Spending More Time in the Sand Than David Hasselhoff

Reading through the typical golf blogs today, I ran across a comment in the Editor’s Blog from Golf Digest, written by a golf instructor named Ed LeBeau from Heartland Golf Schools in St. Louis. Mr. LeBeau makes an interesting observation about the two general groups of golf instruction:

“There are two approaches to golf instruction, one that focuses on the movement of the body and the other that focuses on the movement of the club . . . Teachers like Ernest Jones, Manuel de la Torre, Eddie Merrins and dozens of club professionals are proponents of club-focused instruction. This approach to instruction is highly effective”

I am currently reading Manuel de la Torre’s classic instructional book, “Understanding the Golf Swing.” Mr. de la Torre is the head pro at Milwaukee Country Club (THE elite club in Milwaukee and a place that never deemed to allow me on it’s grounds). His way is a great way to think about the golf swing. Basically, take the clubhead back with your hands above your right shoulder, then swing the club with your upper arms completely to a full finish.

That’s it.

No “keep your head still,” or “keep your left arm straight,” or “get behind the ball” or “load the right side,” ad nauseum. Take it up, swing it through. That is the club movement approach noted above, rather than all those body-related instructions we are flooded with.

He feels if you take a true swing and avoid interfering with the arms’ swing of the club (by trying to “hit the ball” with your hands, for example), you can have a consistent, powerful swing.

I’m sick of thinking of 16 different things when I try to swing. I’ve often thought that I just need to shut my brain off – as have many others for different reasons. With the help of Mr. de la Torre, I’m going to try it his way for the forseeable future. Because all the other junk hasn’t been working, that is for sure.

Tags: Psychology, Swing analysis, learning, practice by
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I am posting from Austin, Texas, home of the put-upon Texas Longhorns’ football team. I’m down here in the Horns country at the Titleist Performance Institute’s Level One Seminar.

The TPI is the foremost authority on how a golfer’s physical limitations affect his golf swing. They provide certifcation seminars multiple times throughout the year at various locales. Greg Rose, a chiropractor, is the driving force behind these seminars and the education process and he is in charge of this seminar. These are designed for golf pros, fitness professionals who have golfers as clients (or want to build up that part of their business), and health professionals. The typical health pro who comes to these is a physical therapist or chiropractor. I am the only MD at this seminar (out of about 80 people) and from what I can tell, will be the only MD who is certified by TPI in the state of North Carolina.

If I pass the test.

It is a two day event. We started at 8 this AM and just finished at 5 tonight, with a similar schedule tomorrow. Today’s topics – golf swing faults, at least the Big 12 of them, as seen on video analysis. In the afternoon, we started learning how to assess an individual to find out what restrictions or deficits they have physically as they relate to the golf swing. Tomorrow, we finish the assessment part and go into exercises to correct the physical problems.

Very cool. I’m certain there is nothing being done like this in the world, not at this level. And their way of linking the swing fault with the physical issue is very interesting.

I’ll fill you in tomorrow on Day 2.

Tags: Fitness, Swing analysis, learning by
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I don’t particularly like blogs that continually mention products and how great they are. I was surprised on visiting the blog world for the first few times how some blogs make money or get free stuff for “reviewing” products.

This isn’t one of those.

When I am struck by outstanding customer service – admittedly rare in today’s market – I feel like I should say something. And when the product is good as well, that makes it even better.

Digital Pro Golf is just such a product.

I’ve always been intrigued by video analysis of my golf swing in particular. I truly believe that without constant, near instantaneous feedback, a standard hacker like myself will never effectively change their swing. So you can hire Hank Haney, like Tiger, and have him do it. You can put mirrors up all over your basement like Mike Weir did the winter before he won the Masters to watch as you swing. Or you can use video and review it constantly to see what you’re doing right and wrong.

The problem is that most systems are expensive and somewhat of a hassle. And there are a few out there.

Richard Miller founded Digital Pro Golf and is the man behind the company. He started with a simple concept – what is the simplest system for a golfer to watch his swing, particularly the swing he takes onto the golf course during a round? He has developed a nice little software package and a tripod/digital camera system that is easy to use and transfer to computer. I just got the Casio EX-Z80 camera version and have gotten to use it this week. Awesome! Easy to use, very good video, and a great way to review my swing. I can see some stuff right on the screen of the camera and get a lot more detail on the computer (although I often don’t want to see my swing in that much detail!).

The really impressive thing to me, though, was Richard’s devotion to me, someone he didn’t even know but a customer he wanted to serve. There was a software glitch because of the setup of my computer. After a series of emails and a phone conversation, Richard succeeded in getting my system to work. Very impressive to me. He obviously loves what he is doing and is committed to making it work for anyone who wants to try it out. Great stuff, my friend!

(Ed. note – The editors of this blog would like to ensure the blog reading public that Mr. Ehlert has received no payment in cash or goods for this blog. It isn’t that he’s against it, really, it is just that no one has offered. Mr. Ehlert’s opinions in this blog, then, should be considered completely unsolicited and uncompensated – completely. He would like to note, however, that if the Audi Corporation or the island of Aruba would like his assistance with their publicity efforts, some arrangement could be worked out.)

Tags: Swing analysis, learning by
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I hit some balls yesterday, then played a few holes. Amazing! And not in a good way.

I’m trying to learn a new swing and, after a couple of weeks, finally have felt like I got the hang of it. Hitting 6 irons with a nice little draw, right at or consistently just to the right of the flag. Pretty happy – on the range.

On the course – not so, amigo! Have you ever gotten a weird sensation that some activity you’ve done your whole life – chewing a hamburger or unlocking the door, for example – has become this brand new activity your mind cannot quite grasp? I felt that for 7 holes. I wondered what type of neurological disorder, such as a conscious stroke or temporary insanity, had taken over my mind and prevented me from hitting the ball in any valuable way. I not only didn’t have a clue, but I wasn’t within radar range of one! The only good thing was that no one was taping it so I won’t ever have to see those swings again. I’m shaking just thinking about it now!

Golf is stupid.

By the way, check out Jess’ contributions to naming the blog. I laughed out loud.

Tags: frustration, learning, practice by
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