Editorial

23 Dec 2015 Corina Pelloni

CONTRIVED VS. NATURAL SWING

I’ll begin by acknowledging that this article may seem designed for the better player and I do hope my better players take heed, but I think we, as teachers, should always keep an eye to the future with our beginners. I want them to pursue scratch golf and they must be able to take their “range game” to the course. What I notice, increasingly, are range players who think hard about the motion of their swing in pursuit of “correctness” instead of reliability. I’ve gotten into the habit of asking myself, “Is that player using their contrived swing or natural swing?” This happens most with the highly trained athlete who has gained some level of success. That taste of success now leads them to want to improve with every practice session or every swing, to be exact. What do you feel? Is it forced movement? Do you painstakingly place each hand on the club, fidgeting until they feel powerfully melded? Then there is a ritualistic spread of the feet. It is time now to stare at the ball, double- and triple-checking all known mechanics. Now you begin your swing by moving your tense arms away, trying to keep them straight, to create width. The downswing is a function of dragging the handle into the ball, with as much lag as possible, so that players can jump to the sky and throw their hands at the ball in hopes of getting the clubhead to show back up in front of them. Now the handle must be quickly yanked left to “saw off” the finish. Lovely. Does it have to be this way? Does it need to be this way? I believe, as is many times true, we are looking so far away from us for “advanced knowledge” that we can’t see what is right in front of us. I believe that it is more important to swing naturally than it is to swing correctly. It is not like every swing on TV, the pro tour, is identical. In fact, they are all different. Better players treat their swing like it must always be governed with scrutiny, like it will run amok if they let it go free. I believe the opposite is true. Control comes from natural movement. Most of the best moves we make while swinging come from allowing things to happen, rather than making them happen. You hear some of the greatest swingers of the club we have ever known speak of the importance of soft grip pressure. For some players, this notion is unattainable within their “pressured” swing. There is: grip pressure, forced width, pressure into the ground, onto the shaft, at the ball and onto the side of our left foot. Will this contrived, pressure swing hold up under the pressure of competition? Soft grip pressure, the tube of toothpaste or holding a baby bird, speaks to relaxation and symmetrical movement. Some of that relaxation comes from affirmative movement. In other words, the longer you stand over the ball, the less your chances are of making a smooth swing. Think of our evidence of natural affirmative movement. Does anyone ever chunk a practice swing? You miss a three-foot putt and make the repeat every time. You kill the provisional ball. You run down the court at full speed, dribbling a ball you never look at. You pull up and rise to shoot a jumper that hits nothing but net. You field a ground ball, look up at the first baseman’s chest and throw a strike that hits his mitt just before the runner touches the bag. How did I just do that? You performed so well because you didn’t bog down the physical act with too much conscious thought. Why does the opposing team call two timeouts before the player shoots the game-winning free throw or kicks the crucial field goal? It is to break the player’s train of thought and invite in conscious thought. In golf, with so much time on our hands between shots, we must learn to pull the trigger quickly and subconsciously. In conjunction with the things that every player must learn to be a scratch golfer, I teach my players to be aware of the need for, and work to establish, a “window of opportunity.”  This safe haven is where we can perform out of an affirmative, subconscious group of movements. I ask them to hold the club up in front of them and, while looking at the clubface, softly place their hands on the club. Then posture the club to the ground and approach the ball. With our feet together set the club behind the ball (one thousand one). Then we slide our left foot toward the target and form our ball position (one thousand two). Next we look up at the target as we slide our right foot back and make the width of our stance (one thousand three). Once aligned, we calmly look back down at the ball (one thousand four). As our mind naturally goes to one thousand five, we begin our swing by feeling the middle of our body turn. The left hip is a great area to focus on, moving toward the middle of our stance, to begin the swing. It is important to realize that your arms must be heavy and relaxed, ready to submit to the swinging action supplied by the body. This is how your true, natural golf swing will come alive. If you grab the grip and yank the club back or your arms are tight and tense, you are not really swinging the club in the truest sense. Your hands never move your hands, in a real golf swing. Think about that statement until it makes sense to you and go out a practice it. This whole action is over within a five count. Many students, myself included, felt rushed, like I was being pushed out of a plane. As I stood hitting balls, I quickly realized that the results were at least as good as the contrived swing and were getting better by the second. Be patient and enjoy the new thought process. My mental thought went from that of “hurry up” to feeling like “I need to go now.” Now, I know this shot will be over in less than five seconds and I feel confident in my assertive nature. I am not giving myself time to “call timeouts” before I perform the swing. As I mentioned earlier, symmetry is important to giving your swing to your instincts. Hands need to be relaxed and neutral. If, in your stance, you turn your right foot to the right slightly, then the left foot must be turned slightly to the left. When in a stance, there is a line between my right shoulder and right hip. The same is true on the other side of my body. With my arms hanging in front of me and my elbows pointing at my hip bones (Hogan),  my elbows rest on the line between my hip and shoulder on each side of my body. As I begin, my left hip turns in toward the ball and my right side will swing away together, keeping my right hip, elbow and shoulder lined up. It is then a very natural movement to return toward my address position as I then move through the ball. The same thing that happened on the back swing (hip, elbow, shoulder) will happen again on the left side of my body. Soon we realize that any excess tension, especially our elbows, impedes our feel and pursuit of our most natural swing. Our elbows act as a natural hinge in a swinging motion, so they must bend in the same way on each side of our body, for our swing to reflect a circular motion. Again, our natural swing takes affirmative motion, symmetry and relaxation. How will this translate to wedge play? Think of how we see some players on the pro tour struggling to pitch basic wedges. I guarantee that, while working on the “action” in their full swing and forcing their arm movement, they have lost the natural feeling of swinging relaxed, heavy arms. They will have to practice their natural swing for long enough, without trying to make changes every practice session and then their wedge game will come back to a great level. I realize that some wedge shots require a quick cock of the shaft or a contrived swing to accommodate the lie or circumstance. The point is, we can easily contrive a swing “every so often” to design a shot, but we don’t want to live in a contrived swing. The same is true with putting. Use the “window of opportunity” you create for your full swing and stay within that time frame to play all shots on the green. This type of practice will heal a busted golf swing. It will help your tournament golfers gather another valuable level of confidence to take into competition. Although I am initially specific about the pre-shot routine, I know each golfer will make this idea their own and that is the mission to accomplish. It has been interesting for me to see the changes come about. My grip got a little weaker as a result of the relaxed left arm aiding the “correct” release. I am touching the ground with much more precision, allowing the club to run its course, rather than striking at the ground. The curvature of the ball is much less, as my grip can serve its actual purpose, to build a “tendency” for the clubface at impact. As I began this article, this advice is most useful for the accomplished golfer who has already put in the time to build a competent swing but, is part also of the necessary learning process for any golfer. Finally, the game in general and everyone who plays will benefit from the quicker pace of play. Golfers like Sam Snead and Jim Furyk, with vastly different swings, have trusted their natural swing to bring them to the top of professional golf. I believe one day instruction will go away from robotic action and seeming precision, in favor of instinctive athletic movement…the sooner the better.

23 Dec 2015 Corina Pelloni

PAYING THE PRICE

We have all heard phrases about working hard to be successful or willing to never quit.  There are phrases on t-shirts, posters, and even coffee mugs.  The great Ben Hogan said to become great at golf, you need to “dig it out of the dirt,” meaning hitting a lot of range balls.  I’m sure your parents or mentors have also reinforced the philosophy that perseverance is the key to greatness. Even though hard work is important, I believe many of these phrases leave out an important fact.  You must love the sacrifice that hard work requires to reach your goals.  Let’s think about someone wanting to lose weight and get into the best shape of their life.  They can read some nutritional books, buy healthy foods and even join a gym.  Doing this might help them lose a few pounds, but unless they love the feeling of sore muscles and the hours of being in a gym, they won’t attain their ultimate goal.  They must fall in love with the sacrifice of being a gym rat, sore muscles and all. In golf teaching, we tell our students they must invest in the work to enjoy the outcomes.  I think we need to add into the equation that our students must also love the sacrifice of what will happen to become a great player.  Hours working on the range means calluses on their hands and missing out on times with friends.  It means getting their body into shape to perform the best it can and knowing they will also be facing a tough mental game.  It’s overcoming these challenges that bring the most satisfaction. It’s easy to tell someone to work hard or that they need to push themselves.  As golf teaching professionals, we need to help our students understand the sacrifices that come with becoming great.  No one list will be right; no one list will be wrong.  Share your challenges and the resulting successes with your students so they embrace the struggle of becoming great, as opposed to just dreaming it.

19 Nov 2015 Corina Pelloni

MARKETING YOURSELF

I was recently in an office waiting for my appointment when a salesman walked through the door.  He worked for the local phone book company.  I was close enough to hear his conversation with the office manager.  She explained that most of their advertising is done via website and social media.  From his response, I could tell that it appeared as though he had heard that a few times. I started thinking about the way that we, as golf teaching professionals, market ourselves.  How many do people use the phone book to look up golf instructors?  I would guess not many, if any.  Websites are a great way to reach potential students, but there is cost associated with it.  Social media is free and fairly easy to create.  Between Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, an instructor can reach a lot of people. When giving lessons, ask your students if it’s okay to use their photos and name on your social media page.  After receiving permission, tag them in your post, and all their friends have visibility.  This is a great way to market yourself without spending money.  The only expense is your time.  Some of our colleagues like Matt Smith, Jim Perez and Bruce Sims use Facebook regularly for their teaching business.  All three of them have been extremely successful in using this marketing tool. Most of us are independent contractors; we need to constantly advertise to help grow our business.  If you haven’t looked into social media, please do.  Good luck and happy teaching!

19 Nov 2015 Corina Pelloni

THE TARGET – TO BE OR NOT TO BE?

As Yogi Berra once said, baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical. Golf, therefore, golf must be at least half that, correct? Ah, the mental game! What an all encompassing topic. Everything from our emotions and tactics to routine, visualization, swing thoughts, and much more.

At a recent conference I attended, we were told the pre-eminent swing thought of all elite golfers (professional and amateur alike) in some form or another is always target-based. Apparently and according to some experts, there are studies (I don’t know which ones) demonstrating how this is a fact. In this same conference, a race car driver analogy was given, explaining how the driver only visualizes and focuses on the car’s trajectory or direction; hence, always target-oriented, and golf, like all sports, is no different. Whoa! Back up a little! I could get into the comparing of sports in how golf combines many postures controlled by the extrapyramidal system, which is only one of the reasons golf is difficult and why only focusing on the target is not always effective. I could discuss the idea of how in golf we have not only our outer eye, but also our inner eye, which helps us visualize things far more complex than the ball’s trajectory toward the target. I could expand on how the game of golf and its inherent actions and inactions are not completely geared as a sport of reaction compared to other sports. It would also be fair to discuss how in most shots our eyes are not directed toward our target, where the ball ultimately should finish. It would also be relevant to discuss how our paradigm of thinking, as espoused to us by many well-known sport psychologists, has been shifted over the years toward narrowing down our thoughts to the target. I could discuss each of the aforementioned and then some, but a SWING THOUGHT FORUM would be far more insightful and beneficial to the world of golf. We should ask ourselves this question as golf instructors and coaches: Does the idea of focusing on the target as a swing thought help us, impede us, or both? The brain is very complex, as we know, yet in all its complexity, it is our steering wheel. The target is out there as is the race track. Do we need intent or awareness? If awareness, is it heightened awareness or vague? These are valid questions, because intent and awareness are two different things and can be correlated toward the target or a different stimulus altogether. A keen target focus often leads a golfer toward a series of compensations and golf club manipulations. This was demonstrated years ago by Fred Shoemaker, who wrote Extraordinary Golf. Some may disagree, as he had his students throw a club toward a target with great success. Therefore, perhaps the ball is the problem? The ball is only the problem when we try to hurtle it toward a target. Perhaps now we’re uncovering the real truth. Golfers of all levels around the world can deliver the ball long and straight toward their respective target on a driving range. Introduce a definitive target with the real-world consequence of failure, as awaits us on the golf course, and now we enter the realm of the unknown: the proper swing thought(s). I look forward to hearing from many of you as this topic is vast and merits much discourse.  

19 Nov 2015 Corina Pelloni

GREAT NEW TOOL TO HELP GOLFERS UNDERSTAND THE INNER GAME

As a golf coach, I am always looking for new ways to improve my coaching and my instruction program for my players and students. Over the years, I have been fortunate to help coach and develop some very good players.  At my indoor studio in Stuart, Florida, I have built a lot of great golf swings that have progressed into multiple all-area high school players and college players. As a coach, you learn that once the swing has been developed and the skill levels are achieved, it all comes down to the mental game and how the players think as they play and the way that they handle adversity on the course. Every now and then, a breakthrough technology comes along that improves the teaching process. Recently, I have come across a new kind of breakthrough technology that could really help the way I interact with my players, imapMyGolf. The imapMyGolf program is a mental golf game mapping technology product that gives the coach a powerful tool to help the player develop a mental approach that then can be brought to the golf course. Players take an online questionnaire that takes about 15 minutes to complete. Questions are detailed but simple to answer.  At the completion of the questionnaire, the system then generates a player report that the student gets to see right away and sends me, the coach, a coach’s report. The coach’s report has a lot more details about my player or student than the player’s report.  It gives me insight into the player’s inner game and how they look at themselves and the people they play with. The report is very easy to understand and gives me a lot of things to work on with my players in practice, on the course, and in the lesson studio. Are they methodical and analytical, or are they imaginative and creative? How do they respond to stressful situations on the golf course? Armed with this type of in depth information, I can structure lessons that are more effective. The system is based online and is free for the coach to use; the players pay for the online questionnaire online. Please email me at arlenbentojr@gmail.com or visit my website at www.arlenbentojr.com. Master Teaching Professional Arlen Bento Jr. is a golf coach, golf sales business owner, golf product developer and golf writer living in Jensen Beach, Florida.   He is a former professional tournament player and is a national award-winning head golf professional at the PGA Country Club at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, FL.  He can be reached by email atarlenbentojr@gmail.com or visit his website www.arlenbentojr.com. You can follow him onTwitterwww.twitter.com/ArlenBentoJr, on Facebook www.facebook.com/arlenbentojr or on his bloghttp://arlenbentojr.blogspot.com

4 Nov 2015 Corina Pelloni

GOOD ANGER

We have all heard someone on TV or in person say a four-letter word after a bad shot.  Sometimes we might shake our heads, and other times we might understand the frustration.  How much anger should a player release after a bad shot? Some teachers say to stay level through the whole round, never getting too high or too low.  Others say to play with all emotions out for the world to see.  My preference falls in the middle.  As a player, you will have highs and lows in every round.  You need to be able to handle those mood changes to get the best out of your round. My motto has always been to give yourself five seconds to either celebrate a great shot or be upset about a poor one.  I explain that this time should be used for an internal conversation.  You don’t need to do a cartwheel or throw a club during the five-second pause, but it’s okay have a little pep talk with yourself. I’m sure we are all guilty of losing our temper at some point.  Maybe throwing a club, saying some bad words a little too loud, or making a scene.  There are a few things that are wrong with this: it disrupts your playing partners and it gets your emotional state too high, which can affect the next shot. Next time you’re teaching or playing, try to give yourself a five-second period to celebrate or criticize your golf shot.  Talk to yourself and no one else.  Once this time passes, begin to focus on the next shot.  Hopefully this will help turn bad anger into a focused, good anger.

28 Oct 2015 Corina Pelloni

VISUALIZATION–PART OF YOUR PRE-SHOT ROUTINE

Pre-shot routine is generally seen as the series of events leading up to the playing of a golf shot. These repetitive movements. as the term “routine” implies, are a great benefit to consistent shotmaking. If you know what you did before you swung the club (grip, stance, ball position), then all you are trying to retrieve is what the swing felt like. You must re-trace your steps to build the ability to set up to the ball with a high level of consistency. Also, this routine builds a safe haven that keeps pressure away from us. We end up creating a “window of opportunity” that allows us to feel the optimum time for us to swing the club. I teach my students that visualization, seeing the successful result, is as important as anything else in our pre-shot routine. I ask them to look at the target while aiming. Then, once they are satisfied that they are set up properly, they must have one last look that involves picturing the ball flying toward the target the way they had hoped. When they look down at the ball to swing, they must be within seconds of a very pleasant, successful picture in their mind. In the sales world, it is called the “suggestive sell.” During that sales call, you must ask questions that only get a “yes” answer. People don’t just call me and ask for a lesson. They say, “What time today can I have a lesson?” We ask our students to be optimistic. I ask them to try to think of only what they want. If they find themselves worrying about potential doom, quickly jump on that thought with a “not today, not this time” rebound thought. It takes real practice, and we do not have the same emotions on a daily basis. An affirmative series of actions greatly improves your chances of a good result. Before you play the pitch shot, you walk half way beside the shot and judge the depth. From that, you decide on a landing spot, which is based upon the lie and the club best suited for that lie. Then, you make practice swings thinking about and looking at the landing spot. All of this is a visualization exercise based upon having played this shot successfully before. This is called “playing golf,” rather than just chasing your ball around the course. Before you roll the putt, roll it with your eyes and see it going in, at exactly the right speed and the perfect part of the hole. Give your mind something it can work with. Your nerves will appreciate the mental support, as well. Much has been made lately of Jason Day closing his eyes to see his shot before he approaches the ball. He has been doing this for awhile, but his spectacular success this year has brought it to the forefront. This type of advice, when given to younger people, many times is discounted, so I never miss an opportunity to build vision while practicing and when analyzing a round. Any time a player tells me they are having trouble taking their range game to the course, they get the speech about practicing like they play, simulating playing conditions and visualizing. At the level of professional golf, where everyone hits the ball at a high level, mental skills are a separating point. Optimism, composure, and a mind that paints a vivid picture of success are the intangibles that save strokes and win tournaments. You must VISUALIZE TO REALIZE!  

28 Oct 2015 Corina Pelloni

GOLF ON YOU TUBE: THE GOOD AND THE EVIL

For those of us over 40, YouTube means funny cat videos and crazy athletic stunts. For some instructors, You Tube is a way to market your business and reach out to students you never thought you would have the chance to help. Just as it pertains to other aspects of life, the Internet is a double-edged sword. For the well-connected instructor, YouTube can be a great learning tool, especially when it comes to technical subjects like ball flight, launch monitors, or how to use a training aid. If you have clients under 30, chances are they watch YouTube for help with their golf game. This begs the question: Is this media avenue helping or hurting the golf teaching professional? Most of the millennial generation grew up connecting with technology. Smartphones, the Golf Channel and interactive video platforms substituted for human interaction. For them, reaching out to the Internet for help with their slice is completely natural. Personally, if I don’t know how to fix something, I search for help on our YouTube friend. As we that teach the game know, feel is difficult to teach. Any sports coach or instructor will agree. This is even truer in golf. The key to learning a good swing or changing a swing is to feel what you are trying to do. For the best instructors, that means being interactive with your student, teaching the feel of the swing through engaging them physically. That could also mean devising a drill or exercise that teaches the feel you are trying to create for that particular individual, understanding that every golf swing is different and unique therefore the feel will be different for each and every golfer. So, how can they learn from their computer screen? There are definitely aspects of the game one can learn from watching demonstrations or listening to a well-informed instructor. Unfortunately, I see too many younger players trying to learn technique, or fix technique from YouTube videos. Learning the feel of a correct grip, understanding that the correct grip for each golfer could vary, is a great example of there not being a replacement for a an actual instructor placing the club in the hand. Working with the golfer to teach the feel of takeaway or transition is another example. We could think of hundreds of different reasons why replacing a person with a video is not a good way to learn the game. Of course, anything that brings attention or players to the game is good for golf. The Internet is a great platform to promote the game and for instructors to showcase their talent. The danger comes when the instructor promotes the Internet as a way to learn the game. When using the Internet, I would caution instructors to be careful not to promote their videos as the answer to the golfer’s problems. Use it in well-thought-out ways, but don’t promote it as the replacement for the one-on-one interaction that golfers need.

6 Oct 2015 Corina Pelloni

DO WE REALLY NEED A PRESIDENTS CUP?

I love the Ryder Cup. Lots of tradition dating all the way back to 1927 at Worcester Country Club. Unfortunately, it’s a course that would never be considered for any event in the modern era. But that’s another discussion. I always look forward to the Ryder Cup matches. The Presidents Cup, not so much. Not that there aren’t good players involved; it just seems to be a contrived event to me. I believe it was started out of envy. The PGA Tour, not involved in the Ryder Cup, decided to create an event to call its own. It does get plenty of attention, so in that aspect I guess most of the golf world is happy. I just don’t find it that interesting. But hey, that is just me. Something I think would be really exciting would be a way to incorporate another team into the Ryder Cup. A triangular match between the USA, Europe, and the rest of the world. That would be cool. Impossible you say. What about all that tradition I mentioned? Well, there is precedent. Remember, the Ryder Cup was originally contested by the U.S. and Great Britain. It got so one-sided that Jack Nicklaus suggested that players from Europe be added to even the score. Maybe it is time to consider a new wrinkle. Golf is an international game more so now than ever before. A worldwide Ryder Cup competition would really be electric. Could it happen? Maybe. Will it happen? Unlikely. Too many cooks to spoil the broth.

6 Oct 2015 Corina Pelloni

BAD COURSE CONDITIONS

If you watch golf on TV every weekend, you will see beautiful golf courses in perfect condition.  The players rave about how good the greens are and how nice the course is.  For most of us, this might not be the case.  Many people may not even be aware that the “tour” courses are closed down for weeks, if not a month, prior to the event.  And most “tour” events are held in locations where monthly dues are extremely high. I recently met with a student who played a tournament on a course that was not in very good condition.  He complained that the greens were bumpy and the fairways were too thin.  If you have played golf at any level, you have experienced this.  I heard a story about the great Gary Player saying that he loved fast greens when he was playing on them; then he said he loved slow greens a few weeks later playing a tournament on slow greens.  When asked which greens he liked, fast or slow, he responded he loved any greens he played on. I told my student this story.  Of course, I also had to add in a few other comments about not complaining and understanding that sometimes golf is not fair.  At the very least, he needed to work on becoming mentally tough, allowing his competition to be the one to complain.  We are all going to show up to an event, either a fun round with friends or a national tournament, and there is a chance the course will not be in the greatest condition.  We have a choice.  We can complain and let it affect our play in a negative way, or we can get excited, knowing a lot of the players won’t be in contention because they can’t mentally handle playing poor conditions.