves, an expert in Norman’s single-axis swing. (Graves will coach the actor who plays Moe in the upcoming Hollywood movie about the legend.) But Graves says that golfers can improve: they just have to put in the time. According to Graves, golfers don’t need to hit thousands of balls to improve. Just putting in dedicated time– even at home or in the office – can make a mammoth difference. To overcome a bad habit, Graves says students have to reprogram their minds and bodies. Mainly, it’s a matter of moving into the correct positions. Graves advocates that his students isolate particular moves, and repeat them “over and over” for months – daily if possible. Eventually, they will “trap” the correct move, and it will integrate into the student’s overall swing which will gradually improve. “There is no quick fix,” Graves says. “Learning anything takes time and repetition.” Tim O’Connor is a journalist and president of O’Connor Golf Communications. He is the author of The Feeling of Greatness: The Moe Norman Story. He can be reached at tim@oconnorgolf.ca.
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