Scott Mayer is a PGA-certified teaching professional who works at Nonesuch River Golf Course in Scarborough. He has written two instructional booklets, A Golfing Philosophy to Play A-Round With and Golf is a Concept and produced an instructional video, The Fundamentals of the Mind. In the spring of the 2004 he was named the State of Maine Teacher of the Year by his peers. Throughout the summer he will be providing me – a 16-handicapper with a propensity for banana slices – with a weekly golf tip. I’ll hit the range or practice green to put the tip to practice, then I’ll write about my experience with it – what worked, what didn’t, etc.
My wife gave me the go-ahead to play golf this past Sunday, but I chose to go to the Yarmouth Clam Festival with her instead. I had no interest in playing 18 holes. Not after spending an hour with Mayer on Friday.
The last time I played golf – before my trip to Ireland (see front page) – my father-in-law beat me by 14 strokes. After our usual trash-talking session over email, I had folded horribly. I chunked and sculled, hooked and sliced. How had I played so poorly after posting back to back mid-80s scores at Nonesuch River?
I wanted to be sick to my stomach. Before getting back out on the course, I knew I needed help. So, instead of asking Mayer to email me his weekly tip, I suggested we meet for an hour-long lesson/critique. He squeezed me into his busy schedule, then proceeded to pick me apart piece by piece. Here is what he had to say.
Mayer’s critique:
“There are three areas that you have to concentrate your efforts on when you play the game. No. 1 is the set-up, No. 2 is the back swing, No. 3 is the follow through. And this DNA that you have, you have either because it feels comfortable or you perceive it to be appropriate – you’re trying to do it a certain way because you think it’s the way it needs to be done. More often than not it feels right even though it’s inappropriate. So, what I’m going to do for you first is identify your DNA – in your set up, in your backswing, in your follow-through – that I feel is inappropriate. And I’m going to show you and tell you why it’s causing you problems.
No. 1, your stance it too wide. No. 2, your left toe is pointed straight ahead, and it should be flared out. No. 3, you’re bent over too much, and your hands are too low. Your right index finger is down by your knee, and because of that, the toe of your club is well off the ground. No. 4, your grip. Your left hand is turned under too much, and you’re looking at your palm. You’re looking at the fronts of your fingers and you’ve got open grip in there.
Now I want you to just hit a ball for me. Stop! Now in the backswing you slid back considerably with your hips. Your right hip is outside your right foot. Your right knee is outside your right foot. Your left arm is across your chest, and your hands are way behind your shoulders. You lack width in your swing.”
CJ’s take:
And that’s the abbreviated version. But you get the picture. My stance stinks. My grip stinks. My backswing STINKS!
Somehow, though, I can occasionally put it all together and post some satisfying scores. When that happens, I fool myself into thinking I’ll one day shoot in the 70s on a consistent basis. I’m an idiot.
After meeting with Mayer I know that if I want to ever shoot in the 70s I’ll need to forget pretty much everything that I used to do. The only way to do that is by beating his suggestions into my muscle memory.
Here goes.
Mayer’s suggestion – the “hello-hello” drill:
“In this drill you set up with your feet on a straight line, like the edge of a carpet or a rope. Then, while keeping your lower body quiet, turn your shoulders 90 degrees and reach out with your left arm so that the left hand is in a handshake position. Your left arm and club should line up with the rope. Then, turn your belly button and shoulder toward the target to create a similar position with the right arm and hand on the follow through. Clipping balls off tees with this half of a back-swing and full follow-through is a good way to develop proper path, plane and club face position.”
CJ’s take:
Late Sunday afternoon I escaped to the driving range to work on some things Mayer had preached during our session. It was easy enough to change my grip and stance, but the backswing was giving me problems.
So, I hit almost an entire bucket using the “hello-hello” technique. I wasn’t taking my hand off to mimic a handshake every time I went into my backswing, but by putting the club in that parallel-to-the-ground position I found that I was making consistent contact.
Of course, I was still only taking half swings. So, I bought another bucket and tried the same technique as part of a full swing. This wasn’t so easy.
The more I did it though, the more aware I was becoming. When I went outside of the correct path I could feel my mistake before I even made contact with the ball. When everything lined up right my swing felt like Ernie Els’s looks – smooth and effortless.
The keys here are repetition and patience. I know it’s going to take a while for this new motion to feel natural, but I’m willing to put in the work because I want to see the results.
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