Dufnering 101: What Jason Dufner (And All Professionals) Do That You Don’t

Scott Hogan Certified Personal Coach
GolfTEC Halsted Row

The PGA Championship was once again an exciting tournament that mixes the best of the low scoring and birdies we see at Augusta National and the brutal course setup and rough that the U.S. Open can bring to penalize

less than perfect shots. When all was said and done, Jason Dufner’s clinic on ball striking led him to a two stoke victory and the Wannamaker Trophy.

Jason Dufner as mentioned in the television broadcast learned golf by reading Ben Hogan’s famous “Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf” book, which is not a bad choice since Ben Hogan may arguably be the best ball striker of all time. One of the most important lessons from the book is something that I see every single tour professional do, and my students who are struggling to hit the ball solid fail to do. At impact, the shaft of the club must be leaning forward, and the lead wrist must either be flat or bowed towards the target.

The forward shaft lean allows a player to strike the golf ball first in a descending manner and compress the ball into the ground which creates power, spin and consistency. The forward shaft lean is also something that I think is overlooked because too many people focus on trying to get the club in a good top of the backswing position or bring the club down on plane and not over the top. While I will agree that these elements can make life easier to get the club into a good position at impact, I’ve seen many a good looking golf swings get ruined because they fail to focus on having the shaft leaning forward by making sure the lead wrist is flat or bowed.

A good drill that I do with almost every student to see if you are able to create this proper impact position is to place a small object (I’ll use either a penny or business card indoors) in front of the golf ball about 3-4 inches. I then have my students make swings attempting to hit the ball about 50 yards with a club that normally goes 120-150 yards, where they make contact with the golf ball first and then hit the object with the club head afterwards. Make sure to be aware that the club head is contacting the object and that a poorly struck golf ball doesn’t move it. By having the shaft leaning forward at impact with the lead wrist flat or bowed it will be easy to contact the ball first and then the object after. If the student is successfully able to perform the drill for 50 yard swings then I will allow them to move up to 75 then 100 yard swings and eventually full swings. By learning to create this correct position at impact the result that students will usually see is that these mini swings hit the ball farther with a more consistent launch angle with less effort.

Next time you’re watching golf on television pay close attention to replays of golf swings they show and watch how the shaft of the club will be leaning forward at impact. All the professionals do it and it is something you should be doing too if you want to improve your ball striking.

Scott Hogan is a Class A PGA Professional and Certified Personal Coach for GolfTEC at their Halsted Row Location. Visit golftec.com or contact Scott at shogan@golftec.com to find out how you can save up to 20% on Improvement Plans through August 23rd.

GolfTEC Opens First Facility In Japan, Initial Overseas Step In Major Expansion Program

Centennial, CO, and Tokyo, Japan (July 24, 2012) GolfTEC -the world leader in golf improvement-cements its world-leadership position with the opening of its first “learning studio” in Japan.

Located in the upscale Roppongi district of Tokyo, and operated by franchisee GDO (Golf Digest Online, Inc.), this is the first of dozens of GolfTEC centers planned for Japan over the next few years. Its opening follows the announcement earlier this year of a long-term expansion program that includes aggressive growth in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Japan and South Korea, with other markets to come.

The 3,000-square-foot Roppongi studio features five hitting bays utilizing the same GolfTEC software used in the company’s more than 160 improvement centers in North America. Although some of the material had to be modified slightly for the Japanese audience, Director of Instruction and Education Creighton Aotani says the core principles are pure GolfTEC: “What we’re teaching here is the same thing GolfTEC is teaching everywhere,” he says.

Aotani, 43, was born in Hawaii but has been living and working in Japan the last 18 years. A former player on the Japan Tour, Aotani was a JGTO Rules official and an executive with Pacific Golf Management, the world’s second-largest course-management firm, before joining GolfTEC and GDO last year.

The Roppongi center-called a “learning studio” because, says Aotani, “it rings the bell better for the Japanese audience”-officially opened on May 28, 2012. In its first seven weeks the four full-time coaches gave more than 300 swing evaluations
and signed up more than 150 students to long-term instruction programs.

GolfTEC will be successful in Japan, says Aotani, because there is no such personalized and effective teaching presently offered in the country.

“The Japanese tend to be very detail-oriented and love being able to talk numbers and details about the golf swing. So GolfTEC’s fact-based teaching and reliance on data is perfect for them.

“Right now, most of the [non-GolfTEC] teaching here is very old-fashioned. They call it a school but it’s one professional watching over 12 students for an hour. Do the math and that’s less than five minutes per student! Do they really get better? No.

“I’m excited because we can actually make a difference. Golfers can really get better.”

While the GolfTEC philosophy is new to Japan, the amenities in all the new centers will be attuned to the local population.

“In Japan, the level of service is very high. We’re pampered here. So our studio has locker rooms, stretching areas, a lounge, and a pro shop where we sell apparel and other merchandise. Plus we have two female receptionists on duty almost all the time, who also free up the coaches to teach more. And we are already booked nearly 80% of the time.

“We’re already looking at our next center,” Aotani reports, “finding a location and hiring teachers. The plan is to have at least five new centers up in the next two years. We’ll be rolling out our club fitting in the Roppongi studio in July. We are blazing!”

For further information access the GolfTEC web site at www.GolfTEC.com or call (303) 779-9900.

GolfTEC CEO to Judge Entrepreneur of the Year Award

GolfTEC CEO and Co-Founder Joe Assell was chosen this week to judge the Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Assell, along with Co-Founder Mike Clinton, is a former award recipient and with the growth of GolfTEC has been proven a successful entrepreneur himself.

He’ll be a judge for the Mountain Desert region, which includes Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.

Congratulations to Joe for this honor and good luck to the contestants!

New Golf Balls Proposed by PING CEO

Monday morning this week, Solheim, the CEO of PING golf, announced an ambitious plan to create three tiers of golf balls: one that goes longer, one that stays the same and one that will be hit a shorter distance. Click here to read Golf Week’s article about Solheim’s three-tier idea.

It’s a controversial but innovative idea sparking lots of debate by both the USGA and R&A. We asked a few of our experts what they thought of the rule change, see what they have to say and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

From Steve Atherton, GolfTEC VP of Research and Development:

There are pros and cons to Solheim’s proposal, and I think it could create some creative formats for amateur golfers, and maybe even more interesting tournament play for the PGA / LPGA professionals.  For example, they could play the same course two weeks in a row – one week with the long ball and then the next week with the short ball – to see how scores might change.  For the average golfer, however, I don’t believe it will level the playing field.

This is just my theory right now, but I think  playing with the short ball would actually IMPROVE most weekend warriors’ scores.  The average golfer misses more than half of the fairways as it is, so the longer ball would just put them further into trouble off the tee, and they would miss the fairway even more often.  The shorter ball, however, would allow them to play from the fairway more often.  I think playing from the fairway more often would be a bigger benefit than a few extra yards on the holes that they actually do hit the fairway.

From Andy Hilts, GolfTEC VP of Instruction:

Jack Nicklaus has been saying for years that we need to stop the ball from going too far. This proposal would help the average amateur to have a ball that goes farther. That means more people might start playing as hitting a ball FAR is the major thrill in golf. This would also bring back some of the strategy on classic courses that the stronger players can overpower.  Lots of classic courses that have had to do a redesign or can’t redesign because they don’t have the space.

However, I’m not sure I like having two sets of rules. We already have a handicapping system to help level the playing field. We need to let technology advance the game, if we hadn’t done that in the past, we would still be playing with wooden woods and a feather filled leather ball.

Final thoughts: I would love to go Tee it Forward with a longer ball!

GolfTEC Coaches In The News

It’s been a big year for GolfTEC Coaches. Not only did GolfTEC hit a major milestone when Coach Brian Rogish from GolfTEC Canton taught GolfTEC’s three millionth lesson, but five Coaches were recently honored on Golf Digest’s list of top instructors by state.

Ty Walker and Nate Morris from GolfTEC Denver Tech Center and Andy Hilts, GolfTEC VP of Instruction, were recognized on the Colorado list by Golf Digest.

James Kinney, GolfTEC Omaha Center Manger and Franchise Owner was named as a top Nebraska instructor and Nick Paez, Center Manager and Franchise Owner at GolfTEC Cleveland West was recognized in Ohio.

The average PGA professional teaches approximately 100 lessons per year. During 2011, Kinney, Walker, Morris and Nuber all taught more than 1,600 lessons and Nick Paez taught nearly 2,400. Over their GolfTEC careers, Nuber and Paez have taught over 10,000 lessons and Kinney and Morris have both taught close to 8,000. That’s a lot of improved golfers when you consider GolfTEC’s 95% success rate. Ty Walker was the first employee at GolfTEC and joined co-founders Joe Assell and Mike Clinton in 1996. Ty has taught well over 30,000 lessons in 15 years.