Journal Entry #5
Monday, 5/26/2003
by: John K. Darling
I was fortunate to be assigned Bobby Steiner as the teaching professional for my three-man school. This guy is only 33 years old and a few years ago was the second ranked black belt karate athlete in our country. Impressive? Not really. I did not doubt it, but what really impressed me about his background was the fact that he got the golf bug when he was 20 years old, not three like Tiger. Talk about commitment. He decided he would be a professional golfer and did it in four years of training, toil, pain, and more pain. Yes, much, much pain. He played as many as 62 holes of golf from dawn to dusk many days and practiced on the range until his hands were bleeding and then even continued to practice. Bobby is all healed up now, and boy can he teach.
When I arrived at the Rancho Mirage, California course for my three days of lessons and golf, I was given a student handbook, which I fortunately did not get around to reading until after the second day. I didn't understand very well the grip section or the lever and pivot geometry either. Golfers are not stick figures; we are flesh and bone, aren't we? Anyway, Bobby had me prepared to go back and read the handbook with better comprehensive after the first two days. To book a class call 760-328-4303 and ask for Mr. Clayton, Director of the Golf School.
Let's take a moment to talk about conditioning. If you intend to take a three-day or more golf school or academy, get in shape. At a minimum do a lot of exercising and stretching. I had not played in four months due to having complete hip replacement surgery. Not complaining, but I thought I would just about expire at the end of every day. Also, after only about five minutes with the new grip Bobby put on me, I had blistered out the finger on my right hand next to my pinky. Even with a band-aid I had to use two gloves. Golf schools are tough!
Hitting the ball. If you don't have the grip, you don't stand a chance. If you don't shift your weight to your back leg and then don't shift your weight almost 100% to your front leg at impact and follow through (Bobby calls it finishing) you don't stand a chance. If you don't have the right posture with your butt out and your chin up, you don't stand a chance. And finally, if you don't "finish", you don't have a chance to hit the ball straight and far down the fairway. Which club? It does not matter. Same with all of them.
Putting, forget about stance, grip, looking at the ball, and take away. None of that matters if you do not concentrate on the target, the hole, and follow through smoothly with a squared club head. And don't be afraid to putt 10 or 15 feet off the green by stroking with more of a down motion on the ball so it bounces a little to get to the green. Bobby taught me all that. It works.
Chipping and pitching. None to none. None is not bending the wrists either back or forward. Well, maybe a little some, bending the wrists, going back if you are a ways off the green. You don't have to lift the ball with your wrist and arms. Let the club and gravity do the work.
The sand shot. I understand it, but still can't make myself "finish" as I should. It's like pitching with a little more club head speed and some "some" on your back swing. Speed has to be gravity driven and not power pushed or pulled with your arms.
That's what I learned at the golf school. Now once my hands, legs, and arms are completely healed, I'll be out there to get my handicap under 20 soon. My progress, or lack there of, was video taped and I was given the cassette to take home. The videos also included clips of quintessential pros. Now when I go back and look at those tapes, I wonder how I could have done it so well then.
Not too long ago I played my first round in the Valley Hi Senior Men's League since my golf school. I was terrible. There were about 10 new things I had to remember, and by trying to think about them all, I was scoring double figures frequently. Finally after about four holes I told the fellows I was playing with that I had a reason, actually an excuse, for my poor play. I remarked that at the school I found out that at age 66 I have never had a "grip." Dick Grant, one of the guys in our foursome then said something that makes sense too. "And now you don't have a clue."
Email: john@seniorfriendlygolf.com or visit www.SeniorFriendlyGolf.com
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