WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.400 Hi, This is Dave Kern from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I 2 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.280 play at Diamond Run Golf Club. 3 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:09.720 Golf Smarter number four hundred and seventy three, published on 4 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.320 January twenty seven, twenty fifteen. 5 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:17.640 Welcome to golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain 6 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:21.280 insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the 7 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:27.320 Golf Smarter podcast. Great Golf Instruction Never gets old. Our 8 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:32.200 interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations 9 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:35.799 like this that are no longer available in any podcast app. 10 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:37.479 I get a lot of these people to shoot between 11 00:00:37.479 --> 00:00:40.320 like ninety one hundred and five. That's probably two thirds 12 00:00:40.359 --> 00:00:42.799 of my new students are in that range. And I say, 13 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:45.320 do you want to lower your scores as quickly as 14 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:47.920 possible by any means necessary? And you'd be surprised most 15 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:50.000 people say no. They go no, I don't care about 16 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.439 the short term. I just want to want to hit 17 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:53.240 the ball culture to how it pro hits. But for 18 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:55.479 the guys who say yes, I do, I'll go to 19 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.119 that guy's golf bag and I'll start throwing clubs out 20 00:00:58.119 --> 00:00:59.679 of the bag on the ground. Throw the drive, run 21 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:01.960 the ground, throw the three on the ground. Throw the 22 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.200 three hybrid are on the ground, and maybe leave everything 23 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:06.120 else in. There's a four or five r and I'll 24 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:07.920 throw those on the ground too. I go play with 25 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:09.640 that set and the guy go, well, I can't play 26 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:11.680 without a driver. I go, well, that's the club that's 27 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:13.959 costing you a lot of strokes. To score well from 28 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:17.079 a strategic standpoint, you have to know what your limitations 29 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:19.920 are as a player, what your actual ability level is 30 00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:22.680 in terms of striking a golf ball, and don't try 31 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:25.280 to hit any hero shots that are mostly based on luck. 32 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.200 Three critical elements for a great golf swing with Jim Waldron. 33 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:39.280 This is Golf Smarter. Welcome back to the Golf Smarter Podcast. 34 00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:41.719 Jim, thanks Fred. Great to be here again. 35 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:44.519 And you know, last time we spoke, I think you 36 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:48.120 were up in Portland and where you spend most of 37 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.920 your year teaching at the Balance Point Golf School. But 38 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:51.879 not now. 39 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:54.599 Now I'm on the north shore of Oahu. 40 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:57.719 This is my twenty first year where I get to 41 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:00.319 spend most of the winter time in Hawai. 42 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:04.480 A little little better than Portland weather. 43 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:07.959 Yeah, it's it's much better. So and you know, and 44 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.759 I spend my my actual home is actually east of Portland, 45 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.360 seven hours up in the Willawa Mountains, and so right 46 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:17.360 now at my house it's probably you know, ten degrees 47 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:19.800 above zero with a couple of feet of snow in 48 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:20.280 the ground. 49 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:21.719 So this is quite the contrast. 50 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:24.960 Yeah, nice, nice, All right, we're all we all hate you. Now, 51 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:25.960 let's get on with the show. 52 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:29.400 I get that a lot. 53 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:35.680 Yeah, I bet, I bet. I guess right now, you 54 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:37.680 and I are the only two people in the industry 55 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:39.280 who are not at the PGA show. 56 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:42.400 Yeah, I mean I've I've been a couple of times, 57 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:44.719 but you have. Oh yeah, it's good. It's a cool thing. 58 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:47.039 It's a it's a fun show. It's it's geared more 59 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:52.400 toward the club professional, uh, director of golf general manager 60 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:55.560 than teaching pros. I mean, it's it's more of a 61 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:57.479 merchant that's what they call it, the merchandise show. 62 00:02:57.639 --> 00:02:59.840 Well, isn't it more for buyers than it? 63 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:02.879 Well, it's basically a trade show for the golf industry 64 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:05.120 that's put on by the PGA of America. But it's 65 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:09.919 it's mainly it's mainly the equipment company. That's pretty much. Yeah, right, do. 66 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:12.520 You anticipate hearing anything new and exciting this year. 67 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:17.360 You know, I think we were pretty close to have 68 00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:21.080 reached the point of no return on the technology front. 69 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.120 I mean, you know, there's only so much tweaking they 70 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:29.199 can do given the rules, the RNA and the USG 71 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:33.879 limits to what, you know, how much better technology can get. 72 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:37.039 So unless they change the rules draft dramatically, we're not 73 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:41.240 going to see I don't think significant technological improvements. 74 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.080 So that means that people are going to have to 75 00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:47.879 keep their driver for more than a year. Yeah, yeah, 76 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:50.120 how are we going to survive if we can't buy 77 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:52.599 new drivers thinking it's going to add ten yards every 78 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:53.199 single year? 79 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:55.879 You know, it's funny because that's I think that is 80 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:59.919 part of the reason we're hearing about declining participation rate. 81 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:02.759 I think that kind of marketing strategy is sort of boomerang. 82 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:05.199 I think people are a lot of golfers are getting 83 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:08.479 are feeling a bit ripped off by the equipment company 84 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:09.560 marketing hype. 85 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:13.400 Really, I mean you're getting sense from your from your students, 86 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:14.360 you hear that. 87 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:17.560 Kind of feedback, Yeah, because you know, if you're if 88 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:19.680 you're a company that puts out a new driver every 89 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:23.240 six months, and the driver is supposed to be seventeen 90 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:26.800 yards or whatever it is, twelve yards further. You know, 91 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:28.560 you totaled it up in five years. You should be 92 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:30.160 hitting it like you should be hitting your driver, like 93 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:31.959 six hundred yards, right, I mean, it just doesn't make 94 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:34.759 any sense. So you know, at some point the logical 95 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.079 line of the golfer kicks in and goes, wait a minute, 96 00:04:37.079 --> 00:04:38.079 this doesn't seem right. 97 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:42.279 So I don't know, they're still not getting fitted for 98 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:44.839 the club anyway. They're just buying what their friend has. 99 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:48.279 Well some are some are getting fitted but which definitely helps. 100 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:50.879 But and don't get me wrong, I mean some of 101 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:52.879 the newer stuff in the last few years. 102 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:56.079 Oh, there's there was a huge change in the in 103 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:58.560 the equipment. But now, like you said, they kind of 104 00:04:58.560 --> 00:04:59.240 reached the limit. 105 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.240 Yeah, yeah, I mean the lower spin. If you're a 106 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:05.759 decent player with relatively high clubhead speed, those low spin 107 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:09.959 drivers really do help you hit the ball further. There's 108 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.199 no question, no question about it. So even though I'm 109 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:16.120 getting up in age, I'm sixty three now, I still 110 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:19.920 have fair amount of clubbed speed, and I've always struggled 111 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:22.279 with hitting these, especially in the wind and Hawaii, hitting 112 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:24.560 the driver high or it hits the If you have 113 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:26.639 too much spin, it'll just carry on that wind in 114 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:29.600 balloon and you lose a lot of distance. So I've 115 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:33.839 been playing around with the SLDR. Haven't quite got it 116 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:35.360 figured out yet as far as where I want to 117 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:37.600 put the setting, I'm still I'm still testing it, but 118 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:41.439 it definitely hits it further because it does spin less. 119 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:45.279 Wow, does it? Shouldn't the average golfer, the you know, 120 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:50.040 the recreational golfer who mid to higher handicap, shouldn't they 121 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:53.480 avoid those adjustable clubs. Shouldn't they get it set once 122 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:54.319 and just leave it be. 123 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:56.920 Well, I think that's what they mostly do. It's it 124 00:05:57.079 --> 00:05:59.240 just sort of makes it easier to do a little 125 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:01.079 bit of testing on your own, because you know, you 126 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:03.399 really don't have time and a fitting to totally nail 127 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:05.879 it down, and the fitting is designed to kind of 128 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:07.360 gets you in the ballpark and then you've got to 129 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:09.000 got to tweak it by going to the range and 130 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:12.439 taking to the course and playing in real world conditions 131 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:16.120 and figuring out you know, most people generally play one 132 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:18.839 to maybe five courses that are on the kind of 133 00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:21.680 the ROTA for for golf courses, they play frequently, and 134 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.600 so they kind of know you know what, because you 135 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.000 know so much. It depends on how firm the fairways 136 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:29.240 are and what the wind is like those two things, 137 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:32.480 and also how long the golf course is, and and 138 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:34.839 you've got to you've got to dial in the trajectory 139 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:40.920 that will produce the overall maximum amount of carry and roll. Right. 140 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:45.720 So like in Hawaii, we're oftentime you're hitting into a wind. Uh. 141 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:49.240 Generally speaking, the good Hawaii players hit a low draw. 142 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:51.759 That's the shot you see good players here all the 143 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:54.639 time off the team, I mean really low by mainland standards, right. 144 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:58.160 And the only time they don't do that is if 145 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:00.399 it's been raining a lot, then they might. If it's 146 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:02.800 if the fairies are really soft, which isn't that often, 147 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:06.279 they'll they'll they'll bump up the loft on the setting 148 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:08.879 and then you want to get most of your distance 149 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:12.959 from carry. But typically in Hawaii the fairways are pretty firm, 150 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:15.519 particularly in the side of the island that I live on, 151 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:19.399 which is the driver side, and you can get I've 152 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:21.360 seen people all of the time get thirty forty fifty 153 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:24.199 yards a role here all the time. Wow. And so 154 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:27.879 if you couple a low spin driver that hits it 155 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:30.879 low to begin with, lowish, so it'll bore through the 156 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:35.639 wind better. With relatively low backspin, you might carry it 157 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.199 out there and say a two club wind, you might 158 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.279 hit it out there two thirty two fifty in the 159 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.920 air and then get thirty to fifty yards a roll 160 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:46.879 on it. 161 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:48.920 For those of us who get to play golf in 162 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:51.319 the winter, and I apologize to all of those who 163 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:55.199 were confined for four to five to eight months and 164 00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:57.680 don't get to play, But for those who do get 165 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:02.519 to play twelve months a year, why is winter golf 166 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:07.600 so much more difficult? I've noticed that, you know, when 167 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:09.319 I look back at my score as year to year 168 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:16.240 to year, they balloon in, you know, October, November, December, January, 169 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:19.199 things just go up. It's like, what is so different 170 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:19.800 about the game. 171 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:21.839 Well, you don't get the runoff, like we said, you 172 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:23.759 don't get the roll on the driver typically, so the 173 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:25.839 ball just sort of sits and even might even plug. 174 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:26.920 It won't roll at all. 175 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:29.079 And it doesn't fly as far. 176 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:32.000 Doesn't fly as far. The ball's colder. You're colder, so 177 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:34.240 you're not moving, your muscles aren't warm enough, and so 178 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:37.320 you're you're not you know, you're not contracting the muscles efficiently, 179 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:41.440 you're not loose enough, you're tighter. That would all those 180 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:43.639 things reduce your clubhead speed. And you got to deal 181 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.480 with the mud and the bad lies. And you know, 182 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:49.000 if you hit it, if it's a summertime line and 183 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:51.399 you hit it, say like a sixteenth of an inch fat, 184 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:53.279 it's still going to go out there close to the 185 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:56.320 normal distance, right, might be five yards short or something. 186 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:58.960 If your normal carry you the sixteenth of an inch 187 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:01.320 fat in the ground, so wet, the ball's going nowhere. 188 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:05.480 So it's just harder for all those all those reasons. 189 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:08.080 And how do we remedy that? What do we do to. 190 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:10.000 Don't play in the winter time? 191 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:14.559 Moved to the east coast or into the northern part, 192 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.159 or moved to your place in Portland or east of 193 00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:20.519 Portland and just hide yourself from the snow. Okay, so, 194 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:23.799 but those of us who are weather whimps and won't 195 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:25.440 move to the cold weather. 196 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:28.360 Well, you're asking the wrong guy. And I'm like the worst. 197 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:30.759 I'm the worst cold weather rain. I don't even play 198 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:32.200 in the I just don't do it. I just don't 199 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:32.759 enjoy it. 200 00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:37.440 Yeah, I don't either. I mean, I definitely like drizzle maybe, 201 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:39.879 but if it's rain, I'm not interested in playing. 202 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.639 Yeah, I got. I don't mean I play in the 203 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:44.919 rain here because it's warm rain, but but I don't 204 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:46.960 like what it's cold and raining and I don't find 205 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:47.679 it fun at all. 206 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.559 Last time I was in Hawaii, I was on Kauwhai 207 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:56.240 and I played in Poipu and the pro there and 208 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:58.080 he's been on the show. I can't remember his name, 209 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:01.320 I'm sorry, but he was saying that that's what the 210 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:06.600 locals know about slowing your swing speed in the big wins. 211 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:10.279 Yeah, I mean. The idea is if you swing, see, 212 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:13.120 the more club at speed you have, everything else being equal, 213 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:14.720 the more backspin you produce. 214 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:16.879 You know, on the cover of the wall, when. 215 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:20.360 The back third of the ball gets squished between the 216 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:24.360 against the club face, that creates friction, which which which 217 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:27.440 creates backspin. So if you have a lot of club 218 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:30.320 at speed and you're hitting into a win, you get 219 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:32.600 that ballooning ball effect like I mentioned where go. It 220 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:35.200 might start out at normal trajectory, then it quickly balloons 221 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:38.039 straight up and then fall straight down. You get literally 222 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:41.039 no role. So the idea and the wind. This has 223 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:44.279 been known for years for generations. Early you take one 224 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:47.840 or two more clubs and then cut your tempo down 225 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:50.200 by may maybe ten or twenty percent. So instead of 226 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:52.440 between like a number ten speed, swing it like a 227 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:56.000 number eight speed, and that that produces, you know, like 228 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:59.200 a baseball and knuckleball. It produces almost knuckleball effect on 229 00:10:59.240 --> 00:11:02.320 the golf ball, so it'll bore through the wind with 230 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:03.200 very little spin. 231 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:11.120 Do you think there's any chance that you know, we 232 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:17.279 talked about the clubs having reaching their limit in development. 233 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:19.200 What do you think about the golf balls. Do you 234 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:22.039 think there's any change in the future for golf balls 235 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.000 maybe be smaller or I mean, well, you. 236 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:25.600 Know there used to be. 237 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:27.360 Are you aware there used to be a smaller ball. 238 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:30.399 Yeah, I read that recently. I was blown away by it. 239 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.159 And they travel farther, they go further. Yeah, they're a 240 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:37.480 little harder to make solid contact because they're smaller. Obviously, 241 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.200 so it's a little harder to get the sweet spot 242 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.000 on the back of the ball because it is smaller. 243 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:45.279 Well, but when those balls were around, the club faces 244 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:47.600 weren't as large as they are now either, right. 245 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:50.960 That's true, Yeah, yeah, but that was the British ball. 246 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.840 That's the ball they played in Ireland in the UK, 247 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:56.759 and I forgot when it went out. 248 00:11:57.080 --> 00:11:58.639 I think it was be twenty something years ago. 249 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:01.960 Twenty five years ago made the switch to the American ball, 250 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:06.120 and I don't even recall exactly what the American ball 251 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:09.799 is one point six eight inches. I'm thinking the British 252 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:13.159 ball was maybe one point three five or one point 253 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:14.559 something like that. 254 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:15.919 It was very small. 255 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:17.320 But that's pretty small. 256 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:21.799 So where is where is the innovation in golf going 257 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:22.480 to come from? 258 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:25.000 It has to come from the instruction side, which is 259 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:26.799 what I'm trying to do, as you know, have been 260 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:27.960 for twenty five years. 261 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:32.720 AND's why we've talked so frequently, because of your instruction 262 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:33.639 and your insides. 263 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:37.200 Well, you know, we have this quit rate. It's pretty high. 264 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:39.720 We have the highest quit rate of any amateur sport 265 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:42.120 and have had for a long time, but it's gotten 266 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:44.759 worse in the last I don't know, ten, ten twelve years. 267 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:49.480 The peak was I think in two thousand. I think 268 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:53.480 we had something like thirty five million regular golfers in America. 269 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:56.600 And what years do you think that was? I mean, 270 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:00.519 how closely did that coincide with Tigers. 271 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:02.679 Yeah it was okay, it was at the peak. Yeah, 272 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:04.519 it was right around two thousand and two thousand and one, 273 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:07.559 if I believe, And then we've had fining participation rates. 274 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:10.200 So we had that little bump from Tiger, you know. 275 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:14.440 And I think the Tiger thing, people who normally wouldn't 276 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:17.759 have any interest in taking a golf took up the game, 277 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:24.120 particularly the millennial generation started taking up the game. And 278 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.240 then it kind of fell off pretty sharply, and then 279 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.080 after the economy collapsed in two thousand and eight, really 280 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:32.440 the participation really went down. The only place where it's 281 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:36.360 significantly growing in participation rates right now is in a 282 00:13:36.360 --> 00:13:41.279 lot of the Asian countries China, especially India, and it's 283 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:43.919 no secret that those two countries have the fastest growing 284 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:49.240 middle class of any countries on the planet. Southeast Asia, Thailand, 285 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:52.960 it's middle class has grown fairly, fairly significantly. It's pretty 286 00:13:53.000 --> 00:14:00.159 popular there. Singapore, it's popular mostly among the wealthy elite. 287 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:04.279 It's growing. Even Vietnam it's starting to grow. So there's 288 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:07.000 Asia sort of booming, but it's declining here for a 289 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:10.279 lot of reasons. But one of the reasons is it's 290 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:14.720 it's always been a hard game to be reasonably you know, 291 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:18.159 at least reasonably good, which would be I guess what'd 292 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:23.360 you call that? Maybe fifteen handicap or better. But you know, 293 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.039 a lot most people are not a fifteen handicap or better. 294 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:28.960 As you know, they're higher than that. And some folks 295 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.919 don't mind being a twenty five handicap and never getting 296 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:34.559 any better. But I say, by the end of their 297 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:36.519 fifth year, they get down to a twenty five or 298 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.559 twenty somewhere in there, and they never see any improvement. 299 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:44.759 But they're playing for social reasons, right primarily. But for 300 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:49.799 the people who enjoy the challenge of getting better, they general, 301 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:54.440 a lot of those folks hit a wall even if 302 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.240 they take what I would call traditional instruction, and then 303 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:01.360 they get some improvement, well, i'm you will get significant improvement, 304 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:05.960 but the majority get little or no improvement. Uh, they 305 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:08.960 get frustrated and they quit. So it's a big topic 306 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:11.600 right now in the golf instruction world. How do we 307 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:16.480 find a way to solve this dilemma? And I think 308 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:20.559 the big mistake has been This is going to sound 309 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:22.600 strange coming from me because because in early on in 310 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:24.559 my career I was I was known for the opposite 311 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:26.519 of what I'm about to say. But I think I 312 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:30.799 think there's been way too much sort of onus put 313 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:35.279 on a quick fix in terms of science and technology, 314 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.159 in terms of instruction, and we're starting to see the backlash. 315 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:42.200 In the last i'd say a year or two. People 316 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:47.159 are taking track man lessons, they're taking three dimensional you know, 317 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:53.200 three D swing capture, motion capture technology lessons, and again 318 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:55.360 there will always be a minority will improve no matter 319 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:57.080 what type of lesson you give them. But for the 320 00:15:57.159 --> 00:15:59.759 vast majority of people, they're walking. This is This is 321 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:02.120 the I'm hearing from students who go this route and 322 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:04.639 then come to see me, and they're saying, yeah, I 323 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:08.120 understand now why I suck, but I can't. But I'm 324 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:10.679 not any better from knowing how badly how bad I 325 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:14.240 am at this right and from seeing myself compared to 326 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:17.000 Tiger in sixteen different ways. I see the Tiger's doing 327 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.799 these sixteen things right, and I'm doing the sixteen things 328 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.399 totally the opposite. But how does that help me be better? 329 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:28.480 If it's purely intellectual knowledge, which most of this sort 330 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:32.679 of high tech science oriented instruction is geared toward. If 331 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:36.360 it doesn't translate into the subconscious mind, which is the 332 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:39.200 part of your brain that controls your body motion in 333 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:42.480 every sport. Right, then what good is it? Then? 334 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:43.080 The answer is. 335 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:43.759 Not very much. 336 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:54.919 I think that what I personally have experienced is the 337 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:59.960 course management, more than swing mechanics, helped me lower my score. 338 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:01.559 Yeah. 339 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:03.159 Well, that's a cool thing about golf. 340 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:05.200 I mean, the good teachers know this, that there is 341 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:07.160 more than one way to lower your score. 342 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:09.440 But the thing about. 343 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:12.519 A lot of golfers is they're not like you. They 344 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:14.960 don't really, at least is what they've claimed. I mean, 345 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:16.480 I'm not sure it's one hundred percent true. 346 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:18.920 But is that a phone or is that really a 347 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:20.480 Rooster's at rooster? 348 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:25.559 Yeah, roosters are all over the island. I see how 349 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:27.359 bad is it three in the morning when they're doing that. 350 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:29.160 Oh, that's really funny. 351 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:33.000 A lot of people it's not so much about score. 352 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:34.759 I'm in one of these, I'm in one of this. 353 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.839 I'm in this camp. Actually, it's about how you make 354 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:41.279 the score. And you know most people though who I interview, 355 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:44.960 you know, potential new students. I ask you, would you 356 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:47.359 rather lower your score by any means necessary? 357 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:49.200 Or is there a precise way you. 358 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:52.000 Want to play golf, And nine out of ten people 359 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:53.480 will tell you they want to They want to be 360 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.519 good in the long game, right, and so they don't 361 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:01.079 care about course management. Right. It's just because it doesn't 362 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:03.160 matter if they're on the range or on the golf course. 363 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:05.599 When you mishit a golf shot badly, you get a 364 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:07.680 bad feeling in your mind and your body. Right, it 365 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:10.880 doesn't feel good. It feels kind of embarrassing or humiliating 366 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:14.160 or depressing, or you get angry. You want to learn 367 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:17.920 how to find that sweet spot more often. Right, That's 368 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:20.720 that's the big to me, that's the big challenge to golf. 369 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.640 I mean anybody, If anybody spends enough time on a 370 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.960 putting green without any professional instruction, they'll figure out a 371 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.400 way to be at least a decent putter, if not 372 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:34.119 a great putter. Same with maybe chip shots, little short 373 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.680 chip shots around there. You can if you spend enough time, 374 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:39.119 you're going to figure out a way to be halfway 375 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:42.480 decent at those two skills. If someone like a three 376 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:44.400 iron off a tight line in a fair way. 377 00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:48.799 Good luck, lon's a three iron, Well, that's. 378 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:51.480 Traditionally at least to be a two iron even a 379 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:52.480 one iron when I was a kid. 380 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.039 But yeah, right, but when we're talking about these fifteen 381 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:57.480 handicap and above, they don't known three irons. 382 00:18:57.880 --> 00:18:59.559 But I'm saying that that would be the challenge if 383 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:00.559 they have a good swing. 384 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:02.680 I mean, if you have a really good swing, you 385 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:04.240 should be a hit a one iron off the fairway, right, 386 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:06.599 I mean, it shouldn't matter. The point is that is 387 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.920 a hard shot that even a hybrid is going to be, 388 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:11.559 even a three hybrid off the tight line. If you're 389 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.759 an average golfer with not not a very good golf swing, 390 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:16.920 is something you could you know, you're not gonna hit 391 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:20.000 it that well that often. So it comes down to 392 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:23.799 how do you master a golf swing that will allow 393 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:26.799 you to play good golf for you know, a lot 394 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.119 of years into the future. That's that's the thing that 395 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:32.359 trust me, almost every teaching pro that's what we hear 396 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:34.519 all the time is how do I hit the ball 397 00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:37.559 more consistently, you know better, more consistently. 398 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:40.960 Now we all know there's no perfect in golf. It 399 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:45.720 doesn't exist. It can't, So how do you master a 400 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:46.279 golf swing? 401 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.839