Chapter 2
Looking into Golf Lessons
In This Chapter
Identifying your strengths and weaknesses
Examining your options for lessons
Approaching your golf lesson with the right attitude
Taking advantage of other useful instructional sources
Tuning in to pro golfers
Say you just started to play golf. Your friends took you over to the driving range at lunch; you launched a couple of balls into the sunshine and thought you may actually want to learn the game. What next?
You can get instruction from friends. Most golfers start out this way, which is why they develop so many swing faults. Friends’ intentions are good, but their teaching abilities may not be.
You can learn by hitting balls. A lot of golfers who study this way go to the driving range and hit balls day and night to watch how the pure act of swinging a golf club in a certain way makes the ball fly in different trajectories and curves. This process is a very slow one because you have to learn by trial and error.
You can study books. You can find many books on golf instruction that can lead you through the fundamentals of the game. But you can go only so far by teaching yourself from a book.
You can take lessons from a PGA professional. This option is the most expensive and most efficient way to learn the game. Lessons can cost as little as $8 an hour and as much as $300 or more. The expensive guys are the ones you read about in Golf Digest and Golf Magazine and see on TV. But any golf professional can help you with the basics of the game.
In this chapter, we help you figure out where to turn for golf lessons and what to expect from those lessons. And if your scheduled lessons aren’t enough to fuel your passion for golf, we also include other sources you can look to for further instruction.
Eleven things your teaching pro should have
Not all teaching pros are created equal. Look for these criteria when choosing an instructor:
Plenty of golf balls
Plenty of sunblock
Plenty of patience
A sense of humor
Enthusiasm
An ability to teach players at all levels
An ability to explain the same thing in ten different ways
An upbeat manner
A teaching method that he or she believes in
An ability to adapt that method to your needs
More golf balls
Doing a Pre-Lesson Evaluation
Keep a record of how you’ve played for a few weeks before your first lesson. And we’re not just talking about recording your scores. Keep accurate counts of
How often you hit your drive into the fairway.
How often you reach the green in regulation; that is, how often you get to the green in two fewer shots than that hole’s par (for example, you hit the green of a par-5 in three shots). It won’t be many, at least at first.
How many putts you average.
How many strokes you usually take to get the ball into the hole from a greenside bunker.
Tracking so many things may seem like overkill, but it’s invaluable to your pro because it helps him or her quickly detect tendencies or weaknesses in your game. Then the pro knows how to help you improve. Figure 2-1 shows how to keep track of all those numbers on your scorecard.
Deciding Where to Go for Lessons
Golf lessons are available almost anywhere balls are hit and golf is played: driving ranges, public courses, resorts, private clubs, and so on. The price usually increases in that order — driving-range pros usually charge the least. As for quality, if the pro is PGA qualified — look for the term PGA professional posted in the pro shop or on his or her business card — you can be reasonably sure you’ll get top-notch instruction. If not, the pro may still know a lot about the game, but proceed with caution.
Figure 2-1: Recording your golf stats.
A qualified PGA teaching professional may charge as little as $25 or as much as $100 (or more) per session, which can range from 30 minutes to an hour. A professional has a good sense of how much to tell you and at what rate of speed; not all lessons require a specific amount of time. The following sections give you the lowdown on some potential lesson options.
When checking out places that offer golf lessons, ask whether they have video-analysis capabilities. When you’re able to watch yourself on video, you and your instructor can pinpoint problem areas for improvement. If nothing else, a video record is a great way to track and monitor your progress as you build your fundamental skills.
Golf schools
No matter where you live in the United States, a golf school should be fairly close by. Golf schools serve all levels of players, and many are designed for those just learning the game. (The sidebar “School days” contains a list of recommended golf schools.)
Golf schools are great for beginners. You find yourself in a group from 3 to 20 strong, which is perfect for you — the safety in numbers is reassuring. You discover that you’re not the only beginner. And you never know: Watching others struggle with their own problems may help you with your game.
Most of the better golf schools advertise in golf magazines. Be warned, though. These schools tend to be expensive. They did very well in the ’80s and early ’90s, when the economy was perceived to be strong and people had more disposable income. Since then, however, golf schools have been less successful. Golf-school lessons are big-ticket items, which makes them among the first things people omit from their yearly budgets.
Many people still attend golf schools, though. Why? Because they work. You get, on average, three days of intensive coaching on all aspects of the game from a good teacher. Because groups are usually small, you get lots of one-on-one attention, too. And you can pick up a lot by listening to what your fellow students are being told.
Even though you’re at golf school, don’t feel you have to be hitting shots all the time. Take regular breaks — especially if you’re not used to hitting a lot of balls — and use the time to learn. Try to analyze other players’ swings. Soak up all the information you can. Besides, regular breaks are the best way to avoid those blisters you see on the hands of golf-school students!
Country clubs
Even if you’re not a country club member, you can usually take a lesson from the local club pro. He or she likely charges more than a driving-range pro (see the following section), but the facilities are better. Certainly, the golf balls are. And chances are you have access to a putting green and a practice bunker so that you can get short-game help, too.
Driving ranges
Driving ranges vary widely as far as size and quality. Many are very sophisticated, with two or three tiers and balls that pop out of the floor already teed up. Some offer putting greens; some have miniature golf courses attached to them. Quite a few talented (and a few not-so-talented) instructors work at these facilities. Most of them can show you the basics of the swing and get you off on the right foot.
Group clinics
Try taking lessons in a group setting called a clinic. Most professionals will offer group clinics to similarly skilled golfers. Check out www.playgolf america.com for local courses that offer a variety of programs at all price levels. Also, Get Golf Ready is a great program designed to give beginner golfers all they need to play golf in five days for only $99.
A playing lesson
A playing lesson is just what it sounds like: You hire a professional to play any number of holes with you. This theme has three main variations:
You do all the playing. The professional walks along, observes your strategy, swing, and style, and makes suggestions as you go. This approach works if you’re the type of person who likes one-on-one direction.
You both play. That way, you get instruction as well as the chance to observe an expert player in action. If you typically learn more by watching and copying what you see, this type of lesson is the way to go. Pay particular attention to the rhythm of the pro’s swing, the way he or she manages his or her game, and how you can incorporate both into your own game.
The pro creates on-course situations for you to deal with. For example, the pro may place your ball behind a tree, point out your options, and then ask you to choose one. Your choice and subsequent advice from the pro help make you a better player. He or she may give you two escape routes — one easy, one hard. All the easy one involves is a simple chip shot back to the fairway. Trouble is, you may feel like you’re wasting a shot. The difficult shot — through a narrow gap in the branches — is tempting because the reward will be much greater. But if you hit the tree, you may take nine or ten shots on the hole. Decisions, decisions! That’s what golf is all about.
Gary’s favorite teachers
Many famous teachers will teach absolutely anybody who wants to be taught — male or female, young or old. They’re expensive — $100 to $400 an hour and up. Some teach at schools, and some are multimedia phenomena. Here are some of the best:
Mike Bender: Mike Bender Golf Academy in Lake Mary, Florida (phone 407-321-0444; website mikebender.com
Sean Foley: Orange County National Golf Center in Winter Garden, Florida (phone 888-727-3672 or 407-656-2626; website ocngolf.com)
Hank Haney: Hank Haney Golf Academy in McKinney, Texas (phone 972-346-2180; e-mail sjohnson@hankhaney.com, website hankhaney.com)
Butch Harmon: Butch Harmon School of Golf in Las Vegas, Nevada (phone 888-867-3226; e-mail info@butch harmon.com, website butchharmon.com)
Peter Kostis: CBS Golf, the Golf Channel, Golf.com — just about anywhere good golf thinking goes on
David Leadbetter: David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Orlando, Florida (phone 888-633-5323 or 407-787-3330; e-mail info@ davidleadbetter.com, website davidleadbetter.com)
Jim McLean: Jim McLean Golf Schools in Miami, Florida (phone 800-723-6725; website jimmclean.com)
Dave Pelz: Dave Pelz Scoring Game Schools in Austin, Texas (phone 800-833-7370 or 512-264-6800; website pelzgolf.com)
Rick Smith: Rick Smith Golf Academy at Treetops Resort in Gaylord, Michigan (phone 888-873-3867; Website rick smith.com) and Rick Smith Golf Academy at Tiburón in Naples, Florida (phone 877-464-6531; website ricksmith.com)
Stan Utley: Grayhawk Learning Center in Scottsdale, Arizona (phone: 480-502-2656; e-mail info@stanutley.com, website stanutley.com)
Maximizing Your Lessons
Much has been written about the relationship between Nick Faldo and his former teacher, David Leadbetter. Under Leadbetter’s guidance, Faldo turned himself from a pretty good player into a great one. In the process, Leadbetter — quite rightly — received a lot of praise and attention. More recently, Tiger Woods switched teachers and retooled his game. After Woods won the 2005 Masters and British Open, his teacher, Hank Haney, got some of the credit. Five years later, Woods and Haney split as Woods struggled with personal and professional setbacks.
Ultimately, the teacher is only as good as the pupil. Faldo, with his extraordinary dedication and total belief in what he was told, may have been the best pupil in the history of golf. Tiger at his best is nothing less than the best (and most focused) golfer of our time.
Which leads to the most important question of all: What kind of golf student are you? Are you willing to put your faith in your instructor and do the work required to improve your game, or do you expect the pro to tap you on the head with a magic golf club and miraculously fix your flaws? The following sections give you some pointers on taking full advantage of your golf lessons.
When you take lessons, you need to keep the faith in your instructor. There’s no point in sticking with someone you don’t believe in. If you find yourself doubting your teacher, you’re wasting everybody’s time. Change instructors if that happens — that is, if your instructor doesn’t tell you where to go first.
Be honest
Okay, now you’re on the lesson tee with your pro. The first thing you need to be is completely honest. Tell your instructor your problems (your golf problems, that is), your goals, and the shots you find difficult. Tell him or her what style of learning — visual, auditory, or kinesthetic — you find easiest. For example, do you like to be shown how to do something and then copy it? If so, you’re a visual learner. Do you prefer to have that same something explained (making you an auditory learner)? Or do you prefer to repeat the motion until it feels natural (which makes you a kinesthetic learner)?
No matter which learning technique you prefer, the instructor needs to know what it is. How else can he or she be effective in teaching you? You should also be sure to mention any physical limitations you have because of injury, illness, or other causes.
The bottom line is that the pro needs to know anything that helps create an accurate picture of you and your game. Don’t be shy or embarrassed. Believe me, you can’t say anything that your instructor hasn’t heard before!
Listen carefully
After you’ve done some talking, let your teacher reciprocate. Listen to what the pro has to say. After the pro has evaluated you and your swing, he or she can give you feedback on where you should go from there. Feedback is part of every good lesson. So keep listening. Take notes if you have to.
Don’t rate the success or failure of a session on how many balls you hit. You can hit very few shots and still have a great lesson. The number of shots you hit depends on what you need to work on. An instructor may have you repeat a certain swing in an attempt to develop a swing thought, or feel. You’ll notice when the suggested change becomes part of your swing.
Too many golfers swing or hit while the pro is talking. Don’t do it! Instead, imagine that you’re a smart chicken crossing the road: Stop, look, and listen!
Keep an open mind
Five minutes into every lesson, you’re going to have doubts. The pro changes something in your swing, grip, or stance, and you feel weird. Well, think about it this way: You should feel weird. What you’ve been doing wrong has become so ingrained that it feels comfortable. Change what’s wrong for the better, and of course it feels strange at first. That’s normal. Embrace the change!
Trust your professional more than you trust your friends or even loved ones, at least with your golf game. Countless pros have heard the line, “My husband told me to do it this way,” and bitten their lips to keep from asking, “How much does he get paid for teaching golf?”
Don’t panic. You’ll probably get worse before you get better. You’re changing things to improve them, not just for the heck of it. So give what you’re told to do a proper chance. Changes rarely work in five short minutes. Give them at least a couple of weeks to take effect. More than two weeks is too long; go back for another lesson.
Meanwhile, practice! If you don’t work between lessons on what you’ve learned, you’re wasting the pro’s time — not to mention your time and money.
Ask questions
The pro is an expert, and you’re paying good money, so take advantage of the pro’s knowledge while he or she belongs to you. Don’t worry about sounding stupid. Again, your question won’t be anything the pro hasn’t heard a million times before. Besides, what’s the point of spending good money on something you don’t get?
The professional is trained to teach, so he or she knows any number of ways to say the same thing. One of those ways is sure to push your particular button. But if you don’t share your impressions, the pro doesn’t know whether the message is getting through. So speak up!
Golf-lesson do’s and don’ts
Here are some tips on making the most of your lesson:
Find a good teacher and stick with that person.
Follow a timetable. Discipline yourself to work on what the instructor tells you.
Don’t let your mind wander. Concentrate!
Learn from your mistakes. You’ll make them, so you may as well make them work for you.
Don’t tense up. Relax, and you’ll learn and play better.
Practice the shots you find most difficult.
Set goals. Golf is all about shooting for targets.
Stay positive. Golf is hard enough — a bad attitude only hurts you.
Don’t keep practicing if you’re tired. That’s when sloppy habits begin. Quality practice matters more than quantity.
Evaluate yourself after each lesson. Are you making progress? Do you know what you need to practice before your next lesson?
Keep your cool
Finally, stay calm. Anxious people make lousy pupils. Look on the lesson as the learning experience that it is, and don’t get too wrapped up in where the balls are going. Again, the pro is aware of your nervousness. Ask him or her for tips on swinging smoothly. Nervous golfers tend to swing too quickly, so keep your swing smooth. What’s important at this stage is that you make the proper moves in the correct sequence. Get those moves right and understand the order, and the good shots will come.
Turning to Other Sources
The golf swing is the most analyzed move in all of sports. As such, more has been written — and continues to be written — about the swing than just about any other athletic move. Take a look in any bookstore under “Golf,” and you can see what we mean. Maybe you have, because you’re reading this book. (Nice choice!) And books are just the beginning; the following sections show you some of the outlets you can peruse for golf instruction.
Ten great golf-instruction books
An amazing number of books have been written on golf. Historians have tried to document every hook and slice throughout golf’s existence. Many have tracked the footsteps of the great players throughout their careers.
Instruction is the main vein nowadays, so here are ten great golf-instruction books, listed alphabetically by author. I’ve tried to help by reducing the list to my ten favorites, but I could include many more.
How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time by Tommy Armour (Simon & Schuster, 1953)
On Learning Golf by Percy Boomer (Knopf, 1992)
Search for the Perfect Swing by A.J. Cochran and John Stobbs (Triumph, 2005)
Natural Golf by John Duncan Dunn (Putnam’s, 1931)
The Mystery of Golf by Arnold Haultain (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1908; Nabu Press, 2010 — reissued in paperback after 102 years!)
Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf by Ben Hogan (Barnes, 1957)
Swing the Clubhead by Ernest Jones (Dodd, Mead, 1952)
The Physics of Golf by Theodore P. Jorgensen (Springer, 1999)
Golf My Way by Jack Nicklaus (Simon & Schuster, 1974)
Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book by Harvey Penick (Simon & Schuster, 1992)
Golf books
So where should you go for written advice? Some of the golf books out there are quite good. But most, sad to say, are the same old stuff regurgitated over and over. Remember: This game was centuries old in the 18th century!
Here’s another secret: Don’t expect too much from books “written” by the top players. The information they impart isn’t inherently flawed, but if you think you’re going to get some stunning insight into how your favorite PGA Tour star plays, think again. In all likelihood, the celebrity author has had little to do with the text. Exceptions exist, of course, but the “name” player’s input is often minimal. Some of the most famous athletes have actually claimed they’ve been misquoted in their own books. And another thing: The world’s greatest golfers aren’t necessarily the best teachers. In fact, some of them have no idea how hard the game can be.
Golf magazines
The monthly magazines Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and Golf Tips owe most of their popularity to their expertise in the instructional field. Indeed, most people buy these magazines because they think the articles can help them play better. The magazines all do a good job of covering each aspect of the game every month. If you’re putting badly, for example, every month you can find a new tip (or two or three) to try. Best of all, these magazines use only the best players and teachers to write their stories.
But is the information in golf magazines the best? Sometimes. The key is to sift through what you read and subsequently take to the course. The great teacher Bob Toski once said, “You cannot learn how to play golf from the pages of a magazine.” And he was right. Use these publications as backups to your lessons — nothing more.
Keep in mind that magazine articles are general in nature. They aren’t aimed specifically at your game. Of course, some of them may happen to work for you. But most won’t. You have to be able to filter out those that don’t.
Instructional gadgets
A look at the back of any golf magazine or the home page of many websites proves that instructional doodads aren’t in short supply. Most aren’t very good. Some are okay. And a few can work wonders. In Table 2-1, I outline my favorites for you. Figure 2-2 shows a picture of one of the more interesting of these gadgets — the Tour Striker.
Figure 2-2: The Tour Striker keeps your hands ahead of the ball.
Table 2-1 Gary’s Favorite Instructional Gadgets
Gary’s top instructional DVDs
A bountiful supply of golf DVDs ranges from Tim Conway’s hilarious Dorf on Golf to sophisticated features on the do’s and don’ts of your golf swing. Here are some of my favorites:
Hank Haney’s Essentials: A four-disk set from a modern master.
David Leadbetter Interactive: Four instructional DVDs plus one with software that can analyze your swing and offer drills.
David Leadbetter’s $10,000 Lesson: And the DVD only costs $19.99!
Gary McCord’s Golf For Dummies DVD: How could I resist? The same solid, fun instruction as in this book, plus you get to see me move!
Phil Mickelson: Secrets of the Short Game: He even shows you how to hit his patented flop shot.
Harvey Penick’s Little Red Video: Still available only on VHS, at least until someone puts this classic on DVD.
Women’s Golf Instruction, with Donna White and Friends: Simple, easy to follow.
DVDs: A visual approach
Instructional DVDs convey movement and rhythm so much better than their print counterparts do, so they’re perfect for visual learners. Indeed, watching a top teacher or tour professional hitting balls before you leave for the course isn’t a bad idea. The smoothness and timing in an expert’s swing has a way of rubbing off on you.
You can buy instructional DVDs at thousands of outlets, including video stores and golf shops, and you can order many of them online or from your favorite golf magazines.
Online golf wisdom (now available in the palm of your hand)
The latest form of golf instruction may one day be the best — websites and apps for your smartphone or other interactive gizmo. (For those not technologically inclined, app is short for web application, a bit of software that runs on a personal electronic device.) See the nearby sidebar “Golfers, click here” for more on great web resources — instructional and otherwise — to meet your golfing needs.
Golfers, click here
The Internet offers a nearly infinite array of golf stuff. But if you surf the Net aimlessly, you’ll only drown in a digital deluge. So here’s a quick look at some of my favorite golf sites.
PGATour.com: Millions of golf fans rely on the PGA Tour’s site (pgatour.com) for news, stats, player profiles, and (perhaps most important of all) up-to-the-minute tournament coverage. At this site, you can follow your favorite players as they compete, drilling down into their stats and even looking at their scorecards. And to the delight of hardcore fans, the site now offers Shot Tracker, an interactive feature that crunches stats and allows users to get an inside look at every shot by every player only nanoseconds after it happens. You can even play fantasy golf to win golf goodies.
LPGA.com: The official site of the women’s tour, lpga.com, is similar to PGATour.com, if not nearly as lavish. You can find stats, profiles, and live tournament updates from the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
Golf.com: Combining the resources of Golf Magazine and Sports Illustrated, Golf.com has become the industry leader it is by developing a potent mix of tour coverage, equipment reviews, travel features, and commentary from some of the game’s best-known writers and personalities. It also offers loads of instruction and a new club fitting feature called See-Try-Buy.
GolfObserver.com: One of the sport’s most addictive sites features an amazing amount of information and opinion every day, updated faster than you can say “Fore!” At GolfObserver.com, you find headlines, stats, smart columnists, tournament previews and reviews, and the invaluable Golf Notebook.
ESPN.com: At the channel’s golf page (ESPN.com/golf), you can check out schedules, statistics, and player rankings for the PGA, LPGA, Champions, Nationwide, and European tours, along with the game’s top headlines. You also find extras like contests, polls, and columnists that make this stop one of the hottest golf sites on the web.
Thegolfchannel.com: The only TV network devoted to golf 24/7 has changed its name to Golf Channel — no the anymore — but its site, Thegolfchannel.com, is the same as ever. Only better. Check live leader boards, Golf Channel schedules, photo galleries, and video after video; play trivia games; and read up-to-date features from Golf Channel personalities.
PGA.com: PGA.com/home, the official site of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (not the PGA Tour; see the earlier bullet for PGATour.com), features the headlines and industry news, as well as current tour schedules and standings. Plan a golf vacation, enter to win cool golf stuff, or check out other PGA-recommended golf links. This site is definitely the place to be during the annual PGA Championship.
GolfDigest.com: In collaboration with its weekly sister publication, GolfWorld, America’s premier golf magazine has created one of the best sites on the web. GolfDigest.com is chock-full of insightful commentary, interesting stories, and professional instruction. You can also find an equipment hotline, view swing sequences of great players, search for specific tips, browse back issues of the magazine, and sign up for instant instruction with a new feature, Golf Digest On Demand.
Many course guides and instructional programs are already available as apps, and others soon will be. But the field is growing so fast that picking the best ones is hard. You can find some rotten apps in the orchard, as well as tasty ones that still have a few bugs in them, and ten more will pop up by the time you finish reading this sentence. One we’re partial to: the Basic Golf For Dummies app (Wiley), of course.
Knowing What to Watch for on TV
By all means, enjoy the physical beauty of golf on television. But pay attention to the players, too. You can learn a lot from watching not only their swings but also their whole demeanor on the course. Listen to the language, the jargon, the parlance being used.
Watch the players carefully. Pay attention to the rhythms of their swings and to their mannerisms — the way they waggle the club (make preshot miniswings), the way triggers set their swings in motion, the way they putt, the way they set their feet in the sand before they play from bunkers, the way they stand on uphill and downhill lies. In other words, watch everything! Soak it all in. Immerse yourself in the atmosphere and ambience of golf. You’ll soon be walking the walk and talking the talk. And don’t discount the importance of osmosis: You can improve your own game just by watching great golf swings.
That’s the big picture. But what about you, specifically?
Watching the pros is a good idea for every golfer. But most people can only learn so much from certain players. Pay particular attention to someone like Michelle Wie if you happen to be tall and slim. But if you happen to be shorter and more heavyset, you need to look elsewhere. Find someone whose body type approximates your own.
Then watch how that person stands to the ball at address (the point right before the swing). See how his arms hang or how much she flexes her knees. Golfers who are taller have much more flex in their knees than their shorter counterparts.
Watch how “your pro” swings the club. Do his arms move away from his body as the club moves back? How much does she turn her shoulders? How good is his balance? Does she have a lot of wrist action in her swing, or does she unwind her torso for explosive power?
Catching what most viewers miss
The players who get the most airtime are the leaders and the stars. No telecast is going to waste valuable minutes on someone who’s 20 strokes out of the lead. (Unless, of course, it’s Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, or Michelle Wie.) Viewers want to watch the tournament being won and lost, so those players shooting the lowest scores are the ones you see most on TV. Here’s what to look for in some of the stars you’ll see on TV.
Tiger Woods: Look at his virtuosity in every aspect of the game. He has left no stone unturned in his pursuit of perfection. His stalking of Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major wins is his driving force, providing his will to succeed. Plus, in 2010, personal strife and swing changes gave him new motivation.
Phil Mickelson: With four major victories under his belt (as of this writing), look for Phil to take advantage of his precise short game and really focus on the majors for the rest of his career. He gives golf fans all over the country a role model they love to root for.
Ernie Els: Now in his 40s, the Big Easy has a golf swing that still brings glimpses of the legendary Sam Snead, with a demeanor made for greatness. Burn that smooth swing into your memory banks the next time you see it on TV.
Dustin Johnson: This young PGA Tour star came within a whisker of winning the 2010 U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Keep an eye on him, particularly super-slo-mo replays that show how he generates power.
Fred Couples: The Champions Tour’s “young” star still has the easy motion that made “Boom-Boom” Couples the model of effortless power. Watch him walk down the fairway after a drive as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Fred has had his share of troubles through the years, including a bad back that may have ended other careers, but he’s still smiling . . . and winning.
Rory McIlroy: Young Rory, born in 1989 in Holywood, Northern Ireland, may be the most exciting young player since Tiger. After a final-round meltdown at the 2011 Masters, he bounced back to win that year’s U.S. Open, his first major title. Watch how he swings hard, believes every putt’s going in, and radiates pleasure in playing the game.
Michelle Wie: This young lady, who turned 22 in 2011, has the potential to dominate the LPGA. Michelle turned pro late in 2005, fought injuries and great expectations, and struggled. But she has more talent than anyone we’ve seen come up in a long time. Winless until 2009, Michelle worked hard with coach David Leadbetter on her long, fluid swing. She had two LPGA victories going into spring 2011, with many more to come.
Taking notes from the stars
You can learn to play and think like the stars. This section identifies a few of the greats and their specific strengths and gives you to pointers to re-create their magic.
Getting a feel like Seve Ballesteros
Seve Ballesteros was a dashing young Spaniard when he splashed onto the scene as a teenager and began playing professionally in 1974. By the time his full-time playing career started to wind down, Ballesteros had become the first player to pass the $3 million mark on the European Tour and had won 87 titles worldwide.
Ballesteros began teaching himself to play golf at age 7 by hitting balls at the beach on the Bay of Santander in Spain with a single club — a cut-down 3-iron his brother gave him. The result of hitting shots of all length, trajectory, and shape with that single club was Ballesteros’s great sense of touch and feel.
His intelligence and feel served him well when he turned professional, and those attributes gave him a reputation as a magician. He began wowing the world at the 1976 British Open at Royal Birkdale, where he hit a crafty chip shot on the 18th hole that dissected two bunkers and settled one yard from the cup. He finished in second place, but he was only 19 at the time!
His decisive birdie putt to win the 1984 British Open at St. Andrews was thrilling, as was an amazing bunker shot he struck with a 3-wood on the way to beating Fuzzy Zoeller at the Ryder Cup one year earlier (see Chapter 8 of Book III for tips on executing unconventional shots).
Ben Crenshaw said of the Spaniard, “Seve plays shots I don’t even see in my dreams!” Be like Seve Ballesteros:
Imagine different types of shots in different situations.
Develop touch and feel by hitting different shots with the same club.
Feel the clubhead making contact with the ball.
Practice trouble shots from treacherous positions.
Escaping bunkers like Gary Player
A poor, 18-year-old South African golfer a long way from home, Gary Player spent long nights sleeping in the bunkers of Scottish golf courses when he turned pro in 1953. Player went on to win 163 tournaments worldwide over six decades, including nine majors. He was only the third man in history to win the career grand slam: the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship.
Few ever imagined that the 5-foot-7-inch, 146-pound Player could enjoy such success, but he made up for any deficiencies with a sterling short game — especially from the bunkers. He aggressively attacked bunker shots because he had no fear of playing from the sand and was confident that he could get up and down from anywhere.
Player believed that the harder he practiced, the luckier he became. Close examination of Player’s technique, and attention to the times he has talked about it over the years, reveals that, unlike many others, he doesn’t “blast” the ball out of the sand; instead, he focuses on accelerating his clubhead through the sand and lifting the ball into the air. To keep from swaying, he puts his weight on his front side and keeps his head still throughout the shot. His swing is smooth and his finish high.
Player, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, has delivered elegant bunker shots under pressure for over half a century. Be like Gary Player:
Practice, practice, practice.
Accelerate through the sand. Think “splash,” not “blast.”
Be still and keep your weight on your front side to avoid swaying.
Have confidence in your bunker play. This attitude makes you fearless when hitting approach shots, because, like Player, you know you can make the best of being in a bunker.
Living hard and playing soft like John Daly
He’s been called a redneck and a drunk . . . been through rehab . . . been married four times . . . been forced off an airplane for misbehavior . . . broken his putter in anger . . . scored an 18 on a hole during a PGA Tour event . . . fought with a spectator . . . been disqualified . . . been suspended . . . been fired . . . lost millions gambling in casinos . . . lost and gained large amounts of weight . . . thrown his putter into a water hazard . . . and despite, and maybe for, these antics, golf fans unabashedly love him.
John Daly, who turned professional in 1987, has won nine tournaments worldwide, including the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis and the 1995 British Open at St. Andrews. He also shot a course record 62 at TPC at The Canyons in the 2001 Las Vegas Invitational.
Everyone knows John Daly as a big hitter — at one point, his average drive on the PGA Tour was 314 yards! Big John’s driving accuracy, however, was only 49.7 percent. Enter the short game: “Any time you win a tournament, you win with your short game. Whether it is chipping or putting, you win tournaments with your short game,” Daly said.
Daly is a big, hardened man with soft hands. Be like John Daly:
Enjoy belting big drives, but take pride in the magic and beauty of an impressive short game, too.
Keep a light touch with soft hands, because Big John may “grip it and rip it” with the driver, but he keeps a very light grip when chipping or pitching. Make certain you don’t squeeze the handle when you play a short-game shot.
Limit your booze intake the night before and during a golf round.
Scrambling like Lee Trevino
Lee Trevino is an entirely self-taught golfer. Unlike many silver-spoon professionals raised at golf clubs, Trevino honed his skills at Hardy’s Driving Range in Dallas and served a stint in the Marines before he turned professional in 1960. Learning to play golf in Texas winds on hardscrabble conditions made Trevino one of the toughest shot-shapers in the history of golf. Trevino doesn’t believe a player can have a “natural touch.” He believes touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls.
Trevino won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average on tour five times. He won 29 times on the PGA Tour, including two U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, and two British Opens.
Trevino was so competitive that, when he arrived early at a PGA Tour stop, he went into the clubhouse, sought out the club champion, and asked him to play for money. Be like Lee Trevino:
Practice in all types of conditions, including heavy wind.
Expect to hole every single shot you hit. Trevino made his goal and expectation the same: to be a gunslinger and shoot for the pin on every shot. When your short game’s that good, fire up those six-guns.
Never give up on a hole — even when it looks grim and your temper starts to get the best of you.
Be tough. Trevino survived a lightning strike on the golf course at the 1975 Western Open in Chicago.
Putting like Ben Crenshaw
Ben Crenshaw putted his way into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Known as Gentle Ben, the Texan has won 19 times on the PGA Tour, including two Masters titles, and captained the 1999 Ryder Cup team to its first win since 1993.
With a trusty putter named “Little Ben” that he’s owned since he was a teenager, Crenshaw addresses the ball slightly forward in his stance and, with his hands a bit ahead of the ball, rotates very slowly from his shoulders to produce a wristless, soft putt that dies at the hole.
Crenshaw’s love for putting is evident. When asked about the greens at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, before the 1999 Ryder Cup, he said, “I think they’re beautiful. They’re beautifully shaped. They’re sufficiently undulating with some puzzling rolls in them. You’ve got to know where and where not to put the ball. They’re beautiful greens — a good test of putting.” Be like Ben Crenshaw:
Study the subtle breaks, hills, dips, and valleys of every green from different angles.
Play the ball in the front of your stance and, with your hands forward, make a smooth, slow putting stroke.
Practice hitting putts that die at the hole and not short of it.
Fall in love with a putter . . . and be loyal to it!
Finishing like Annika Sorenstam
Annika Sorenstam was born in Sweden in 1970, started playing golf at the age of 12, and became an LPGA player in 1994. Less than 10 years later, she had qualified for the LPGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Fames. In 2002, she won 11 LPGA Tournaments in one season — a feat only one person, Mickey Wright in 1964, had ever accomplished.
So prolific was Sorenstam that in 2003, she even played in a PGA Tour event — the Colonial National Invitational — against an all-male field! Later that season, she played in the Skins Game against Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson, and Mark O’Meara. She holed a 39-yard bunker shot for an eagle to win $175,000 on the first day — the most money ever won on the first day of the Skins Game.
To enjoy such consistent success no matter the circumstances, a player must own a world-class short game. Sorenstam: check. One of the most noticeable features of Sorenstam’s short game is the way she finishes her pitches, chips, bunker shots, and putts. At the end of her stroke, long after the ball has gone, she keeps the clubhead frozen at the finish. Her tempo is even and smooth, as if she swings the club without even hitting a ball. Sorenstam looks up to watch the ball go to the hole, but only after the ball is well gone and she fully completes her stroke. Her concentration allows her to be consistent and relaxed during any type of shot. Be like Annika Sorenstam:
Hold the club still at the top of your follow-through or at the end of your putting stroke.
Only look up to see where the ball goes after you fully complete the stroke.
Listen for the putt to go in instead of hurrying to watch it.
Only lower the club after the ball comes to a complete stop.
Yipping like Johnny Miller
Johnny Miller is best known now as a controversial television golf analyst who pulls no punches, but the man was once the game’s golden boy, anointed by critics as “the next Nicklaus.”
Miller turned professional in 1969 and won 25 times on the PGA Tour. People will always remember his playing career for two things: the 63 he shot in the final round to win the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont and the yips that effectively ended his competitive career. (The yips are a nervous golf condition that affects how smoothly golfers putt.) Miller last won at Pebble Beach in 1994 when he was 46 years old, but he jabbed and stabbed his way to that win while holding his breath over every little putt.
Don’t yip putts like Johnny Miller:
Practice regularly. Turn to Chapter 6 of Book III to find out more about the yips and how to banish them!
Be confident when you hit your putts.
Putt in the subconscious without fretting over the result.
Stroke putts instead of hitting them. You want to roll the ball, not skip it.