So many little nuggets of wisdom in this press conference.
In putting and chipping, we use the example of a pendulum to help golfers understand how their body should stay still. Unfortunately, the younger generation is not always familiar with a grandfather clock so this video may help. The body is represented by the vertical stationary line and the club's movement would be represented by the white stick with the red ball. Hope this helps!
This is also a great practice drill to learn tempo and distance control.
20 year old Rose Zhang talks about finishing up her education at Stanford, The Match and playing professionally. The stress is real.
Not everyone is a college phenom.
Rory's responses may not be popular but his commitment to being honest is commendable.
Any athlete that wants to get better, works with a coach. If you are not willing to get feedback, you are not willing grow.
Scottie Scheffler considers social media noise.
Perseverance of another kind.
A great support system is essential to maintaining humility and remembering what's really important!
Even Rory works with his coaches to improve. No golfer should ever get to the point where they think they know it all. If you are not willing to practice you should not expect a different result.
Golf could be a STEM class. So many practical applications!!
Golf is a different kind of math. Click here to learn the proper terminology and their numerical equivalents.
Professional golfers experience their fair share of adversity as well.
These situations are why it is so important to get on the course to play. Creativity does not come easy.
When you start playing, you will need to know the rules. Even the professionals make mistakes and when they do it changes everything.
Last week, the first Cognizant Classic of the Palm Beaches was played at PGA National. Junior student, Mateo Muñiz, was assigned to be standard bearer for the group that included David Skinns. He was not familiar with any of the golfers in the group so he was excited to meet some new players. David immediately introduced himself and after the first tee shot surprised Mateo by kicking off a conversation with him as they walked down the fairway to assess his second shot. Most golfers keep the conversation with the standard bearer and walking scorer to a minimum but David enjoyed talking to Mateo throughout the round.
The most memorable part of the round for Mateo was watching David's response to a damaged putter. Ray, David's caddie, tripped over a tee marker on the 5th hole which caused him to take a tumble with David's clubs. Fortunately, Ray was fine, but when it was time to putt David discovered that his putter somehow got bent during the fall. Ray was visibly distraught since his misstep caused an important club to become damaged but David did not get angry with him. Instead he maintained his compusure and called an official to explain that his putter needed some repair. "I watched him bend that putter with a purpose and he never gave up. Somehow he got it back into position and sunk an 8 ft 7 in putt with authority. It was awesome!" said Mateo. Ray still feeling bad, continued to apologize, but David simply replied "Forgot about it, it's in the past." This is a great example of how to respond to a situation with dignity and acceptance.
Mateo also enjoyed watching him interact with his son who was walking outside the ropes. "One time, his son was complaining about being thirsty and David responded like a dad 'why didn't you tell me that at the tee box so I could get you some water?' It reminded me of something my Mom would say," giggled Mateo. "They only walked the first 9 holes of the round but David never lost sight of them. He stayed focused on his game the whole time no matter what was going on," Mateo continued. "He even spoke to me a lot which was so unexpected and kept playing well. I hope to apply this lesson in my own game." David Skinns would finish the round tied for 3rd, by the 4th round he would be tied for lead and ultimately finish in 4th place. That was his best finish in 33 career starts. If you would like to learn more about David click here. Disclaimer: Mateo's experience as a standard bearer is not the norm. If your golfer chooses to do this in the future they could encounter a golfer that does not interact beyond the introduction and the thank you at the end of the round. Recently, I had a parent voice a concern that my group class is too young for their middle school golfer and while I get why they might think that I decided to share my thoughts on why Beaver Golf teaches the way we do. Golf is a sport that you can start to learn at any age, I chose 5 for my program because in my experience golfers younger than that are unable to stay focused for longer than 30 minutes and some 5 year olds may be challenged in this area as well. I offer one junior class weekly on Thursday evenings because to tell you the truth it is the only day that my coaching team can make work in our schedule and it has worked great for the last almost 4 years that we have been offering it. All beginner junior golfers age 5-17 are welcome to join the class but they will be grouped by age and ability. All golfers are taught the same way and they will also learn to become golfers of character. That is the goal of the class. This philosophy is no different than the previous junior programs that I taught at other golf courses. Those classes were categorized by levels. Level 1 was considered the beginner class, all ages were welcome, even the teenagers. If you did not like learning with the younger kids then it gave you the motivation to practice and move up to the other levels. If you have the skill, you move up. Golf is not about your age as some think. My group class works in the same way. Do golfers become friends over time? Definitely! Some of my younger golfers play in tournaments and do very well. One of my players has been with me since he was 5, he is 11 now and can shoot under par. If a new golfer is in middle school and wants to learn, I would think he or she would want to learn alongside him. My high school students even ask him to play rounds of golf because they want to learn from him and they enjoy his company. So age should never be a factor. My Thurday junior class usually has at least two high school volunteers who are more than willing to help middle schoolers excel in this sport if they are really interested. The question then becomes is your golfer really interested in learning this great sport or are they simply looking for a social activity?
To sum it up, we teach junior golfers to respect players no matter how old they are. We teach them the skills and the values needed to play with integrity. We also teach our golfers to create community rather than cliques. If your middle school golfer can thrive in this environment then they are always welcome on Thursday evenings, just be sure to register them accordingly. |
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