My Philosophy

Once you've developed a consistent swing, I believe that the next best step to learning golf begins on the putting green. Then continues backward to the tee.

Start with a 1 foot putt.  Then extend it to a 2 foot putt, then a 4 foot putt and so on until you are off the green.  As you proceed farther away from the hole you will explore:

• Your options for posture, grip and ball position
• The crucial influence the flex the putter's shaft has in terms of you feeling how hard to hit the putt.
• The incorrect feeling of the correct alignment. 

As you work your way off the edge of the green with longer and longer putts, you then will learn how to chip the ball from the longer grass surrounding the green.  Chipping with a 6, 7, or 8 iron for shots just off the green keeps the ball close to the ground.  Your chipping technique develops as you work your way backward from the green in one-yard increments.  Eventually, the bump and run action of longer chips becomes too strong, which causes the ball to go too far after it lands on the green.

You should putt until you have to chip; chip until you have to pitch.

Now a pitch shot is required. It's best to use a gap wedge when you learn how to pitch the ball.

As you move back in one yard increments you will take longer and longer pitch-shot swings.  The pitch-shot swing lengthens into a full swing and, therefore, establishes your maximum distance for the gap wedge.

Now move back approximately ten yards and make the same full swing using the pitching wedge.  Other than slight variations in ball position and distance from the ball (to allow for the longer club) everything else remains the same.  You'll notice how the ball lands on the same target even though the distance is approximately ten yards greater.

Make about ten full swings with the pitching wedge and then move back another ten yards and change to the 9-iron.  Then use a full 8-iron and move back another ten yards.  Repeat with a 7-iron.  Continue doing the same thing with the longer clubs finally ending at the driver.

As you extend your distance from the green and take full swings, you will use the same swing regardless of the club you use.  Golf club manufacturers strive to develop equipment that works seamlessly from club to club because they assume that golfers'll use the same swing from club to club.

As you are go through this process:

• You'll refine your posture, grip and ball position, both in relation to your feet and distance from the body.
• You'll notice and begin to pick up on the vagaries of alignment to the target from the playing position.
• You'll learn that your weight should shift from your back foot to your front foot.  Doing so allows you to transfer the weight of the rotating body to the club head which then will compress the ball at impact
• You'll develop a pre-swing routine, using the three D's (Direction, Duff and Distance) as a guide.