Yesterday, I attended the MET PGA fall meeting. Immediately following, was an educational forum (seminar) with guest speaker, Hank Haney. Haney is somewhat of a household name, since he became Tiger Woods’ coach five years ago.
I have to admit, the primary reason I attended the seminar is my interest in seeing what Tiger’s coach’s philosophy is on teaching and the golf swing, and of course to see how inline, or out-of-line, it was with my own personal philosophies. Interestingly, Haney’s theory is very much similar to mine in the sense that he works off of ball flight, then impact, then what the club does to cause impact, then what the player can do to influence the club differently. Of course, there was some difference of opinion, among other things; Haney appears to look at the backswing as somewhat non-negotiable, for cause and effect reasons. But at the same time I didn’t get to ask him a direct question about it. Of course most of the Q and A was questions regarding Tiger and here were a few things I didn’t know that I found interesting. First, in the five years they have been working together, they have only used video 3 TIMES when working on Tiger’s swing! This totally shocked me. He said the reason is Tiger understands his ball flight and what the club did to cause it and possesses a very keen sense of what he is doing with his club. Another interesting thing was Tiger takes a tremendous number of practice swings when learning to integrate a new move, before he actually hits balls. Tiger also uses the method, which I discussed in my book (I didn’t claim to discover it) of doing things slowly before speeding them up. He’ll hit a driver with a full swing 50 yards with a new move he is trying to integrate, and then keep turning up the speed until he can execute at full speed; learning to crawl before he can run.
Overall it was an interesting talk and I thought Haney did a nice job with his presentation. The last thing Haney said was that if anyone is betting that Tiger will come back and not be as good, they are going to lose that bet. Of course I think he has to say that, but I think he really does believe it. And I have to admit, I agree with him.

Many great things have happened to me as a result of my book being published. I’ve had magazine articles, radio interviews, great reviews, emails from golfers around the country, and an increased clientele. But none of those things compare to what I experienced in the last couple of days. I returned to my Alma-Ata — Ferris State University, in Big Rapids, Michigan. I haven’t been there since 1987.
I couldn’t believe how emotional I was when I walked the campus the first day I got there. I just never thought after I drove off the campus for the last ime that I would ever return. Most of us have fond memories of our college years, but to be walking the same sidewalks and visiting the dorms that I once lived in was emotionally indescribable. I felt like I had walked backwards in time.
The purpose for my visit was to give a seminar for the Golf Professional Management students. The director Matt Pinter, his assistant Chris Pulver, the golf coach Mike Mignano, Diane Maguire, and Annette Keyt, were all incredibly warm and hospitable and really made me feel so welcome to be there. I had the opportunity to speak and spend time with all of them during my brief stay. I got to spend one afternoon talking with the golf team and working with some of the players, then in the evening I gave a seminar on my philosophy in teaching golf. I also signed some books for the students. I’ve already received emails from some of the students telling me how much they learned from the seminar – I obviously made an impression on some of them, and that makes the trip even more worthwhile. I felt like I gave something back.
My visit was truly a wonderful experience, one that I can say I will never forget. If you ever have the opportunity to go back to your college, especially if you could conduct a seminar in your field of expertise, do it. I promise you, you won’t regret it.

Probably the greatest deficiency I see in a very high percentage of players (versus tour players) is the lack of lag on the downswing – the early release of the power angles on the downswing – usually referred to as casting. Along with being the most common flaw, it is BY FAR the most challenging thing to get golfers to understand, feel, and improve the power and effectiveness in their downswing.
I’m not a big fan of golf devices, especially those that are not used while hitting a golf ball. Most devices give a golfer a sensation, but rarely does that sensation transfer over when a golfer hits the ball in normal play. The other day one of the members at my club gave me a device called THE ORANGE WHIP. It’s a long whippy shaft with a little orange ball on the end. I really like this device for a couple of reasons. First, because it’s the shaft is long and the ball is a little weighted, it stretches me out a little and is a good warm up tool. Second, because the shaft is whippy it promotes a slight pause causing you to “wait” for the club, before starting the transition. With the device you’ll experience a smoother rhythm with your swing and more lag on the downswing that you probably have ever experienced with a club in your hand. And if you can transfer that sensation over when hitting balls with a golf club, you will surely see a difference.

So yesterday I took the personal plunge into the exploration of improving my physical attributes with the hope that my golf swing could improve. I’m not talking about trying to create the perfect swing, but I certainly have physical limitations that have prevented me from making my swing more efficient. Besides the fact that I don’t really have time to work on my game, even if I could make time, I would be physically unable to make the changes I would like to incorporate. So I went to Pennetta Physical Therapy in Bayshore and saw Karen. They employ a kind of hybrid program between Body Balance for Performance and the program from TPI (Titleist Performance Institute). She ran me through a battery of tests for strength, balance, and flexibility. There was nothing shocking or major found through these tests – at least nothing that I didn’t already know about my limitations. I need to work on some strength, flexibility, and balance, specifically in my back, pelvis, and abdominal muscles. So I signed on for a 12 week, once a week program, and promised myself that I would also join a fitness club and incorporate the golf-related exercises with an exercise program that would include cardio and some strength training. As everyone knows, the hardest part is getting started, so this is my beginning. We’ll see if I can stay with it. But what I’m really interested in seeing is not if the improved changes I make to my body will enable me to do what I want with the golf club, but rather is the swing sequence that I have had for so many years, because of my limitations, ingrained so deeply that the improved physical changes won’t make that much of a difference. I’ll keep you posted.