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1 Jan 2021 admin

Editorial – Real Driving Range VS. “Virtual” Range

It seems like forever that a typical lesson consisted of a driving range, teaching pro and a student hitting golf balls. The pro would watch the student hit balls, dispense some advice, sometimes using training aids, and then send them on their way.

While this type of lesson still exists, top teachers everywhere are turning to the technology of launch monitors, such as TrackMan, FlightScope and GC Quad. Formerly used mainly as clubfitting tools, these launch monitors are now becoming commonplace. What are the advantages vs. the disadvantages between teaching a traditional lesson and teaching a “modern” lesson?

Modern Virtual Lesson, Advantages – Launch monitors offer the advantage of measuring, plain and simple. The teacher can know whether the clubhead path was left of, right of, or right down the target line at impact. Clubface angle is also precisely measured, as is angle of attack and where on the clubface the ball was struck, as well as clubhead speed. This information can prove invaluable in measuring whether the instruction is working or not, beyond just noting the ball flight, because incremental changes may not be readily apparent by observing ball flight alone.

Modern Virtual Lesson, Disadvantages – Because things can so easily be measured by launch monitors, some students and teachers may become obsessed by the numbers at the expense of real results. A certain level of perfectionism may also set in, leading to frustration.

Traditional Range Lesson, Advantages – Focusing on the actual ball flight alone can be beneficial because that’s the only thing providing feedback. Worrying about numbers and this and that may be distracting to the student, so this solves that problem. And in the end, the student wants to hit the ball better, and ball flight is really the only arbiter in deciding if this is actually happening.

Traditional Range Lesson, Disadvantages – Being unable to measure exactly what the club and ball flight are doing can lead to guesswork. For example, a student who normally slices the ball because the clubface is open may hit a straight shot with an open clubface with contact off the toe (the “gear effect”). This gear effect can completely override the clubface angle, giving both the student and teacher the false impression the student’s clubface was square and that the swing was successful. Also, clubfitting issues may be diagnosed with launch monitors that a traditional range lesson may not be able to deduce.

By Mark Harman, USGTF Director of Education

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15 Dec 2020 admin

Essential Requirements To Be A Successful Golf Teacher

By Robert Corbo, USGTF Master, Hamilton, New Jersey

The love of the game is the first requirement to become a proficient golf instructor. That should be the easiest part. Everyone in the business started playing golf and then learned to love it.

Through the process of learning, we spend countless hours studying the great players of the past, searching for knowledge on how they improved their skills. We take lessons and learn how to practice and play the game. We learn that there are two parts to the golf swing. The first part is when the brain is processing information. We learn how to make a rehearsal swing thinking about the motion. We then process that thought into a feel and action. We are creating an overused voluntary response. This is what we refer to as muscle memory, but remember, it is a brain function.

The next thing we learn is to execute the golf shot. The brain must have something to do, so we create a pre-shot thought process that triggers the ball execution. Golf instruction and execution is an integral part of the learning process. Competition is an experience that cannot only improve your own skills, but will offer insight to what your students are feeling under the same circumstances.

There is a distinct difference that separates your own personal techniques and the correct way of pure golf instruction. With the internet at your disposal, there is a lot of advice and information on the golf swing. A teacher must be familiar with both the science of the swing (ball flight laws, etc.) and how people learn.

Communication with the student is vital to their success. Verbal instruction, hands-on demonstrations, and use of the video camera are effective teaching methods.

The technology of today offers more information for growth and personal development of your skills. Familiarizing yourself with technology such as TrackMan, simulators, and pressure pads for weight distribution are as important as the variety of golf equipment.

A successful teacher needs credentials, such as the USGTF certification. You will need to be familiar with club fitting and gripping clubs. Students need to be aware of the importance of taking care of their equipment, and how a lack of this will change their grip or the reaction of the ball off the club. Cleaning clubs and changing worn grips are part of the learning experience. Good instructors all know how a club is made and the difference between forged or cast-iron heads. Club shafts are varied, and you should know whether a graphite shaft or a steel shaft will benefit your student’s capabilities.

Continue your education to further your product knowledge of the game. The more you know, the better the teacher you will become. There are many choices to get certifications; Medicus, Rotary Golf, and The Golfing Machine are just a few to mention. Most important, the USGTF has three certification levels for you to continue your education. Remember, you are taking your hobby and turning it into a rewarding profession.

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1 Dec 2020 admin

What Hole Are You On?

By Mark Harman USGTF Director of Education, Ridgeland, South Carolina

I came across an email the other day in which the writer reflected that he was on the “back nine” of life. It got me to thinking about the fact that many of us use golf as a metaphor for life, and if I could find a way to correlate a person’s age to the 18 holes in a round of golf.

The average life span of an American is just shy of 80 years, while our Canadian friends to the north average a healthy 82! So they must be doing something we’re not, obviously, but let’s not get into that. Anyway, let’s be optimistic and say that we can expect to live to be 90 years old. Over an 18-hole round of golf, that would equate five years of our lives to each hole.

1st hole (ages 0-5). The first hole, like the first five years of our lives, holds great promise. We really haven’t started anything yet, so the first hole can set the tone for the rest of our round (life). Some studies indicate our personalities are set by the age of five; others dispute that notion. But there is no doubt that the first hole has a great deal of influence over the next 17. No less than the great Jack Nicklaus believed this.

2nd hole (ages 6-10). We’re still in the early stages of the round. Can we overcome that opening double bogey? Will the euphoria of a birdie give us false expectations for the rest of the round?

3rd hole (ages 11-15). Our round of golf is beginning to take shape. It is still early enough in the round to make amends for any mistakes from the previous two holes, but a bad start can certainly be deleterious for later in the round. If we double-bogey all three holes, we certainly have a lot of work ahead of us to undo the damage.

4th hole (ages 16-20). Just like in life, our round is maturing. By the fourth hole, we have a great sense of where this thing is headed. However, we still have plenty of time to turn around early mistakes, and a great start can be undone if we are not careful to continue to follow the fundamentals.

5th hole (ages 21-25). Well. We are certainly on our own now, and there’s no turning back. We’re also halfway through the front nine, so if we want the first half of the round to turn out well, we have to get a move on – now!

6th hole (ages 26-30). We’re somewhat at a crossroads here. We’re not entirely sure where this round is headed, but we do have a pretty good idea. If we’ve made a couple of birdies to go along with some pars, there is no reason to expect that we won’t see some smooth sailing – at least for the foreseeable future.

7th hole (ages 31-35). The round is definitely taking shape now. If we’ve made more than our fair share of bogeys, it will take a lot of good play to make something out of it at the end. But if our start has been going well to this point, we still have to keep our foot to the pedal to achieve the desired outcome later on.

8th hole (ages 36-40). Most rounds have achieved full maturity at this point, although there is still some question as to how all this will turn out. It’s possible that the entire round is ruined by now and that there is nothing we can do to salvage it. On the other hand, we may still be able to redeem it with some fine play in the next several holes.

9th hole (ages 41-45). Here it is…we are at the halfway point of our round. It is here where we first have a total score of some sort, known as the front nine. Heading for the halfway house, we ask ourselves what we could have done differently to make the first nine holes better. And even if we had some success, we will think about the one or two strokes that we inevitably let get away, no matter how well we are playing.

10th hole (ages 46-50). Now we’re turning towards the back nine, and while the round is more than halfway over, we have a new goal in mind: to shoot the best nine possible to make the outcome as good as we can. In some ways, it’s like a fresh start as a new score can be had.

11th hole (ages 51-55). Is the start of the back nine a continuation of the front nine? If we’re playing well, we certainly hope so. If it’s not, maybe we’ve turned it around and can look forward to not only reducing the damage we caused on the front nine, but to even come out better than we expect.

12th hole (ages 56-60). There is still enough time in the round to salvage something, but enough time has also passed that it may be too late.

13th hole (ages 61-65). It is here that we are starting to realize that are fate is largely determined. But yet, there’s always hope to make a final birdie or two to end things on a good note.

14th hole (ages 66-70). There’s no use kidding ourselves at this point. The finish line is in sight, but we still have the strength to accomplish a few things before it’s all said and done.

15th hole (ages 71-75). Only three holes left. Still, we have to bear down and finish the round. We have to keep our energy level up. We might surprise ourselves if we keep moving forward with a good, positive attitude.

16th hole (ages 76-80). Not much we can do at this point to change the outcome. But it’s still a minor mystery as to what the final score will be.

17th hole (ages 81-85). Now there’s only one hole left. How will people remember how we played this round?

18th hole (ages 86-90). The round is over! All the trials and tribulations are behind us, and if we played a great round, we come off the course fulfilled and happy. If we played average, we realize there are so many things we could have done better, but there are also things we did very well. And if we played poorly…well, we can at least say we learned a lot.

And finally…

19th hole (ages 91+). Yes, there is a 19th hole! If we’re lucky enough to get to the 19th hole, it is here that we can sit back in a comfortable chair and regale our friends and family with our feats of the day. Yes, we might bore someone with recounting over and over how we made eagle early in the round when we were still at full strength, or had a run of birdies late that turned everything around. It is here that we can fully relax and think back on our round, where so many thoughts might come flooding back.

If you are at the 19th hole, you deserve a good refreshment or two. And take your time doing so. The ride home will come soon enough.

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1 Dec 2020 admin

EDITORIAL – Masters History Most Special Among the Four Majors

The Open (formerly called The Open Championship, and prior to that formerly called the British Open) is the oldest of the four majors. The U.S. Open has a storied history almost as long, dating back to 1895. Next up is the PGA Championship, first played in 1916. The Master is the new kid on the block with its debut in 1934, but it can be fairly argued that the history of the Masters is the most special among the four. For one, it is played at the same location every year at perhaps the most famous golf course in the world, with apologies to the Old Course at St. Andrews. Even the most ardent of golf fans will be hard-pressed to describe all the holes on the final nine at the Old Course, but no one has any such trouble with the final nine at Augusta National. Yes, the course is that memorable and special.

The history of the tournament itself is among the most storied. Although none of us were around back then, Gene Sarazen’s double-eagle on #15 during the final round in 1935 is legendary. The 1975 edition featured a battle royal between Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller, and is still talked about to this day.

Nicklaus’ amazing 1986 victory was even better, perhaps matched only by Tiger Woods’ comeback win in 2019. Many observers and so-called “experts” thought Woods would never win another Masters title, as he was too old and could not keep up with the younger generation (as was thought about Nicklaus in ’86). He proved the doubters wrong with a textbook example of course management, attacking at the right time and playing conservatively at others. The roars on #18 after he putted out were said to be the loudest ever heard at Augusta, eclipsing even those of Nicklaus’ 1986 win.

Then there are the details people remember, both successful and not: Curtis Strange dunking two balls on #13 and #15 in 1980, costing him the title; Chip Beck laying up on #13 in 1994 while battling Bernhard Langer; Phil Mickelson pulling off the shot of a lifetime off the pine straw on #13 in 2010; Bubba Watson’s hooked wedge in 2012 during his playoff with Louis Oosthuizen, and many others, too numerous to mention here.

Nicklaus’ six victories leads the way, followed by Woods’ five. Arnold Palmer comes in next with four green jackets. Gary Player owns three of them, as does Sir Nick Faldo, Mickelson, Sam Snead and Jimmy Demaret. No matter which aspect of Masters history we choose to look at, it’s hard to say it’s not the richest in our sport.

By Mark Harman, USGTF Director of Education

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