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Stan Gets the “Feel”

By on May 8, 2013 in Articles: Lessons with Stan - Comments { 1 }

It’s been quite a while since my on and off student Stan has made his way over to Woodmont for a lesson, so I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed his name in my book for a couple hours last week. If you have read any of my articles recounting my various forays with Stan (Click here) you know that he is endlessly entertaining as he searches for any and every way to get better without having to do the work and practice that I always insist he needs. Stan really wants to believe that the game is “90% mental”, and that if he can just conquer his inner demons and focus on the target he could become the player [...]

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Things I Have Learned

By on Jan 19, 2013 in Articles: General Golf - Comments { 0 }

I started playing tournament golf when I was 12 years old. That would be in 1969, some 44 years ago. I got my first teaching job in 1984 (it was a summer camp for juniors), and my first job at a country club in 1986. That’s 27 years ago. There have been a lot of tournaments and a lot of lessons in that time, and as you can imagine I have picked up a few tidbits of wisdom along the way. Now, you might consider some of these ideas wise, and some of them foolish, but they are representative of what I have come to believe about golf and the search for improvement. The people I teach want to improve. [...]

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Wayne D. Meets The Sport Psychologist

By on Dec 22, 2012 in Articles: The Mental Game - Comments { 0 }

I would love to make hundreds of dollars an hour just talking to people about golf. I think my problem would be, and my wife could back me up on this, that I couldn’t fill up an hour with talk about how one is supposed to deal with the difficulties of the game, or, if I could last an hour, by the time the next confused soul regaled me with the same laments I would be pretty much fed up. She used to think it was a total lack of compassion, but now she just refers to it as “being Wayne”. My problem is that I can’t stand whining, or anything approaching whining. Golf is a game, albeit a quite [...]

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Why is it so Hard to Change?

By on Dec 12, 2012 in Articles: Becoming a Better Player - Comments { 0 }

If there is one thing that comes up most often in lessons I give to any level of player it concerns the difficulty in changing from an existing technique that is not providing satisfactory results to one that makes you a better player. This could include work on putting and all the facets involved with making putts (stroke mechanics, green reading ability, speed control, routine, mental approach), work on swing mechanics (how to hit every shot better and more consistently), short game technique (all types of pitches and chips, bunker play, shot selection, visualization), and a general approach to practice and playing that allows the player to raise the level of his or her game. Why is this so hard [...]

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On Going Out To Practice

By on Nov 28, 2012 in Articles: Becoming a Better Player - Comments { 0 }

So you’ve figured out your schedule for the day and what do you know, you have time to get out to the range for some practice. The first thing to do is to decide how to budget the time you have. There is no set way to divide up your practice time. You need to assess what has been going on with your golf game up to this moment and address what most needs to be addressed. If you are hitting the ball terribly, by all means plan on spending most of your time hitting balls. If your short game has recently been horrible, pick the shots you have been the worst at and spend some time with them. You [...]

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Myths and Misconceptions: How Conventional Wisdom Keeps You From Getting Better

By on Nov 20, 2012 in Articles: Becoming a Better Player - Comments { 0 }

In the course of a day’s teaching I always marvel at the utter uniqueness of each case I deal with. Each golfer that comes to me for help has an entirely different personality, physical makeup, personal history, level of athletic ability, and learning capability. Each hour I reboot the computer and start over with a fresh batch of swing flaws, which may start right with the grip and set-up, then proceed to takeaway problems, backswing problems, transition problems, downswing problems, and impact problems. The game is so difficult, and the technique so complex, that literally no one is without something in their swing, some movement or position, that they would like to improve. And while over the course of teaching [...]

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Stan… Still Struggling

By on Jul 15, 2010 in Articles: Lessons with Stan - Comments { 0 }

It’s been a few months since Stan, my longtime student, has graced my teaching bay. Stan is the epitome of the struggling golfer, taking lessons here and there, trying tips from magazines and television, falling victim to every infomercial promise.

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Golf’s Greatest Misconceptions

By on Jul 15, 2010 in Articles: Becoming a Better Player - Comments { 3 }

When people ask how it is that I can stand out on the practice tee and teach for eight or nine hours without getting bored, frustrated, or exhausted, I give them an answer that comes straight from the heart: teaching is interesting, challenging, and fascinating, and a full day of lessons simply flies by.

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Stan Struggles On

By on Jun 18, 2010 in Articles: Lessons with Stan - Comments { 0 }

If you have read my articles in the past you might remember Stan, my imaginary student. I know I’m doing well with Stan the character when I’m asked “Hey, Wayne, is that a real guy?” Or, “I think you’re writing about me again, aren’t you?” The truth is that Stan is kind of an “everyman”, or, as it were, an “every-student”, and I draw from my daily experiences on the lesson tee when I give Stan his voice.

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Massacre at Oak Hill

By on Jun 18, 2010 in Articles: Playing Tournament Golf - Comments { 2 }

It had been almost 5 years since I last played in a major championship, the 2003 PGA at Oak Hill in Rochester, NY, where I shot a first round 79 before withdrawing due to the death of my wife’s mother on that Thursday night. The course was the hardest I’d ever played: 6 to 8 inch rough everywhere on the course, narrow fairways, firm, fast greens, and over 7100 yards playing to a par of 70, the length an illusion as there are 3 par 4’s that play between 320 and 370 yards.

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