What happened was this.  The pupil hit a few shots up the practice ground, shots which, as far as he could see, were straight though he (the pupil) was not entirely satisfied with the way they were struck.

  Yet the instructor kept on describing them as "cut", a comment which puzzled the player.  In due course he really hooked one and at once the instructor exclaimed "That's a lot better. That was a good shot."

  "But I hooked it badly," protested the pupil.  Whereupon a discussion ensued which revealed that the pupil was aiming at one particular landmark in the distance while the instructor had believed him to be aiming at another well to the left!

  Had the instructor been correct in his assumption, then it naturally follows that the man striking the shot must have been lined up wrongly in the first place.

  Can you wonder that the pupil came away feeling that this particular teacher couldn't tell a good shot from a bad one?

  In my net I was soon able to re-shape this pupil's swing where it was needed.  Today he is still my pupil paying periodical visits for a check-up.

  The teaching of golf boils down to the one essential fact that the behavior of the ball in flight is dictated by the club-line at and through the ball, by what happens in the hitting area, at impact and through into the apex of the swing.  True, out on the course there is the wind to be accounted for, but a well-struck shot played with due regard to the strength and direction of the wind will not go astray.

  I am concerned with the player's swing and his club-line in the delivery.

  And one thing is certain.  If the advice imparted by me in the confines of my net (which happens to be a converted squash racquets court) failed to work out on the course my pupils would soon be going elsewhere.  Instead of more and more past, present and prospective pupils waiting for a vacant space in my appointments book, the entries would dwindle to the point where I would be sitting around waiting for someone to turn up.

  Of course it needs a knowledgeable teacher to instruct in a net, one who can detect club-line errors at and through the ball.  Anyone who needs to await the final result of the shot before coming up with a stock diagnosis would obviously be at some considerable disadvantage in a net.  Moreover the instruction can be carried out in a net under conditions which are not hostile to the pupil.  By that I mean that the weather, whatever the time of year, cannot mar or ruin the lesson.

  How can teacher and pupil properly get down to work when the former's teeth are chattering and the latter's hands and limbs are chilled to the bone out in the open on a bitterly cold day?  It is asking altogether too much of human endurance.

Golf Fitness Experts

The most Comprehensive, Innovate and Advanced Golf Fitness Book Ever Created to Take Your Game -- To Par or Better!

<< Previous    1  [2]  3  4  5    Next >>