I think writing a golf instruction book nowadays would be really difficult. I’m not saying I’ll never attempt the feat, but here’s the thing – the golf swing has remained relatively unchanged over the years, and there’s virtually nothing new to write about.
What you have to do these days is take what’s already been written, and find a way to repackage it, say it in a different way, or find a new way of saying the same thing. The best golf instructors in the world already do this. They’re masters at repeating the same concepts to their students in different ways. What may resonate with one may fall on deaf ears with another. It happens all the time.
But when Todd Sones published his 3rd book, The Scoring Zone, earlier this year, it wasn’t long before it found its way into my Cart on Amazon. I have a lot of respect for Todd, and he’s someone I’ve looked up to for a long time. I’ve posted several articles about his teaching philosophies on my blog. He’s also the guy I largely credit for convincing me to enroll at the Golf Academy of America in the winter of 2015.
I first read about Todd in the January 2012 issue of Golf Magazine. I struggled to make putts early in my golfing career and came across his article, “Belly vs. Short,” after having switched to a belly putter. The very next month, I got fitted for one of Todd’s Coutour-brand belly putters. I made more putts with that than I had with any other flat stick up to that point in my life!
Then in October of 2014, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Todd in person at White Deer Run Golf Club for a private putting lesson. It was an experience I will never forget. It was at that session that Todd suggested I come out to hear him speak during his annual campus visit to the Golf Academy in Phoenix, and the rest is history. I decided to enroll not long after that. Todd is on the Golf Academy’s National Advisory Board, and with good reason.
Todd is a Golf Digest Top 50 and Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructor who is really considered a putting guru for having worked with Tour players such as Luke Donald, Scott McCarron, Joe Durant, Steve Jones (1996 U.S. Open Champion), Shaun Micheel (2003 PGA Champion), and Hilary Lunke (2003 U.S. Women’s Open Champion), but he’s also carved out a nice niche for himself as one of the industry’s top short game experts. His half and full-day Scoring Zone Schools, which anyone can register for online at toddsones.com, range in price from $295 t0 $495, and I can tell you that there are rarely any open spots come class time. They always fill up very quickly!
The Scoring Zone centers around four short game shots from 85-yards out to the edge of the green for the “average handicap player.” These shots are: the mini-wedge, the pinch shot or low trap, the high slider, and bunker play. Allow me to translate. In other words: approach shots, chip shots, pitch shots, and bunker shots. But those terms don’t sell golf instruction books anymore.
Todd is also big on the concept of “standing to the handle.” I would say it’s the core tenet of his short game principles. He says you can use the club to “guide you into an ideal setup position — one that gets the club in the right position to make good contact with the ball and the ground while also keeping your spine in a neutral position.” Here’s how Todd describes the process later in the book:
“The butt of the club should be pointing up right between your arms into the middle of your chest — just barely forward of the buttons on your shirt — when the club is soled on the ground. From a neutral, center, ball position, the club will then be the guide you need to set the face aimed at your target, your feet set in relation to the clubhead, your shoulders level, and your chest and spine neutral and in-line with what you’ve established with the club.”
Stand to the Handle (STH) is the one concept Todd hopes his readers take away from this book. For a pinch (chip) shot, the handle leans slightly towards the target to de-loft the club and to get the ball to come out low and running. For a high slider or bunker shot, the handle is vertical or leaning slightly away from the target to add loft and encourage a higher-trajectory shot. In either case, you set your body so that the handle is pointing at the center of your sternum. That sets the ball position almost automatically. Here’s Todd demonstrating Stand to the Handle:
There are two ideas in this book that I really like. The first is Todd’s suggestion to take your grip with your club out in front of you, your arms extended to about waist height, and the clubhead off the ground. “With your grip centered in front of you,” says Todd, “you should be able to look down and see the V’s created by your thumbs and index fingers pointing at your right shoulder.” I love this idea because it also helps you see two knuckles on your left hand (for a right-handed golfer), which is a neutral grip.
Todd adds that, “By setting your grip this way, you’re preserving the natural up-and-down lever in your wrists so that they work the way they should on the various short game shots.” The lead wrist should hinge up-and-down in the same motion you would use if you were hammering a nail.
The second thing I like is a drill called The Stork Drill. It’s the best drill in the book by far, and it helps a player to lead the downswing with the clubhead while finishing on the lead leg. It works for any of The Scoring Zone shots in the book including the bunker explosion. “With your feet close together,” says Todd, “pull your right foot back so that the ball of your right foot is in line with your left arch. Go up on your right toe, stand to the handle, and make some practice swings.” Your weight needs to stay centered during the swing for this stance to work, but you even use it to hit real shots under pressure. Martin Hall recently referred to the drill on his Golf Channel show “School of Golf:”
I don’t begrudge anyone for wanting to write or publish a golf instruction book. In fact, I applaud the effort. It’s a heck of a lot of work! But if you’re going to do it, do it right. Who was editing this thing anyway? The book had missing letters and words, contained extra spaces and misplaced commas, and even typos. That’s one of the reasons why I have my wife edit my blog posts before they go live. Poor editing is one of my pet peeves, and I think it detracts from the overall work.
Aside from Hank Haney, Todd is probably the most prolific golf instructor I have ever seen. As a Golf Channel Academy Lead Instructor, he’s constantly making appearances on those airwaves, and I get email updates from his web site several times per month. Keep em’ coming Todd!
A companion edition to this book, Putting In the Zone, is scheduled to come out next year.
Next On the Shelf
The Anatomy of Greatness by Brandel Chamblee. Chamblee is a former PGA Tour professional but is probably most famous for being Golf Channel’s most widely controversial analyst. In his first book, “one of the most respected and outspoken personalities in golf explores the common swing positions of the greatest players throughout history.” Oh boy. I can’t wait!
Add to cart!!