Be a Player: A Breakthrough Approach to Playing Better ON the Golf Course - Hardcover

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Pia Nilsson has enjoyed an extraordinary career that has led her to international renown as co-creator of the VISION54 program, bestselling co-author of three VISION54 books, European Solheim Cup captain, and innovative golf coach. Well-known for her role in coaching Annika Sorenstam on her path to super-stardom, Pia’s other notable students include LPGA Tour players Ariya Jutanugarn, Suzann Pettersen, Ai Miyazato, Brittany Lang, Na Yeon Choi; PGA Tour players Kevin Streelman and Russell Knox; and amateurs such as former Secretary of State and Augusta National Golf Club member Condoleeza Rice.

Lynn Marriott is regarded as a true pioneer in the world of golf instruction. For more than thirty years she has been on the leading edge of how the game is taught. Today, Lynn is globally recognized as co-creator of the VISION54 program, best-selling co-author of threeVISION54 books, and a member of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) Hall of Fame. While Lynn's knowledge of the golf swing is unmatched, it is her heartfelt and intuitive approach to coaching golf and integrating its elements that have created a powerful shift in the games and lives of golfers and coaches around the world. Among Lynn's notable students are LPGA Tour players Ariya Jutanugarn, Suzann Pettersen, Ai Miyazato, Brittany Lang, and Na Yeon Choi; PGA Tour player Kevin Streelman and Russell Knox; and amateurs such as former Secretary of State and Augusta National Golf Club member Condoleeza Rice.

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Be a Player

INTRODUCTION:

A NEW WAY TO IMPROVE

NEARLY EVERY WEEK, a new group of golfers arrives for one of our VISION54 programs at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. The students include top amateurs, aspiring tour players, and recreational golfers—among them lawyers, filmmakers, bankers, opera singers, corporate executives, and teachers. All of them love golf. All of them want to improve and enjoy the game. But more often than not, they admit to being frustrated with golf—and with themselves. Sadly, some are just about ready to quit.

Listen to a few of our students. We always begin by asking them to introduce themselves and to say a few words about why they’ve come.

Janice, from Vancouver, British Columbia: “I love golf when I play well, but I really struggle when I’m playing poorly. I wonder if it’s possible to have fun even when I’m having a bad day.”

Joe, from Minneapolis, Minnesota: “I feel frustrated most of the time I’m on the course. I’d like to learn how to be more relaxed and spend less time thinking about the mechanics of my swing.”

Beth, from Boston, Massachusetts, a retired finance executive: “I’m very analytical and goal-oriented. I want to get out of my head and feel more joy when I play.”

Mia, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who is a college golfer: “The biggest thing I’m looking for is to improve my consistency. After rounds when I played well I think, That was so easy. But after a bad round I’m thinking, That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Bob, from Portland, Oregon: “My main objective and desire is to get the most out of myself. I want to feel I can improve and continue to grow my golf game.”

Lana, who lives in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and Palm Desert, California: “I love golf, but I never feel like I’m improving. And I fight the feeling that not improving reflects on me as a person.”

Mike, from Scottsdale, Arizona, a businessman: “I want to be able to manage myself better when I play with my weekend foursome. They talk so much: I can’t even concentrate. I play like Jekyll and Hyde when I’m with them.”

Ida, from Kansas City, Missouri: “I so want to enjoy golf. When I don’t play well, I beat myself up and have a terrible rest of the day.”

Zach, from New York City, a 1-handicap player: “Instead of always thinking about my swing, I want to learn to let myself play the game.”

Julie, from Indiana, a nationally ranked amateur: “I don’t want to be so scared when I’m playing.”

Jane, from New York: “I want to figure out why I get so tight when I’m hitting over water. I moan and groan a lot on the course. I don’t want to be that kind of golfer.”

Patrick, from New Jersey, who works in venture capital: “I practice and take lessons, but I never seem to get any better. Most days, I come off the course completely deflated. I don’t want to start all over. I’d like to take my game—the one I have now—to the next level.”

The sentiments of the comments capture the mood we see in today’s golfers—whether they are American, European, or Asian. Though club technology, fitness training, and the science of the swing have improved exponentially over the past decade, many golfers have not improved and have been leaving the game. The numbers have declined for several reasons, from a shortage of playing time and budget considerations, to difficulty in learning the game and courses that are too challenging. In short, golfers are stuck—and their lack of improvement might be a more alarming development for the game. According to the National Golf Foundation, nearly six million people in the U.S. quit the sport between 2003 and 2015.

We think we know another big reason why players are frustrated. Many golfers struggle to transfer their games from the range to the course. We see players making good contact in practice, but when we’re watching them on the course, they take three times longer to hit the ball—with a completely different technical swing. All of a sudden, they can’t hit the ball. Their physical, mental, and emotional states have changed because performing on the golf course means something. There are actual consequences to what they do.

Consider this: What if you arrive at a tennis court or a basketball court and see a sign that reads: NO PRACTICING ON THE COURT. Or at a swimming pool, the lifeguard tells you, “Sorry, no practicing your breast stroke in the pool.” Many golf courses and clubs have similar rules, ostensibly to protect pace of play and the conditions of the course.

Here’s what we believe: Practicing golf shots and playing golf on the course are not incompatible. To learn a sport, you need to learn in the context of the sport with all its constraints. Only in this state can you learn the skills that are required in the real environment of the game.

In addition to teaching the mechanics of a pitch shot on the range, golfers need to learn to hit that shot on the course, and then how to hit it a little higher to get over a bunker or a bush (and with only one try!). Let’s say there’s a tree in front of you. You need to get the ball around the tree. The first time you try, you’ll probably stick the ball in the trunk of the tree. But with exploration and practice, you’ll figure out how to navigate around the tree. All of a sudden, you’ve learned to curve the ball. You’ve learned to play.

The bottom line is that you have to be in the pool to learn how to swim, you have to be on a tennis court to learn to play tennis, and you have to be on the golf course to learn the game. You need to dedicate time on the course when you’re not focused on keeping score. You need to be on the course to discover what works. (And we promise, doing so will not hold up play or leave hundreds of divots.) Only on the course will you truly develop your skills, your game—and yourself.

A related issue we’ve observed is that when golfers (of any level) struggle on the course, they tend to blame their technique. Players today have become entirely too focused on the swing, with its angles and planes, speeds and smash factors. Tour pros now spend hours analyzing their swings with video cameras and TrackMan-style launch-monitor devices. (These instruments measure everything from clubhead speed to ball speed and flight apex to the forces and pressures of the feet during the swing.) Amateur golfers are convinced they’ll shoot lower scores once they’ve figured out whether they’re one-plane or two-plane swingers. They debate swing theories—X-factor, Stack-and-Tilt, A-Swing—as if one is the right answer. They read magazine articles that promise to teach the correct swing method that will fix everything. Meanwhile, they pursue the elusive secret of the swing via instructional apps and the wide array of analytical resources, such as K-VESTs, FocusBands, and clip-on metronomes. As one of our students put it, “I’ve taken in so much information, I feel like my head is exploding.”

We want to make it clear that we’re not dismissing the benefit of modern technology or the importance of a sound golf swing. It’s imperative that you have a reliable swing that fits your body. You need to...