GolfTEC provides nearly 3,000 lessons during U.S. Open

GolfTEC, the world leader in golf improvement, captured 1,806 golf swings and gave 1,155 onsite lessons during the U.S. Open this week, courtesy of American Express. This is the fourth year GolfTEC has teamed up with American Express and the program was completely free to golf fans who visited the American Express Championship Experience.

“We’ve delivered proven results during more than 2.8 million lessons over a 15 year period and are the only golf company equipped to offer more than opinions during on site events,” said Steve Bauerle, GolfTEC VP of Business Development. “The short lessons given by our Certified Personal Coaches are only a glimpse of our technology and golfers saw what it’s like on our Proven Path.”

When an American Express card member visited the American Express Championship Experience, they received a 10-minute golf lesson from a GolfTEC Certified Personal Coach. Non-card members could still benefit by having their swing captured on video and then reviewed by Coaches throughout the country.

All of the players can view their lessons on an American Express customized online portal at www.GolfTEC.com/AmericanExpress, available 24/7 and in the privacy of their own home.

GolfTEC captured the golf swings of 150 PGA and LPGA Tour Pros, which are used in a side-by-side comparison to the amateur golfer’s swing during the mini-lessons at the event. The data from the Tour Pros was used to create benchmarks that GolfTEC uses to develop a repeatable swing based on fundamental golf technique.

“Bringing our fact-based system to the U.S. Open and letting fans compare their swing on video to the golfers who are playing at Congressional was unlike anything else that happened last week,” said Bauerle. “Grassroots events allow golfers of all ability levels to hear what Coaches think they should work on in their swing. This is only the beginning of what they could experience with GolfTEC.”

GolfTEC on the radio

Will new technology help you succeed on the course? That was the question of the day posed to GolfTEC.

GolfTEC Director of Club Fitting, Doug Rikkers, was recently interviewed on In The Rough, a radio broadcast on the golf forum The Hacker’s Paradise.

In the interview, JB asks Doug how the latest technology can help a golfer’s game and if GolfTEC offers a way for the average golfer to check for gaps in their bag. Doug also discussed loft and lie angles and JB brought up Dustin Johnson’s driver. Specific to the swing plane and swing mechanics, Doug informed golfers that the number on their club doesn’t matter as much as having the right club for their individual swing.

It was surprising to JB when Doug said only between 10-20% of golfers GolfTEC sees for a Set Analysis are playing clubs are perfectly suited – including loft, lie, grip and shaft – for their game. GolfTEC’s 30-minute Set Analysis is on sale until Father’s Day weekend, but Doug said this isn’t a way for GolfTEC to sell clubs, a Set Analysis is the first step toward better golf for golfers of all skill levels.

To visit The Hacker’s Paradise, read comments about the radio show and listen to the entire show, click here. For more information about a GolfTEC Set Analysis, visit www.CheckMyBag.com.

Golf’s Greatest Myths

This article appeared in the June edition of GolfTEC’s Momentum Newsletter. There are many myths and misconceptions golfers have about the game. Here are 6 of the most common myths…debunked!

1. You’re a good putter. For the average tour pro, on a relatively flat green, the distance from which they will make half of their attempted putts is nine feet. For the amateur golfer, the distance for holing 50% of their putts is one-third of that: three feet.

   Similar to driving, however, golfers underestimate their number of putts per hole and putts per round. A golfer who regularly shoots a 92 averages 38 or more putts per round. Golfers shooting under 80 average around 32 putts per round.

2. Playing softball or baseball will ruin your golf swing. Baseball swings are, in fact, VERY closely related to golf swings. Essentially there is no backswing in baseball – this is a good thing for baseball because many golfers create impact flaws because of mistakes they make in the backswing.

   The bat is swung a couple of feet above the ground and most golfers think this means that the shoulders swing level through the baseball or softball. In fact, the right shoulder is much lower or more tilted to the right for strong hitters, just like it is in golf. If you were to hit a pitch out of the dirt and try to drive that pitch toward center or right-center field you would essentially be making a great golf or baseball swing.

   Good baseball and golf swings have almost identical weight shift positions at the top, they should have roughly the same length of swing and they both require little effort and good timing to create power and speed.

3. You hit it long off the tee. Amateur golfers overestimate their driving distance on average 15-30 yards, according to a 2004 Golf Digest study. Golf Digest also speculated that the higher the handicap, the greater the exaggeration.  Golfers with a handicap above 10 might hover right around the 200-yard mark.
4. Your clubs are okay. In a recent poll, 70% of GolfTEC Coaches said they thought their clients were playing with the wrong clubs. In a parallel study, 70% of the clients were satisfied with their current set of clubs. With a GolfTEC Set Analysis you can see where you have room for improvement in your bag. Visit www.CheckMyBag.com to schedule a 30-minute Set Analysis for only $49.
5. Driver should be parallel to the ground at the top of the swing. Watching Tiger Woods’s drive in slow motion on YouTube might not be the best way for the average golfer to position their club in the backswing. Drawing the club back until it is parallel to the ground is likely too far for most golfers. Your Coach will be able to help you determine the best position in your backswing to get the most power, distance and accuracy.
6. If I know what’s going on, I can fix it. Many golfers think that if they could recognize the one or two problems with their swing, they could watch online tips and fix it. Sometimes golfers believe just seeing their swing on video is enough to make a difference. However, the belief that improvement happens after recognizing and fixing one swing problem is false. Swing changes that lead to lower scores require a trained eye and sequential lessons. Even if you realize the problem, your Coach can give you the drills and pointers to make the changes happen.

Letter from a GolfTEC Client

The letter below was sent to one of our GolfTEC Executives by a client who wanted to make sure his Coach was recognized for a job well done. The letter has been posted with the permission of both Coach and client and is a testament to the dedication of our Coaches and the hard work, both in the bays and on the course, of our clients. Congratulations to Steve Swanson for meeting his lifelong goal of breaking 80.

Want to recognize your Coach? Leave us a comment below.

Hello GolfTEC,

I’ve been in the service business in one form or another for over 20-years, with a decent number of those 20 managing reasonably large service organizations (say up to 3,500 people).  I know, you rarely get a letter from a customer unless something is very good or very bad.

Go ahead, breathe a sigh of relief, this is going to be a ‘good letter’.

The enclosed note is from myself to Brian Dyke on taking my game to the next level.  As it says in the subject line, it’s a letter I never expected to write as we’re discussing the steps from taking me from a bogey golfer to a high single digit handicap.  And, I am very confident with Brian’s help I will achieve this goal.  From my perspective, this is nothing short of amazing.  Along with being in the service business, I’ve ‘hung around’ golf since I was 14-years old, not played many of those years, but close to the business.  Just about everyone I know who fits the ‘high single digit handicap’ category were scratch golfers who started when they were in their early teens and graduated to 9’s or 10’s as they aged their way into their 50’s.  I on the other hand, started being serious about golf in my early to mid-50’s and was hoping at the start of this program I could go from being 100+ golfer to a bogey golfer.  Starting late, the body is far less cooperative, and, “Doing something ‘til you hate it” as Brian has coached me to do, is something a 50+ year old mind easily rejects.

Much of the credit goes to GolfTEC and the great system.  Being able to practice in the bay and have a frame-by-frame view of each swing, and do the same for the game’s greats appears to be unparalleled in the industry and as good a teaching as Ray Romano or Rush Limbaugh get from Hank Haney at a fraction of the price.

And, while I have high regard for the system, you wouldn’t be getting this letter if it wasn’t for the work Brian is doing.  My first round in the low-80’s, he was my first call.  When I broke 80, he was also on the top of the list.  In short, without his teaching, there is no way in hell I would have broken 80 – a lifetime goal, not a golf goal.  Maybe my hands held the club, and yes, I did the practice, but when a team wins the Super Bowl, the coach gets carried off the field.  Brian deserves the same.  So, while Brian works on getting my name tacked up on the ‘Wall of Fame’, I wanted you to know he deserves much of the credit.

Continued success with building your business,

Steve Swanson

Questions with David DeNunzio

This article appeared in the June issue of Momentum Newsletter. Quick Hits is a feature every other month where GolfTEC asks 10 questions to a golf industry professional.

 

1. What do you do? I produce and edit the instruction stories featured in GOLF Magazine, which typically consists of the Top 100 Teacher tips in the Your Game section and the cover story, which almost always focuses on Tour instruction, new ways to play or specialty features involving the Top 100. I also work on producing related video material for golf.com and the magazine’s new app, Front9. Between issues I’ve been editing a series of instruction books, GOLF Magazine’s Best Ever! series, which now totals five volumes.
2. Why do you do it? The job is a perfect blend for me—I love to write (started out as a medical writer following college) and basically golf is my passion. Plus, I’m just like our millions of readers in that I’m constantly on the lookout for the next great fix to help me with my game.
3. How’s your golf game?I’d give it a B right now. I’ve been playing for 25 years, and can pretty much count on my short game and putting to save me a few strokes here and there. I tend to get in trouble off the tee—still trying to swing for the fences on every tee box. When I’m able to keep the ball in play consistently off the tee I tend to shoot a score that I’m happy with considering I don’t play as much as I should.
4. What’s the worst piece of golf advice you’ve ever received? “Hit up on the ball with your driver.” I know that technically this is the case—science proves that the best drivers ascend into impact—but it’s not something you want to actively try to do. It got me into the bad habit of hanging back on my right side too long and never fully releasing the club. Hitting up with your driver happens automatically if your swing is right and if you position the ball correctly in your stance.
5. What’s the best piece of golf advice you’ve ever received? “Turn your left arm through the hitting zone rather than swing it.” This was a big eye-opener for me. Look at any great player and you’ll see that their left arm moves very little laterally through impact—it rotates more than it does anything else. Makes it very easy to square the clubface and keep the left arm from “chicken-winging”, which is an all too-common mistake among the amateur ranks.
6. Who is in your dream foursome? I’d have to bring my dad along since I’ve played more rounds with him than anyone else. Then it would have to be Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. And since it’s a dream foursome, I’d take Arnie in his prime and Tiger circa 2000, with Jack Nicklaus on my bag. A foursome and caddie filled by the people who have left the most indelible stamps on the game, and the one who made it possible for me to enjoy it in the first place.
7. You’ve worked on hundreds of instruction articles for Golf Magazine. Which article personally helped your game the most?I wrote a feature, “The New Way to Improve” for GOLF Magazine’s 50th anniversary issue (September, 2009). It looked at the way people practice and learn instead of nuts and bolts swing changes. The proven science behind increasing your muscle memory and focusing on the right kinds of clues and swing thoughts cannot be disputed. It changed the way I go about hitting balls on the range and warming up before rounds and making sure I’m able to transfer my best practice and warm-up swings to the course. There’s a right way—and wrong way—to learn, and if you’ve been making the same kinds of mistakes for years on end, then this story is for you.
8. Why did you get into the golf industry? It picked me, really. I was offered a job out of the blue by a journalist friend of mine who was working at Golf Tips Magazine in Los Angeles back in 1995. I wasn’t actively looking to write about golf. The rest, as they say, is history.
9. What advice would you offer to a golfer who is frustrated with their game or has an obstacle they can’t seem to overcome?Bite the bullet and get some lessons. Sure, you can do your game a lot of good by reading instruction in magazines and watching videos online, but it’s no substitute for the long-term and lasting improvement you get when you consistently work with a professional who knows your swing inside and out.
10. What do you think is golf’s biggest myth?The statistics that state most golfers don’t improve, or that the average USGA handicap hasn’t changed in 50 years. Golfers do improve. Golfers are scoring better, but they’re a special subset of the overall pool. They’re the ones who are taking lessons.