Editorial

30 Aug 2011 Corina Pelloni

Are we getting mixed signals from the USGA?

Last month I applauded the “Play it forward” initiative backed by the USGA and other golf industry organizations. Then I run across an article that discusses how the golf course hosting the United States Amateur will be the longest in history at 7,760 yards. So what kind of message does that send? Certainly seems to be at odds with the thinking that most golfers are playing from the wrong set of tees. Besides, the amateur is a match play event, why should distance and par even matter.

I’m confused. Our protectors of the game say if people played from a shorter distance they would enjoy the experience much more and play more. More enjoyment, more players. Sounds logical. So why would you then go completely opposite your initiative when showcasing your premier events. The USGA has always operated on the premise that in golf everyone plays the same way, from professionals to weekend warriors. It is appealing to think that you can go to Pebble Beach and hit from the same spots where Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer played. That’s because even they played from yardages that most people could handle. By telling the average guy to move up while moving the very few farther back is nothing more than do as I say, not as I do. I’m not sure it is the right message to send.

1 Aug 2011 Corina Pelloni

At last someone is thinking clearly

The new mantra this summer is “Play it forward.” By doing this golfers can speed up play and have more fun according to USGA and PGA. Hello, where have you guys been for the past five years? Unfortunately, the response to hitting the ball longer has been to lengthen courses and make them tougher with forced carries, more water hazards and narrow fairways. For some reason protecting par has become the be all and end all of course set ups. As if it is some sacred cow that if threatened would bring on world disaster. The term itself as used in golf did not come about until 1911. It simply described the score an expert player was expected to make on a hole at a given distance. The USGA actually once assigned hole yardage for par: up to 255 yards for a par 3; 225 to 425 for a par 4, and 426 to 600 for a par 5. 

I say, we should not care about how low a number a golfer shoots. That’s the object of the game. If golf is supposed to be about fun, then stop worrying about protecting par. Think about the objective of the manufacturers when they design equipment to help a person hit it farther. It is to make the game easier for the average person. Instead of hitting a four iron into the green, maybe the golfer can hit a seven iron. If adding on length so the person still has to hit a four iron, what’s the point? Why bother improving equipment at all. Let’s not forget that less than one percent of all golfers can actually break par. Golf might be better served by returning to the 1911 standards.

1 Aug 2011 Corina Pelloni

A FRESH LOOK AT MARKETING GOLF COMPETITIONS

Back in the 1980s when I still lived in Northern Indiana, I can remember that the South Bend Metro Golf Championship made a big announcement that the tournament was so popular that it had to limit the number of participants to 300. Last year, just 104 played.

Also in Indiana, I used to play in the Monticello Open, which had a long and storied history. They have pictures on the wall at Tippecanoe Country Club from the 1950s showing dozens of spectators viewing the action. Even a few touring professionals would tee it up. The last time I played in the event several years ago (it no longer welcomed all comers after that year), it was poorly run and only lasted one round.

I recently played in the Valdosta Open in Georgia at the Valdosta Country Club, a very fine facility. Only 38 players showed up, and when I first started playing back in the 1990s it was common to see 70+ players. In the 1990s in Pensacola, Florida, the Gulf Coast Scratch Tour for amateurs had to cap participation at 120 players. Today they get 30-40 players per event.

What in the world has happened to tournament golf? Nationwide, tournament participation is generally down from what it was 30, 20, and even 10 years ago. Is there any way to revive it?

Frankly, I don’t have any good answers to what happened. I really don’t know. I don’t think the economy has anything to do with it, because tournament participation has been on a downward trend for more than a decade.

What I do know is that our US and World Golf Teachers Cup events are not suffering from this malaise. Perhaps it’s the fact that we sell more than just a tournament – we sell an experience. We use this word a lot, but the camaraderie at these championships is second to none. People really enjoy renewing old friendships and making new ones, and I’m sure a lot of networking goes on, too. We also tend to play our events in family-friendly tourist venues, which also doesn’t hurt.

So maybe these other events need to take a lesson – a tournament lesson – from us. Offer an experience, more so than just a golf tournament, and they might see some old faces they haven’t seen in awhile…and undoubtedly some new ones.

10 Jul 2011 Corina Pelloni

Where should golf be spending its marketing efforts?

Anytime someone asks, “What is the best way to grow the game of golf,” the answer is almost always on junior programs. I respectfully disagree, and I have been operating junior golf programs for 15 years. There are all kinds of junior initiatives that have been around for several years. They have not lived up to expectations. From my own experience about one in ten stay with the game once they reach their teens. Not that we shouldn’t be supporting the effort, it’s just that there is little monetary benefit for golf courses. Junior golf is a labor of love, a way to give back to the game. For teachers, it can provide decent cash flow, but for courses, it does little for the bottom line. Think about it. You can’t realistically charge 8 to 14 year old kids $40 to $70 to play golf. That would be criminal.

So where should golf be looking to grow revenue? Simple. There will be 76 million people retiring in the next 10 years. They will have money and time on their hands. Talk about a marketing opportunity. Think I’m off base, then check out a place called the Villages in central Florida. It’s a retirement community. They have 28 executive courses and 9 regulation golf courses and each is full every day. Statistics say there are about 25 million golfers in the United States. That’s less than ten percent, which means that a great number of those retirees have never played golf. If I were a golf course owner, I’d be down at the Social Security office handing out flyers about the benefits and healthy activity of golf. I’m not discouraging junior efforts, just being realistic when it comes to keeping cash flowing.

27 Jun 2011 David Hill, USGTF Level IV Member

Teacher Talk

Jack Nicklaus once said, “A strong grip, a weak swing”. There is no doubt Jack’s grip was considered to be neutral leaning toward weak. To this day I can’t say I agree with Jack as we have witnessed countless players reach the highest levels of competitive golf whilst employing a strong grip such as Paul Azinger, Fred Couples (top hand),David Duval and Zach Johnson to name a few.

This is not to say a neutral grip is not ideal but is it a prerequisite to play good golf? I don’t believe it is and therefore it should be considered an option in the same way overlap, interlock, ten-finger, double overlap (Jim Furyk), reverse overlap (Steve Jones), intermesh (Greg Norman) and countless other finger formations are chosen by a variety of world class players.

If the orientation of our hands and fingers on the club offer many variations then what should we as instructors be standardizing when teaching an EFFECTIVE grip to our students? Firstly let’s get one thing out of the way. A strong grip does not necessarily cause a hook as a weak grip does not necessarily cause a slice. Could they be contributing factors? Yes of course but three of the aforementioned players above hit fades with a strong grip (Azinger, Couples, Duval). The strong top hand position helped create a “cupped” left wrist at the top of the backswing which opened the clubface just enough in order to hit a fade.

As an instructor it requires experience to take a quick snapshot of a student’s swing and observe how the grip correlates to the clubface position and ball flight. If a slice is the order of the day for your student and weak grip is evident then the correction is evident. The same can be said for a large hook and a strong grip. However if your student hits a power fade with a strong grip, then there is no correction of the grip required. What if he/she hits a big slice with a strong grip and his/her swing is on plane? Believe it or not a weaker grip may be necessary as the strong grip causes too much “cupping” of the left wrist (RH golfer) at the top of the back swing resulting in an open clubface. As one can now understand and appreciate, teaching golf and being good at it isn’t that easy and requires years of experience to hone the craft.

Bottom line there are very few elements to the grip which must be standardized but here they are:

1) The middle joint of the thumbs must be snug to the forefinger otherwise the club may rest too much into the palms. This results into either the club slipping or holding tight so the club does not slip. Proper wrist action is inhibited and tension prevails

2) The heel pad of top hand rests on top of club as shown in image below:

3) The pad of the thumbs should rest on the club slights askew from each other. In other words neither thumb rests on the center of the grip (shaft). For the right handed golfer the left thumb rests toward 1:00 and the right thumb toward 11:00

4) The unification of the hands has nothing to do with interlock, overlap (Vardon grip) etc… What unifies the hands is the top thumb fitting snugly in the lifeline (under the thumb pad) of the bottom hand.

There, that’s it!! The rest is up to you in understanding ball flight and how one’s grip affects the clubface and swing plane.

Next month: What does the tool in your hands do?

23 Jun 2011 Corina Pelloni

IS THERE ANY WAY TO CHANGE INCORRECT BELIEFS?

One of my great frustrations as a long-time teaching professional is the proliferation of wrong information that is taken as gospel in the golf world. For example, the belief that high humidity produces “heavy” air and a shorter ball flight. In fact, as highlighted in Golf Teaching Pro, humid air is actually less dense than dry air, and will thus produce a couple of extra yards instead of a reduction. Yet, ask any golfer about the effects of humid air, and 99% will say that the air is heavier and the ball will carry less.

Or, how about incorrect Rules beliefs? Twice in competition my fellow competitors tried to penalize me for holding onto the removed flagstick while tapping in a putt. This is not a penalty, as Decision 17-1/5 makes clear. When I informed these fellow competitors of this Decision, they then say, “Well, it used to be a penalty.” In fact, no, it was never a penalty. Another favorite is practicing on the putting green after you hole out. Again, well-meaning fellow-competitors have tried to call penalties on me for this, saying that the practice is illegal in stroke play but not in match play. In each case, I had to direct them to Rule 7 which governs practice. They are genuinely surprised to learn that it is not a penalty in stroke play, except if local rules provide for it.

The instruction realm is not immune. How many times do we hear that for every club in the bag, the butt end of the grip should be a fist away from the body? The fact is that the longer the club, the farther away the butt end should be from the body. Or how about “the slower the better” when it comes to backswings, backed up with “evidence” that amateurs swing back more slowly than professionals. The truth is that the opposite occurs, and swinging back too slowly is not good for most people. Or how about the downswing should be started by the arms and hands?

There are many more examples, too numerous to list here. So, is there any way to correct all the mis-information that is out there in one fell swoop? Probably not. People believe what they are going to believe. All we can do as USGTF professionals is to know what is factually correct and to pass the correct information along. We can start with educating one golfer at a time, and go from there.

23 Jun 2011 Corina Pelloni

Teaching Your Students About Patience

It’s a fast-paced world out there. Information and communication are at our fingertips. We can board a plane and be on the other side of the planet within 24 hours. In fact, technology has bred a whole new generation of “I want it now-ers!” Fortunately for mankind, however, the game of golf seems to be the only holdout. There’s no magic wand to becoming a good golfer, and you can’t buy an instant reputable golf game.

The ability to play well takes time, effort, guidance, and perseverance. It involves frustration, for some even tears, and I may add a thousand humbling experiences. What becoming a competent golfer does require, and as Sherlock Holmes once said, is “Patience, my dear Watson!”

Being in the personal service business, I believe it is important to be honest with your students, especially beginners. Let them know about these learning factors and that they won’t become great overnight. Let them know that golf can be a lifetime learning process, but the benefits of pursuing the game far outweigh everything else.

I recall a recent conversation with Mike Levine, USGTF Level IV member and course examiner. Mike is a very quiet, thoughtful and soft spoken individual – all factors that contribute to his popularity as a teaching pro. He was talking about how the advent of the Internet can’t provide our kind of personal service; how the Internet can’t recognize talent or talk to a young golfer’s parents about nurturing that talent properly. And, about the handshake and dealing with people face-to-face as human beings.

In training teachers, Mike always makes a point to talk about sharing with students the idea of enjoying the journey of the golf learning curve. “Progress will come if your students allow it,” he espouses, “but in the meantime, they should be encouraged to enjoy the belly laughs, the camaraderie, and all the other elements involved in the pursuit of improvement.”

Pretty good advice in golf and in life.

23 Jun 2011 Corina Pelloni

Golf should challenge not humiliate

I was fortunate to attend the Players Championship for the final round. When I entered the grounds, I walked into the bowl of the famous 17th green. They were still finishing up the third round because of a weather delay. The hole was playing 137 yards and the pin was situated on the front left. It was my first on site view of the hole and the green is in reality pretty large. That is not apparent on TV, but where they place the pin makes it a tiny target. Anyway, Mark O’Meara was up and he hit a shot that landed about 12 feet past the pin and then started rolling back toward the hole, went right on past and off the green into the water. He walked up to the drop area, hit a nice pitch again, just past the hole and same thing. So then I go up to 18 and follow Graeme McDowell who was 14 under and leading. From the right rough he hit a nice looking shot. The ball landed on the green, right of the flag, rolled up the slope past the pin and started back down and then right off the green and into the water. Ridiculous, and not right. I believe it cost him the tournament.

It is one thing to hit a bad shot and get punished but when a good shot results in a penalty, I think it is bad design and boring. It would have been much more interesting if the ball had been held up in a little collar of rough requiring a delicate chip to save par. Contrast that with Phil Mickelson who I followed for 9 holes. On the par five number 2, he hit his drive in the woods, found it and played up the first fairway. He tried to hit his third shot over some pines about a hundred feet high. Failed, but found his ball and hit his fourth off a palm tree and into the bank short of the green. Standing awkwardly he chipped past the hole about 30 feet on to the fringe. He then made his putt for one of the greatest sixes I have ever seen. That was fun and exciting. How often have we golfers just hoped to be able to swing after an errant shot into the trees? So my message to the golf course architect is simple – punish a really bad shot but if I am a little wayward, just give me a swing.

23 Jun 2011 Corina Pelloni

USE A LESSON PLAN TO KEEP STUDENTS ON TRACK

When you have students that don’t seem to want to practice or they are not quite getting what you are teaching them I have found that writing out a lesson plan for each student really helps.

Over the years I have developed a five part program that puts the major aspects of the golf game into a format that students can understand. I call each program a Box and I use the idea to combine practice programs with on the course pre shot routines and swing thoughts. Box 1 – Driver ( I give each student a swing thought, an idea on what we are working on and a plan on how to practice) They can take the swing thought to the course and they can evaluate if what they are working on is getting better. Box 2 – Fairway, Box 3 Long Irons / Hybrids, Box 4 Mid / Short Irons, Box 5 – Short Game.

Each part of the game has a different swing thought. If you notice putting is missing – that is because putting is game by itself as is the more advanced parts of short game.

In each Box you can develop your own concepts and ideas to help your students. I try to get all my students to practice in each Box at each practice session. I ask them to allot time based on how much total time the have to practice. If the have an hour, then they only have 10 minutes after they warm up to practice. I tell my students that if they really want to get better the have to allot a minimum of 2 hours, 3 times per week to get better, the also need to get on the course 2-3 times per week.

Arlen Bento Jr. is a USGTF Master Teaching Professional, former Head Golf Professional of the PGA Country Club and PGA Village and Director of Golf at Eagle Marsh Golf Club in Jensen Beach, FL. He is the Director of Junior Instruction at the Stuart Yacht and Country Club in Stuart, FL and He can be reached via his website at www.abjgolfsales.com

23 Jun 2011 Corina Pelloni

I am not a teacher, but an awakener

These are the words of Robert Frost, the great American poet. I can think of nothing better to describe the men and woman who toil daily helping average people learn a game that is never really mastered. Somewhere I once read that nine tenths of teaching is encouragement. Much of our time is spent cultivating, bolstering and saying “you can do this.” Would the game be enjoyed by so many without the guiding hand of teachers willing to share their knowledge and experience? Not likely. We do it with little fanfare. Our student’s thanks are enough recognition. For this is our passion and sharing it is the motto of the United States Golf Teachers Federation.

 

This summer the USGTF will honor golf teachers with a National Day of appreciation. Now I could say it’s about time but I’m sure I speak for all teachers who will humbly say thanks for the recognition, we are grateful for the tribute. I have been around the game of golf for 51 years now and often think back on how much pleasure it has provided me. I can think of nothing better than sharing that enjoyment with those who would like to find out what it is all about. Teaching and passing on the traditions of the sport is what I chose to do. It has been a rewarding experience and along the way I have collected lifelong friendships and supporters. On the National Day of Recognition, my fellow teachers, let’s lift a glass of cheer to each other and keep the fire burning. I leave you with the words of Cicero, “What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation.”