Swing Philosophy

The only thing that really matters is the ball-flight. The flight of the ball tells me what happened at impact. The only way to change ball-flight is to change impact. The only way to change impact is to change what the golf club is doing during the swing. The student comes for a lesson to change the direction or the distance the ball travels, the launch and flight of the ball, or how it feels. It does not matter whether it is in putting, chipping, pitching, or full swing. Changing what the shots are doing means changing what happens between the club and the ball at impact.

I feel that if we make the correct initial diagnosis, it is simple to change what the club is doing at impact. Swinging the club on the correct plane is critical and the key to all golf swings. To get the club moving from address to impact in the same plane angle - not necessarily the same plane, but the same plane angle that the shaft starts in at address, will produce the best results. I use video for every lesson to show my students the correct plane and how the arms, wrist, and body work together to achieve this repeatable plane and impact. The video also helps me get leverage on my students to change, as they have to believe what they see on the video.

The goal of my teaching is to find different methods to help my students learn. From video analysis, numerous teaching aids, drills, anything that helps them create a change (correction) in the ball-flight. In looking at 10 students, a method that has worked for 9 students in a row to correct a certain flaw in their swing, the 10th may not find to be of value. It is my challenge to find a method that helps this student take the verbal communication of what needs to be adjusted, and be able to actually perform the correction. But this is part of what makes my job so interesting.