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3 Oct 2016 Arlen Bento, USGTF Level IV Member

America’s Ryder Cup Win Shows Why Team Chemistry and Spirit are So Important – Tiger, Take a Lesson

By: Arlen Bento, WGCA contributing writer What a performance by the USA Ryder Cup team this past October. Not only were the crowds in Minnesota large and in charge, but the players finally showed what it looks like to play for something more than just yourself. In this day and age of golf with private jets, millions of dollars in endorsements and players with one major win or a few tour wins that can set themselves financially for life, it was great to watch our USA’s best just lay it out on the line for the Ryder Cup and their teammates. For those of you that follow me, you know that I feel the number one thing that separates a good golf team from a great team is team chemistry. You just can’t put a bunch of great players that only play for themselves together and expect them to win all the time against similar talent that really, truly plays for more than themselves. The USA Ryder Cup coaches did a really nice job trying to figure out who the best players would be for this team, not just by world ranking or money earned.  I think the selection process was much better, and in the end because we won, the process was validated. Patrick Reed, in my opinion, was the star.  He was so fired up with emotion and his win over Rory was amazing.  He is exactly what the USA needed.  Just one guy, playing his heart out for his team and country is a very powerful thing. The USA just wanted to win so badly compared to Europe, it made for great golf! In the past, when I watched the Ryder Cup when Tiger was on top of his game, it was always a problem to figure out who is going to play with Tiger.  That always bugged me about the team.  Tiger is so good or so dominant that no one can play with him.  I put that blame on Tiger. There was not that kind of thing this year.  Captain Davis Love did a great job of pairing players that actually looked liked they liked each other.  It was very obvious in the singles matches that the players that were put out first were chosen for a good reason: to lead the team! Hats off to the USA and the Ryder Cup win.  I think Europe played well and I am sure they are going to be ready to play in two years in Paris. 033Master Teaching Professional Arlen Bento Jr. is an award-winning golf coach, business owner, product developer and content writer living in Jensen Beach, Florida.  He is the former head golf professional at the PGA Country Club in PGA Village, Florida, and the director of golf at Eagle Marsh Golf Club in Jensen Beach.  Arlen is a “Top 100” golf instructor recognized by the World Golf Teaching Federation, with over 30,000 members in 40 countries.  

3 Oct 2016 David Hill, USGTF Level IV Member

Time To Change The Message – (Part 1)

By: Dave Hill, WGCA contributing writer During a recent lesson with a gentleman who’s been playing for over 55 years, I was able to reaffirm my belief about how golf swing instruction took a wrong turn a few decades ago.  Soon to follow is the movement toward specialized fitness for golf. I’m fully aware of the controversy of such statements, but it is imperative as golf instructors and coaches that we have a solid grasp as to why so many continue to struggle with the game. This will be a multiple-part series, and for many readers, very little may be groundbreaking information. After all, the golf swing has never truly changed throughout the years. However, our knowledge of how it can/should be performed is always improving due to research into kinesiology and technology. Interpretation, or maybe more in the case of teaching professionals, “observation” of golf swing technique, determines the approach to instruction adopted by both individuals and as a collective group. I’d like to preface the series with the notion that restricting hip rotation and weight transfer during the backswing are two instructional elements to which I don’t subscribe.  The restriction of hip rotation in order to achieve more “torque” between the upper body (shoulders if you will) and lower body (hips) in order to maximize distance need go the way of the dodo bird. It should never have been part of the instructional equation to begin with. Yet, to this day it remains pervasive throughout the golf teaching industry, so my apologies if I have insulted any readers who continue with this practice, but I implore you to cease and desist immediately or stop reading now. Returning to my lesson, the gentleman who was somewhere in the vicinity of 65 years of age plays to about a 6 handicap but was once a scratch. Naturally complaining about distance, he was under the “torque” spell, as I prefer to call it, yet he admitted he had difficulty turning. I asked him a leading question along the lines of, “There must have been a time when it was easy to turn?”  He then referred to when he was a teenager caddying at a nearby club that had hosted the Canadian Open during his tenure. The head pro was a fine player who competed during the week alongside Palmer, Player, a young Jack Nicklaus, and other greats of that generation. When the tournament was over, he asked his head pro how he could hit the ball further based on the prodigious distances all the pros could hit the ball. The answer was short and sweet: “ Keep your weight on your left foot (front foot) on the backswing.” Fast forward a couple of decades and the tune changed. We had to load on the rear foot, followed by pushing from the rear foot in order to transfer back to the front foot. Easy stuff! My goodness, whatever happened to Sam Snead’s “turn inside the barrel” advice? In returning to the lesson, it was summed up with the fact there is a difference between weight transfer and distribution of pressure on the feet. There is no need to move the COM (center of mass) laterally during the backswing in order to feel weight on the rear foot. By virtue of moving the arms, club and body rotation away from the target, pressure, rather than weight, into the rear foot can occur. In this instance, one key was implemented where the new movement quieted a former movement. Rather than stabilizing hip rotation, we increased it. How? By straightening the rear leg during the backswing. This is commonplace within most, if not all good golf swings to some degree. If I may digress, our observations, or buying into the observations, of some created a culture of misconception amongst golf instructors over decades. Next article (Part 2) – The rear leg, weight distribution, how the spine turns

27 Sep 2016 David Hill, USGTF Level IV Member

Long Live The King

By: Dave Hill WGCA contributing writer Arnold Palmer came from humble beginnings. As a boy, he was not permitted in the clubhouse at Latrobe Country Club, where his father oversaw the duties as head professional and greenskeeper. However, this did not stop him from becoming the legend everyone could not help but love. We could give Arnie every admirable adjective under the sun to describe his character, and he’s deserving of them all. Arnold Palmer truly brought the game to the masses. He took nothing for granted, which is likely a tribute to his roots and upbringing in the small working-class town of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. On the day following his passing, I’m thinking about the state of the game when he entered the scene compared to now. It makes me think we’ve perhaps forgotten about the roots of the game, a game Arnold not only loved, but wanted everyone to play by sharing his passion in a such a modest and humane fashion, which was his gift to us all. Is it fair to state one person can change the tide of an industry or culture? If anyone did, it was certainly Arnold Palmer. In the history of the game, there has been no one like him. Yes, we had Walter Hagen’s bravado, which broke down doors for professionals, and John Daly’s appeal to the working-class guy. However, the persona of Arnie was all-encompassing, not only in North America, but worldwide. In Japan alone, the Arnold Palmer brand is iconic, as it is fashionable and expands well beyond the world of golf. Perhaps the best way to describe Arnold is in the form of an oxymoron – “a humble jetsetter” – and in literal terms, he was. So the question or questions now are, is it possible to ask a player, any player, to take on such a role? Is there a player out there who can, wants to, or has the persona to do so? Perhaps not, but what we are witnessing is a younger, newer breed of professionals who seem to be getting it right. The first name that comes to mind is Rickie Fowler. His brand seems to have crossed over to different demographics. He is the consummate gentleman, has a swashbuckling appeal both on and off the course, and his game shows signs of brilliance at times. He is no doubt a fan favorite, but the torch in today’s game is too big to carry alone. It is important for the growth of the game that today’s and tomorrow’s biggest names take a page out of Arnie’s legacy and continue to carry the bright torch he carried throughout his life.