WEBVTT - Taking Lessons: CH3’s advice for your path to game improvement 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:08.840 It's the Son of a Butcher podcast. You guys know 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.840 the drill. We come to you every Wednesday. UH. This week. 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:16.280 UM talked in the past a little bit about kind 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.240 of how I teach and how I give golf lessons. 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:21.759 But UM, one of the things I mean, as someone 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:24.000 who has been teaching for you know, well over two 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:26.960 decades and give golf lessons on a regular basis, wanted 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:30.560 to talk today about, UM taking a golf lesson. If 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:36.240 you're looking at taking instruction, UM, what what you should 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:41.080 be looking for in an instructor, UM, and you as 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:44.760 the lesson taker, UM, what is kind of your roles 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:50.160 and your responsibilities? UM. First of all, I think, UM, 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:53.240 you were, as as golf instructors, were incredibly lucky to 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.680 have people take time, you know, out of their out 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:00.400 of their lives to come take golf lessons from ructors. 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:04.200 And certainly it's something that that I take really really seriously. UM. 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:07.200 I've talked about some of the things that I like 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:10.240 to do and and the way I give golf lessons. UM. 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:12.840 So if you're someone that is going to take lessons 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:16.840 and you're going to, UM look at investing in instruction, 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:19.600 I mean, first of all, I think it's it's really 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:22.480 important that if you are going to try UM and 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:26.119 get better at golf. If if getting better and improving 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:28.960 your golf is something that is important to you, I 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:33.560 do think that that taking golf lessons obviously can help that. UM. 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.440 Having said that, I think, UM, if you're looking for 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:39.200 an instructor, I think it's really important that that you 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:42.920 as the student, UM, that that you do a little 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:46.080 bit of homework, a little bit of of due diligence. UM. 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:51.600 You can find golf lessons, you know, from any any 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.800 range of price. UM. You know you can you can 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.760 find really really cheap golf lessons, and then you can 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.600 go to people and and spend a lot of money. 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:04.320 And I'm of the belief that that you get what 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.120 you pay for UM. So if you are someone that 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.120 is going to take UM lessons and and and kind 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:12.040 of go down the route of trying to improve your 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.000 your golf game, UM, I think it's really important for 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:18.280 for you as the player to have a pretty good 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:22.880 idea and understanding as to what the problems are and 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.400 what are the areas that you feel like you can 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.320 you can make some gains UM, and that you need 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:30.880 to improve a lot of times I'll have people come 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:35.799 and take golf lessons and you're asking questions and it's 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.080 it's a little bit like, uh, it's a little bit 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:40.840 like pulling teeth. It's a little bit like, Okay, let 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:43.480 me try and get as much information out of this 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:45.400 player as I can. And I think a lot of 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:49.760 times golfers struggle. Um. And I've said this before on 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.160 the pod UM. I think a lot of golfers struggle 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:56.040 because they've they've played golf for a fairly long period 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.600 of time, and they don't really kind of have a 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.280 good idea of what they're trying to do, um and 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:05.840 what they need to do to hit really good, consistent 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:10.720 quality golf shots. UM. So, if I'm going to go 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:14.360 take a golf lesson, the big thing I would want 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.640 to do is figure out, first of all, what what 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:18.960 is my price range? How much do I want to 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:23.000 pay per lesson? Do I wanna take something that's you know, 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:26.080 kind of quick thirty minute lessons? Do I want to 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.320 take you know, a little bit longer an hour lesson, 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:30.880 or do I want to take um, you know, a 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:35.040 more kind of extended to three hours. Do I want 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.040 to take um just one lesson and go work on it. 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.040 Or do I want to find an instructor that has 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:43.720 um lesson packages. You know, most golf in structures now 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:49.440 I think do six lessons um. And that is where 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:53.120 I think a lot of UM significant gains can be 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:56.800 made in getting a series or a package of lessons, 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:01.360 because one it's it's it's saying to the instructor if 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.000 you're going to come in and buy, let's say, a 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.520 six lesson package from an instructor, I think what it 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:09.280 says to the instructor as someone that is an instructor 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:13.880 is okay, this person is somewhat serious about wanting to 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:18.240 get better, regardless of what the handicap level is. Obviously, 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.479 if you're a beginning golfer and you're completely new to golf, 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.320 I do think taking a series of golf lessons can 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:28.760 help you know so that you're you're you're working on 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.320 on things, and you're working on things over a specific 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.640 period of time. So anytime someone wants to come and 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:39.520 invest um a lot of time with me as an instructor, 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:42.480 I kind of put them in the bucket of being, 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:44.839 you know, serious about what they want to try and 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:48.720 accomplish and what they're trying to do with their golf game. UM. 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:51.919 So if you're someone that is UM going to to 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.400 take lessons, I think it's important to do your homework. 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:57.160 I think it's important to look at, uh, the instructor 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.800 that you're going to go take lessons from, UM, what 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.479 type of of presence do they have on social media. 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:05.760 The reason I say that is it's going to give 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.320 you a good idea. I think now social media allows 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:11.160 a lot of instructors to kind of tell their story, 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:14.160 to tell UM, what they like, what they don't like, 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.479 what they believe in the golf swing. And I think 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:20.640 that's really really important that as a student, you're going 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:24.840 to someone UM that you have sought out, that that 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.320 there's a reason you've sought them out. Maybe UM, you're 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:30.760 you're struggling with you're putting, and you're going to work 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:34.599 with someone that is a putting specific instructor UM and 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:39.560 they're they're specifically working on putting. Maybe you're going to 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:42.600 go to kind of a short game guy UM that 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.920 is big into short game, that that has a reputation 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:48.400 for that, and then you can go to people and 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.760 work on full swing. But I think it's important that 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.239 as the As the student, you have a good idea 0:05:54.839 --> 0:06:00.600 of what the instructor you're choosing does, believes and is 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:02.919 going to try and get you to to to work 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.760 on UM. There are a lot of players UH that 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.680 want to work with with instructors that UM create power, 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:14.719 that creates speed. UM. There are instructors UM that players 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:18.680 want to work with that have UM a system, have 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:23.320 a kind of specific swing theory, and he's going to 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.560 try and get all of the players that they're working 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:29.640 with UM to kind of swing the golf club a 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:34.200 specific way. So, if you have a a style of 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:37.800 golf swing that you like, if you have positions in 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:39.920 the golf swing that you're like that you like, I 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.760 think it's important to find an instructor that kind of 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:50.880 shares those same ideas, beliefs, values in in the golf swing. UM. 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.119 I think you can get a little bit sideways UM 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.479 if you've got specific things that you want to work 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:58.680 on in your golf swing and you go to an 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:02.520 instructor that really doesn't kind of believe in those things 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:05.719 and and really isn't going to help you kind of 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.040 work on those things. There are a lot of instructors 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:13.240 that have very very specific UM ideas models positions that 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:17.720 they believe very very strongly UM in the golf swing. UM. 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:21.640 They believe that putting players in these positions, putting the 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:26.240 players into a system of swinging the golf club a 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:30.040 specific way. The instructors do that because they believe that 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:31.960 that's going to help you as a player get better. 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:34.880 So as the player, as the student, I think it's 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:38.040 really important that you kind of get a good overall 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:40.520 idea of Okay, what is it that I want to 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:45.400 accomplish in in in taking golf lessons and taking instruction 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:50.400 and then finding a coach and instructor that fits along 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:53.240 with the things that that you're trying to work on 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:58.720 in the golf swing. UM. If you're I think as 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.119 the as the student, you want to take a look 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:06.800 UM at what kind of players? Uh this instructor that 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.480 you're working with works with? Um? Do they work with 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:11.200 a lot If you're a beginner, do they work with 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:14.720 a lot of beginning golfers? Um? If you're an intermediate 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:19.480 you know player, If you're a mid handicap player, UM, 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:23.160 what type of mid handicap players is this person work with? 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.680 If you're trying to play competitively? UM? If you're really 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.800 really serious about your golf and you're trying to take 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.400 your golf game and put it on the competitive level, 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:39.600 whether that's being a competitive junior, competitive amateur, competitive college player, UH, 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.640 a player that's trying to play competitively at the professional level. 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.440 I think you need to then be looking at players 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.360 if you're trying to compete UM. In my opinion, I 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.160 think you need to be looking at players. Are looking 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:54.920 at coaches and saying, Okay, what is their body of work, 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:56.960 what are the type of players that they're working with, 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.480 What are the type of players they're working with? Where 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.640 do those up the players play? Do you know if 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:04.080 you're if you're an amateur, if you're a junior, if 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:06.360 you're a junior high school golfer, and you want to 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:07.920 try and get to the next level, and you want 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.800 to try and get to to play Division one division 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.480 to play some sort of college golf, then I think 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.760 it's incumbent upon you as a as a student to 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:20.520 find an instructor that works with players that are where 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.920 you want to be. UM, that is working with competitive 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:28.840 juniors and and and ranked juniors either locally or state 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:32.839 or nationally UM or internationally. UM. I think if you're 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:37.120 trying to play competitively UM, whatever tour you're trying to 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:41.120 play on, I think it would be helpful to work 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.480 and seek out an instructor that has worked with players 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:47.720 on that tour that you want to go to. UM. 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:51.760 That's certainly UM one of the reasons why a lot 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:55.280 of players that play competitively UM seek me out because 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.320 you know, I've spent you know, over two decades working 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:00.959 you know, on tour all over the world, on the 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:04.720 European Tour, on the PGA Tour, on the LPGA Tour, 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:09.080 on the PGA Tour, champions UM Asia Live. I've worked 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.480 with players. One of the things I'm really proud of 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.440 is UM. The players that I've worked with over my 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.920 career from a competitive level has have pretty much one 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:23.400 UM at every single level and one UM, if if 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:28.480 my memory is correct, pretty much on every tour. So UM. 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:32.720 If you're a competitive player and are looking to compete, 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.520 I think it's important that you find an instructor that 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:39.280 matches kind of where you want to go UM. I 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.240 think it's really important for you as as the student 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:46.679 to let the instructor kind of know what your UM, 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.400 what your goals are, what UM what the end game is? UM? 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:52.960 And that's one of the first questions I always ask 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:55.720 a student is listen, what can I help with? And 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:57.720 what what is? What is your end game? What is 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.440 the reason why you are coming to to take a 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:04.079 golf lesson today? UM? What are your goals? UM? One 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:07.880 of the questions if you're trying to play competitively, UM, 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:12.319 regardless of what the level is junior golfer, amateur, college, 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.280 you know, the professional level. UH. One of the questions 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:19.120 I'm always gonna ask is, UM, what's the lowest score 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.920 you've shot in competition this year? And what's the highest 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.680 score you've shot in competition this year? And that can 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:29.760 sometimes be a fairly significant end and big gap. It 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:33.160 can be maybe in the sixties on the low end 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:38.520 and in the high seventies, mid eighties on the high end. UM. 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.480 So I'm always trying to figure out what kind of 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:47.240 range you have, UM with regards to scoring. Let's take 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.160 a moment to thank for Wellness for supporting the show. 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:52.439 You guys hear me talk about them every week, and 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:54.200 that the reason I do that is because I drink 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.600 their coffee every week. I know lots of people are 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:58.960 focusing on health and Wellness as we start the new year. 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:01.640 But what I love most about their coffee is that 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:06.800 there isn't anything artificial and no artificial ingredients sweeteners, creamers 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.440 and all the junk that isn't good for you. It's 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:12.319 only the good stuff giving you more energy without typical 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.240 crashes you get when a lot of your coffee and 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.640 if you have a lot of sugar in your coffee. 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.319 Give it a try and use the special code c 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:24.959 H three. That code will get you off your order 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:28.080 plus free shipping and a free starter kit worth thirty 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:33.240 dollars when you visit for Wellness dot com slash podcast. Again, 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:36.880 that's the code c H three at for Wellness dot 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:42.880 com slash podcast. I think it's important to to explain 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.680 to the instructor. Listen, these are um, these are the 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:50.640 issues that I'm having. Um, when I play well, I 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.360 hit this type of shot. When I play my best, 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:58.360 I do these things. I'm always asking players students, um 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:01.760 that I'm that I'm working with. What what is the 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:06.160 shape that you're trying to hit? Um? Where is the miss? 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:08.560 What type of miss do you have? Do you have 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.760 a directional miss meaning the ball is curving too much? 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.920 Do you have a contact miss. Uh, it's the quality 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:18.880 of stripe between the club and and the ball. Um, 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:20.400 do you hit the ball thin? Do you hit the 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:22.640 ball heavy? All of those things, And a lot of 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:25.560 times when I'm asking those questions to a student, I 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:30.360 get that kind of you know, dumbfounded look, and and 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:34.280 it's it's it's almost like the player doesn't know what 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.400 it is they do. So I think it's really important 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.520 that if you're going to take golf lessons, you're able 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.000 to come and say to the instructor, listen, these are 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:46.320 my goals from a golf standpoint, this is what I 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:48.280 want to do. I want to try I want to 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:52.800 break a hundred for the first time, eighty great par 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:55.040 for the first time. And that's my goal. You know, 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:58.240 I'm a I'm a twenty handicap. I want to try 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:01.080 and get down to a team. I want to try 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:06.520 and get into the teens. I want to become a 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:11.520 single digit and um, these are also my goals incoming 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:15.600 and taking a golf lesson from you as the instructor. 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:19.880 My goal is to try and change this about my game, 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:24.720 to try and improve this about my game. UM. I 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:31.160 also think a lot of times, um, instructors get sideways 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:34.480 with with with students because I think sometimes UM students 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:38.920 can have unrealistic expectations of of coming and taking a 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:42.120 golf lesson. UM. I feel like I'm pretty good at 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.840 giving golf lessons. I feel like I'm pretty good UM 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:49.880 at instruction. UM. But based off of what I'm working 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:54.720 with as as an instructor, UM, you know, largely you're 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:58.960 working around what a player is doing, UM, what a 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.160 player can do, what a player is physically able to do. 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:06.280 That's another UM part that I think is really important 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:11.920 for UM people getting lessons to to convey to instructors. Listen, 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:17.160 this is my health history. UM, I've had these injuries. UM, 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:23.480 I currently have these injuries. UM. Anytime a player comes 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:26.560 to me and says that they've got any sort of injuries, 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.840 they've had injuries and past or they've had recent injuries, 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.000 the number one thing I ask is, listen, have you 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:34.440 been cleared to hit golf balls? Have you been cleared 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:38.920 by your medical professional, by your doctor, by your physiotherapist, 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.760 whoever is in charge of of your rehab if you're 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:46.120 if you've been injured, UM, who's in charge of that? 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:49.920 And UM, are you able and have you been given 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:53.960 clearance to hit golf balls? Um, you should not anyone 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.080 listening to this this podcast if you're hitting golf balls 0:15:57.520 --> 0:15:59.880 and you're going to the driving range and you're hitting 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:03.680 off balls for an hour, UM, you should not be 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:07.360 in pain hitting golf balls. UM. Golf is not a 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.320 contact sport. UM. I was working with the junior the 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:14.400 other day. UH eleven, twelve year old Jr. UM had 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:18.640 made that jump from UM playing US kids golf to 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:23.080 playing regular length UM golf clubs. This this young UM 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:27.280 kid UM I think he was. He was probably under 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:32.040 five ft tall UM, and he was playing and had 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:36.320 been fitted with golf clubs UM that were about a 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.920 half inch longer than the golf clubs that maybe an 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.000 inch to a half inch longer than the golf clubs 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:45.480 I play with. Yes, they had graphite shafts, UM. But 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.800 the kid was making a golf swing based off of 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.160 the golf club that he was playing. Um. It was 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.880 too long, it was too heavy. Even though he was 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:57.600 professionally fitted for these clubs, he was playing with effectively 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.760 kids clubs. And he and his and his parents decided 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.120 to get him into regular golf clubs, which is something 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:07.040 that every young kid wants to do right. Every young 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.000 player doesn't want to play with kids clubs. They want 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.520 to play with real golf clubs. Um. But I was 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:14.680 watching this kid hit golf balls, and you know, in 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:19.560 asking him questions, UM, the quality of the strike tended 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:24.080 to be a bigger issue for him than the direction 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:25.760 the golf ball was going. So we looked at him 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:29.479 on video and we could just see that he was 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.520 putting the golf club in a position at the top 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.760 of the back swing. Um, that was very very difficult 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:38.040 for him to control. The back swing was very very long. Um. 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.359 He had a lot of you know, extending backwards, a 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.560 lot of curvature, UM in his spine, he had a 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:46.800 lot of you know, his leaning left at the top 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:49.000 of the back swing. And UM, I looked at his 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.280 golf swing and I and I said to his dad, 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:55.359 I said, listen, um, we we need to make some 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:57.600 serious changes here so your son doesn't get hurt. And 0:17:57.640 --> 0:17:59.399 the father said, well, what do you mean. So I 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:02.040 said to the to the to the junior, I said, listen, 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:04.200 you're not gonna get in trouble for for saying this, 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.919 but be honest with me when you go practice golf balls. 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.320 Does your back hurt? And you could see the kid, 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.520 you know, made the nervous look to the dad. The 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:15.359 dad's kind of looking at the kid going, you know, 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:17.760 you never tell me you're hurt. Um, you never tell 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:20.520 me you're in pain. Um. And so the father said 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:22.960 to the son, listen, be honest, or are you in 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.119 pain when you hit golf balls? And the kid shook 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:27.280 his head and was like, yeah, I'm I'm I'm in 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.119 pain a lot of time. And he showed me exactly 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:32.600 where the pain is in his in his low back 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:36.320 and his mid back, and and he said, sometimes, you know, 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.199 if he has a day where he hits a lot 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.520 of golf balls on the weekend, goes and plays golf 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.639 for eighteen holes, Um, he struggles to sleep at night 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:46.440 because it's back hurt. And the kid's eleven years old, 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.160 and you know, golf should not be hurting his back. 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:54.040 So I think it's important that, um, you are honest 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.720 with the instructors that you're you're working with and say, 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:59.320 listen to my it's my injury history. That's what I've 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:02.119 been dealing with now. And then I think it's important 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:05.960 to to explain to the instructor. Listen, I've had some 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:08.960 lessons before. These are the things that I've done. If 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:11.520 you have had lessons before, Um, these are the things 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:16.320 I've worked on. Um, they worked, they didn't work. They 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:19.320 worked for a little while, then they didn't work. And 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:22.400 these are the reasons why they didn't work. And I 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.200 was unable to stick with him. I think a lot 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:30.679 of times, UM, students are looking, um, for golfers to 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.919 for instructors to somewhat have a magic bullet, uh, to 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:37.479 be able to come in take one golf lesson. Boom, 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:41.960 You're cured and everything's fine. Um, you as the player 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:46.119 are going to have a d n A, a signature. 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:49.720 Everybody swinging a golf club kind of has their own 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:53.239 d n A, their own kind of signature of what 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:57.760 their swing does. And and so I think students are 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:02.119 looking at instructors to kind of change these signatures and 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.760 change these patterns. But a lot of times, Um, these 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:10.520 are very ingrained patterns. They're very ingrained motions. You know, 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:14.560 sometimes you've been playing golf, you know, ten, fifteen, sometimes 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:17.040 twenty years, and you're you're working on a lot of 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.359 the same movements, and you're doing a lot of the 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:22.959 same things. You know. They say that there's the cliche 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:26.240 that practice makes perfect, but practice can also make permanent. 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:28.960 So if you do the same thing over and over 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:31.760 and over again when you do come for a golf 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:34.800 lesson UM, that might not be a quick fix. It 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:38.360 might be a situation to where you might need to say, Okay, 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:41.360 as the instructor, listen, this is what you do. UM, 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:44.000 we're going to try and change some of this. But UM, 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:46.919 you know what you do is is is is a 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.399 difficult move, and we're going to try and make some 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:52.800 changes to help you offset that. But I do think 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:56.879 at times it's it's it's unrealistic to think that you 0:20:56.920 --> 0:21:01.080 can come in UM and make massive change, just really 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:03.639 really quick. Now, if you're playing a lot of golf, 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:08.440 if you're playing UM competitive golf, UM, if you're practicing 0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:11.960 you know, three four or five, six, seven days a week, 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:15.280 if you're playing two, three, four or five times a week, 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:20.080 then I think change can be made quicker because you're 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:23.400 getting in more reps. But you've also got to remember 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:28.600 that going to a golf lesson UM for the first 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:31.159 time with a brand new instructor is very much like 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:33.400 going to a personal trainer and saying, listen, I'm out 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.359 of shape. It's January one. Uh, you know, I'm twenty 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:39.200 pounds overweight. UM, I want to try and get in shape, 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:41.359 and I really want to try and lose some weight. 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:43.520 What they're going to do is they're going to create 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:46.760 a plan for you. UM. They're going to create a 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:52.920 series of workouts and things that you can do over 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:55.520 an extended period of time. Because if you say to 0:21:55.640 --> 0:22:03.480 a physical trainer on January one, January second, listen, i'mds overweight. UM. 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:06.240 I want to spend you know, basically all day with 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:08.440 you today, you know, three or four or five six 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:11.679 hours in the gym working out, doing all this stuff, 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:14.480 and hopefully I'm gonna be UM, I'm gonna lose weight 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:18.600 tomorrow and be in shape. Unfortunately, UM, it doesn't work 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:22.440 like that. So our job as instructors are to try 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:26.760 and say, two players, listen, Okay, let's figure out a 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:30.640 way that we could build a better pattern for you 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:33.400 and try and eliminate some of the things that that 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:36.720 you do. UM. Not specifically the way I teach. I 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:42.040 don't basically teach by UM numbers or by systems or theory. 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:45.000 I I look at what a player does individually, and 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:47.679 I say, Okay, what can I do to help this player? 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:50.800 UM swing the golf club better? And so that's where 0:22:50.840 --> 0:22:55.000 I think, as the student, you've got to look um 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:59.359