2017 Summer Issue

20 Nov 2017 admin

A Revolutionary Approach to Putting

By Dr. Gerald A. Walford USGTF Certified Golf Teaching Professional® The Villages, Florida

Take a golf ball and pick a target, either on a golf green or your carpet at home. Crouch or bend over as you would in rolling a bowling ball. Roll the ball to the target. Chances are you rolled the ball accurately. You have just executed the way you should putt.

You stood facing the target, looked at the target and rolled the ball with your dominant arm. You did not use two hands, because if you used two hands it would be difficult to roll the ball accurately. The roll is a one-arm swing. You did not tell yourself how hard to roll the ball. You looked at the target and your eyes told your muscles how hard to roll the ball.

Very often when putting, we putt with two hands facing 90° away from the target. We look at the target, tell ourselves how hard to hit the ball, then look at the ball and then stroke the ball. Very often, if the first putt was long, our next putt was short. When the first putt goes long, we tell ourselves to hit the next putt easier, and as a result, we end up short. This dilemma occurs when our mind is telling us how hard to hit the putt and the eyes are telling us how hard to hit the putt. This results in confusion between the eyesight and the mind.

We practice trying to take the putting stroke straight back and straight through. With the conventional stance, we are fighting biomechanics and the laws of physics. When we stand erect, our arms swing around the body in an arc and so does the putter head. Ball placement in this arc must be accurate or the ball will go to the right or to the left of the target.

Putting is a one-armed stroke. We did not roll the ball to the target with two hands. The following is a putting method, called revolutionary by some, and loved by many because of the success they have achieved stroking the ball to the target with excellent distance control.

Select your putter. The length of the putter does not matter. Just remember, with the long putter, do not anchor the end of the putter to your body. Instead, you will anchor your elbow nearest the target to the side of your body. This stabilizes the top hand for the putting stroke. The length of the putter will determine the amount your body will bend over.

The top hand or arm anchors to the body with the elbow no matter the length of the putter. This arm is your stabilizer. It stabilizes the putter for the stroke. The lower hand assumes a split grip that can vary in length, but give it a good split because this is your putting stroke just like you rolled the ball to the target with your hand.

This is the stance. An open stance is used to aid in the putter moving straight back. The front elbow is locked to the body instead of the putter locking to the body. Individual preference will determine the amount of open stance needed. The yard-stick shows the target line.

The body is in an open position, very much open, at least 45°. As you will notice in the photos, simply pull the back arm and elbow back and then push the forearm forward through the ball to the target. You will notice the putter head go straight back and straight through naturally to the target. This is the key. The open stance gives the pull-back by the elbow a straight line to the stroke and target. This is natural and within the laws of physics; no adjustments to the swing are made. The putt must go straight.

Try this. With a ball in hand, roll it to a target and notice how far your hand swings back and through. Do this several times until you get a good feel as to how far the ball rolls with how far your hand swings back. Do the same thing with different targets and different lengths. Now take your putter and putt the ball to these targets. You will notice and feel how the hand swung back the same distance with the putter as when you rolled the ball to the same target.

I taught this to a club pro, and his routine for every putt would be to swing his arm with an imaginary ball to the target. He then got the feel for the putt’s distance. He would then stroke the ball to the same arm swing. He qualified for the U.S. Open.

As an aid to distance control, some have found that for every inch of backswing the ball will roll 1 foot or 2 feet depending on the individual. Some will take their putter and use the length of the putter blade to determine their backswing length. If the putter is 4 inches long, a golfer can measure 4, 8, 12 inches, etc., for his backswing length. The golfer can then place the back foot at this length and swing the putter back to the toe and then through the ball.

As you go to putt, look at the hole and feel the distance. Then look at the ball and stroke the ball quickly. Wait too long and the feel will be lost. Do not tell yourself how hard to stroke the ball. The eyes know and have told the body. As you stroke the ball, keep the image of the target’s distance in your mind and let the feel just hap-pen as you did when you rolled the ball from your hand.

The elbow pulls back. The body is stationary. Notice how the putter blade has moved straight back. No arc.

Notice how the putter blade has moved through the ball in a straight line as the back forearm is pushed to the target. No body movement except for the back shoulder which will have moved slightly to the target after the ball has been struck. The front arm is a stable rod and the back arm is a piston pushing the ball to the target.

14 Nov 2017 admin

Something’s Wrong Somewhere

By Bob Mullen USGTF Master Golf Teaching Professional, Wichita, Kansas

The year was 1975, and golfing legend Sam Snead had just read a Golf Digest report on the average score of the male golfer; he was dismayed to learn it was 100. He considered all the improvements he had witnessed over the years in equipment, course maintenance and availability of instruction, and concluded there was no reason the average golfer should be scoring that high. He wrote, “Something’s wrong some-where.”

With his book Simple Key Approach to Golf, Sam set out to provide simplified instruction to address what was “wrong.” This book was one of eleven books Sam wrote, believing in his books somewhere would be the answer that would help the average golfer. Snead was not alone: almost every notable professional golfer and teacher has written one or more books on the fundamentals of our game. I have read and studied the books written, not just by Snead but by Jones, Hogan, Palmer, Penick, Nicklaus and Watson, and I admit I also thought I had the answer. I gave writing my own book a try in2009.

Since the time of Snead’s statement, 40 years have passed and millions of words of instruction have been written. We now have teachers on the web, more than a dozen magazines and countless training camps, schools and academies, all teaching the basic fundamentals and giving tips on how to play the game. The equipment has undergone major changes in design. Golfers can choose steel, graphite, or composite shafts with custom kick points. Heads come in graphite, titanium, or carbon fiber with fusion technologies that can only be described as space age.

It all amounts to lighter, stronger clubs with bigger sweet spots that are easier for the golfer to hit. Courses are now immaculate in every respect, greens putt truer and, thanks to the USGTF, instruction is uniform and directed toward the correct fundamentals. Golf ball technology alone should make the game easier. All of this combines to make the golfing experience vastly improved and should result in better performance by the average golfer. It is hard to believe, but the latest report published by the National Golf Foundation in 2016shows the average male golfer still shoots 100.

So, what is the story? Sam was right in 1965, and he is still right today, something is wrong. But it’s probably not what you are thinking. If you teach what the US-GTF offers, and your students learn, they will have the opportunity to develop the best game they are capable of playing. So, if that is true, then what is wrong?

I make no claim to being an expert in neurology, but I have spent the past ten years studying how the brain works because of my involvement with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and lately because of my interest in muscle movement and motor control by the brain. I have spent the last three years learning a solution to the problem. The complete answer appears in my new book, Golf: Learn from the Legends.

I can give you a good look at the answer in this article. What’s wrong is not what we are teaching, but how we are teaching. We work hard at explaining how to perform motor skills. But we don’t tell our students how they learn motor skills. We tell them to practice, but we don’t tell them how necessary this practice is and what the consequences are if they fail to practice. We don’t tell them that it all deals with the brain and how the brain absorbs information. We should all be aware by now that that muscle memory is a very inexact term often used to describe complex signals that travel from our brain to our muscles every time we need a muscle to contract or relax. Everything we do in teaching golf is teaching the brain how to send signals via electric impulses to the muscles to contract or relax so that the proper coordinated action can take place. If there is no message from the brain, there is no movement in the muscle. There is no muscle memory.

New brain-scan technologies have been developed and used on people with damaged brains. They needed to relearn everything from walking to talking. The imaging observed by the neuroscientists showed pat-terns on how this relearning was taking place. It is no longer guesswork, and we now know how motor skills are learned. First, the information goes to your frontal cortex, which is the thinking part of your brain. Here, it is memorized and the action is analyzed, and then sent to the motor cortex for assignment to muscles through the cerebellum prior to being sent to its destination via your spine. Initially, the skill is not permanently learned and must be thought about each time you want to re-peat the action. The skill must be practiced daily and it must be perfect practice, or the skill will not be learned perfectly. Each practice effort must be correct. Practice sessions must be short and exact. These sessions are building neural patterns in the motor cortex. This is called the cognitive stage of learning. It is stage one.

Since the student must rely on his/her memory in the cognitive stage, you must be aware that there is a capacity problem in the frontal cortex. This is where all the thought processes for the individual take place, and only seven items can exist in the working memory function. It is best that you do not overload the frontal cortex by trying to learn or teach more than one motor skill at a time. Do not confuse the learning process.

The object in stage one is to practice the motor skill daily. The recruiting of neurons in the motor cortex will take about 10 to 14 days. Once a sufficient bundle is created, you will have reached stage two, or the associative stage of learning. In this stage, you do not have to rely on your memory each time you want to repeat the skill. From time to time you will have problems, but for the most part you have learned this skill.

Practice of the skill in stage two refines your ability to perform. The large muscle groups are joined by the fine muscle groups, and your performance becomes smoother and you act less like a “klutz.” During the associative stage, you can take on another new skill. You may have several skills in your game that have reached the associative stage, and you should manage your practice time and drills to move them ahead to keep your game in balance.

The third stage is the autonomous stage. This is the stage you have for the majority of your motor skills like walking and eating and riding a bike. You don’t even think about how you do these tasks. This is the destination for your golf skills. Stand up to the ball and be comfortable with your swing. You can then focus on course management. That is when golf is really fun.

• Memorization takes place in Stage One in the Frontal Cortex. If you practice the skill, you can move it to the Motor Cortex. If you don’t practice, you will lose the skill.• Permanent learning begins in the Associative Stage in the Motor Cortex as neurons are recruited through repeated practice. This will happen after about ten days. Your continuous practice builds a neuron bundle in the Motor Cortex, recruiting more and more neurons and refining the muscle patterns used to perform the skill. This level begins after 10-14 days and lasts for months to years, depending on your dedication.• In Stage Three, you will recruit neurons in every region of your brain. The skill is permanent and autonomous. This takes hours and hours of dedicated and continuous practice. This is the level you want to attain.

9 Nov 2017 admin

Making The Most Of What You Have

By Mark Harman USGTF Course Director Ridgeland, South Carolina

When Sally J. Sportsman interviewed me for her article in this magazine, “Teaching and Modeling a Winning Mindset” (page 17), she asked me a question that took some thought on my part to answer: “How do you know when you’re as good as you’re ever going to get?”

It’s a question that has undoubtedly bedeviled golfers for centuries, and we see its effects on golfers today, including those in the professional ranks. It’s a question that is difficult to answer without some contemplation.

One of the allures of golf is the intermittent reinforcement nature of the game, which researchers have found is a lynchpin of addiction. Gambling also offers such reinforcement, so it’s no stretch to say that golf can become addicting. There’s also an addiction to improvement for many golfers, convinced that there must be a more automatic way for them to swing the club. Golf instruction has always been popular, but never more so than in our modern age, with YouTube videos and instructional websites, not to mention the more traditional avenues of books and magazines.

The seduction of improvement happens because, no matter how good you get at golf, you are still going to make a ton of mistakes of varying degrees. When he was at the top of his game, Ben Hogan said it was typical for him to hit only one or two shots that came off “exactly as planned.” Giving the exacting standards of Hogan, this is understandable, but it also points to an interesting paradox (and you are free to call it “Harman’s Paradox”): The better you get at golf, the fewer the shots you consider good will be hit.

On the surface, that seems to make no sense at all, because if you are getting better at golf, you must be hitting better shots, right? Of course. But the paradox is in what constitutes a good shot for a person of a particular skill level. A bogey golfer may consider it to be a good shot if he hits the green from 100 yards out, while a scratch golfer may be unhappy if he winds up with a 25-foot putt in the same situation. It is for this reason that I have often told people that I believe a lot of bogey golfers actually have more fun playing the game than many scratch golfers!

This isn’t to say that we should never strive to improve. I graduated from college with a competitive scoring average of 80.1 my senior year, hardly a harbinger of successfully playing professional golf in the future. Although the first job I landed out of college was a typical 40-hour per week job, the hours varied such that I could spend a fair amount of time working on my game. I continued to improve until I reached a 1 handicap, turned pro, and eventually won 17 professional events overall. I have advanced to U.S. Open Sectional qualifying twice, signifying I was one of the 750 best golfers in the country those respective years, so it is indeed gratifying to be able to play the game at a high level.

But still, no matter how good a round of golf I may have played, there was always the frustration of the vast majority of my shots being mishits, as strange as that may seem. So while I never came close to reaching the level of Hogan, I can understand where he’s coming from when he made his famous statement. Having said all of this, and while I do believe some scratch golfers are some of the unhappiest ones out there, it’s more satisfying to play the game at a higher level that you did previously.

Everything I’ve written so far is the setup for the question asked in the first paragraph. The best answer I can come up with is, “You can never know when you’re as good as you’re ever going to get until well after the fact.” Some examples will bear this out.

Nick Faldo was convinced in the early 1980sthat he was capable of more, and went to see David Leadbetter. After a two-year process, Faldo had completely re-worked his swing and became a six-time major champion.

Somewhere in the middle is Tiger Woods. After having played what was arguably the finest golf ever seen from the 2000 U.S. Open to the 2001 Masters, Woods left his coach, Butch Harmon, to work with Hank Haney. After a lull, Woods returned to his winning ways, capturing trophies at the same rate but not with the same dominance.

And then there are cases like Derek Ernst. After winning the Wells Fargo Championship in 2013,the very next day he set about changing his swing, saying now was the time since he had the luxury of a two-year exemption. Unfortunately, to date Ernst hasn’t notched even so much as a top-10 finish and is currently off the PGA Tour. Elite players aren’t exempt, as such luminaries as Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald have struggled to reach their former glory after changing their swings.

What kind of guidelines can we, as teachers and coaches, use to determine if a player is as good as they’re ever going to get? I think a lot of it has to do with how far the player has come. Ernst came out of nowhere to win on the Tour, meaning for one week he was the best player in the world. Why change that immediately? In Harrington’s case, he was fresh off of winning three majors in two years – that’s historical stuff. And Donald’s previous game got him to #1 in the world.

A player’s goals also have to be accurately judged by the teacher/coach. This may depend in large part on the experience of the teacher/coach with other players who undertook drastic measures to change their games. Experience in knowing what’s possible and what’s not is crucial to this decision-making process.

Finally, the player has to step back and be an objective observer, if at all possible, of his or her game. Faldo realized he had trouble closing out big tournaments and could tell his technique wasn’t re-liable. This was an obvious tell-tale sign that he had to change.

On the other hand, had Harrington said to him-self, “You know, winning three majors in two years is pretty good; let’s see how far I can take this,” he might have won another three majors the following two years. Now, we’ll never know.

More importantly, neither will he.

6 Nov 2017 admin

Coaching High School Golf

By Bert Jones USGTF Master Golf Teaching Professional, Loomis, California

St. Francis High School Girls Golf Team with head coach, Bert Jones.

Last season I had a chanceto coach my first girls highschool golf team. It was a suc-cessful season, and needlessto say there was a lot I didn’tknow. The purpose of thisarticle is to relate some in-formation so you can decidewhether or not you want tocoach high school golf.

First and foremost, you need to decide why youwant to coach. Hopefully you want to mentor youthand give back to the sport. Be sure to build andwrite down a coaching philosophy for all to see!

If you want to supplement your income, youneed to know the pros and cons of that decision.High schools pay by stipend, with a range of $2,100to $3,300 for a season that lasts 10-12 weeks. Youcan expect to spend about 20+ hours a week work-ing with the team, coordinating play and matches,and completing paperwork. Some high schoolsrequire the head coach to fundraise. If so, be pre-pared to spend additional hours to raise the money.

You may or may not have an assistant coach. Ifso, you will need to manage the assistant, and en-sure that they implement the schedule and plannedpractices. My school has a provision that supple-ments my pay by $450 if I have at least 10 playersand no assistant coach.

Once you start, you need to make arrangementsfor uniforms and embroidery. Team uniform order-ing, fitting, embroidery and collections for the uni-forms took up a lot of time! You must be preparedto account and manage a budget.

How many players will you have on the team? Iwas blessed to have had 13 last season. I am bettingthat I will have 15 to 18 players try out this sea-son. So, will you have cuts or no cuts? I favor cutsbecause the traveling team is limited to six play-ers. My experience showedthat only eight of the 13 everreally had a chance of playingin a match. Therefore, the otherfive were confined to the rangeand some on-course play. Iplan to limit the team to a min-imum of 10 and a maximum of14. Depending on the scoresand the numbers seeking tojoin, I would like to see no more than a 10-strokespread between the number six player and the num-ber 10 or 14 player. It is my hope to create greaterintra-squad competition. Other limiting factors arebudget and school athletic director philosophy.

There are highs and lows to coaching highschool golf. You will enjoy watching the growth ofthe team, winning matches, and individual achieve-ment. You will also enjoy working with the otherhigh school coaches; however, I was stunned attheir lack of credentials and overall golf knowledge.The lows that you will deal with are centered onaberrant parent behavior. Yes, the parents! I callthem helicopter dads or moms, those that want tohover, watch, and even coach their kids on everylittle moment. You will also experience parents thatjust want their child to play in the sport and arepretty much indifferent.

Players can be classified into three groups.Group one – the really talented, some of which arecoachable and some of which are not coachable.Some of these kids even have their own swingcoach! The second group is those that are coachableand have some talent. These kids have the abilityand just need one-on-one lessons. The last groupis those that are there for pure entertainment. Theywant to hit golf balls, listen to their iPod and havea good time.  

2 Nov 2017 admin

An Alternative to Tee It Forward

Several years ago, the USGA got on board with a movement called “tee it forward,” a concept developed by Barney Adams (of Adams Golf) and supported by none other than Jack Nicklaus. The gist of the idea was for golfers to play from the 18-hole yardage that best corresponded to the distance that they hit their driver so that they would play roughly the same irons into the greens as do the pros.

The concept received much fanfare and publicity, but soon vanished from the scene as most golfers either ignored the concept, didn’t know about it, or lost interest. It was a noble idea, but asking a golfer who averages 200 yards off the tee to play from around 5,300 yards (as “tee it forward” recommends) is a tough ask, especially if that golfer is a skilled golfer for that particular driving distance. Most male golfers continued to gravitate towards white tees at golf courses, which are normally in the 6,200-yard range or so, no matter how far or short they hit the ball.

The concept of “par” is a relatively simple one to grasp. It is the score an expert golfer is expected to make on a given hole, with a certain number of strokes to reach the green and two putts for par. For male golfers, a par-3 is any hole up to 250 yards; a par-4 ranges from 251 to 470 yards, and a par-5 is 471 yards and over. (There is also a par-6 yardage, which we will omit for purposes of this discussion.)

For female golfers, a par-3 is any hole up to 210 yards; a par-4 covers hole 211 to 400 yards, and a par-5 is a hole 401 yards and longer. Note that for both male and female golfers, these yardages are not arbitrary as normal course conditions, topography, altitude, etc., must also be taken into account before coming up with a hole’s par.

The problem with most golfers comparing their scores to par is that they never come close to shooting it for an entire round. In fact, the average golfer doesn’t break 90, according to various statistical studies. So for them to shoot a round of par is sheer fantasy.

Currently, a concept of “par” can be made by simply assigning handicap strokes to each hole, but it doesn’t take into account the potential that golfer has. For example, merely saying an 18-handicapper’s par is 90 on a par-72 course doesn’t give that golfer an idea of what is possible for the distance he hits the ball.

What if we came up with a different concept of par, based on how far a particular golfer hits the ball? The concept of par is based on what an expert is expected to make, but an expert is also expected to be able to drive the ball at least 250 yards. What about those golfers who can’t hit it that far?

Here’s something we can try for male golfers who drive the ball less than 250 yards or a female who drive it less than 210: A golfer’s personal par based on how far he or she hits the ball. To keep things elementary, we can call this the “Personal Par System.”

First, a golfer who averages less distance than the minimum an expert is expected to hit it likely has lesser skills. So let’s subtract 30 yards from whatever yardage a good drive goes (to more accurately reflect how far an average drive might go), and assign that as the maximum length of a personal par-3 hole. Next, take another 30 yards off that figure and add it to the first to come up with a maximum length of a personal par-4, and we can also add that same figure again to come up with a maximum length of a personal par-5.

Example: Tom’s ball goes 220 yards when he hits a good drive, so a personal par-3 would be anything up to 190 yards. His personal par-4 would be from 191 to 350 yards, and a personal par-5 would be 351 to 510 yards. Using the site of this year’s U.S. and World Golf Teachers Cup (Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada, Desert Hawk/Coyote Run nines, white tees at 6,080 yards), we come up with a personal par for this golfer of 79 instead of the score-card’s 72.

A golfer who is not able to shoot his personal par now has something realistic he can strive for, and may incentivize him to put a little more time into his game. For someone who can regularly break his personal par, instead of subtracting 30 yards from the figures mentioned earlier, subtracting 20 or 10 yards may be a more accurate reflection of what a personal par should be.

Someone interested in trying the Personal Par System can take a look at the scorecard and adjust the par before the round. Some people overestimate how far they really hit it, so the system depends on an accurate accounting of driver distance.

Tee it forward was a good idea, even a great one, but it didn’t seem to catch on. We are under no great illusions the Personal Par System will become a national rage, but if USGTF members can get their students to think about their golf ability in a different way with the system, we would say our mission has been accomplished.

30 Oct 2017 admin

History, Heritage And Preservation Of American Golf

By Mike Stevens USGTF Certified Golf Teaching Professional, Tampa, Florida

Bobby Jones once said the finest golf swing he ever saw belonged to Joyce Wethered. There were some exceptional female golfers in the early 1900s, once they were allowed on the courses from which they were previously excluded.

Playing with hickory-shafted clubs, they added considerable style and grace to the gentlemen’s game. Some of the early pioneers were Dorothy Campbell, the first woman to win the British, Canadian and American amateur championships; Glenna Collett Vare, who dominated women’s golf in 1920, and the famous Curtis sisters (Margaret and Harriot), Beatrix Hoyt, Lady Margaret Scott and Alexa Stirling, who toured the country with Jones giving golf exhibitions. All these wonderful players had one thing in common: They had beautiful swings and played the game with hickory-shafted golf clubs.

The United States Professional Hickory Golf Championship, which was originated in 2011, has always been open to both male and female golf professionals. It is played at Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club, opened in 1922, just north of Tampa, Florida. The first six contests have been dominated by the guys, but the 2017 and seventh was a different story. For several years, the U.S. Open was dominated by British golfers until American players gained their footing. I guess it just took a little time for the gals to get theirs, as Orlando’s Ki Shui Liao navigated the demanding Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club this past February in 75 strokes to become the Champion American Professional Hickory Golfer of the Year. She secured a spot on the John Shippen Trophy, which is dedicated to America’s first golf pro. Shippen played in the 1896 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, where he also worked under Scotsman Willie Dunn Jr.

In those days, the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur were played during the same week on the same course. So, in keeping with that spirit, the United Stated Amateur Hickory Golf Championship is also a part of the day’s historical celebration. Bill Geisler of Winter Park, Florida, edged out two-time champion Will Peterson of Orlando by a single shot. Geisler’s name will be affixed to the Oscar Bunn Trophy, celebrating the Shinnecock Indian who also played in the 1896 U.S. Open. Bunn began as a caddie at Shinnecock and learned to play under the tutelage of Dunn.

Ninety-two years ago, the best professionals in the land gathered at Temple Terrace to compete in the Florida Open. It was one of the last tournaments where all players used clubs made of hickory and persimmon wood. The purse was $5,000. Jim Barnes was the host pro who welcomed the likes of Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and eventual winner Leo Diegel. The U.S. Professional Hickory Championship of this day is a tribute to those great golfers often forgotten over time. The amateur portion of the day recalls the likes of Bobby Jones, Harold Hilton, John Ball and Walter Travis. Having the ladies included just adds a bit of class and elegance to this remembrance of American golf as it began all those years ago.

26 Oct 2017 admin

Do Not Dummy Down

Time and time again I hear from coaches and players, “You need to ‘dummy down’ your in-formation for us!” My immediate reaction is, “No, you need to smarten up!

One of my mentors use to say “always look for simplicity on the other side of complexity,” meaning that as coaches, we must understand the complexity of the issue or technique and then find the simplicity in training the golfer for competitive play.

From my perspective, coaching is not about “dummying down” information or techniques. It is about starting with basics at a level each player can understand, and more importantly implement, and helping those golfers advance the technique or information as their competitive skills progressed.

One example of this process is with pre-shot routines. Here is the note I sent recently to a high school golf coach – whom I am pleased to say was one of my collegiate golfers:

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY Utilize the following training sequence for new golfers, most high school golfers, and in reviewing each collegiate golfer’s current routine. I have actually employed this technique with a few of our professional golfers to help them get their routines back on track when the wheels start to fall off during competitive play.

READY, AIM, FIRE Start with teaching a very basic “Ready, Aim, Fire” shot routine to golfers, and then expand the techniques within each player’s routine as they progress in competitive play.

During competitive play, watch and ensure that each player is working through the basic “Ready, Aim, Fire” sequence, versus the normal “Fire, Ready…woops, I forgot to Aim” sequence they normally revert to under pressure.

THE BASICS (this can be your initial coaching lesson with each golfer) Ready: From a position behind the ball (it is important to work from behind the ball and with both eyes on the target), select a specific target to play to.

– Remain mindful of your target through your entire routine. – While still behind the ball, take one or two practice (rehearsal) strokes. It is important to develop a sense of success with each swing.

Aim: As you move into your setup, aim the clubface down the target line at your target. (Some players will be playing a draw or fade, and thus their target line will be to the right or left of the target, but the key is to coach them on setting the clubface so that it is aiming down the appropriate target line.)

Next, align your body; position it correctly for the shot. This includes working into a position that allows you to remain balanced through the shot. Balance is the key.

Fire: Aim, move into your stance, and fire. Avoid “freezing” over the ball. Pose for your photo! Hold your finish for at least two seconds, smile, and pose for your photo…on every shot!

START Start your training and coaching with putting, and advance the techniques of each golfer as their competitive use of the technique improves.

KEEP MECHANICS IN THEIR PLACE You undoubtedly noticed that I made no mention of stroke mechanics in the basics for the routine. While effective setup and stroke mechanics are essential with all shots, mechanics by themselves will not ensure more successful shots.

It is important to habituate effective setup and stroke mechanics and be able to employ them automatically within your routine.

COACHING The beauty in this process for coaching is that while you can only guess at the mental and emotional processing the golfer is doing, you can now check, coach, and guide each golfer’s behavior, which will give you insight into their mental/emotional states.

You can observe and assess each player’s execution of their routine effectively during competition/play. Answer “yes” or “no” to the following questions:

Ready. – Is the player working from behind the ball correctly? – Do they appear to you to be physically poised (versus rigid) in their setup? – Do they appear mentally engaged (versus scattered thinking) in their setup?

Aim. – Does the golfer visually align with their target from a position behind the ball? – Are they aiming the clubface down the target line? – Are they aligning their body correctly in relationship with the target line? (Make sure you know their normal stance: slightly open, closed, etc.)

Fire. -Is their body flowing from the setup into, and through, the swing (no freezing over the ball)? – Do they appear to be properly balanced in their setup and remain in balance through their finish? – Does their swing appear to “flow” naturally? – Are they swinging through to their finish and not simply down to the ball? – Are they holding their finish for at least two seconds and smiling?

FINAL NOTE In preparing for competitive play, make certain practice holes “routine holes,” meaning that on those three or four holes, each player focuses exclusively on their routine, nothing else. I actually have a score sheet designed where each player records their effectiveness score on the use of their routine.

I would wish all coaches and players good luck, but we all know that we make our own luck!

– Coach

Coach Robertson has been a Tour instructor since the 1980s.  He is a staff writer for the World Golf Teachers Federation, a former head college golf coach in North Carolina, Oregon and Arkansas, and a performance consultant to several collegiate and professional golfers. Author of  The GOLF Team Swing & Performance Manual and The Encyclopedia of Successful GOLF Coaching. Coach always enjoys your feedback  and can be contacted at (870) 949-9010, CoachRobertson01@Suddenlink.net, or on Skype at james.e.robertson

19 Oct 2017 admin

Teaching in A Simulator Vs. Teaching Outdoors

By Mark Harman USGTF Course Director, Ridgeland, South Carolina

In addition to my duties as national course director for the USGTF, I also teach at two facilities near where I live, one outdoors at a golf course and another in an indoor simulator at a major golf store. The latter is a recent addition to my teaching, and it has been extremely illuminating seeing the contrasts to teaching on an outdoor range. If you’ve been teaching with a simulator or with a launch monitor like TrackMan or FlightScope, some of what I’m about to write won’t come as any great surprise to you. Still, it’s been interesting to see how people learn and perform in the different environments.

The launch monitor I use in the simulator is a new state-of-the-art GC Quad from Foresight Sports. It measures all the data you would expect, including ball speed, launch angle, RPMs, spin axis, direction and curve, and carry and total distance. It also measures clubhead data such as clubhead speed, angle of attack and clubhead path when you put a round metallic sticker on the top of the clubface. You can also measure additional clubhead action that includes lie angle at impact, clubface in relation to clubhead path at impact, and squareness of the strike when you position four metallic stickers on the clubface. The launch monitor and simulator aren’t cheap, and I’m grateful I didn’t have to shell out the money for them! The first thing I notice is people tend to overestimate how far they hit the ball in the “real world” of outdoor golf – one of those things I said would come as no surprise to those of you already using launch monitors. People will tell me they average 260 on the course, and yet the GC Quad is saying their total distance is 230. I use those two numbers specifically because the aver-age overestimation I’ve experienced so far is right around 30 yards. So of course, the first reaction is skepticism to the launch monitor’s numbers. I then point out that their clubhead speed of 88 mph is right about in line with a golfer who hits it 230. Of course, that 260 they got on the course came from a downwind drive on a firm fairway, but since perception is reality to most people, in their minds they hit it 260. The second thing is how disappointed people are when they learn that their clubhead path through impact is anywhere from 5° to 10° left of the target line. This won’t surprise anyone to learn a majority of golfers’ swing paths are in this direction. But these numbers are important because it gives me an advantage that I don’t have outdoors, and that is we can work toward some tangible numbers that are impossible to know precisely without a launch monitor. The third thing I learned, even though I already knew this but not to the degree I know now, is that a ball that starts well right of the tar-get line can be produced by a swing path that is well to the left, and vice versa. When I see a ball that starts well to the right outdoors and curves even farther right, I simply cannot tell with any degree of reasonable certainty what the clubhead path did, especially if the shot came from a driver off the tee. With an iron shot, at least we have a divot that can give us a clue, but one that is often not 100 percent reliable. So having accurate club-head path data is a real benefit to the teacher. Finally, I have learned that many male golfers have a serious case of too-flat lie angles at impact, some regularly hitting shots with toe angles at 7° downwards! I have access to some clubfitting equipment featuring iron lie angles 3° upright from standard, but even with these, it’s not nearly enough to get some golfers to have flat lie angles at impact. Of course the problem is in their swings, but there’s only so much you can do during the course of one lesson. The other feature we have in the indoor simulator is two simultaneous working cameras, one for the face-on view and one for the target-line view. The video software allows me to draw the usual lines, circles, etc., and compare a student’s swing to dozens of touring pros’. With few exceptions, students’ swings change perceptibly during the course of one lesson, and I’m able to email the students their before and after comparisons. I want to be clear: It’s still possible to teach very effectively outdoors with no technology (See “No TrackMan? No Problem,” Winter 2017 edition, Golf Teaching Pro). Even with all my hi-tech tools in the simulator, I find myself working mainly on the same basic fundamentals with students that I would outdoors. But I would be less than honest if I said having some advanced technology wasn’t a great help, and it’s helped me learn some things that have improved my abilities as a teacher. As golf technology becomes less expensive and more available, I believe it’s only a matter of time before the vast majority of teachers will rely on some form to aid in their instruction programs. But without a competent teacher schooled in the art and science of golf instruction, these gadgets are virtually worthless, and in fact could prove detrimental to the golfer who doesn’t understand what’s important and what’s not. There will al-ways be a place for knowledgeable golf teaching professionals, regardless how much teaching technology may advance.

16 Oct 2017 admin

Anthony Netto Stands Up And Plays

USGTF member Anthony Netto lives a more active life than most people, even though he cannot walk, much less run. Netto was on his way to play in a professional golf tournament in his native South Africa in 1994 when his car was hit by a drunk driver, leaving Netto paralyzed from the waist down. And all of this happened just several months after attending a USGTF certification course in the United States.

Netto was a first lieutenant in the South African army and was a veteran of Desert Storm in the early 1990s. After his discharge, he returned to golf and earned his USGTF certification. But the accident put his plans on hold. It is understand-able if Netto felt the normal reactions after such a horrific accident of despair and anger, but if he did, he quickly put them aside and went to work. Attempting to return to the game of golf in a traditional wheelchair, Netto found it too restraining and difficult to play the game in a proper way. He set about inventing a device that would allow him to basically stand while playing, just like able-bodied golfers. Thus, the Paragolfer came about, which rides like a normal wheelchair with the exception that the seat and seatback lift up and puts a person in a standing position.

The Paragolfer was later renamed the Para- mobile because it can be used for more than just golf. Sports like shooting, archery, hunting and fishing are made easier for people from the Para-mobile.

As the Paramobile puts less pressure per square inch on the ground as compared to a normal foot-print, the device lends itself well to golf and doesn’t damage the golf course, including the greens. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Paramobile is welcome at facilities all across the country.

Netto travels the United States these days, promoting the Paramobile and seeking funding for those in need to buy them through his Stand Up And Play Foundation. Manufactured by the German company Ottobock, the Paramobile is available for a purchase price of $22,500.

The Invictus Games, which brings together veterans from 17 countries who compete in adaptive sports, will feature golf for the first time in 2017 in Toronto, Canada. Netto is proud that the Paramobile will be used in order to allow some of the golfers to compete.

Netto has also met former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the latter while he was still in office. Obama, an avid golfer himself, took an interest in Netto and the Para- mobile.

In regard to Bush, Netto met him several years ago at the 4th annual Warrior Open, where Netto smashed a drive 270 yards down the middle of the fairway. He still drives the ball farther and plays the game better than most able-bodied golfers, a testament to his grit and determination.

Netto is currently based out of Las Vegas, Nevada, and travels to support and promote the Stand Up And Play Foundation. The fundraising road has been a difficult one, but Netto has succeeded in getting a number of Paramobiles into circulation for use by those who are paralyzed.

12 Oct 2017 admin

Compliments Complement Our Teaching

According to allpsych.com, “The term rein-force means to strengthen, and is used in psychology to refer to any stimulus which strengthens or in-creases the probability of a specific response.” Psychologists recognize four types of reinforcement: positive, negative, punishment and extinction.

In general, positive reinforcement has proven to be the most effective means of behavior modification or to get a certain behavior to be performed. This involves giving a reward upon completion of a goal or speaking in a positive and encouraging manner in an attempt to achieve the desired outcome. Negative reinforcement involves an unpleasantness of some sort if the task is not completed, such as parental nagging of a child. Once the child per-forms the task, for example, the negative reinforcement of nagging is eliminated. Punishment is a term that we are all familiar with, and extinction is, according to study.com, “The disappearance of a previously learned behavior when the behavior is not reinforced.”

The USGTF has long recognized the good that comes from positive reinforcement, and since its inception in 1989 has said that encouragement (positive reinforcement) rather than criticism (negative reinforcement) is far more desirable. Hopefully there aren’t any teachers out there engaging in punishing their students! But then again, we do hear sad stories of parents punishing their children for not succeeding in athletics. Perhaps they make the child run, or take away some privileges, but as those of us who are knowledgeable know, punishing a child for athletic failure is a sure way to have an ex-athlete for a child.

In athletics today, there is a great emphasis on “players’ coaches,” which means that the coach is sensitive to the needs and emotions of the members on theteam. Gone are the days of the coach who yelled constantly at his players, berating them for each and every mistake, and being tone-deaf to the squad’s desire to be guided with a gentler hand. While today’s sports coaches can still be demanding in terms of performance and effort, they are expected to develop personal relationships with each player and to have an empathy for those players. One of the great truths to coaching is that a coach needs to know when to give someone a figurative kick in the butt and when to give a pat on the back. Coaches who only know how to kick derrieres probably won’t last long in today’s world. They need to be able to give positive reinforcement as part of their coaching repertoire.

In line with giving positive reinforcement, compliments are an important way of achieving this. When was the last time you felt badly when someone gave you a genuine compliment? You may have felt not worthy or de-serving, but deep down we all enjoy a compliment that some-one gives us. It boosts our self-esteem and gives us confidence that we are on the right track.

As golf coaches and teachers, we see that the majority of our clientele want nothing more than to enjoy the game. Many of our students are already self-conscious about their golf games; they don’t want to be embarrassed on the course. It’s also not rare for some students to not want to see themselves on video, thinking that their swing is one of the worst there is and looks silly to outside observers. A few compliments during a video review session most certainly will help with a student’s attitude and perhaps give them some newly found encouragement and excitement.

Compliments must be sincere. Telling a student that their swing is one step away from being tour caliber – when they are a30-handicapper – is false flattery that we must avoid. Fortunately, most of us know that. But even30-handicappers have elements in their game that are worthy of complimenting.

Compliments can also help to mitigate the negative feelings associated with giving necessary negative information to a student. USGTF member Ben Bryant has written about the “compliment sandwich,” in which the negative information is preceded and followed by a compliment. An example: “Tom, I really like the way you’re swinging in balance, but we need to improve your release through impact because you have a tendency to flip your trail hand underneath. The good news is you’re already off to a good start because you have a good grip.”

Compliments are also beneficial to the giver of the compliment, because most of us enjoy making people feel good. So complement your teaching with compliments – it gets results!