Honest self analysis is one of the greatest talents we can have. If you are that kind of person naturally, you have a wonderful chance of success. Unfortunately, most people are inclined to hide from their weaknesses to supply quick rationalizations. That attitude is dangerous in this endeavor. If you are an honest judge of your talents you will naturally develop the habit of exploring your game for weaknesses and setting about eliminating them.

Golfers who achieve the highest levels of success don’t search for easy. Hard work helps build character, a necessary component for gaining a level of consistency. Mental ups and downs only impair our vision and our ability to play the next shot.”

I feel like an instructor must give years of quality lessons, 10,000 would be a good starting point, with an interest in improving every day, before they can truly know what it means to be a professional golf instructor. Only after this apprenticeship can they understand human nature and the different types of learners. If experienced, they can detect the subtle as well as the obvious and feel or see the result before the student swings the club.

A true teacher has made a decision to teach a method rather than doctor with band-aids. Most solid methods are based on the equipment of the day, but the golden rules of swinging the club and ball striking have never varied. Experience gives us many ways of saying the same thing. It has always been interesting to me that you might say something to your 8 A.M. lesson and it is the greatest thing they have ever heard. Then, you might repeat the very same thing to your next lesson and they might have no idea what you are talking about.

Most instructors are sticklers for some things. Hogan was adamant about swing plane, yet in his book, Five Lessons, he barely spoke about ball position (a hot topic with most accomplished golfers). Nicklaus and Bobby Jones have spoken about the importance of good footwork. Any good instructor sees posture as an important beginning to a balanced, powerful swing. After years of teaching you understand that mechanics are surely important, but swing feel is what the greatest golfers use to produce great shots. It is helpful to understand that feel is, many times, different than what is actual. I don’t like to hear instructors get wrapped in pictures of stagnant positions and refute what someone is relating about the golf swing. That player is giving the student what they FEEL, which is what they will ultimately use.

Weight shift is a good example. Golfers of the highest level know your weight barely shifts, if at all, during the golf swing. It might move slightly from one side of the ball to the other, in the direction you are swinging the club. It is a matter of inches. It is important to understand that it FEELS like it is moving from one foot to the other as we turn our body. I believe that golfers of a higher level are advised to understand how our weight moves from heel to toe (in the form of balance) during the swing and how this affects the path of the club and our ability to keep the sweet spot on the ball. Most great golfers commit to keeping their shoulders square over their toes and then swinging for path. They must be able to control how their weight moves from within a stationary stance or they cannot maintain their swing path. In this book, when I refer to weight shift, I am talking about what it FEELS like.

The beginner, on the other hand, would likely be halted in their progress by telling them there is no weight shift in the golf swing. Your weight is definitely more onto your left foot at the finish than it was at address, because your whole body has ,by then, rotated over it. The student is helped by showing them that the rotation of the body (hips from the outset of the downswing) is the motor of the swing and weight moves toward the target as a result.

After awhile you instinctively weigh the advice you are giving against the results of the advice from over the years. No one should question where you are going with a student until they know where you have been with that person.  I am offended with the backbiting that has become more prevalent within the teaching fraternity. You detect it within the bold statements made by some, who act as if you disagree with what they assert that you are foolish or out dated. Nothing shows a lack of experience or class more than this tactic. The high level golf gurus, as the magazines portray them, have gotten there not with smoke and mirrors, but from years refining their knowledge on the practice tee. The ultimate teaching credentials are earned on the lesson tee, not in the pro shop or at seminars. The pro who can’t demonstrate or never teaches loses touch with the heart of the game.

I enjoy reading about the instructors like Claude Harmon or Harvey Penick, who gained their reputation through humble service to players of all levels. I could listen to Bobby Jones teach all day. People like Chuck Cook and Bob Toski have inspired me to teach full time and make it a life’s work. I have great respect for anyone who has taught for a long period of time, as I know they have been willing to bare their soul to their students.

I believe it is my job as a teacher to commit to the goals of my student. From the beginning I try to let them know that, if they are willing to work hard and listen, I will go to the ends of the earth to help them.

Many times they are discouraged when they first come to see me so I try to show enthusiasm and confidence in their goals. If I bail out on them, then what do they have?

I believe you must show your students kindness and respect. Part of respecting them is to be honest. This can be conveyed in a patient manner and in a light hearted tone. The lesson should be fun and interesting or you probably won’t see them again.

I try to adopt their swing and to ask myself, “what would I do to make this swing better?” The question is, “how easy is it to do what they do?” If they physically can’t make the moves that the best golfers make on T.V., then why pursue it? One size doesn’t fit all. You build someone’s method based upon their physical capabilities. I teach powerful ball flight patterns rather than beautiful golf swings. A beautiful golf swing is one that produces dependable golf shots.

I believe you should let your student perform. It is helpful to run a video camera and show them what they look like. That way the picture in their mind will be accurate. Then you can give them a diagnosis. A good teacher understands that you must say the right thing, at the right time, and in the right way, to help a student. Then, what you said to the last student might not be what the next student needs to hear. The ability to give your teaching philosophy, in many different ways, shows your experience and makes you valuable to a greater number of students.

I like to “teach past a problem.”  Rather than standing there, lesson after lesson, and work on the perceived problem,  I enjoy strengthening “around” the weakness. By teaching the student other aspects of their method and doing the necessary drills, they will gradually develop a stronger swing and the knowledge to make the old flaws a thing of the past.

If you can make your students “smarter,” so that they know too much about their method to let themselves make a certain mistake, then they are on the right path.

On some level you must let your students agonize and fail. Some students get addicted to having someone standing there for every ball they hit. At some point you must learn to sort things out for yourself so that, when on the course, you will be able to make the decisions that give you the ability to bail out a bad round.

The first time you begin poorly in a round, figure out the problem, and finish strongly, you have empowered yourself for many good rounds in the future. You’ll never remain truly calm on a golf course until you have lived through every bad thing that can happen during the round and dealt with it with patience and grace.

You know you are talking to an inexperienced tournament golfer when they feel compelled to tell you every hole of their round, every trial and tribulation, as if their pain was unique. One day they realize that everyone on the course suffered that day, just some dealt with it better than others.

What is the “Secret to the Game”? Search for and emulate the things that all good players do in their method and then match it with your physical capabilities and instincts.

My goals are to be able to teach golfers of all levels for years to come, and to teach instructors how to bring the game to those who hunger for the knowledge and are driven by their love of the game. I truly love my students and live through their successes. I also see the good in their failures, as this only strengthens them for the future. No step can be skipped. You don’t have to be friends with every person you teach, but it is certainly my goal. I believe you can be a scratch golfer and if I can get you to believe it and to go about your business with that purpose in mind, the sky is definitely the limit.

While on the subject of discipline and what I like to see. I like the “gym rat” student who enjoys hard work. I don’t like to see anger or tantrums or sense of entitlement. I ask my younger students to see the big picture. I ask them not to make anyone or anything “suffer them.” By this I mean they must respect the game, their parents, their playing partners, the course,  and  the equipment they use (but probably didn’t pay for). Most of my younger students are influenced by other players they see. They all have the alignment sticks, the cell phones, and best golf equipment parents can buy. I just ask them to be respectful of the opportunity they have been given and it will blossom into many wonderful things. Certainly I would like to see them be a scratch golfer, and they will achieve that goal.  I am most proud when they are respected for their conduct, earn scholarships, graduate from college, become responsible, hard working adults and are great parents.

Again, it all comes back to the discipline you show in your preparation. Knowing that the things you are working on are valid keeps you from wasting valuable time and effort. Eventually you will know fully what you do in your method and why you do it. That empowers you to play with confidence. This level headed approach allows you to build your recognition abilities, or how to see “the big picture.”

Swing Feel

If you have ever seen your swing on video you might have been surprised by what you saw. That should tell you that your swing feels different than it looks. No one sets out to make a poor swing, it just happens.

Through my own experimentation I can tell you that you can video ten swings thinking about one thing and then ten swings thinking about something else. The first ten feel different than the next ten but on the video all twenty look the same.

Our swing is a combination of feel and mechanics and where your mind lies. Thinking about the right thing over the ball is crucial to performing well.

There is a difference between having a bad swing and making a bad swing. You can have a mechanically correct golf swing and still perform it poorly. Many times pressure makes this happen. If your swing is good you must trust your instincts to the end and let your swing flow.

On the other hand, if you have a bad swing you are forced to make your results happen. Nothing comes naturally. This player must then commit to making changes in his method.
Momentum

The terms rhythm and tempo have been used to describe the smooth movement of the golf swing. I believe that they fall short of describing exactly what we want to feel in the swing. These terms, to me, imply a constant speed in the swing. If this speed matches the body type and manner of this player then they should perform reasonably well. However, if this constant speed is too fast or too slow to match that players personality or physical capabilities then there will be problems.

I encourage my students to try to feel momentum in every swing they make. To me, momentum says that the swing will begin in a relaxed manner and gradually increase in speed.

Once a player achieves this feeling there is no rush at any point of their swing. They show a patience in allowing their force to build. As I have mentioned before, if you are swinging something heavy you will not be able to do anything to swing it except let the momentum build. That is why you see the best players swinging weight clubs.

Soon you will be swinging hard without fighting the club. This helps us to de-emphasize the ball and accelerate through impact.

Release

This term release is hotly debated throughout the teaching community as to exactly how to correctly rotate the club through the ball.

Some feel that it is a conscious movement of the hands. I believe this feeling comes from pre-swing mechanics that force a conscious strike at the ball. In other words, if the ball position is constantly changing then you must manipulate the club to get it to square at the right time. If your grip is weak you will have to use your hands to find square and won’t be able to trust the swing of the body to square the club.

The problem is, if you are working your hands through the ball, even if the clubface is square when it strikes the ball, the face will be turning too quickly to keep it square. The result of this timing move will be vicious side spin on the ball and inconsistent divots.

There are two kinds of release. We’ll call them the “high road” and the “low road.” If you right hand grip is weak, you must take the “high road”, which means your right shoulder will be in a high position and move toward the target above your heart. Your focus will be on covering over the shaft with your upper body. It will be a “palm down” feeling in your right hand. Many players who try to use an aggressive move with their lower body, but still grip the club in a weak manner, are forced to take “ the high road” to catch up with the lagging clubface. This can be problematic as it is hard to drive the ball well out of this release. This is because it is hard to keep the clubhead level and sweep the ball off of the tee.

The “low road” is preferred because your right shoulder moves in the same path as the club and goes around the arc, under your heart, and through  the ball. Your right hand grip is stronger and behind the club. Your right arm is turned under and supports the shaft. This is ideal for the shallow path of the club that works well with shots off of the ground and on the tee. From behind you can see this player keep his spine angle (leaned toward the ball) constant while the “high road” player must rise out of their posture to help the right shoulder cover over the ball. These players correctly allow the club to release, rather than force it.

The reason most accomplished players use a strong grip is so that they can turn their body at top speed and still get the clubface to square . By taking the “low road” they correctly influence the path of the club while “staying under” the ball.

Many times, by not turning your chest fully in each direction, a person forces himself to work his hands to make the circular arc of the swing. Again, this is a timing move.

I believe that release naturally runs its course as a part of a correctly swung golf club. If you haven’t snatched the club away from the ball to start your swing and haven’t thrown the club to begin the downswing, then there is no reason to fear what the club does as it goes through the ball.

A correct release is the result of good mechanics and a patient, relaxed swing.

Extension

Extension or width within our swing refers to the size of the circle created by the swinging golf club. You want the circle to be the same size on both sides of your body.

Extension in your backswing is created in part by your turning shoulders. As they rotate the arms remain extended until the right elbow starts to bend. Your right elbow is the first hinge, not your wrist. If your wrist breaks at the beginning of the backswing the club will be too close to you or your circle will be collapsed on the right side. The club then will have little chance to find the ball naturally on the downswing.

You are waiting for the swinging of the club to bend your elbow and then cock your wrists at the top.

The length of your backswing is measured by how far your left shoulder moves.

Extension on the downswing is vital to creating a path that spends a long time on the target line.

As the club approaches waist high on the downswing the player has a decision to make. Do I stop the turning of my shoulders and push the club at the ball? Or do I continue to turn my chest and body and let the club collect the ball as it proceeds to the finish?

When throwing the club at the ball, the handle generally stops and rotates behind the ball, which doesn’t allow much extension for the clubhead. If you continue to turn your chest the handle continues with your arms extended through the ball and the clubhead travels much farther out the target line.

The term staying under the ball, used by the best players, is a feeling that the right shoulder and the right side of the chest goes down and under our chin. This is instead of the right shoulder rising and stopping in a “fake release”. Staying under the ball feels much the same as letting go of a bowling ball along the lane. Getting “over” the ball feels like throwing a ball straight down at the ground.

Most good players would tell you that shotmaking is determined by the first foot the club travels past the ball. The ability to continue out the path and keep the face stable while it touches the ball is the key to accuracy.

Golfers with a correct grip (slightly strong) learn extension better because they feel both arms and the club must move together to keep the face square. They learn to swing the WHOLE club, from handle to clubhead, through the ball.

Those with a weak grip force a collapse in the handle and left arm to get the face square. The farther they extend the harder it is to get the face to square.

As I earlier stated, there are many more good players who play with a strong grip than play with a weak grip. Regardless, good players know their impact position and match their body swing with it.

Shifting Weight Into The Ball

I believe that the way your weight shifts is vital to leading the club into the ball on the correct path. Many players shift their weight away from the ball, pulling out of the downswing to the left. They end up on the side of their left shoe with their body facing well left of the target. This picture illustrates a common swing flaw in players of all levels. No matter what your arm swing is like, the movements of our trunk should follow a controlled path leading our arms and shaft down the line and through the ball.

A glancing blow is likely. Generally this is due to aiming right of their target and having to shift their weight to the left to find the target.

If the student is correctly aligned, I teach them to shift their weight toward the ball. That way they strike the ball with their weight still moving in that direction. This is definitely the most powerful move they can make, much like stepping into a baseball. The most forceful move we can make is to move into something. You must finish your swing facing the target. Watch a good player from behind (down the line to the target). Ask yourself where it looks like they are going to hit the ball. Then, after they have swung the club, see if they still look like they are going the same direction. Many times they will now look as if they were swinging to the left of where they originally intended. Their backswing and downswing do not match, in terms of body (trunk) swing.

Your weight shift should lead the path of the club. I ask my students to picture the big ball rotating into the little ball. The big ball, as you look down at address, is your torso or your chest. The little ball is the golf ball. Done correctly you will impart the most relentless path and strike through the ball. Release and extension are greatly influenced by the direction your weight is shifting as the club comes through the ball. Your weight shifts only to where the divot starts. I believe many players would benefit from defining their weightshift, rather than moving over their left foot in some undisciplined manner

I tell my students that they are shifting their weight to the drawpoint. By this I mean that I want them to feel as if they are influencing the takeoff of the ball with the movement of their weight. If they know the ball should start slightly to the right of the target, then their body should be facing that direction at the end of the swing. I don’t agree with players rotating to a point far left of the target. I don’t see how the club can release consistently unless the rotation of our body is controlled and oriented in the direction we want to see the ball take off.

Make sure that your left big toe is on the ground at impact and after. If it is in the air your weight is likely shifting sideways.

If your spine (or the buttons on your shirt) are tilted to the right of the ball as you look down you are much more likely to move into the ball. If your spine or the buttons on your shirt face to the left of the ball your shoulders are facing to the left and your weight will undoubtedly move away from the ball.

Wrist Cock

I believe wrist cock is something that we allow to happen instead of consciously making it happen. It is helpful to know that your wrists cock at the end of the backswing and uncock at the end of the downswing. It is simply a function of a correctly swung golf club.

The feeling you want in your backswing  is that your arms are raising until the club lays over at the top and cocks your wrists.

On the downswing your arms are under the club and falling heavily to the  all. You never put pressure on the shaft to move the club to the ball. Putting pressure on the shaft feels like pressing down on the top of a table with the palm of your right hand.

Instead of leaning on the shaft we should be supporting the shaft. We want to feel like our right palm is facing the sky all of the time in our backswing. Think of holding a plate of food with your hand under the plate. That plate of food should stay right side up all of the way through the backswing and downswing, instead of throwing the plate of food to the floor as you approach the ball.

To make a conscious attempt to uncock our wrists on the downswing will definitely bring inconsistency in our release of the club. In the next section we will discuss some ball striking topics that will arise during your development and pursuit of ball striking excellence.

We have become familiar with those golfers we see on TV or in person, those we read about, and those we hear about. With in any group of performers there are those who stand above the rest. They are the DRIVEN FOURSOME: Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tiger Woods.

Ben Hogan

No one has ever filled the job description of the Driven Golfer better than Ben Hogan. Nicklaus credited him with being “the best technician and with the most control of the golf swing and the golf ball.” What is our purpose when we put a golf club in our hands anyway? It is interesting that, despite the many accolades given Hogan by his peers,  he felt like, when speaking of good shots, there was only “one or two per round,  seldom more, which come off exactly as, intend they should.”

Wanting to build a swing that would hold up under pressure, Hogan was legendary for his work on the practice tee., think the term “1000 balls a day” came about with Hogan in mind. When you read of his colleagues speaking of the crack or sizzle of a Hogan iron shot, or how they would gather to watch him work, you know he has left a lasting impression on anyone who was fortunate enough to be around him.
Another aspect of Hogan’s drive was his pursuit of his method.

Where he ended up as a ball striker was the result of struggling with a hook. The violent sidespin characteristic of a hook was unacceptable to someone with the makeup of Hogan. His understanding of the golf swing came about after “having devoted the bulk of my waking hours (and a few of my sleeping hours) for a quarter of a century to the pursuit of the answer.” Forgive him for having little patience for someone looking for the quick fix or a shortcut to greatness.

Think of what hitting 1000 balls means. You would have to hit 75 balls, (a medium bucket at most ranges), with every club in your bag. Then you must do it every day., doubt if most people could do it for a day or a week. Hogan spent years doing it. He loved doing it. He said, “I wanted to make the game my lifework.” Like those who go to the gym every day, Hogan hated to miss a day of practicing, feeling like it was taking a step backward.

Another characteristic of Ben Hogan was his demeanor while playing. Called “the Hawk”, his intense stare and lack of discussion with playing partners, were the window to his soul. He was consumed with the task at hand and single minded in its completion. You can realize the weight of a Hogan remark when you read a young Nicklaus reflect with pride on the simple statement of “good shot” given him by Hogan in the 1960 U. S. Open. Someone who dealt so sharply with his own ball striking certainly would not be given to flowery accolades and false flattery. This type of workmanlike attitude draws the highest level of honest respect from those who play golf and become champions. At this level a nod of approval from the right person is something that may never be forgotten and cherished forever.
If work ethic, technical excellence, and intense concentration were not enough, Ben Hogan showed his driven nature the most by surviving a horrible, head on, car wreck. Injured to the point where many felt he wouldn’t survive, he recuperated to the point of playing some of the finest golf of his career. To know that he played many of those rounds (36 hole final rounds) in pain and on wobbly legs, is the greatest testament to this man.
When you read of Hogan being “absorbed by the spirit of the game,” you start to understand the commitment of the Driven Golfer. Hogan wrote, “I couldn’t wait for the sun to come up the next morning so that, could get out on the course again.” It is this thought you must have to join this wonderful fraternity, a group proud to be led,, believe, by Ben Hogan.

Jack Nicklaus

The greatest test an accomplished golfer faces is that of a major championship. It will be played on courses set up with the most difficult layout and with fields of all the best players. It is the truest test of shotmaking ability, course management, and pressure.

To date, no one has won more events of this type than Jack Nicklaus. Although some of the reasons are obvious, the things that make Nicklaus part of the driven foursome are not as easily detected.
The type of golf shot that works best on hard, fast, greens is one that flies high and lands softly. Jack Nicklaus immediately comes to mind as the best at this type of shot. He could play that type of shot with any club in his bag. Because of his upright swing, a standard ball position played forward in his stance, and his trademark steady head, Nicklaus stayed behind and “under” the ball better than anyone. The ability to land high shots from anywhere upwards of 250 yards was unique to the era he played in.

A method is only as good as the athlete using it and Nicklaus was physically dominant. With a powerful frame supported on huge legs, he was able to generate tremendous clubhead speed through the ball. He was able to play out of the rough with success while many others just pitched out onto the fairway. His upright swing was ideal in keeping a minimum of grass between clubface and ball., believe it is important to fit the method with the physical capabilities of the player and Nicklaus is the greatest example of this.

While power golf is a Nicklaus trademark, pressure putting won him the majority of his tournaments. He was the best at making the putt to keep the round going or to seal the deal in the face of someone, s comeback. Nicklaus embraced putting and looked forward to the challenge it presented. At that time no one had a more complete package of power, shot shape, and putting prowess. The ability to hit long, accurate shots that landed softly, and then deftly roll putts to complete the hole, made championship golf something that suited Jack Nicklaus perfectly.

Again, while his abilities were obvious, the thing that makes him a member of the driven foursome comes from within. What is unique to Jack Nicklaus was his attitude while in the heat of pressure. Certainly many of us benefited from the things taught in his book, Golf My Way, but, feel like a real treasure is his book from early in his career called The Greatest Game Of  All. This is Jack Nicklaus in the prime of his career, revealing himself as a championship golfer and an honest person.

In some sports success is thrust upon a participant as part of a team. In golf, at the highest level, you must pursue success and respond well to pressure and challenge. Accepting that nervousness was a good and necessary thing allowed Nicklaus to be able to step outside of a situation and have the presence of mind to give good counsel. He wrote, “You’re doing something you enjoy, so enjoy it.” Many golfers dread the coming round, but Nicklaus met it with an acceptance and confidence. He knew he had prepared well, could play the required shots, and had paced off the yardages.

A common Nicklaus statement was, “I enjoy competing against fine holes and players.” He enjoyed a “course that tests your ability to play a variety of correct, intelligent, and subtle golf shots.” This welcoming attitude allowed him to focus on the task at hand, which was to use fewer strokes than anyone else in the tournament.

Nicklaus was also aware of the dangers of “ifs and buts” that many fall into. He stated, “What didn’t take place didn’t take place, and that’s the end of it.”Nothing keeps us in the present better than to dismiss the past with honesty”, an invaluable lesson all golfers are bettered by learning.

Jack Nicklaus reveals himself again as a driven golfer when he states, “scarcely a day goes by when, do not find myself thinking about the golf swing.” He distinguishes himself among his peers by his ability to look around, see clearly what is going on, choose to embrace the challenge, and then make a decision to be successful. His competitors knew that: if Jack Nicklaus put his mind to playing a round of golf, few could approach, if only for a short time, the level he lived comfortably at.

Gary Player

When thinking of the driven foursome, Gary Player came to mind as quickly as anyone else. A gentleman, first and foremost, Player is as driven in every area of his life as he is in golf.

It is always interesting to me to think of where someone has come from to get where he is now. Being from South Africa, Player has traveled more miles than any golfer in history. Along the way he has amassed more world wide victories than any other professional golfer. During the course of this journey he has acted as the finest ambassador South Africa could have. It is quite an obligation to have a nation depending on you to bring respect and legitimacy to them and have them living through your successes.

Known as the “man in black” for his habit of wearing black, Player is a fierce competitor. He has the unique ability to channel his inner fire into something that produces positive results. Most golfers melt down under the heat of their internal battle.

Player had a Hogan like stature and his swing, in some ways, resembled Hogan’s. He was known to hit the ball very straight and during the course of his career on tour won all four majors. He also practiced for long hours to achieve the level of excellence he is still known for today.

Driven in so many ways, Gary Player will leave lasting legacies in not only travel and world victories, but in fitness and bunker play.

Player was the first to speak out about the necessity to work daily on physical and mental conditioning. His sit-up regimen is legendary. When, hear of the golfers of today going to the fitness trailer or using their personal trainers, I think he gets the nod as being their leader. His longevity in the sport, as he still plays to a very high level, is without doubt a product of his personal attention to his physical fitness.

Gary Player is regarded by most as the finest bunker player ever. His understanding of the wedge, and how to get the desired result, has no doubt saved him many a round. You are under much less pressure while standing out in the fairway if you have no fear of the bunker fronting the pin. Most people don’t ever go in the practice trap to understand sand and certainly not to master it as Player has.

Another Player passion is breeding horses. He is certainly someone who treats all things with respect and would understand all of the things necessary to bring about horse racing excellence. It is interesting to me to see the look of pleasure when he is around or speaks of horses. He radiates the best of life and his role as an ambassador to many things fits him perfectly.

Gary Player is best understood when he speaks of family. Whether it is his wife of many years or his parents, he again speaks, with voice cracking with honest emotion, of love of life and those things he is grateful of.
I was once at a Senior tour event and watched as Gary Player walked up onto a tee. As he walked up the center of the tee, from the front to the back where the tee blocks were, he politely acknowledged the growing cheers from those few people who were (lucky enough to be) there. When the fairway cleared he calmly striped his drive down the middle, picked up the tee and gave it to a little boy who was there with his dad. Then he walked off into the distance., thought to myself, “how many miles must he have come, so that, could witness that tee shot?”, also realized that he was the only pro, in the two hours, had been standing there, who was given a hand not only because of his record as a golfer, but because of his stature as a person. He was applauded when he came on to the tee, when his ball went down the middle, and for sharing this time with the gallery as he walked off. All who were there benefited.

Tiger Woods

The final member of the driven foursome is, to no one’s surprise, Tiger Woods. No golfer has been chronicled, studied, and has lived with  expectation like Tiger Woods. Since being touted as a child prodigy at a very early age, golf has been waiting for Tiger Woods to fulfill his promise.

Like Jack Nicklaus, the physical attributes that allow him to play the shots he does are obvious. His powerful body supports a big, full arc that travels at an amazing speed. No golfer has ever been able to grab a championship course by the scruff of the neck and shake it senseless the way Tiger Woods can.

The ability to hit the ball very high and far, combined with today’s technology, has changed the game. Woods is the most talented golfing package, all around, that we have ever seen.

While making use of his power, Woods also has shown an imagination for shot shapes and a flare for the timely, dramatic and crucial shot.

His mental fitness and will to win are things instilled from his early days and have brought about a driven nature with a single goal of success and victory.

In keeping with his nature, Woods is known for his practicing long hours and on every type of shot. A student of the game, as are all truly driven golfers, he has cultivated an imagination to rival his shotmaking skills. The result of this is a fantastic short game.

Tiger Woods will go down in history as the greatest in several aspects of the game, but the most valuable is putting. He is the best overall putter, (short, long, slow, fast, incredibly breaking), the game has seen. As Jack Nicklaus has said, great putters simply make the putts you must make to win a tournament.

Today’s golfers are as fit, on the whole, as any group of tour pros ever. As is true with most other aspects, Tiger Woods is a leader in that trend. He has pushed the bar to the point that anyone hoping to compete with him must adopt a regimen that is probably out of their character. So then how long can they maintain it?

No other professional golfer, since Byron Nelson, has had the chance to bury most of the records associated with professional golf. Earnings and all-time victories with undoubtedly fall and major victories will probably be Woods’ record also.

At several points in this book, have spoken of “Peaks and Valleys” and the attitude we must have to overcome them. In this context, golf has been the example, but you must know that, believe the same for our lives and the way we conduct ourselves. No one enjoys the worst that life has to offer, whether self-inflicted or by accident. Ben Hogan overcame a situation many would have fallen to. Gary Player came many miles (literally and figuratively) to be the person we respect so deeply. Tiger Woods now faces adversity few have faced. He was once given a level of respect few have enjoyed. As a leader, we rested comfortably in where he was taking us and the generations to follow. As is most times true, though, giving the plaque of perfection to someone only sets us up for the harshest of reality.

It shows our good nature as a people, to want to honor someone so gifted and to give someone hero status. As we rise, along with them, in their successes, we then fall with them when adversity knocks on their door. We know these things happen but we would rather believe this person is different. Although we are never happy with the revelation and, for a time, reel in its brutal honesty, we eventually pick ourselves up, along with our fallen hero, and set about righting the ship.

It has been said that, “many times we find our destiny on a path we would have taken to avoid it.”, believe Tiger Woods will rise from this valley, to a peak higher than he has ever been. When the story is over and looked back upon,, think it will be a valuable lesson we will have learned. We will have benefited, to a much greater level, because of the “humbling bump” in the road to greatness. We have many examples in the past, of the greater love we felt for a hero, once we got over our disgust for their human nature. This example will be no different. Isn’t Tiger Woods still our best bet to succeed at a difficult task?
He could be something of a Pied Piper in that respect. Many will follow his lead. In a time of “instant gratification and get rich quick schemes,” a sobering return to old-school success stories is sorely needed., have always enjoyed pointing to Tiger Woods as an example for my young students., now know that they will learn far more in fact, the lesson, hoped they would learn all along. In understanding his ups and downs and how he handled himself as a result, they will see a clear path to being the  Driven Golfer.

I hope we understand the chance that is before us. We get to witness a student of the game, perhaps as driven as anyone that has ever played golf professionally, with the heaviest dose of talent God has ever given. This is an old-school golfer fully equipped with everything modern. Tiger Woods is the reason many children have taken golf as their first love., believe this will flower, based upon those things that build character intrinsic to golf, into something that will have a lasting affect on our society and bring about an overall rebound in those things we consider the best of life.

Adding It All Up

When you study the driven foursome as a group, some things stand out as similarities and others are different.

POWER: Although Player and Hogan were not short hitters, Nicklaus then and Woods now are the standards for power golf that produces an advantage in major tournaments. It allows them to stop balls on hard greens, take on long carries to par 5′s, and dig balls out of the deep rough.

ACCURACY: Again, although Nicklaus and Woods have been accurate, Player and certainly Hogan are recognized as players who curved the ball very little and maneuvered around a golf course.

PUTTING: When the pressure is on, few people can remember Nicklaus missing a putt that mattered and the same can and will be said of Tiger Woods when it is allover. These two embrace putting with a zeal that allows them to rise above others in the field.

PRACTICE: Hogan is the gold standard for practicing, with Woods and Player following closely behind. Nicklaus practiced with a definite purpose and was willing to do what it took to make himself comfortable with his game.

IMAGINATION: Woods and Player would have to rank highest in this area due to their work with the wedge. Woods probably has more shots in his arsenal than anyone we have known.

FITNESS: Player is the leader in physical fitness and the model that Woods and others have benefited from.

BUILD: Woods is the tallest, with Nicklaus slightly under 6 feet tall, while Hogan and Player were shorter.

CLOTHING: Hogan wore simple grays and Player black. Nicklaus and Woods show more flare for trend and fashion., see this as a definite reflection of their on-course demeanor.

WORLD TRAVEL: Player, Nicklaus, and Woods have all traveled and attempted to bring the game to all parts of the world.

This short list gives a little bit of the differences between each great champion. The things common to all, that define them as driven golfers, begins with a competitive nature. Each has fully understood the obligation and based their life on the pursuit of golfing excellence.

Each has the respect of their peers for their level of concentration and mental fitness.

In building their method to withstand the pressures of championship golf, each has been willing to make changes over the course of their careers to bring about a higher level of understanding. Hogan made changes to eliminate a hook, Nicklaus flattened his swing over the course of his career to bring about a better ball flight, Woods has done the same to add more shots and control of a draw, and Player once changed his putting method from a jab to a stroke and had a series of victories that included a Masters.

This willingness to refine and constantly live for golf is the profile of the driven golfer. The most telling trait common to these four greats is their eyes. The way they fix on a target or another person reveals their heart and soul. This look common to them leaves no doubt as to what they are made of and what they are there for.

We also see it in their eyes when emotion spills over. We have seen Jack Nicklaus spend poignant moments accepting British Open trophies or hugging his son after winning the Masters. We have seen Tiger Woods weep in his fathers arms after winning his first Masters, or realizing that this major victory was the first since his fathers passing. Gary Player is certainly touching when he accepts induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame and credits his wife and parents for his successes.

And then there is Ben Hogan. He is the only player of this group, have never seen play golf in person., remember one Sunday afternoon, was home watching golf on T. V. My father didn’t play golf because he worked hard six days a week and Sunday was a day of rest. He held only a passing interest for golf because, was completely absorbed by it. On this day Ken Venturi was doing an interview with Ben Hogan. The lead-in spoke of how rarely Hogan ever opened up about his life. He began speaking of being poor and the opportunity it was to learn to deal with tough things. With as serious a look as you’ll ever witness, Ben Hogan shared, “I’ve had a tough day all my life.” , realized my dad had put his paper down and was listening. As Hogan talked about how close he had come to running out of money and how he “had” to make this thing (professional golf) work, you could see the emotion in his eyes. Then to be injured that badly in the car crash.

As the words fell from his lips, in the kind of dead honesty common to a man’s man and felt by those of like spirit,, realized my dad had raised his paper again, this time to hide his own tears. Overcoming adversity is what puts Hogan atop my list of driven golfers. He was giving us his “Secret”: the joy of the day by day pursuit, the appreciation of success after hard work, and willingness to do whatever it takes, no matter what obstacles are presented.

It is much more than swing feel and mechanics. The qualities from within are the well we must draw from if we hope to ever see those things hidden in plane view.

The accomplished player knows that they have stuck with it during this solitary pursuit of excellence. They have revealed things to themselves that no one could have predicted. They are up to the task. They now know that they were right all along, that they are strong, honest, have integrity, and are, in fact The Driven Golfer.”