PGA Level 3 Seminar: Day 4

It’s the 2nd to last day of Level 3. I think guys tend to like these days the most (I know I do – they tend to be my longest blog posts of the week) because you get to leave the classroom and head outside where it’s more hands-on. The wrinkle today is that there’s rain in the forecast… at some point. So Rafael Floriani (PGA) and Eric Hogge (PGA) switched things up. Instead of waiting until this afternoon to head outdoors, they took us out first thing.

After breaking into two groups, we shuttled over to the practice putting green at the PGA Center for Golf Learning. Eric told us that on average, 40% of the shots during a round of golf are putts (a stat I had also heard while attending the Golf Academy) and that 25% are less than full swings. Do the math. That means that almost two-thirds of all the shots in a round of golf are less than full swings!

Yet how many of us as Golf Professionals do a proportionate number of short game or even putting lessons? No doubt, we should be giving more. There’s a reason why most of the pros are milling around the short game area and practice putting green at tournaments. It’s the opposite at most country club driving ranges or public facilities.

And if most people aren’t learning how to putt, they’re certainly not getting properly fitted for their putters. Only 5% of the golfing population has ever been fitted for a putter. A putter is 35″ long because club manufacturers designed it that length so it wouldn’t fall below the mouth of the golf ball. “So we’re fitting putters… to the golf bag,” said Eric sarcastically. “Good call!”

Whereas about 83% of a ball’s initial starting direction is based on the face angle at impact in the full swing, that percentage jumps to a whopping 92% in putting. If you want to teach a golfer to putt it straighter, you have to fix the face angle first! Eric showed us a great drill. Pull out a credit card and have your student line-up to the hole from about ten feet away so that they’re aimed right at the hole. Then remove the ball and slide the credit card up against the putter face. Have your student step away and look at where they’re aimed, and I think you’ll both be surprised. If their aim is true or at least their pattern is consistent, then at least you’ll know that you have to focus on putting as opposed to pre-swing mechanics.

If distance control is a problem, Eric taught us that it’s a good rule of thumb to check tempo first. Distance is controlled by length of backswing and tempo. A great idea is to download a metronome app onto your smart phone or mobile device and get your student’s putting stroke to match the beat of the metronome. A great way to set it is to have your student walk around while listening to the tempo of the metronome until they find the tempo that’s comfortable for them. “Before there were metronomes, we used songs,” Eric told us. His favorite? California Dreamin by The Mamas & the Papas.

Once you get tempo dialed in, it’s time to address the length of the putting stroke itself. The average length on Tour is two putter heads back and three units through, but Eric encouraged us no to try to cram all of our students into the same mold. “Explain the parameters,” he told us, “and they’ll almost teach themselves.” It will also force the student to take more ownership of the process and eventually become more independent. Great session!

The second half of the morning was devoted to teaching a group lesson for advanced students over by the short game area. The topic: pitching. I was the one who stupidly volunteered, thinking it would be a one-and-done situation. I was wrong. After getting some constructive criticism from my classmates, Rafael told me to get right back up there and lead a second lesson, which I was not expecting.

I ended up doing two lessons back-to-back, but at least I got to incorporate the suggestions that were made, and I thought I did a much better job of controlling the golf ball distribution and soliciting feedback the second time around than I did the first. We sweated our butts off!

The afternoon was almost entirely devoted to the mental game, swing changes, improving teaching, physical performance, and eventually club fitting. There’s a tremendous opportunity out there for fitting putters and wedges specifically but also for fitting entire sets as a whole. We got to do a hands-on fitting on one of our fellow students. We started by fitting for length while looking for centeredness of contact by spraying Odor Eaters on the face of a 7-iron.

Once our student starting hitting it in the middle of the face, we moved on to shot shape and lie angle. Ideally, you want the ball to hit the center of the face and the middle of the lie tape on the sole of the club. At the end of our time, Eric assured us that it wasn’t all that complicated. As PGA Professionals, we do more than just teach, we also fit, usually at the same time. It’s difficult to separate the two. As teachers, we also have the opportunity to fit players for who are they are today or for the players we want them to be.

Blogger’s Notes:
In Level 3, there are a lot fewer slides and there’s a lot less work to do in the Level 3 Work Experience Portfolio. There is certainly less work to do than in Level 2 and a lot less work than Level 1. I’ve done about as much work as I can, honestly. The rest is going to have to wait until I can get back home and interview various department heads.

On the 3rd day of the week, every student is presented with a copy of Golf Club Fitting & Performance by Ralph Maltby. It’s a real behemoth at 744 pages, and lucky me, it just so happens it’s my second copy. I got one while attending the Golf Academy a couple years ago. So, funny story. I rode up to the 3rd floor with a woman on the hotel housekeeping staff Wednesday after class who saw me carrying it back to my room.

She snickered and told me that students leave it behind (in their rooms) at the end of Level 3 Seminars all the time. “We have a ton of those books in lost-and-found,” she told me. When you get the book, you’ll understand why so many copies get left behind. Mine’s going straight into my suitcase. I’ll be surprised if you crack it open all week long.

When my roommate Gally was telling me had a nearly seven-hour layover at Palm Beach International Airport on Friday, I felt sorry for him. Then I was looking back over my flytinerary, and it turns out that I have the exact same layover! Tomorrow’s Seminar ends at noon, the shuttle leaves and 1:00p, and from about 1:45p until 7:05p I’m stuck in the airport. Damn. At least when we signed-in this morning, we got to choose a boxed lunch for us to take on the road with us when we leave tomorrow.

Two other notes to pass along here. I didn’t need three Seminar levels to make this judgement, but after being here that many times, I can say with a great deal of certainty that the internet service within the ballrooms here at the PGA Education Center is not up to par. I don’t plan on being back here for awhile, but you never know. It’s 2018. How can there still be spotty internet service? Please fix this for future generations of PGA students! The inexpensive technology to do so exists.

The other thing is, when it’s time for lunch, get your trough on! I showed up to lunch about 15 minutes late today to find the buffet completely picked-over. There was almost nothing left, and there was no attempt by Sam Sneads’ staffers to get any additional food. I’m just warning you not to lag too far behind when it’s chow time. Get in line if you want to get fed. On a more positive note, the freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies are delicious! No arguments there.

Preview of Day 5: Final Experience (8:00a-12:00p)
I have already heard several of my classmates talking about how they’re going to have to go back to the hotel tonight and grind just to finish their Final Experience presentations. Ours is already done, and we’re presenting first tomorrow morning. I feel good about it. Like I said, treat this week like a business trip, and the whole thing will be a rather enjoyable experience.