WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.640 Last year, I'm in Vegas at the celebrity golf tournament 2 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:09.400 before the Super Bowl, all pro football players that can't 3 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:13.080 hit a golf ball. But if I handed you a 4 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:15.679 violin and said, hey, I'm going to come back in 5 00:00:15.720 --> 00:00:17.559 a year, I want you to play Mozart for me, 6 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:21.120 you're probably not going to be doing anything but playing 7 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:23.760 scratches and you know, squeaks. 8 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:27.480 If you play golf, you know the deal. You take lessons, 9 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:31.320 you take a tip from YouTube, you practice, you integrate, 10 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:35.359 and then it works until it doesn't and you're back 11 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:38.759 at square one. Simply put, you've joined the quest for 12 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:41.719 the perfect thing. So if you're obsessed with breaking eighty 13 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.840 or ninety, blasting it to eighty or hitting it down 14 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:47.200 the middle, you've come to the right place. This is 15 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:50.920 golf smartest, correct the mistakes. And now here's your host, 16 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:55.439 Josh Carton. Today I am talking to Crystal Garcia Christ. 17 00:00:55.640 --> 00:01:04.159 Thank you for being here today, my pleasure. You are 18 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:07.719 the first person I've had on who I think did 19 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:12.680 not really grow up playing in the way that a 20 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:17.920 lot of pros and teachers instructors have. So why don't 21 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:18.719 we start there? 22 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:22.079 Yeah, So I am a bit of an anomaly in 23 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:26.120 the world of golf, because I'm probably the latest bloomer 24 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:30.680 that's well known. And the reason why that is is 25 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:36.400 because golf is challenging for everybody. It's a very small 26 00:01:36.519 --> 00:01:41.359 number of people that I call naturals that usually pick 27 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:45.599 up the game and they're generally shooting par within a 28 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:48.920 year and a half two years. So I read an 29 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:52.959 article that was the genesis for how I got into 30 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.079 my whole journey, and it was a disheartening article in 31 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.920 two thousand and nine in Golf Digest that that the 32 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:06.599 average golfer reaches their peak at about three years of 33 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:10.159 picking up the game as an adult, and then they 34 00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:12.599 are basically that's where they're going to live out the 35 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:16.719 rest of their life. And they said, you know, guys 36 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:20.039 who place at scratch are better. They also hit that 37 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:23.800 peak that early. And I started asking my friends later 38 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:27.000 as I became more of a golfer, I'd be like, 39 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:29.080 you know, hey, man, like when did you start playing, 40 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:31.840 Like fifteen sixteen? When did how long did it take 41 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:34.280 you to shoot par? A year and a half? Like 42 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:38.719 That's generally what I always heard. And so Golf Digest 43 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:41.560 in that same article said they were giving away awards 44 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:44.680 for people who had dropped their handicap the most during 45 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:47.080 the course of a year, and I think the first 46 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:49.080 place went to a guy who went from twenty two 47 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:52.319 to eleven. And I was like, man, that's a really 48 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:54.280 cool idea, and I just kind of put it in 49 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:57.479 the back of my mind. And then in November of 50 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:00.439 two thousand and nine, I was buying my seventh driver 51 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:05.039 in three years, hoping it would fix my block slice 52 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.960 and next to the cash sure was Ben Hogan's Five 53 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.479 Lessons book, and so I always liked the pictures in 54 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:15.719 that book. And you know, I'm forty years old, struggling, 55 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:20.719 struggling golfer, very often well over one hundred, and I'm like, 56 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:22.280 you know what, I'm going to pick up this book 57 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:25.599 for twelve dollars and I start thumbing through it. And 58 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:28.599 the difference in two thousand and nine from when I 59 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:31.639 was younger is YouTube would come out and I could 60 00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:35.439 actually go on YouTube and look up swings of Ben Hogan. 61 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:38.759 I've always been interested in the mystique. I know the 62 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:42.280 story about the bus accident all that, but I'd never 63 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:45.680 really caught his swing more than you would see as 64 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:49.159 a flash before a US Open or a master's like 65 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:53.039 champions like Ben Hogan, and that's all you saw. There 66 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.919 wasn't enough to sink your teeth into, you know. So 67 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:59.080 I started to watch his swing on YouTube, and then 68 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:02.319 for Christmas a month later in two thousand and nine, 69 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:05.280 I got a flip video camera and the first thing 70 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:07.479 a golfer thinks is man, I got to go out 71 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:09.400 to the golf course with my buddies and I got 72 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:15.879 to see my swing. I came home devastated. I thought 73 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:18.879 I had a good looking golf swing. It had just 74 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:24.959 become so so dysfunctional, and I had no idea. But 75 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:29.000 I am somewhat of a movement expert. I could see 76 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.079 very clearly that I did not have a good golf swing. 77 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:37.959 And those three elements the article on you know you 78 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:40.560 top out after three years, and I was like, that's 79 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:42.120 not going to be me. I'm going to try and 80 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:45.839 beat that guy's record. To the book Ben Hogan's Five 81 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:49.519 Lessons and seeing my swing, that was the genesis for 82 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:52.319 me to start my swing evolution. In the year twenty ten, 83 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:58.759 in January, I saved every scorecard, putted every ball out. 84 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:03.360 It was forty four rounds of golf, and by studying 85 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:07.839 the classic swing. This is an important note. As a 86 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:10.600 freshman in high school, I shot under par. I was 87 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:13.360 played the number one position on my high school golf team, 88 00:05:13.959 --> 00:05:17.399 and my dad took me to see a golf instructor 89 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:20.360 for the first time, and he put me into the 90 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:25.319 modern swing and changed my natural classic swing. Both feet 91 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:28.560 planted on the ground, stable base, turned the upper body 92 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:31.519 against the lower body, swing on plane, all of that, 93 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:35.959 and my game went to absolute in the garbage can. 94 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:40.120 So what version of the modern swing was this? Like 95 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:42.439 so like, because you know, there was the whole X 96 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:43.879 factor kind of thing. 97 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:49.079 So I'm very good friends with Jim McClain. Yeah, it 98 00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:53.120 was elements that could be X factor ish, But it 99 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:56.120 wasn't Jim that I went to go see. But this 100 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.759 is one of the most famous teachers in the world. 101 00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:03.079 You know, got I learned an awful lot about practice 102 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:06.120 and you know, and all of that. But it was 103 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:11.279 the beginning of this phase where we wanted to keep 104 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:13.600 the feet plan and turn the upper body against a 105 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:17.519 stable lower body, keep the club on plane the whole time, 106 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:21.720 you know, not this kind of like more. You know, 107 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:25.240 we all imitated Nicholas, you know, that's what me and 108 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.240 my older brother did, and we played pretty good. 109 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:31.680 Golf under as a teenager. Hell yeah, you are. 110 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:35.439 Yeah, I tied the number one player in our district 111 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:36.920 as a freshman in high school. 112 00:06:37.959 --> 00:06:41.399 How frustrating was it to go through that, have be 113 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:44.600 that good and then have a kind of deteriorate I mean, 114 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:46.519 what was what were your thoughts at the. 115 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:52.319 Time, Well, it was absolutely devastating because you have to 116 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.480 love golf a lot to get to where I had 117 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:58.720 gotten to. I had won a three day tournament, you know, earlier, 118 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:02.279 and you know, and you know I wasn't like I 119 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:04.879 shot seventy seven the last day to win that tournament 120 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:06.720 when I was in the eighth grade, you know, before 121 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.759 the ninth grade, and you know, I was a good golfer. 122 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.920 But there was Gary Nicholas as my same age. He 123 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:17.319 was still there were guys levels above me. But the 124 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.199 point is I went to shooting nineties in over one 125 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:22.639 hundred on bad. 126 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:26.319 Days, which has got to be very disconcerting. 127 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.759 Yeah, So I became, you know, I focused on another 128 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:32.959 thing that I loved. I loved martial arts. I became 129 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.000 the number one rated junior fighter in the state of Florida, 130 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:38.720 and then I went on to win the Florida Open, 131 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:43.000 the Florida Games as an adult, so I competed in 132 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:46.959 sport karate. I actually quit golf for four years after 133 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:50.639 college because I was just so bad at it. It 134 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:53.360 was years later. I was twenty seven and I was 135 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:56.360 living with a friend. We worked together in a restaurant, 136 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:59.439 I remember, and he loved golf, and we watched Tiger 137 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:02.720 win the Masters by twelve and ninety seven. He's like, 138 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.399 you know, we gotta get you back out there. I 139 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:08.439 was like, all right, you know, So I started playing 140 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:12.399 golf again and we played with another friend of ours, George, 141 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:15.120 and George made us put everything out and I shot 142 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:16.319 one hundred and twenty six. 143 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:21.839 Oh boy, I've driven home after shooting a ninety three, 144 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:24.519 like thinking I wanted to, you know, drive my car 145 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:27.240 into a tree off the cliff. 146 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:32.240 Yeah, yeah, yeah, So you know I have not only 147 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:36.039 am I probably the latest bloomer in golf, I'm probably 148 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:39.279 the biggest swing of scoring. 149 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:42.639 Oh my, yeah, one hundred and twenty six down to 150 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:43.120 where you're at. 151 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:45.440 Yeah, you know, like my low round is sixty seven. 152 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:47.960 I've shot sixty eight. I'm not like one of these 153 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:52.080 guys that shoots insanely low scores usually in the seventies, 154 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:56.519 you know, but it's it's when it was bad. I 155 00:08:56.519 --> 00:08:59.720 would have paid a million dollars if a genie could 156 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:01.720 have said, oh, I'll give you this golf swing and 157 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:04.240 the ability to play at this level, I would have 158 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:09.600 jumped at the chance, because you're hopeless when you're like that. 159 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.000 You know. That's where I lived for fourteen years until 160 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:15.919 I bought the Ben Hogan book and had the revelation 161 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:18.679 I'm just going to go back to my childhood swing. 162 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:23.080 Yeah, so talk a little bit about there's that pursuit 163 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:27.000 of the Hogan swing that was built for Hogan that 164 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:28.960 he had to hit a zillion balls of day to maintain. 165 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:33.200 So what did you pick up from Hogan that got 166 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:34.720 you back to that classic swing? 167 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:39.399 You know? So the first thing that I picked up 168 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:44.639 from Hogan was by kind of adopting the notion that 169 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:48.799 I'm going to just start all over again. It gave 170 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:52.360 me a way to reboot my self image because my 171 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.519 self image was really in the dumpster that I was 172 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:59.039 a terrible golfer. I was always embarrassed. But I had 173 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:01.600 this new idea, I'm going to swing like Cogan. I'll 174 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:04.600 just swing like Cogan. I started to work on it, 175 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:07.480 and I started to make a little bit better contact. 176 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.080 I started to notice. You know, I did take some 177 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:13.960 lessons with a couple people I had taken lessons before 178 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:17.919 the transformation, and all they did was make me worse, 179 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:23.840 just nightmarish. But the next person I called, I said, hey, 180 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:26.679 I want to learn to swing like Ben Hogan. Can 181 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:28.879 you help me? And of course there's laughter on the 182 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:31.480 other side of the phone, and I picked up a 183 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.639 couple tidbits from him. Then I was hitting golf balls 184 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:39.320 on a driving range in February in twenty ten, and 185 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:42.960 an old man came walking up to me and he goes, 186 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:45.480 let me see you hit a ball. Hit one, because 187 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:47.879 let me see you hit one more. I hit another one. 188 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:49.679 He goes, your head's in front of the ball. I 189 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:52.279 can help you with that. I'm Roger Donne and he 190 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:56.120 hands me his card and in La Roger Done golf 191 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:59.600 shops all over the place. They're all over the Southwest, 192 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:04.240 and I'm like, you're the Roger Dune and he's like, yeah, 193 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:06.519 I didn't turn pro, but I did pretty good with 194 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:10.080 the stores. Be here on Tuesday night, so it gives 195 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:14.759 me a two hour and forty five minute lesson. He 196 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:18.720 charges me forty five dollars bring it in cash. We 197 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:22.039 actually talked about the swing for an hour and a 198 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:25.000 half to almost two hours before we even got out 199 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.159 to the driving range. And but he he talked about 200 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.039 a Hogan fan. He was into it. He goes, first 201 00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:34.840 of all, your swing's too upright. I want you to 202 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:36.960 take your left hand and feel like you're reaching your 203 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:41.000 right pocket on the back swing. And I'm like, you're crazy. 204 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:44.360 But you know, he was able to get me into 205 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:48.519 that Hogan plane, you know. And now I understand, you 206 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:51.679 know more of why he said that and how it 207 00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:54.360 fits into the classic swing. But at first I was like, 208 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:58.480 you're you're freaking nuts because the last lesson I had, 209 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:00.879 the guy was telling me to wretch my arms down 210 00:12:00.919 --> 00:12:04.320 the train tracks as far as possible, and this guy's 211 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:07.320 telling me to reach in my left pocket, which is 212 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:10.919 as deep, low and inside as possible. And I'm like, 213 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:14.879 you know, what do you do? It was woh, my gosh, 214 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:18.919 it's been a crazy journey. Yeah. 215 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:23.440 No, so so what so was it a philosophical shift 216 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:26.120 for you? Was it physical? Was it philosophical or was 217 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:30.960 it just kind of rebooting your system. 218 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:34.399 Well, I realized now years later, it was one of 219 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.960 my friends, Sean Cox, who was the director of golf 220 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:40.200 at the Grand del Mar. Now he's up in San Francisco. 221 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:44.519 It's a wonderful, wonderful pro friend of mine who pointed 222 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:46.240 out to me, he goes, have you ever read a 223 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:49.679 book called the Alter Ego Effect? Like, no, I don't 224 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.360 know anything about it. He goes, you should read that 225 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:56.320 because that's what you did with your Hogan transformation. And 226 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:59.600 I'm like, excuse me. He goes, Yeah, all sorts of 227 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:03.919 athletes and performers create these alter egos that allow them 228 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:08.600 to create a new self image and prove their performance ability. 229 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:13.559 And I'm like, son of a gun. And I realized 230 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.639 at that moment, Yeah, I put on the Hogan hat, 231 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:20.399 created this new identity. Was able to put in the 232 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:24.879 background all the noise and the disappointment and embarrassment of 233 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:30.120 my golf game and create something fresh. And I had used. 234 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:32.919 Bruce Lee was my idol when I was a martial 235 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:36.200 arts competitor, and then I became a pro vallet dancer 236 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:41.759 and Mikhail Barishnikov was my idol for that pursuit. All 237 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:45.399 I did was replace replace it with Hogan. So okay, 238 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:47.320 well I'm gonna imitate Ogan and I'm going to do that. 239 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:50.600 And it seems so matter of fact, But now I 240 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:55.000 kind of see it much much deeper what happened internally 241 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:59.039 to go along with the external work, To. 242 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:01.120 Talk a little bit about the martial arts, because that 243 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:03.360 always seems to me like martial arts are such a 244 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:08.039 great background for somebody who wants to be good at golf. 245 00:14:08.039 --> 00:14:09.600 How is that influence what you've done? 246 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:22.159 Well, it's it's tremendous striking in the martial arts, whether 247 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:26.600 it's you know, punches or kicks like a spinning back kick. 248 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:30.519 They're all rotational and you all build your force from 249 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:33.519 the ground up. A boxer couldn't knock you out standing 250 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:36.960 on a sheet of ice. You know, you have to 251 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:42.039 be able to use the ground. And the motions are 252 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:46.679 very very similar as far as discipline goes. I find 253 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:50.919 that there are also parallels because it's like you're not 254 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:54.799 playing a team sport. It's all solo. You know, there's 255 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.080 there's nobody to congratulate but yourself and nobody to blame 256 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:02.159 but yourself if you inter lose. But martial arts is 257 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:06.399 man's That's what I spent the first thirty five years 258 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.279 of my life. That's that's what I did, and I 259 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:11.879 you know, took it pretty deep. 260 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:16.200 I'm always kind of amazed, especially you know, somebody as 261 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:19.039 good of an athlete as yourself, if you're a ballet 262 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:22.519 dancer and you know, martial arts champion, all those things. 263 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.440 It's always fascinating to me that somebody who's a great 264 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:28.799 athlete can struggle with golf. Yet it happens all the time. 265 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:33.840 Right, Oh my gosh. Last year, I'm in Vegas at 266 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:37.799 the celebrity golf tournament before the Super Bowl. Hey, I 267 00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:40.960 love to meet all these great pro athletes and everything, 268 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:47.559 but you're seeing all pro football players and all these 269 00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:52.639 different athletes that can't hit a golf ball, and it's like, God, 270 00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:57.279 bless you know. I mean, the best athletes in the world. 271 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:01.600 But if I handed you a bye violin and said, hey, 272 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.080 I'm gonna come back in a year, I want you 273 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:06.039 to play mozart for me, you're probably not going to 274 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:10.039 be doing anything but playing scratches and you know, squeezed. 275 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:11.519 That was my experience with the clarin up. 276 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:16.159 So golf is a fine art. I separate the idea 277 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:20.840 of a fine art from a popular art. Thusly, you 278 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:24.600 can teach yourself a popular art, but a fine art 279 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:28.399 is a master's student relationship that's handed down from generation 280 00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:32.399 to generation. So you can teach yourself to break dance, 281 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:36.039 you can teach yourself to play acoustic guitar, you can 282 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:39.919 teach yourself to rap, but you can't teach yourself opera. 283 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:43.840 You can't teach yourself violin, and you can't teach yourself ballet. 284 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:45.960 For sure. I know so many people who are really 285 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:49.919 good athletes who take up golf and get really serious 286 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:53.759 about it, and they struggle exactly like you were struggling. 287 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:55.679 What do you do with somebody like that when they 288 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:56.120 come to you. 289 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.679 Well, if we have an athletic background, the first thing 290 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:01.679 I want to do is I want to tap in 291 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:05.720 on what they were doing previously. So well, the first 292 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:07.799 thing I want to ask is did they ever play 293 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:12.400 a sport, either a stick sport or something that required throwing, 294 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:16.640 because they're the same kinetic sequence. One of the famous 295 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:19.160 drills that I do is I'll have a student and 296 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:22.559 we'll throw balls, and I show them that you can't 297 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:26.359 throw the ball until your lead foot plants. And once 298 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:28.680 we get that, then I have them get the feeling 299 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:32.240 of throwing the ball into the ground. And what this 300 00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:35.519 does is it helps them to connect the way they 301 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:41.039 move in other sports into golf because it's, like I said, 302 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:43.359 it's the same kinetic sequence. A lot of my students 303 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:46.000 you'll see on YouTube, have these light bulb moments where 304 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.920 they're like, oh my gosh, where they just unlock two 305 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:54.599 or three more levels of compression by understanding how they're 306 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:58.839 applying the energy. So what you have to remember is 307 00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:01.880 we create all the forces in the golf swing. We 308 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:05.759 can overpower the forces, which is what ninety percent of 309 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:09.799 golfers do, or we can harness the forces. When you 310 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:14.200 look at pro golfers they look like they're effortless, it's 311 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:17.920 because they're harnessing the forces they're generating in the swing 312 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:23.039 and then transmitting them down the club shaft. I just 313 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:25.960 taught a weekend golf school. People flew in from all 314 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.599 around the country and I've got an aid iron and 315 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:30.920 I'm like, look, guys, you don't have to swing hard 316 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:33.920 or apply force. You know, I'm doing it and I'm 317 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:38.920 just blasting the ball, and they just they just were mystified. 318 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:42.000 I'm not trying to be braggy or something. I'm just 319 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:45.599 trying to say. It's like, I'm not exerting energy or 320 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:51.880 extra force to do this. I'm actually removing extraineous force 321 00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:53.920 as simply as I can put it as I'm just 322 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:57.200 letting the weight of my arms in club fall, adding 323 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.440 my turn, and then snapping at the bottom. So energy 324 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.359 goes flinging out the end of the golf club like 325 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.039 snap and a towel, you know. But it's not about 326 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:10.200 using more force, right. 327 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:13.440 I find in my own game, my biggest struggle is 328 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.960 when I'm not hitting the ball straight off the tee, 329 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.400 is that I have that instinct to just start pulling 330 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:26.240 it down from the top, and that's when I start 331 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:28.759 slicing the ball and blocking it out to the right 332 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:36.079 instead of having the nice rhythmic sequence coming through the ball. 333 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.720 Right. That was one of the things I had to 334 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:40.799 learn in martial arts because I used to expend too 335 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:44.240 much energy. And my coach was like, look watch how 336 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:48.319 Pat fights. He's real smooth. When it's time he goes, 337 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:51.519 you know. So like for me, it's like the time 338 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:54.839 is at the bottom to apply speed and you know, 339 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:57.960 just that little snap at the bottom. But if I 340 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.079 try and apply it up here, it's just going to 341 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:02.519 be gone. It's just lost. 342 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.160 You know, modern golf instruction as opposed to kind of 343 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:10.640 the classic swing model. Just give me an idea of 344 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:14.000 where the divide takes place. I would imagine the classic 345 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:16.359 swing to me, which is what really interests me, is 346 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:20.880 that it's much more accessible and doable than swinging like 347 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:25.400 Rory or But we watch them on TV and think 348 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:27.359 that's how I'm supposed to. 349 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:33.599 Play, right, right, So Rory and Bryson, they're playing the 350 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:38.839 modern game. They have modern swing elements, but both of 351 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:41.799 them also have a lot of things that I really 352 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:44.599 like in their golf swing. Rice in de Shambo lifts 353 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:51.079 his lead heel with a driver, classic swing move. Rory 354 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:54.200 doesn't have the amount of lateral sidebend that a lot 355 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:57.759 of modern swingers have, and he has a fairly neutral 356 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:02.839 grip the modern swing. Let me give you my assessment. 357 00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:05.759 This is something I've arrived at talking with people in 358 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:09.519 my own experience. When I was first learning the modern swing, 359 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:14.119 my swing was on videotape. Here's an old tube television. 360 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:17.079 We're gonna watch your swing on it on VHS or whatever, 361 00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:21.319 And there was a dry erase marker drawn picture that 362 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:25.079 this is the perfect swing plane. And so to me, 363 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:29.599 the demarcation point between the classic swing, which is how 364 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:32.240 I was taught as a kid growing up, and the 365 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.160 beginning of the modern swing, is the video camera. Because 366 00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:39.880 there became this idea that you know, there was a 367 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:43.480 perfect swing plane, that you can keep the club on 368 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:46.799 this plane and it's just going to be this perfect 369 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:50.519 tilted Mary Go round. Whereas if you look at Arnold Palmer, 370 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:53.599 Bobby Jones, Sam Sneed, they all took it inside and 371 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:56.680 put it on that plane. On the down swing, you 372 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:00.720 got guys like Miller, Barber and Arnold Palmer that wild 373 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:03.799 looking swings where their club head is not on that 374 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:07.559 plane at all, but they're playing extremely high level golf. 375 00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:10.880 So by the nineties we started to see all golf 376 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:14.480 instruction moving towards us keep the feet planted, put the 377 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:17.599 club on that perfect plane. In order to start it 378 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:19.319 off on the plane, the club head has to go 379 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:22.640 back outside the hands in order to draw it up 380 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:26.279 that perfect circle. All this stuff is completely arbitrary and 381 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:31.160 makes no difference at all. Because the reason I say 382 00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:33.160 this is because the Hall of Fame is filled with 383 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:36.200 golfers where that club is all over the place on 384 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.240 the back swing. It's not like the top ten guys 385 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:41.759 all kept it on that plane. 386 00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:45.440 I remember when all of a sudden, I don't remember 387 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:47.119 what year it was. You probably you have a much 388 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:49.480 better memory than I do, when all of a sudden, 389 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:52.400 everybody's problem became, oh my god, they're swinging over the 390 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:58.319 top right. Yeah, and then it But and I love 391 00:22:58.359 --> 00:23:02.519 what you're saying, which is that's not the flaw. That's 392 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:05.319 actually what you're supposed to be doing. 393 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:11.279 So in my book, the way I look at it, 394 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:14.200 I want to coil as much as I can to 395 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:19.079 my trail side for power. And I told you Roger 396 00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:21.079 Dunn was the first person who said take your left 397 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:24.440 hand and put in your right pocket. The only difference 398 00:23:24.519 --> 00:23:29.000 between the modern swing and the classic swing is the 399 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:33.880 classic swing you did not lift the arms prematurely. He's 400 00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:37.960 kept the upper arms connected so as you turned, the 401 00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:42.480