Trillium Sellers golf instructor | coach

2012-01-17T12:15:00.003-05:00

Be sure to Loosen Up! (Even you, Beginners!)

Last week I had the good fortune of visiting a friend at her vacation house. While there, her mother and I decided to play 9 holes of golf together. She was self-classified as a beginner, owned clubs and had put some time into the game a few years back. From what I could tell, she knew her way around the course but wasn’t quite ready to keep score. Fine with me, I was just excited to play.

When we arrived at the course I made my way to the range to warm up, something that she hadn’t done before. I just assumed that everyone knew how important it is to prepare your body before doing any athletic activity. I suppose that she figured that it wouldn't make much of a difference with her game anyway.

What many recreational golfers may not know is that there is hardly a professional player that doesn’t warm up before a round. In Tour events, you always see the practice range full of players warming up. Not many professionals would dare step foot on the first tee without getting their muscles loose and their 'feel' for the day. So why shouldn’t you?

Warming up should be just that: a time to get the muscles warm and loose so that there aren’t any restrictions in movement on the course. It doesn't matter how experienced you are.

Why should I warm up if I’m not that good anyway? For your safety and long-term improvement. The safety bit is fairly clear in that if your muscles and joints are tight and you attempt to make a ballistic movement, you could strain or even sprain something. Why take that risk?

As for the long-term improvement, when learning a new skill such as the complex motor patterns existing in a golf swing, it’s important to make deliberate attempts at the same motion. If you change that motion from one swing to the next, you are effectively telling your muscles that it’s ok to swing in all of those different ways. This strikes right at the heart of what learning a golf swing is all about. And if you are tight, your body will recruit different ways to swing the club to avoid the tight areas. Not good.

Here is a video of three stretches you can do before you play:

Do you know what you're practicing?

2011-10-24T16:42:00.000-04:00

It may seem obvious to ask someone if they know what they are practicing, but it's actually not. In fact, the more people I work with, the more I am convinced how important it is that a player knows what he or she is working on. During training sessions and lessons I find myself constantly reinforcing whatever our goal is and repeating it in different ways until the student really grasps it. There may be many ways to describe one movement and people learn differently, so it's helpful for me to have a variety of approaches.

For example: A player needs to allow his hands to rotate through impact and not hold off on the release. I could identify the position of the thumbs pre and post impact. I could ask him to envision his hands as 'spinning' through impact. I always use a lot of drills to emphasize the feeling and isolate the movements. Once it is crystal clear in the students mind about the issue that they have and what they want to do instead, it's my job to direct him or her toward how to do it. So in their mind they should not only know what they are working on, but what their tendencies are when things don't go well.

I particularly like it when students begin to understand why shots did not come off the way they would have liked so that they can fix it on their own. The best case scenario for me, as an instructor, is when my students come to learn their own swings so well that the drills we've worked on in practice become their own tools when they are on their own. I like to think of it as their own personal First Aid Kit. It alleviates panic on the golf course and it promotes more productive practicing in their own time.

Video: Here is a demonstration of the hands through impact. Notice how they look as if they continue moving through impact.

2011-10-24T16:30:00.002-04:00

Who vs. Whom

Students often encounter difficulty in deciding whether to use who or whom. Two sentence patterns in particular lead to confusion with these words: when they begin a question and when they introduce a dependent clause. Deciding on the appropriate pronoun requires grammatical analysis, noting the differences between subjective personal pronouns (pronouns that perform an action) and objective personal pronouns (pronouns that receive an action). Who is a subjective pronoun; whom is objective.

1. Introduction of a question:

When the answer to the question begins with a subjective personal pronoun (e.g. he/she/they), use who. Who is the best pitcher on the team? He is the best pitcher on the team. [He is subjective; therefore, who is correct.]

When the answer to the question is an objective personal pronoun (e.g. her/him/them), use whom. For whom did you vote? I voted for her. [Her is objective; therefore, whom is correct.]

2. Introduction of a Dependent Clause

When the pronoun acts as the subject of the clause, use who. He is a wonderful man who is destined for great things. [Who is the subject of the clause “who is destined for great things” -– or -- (S)he is destined for great things.]

When the pronoun acts as the object of the clause, use whom. The man at the door was not whom she had expected. [Whom is the object of the clause “whom she had expected” -- or -- she had expected him/her.]

Note: In distinguishing between whoever and whomever, the same rules apply.

Test Yourself

1. Research has shown that children (who/whom) have been overprotected often become adults for (who/whom) life is difficult beyond the family circle.

2. Parents often transmit to their children ideas about (who/whom) to respect in society. 3. (Who/Whom) was at the game last night? 4. Ray, (who/whom) we all know and love, will not be at tending this week’s meeting. 5. To (who/whom) did you speak about the job opening?

Answers: 1. who, whom 2. whom 3. who 4. whom 5. whom

I found this somewhere on my computer and realized that it would be nice to share, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with golf. It was adapted from The Writing Center Franklin & Marshall College. Compiled by Matt Schulman ‘95

Staying On the Course

2011-10-02T18:34:00.000-04:00

When we first learn the game of golf, the sweet shots that spring from the center of the face are the ones we remember. After all, as the saying goes, that one perfect shot keeps us coming back. But we soon learn that consistency is what separates the good players from the rest. And it goes with out saying that we all want more consistency. But what is the secret? Here are three concepts worth sharing:

(1)

“It is not solely the capacity to make great shots that make champions, but the essential quality of making very few bad shots.” Tommy Armour

Advice: All too often we reach for a club that we don’t have enough practice hitting, and we end up worse off than if we had opted for the safe shot. After your tee shot, decide the most realistic route to the green. If the distance would require the shot of your life with a fairway wood to hit the green, then consider opting for two lower stress iron shots instead.

(2)

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” Ben Franklin

Advice: Know your tendencies. On the course, self-awareness is the key to preventing an old habit from rearing its ugly head. Everyone has unwelcome tendencies that can reappear at inopportune moments, even tour players. Think about your swing before you hit each shot. It ensures to pay dividends.

(3)

“Never mistake activity for achievement.” John Wooden

Advice: We have all practiced without sufficient focus. On the practice tee, with an unlimited number of attempts, there is little pressure to perform. So resist the urge hit mountains of balls without careful focus and instead strive to make every shot count.

It is not the hours but how you spend the hours that count!

2011-01-26T16:09:00.008-05:00

To take performance to an elite level, ten years and 10,000 hours of practice is what it takes according to Anders Ericsson in his 1993 study “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance.” Does that mean in ten years my students will shoot par? It depends. It depends on how those practice sessions are spent. Ericsson never suggests that time alone will lead to expert performance, and it won’t. And I’m afraid that our desire for mechanical assessments veils important complexities that are keys to effective practice.

Golf is one of the least effectively practiced sports. Ironically, we can partially blame that on the practice range. The widespread belief is that the more time you spend on the range, the better you will play on the course.

The problem with this adage is it leaves out an essential component: how that time is being spent. One problem is the range is not like the golf course.

The range is flat; the golf course is anything but flat.

The practice range lie is perfect, but your lie on the course is perfect only when you put the ball in the fairway. The range supplies hundreds of golf balls if you don’t hit the first one just right. Not so on the course!

You have one chance to hit it well, and then you live with the result. Compounding the separation is the frequent tendency to swing away without much thought or deliberation on the range.

So what is the most effective way to improve performance? Well known sports psychologist, Dr. Rick Jensen states, “Learning to play golf successfully involves more than just knowing what is wrong and how to fix it.” He confirms that repetition is necessary when learning a skill but insufficient to achieve the highest level of performance.

In the later stages of development, it is important to train in a way that “creates the opportunity for a player to strive to build a habit that can withstand the pressure and ever-changing conditions that one experiences on the course.” Without this type of practice, a player will often find that the improvement gains experienced on the range do not transfer to the golf course where it counts.

Why do you hear golfers say they could be great if they played the same way that they practiced on the range?

The answer likely lies in the intensity and structure of their practice. Once the basic mechanics have been acquired, a golfer should not practice by robotically hitting the same shot to the same target over and over. Golf involves decision making skills, managing one’s attention, and dealing with pressure. Improvement involves honing these skills in addition to learning to control the ball. To do so, the golfer must, during practice, create simulate game conditions, such as changing targets, hitting off of less than perfect lies, imagining a fairway with boundaries and limiting the number of balls hit. This important stage of player development is known as random practice (practice conditions within which the player changes the task in every trial).

So does practice and experience inevitably lead to peak performance? The answer is it can, but only if the training involves continuous feedback with the right mix of random practice and repetition.

Pay it Forward Golf Article

2010-11-01T16:45:00.004-04:00

Pay it forward golf is A NON-PROFIT, ONLINE-MENTOR TO ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONALS. AS AN ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL, YOU WEAR MANY HATS, AND PIFG WANTS TO HELP YOU BECOME A CUTTING-EDGE GOLF PROFESSIONAL IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. REFER THIS WEBSITE TO YOUR FELLOW GOLF PROFESSIONALS AND LET THE EDUCATION BEGIN.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW:

http://payitforwardgolf.blogspot.com/2010/09/10-questions-with-trillium-sellers-from.html

Details matter!

2010-11-01T15:37:00.009-04:00

God is in the details. Even if you don't believe in God, good things happen when the details are looked after. Details matter so much in everything that we do but especially in golf.

I thought more about the details today while taking a Pilates class. For the unfamiliar, Pilates is a form of exercise that demands intense focus to get your body to work very specifically. The way it is performed is more important than the movement itself. At a glance, it seems simple but with a good instructor, most realize it's not simple at all.

Golf is much like Pilates in how critical the movements are. It's ok to glide through an exercise class, but you won't be making the most out of the work. In golf, you can swing away with reckless abandon, but the ball will let you know how you're doing. Depending on your standards for acceptability, golf can be very demanding. Once you get into the game and learn the fundamental movements, there is room for individuality. But until then, there are so many particulars to get through before ones own swing can be shaped out it's best to become very clear and very thorough with the basics.

Liselotte Neumann, the Swedish LPGA Tour veteran, hits a perfect pitch shot in this video clip I took before the McDonalds LPGA Championship (one of the four majors). It's a great visual for anyone to see how simple she makes a very complex movement look.

Notice how her posture doesn't raise up or down too much throughout impact. That movement is very hard for new players to grasp. You may have heard the tip "Keep your head down". I don't say that to my students, but I understand where the phrase comes from. It's more about the posture of the player and maintaining it through the hitting area. The head doesn't have any muscles, but the lower body, particularly the hips do. Notice Liselottes tailbone and how it stays out. Her hips are at a tilt during the entire swing through to the finish. This is why her posture is maintained and her head stays so level. Very important!

Check out the angle of her club shaft throughout the swing. In this short shot, it's easy to imagine the angles because her back swing isn't full. Very interesting to take note of where it is at impact versus at the top of the swing. There are entire books devoted to the topic of swing plane and lots of different theories about what the golf swing in its more efficient form should look like, but in this video just visualize the overall shape of the swing from the club head to the handle.

Golf with the Vice President

2010-10-25T21:02:00.006-04:00

September 2, 2010

I had no idea that I would be playing golf with the Vice President of the United States that morning. In fact, I had no idea I would play with him even after I learned he would be playing at Chevy Chase Club that day. He was invited by a member and showed up as friendly and approachable as every other guest that plays a regular round of golf. The main difference was the swarm of secret service protecting him (always a dead giveaway when a suburban is parked right in front and the driver has an earpiece..and is buff.. and doesn't look you in the eye... and sits in or around the car during the ENTIRE four hour round of golf). Other than that, Vice President Biden was just a normal guest.

I am not normally overwhelmed with celebrities. Not that I'm Joe Cool or anything, but I don't get too excited when I see actors. I think having lived in Los Angeles during college and working as a personal assistant to a film director killed the novelty for me. Plus, actors are usually very regular people. Musicians are a different breed and I'll leave that commentary for another day, but I am just dipping my toe into the world of Washingto

n DC and must admit, totally star struck. The first time I met Condoleeza Rice at the golf course, I was ecstatic. Judge O'Conner was the same. So when I was gathering my things to go home that day I couldn't help but get a little excited when I noticed the little group of people watching the foursome finish the 9th hole. It was Biden!

I wasn't prepared to meet him, but I was excited to see his putting stroke. As their group finished the hole and walked toward the 10th tee, I waited just in case I'd get a closer glimpse. At that moment the Outside Operations man suggested that I take the Head Professionals place and play with the group.

"What?", I thought. "Play?? Right NOW?"

I didn't have a choice really. Before I knew it the VP Biden held out his hand and introduced himself. The Head Pro wouldn't be finishing the round and I was to take his place.

Here is where I admit in full disclosure: I completely lost my abil

ity to perform. I was utterly distracted (see: starstruck) and could barely get my head into playing golf. How embarrassing.

Other than having only one par over four holes, I held it together. The VP couldn't have been more engaging, thoughtful and sincere. We didn't talk about much other than his family, his life on the road and golf. He had a tremendous golf swing but clearly hadn't been practicing because he wasn't happy with a majority of his shots. At one point I gently said, "Mr. Biden, with all due respect, you can't have everything." He shot me a good smile.

When it was too dark to play, we went in and he offered up a photo. He also signed a golf ball and asked if I'd be interested in checking out Marine One. Was I interested?

He let his secret service guys know that I'd be driving in the motorcade. One of them gave me the instructions to follow the car in front of me. He didn't say, "Keep up, or else!", but that's basically what he said. I figured that it would be prudent of me to keep up rather than lolly gag behind and mess up the security detail.

From one stressful situation to the next.

I don't even remember the route we took because the only thing I could see ahead of me was an enormous black Suburban bumper. These guys don't mess around with their driving. I think we drove 40 miles per hour without slowing down or speeding up at all. They all braked and accelerated in tandem and swerved the same gentle swerve. I almost got a charlie horse in my neck from stiffening my shoulders the entire time.

The VP's estate is on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory. The house was built in 1902 for the Superintendent of the Observatory but looks fit for a well, Vice President. It is enormous and has a web of roads. If I had to find the house again, I probably couldn't. No matter, once we arrived and the no-nonsense secret service team disbanded and did whatever they do, the lead guy knocked on my window and basically told me to stand where I was.

Then the ridiculously friendly, VP beckoned me over and said "Follow me, Trill!"

We walked down the paved pathway leading to Marine One, engine on, blades twirling around. A hot looking Marine stepped down and saluted the VP, who saluted back. I gave him a big smile but didn't bother to say "Hi" because it was deafeningly loud. The VP waved me up the stairs ahead of him and then as we walked in (mind you I'm still wearing my golf clothes) introduced me to the two pilots who looked like they were 25 years old, and the serious looking guys in suits sitting in seats. I wish I had a photo of their expressions of amusement, bewilderment and/or surprise to see a random golf pro. "These are the guys with the codes", he said to me. Cool! Then I bet one of the guys that I couldn't guess one of the codes. Actually, I didn't do that.

I do wonder how many numbers they have to remember though. Or is it a combination of numbers and letters? I'm sure lots of people know this.. especially in Washington. And these are exactly the kinds of things that I find so interesting and fun. And perhaps why I'm so excited when I see political leaders in person..

The Greenbrier Classic - July 26-27

2010-07-27T23:17:00.005-04:00

I live four hours from The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. I hadn’t been there before but figured this was as good a time as any to make a road trip to check it out. The PGA Tour was making it’s inaugural trip to the 232 year old prominent resort and I wanted to go during a practice round.

The drive was surprisingly straight forward and beautiful. No traffic and scenic. The only mistake I made was at the Cracker Barrel in choosing a “childrens” audio book. The selection was remarkably disappointing on two levels: For one, half of the options were in cassette. Who has a cassette player anymore? And the options were beyond awful. The only excuse I could come up with was that all the books worth listening to were taken already. I finally narrowed it down between two authors that I knew through teaching golf. Neither students, but they were members where I taught: Carl Hiasson and James Patterson. I knew Carl was more light than James. But James had made more money than most legends on Wall Street. But does money earned make your writing better? Or is it the marketing? I had a suspicion that James’ books were more thriller types, which is fun. But then again I didn’t want to have nightmares since I was about to drive into West Virginia (no offense to West Virginia). Eventually I just chose my book based on the cover. Four hours later when switching from disc 4 to disc 5, I noticed the word “childrens” on the spine. No wonder…

I had originally booked a room at a nearby roadside Inn, but once there I promptly asked the reservationist about availability at the hotel, which is so far among the top decisions I’ve ever made… What makes The Greenbrier so special, besides the redonkulous history, is their commitment to superior customer service. You can’t walk 60 yards without seeing someone on staff, and when you do I’d give you $10 if they didn’t greet you or smile. In fact, the entire lot of people that I suspected were local (judging by the accents) were so friendly I felt a little unnerved. I swear I saw Billy Bob Thorton walk past me. I even looked for his tattoos. Nevermind. My cottage was huge and perfect. The real perk was being able to walk anywhere and park on property. The room key was gold, second to my PGA card, but the parking spot was platinum.

If you don't know about The Greenbrier, you must know that it is one of the most storied resorts in the country. The hallways are lined with black and white large format photographs of important dignitaries, celebrities and the like. It was the primer place to travel to and well deserves the five stars. (Photo: Resident Professional, Sam Snead.)

Monday was the Pro-Am, and that means one professional per foursome. Needless to say, there is a lot of waiting to film only one player per group. But I was happy to be there and check out the course and the grounds afterwards. Tuesday was the day where the players would be playing practice rounds and I’d capture dozens of swings. Every swing that I taped was from the same angle on the same hole (hole 8, 217 yard par 3 Redan). That means when I want to compare swings I have the same circumstances. Qualitative and quantitative research methods 101… but I’m always prepared to defend myself when questioned about filming. I always try ask permission to film players first and very often someone will ask what I’m using it for. Usually they seem surprised when I tell them I’m an instructor. Once I responded with, “I’m a teacher.” And the player replied, “A school teacher?” But the best was when someone asked if I was filming for my husband and if he was a golf pro. Come to think of it, that takes the cake.

I’ll cut to the chase and summarize the memorable points of my last two days:

John Daly grew angered that his group teed off late in the pro am. In a fit he hit a ball out into the water… one that wasn’t in play and was promptly DQ’d from that day’s tournament. I would have hoped he to behave better than that since he’s on a sponsors exemption.

I saw and briefly caught up with top instructors Mike Bender (who was working with Lee Janzen today), Matt Killen (working with Kenny Perry), and Steve Bann (working with Stuart Appleby and Arjun Atwal). Both Steve and Matt accepted the invitation to be on my radio show next season.

Charley Hoffman told me that the swings that I recorded of him last year at the Doral were “really good” and he uses them a lot as reference with his swing coach. Note: I burned the clips I took of him to a CD and gave them to him the next day half expecting them to end up in the trash. Apparently not!

I caught up with Sergio Garcia who has been in great spirits since the British Open. Hopefully this means he will finish the last three PGA events with a bang and make the Ryder Cup Team.

I had nice chats with a handful of players, caddies and other people in the support network.

How to Hit a Basic Chip Shot

2010-06-28T16:10:00.002-04:00

In golf there are many holes where your approach shot could end up just short of the green. Most of the time you may be able to putt it but let’s consider the lie where you are either too far away or there is too much grass in the way to slow the ball down. This is when gear up for the classic chip shot!

Chip Shot: A low running approach shot with more roll than carry, also known as a ‘bump and run’. It is mostly played from just off the edge of the green. (The difference between a chip shot and a pitch shot is that a chip rolls a longer distance then it flies.) It can be performed with nearly any short iron, however I recommend choosing just one club and get to know it very well. I suggest a pitching wedge or 9 iron.

Basics for hitting the never fail chip:

Ball position slightly back in a narrow stance (more toward the center if you have a good lie)

Weight favors the front foot (about 60/40) and never changes- even in the backswing!

Hands ahead of the club head and keep them moving ahead (never break your wrists). This would be one of the few times that I allow a firm grip pressure

Be certain to let the sole of the club (or bounce) hit the ground with a thump right under the ball

Finish with your upper body rotated toward the target and right knee kicked forward

Be Brilliant at the Basics

2010-06-28T16:08:00.002-04:00

My mentor, Jim McLean, always says this and it makes a lot of sense. If you don't have the grip right, why move onto the full swing. If you don't have the full swing down, then why try to hit a ball? If you don't feel right hitting a ball, why go out on the golf course?

Having said that, there are certain exceptions (for very new players it can be important for them to have a context in which to put the new information. So I often like to take new players out onto the golf course even before they know so that they can understand the overall picture.)

The basics can be different depending on varying skill and experience levels. However, even the great golfing legend, Jack Nicklaus, said in his autobiography that during the "slump" in his career, he overlooked getting back to the basics saying, " I recognize now that the effect of my unwillingness during those years to go back to square one with my game was to make me weakest where once I had been strongest."

Center Contact

2010-06-28T15:55:00.003-04:00

I like to tell a story (especially to my newer players) about a lesson that I learned from my father when I first started to swing a club...

I was only about 8 years old and we would often go to the public practice range together. Golf balls were sold by the basket (i.e. limited in number), so he would direct me to an area where there was longer rough, away from the hitting area and tell me to make a few dozen swings - or as many as it took - brushing the grass until it was evident that my clubhead had bottomed out in the same spot over and over. Until I could prove that I knew where my club was hitting the ground (and hitting the ground in the same place every time) I simply wasn't ready to hit a ball. So off I'd go making swings wildly until I indeed, had made a trough. He would say, "OK, you're ready."

I was lucky to have someone watching out for me at an important time. All too often I see people hitting ball after ball not knowing where their club ought to make contact. The reason this drill is so important is because good, solid contact with the ball means hitting it in the middle of the clubface. The only way to hit the middle of the clubface is to allow the bottom of the club to hit the ground.

So before you keep machine gun hitting ball after ball because they are limitless, and there are no consequences on the practice tee, make sure you rehearse the swing and take note of where you bottom out.

Address vs. Impact

2010-06-28T15:45:00.001-04:00

(Photo: PGA Tour player, Anthony Kim)

Golf swings come in all different shapes, sizes, and qualities. There are usually more differences than similarities, even among the top players in the world. Different body types, motor patterns, habits and other factors account for that. In general, all players have their own personal characteristics that will affect the “look” of their swing.

However, there are indeed certain positions that all the same. Let’s look at just one of them:

In all great ball strikers, the address position never looks exactly the same as the impact position.

At impact

-Hips have out turned the shoulders

-Hands are even or ahead of the club head

-Weight has shifted to the front side

-Back knee has kicked in slightly

The Ideal Student

2010-05-17T15:46:00.007-04:00

Now that I'm into the full swing of things at Chevy (I suppose no pun intended), it's ironic that I now have more time to contribute to the blog. However, since things are moving quickly for me, it's better to keep up to date.

Last week I went to the Capitol building (actually the Rayburn building located adjacent, which houses offices of Congressmen/women) to promote the PGA of America's new program "We Are Golf" http://www.wearegolf.org/ PGA Tour Professional, Corey Pavin was there because he is this years Ryder Cup Captain. And so was the trophy! Pictured with us is Jim Fitzgerald, the Chevy Chase Head Golf Professional.

Washington Post Article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/28/AR2010042805832_pf.html

On another note, yesterday I peeled out of work in the late afternoon to make a guest appearance on Joe Plecker's radio program, "Making the Rounds", heard on a popular Baltimore station 105.7 FM. It airs every Sunday at 5:30-6:30 and specializes in golf instruction. Joe is the Director of Instruction at Baltimore Country Club and comes from a very similar teaching philosophy, so it was very easy to rap about what we are interested in, what's happening and why. The phone lines were open and people could also submit texts or emails. I haven't heard of a golf instructional radio program before, for it certainly comes with limitations. However, I think for the completely committed golfer, this is great. I guess the golf nerd in me comes out without much trouble. It was fun, so maybe I'll be invited back.

This month has proved to be a great time for teaching golf. The weather in Washington DC is perfect and the sun is shining. The days have been flying by, especially with a full lesson book. It's also a great time for me to pause and reflect on particular points that I want to share and tease out a little bit. On an even different note, even further from the original note, the other day during a lesson I started to think about what the ideal student is and what that would mean for me.

Interestingly enough it was hard to pick specific points because so many of my students are ideal, yet totally and utterly different. I have some players who are competing in a National level and some who book hours with me at a time where no one will see them. And I must say that I could call both ideal. But for fun - and no real reason other than to extrapolate on a thought - I will list what I deem to be the qualities of a great student.

Qualities of a Great Student

1. Genuine interest in learning the game

2. Willingness to put in the time to learn

3. A positive attitude

4. Ability to realize goals

5. Patience

Now I'm sure there are other things that I've missed, so feel free to comment and I'll revamp my list. There are so many finer points that I could go into, but I'll wait to hear from people before laying them out. For instance, I could have mentioned athletic ability, however I don't believe that it really falls heavily into my definition of a great student. Certainly athletic ability is helpful, but I have had students with very little athletic experience with an unstoppable desire to improve. And that desire has trumped everything! Particularly in golf, because it's a game where the more consistent you are in technique, the more consistent you'll be in your performance, anyone can learn to make the motion. It may take different amounts of time for different people, but that's true for any skill acquisition process, isn't it?

And as for the athletic students I've had, let me say this: Sometimes it's actually worse for a gifted athlete to start golf if they have a predisposed mentality that they will perform well without working at it. Golf is anything but easy and anything but natural so sometimes I find it to be a friendlier process for the lesser experienced athlete because they put less pressure on themselves and have lesser demands on their own performance.

The first and foremost important quality is the students genuine interest in learning. I love the game and love teaching it. I love the process of learning and am fascinated with why and how people learn. It's rewarding to watch someone achieve success and see them cultivate their own awareness of themselves and their game. It can be hard to have a student who isn't open to learning or doesn't really care to get better. So anyone who wants to improve and is willing to work at it will be welcomed with a big smile to my lesson tee.

Junior Elite - Spring Break 2010

2010-03-23T21:56:00.004-04:00

This week I have the pleasure of training 6 kids for a week while they are on spring break. We call the camp, "Junior Elite", because the program is designed around junior golfers between the ages of 11-18 who are focused on playing golf competitively either in high school or in college. This year I designed the dates around the spring break of 3 of my junior students, and as luck would have it, 3 more signed up. The miraculous thing is that all 6 kids are relatively close in experience and intensity. Although the ages are fairly spread out (11 years-14 years), they all bring different strengths to the table. I am fascinated with their intensity, diligence and cooperation. Here is a sample of our daily schedule that I designed: 7:30-8:30 Breakfast at the hotel 8:30-8:45 Warm up (Stretch, swing 2 clubs to warm up, hit soft 9 irons for tempo and center contact) 8:45-9:00 Small chips for impact 9:00-10:00 Video Review, individual iron work 10:00-11:00 Short Game, Up and Down drill, Putting 11:00-12:00 Driver, woods, hybrids 12:00-1:00 Lunch 1:00-5:00 On course instruction/Play 6:00 Meet for dinner 9:00 In rooms It is a long day for a young player (even for an adult, this is a long day), so I am sure to make each task fun and limit the amount of time that I talk. In fact, the less I say, the more they listen. I don't know if I got lucky with these particular kids or if they are at a great age, but somehow I find myself in the ideal situation: I can use positive reinforcement and it actually works. For example, the first day of the camp I noticed that the kids were taking divots all over the place and chewing up the grass in their practice stations. Divots are good, don't get me wrong. But divots that are scattered all over the place aren't very tidy and don't make it easy or nice to look at when practicing. But there was one kid who was making a very neat and tight little divot pattern- the smallest one in the group, Juan Jose, from Colombia. His english was good but he was shy, so this was a perfect way to make him feel welcome. I used him as an example of what is a very good way to practice. Then I explained how similar Tour players practice and pointed out a few lingering practice stations that had been made by tour players who had been at our school the week prior. And that was all I said... and it was all I needed to say because the very next day, without a mention of the divots, each and every kid had started a new divot pattern that looked like a tour player. So exciting that they listened! I can't tell you how satisfying it is as an instructor to work with people who want to learn and will do anything to get better. It makes my job not a job.

The CA Championship at the Doral

2010-03-17T14:30:00.007-04:00

Once again, I enjoyed having the World Golf Championship at the Doral, where I spend my winter months. Jim McLean Golf School is on the other side of the driving range, and since it's only 325 yards from the side where the players practice, we have to close down for the week otherwise we'd get beaned constantly from their golf balls flying into us. Alvaro Quiros, the young Spaniard on the European Tour (left photo), was one of the long hitters who could actually hit his drive on the fly over our school into the pond behind it. Ridiculous. But no matter, the Doral Resort has 5 golf courses, so we made a make shift golf school (tent with video bays and all) out on the Red course. It was busy as ever and honestly quite odd to be at a practice station in the middle of a fairway. But it worked - and I even had a 7 hour, all day - knock out drag out - lesson on Friday to a very willing and able student. Anyway, there were loads of fun moments through out the week, and I will share just a few. To begin with, my dear friend and student Abby came along with me to watch. Since this was her maiden Tour event I know it was helpful for her to experience the grand display of the Top 50 players in the world. What a way to showcase the game in the highest skill level. Abby was captivated. If I can summarize my satisfaction into one moment during this week with Abby, I will admit that when I heard the words, "They really take putting seriously, " it made my heart lift. Not that Abby hadn't been listening to me when I tried to teach her to read a putt. Nor that she held blatant disregard for my insistence on working on her posture. And of course she thought well ahead about the consequences of hitting it short. But today she really, really understood how subtle the game is.

Get your body movements right!

2010-01-09T20:09:00.006-05:00

A program on NPR caught my attention as I was driving to work this morning. It was on ice dancing at the Olympic level. The top American team was being interviewed and went on to say that the best ice dancing coach in the world is from Russia and working in the US. His understanding of dance and the disciple of coaching dancers is beyond anyone else and is much sought after. I hung up my thought on the concept that this coach is the best because he has such a good eye and talent for making things right. He was strict and knew what mattered and where there was no room for error. But how did he know what to pick up on? And how exactly did he communicate what those things are? I wondered more about what makes a good coach a good coach. (Interestingly, he was working with two ice dancing partners the #1 team in the US and the #1 team from Russia. This is equivilant to Butch Harmon working with Phil Michelson and Ernie Els at the same time.) I started thinking about my own coaching and what I was about to teach that day. I thought about how important being strict is. And of course, how important it is to know exactly what to be strict about. While working with my own students that day I reflected on the ice dancing coach and his unavoidable unwillingness to allow laziness. In the afternoon during the traditional "Grind Session" in which we focus on body drills and drop the club, do away with the ball and the hit altogether, the Russian ice dancing coach came to mind again. Just like him, I don't let the minor mistakes slip by - because it wouldn't be of any help to the player. At one point, Jim yelled across the range, "Trillium! Get his foot! His FOOT!!" And it became clear as a diamond that moment, that no matter what disciple you sink yourself into, you need to master the details. And if you don't have a good coach who can spot them and hold you accountable for them, you will have to work extra hard to figure it out on your own.

An unusual way to get something done...

2009-10-17T11:59:00.005-04:00

For you the space,

For us the pleasure.

A riddle to face,

For your escape.

For the door that you must knock upon,

Take the year that this man died,

Divide by 2 and minus 5.

He coined the term, "Eureka"!

Now allow me to make a quick disclaimer: This has nothing to do with golf, it's just amusing and I thought I'd share it.

The riddle above was written by my brother who left it on a neighbors car whose owner he did not know. She had made a habit of parking in such a way that Parker had to block her in if he needed to use his parking space.

He felt badly blocking her car in on a daily basis, but she gave him no choice. Instead of writing a nasty note, he decided to leave the poem/riddle for her to figure out how to reach him if she needed to get out. Apparently the lady never solved it and managed to wiggle out (with a 39 point turn) of her parking space without him moving his car. Parker said that she talked a lot.

Photo right: Parker, Felicity and me.

Golf Instruction.. why does it matter who teaches you?

2009-10-11T10:30:00.006-04:00

Although golf has been played for hundreds of years, the profession of teaching it hasn't become a career until the last century. In the early 1900s, unless you were a star player or Scottish, you didn't have much of a chance. Golf instructional books did not exist until much later with a handful of dynamic golfers like Percy Boomer, Tommy Armour, Ernest Jones and others.

Now, as the game has grown, so has the world of instruction. There have been dozens of instructors along the way who have carved their own tracks along the road to understanding how to teach the game. On one end of the spectrum you have Homer Kelley's Golfing Machine with a very methodical way of explaining the swing mechanically from the perspective of a scientist. On the other end you have Harvey Penick with a teaching style that likened a coach with a simple mantra, "Beauty is a beauty does."

Today a golfer searching for the right instructor can be difficult because there are so many ways of describing how the game can be played. Thanks to many of the legendary teachers, there is a universal language of grip, path, face, etc. But there isn't insurance that an instructor from Nevada will teach the same way or things as a teacher from Maine other than use of the same vocabulary.

The PGA of America has a training and testing process for everyone looking to gain membership into it's comprehensive group. Part of that includes a teaching seminar and test. But the test has changed over the years, and many members took the test far too long ago to find it of any use in their day to day teaching. In effort to remedy the need for a central authority for instruction, Dr. Gary Wiren was hired by the PGA to re-write a teaching manual that would serve as an in-depth guide. The manuel covers a multitude of topics including clubfitting, ball flight laws, swing mechanics and practice. It has been a valuable tool for many, many golf professionals. However, it has also been criticized as being outdated today and not up to speed with some of the newer philosophies on how students perform.

Today you'll find that just because an instructor appears to have the vocabulary or the ability to demonstrate the swing, he or she may not have a personal belief system that holds up. The great instructors who forged ahead with new ideas did a great service to many of us who use those age tested theories, but there are also new amounts of research that is uncovering blind spots that perhaps were never looked at before. A good instructor not only knows his or her history, but also understands the great importance in doing research and finding out for himself what he believes in.

Greenside Bunker Shots

2009-08-03T14:26:00.001-04:00

On the PGA Tour, the top 20 leaders in sand saves are right around 60% (they hit the ball out of the bunker onto the green, then sink the putt about 60% of the time). The bottom 20 players on the PGA Tour are between 30%-40%. To me, this means that even in the highest echelon of players, accuracy out of a bunker can be difficult to achieve.

However, there are certain key points to remember when hitting greenside bunkers shots that will at least prepare you for better success. (This is for a ball that is sitting reasonably up in the sand.)

Ball position should be center or even slightly forward of center.
Grip pressure should be very light to allow the clubhead to splash under the ball.
Always have a long, relaxed backswing.
Use the bounce (or trailing edge) of the club to splash sand a few inches before and after the ball.
Finish facing the target.

Photo: Draw two parallel lines in the sand and place your practice balls in the center. Work on spashing out the sand in between the lines and the ball will launch right out of the bunker along with it!

On Learning

2009-08-03T13:52:00.007-04:00

Every day that I teach, I learn something more about the way people learn. My student base is as diverse as the National Zoo. There are so many differences in who I teach I don't even know where to begin. Just age alone makes a huge difference! But within that, there are even more variations of interest levels, skill levels, commitment, attention span, experience, body awareness.. the list literally could go on for at least 20 more. Now in some regards this doesn't really matter. The way to play golf isn't going to be totally different for Megan who is 12 than it is for Charles who is 46. But the way they understand and how quickly they pick up the new skills is. I feel more efficient as a teacher if I can relate to how the other person is receiving the information. In a one on one environment, I have the opportunity to ask a lot of questions and read into their overall responses. This gives me an idea about how to phrase the information, how much to give and when to give it. Now as much as I feel like I have been honing in on how to reach different types of people, there is always something that is extremely difficult: Someone who has unrealistic expectations.

This is absolutely the hardest thing imaginable on the lesson tee. When I come across even a hint of unrealistic expectations in a student, I like to give an analogy.

If you wanted to learn to play the piano, you wouldn't pick up some sheet music of Johannes Brahms and expect to play one his concertos right off the bat. In fact, that would be ridiculous. You'd need to start with learning scales, training your fingers, learning the basics.

Once you have mastered the basics, then you can take on more complicated tasks. By learning this way, you will be creating a deeper breadth of knowledge around the skill. Eventually, little by little the hard work that you've put into each movement pattern will become easier and require less cognitive thinking. Ideally and eventually with the proper practice, your body will adopt a movement that will not require your brain to be conscious of it at all. This is the point where you can achieve higher expectations and ask more of yourself.

Jim McLean Pays a Visit

2009-06-19T09:08:00.008-04:00

June 10, 2009 Chevy Chase Club, Maryland Today it was great to see my boss and mentor, Jim McLean, on my home ground. He was on a mini traveling stint around the northeast and made time to pay me a visit! He had time to play the course but unfortunately neither Jim Fitzgerald, Chevy Chase Head Golf Professional, nor I could play with him. Charlie Briggs, the Burning Tree General Manager and former Jim McLean Golf School Instructor, was with him so they had a twosome. (Left photo: Jim Fitzgerald, me and Jim McLean)

I was delighted to show Jim my "learning center" which is comprised of my computer, printer, tees and just about as many training aids as can fit in a golf cart. It doesn't stand up to the superstation that he built down at the Doral, but it serves a great purpose and gets the job done. Here we are in front of it.

Later that day after my morning lessons, I went up to Bulle Rock and watched the LPGA McDonalds practice round. It was great to have the girls so close to home. The golf course looked incredible and the weather held up.

The Caddyshack Tournament

2009-05-04T20:27:00.010-04:00

April 22-23, 2009

St. Augustine, Florida

Bill Murray runs a celebrity tournament every year to raise money for charity in St. Augustine, Florida. This year he and his brother, Andy, invited me to play in it.... The Murray Brothers also own and operate a restaurant there called The Caddyshack, so naturally that was the perfect place to have it.

The day before the

tournament, the brothers had a date with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the NFL Network showed up to film it.

It was draft pick week, or whatever it's called, and the gag was all six brothers would "tr

y out" for the team. The youngest brother is in his mid-40s and none of them (which exception of Joel) look the NFL part.

So needless to say, while they were suiting up in the equipment room, they looked more like agents than

players.

But once on the field there was some fun to be had..... the video is Bill working with one of the players while they do some plyometrics.

Afterwards everyone went into the video room and the Head Coach came into the room to analyze some of the footage. He was very nice to say that he would consider some of them for the upcoming pick.... I think it aired on the NFL network but since I don't watch that channel too often I wouldn't have any idea.

The Jaguar Head Coach, Jack Del Rio gets put on the spot.

That evening I participated in a "hit the green" contest. I actually found out about it as I was walking over and was well prepared with a black dress and cheetah print shoes. I looked nothing like a golfer, not to mention someone who might be able to actually make it across the water and onto the green.

Pictured below are the nuns who teach at the school which is the major recipient of the projected funds to be raised. Did you know that Bill's sister is a nun? I couldn't resist taking this photo. They were thrilled that he posed for the shot.

And I should mention that my group won the tournament.....

The Masters

2009-05-04T19:18:00.007-04:00

April 6-12, 2009

Augusta National Golf Club

For someone who doesn't play golf, it's probably hard to recognize why the Masters is such a fun tournament to watch. But it's even harder to explain why it's so incredible to be there. This year I went for the three days of practice rounds prior to the tournament. One reason the members at Augusta National have earned such a great reputation for hosting this major is that they have the chance to learn from experience. It's the longest running tournament in the world.

I'll provide a few excerpts from the spectator guide that is given out to every person who is lucky enough to have a ticket...

"The player field being small, many Tournament formalities and regulations are eliminated. The first consideration
is to provide a first-class golf course in as beautiful and nearly perfect condition as
effort can make it; and secondly, to show our player guests every possible courtesy.
The chief objective of the Masters is to stage a golf show that is enjoyable to all - our members, patrons and player guests, and to interested golfers generally. We would also like, if we can, to
contribute something to the advancement of the game."

Pictured: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player play in the famous Par 3 Contest on Wednesday. Tournament participants, non-competing past champions, and Honorary Invitees are invited to participate. The nine-hole course is par 27, 1,060 yards. In the history of the contest there have been 67 holes-in-one made, a record five in 2002. No Par 3 Contest winner has won the Masters in the same year as his short-course victory.

Also in the Spectator Guide there is a piece titled, Spectator Suggestions, by Robert Tyre Jones, Jr (1902-1971:

"It has been the aim of the Augusta National Golf Club
from the inception of the Masters Tournament to provide as many facilities and conveniences for the spectator as possible. Natural vantage points around the course have
been improved and some even developed where no natural observation features existed. Field scoreboards have been provided at most of these strategic points.
In golf, customs of etiquette and decorum are just as important as rules governing play. It is appropriate for spectators to applaud successful strokes in proportion to difficulty but excessive demonstrations by a player or his partisans are not proper because of the possible effect upon other competitors.
Most distressing to those who love the game of golf is the applauding or cheering of misplays or misfortunes of a player. Such occurrences have been rare at the Masters but we must eliminate them entirely if our patrons are to continue to
merit their reputation as the most knowledgeable and more considerate in the
world."

Pictured: Andres Romero "skipping it" across the pond on the 16th hole... a long standing tradition in practice rounds. This year I watched Vijay Singh actually hole out his skipped ball!

Multiple Masters Champions:

SIX TIME - Jack Nicklaus, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986

FOUR TIME - Arnold Palmer, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964

-Tiger Woods, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005

THREE TIME - Jimmy Demaret, 1940, 1947, 1950

-Sam Snead, 1949, 1952, 1954

-Gary Player, 1961, 1974, 1978

-Nick Faldo, 1989, 1990, 1996

In the Masters Spectator Guide on Tickets:

"Practice Rounds tickets are limited again this year and none will be available at the gates. All tickets were sold in advance by mail. An announcement will be made after the 2009 Masters concerning the sale of 2010 Practice Rounds tickets.
The first Tournament sold out prior to it's start was in 1966. Thursday through Sunday tickets have been sold to those on the patron list which was closed due to demand in 1972. A waiting list began that year and names were last added to that list in 2000. The waiting list is now closed and no additions will be made in the foreseeable future."

In other words, if you can get a ticket, you are very lucky!

Following Andres Romero, Angel Cabrera & Penny Hardaway

2009-05-04T16:24:00.010-04:00

Mariano Bartolome (instructor), Angel Cabrera, Rafa Echenique (European Tour player), Fabrizio Zanotti (European Tour player) and Andres Romero (teeing off) on the White Course at the Doral in Miami. I was happy to have my camera and I think they were happy to have the photos.

The week before the CA Championship I didn't give very many lessons.. and the reason is pretty good: Andres Romero, Angel Cabrera, Fabrizio Zanotti and Rafa

Echenique were in town.

Romero and Cabrera are on the PGA Tour and Zanotti and Echenique are on the European Tour. All of them are originally from South America and were working with a colleague at the Jim McLean Golf School named Mariano Bartolome. They were in Miami to work with him as well as prepare for th upcoming tournament.

Mariano invited me to follow them around the golf course while they played and had a friendly competition.

It was fun to get to know each of them in a little closer way. They are usually swamped with crowds, so this was the best ticket ever.

The former NBA star, Penny Hardaway, also works on his game with us at the golf scho

ol, so it was natural to invite him to come along and play with the other stars. I'm not sure if he was nervous, but it sure took courage to put his game out there with 2008 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year (Andres

Romero) and 2008 US Open Champion (Angel Cabrera). I admire his nerves.

(Photo: Andres teeing off while Angel Cabrera looks on)

Penny's golf bag says "1 Cent" on it. I love that.

CA Championship 2009

2009-05-04T11:58:00.005-04:00

March 9-15th, 2009

The CA Championship is hosted at the Doral Resort in Miami, Florida every year. I happened to teach at the Jim McLean Golf School which is located on the premises. So needless to say, it's wonderful to watch and follow the process that the PGA Tour goes through to get ready for a tournament.

This year my friend, Jamie Gough, a well known instructor from South Africa was coming into town with one of his players, James Kingston, also from South Africa. I knew Jamie from the previous year when he was in town and looked forward to his arrival. In fact, they were scheduled to arrive a little earlier than the tournament was expecting so the course was still open to the public and the grass part of the practice range was not yet open. I made a few arrangements for them to get tee times on the Blue Monster (the tournament course) and a special spot on our side of the practice range, at the golf school.

It was great fun to catch up with Jamie and to introduce them to Bobby Cole, our beloved instructor who is legend in South Africa for his playing record.

(From Left to Right: James Kingston, Trillium, Bobby Cole, Jamie Gough.)

The days leading up to the tournament, Jamie and James worked on his swing and getting used to the golf course, the weather, the yardages, the greens and the hazards. ( He ended up tied for 20th and posted scores of 66-74-67-72 -- 279 (-9) )

In order to make it into the tournament you must be in the top 75 players in the world, so 20th is pretty darn good in this field.

I followed them on the course in a few practice rounds and watched how he prepared himself. In the process Jamie, his coach, and I talked at length about his abilities, his mental state, what challenges he would face, and all kinds of other areas that effect a player of his caliber. In the process, I also heard what he was feeling. In time, I also met and spent a bit of time talking with his Caddie, a lovely man named Ray who is also from SA and had been on Trevor Immelman's bag before taking James. So between the three guys, I had a close up look at how they prepared and the entire dynamic. The bonus was that they were all super fun.

ING Miami Half Marathon

2009-01-25T15:53:00.006-05:00

Right now my knees hurt. Although I probably should be lucky it's my only pain, I'm avoiding making any trips to walk around. Despite it, I'm still happy to say that today I ran my first half-marathon: 13.3 miles.

The Miami ING race is well known as being fun; and as I learn more about the professional sport of running, I've gathered that several factors contribute to what makes a race "good" or not. One of the main factors is climate. A near second is elevation changes. And of course, good scenery is always considered. In this case, all three were pretty great. Since it's Miami, the weather can be hot for running so this one started at 6am. The directions to runners say to be in your corral, ready to go no later than 5:55 am. That can be tough for some people.

(When you register for the race, you are asked what time you expect to run it. With that information, the race registrants place like pacers together so that the faster runners are up front.) I was in corral "G" which ended up being in the 2:15 pacers - or thereabouts.

The weather was perfect around 6am.. upper 60s then as the sun ro

se, so did the temperature by ten degrees. No wind, no clouds. The only elevation changes were the modest bridges, and even they were ok because the view of the water was so spectacular. I was slightly disappointed that the guests on the 4 huge cruise ships were still sleeping when we ran by only slightly before 7 o'clock. Where were the FANS?? What could be more fun than to watch 10,000 runners before daybreak?

Training

Ha! My timing for this race was awful, and it wasn't for lack of planning. I contracted an ungodly strain of the flu around Christmas time that lingered and mutated itself into several different versions straight through the New Year. The week afterwards I took my PGA test, and before I knew it, was hopping on a plane to the Bahamas for the Michael Jordan Tournament. So in between that I managed to run a few short runs (between 3-5 miles) and one long run (10 miles). But that was it! Please note that I DO NOT endorse doing this. It's much too hard on ones body to send it across the city on blacktop without being properly prepared. In fact, it's akin to teeing it up at a golf course you've never played for the first time on the day of the tournament. Not the smartest thing to do.

Anyway, I am now hooked on running in these things. I'm not keen on the full marathon because I think it's hard on the bod. But we'll see. If I get nutty enough about this, I might slip into a mindframe where I want to do them.

In the mean time, I am still glowing about how much fun it was to run on familiar streets. I wasn't sure of my time because I forgot to look at my watch when I started. I also wasn't sure what the time clocks represented. I guessed (correctly) that they displayed the official start time, therefore I should adjust my personal time according to when I actually crossed the starting line. But that would mean I needed to know my starting time :) And I didn't see any mile markers until mile 10. Truthfully, I have no idea what kept me going other than sheer delight at the prospect of running past people. I went into it thinking that I would just be happy to finish, however as I got there in the early hours before dawn, I was overcome with conviction to run right up to my personal edge.

And... well... I did that because now I'm horizontal.

Final time: 1:57

West Coast Bizarre (Continued)

2008-12-05T21:28:00.006-05:00

Day 9

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

Parker and I concluded that when in Monterey, one must go to the famed aquarium. So here are some shots.

....

Day 10

DALLAS, TX

JIM MCLEAN GOLF CENTER

I felt that as long as I'm on the west coast I really needed to spend some time checking out the sister golf school that Jim set up in Texas. It's actually the most well thought out school that I've ever visited. The facility was built by scratch by Jim and includes everything that you'd ever need in training to become a professional player. You name it, it's there.

-1,000 square foot putting green

-6 golf holes designed by Tom Fazio

-a HUGE driving range with several target greens

-10 hitting bays with mounted cameras

-indoor putting studio

-plyometrics lab

-golf biodynamics center

-2 master clubfitters and a fully equipped shop

-a full gym

-a snack bar with full restaurant grade kitchen

-a quality staff of teaching professionals.....

While I was there, Jim was in town (pictured above) and we had a nice opportunity to touch base. I can't say enough about the programs that are set up and the quality of learning that is going on. Justin Poynter, the General Manager (and also an instructor) was more like the captain of the team when I saw him interact with the young high school players that were wandering around and working on their golf games. I look forward to making another trip to visit. If anyone is in Dallas/Ft. Worth, this is a must see- must take a lesson type of place. Don't miss it!

Cypress Point Club - photos

2008-12-05T21:05:00.009-05:00

The West Coast Bizarre (continued)

2008-12-01T13:52:00.012-05:00

Day 8 SAN FRANCISCO GOLF CLUB

It's hard to describe the feeling of being in a place that you've read about, seen pictures of, mentioned as examples. I suppose I could say that I felt like I was in some sort of a dream.

On November 23rd and 24th it might not be too far off to say that I was in another place. I had the privilege of playing San Francisco Golf Club and Cypress Point Club.

My father is a registered golf addict. He makes time to travel at least once a year (usually twice) to meet college classmates and play great golf courses. It's taken him all over this great country and last year to Cypress Point. I was envious. While there he casually mentioned his daughter is an instructor. Out of that visit came an invitation for me to play.

Who else to bring on such a special once in a lifetime journey than my brother. He loves golf

and lives in Los Angeles. So together we flew to SF and literally walked onto the first tee of San Francisco Golf Club. Our host was a previous president of the club and was rearing to go. He didn't waste anytime hitting his first shot. I don't even think Parker had pulled a driver out yet. Designed by A.W. Tillinghast, the San Francisco golf course opened in 1915. It was every bit of Tillinghast that I love. Not to mention one of the most private golf club in existence. There is hardly a thing on the internet about it including Wikipedia

. Even the entrance is hard to find (and as I quickly learned, the members like it that way.) Unlike it's more welcoming neighbor Olympic, this club has not even 300 members. We arrived at noon and there was hardly a person in sight...

Everywhere you turned you could pick up a camera and make the photograph into a post card. The layout was remarkable and the condition of the grass astoundingly well kept. This was another incredible oasis smack in the middle of the city.

As we walked down the tree lined fairways, I could feel myself drift away from the stress of the busy airport and wonder what it must be like to play this course anytime I wanted to. Our host (whose first and middle name together make up the name of one of the biggest banks in America) could not have been more fun and his wife was even nicer. I just couldn't stop thinking about the heritage and tradition that were eminent behind every turn and swell.

Day 9 CYPRESS POINT CLUB (Photo: Cypress Point Club's infamous 16th hole and 17th tee box, fairway)

Bob Hope once memorably summed up Cypress Point: "One year they had a big membership drive at Cypress. They drove out 40 members." Hope was himself a member for more than 40 years, but he didn't recall playing more than a half-dozen times outside of the "Crosby Clambake." He still paid, however. At the end of every year Cypress Point divides its total operating costs evenly among the members. They pay even if they never set foot on the property that year.

The night after we played San Francisco Golf Club, Parker and I drove down to Monterey Peninsula for the night. The break of dawn the next morning we would set foot on what would become the most memorable round of golf in my life: Cypress Point.

Here I am standing on the par 3, 15th. The 16th is also a par 3, and perhaps these are most famous back to back par 3s in existence. Both were dramatic and breathtaking. I found it difficult to focus on my game. ...

West Coast Bizarre (Continued)

2008-11-28T14:36:00.015-05:00

Day 6

(left: Sunrise over Loz Feliz with my iPhone)

(right: My godbrother sitting in a screening room before Mary's premiere)

The 21st of November is a Friday. Leave it to my brother to get a plan together and round friends for a show at the Music Box, a smallish hip venue in West Hollywood. Parker picked me up and we met several of his friends there to see Kraak &Smaak, a Dutch group that really lit it up. I should note the opening group

too—The Beatards. You laugh (I did), but they really have talent.

There were 2 guys who rapped and rhymed with the best moves I’ve seen in a long time. And I know dance moves. They looked strikingly similar to the Beastie Boys in dress and sound… but managed to wind their own style through it. The Korean DJ was something else too.

So after their set I made sure to let them know that when in Miami they should make some time for a golf lesson. They genuinely seemed delighted at the proposition. That would be a good scene—the Beatards on the golf course.

Day 7 LOS ANGELES COUNTRY CLUB

This morning I couldn't be more excited to play Los Angeles Country Club (consistently ranked among the top 10 in the state of California). It was also by chance that my friend Dr. Joe Parent, who normally lives in Ojai, was in town. He proposed that I meet him there and we play in the afternoon. On the back nine we would meet up with his 11 year old student and his swing coach, Assistant Pro Justin Davidson.

Los Angeles Country Club was a rerouted by George Thomas in 1927 from Fowler's original layout in 1921. Set in the heart of the city, you cannot help but notice the building tops from above the trees along the horizon. The grand clubhouse overlooks the most unsuspecting parkland golf including 27 holes, tennis and a healthy sized practice green.

Despite it's seemingly unfit location (amidst a city) each hole seems to be carved out perfectly among rolling hills, steep valleys and trees whose presence remind you that they were there back in the old Hollywood studio days.

Every hole seems to have a distinct character and no two are alike. The hole pictured above is hole #11, a par 3 reverse redan - a classic hole design which by definition usually a par 3 on which the green is wider than it is deep and angles diagonally away from the tee box . A redan hole slopes front-to-back and right-to-left, and is often guarded by a deep bunker fronting the middle part of the green, or bunkers on the right and left fronts. The tee shot may play

slightly uphill to a green surface that is partially or fully blind to the golfer. The great golf course architect of the early 20th century, Charles Macdonald, incorporated redan holes into many of his courses including the 7th hole at Sleepy Hollow (my home course). Other famous redan holes:

The National Golf Links, 4th

Shinnecock Hills, 7th and 17th

Brookline Country Club, 12th

Poppy Hills, 15th

Ocean Links, 3rd

Sommerset Hills, 2nd

Riviera, 4th

Seminole, 18th

Anyway,

back to LACC... the rolling hills and strategic bunkering proved itself one of the most challenging tests of golf I've ever played on a parkland course and it doesn't surprise me that in the 80's the USGA was courting LACC for a US Open.

I can only imagine what the course might play like with wind and slightly faster greens.

It was interesting to play with Dr. Parent (left photo), as he is one of the more renown mental game coaches. So to see how he reacted to his own shots was an experience. Lots of breathing. The photo of him

is on the famed 5th hole where Ben Hogan had his famous reply to a caddie who told him to aim at the palm trees: "Which one?!"

The West Coast Bizarre

2008-11-21T10:52:00.010-05:00

Day 1

LOS ANGELES, LOS FELIZ

November 16, 2008

Since the weather in New York has become rather cold for the average golfer, the rounds have dropped and traffic has slowed around the club. 'Tis the season for catching up on projects that had been left on the back burner and getting ready for the upcoming golf season.

It also means catching your breath.

November is a good time for me to make use of the down time, so this year Ichose to revisit Los Angeles. Since I went to college out here it's always nice to come back and see the people that are still kicking around, check out my old haunts and reconnect with friends.

My godmother, Mary Lambert, has been here since the 80s and lives with her family in a fantastic home built in the 1920s that sits on the hill just below the Greek Observatory. She's a director and is always into cool projects.

In college I had the privilege of working as a DA (Director's Assistant) on a few big movies which took us all over the place on location and in the pre/post productions to some fun editing rooms, movie lots, etc.. The Warner Bros. Lot being my favorite. In any case, when you work closely with someone like that you really see what they are made of. In our case we both became very trusting of one another. It easily could have gone a different way if our personalities were different because we spent so much damn time together on set. Some days would be 14 straight hours in the heat or at night.. it's such a grind. But we had a lot of fun and chimed well. Now she's one of my truest friends.

Day 3

The photo above was taken by my dear friend, Max Gerber. He went to Pitzer College before me but we met on campus in the photo lab. He is still a photographer and has accumulated quite a body of work - including a book that be published. www.msgphoto.com if you're curious. He took my portrait on Sunday at his house. When he picked me up, we both agreed that it would have been nice to take the portrait at Mary's house. Location shoots are always kind of fun. So he came back on Tuesday and this time he also took Mary's portrait. He's so talented.

Day 4 & 5

PALM DESERT - PGA WEST

One of the main reasons I decided to go to Los Angeles was the close proximity to the Palm Desert area. PGA West is the location of the Jim McLean Golf School in Palm Desert, California and also home of legendary golf instructor, Carl Welty. Over the course of the last 2 years I've been in contact with him via email and phone but I had never met him in person. He kindly agreed to let me spend a few days with him and it was everything I hoped for and then some. This was my first encounter of a third kind for sure. Mr. Welty is a true mad scientist - and I mean that in the best way possible. He just thinks a little differently than everyone else. I wish that I had thought of getting a photo of him but dang it, most of what comes out of his mouth takes me a little off guard and my normal train of thought is undoubtably broken. So I didn't get one.

(I did get a photo of the windmills on the drive from LA to Palm Desert on the 10)

Carl Welty is the leading expert on video research on the golf swing. He has acquired more video clips in the past decade (even two) than anyone on the planet. And he has them on file. They are marked with color coded ink! He was using video in the 70s when it was on a disc that looks like a record. He's seen just about every tour pro there is alive and has well earned his spot on Golf Digest's Top 100 Instructors list. So needless to say, the last 2 days were most enjoyable for me. The second day I shadowed him during a playing lesson with a young aspiring player who wants to make it on the Big tour. If he listens to Welty, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up making it.

General Golf Practicioner

2008-08-02T22:23:00.003-04:00

June 20, 2008

I took the day off from teaching last week so I could attend the LPGA National Coaches Workshop entitled, "The Game before the Game." I'm not a college coach but this was exactly what I wanted to be doing on a day away. In fact, I moved a few lessons to make it to this thing. The LPGA has three different "majors" that you can choose to specialize in. Some women have gone through the program more

than once in order to strengthen their abilities and knowledge.

The organization has always been known for their cutting edge teaching program but since I spend such intense winter months at the Jim McLean Golf School, I did not feel like I really needed - or wanted to spend my time. So I chose their brand new area of study: Coaching.

I knew that I always liked to lead and someday would want to coach but I didn't know it would fall into my lap so soon. I felt like I was in a kitchen preparing food and realized that I didn't have a particular knife to do a certain job. As every year passes, it becomes exceedingly apparent that I will have more students on a regular basis - which I really love. My ideal student is someone who really wants to learn and puts their 100% into it. (This might be another good topic for my next blog entry... "The Perfect Student".) And the more I see the player, the more I get to know them as a person and what their life is like. The more I can see how they go about things, the more I understand their patterns and tendencies in all sorts of things.... which all trickle into golf someway or another whether we like it or not. And this is exactly how I realized that I could benefit greatly by concentrating on the "coaching" side of things while studying the LPGA materials for membership.

So back to June 20th...

All I needed to read was "hosted by Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson" and my check was in the mail. The all time greatest of great in the world of coaching. These two wrote Every Shot Must Have a Purpose and The Game Before the Game, plus a multitude of articles and essays. Not to mention they were Annika's coach since she came out of college! They started a school, and business, called Vision 54 (54 being a birdie on every hole) in Arizona. Anyway, the day was organized around how to elevate performance from players. Even though I was one of the very few instructors in the room, I felt like it was cut out perfectly for me as a teacher to students.

(Side note: Let me just mention who was at my table. Starting at my left was the U of Florida coach, Ohio State coach, UNC coach, U of New Mexico coach, Baylor coach, Wake Forest coach, then to my right was Dr. Betsy King... VP Player Development on LPGA tour and former LPGA tour star herself! The table behind me were the younger coaches like Auburn, Georgia, Princeton, UC Davis, Cal, Wellsley and San Francisco. It was great to see some familiar faces and have some catch up time.)

PRACTICE was the theme on June 20th. Warm up practice. Maintenance practice and Preparation practice. Underneath this was a more detailed discussion on their philosophy on playing great golf that outlined an entire assessment of qualities, or elements, as they call them. According to their conclusions, golf is not just technical or mental. But everything always comes up in technical. But if you only have one lens, and it's technical, you aren't really seeing the entire scene. So here are the elements:

Technical

Physical

Mental

Emotional

Social

Spirit of the game

By the end of the day we had covered all of the areas with some time spend outdoors on the green and practice range. It was a tremendous experience and delightful to ask them questions afterwards one on one. I look forward to sharing this enriching experience with my students.

The Ultimate Lesson

2008-06-16T22:48:00.008-04:00

Sometimes students need a little bit of a jump start to get their golf games into shape. Last week I did just that to five lucky students...

Although I put it together, the original idea wasn't entirely mine. It was partly influenced by the golf schools that we run at the JMGS and partly by the Titleist Performance Institute and the evaluation program that they offer exclusively to those with the financial means and the personal invitation by a member of their instructional program. Although I am not on the board, I'm within close enough proximity to have some idea about what they have to offer. Specifically, a colleague from the Jim McLean Golf School by the name of Dr. Rob Neal and his wife Karen Harrison, who created the Golf BioDynamics system and sit on the board of directors on TPI.

So back to last week..

Here was the instructional team:

Scott Reilly - Owner of a one-on-one personal training health and wellness company who is an NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, and Golf Titlesit Performance Training coach.

Kevin Sprecher -

my colleague at SHCC and JMGS who focused on putting last week, specifically with his SAM Putt Lab system.

Dr. Rob Neal - creator of the 3D biomechanics system that reports on body motions

-and me, the instructor that tied all the different points together. (Photo: Student, Justin Palmer works with the GBD system while Dr. Rob Neal puts him into position at the Sleepy Hollow CC Learning Center during the Ultimate Lesson.)

The five hour session was broken into the initial screening sessions with each instructor and then a group discussion/evaluation. The remaining time was divided among each station and everyone finished with their one-on-one work.

The outcome was outstanding. Students left with a three ring binder with print outs from the SAM findings, the GBD findings, their results from hitting drives on the TrackMan, my notes for their golf swing, and a webpage with their own workout program personalized for them uploaded on the TPI website.

I'm really looking forward to a follow up session near the end of the season. My ideal plan is to have Session II include the mental game....

Shadowing the Cal women's golf team in Hawaii

2008-05-15T19:42:00.009-04:00

Last fall I traveled to Hawaii with the women's golf team from University of California Berkeley (or more commonly referred to as just plain Cal). I wanted to write about this earlier but it's taken me a while to get it down on paper... I guess that blogs are the new 'paper'. Anyway, I didn't plan on doing anything other than observing the team dynamics and the interactions with coach. Basically I wanted to watch how the coach got her team to perform. Afterall, as an instructor, I'm also somewhat of a coach from time to time so I figured it would be beneficial to my own craft if I seek out the best and observe.

So around the first week in November I hopped on a plane to San Francisco and met the assistant coach, Anne Walker. She was a former player on the team and had spent the past five years since as the full time assistant. Anne is from Scotland and has the greatest way about her. I was so excited to be her shadow since I had known her and never met the head coach, Nancy.

What most people who aren't around college golf know, is that the assistant has a big role. The head coach is the one with the power to make the ultimate decisions - like who will be traveling, what the practice schedule is like, who will share a hotel room with who, and so on. The head coach is the one who gets the credit and takes the fall. The coach is the final word. The assistant not only backs that up, but in Cal's case, gathers information from a more insider perspective that the head coach cannot. The assistant would be the eyes and ears for the head coach, but might get the more personal version. The assistant is the one who has the hand on the pulse of the emtions, the nuances of inter-personal dramas (and if you're female you know what I'm talking about).

I arrived in San Francisco late the night before we were to travel as a group to Hawaii. The next morning I met the team and the head coach at the airport and off we went, arriving 2 days before the tournament. It gave us time to relax on the beach, snorkel in the bay, hike up Diamond Head and enjoy Honolulu. So when the tournament started, I felt like I had more of an idea who the five players were and what how their personalities fit in within the team.

But before I get into what happened, I want to get into some broader points...

Since there are only five players that represent the team in any given tournament, there is an awful lot of down time together. Not to mention the down time on the golf course itself. Take a step further from that point and realize that golf as a whole has a lot of empty time in is where you aren't actually swinging a club. In a 4 hour round, shooting 75 you are hitting the ball for 2 seconds x 75 = 2.5 minutes. Preshout routine, 20 seconds x 75 = 25 minutes. Preparation 30 seconds x 75 = 37.5 minutes. Socialize 15 seconds = 18.75 minutes. Talking to a caddie 30 seconds = 37.5 minutes. All of this totals only about 2 hours. So that leaves an additional 2 hours for something else.... I could go on about the optimal state of awareness for performance, but I don't want to detract from the concept of teams and how these young women balanced themselves with one another.

The Cal team has talent. That is obvious. But it doesn't have quite the resume of some of it's rivals. USC has Belen Mozo who in the same year won the British Ladies Open Amateur and the Girls British Open Amateur and Dewi Claire Schreefel, the '06 NCAA individual champion. UCLA has Tiffany Joh, winner of the '06 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and Maria Jose Uribe who took the U.S. Women's Amateur title in '07. However, despite feeling like they stare into the glare from the shiny accomplishments of their competitors, the Cal girls have something that I hadn't seen in other teams. It's a sense of togetherness and support. The five were never further apart than the other room the entire week. They were like sisters and it provided a safe, nurturing environment for each of them to draw strength. It was amazing to watch.

(to be continued...)

James Caan Lesson

2008-04-30T23:00:00.005-04:00

Last month I gave James Caan a golf lesson at the golf school at the Doral. I didn't know it was the actor until I saw him warming up. What a character! Most people remember him as "Sonny" in the Godfather movies.. I thought he was particularly good in Elf, myself.

He has a single digit handicap and a great game. Above is a photo of us with Jim McLean and Mr. Caan's two friends (far left is Mr. Soffer, developer and owner of Turnberry Isle Resort & Club).

Dr. Joseph Parent - ZEN GOLF

2008-04-02T23:01:00.000-04:00

One of the things I love about the Jim McLean Golf School is the influx of people that I meet. Just this week I met Dr. Joseph Parent, the author of the books Zen Golf and Zen Putting. Often named the master of golf's mental game, Parent was teaching an exclusive group at our school.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with him (drive him to the airport actually.. and then his flight was delayed so we went to dinner) and was impressed with how open he was about sharing his thoughts and ideas. I learned that he grew up with a photographic memory and could easily remember pretty much anything that he read. He distinctly recalled starting to lose that ability when he turned 26 years old. With a Ph.D in psychology and a deep background in Buddhism, it makes sense that his approach to helping people achieve a greater awareness with golf starts from one's own perspective on their surroundings. One notion that he passed along to me was about teaching people to release the club. The conversation went something like this:

Dr.- "Do you ever teach people to release the club?"

T-"Yes, of course, but it usually is more than just the hands.. it's the entire right side."

Dr.-"Why would you tell someone to release it when it will happen on it's own? You see, by telling someone to release a club, they will roll their hands or flip it. Let them think of another move and their hands will release themselves on their own."

An interesting concept that he delves into in his book... Anyway, I felt privileged to have his time that day.

CA Championship - Jim McLean Golf School takes advantage!

2008-03-22T14:51:00.000-04:00

Photo: PGA Tour player, Andres Romero works on his swing with his instructor, Mariano Bartolome of the JMGS at the school during Wednesday's practice round. He posted a 68 the first round of the CA Championship.

Update:

March 31, - Romero won the PGA Zurich Classic!

This week the PGA Tour is making it's home in my backyard. The Jim McLean Golf School is located at the Doral Resort in Miami where the tournament is being played.

CA Championship Summary:

Eligible players are the top 50 from the official world golf ranking and leaders of the official money lists and orders of merit of the six federation member Tours not otherwise eligible in the ranking. The format is 72 holes of stroke play with no cut.

Needless to say, having the best 50 players in the world play at my course is exciting!

I spent all of Tuesday and Wednesday on the golf course with my video camera planted on a tee box capturing swings. In fact, all ten JMGS assistants and a handful of other instructors could be seen out on the course scattered among tees with their cameras doing the same thing. What we were doing is collecting data for research. After all of the swings are complied into the schools database, each of us will pick a specific area of the swing to study. It could be something as simple as grip positions or as obscure as how far the left knee moves in the backswing. Once a topic is chosen, each player will be looked at and recorded. By the end of the week, there will be 30 different studies conducted on what the top players in the world are doing right now.