It's the Son of a Butch podcast. I'm your host, Claude Harmon solo episode of the pod this week. Before we get to that, our friends at cober Golf wanted to talk to you about the new Cobra three DP Tour irons, utilizing three D printing technology to unlock a new realm of performance. Printed from three to sixteen stainless steel, the three DP Tour delivers the shape and feel of a player's blade with the stability and forgiveness of a game improvement iron. The most forgiving blade on the market, this one of a kind iron combines tour level precision with ultimate consistency that aspirational golfers desire. Learn more about the breakthrough three DP Tour technology at cobragolf dot com. These went straight in my bag when I hit them. Love the look, but they're consistent and that mishit tour looking blade, but a lot of tech, a lot of forgiveness. You should go check them out. I put them straight in my bag. So I wanted to talk this week about something I was a part of over the weekend. I went down to my academy in Bank that Robins would really really proud of that facility, but the icons of football was there. It's a kind of a tournament between ex footballers, some of the legends of the game, Luis Figo, Rudhulitt, John Franco Zola, the longtime Chelsea captain, John Terry, Gabriel, a Batistusta, so people that have won World Cups, ballendors, Premierships, La Liga titles, big big footballers and it was a really cool event. Sergio Garcia was captain of the World team. Lee Westwood was captain of the English team, and it was kind of like a Ryder Cup format. They played over two days. So these are some of the greatest footballers, soccer players for those of you listening in America, some of the greatest athletes in their sport. And to look at how much they all love golf, and I thought about it. I did some television and we were commenting on it, and so much of what we watch is professional golf. Right We watched the PGA Tour, watch dp World Asia Live, LPGA Champs Tour. Wherever you watch golf, you're watching the players in the world. So I got to spend a week around some of the greatest athletes and some of the greatest footballers of all time. I mean, these are players that reached the absolute height of their sport and they are incredible athletes. And there were some really good golfers. I mean there were some single digit handicappers and a lot of these athletes, they just love the game of golf, right, They love playing golf, they love trying to master golf. And it was cool to watch high level, elite athletes who can basically give them a soccer ball and they could do anything with it, right, But they struggle with golf like the rest of us. And I thought that we were watching them play on television. It was kind of a Ryder Cup format. The golf course was set up like a tour event. There were ropes, there were fans, and I thought a lot of these guys have played in let's say the Dunhill Links or the BMWPGA Championship on the DP World Tour. They have these big pro ams, so they played in pro ams before, and they've got to kind of see what their game is like up against the best players in the world. But they're playing in tournaments that are tour events, right, so they don't really feel what it's like to be a tour player, But last week I think it was like fantasy camp. It's the closest that any of these guys will ever get to being a tour player because the entire week was set up for them to play the driving range. Everybody had credentials. I mean, it was like a tour event but for amateur golfers. And we watched them. You know, they played best ball, they played alternate shot, and then on Sundays they played the single So it was just like the Ryder carp There were points and all of that. The England side ended up winning. But what struck me was I got to spend time around them on the driving range and looking at how all of these great athletes who were so so successful, they're just trying to hit a little, small, little white ball and make it go straight. And the struggle they had with that is the struggle that everybody has with golf. Right when you watch golf on television and you watch Scotti, Scheffler, Roy McElroy, Brooks, Koepka, John Rahm, whoever you're watching, right, you're watching the greatest golfers on the planet. It's basically the equivalent of you drive a car every day right. You drive your car to and from work, you drive your car to pick up your children from school. Whatever you're doing in your car has no relationship to what max Verstaffen or Lewis Hamilton do in Formula one. Right, they drive a car at the fastest the elite level, and that's what the best golfers in the world do. So I found these athletes, like I said, who were all amazing in their own sport. They were all incredibly hard on themselves, they were all incredibly upset when they hit bad shots, but they were playing real golf. And so during the broadcast and during the TV we saw some players hit some really good shots, and then we saw some players hit some really really bad shots, And I was thinking, that's golf, right, that's the tour, the PGA Tour, the best players in the world. That is not real golf. That is the less than one percent of the best golfers on the planet. We'll ever play golf like that. So it was fun for me to watch these great athletes who were out of their arena. Right. They weren't in a room that they felt comfortable, and they were in a completely different environment. They were trying to do something that their golfing heroes normally do. And I always find it interesting that there are so many professional golfers that I've been around. They'd give anything to be a professional athlete another sport, right. They'd love to be a basketball player, a baseball player, a hockey player, or a football player, whatever sport that is. And then you have all of these incredibly talented and incredibly famous footballers. All they want to do is be a golfer. They'd love to be a professional golfer. So I found that kind of juxtaposition of the athletes wanting to be golfers is the same thing that when I'm around all the golfers. They want to be athletes, right, they want to be playing in the NBA, but everybody struggles with golf. So there was a guy that I got to work with, Joe Hart. He was a goalkeeper for Manchester City, won a Premiership title, goalkeeper for England. And you know, a big guy, six six six', seven he's new to golf and he was out In thailand to play in this tournament and, listen he hit some horrendous, shots, right but he hit a lot of really really good shots in the tournament and SO i got to work with him early in the, week and it was so cool to see someone who obviously is a great, athlete obviously has had tremendous amount of success in the sport that he's, played but golf is a. Struggle he's trying to learn how to play. Golf he's trying to learn how to be more. Consistent SO i got him in the studio and spent you, know some time with, him and it was fun for me to show him some things that could help. Him first and, FOREMOST i talk about all the time on the, podcast just hit the golf board more solid and like a lot of, golfers and it's a theme THAT i talk about a, lot BUT i think it really is an important theme in that he was talking to me, about you, know trying to hit a, draw try and hit a, draw trying to hit a, draw trying to hit a, draw AND i was, like, listen don't even worry about the shape that you're trying to. Hit let's just get you hitting the golf ball more. Solid so for a big, guy he's got really good, posture but as he was coming through, impact his left foot is lead, foot sliding around a lot he'd kind of get up on his toe and then his heel would kind of give. OUT i think a lot of people playing golf have that follow through to where that left. Foot it's like the toe is pointing towards the target right and your feet aren't. Stable so we had some swings to where we could get them on, video we could get them on a forest. Plate we got him on swing, catalyst and we talked to him about where his weight was and his, footwork and it was. INTERESTING i, said, listen you're trying to play a new. Sport you're trying to play, golf and you're not thinking about your footwork at. All but the sports that you played before a, goalkeeper think about how hard you were working on your, footwork and think about what you were trying to do with your feet and how stable you were trying to be because you didn't know where the ball was. Coming when someone was approaching you and trying to run at you and kick the ball past, you you don't know where they're to. Go you don't know where they're going to, Shoot you don't know where their body's going to. Go so your footwork has to be, really really, good has to be really, stable and he was, like you're, right you, know in the SPORT i, played my footwork was. Everything so we talked to him just about the footwork right just because the contact was. Bad he tended to hit behind the golf ball a. Lot there was a lot of clubface, rotation AND i think some of the things that he was trying to do weren't really. Working and so when we had him feel like his left foot was, stable that the heel was on the ground at, impact his left heel was on the ground at, impact we started off by doing really really short swings and just making short back swings and short follow, throughs and the only thing we were focusing on was his. Footwork and like a lot of average golfers that are learning to play and trying to, play he was thinking about a lot of other. Things he was thinking a lot about the golf. Club he was thinking a lot about his, Hands and he, said what about the club? Face what about my? Hands AND i, said, listen don't even worry about that right. Now, else try and have your lower, body especially your, footwork be as stable as, possible because the other thing that was happening is that left foot kind of slid and moved out of the, way the right foot would jump, up and then at, impact his legs were just moving all over the. Place so as we quieted his leg work down and quieted his footwork, down he started to have a lot more control over what the golf club was. Doing and we weren't even talking about what the golf club was. DOING i wasn't even saying anything about the golf. CLUB i just, said, listen try and keep your feet, stable try and have a really stable impact. Position and like a lot of, golfers he was really trying to get the golf ball into the air with his, irons something that he was struggling to. Do the golf ball wasn't getting into the. Air hitting a lot of golf balls fat hitting a lot of golf balls. Thin so then what we did WAS i had him just take out a sand wedge and, say, okay take the sandwich, out and THEN i took an alignment, stick AND i placed the alignment stick just on the inside of his eight foot and then that extended out to the. Ball so he's got a swing above the alignment, stick otherwise he's going to hit it and he's got to miss the alignment stick on the, downswing so trying to get him to get a little bit more of an angle of attack down on the golf, ball something that in an effort to try and get the golf ball in the, air and when the golf ball wasn't going into the, air he was doing the. Opposite he was trying to lean, back have a lot of weight on his right side it. Impact that's when that arc bottoms. Out he was hitting the golf, Ball he's landing the golf club behind the golf. Ball it wasn't getting into the. Air part of, that and a big reason why is that left foot was moving around all over the. Place and so once we stabilized his left foot and gave him that kind of visual with that, alignment stick to WHERE i was telling, Him, listen you need to make sure you've got more weight on your front footed. Impact your front foot needs to be more, stable and then you need to try and feel like you're hitting down on the ball and trying to take a. Divot that's kind of the opposite of what we kind of normally. Do RIGHT a lot of players are trying to swing up on the, ball especially with the. Irons i've talked about this, before if you're trying to get your irons into the, air we've got to have a steeper angle of. Attack and so the other. Thing through, technology we were able to show him not only what his body was, doing but we were able to show him that with a sand, wedge he was hitting one and a half degrees up on a sand wedge and he didn't even know what that meant and. Stuff so that's a great example of using technology to, say, listen you're hitting up on. It the ball isn't on a. Tee so in order to make the golf will go into the air with an, iron you've got A, fundamentally you've got to hit down on. It you've got to get the club to get back to the. Ball so through, technology we were able to show him that his angle of attack for just a basic little tiny waist tie back and waist tied through pitchhot is what you would want to try and have if you were hitting a, driver you would want to hit up on the driver because it's on a. Tee so all of the, sudden by trying to feel like he was hitting more down on, it by the fact that he was trying to feel like he missed the alignment stick that was on the ground behind the golf. Ball you can put, it you, know, three four or five golf balls behind the golf, ball or the easiest thing to do is just stick an alignment stick on the inside of your right foot and then it gives you that. Feelings oh, OKAY i have to hit more down on. It as soon as he did, that he started to hit the golf ball more, solid and you could see that he was just panicking. Less he didn't feel like he was drowning. Anymore and, yeah on the golf, course he hit some bad, shots for, sure but he hit some really good quality short iron. Shots and on the last day in the singles, match he was on the first. Tee there's water all the way down the right hand, side and he stood up and he just absolutely flushed one right in the middle of the, face beautiful drive right down the middle of the. Fairway he let out this big, yell which was GREAT. Tv but it was just so nice to see someone that was struggling so much a small little. CHANGE i saw him after every round that he, played and he was, Like i'm just trying to focus on that left foot and just trying to feel LIKE i took a, divot and so it's always incredibly rewarding for me as an instructor to say to, Someone, LISTEN i know this seems, COMPLEX i know this seems kind of, crazy but if you can just do a couple of these, things you can start to get the golf ball in the air more, often more. Consistently and that was the other THING i said to. Him you, know for, me getting the golf ball in the air with an iron every single, time to, me that's the tennis equivalent of getting the tennis ball over the net every. Time even if you moon ball it over the, net then someone can hit the ball back to. You but if every time you're playing tennis and every time you go to hit a forehand or every time you go to hit a backhand and the ball just goes into the net and you don't get it over the, net you can't play the. Sport AND i think a lot of people struggle in golf because fundamentally they just don't consistently get the golf ball in the, air especially with their. IRONS i see so many golfers that come to me and they, say, LISTEN i take a divot with a sand, wedge a pitching, wedge maybe a nine, iron but after a nine, iron my eight, iron seven, iron six, iron five, IRON i never take a. DIVOT i never get the golf ball in the. Air so In joe's, case and in working with him to just get that better understanding of hitting more down on the golf, ball having his lower, body specifically his, feet something he wasn't thinking, about the contact improved and he started to hit better. Shots so it was just amazing to watch an, elite high level, athlete you, know all of a sudden feel like they knew what they were. Doing because all of these, golfers, RIGHT i watched a lot of, them they struggle with. Contact AND i think WHAT i noticed on the golf course when you were watching these great athletes ON, tv the bad shots tended to come when the body got. Slow David Ginola french football are played in The premier Shi. Tottenham but just a really cool. Guy he used to have long, hair he's got the. Tan you can just see that this guy exudes, confidence, RIGHT i mean you couldn't meet a more confident. Person but with his golf, swing the golf swing gets slow on the golf. Course he's trying to steer. It and that was the other thing THAT i think a lot of those guys. Said these are elite professional, footballers, right who have won the biggest prizes you can win in their, sport the biggest, championships LIKE i, Said World, Cups players of The, year, ballendors all of these. Things but some of them on the golf course said AND i talked To David genola after one of the rounds and he, said, MAN i just it's hard for me on the golf course Because i'm trying to not hit a bad. Shot AND i said to, him, listen you're going to hit bad, shots, Right you're going to hit the ball. Offline you're not a, robot you're not a professional, golfer so you're going to make bad. Swings but why not just focus on trying to hit good. Shots you might not do it all the, time BUT i think if the mind one said, is, Hey i'm going to go out on the golf course today And i'm going to try and. Execute i'm going to try and hit good. Shots i'm not going to try and not hit bad. SHOTS i think that was something that we really saw from a lot of these players that they do what the rest of us. Do they're just trying to not hit a bad. Shot they're trying to not hit it. Offline they're trying to not hit it in the water or a. Bunker and so many times when you're trying to not hit a bad, shot what do you end up Doing you hit a bad? Shot, Why because there's nothing that you're focusing on other than trying to not hit it. Offline and that's a really difficult thing to do on a regular. Basis so trying to get a lot of these guys to, think, okay focus on trying to hit good. Shots and then the other thing that we saw looking at all of these, golfers the really good ones and two of the best of the, week one from The english, Side Teddy sheringham who Played Manchester. United he's got a really good golf. Swing he's probably a three or four. Handicap and Then Jean Franco zola played At chelsea The italian they called them The magician because of what he could do with the soccer. Ball, right those two, golfers WHEN i looked at their golf, swing they were probably the. Best and WHEN i was trying to figure out what made, them the best all strikers and the best, players is neither one of them got the backswing massively on the inside or massively on the outside going. Back so out of all of these great, athletes the ones that were the most consistent were the ones whose backswings weren't quick inside and then they had to come over it or massively, outside and the backswings looked pretty, neutral not too much, in not too much, out and then they can control the. Downswing but what we saw on the golf course is what we see in golf lessons all the, time is a lot of the players that were hitting bad shots were hitting bad shots because the golf swings on the. Course everybody thinks their golf swing gets faster on the golf. Course your golf swing doesn't necessarily get any faster on the golf course when you're hitting it. Poorly but the body starts to slow, down and as the body slows down doesn't, rotate the chest doesn't, rotate the hips don't. Rotate you're not able to turn through. Impact then the club face takes. Over so we saw a lot of players missing the golf ball massively to the, right or missing the golf ball massively to the, left mainly because the arms and the golf club working really really active and the body working really really. Slow SO i just found it incredibly interesting to watch all of these great, athletes who were great athletes in their sport struggle with golf like we all, do, right and that's. Golf that's what everybody goes. Through And i've got to work with a couple of the players and just talk to him about, listen try and make your impact position, better try and make sure that with an iron you don't have too much weight or more weight on your right foot than your left footed. Impact and seeing some of these great athletes on the golf course in an environment that they were incredibly uncomfortable, with hit some shots on the golf course that were really really, solid like most. Golfers when we looked at what they were, doing the majority of the good shots that these, great great soccer players footballers hit on the golf course in competition were a lot of short, irons eight, irons nine, irons pitching. Wedges those are the golf clubs that they can. Control those are the golf clubs that they can create good speed, With and those are the golf clubs that they can take divots, with so as a result of, that they can control the golf ball. Better as the clubs got, longer as they got into the longer, irons as they got into the, driver as they got into three, woods it was a struggle for a lot of them with the. DRIVER i think the tendency was we saw a lot of balls to the, right or we saw a lot of quick left balls because again club cass, control not being able to control what the body's. Doing and So i've always thought that if you can control and activate your, body your big, muscles your lower, body your upper, body then you don't have to use your hea hands so. Much i've been lucky enough to have two decades of my career working with tour players on the, men's the, women's and the elite, level And i've yet to have any elite professional golfer who's trying to play golf for a living SAY i need to get my hands more active in the golf. Swing every golfer That i've ever worked with is trying to take their hand action and what they're doing with the golf club out and get their body to move. More and in talking to a lot of these these great athletes and these great soccer, players the concept of using their body and their concept of some of the THINGS i tried to relate some of the ways That i've watched soccer players kick a, ball where their weight, is where their body, is how they have to adjust their body to a moving, ball and telling, them, listen the great thing about golf is it's like taking a penalty, kick. Right you know exactly where the ball is going to, be and you know where you're going to want to try and hit. It you know what you're going to try and do with, that and so what do you your body and what do you need to do as the player to get the ball to do? That? Right AND i think that concept for some of these guys, was you, know somewhat. Revolutionary they're, like, Oh i've never thought about it like, that BUT i think some of the. Similarities and WHAT i try to do ANYTIME i work with an, elite elite professional athlete is try and take some of the concepts and some of the movement patterns from the sport that they, played from the sport that they basically, mastered, right and, say, listen golf really isn't that. Dissimilar there's just a couple of things you're doing that if you did them in the sport that you. Played if you were trying to kick a soccer ball on a free kick with running up to the ball and then planning your left foot and then leaning way back with your chest and having your weight go, back what would that do to the contact of the, Ball what would that do to the curvature of the. Ball how solid would you be able to hit the. Ball so it was a really cool week for me to see this great, Goalkeeper Joe, hart who again was at the top of his, profession really ruggling to try and play golf as a person that's six six sixty, seven long, arms long, legs he's trying to organize all of these body parts and all of this this movement that he's, got and so working with him and trying to simplify what his body was doing was incredibly. Rewarding to see him then go out in a tournament WITH tv, cameras with, ropes with. Spectators, yeah he hit some balls, offline but he hit a lot of really good shots AND i think that will keep him coming. Back the joy that he had after the rounds he was, like, MAN i hit some really good shots, today and you, know golf is, hard AND i think it's it's interesting that golf is the ultimate, equalizer. Right you can take some of the greatest athletes in the world and get them to try and play, golf and they're so good at doing things that none of us can do right as, athletes but they're just trying to hit a little white ball as straight as. Possible so really really. Rewarding if you want to check that, out you can go on YouTube and go So icon series and watch some of, it and you can see some of these great, athletes these great soccer, players, footballers you can see them on the golf course hitting, shots AND i think it's something that is really really cool to. Watch so a really fun week for me and something That i'll take a lot. FROM i learned a lot from these. PLAYERS i learned a lot from watching them try and master, golf trying to hit more solid golf. Shots AND i think there's some things THAT i learned from them THAT i can apply to my own coaching and my own instruction and. Teaching so a really really fun week for. Me on the road for the next two, weeks In Hong kong And, singapore so really looking forward to. That it's always fun WHEN i travel internationally two different tour, events and you know when you do get outside The United, states and you, KNOW i went To australia earlier this, year i went To Saudi, arabia and Now i've gone To. Bangkok i'm In Hong kong this week and be In singapore next. Week the game is, growing right there is a lot of people all over the world who are obsessed With And i've said this before And i'll keep saying. THIS i, think, yeah at the professional level right, now there might be a lot of, unrest there might be a lot of, division and it's. EASY i see so many people in the media talking about you, know golf is in a bad. Place golf is in a bad. Place golf is in a bad. Place. Yeah if you want to focus on the one percent of people playing, golf professional golfers and think that the game of golf is in a bad, PLACE i mean that's your, opinion and you know. Whatever BUT i go all over the world AND i work with golfers from all over the, world from different, countries from different, nationalities AND i think the game is in a great. PLACE i think people are trying golf, more people are moving to golf more from other. Sports people want to get better at, golf and when you travel around the world and you go to different, places you realize that the game of golf IS i think in a good. PLACE i think people want to. PLAY i think people want to get out on the golf, course they want to take, lessons they want to improve their own golf. Game and it's always really really cool for me to come to different countries and see how passionate people are for the game of. Golf can't thank everybody enough for, listening, rate, review subscribe wherever you get your. Podcasts it's The son of A Brich. Podcast we'll see you next. Week

It's the Son of a Butch podcast. I'm your host, Claude Harmon solo episode of the pod this week. Before we get to that, our friends at cober Golf wanted to talk to you about the new Cobra three DP Tour irons, utilizing three D printing technology to unlock a new realm of performance. Printed from three to sixteen stainless steel, the three DP Tour delivers the shape and feel of a player's blade with the stability and forgiveness of a game improvement iron. The most forgiving blade on the market, this one of a kind iron combines tour level precision with ultimate consistency that aspirational golfers desire. Learn more about the breakthrough three DP Tour technology at cobragolf dot com. These went straight in my bag when I hit them. Love the look, but they're consistent and that mishit tour looking blade, but a lot of tech, a lot of forgiveness. You should go check them out. I put them straight in my bag. So I wanted to talk this week about something I was a part of over the weekend. I went down to my academy in Bank that Robins would really really proud of that facility, but the icons of football was there. It's a kind of a tournament between ex footballers, some of the legends of the game, Luis Figo, Rudhulitt, John Franco Zola, the longtime Chelsea captain, John Terry, Gabriel, a Batistusta, so people that have won World Cups, ballendors, Premierships, La Liga titles, big big footballers and it was a really cool event. Sergio Garcia was captain of the World team. Lee Westwood was captain of the English team, and it was kind of like a Ryder Cup format. They played over two days. So these are some of the greatest footballers, soccer players for those of you listening in America, some of the greatest athletes in their sport. And to look at how much they all love golf, and I thought about it. I did some television and we were commenting on it, and so much of what we watch is professional golf. Right We watched the PGA Tour, watch dp World Asia Live, LPGA Champs Tour. Wherever you watch golf, you're watching the players in the world. So I got to spend a week around some of the greatest athletes and some of the greatest footballers of all time. I mean, these are players that reached the absolute height of their sport and they are incredible athletes. And there were some really good golfers. I mean there were some single digit handicappers and a lot of these athletes, they just love the game of golf, right, They love playing golf, they love trying to master golf. And it was cool to watch high level, elite athletes who can basically give them a soccer ball and they could do anything with it, right, But they struggle with golf like the rest of us. And I thought that we were watching them play on television. It was kind of a Ryder Cup format. The golf course was set up like a tour event. There were ropes, there were fans, and I thought a lot of these guys have played in let's say the Dunhill Links or the BMWPGA Championship on the DP World Tour. They have these big pro ams, so they played in pro ams before, and they've got to kind of see what their game is like up against the best players in the world. But they're playing in tournaments that are tour events, right, so they don't really feel what it's like to be a tour player, But last week I think it was like fantasy camp. It's the closest that any of these guys will ever get to being a tour player because the entire week was set up for them to play the driving range. Everybody had credentials. I mean, it was like a tour event but for amateur golfers. And we watched them. You know, they played best ball, they played alternate shot, and then on Sundays they played the single So it was just like the Ryder carp There were points and all of that. The England side ended up winning. But what struck me was I got to spend time around them on the driving range and looking at how all of these great athletes who were so so successful, they're just trying to hit a little, small, little white ball and make it go straight. And the struggle they had with that is the struggle that everybody has with golf. Right when you watch golf on television and you watch Scotti, Scheffler, Roy McElroy, Brooks, Koepka, John Rahm, whoever you're watching, right, you're watching the greatest golfers on the planet. It's basically the equivalent of you drive a car every day right. You drive your car to and from work, you drive your car to pick up your children from school. Whatever you're doing in your car has no relationship to what max Verstaffen or Lewis Hamilton do in Formula one. Right, they drive a car at the fastest the elite level, and that's what the best golfers in the world do. So I found these athletes, like I said, who were all amazing in their own sport. They were all incredibly hard on themselves, they were all incredibly upset when they hit bad shots, but they were playing real golf. And so during the broadcast and during the TV we saw some players hit some really good shots, and then we saw some players hit some really really bad shots, And I was thinking, that's golf, right, that's the tour, the PGA Tour, the best players in the world. That is not real golf. That is the less than one percent of the best golfers on the planet. We'll ever play golf like that. So it was fun for me to watch these great athletes who were out of their arena. Right. They weren't in a room that they felt comfortable, and they were in a completely different environment. They were trying to do something that their golfing heroes normally do. And I always find it interesting that there are so many professional golfers that I've been around. They'd give anything to be a professional athlete another sport, right. They'd love to be a basketball player, a baseball player, a hockey player, or a football player, whatever sport that is. And then you have all of these incredibly talented and incredibly famous footballers. All they want to do is be a golfer. They'd love to be a professional golfer. So I found that kind of juxtaposition of the athletes wanting to be golfers is the same thing that when I'm around all the golfers. They want to be athletes, right, they want to be playing in the NBA, but everybody struggles with golf. So there was a guy that I got to work with, Joe Hart. He was a goalkeeper for Manchester City, won a Premiership title, goalkeeper for England. And you know, a big guy, six six six', seven he's new to golf and he was out In thailand to play in this tournament and, listen he hit some horrendous, shots, right but he hit a lot of really really good shots in the tournament and SO i got to work with him early in the, week and it was so cool to see someone who obviously is a great, athlete obviously has had tremendous amount of success in the sport that he's, played but golf is a. Struggle he's trying to learn how to play. Golf he's trying to learn how to be more. Consistent SO i got him in the studio and spent you, know some time with, him and it was fun for me to show him some things that could help. Him first and, FOREMOST i talk about all the time on the, podcast just hit the golf board more solid and like a lot of, golfers and it's a theme THAT i talk about a, lot BUT i think it really is an important theme in that he was talking to me, about you, know trying to hit a, draw try and hit a, draw trying to hit a, draw trying to hit a, draw AND i was, like, listen don't even worry about the shape that you're trying to. Hit let's just get you hitting the golf ball more. Solid so for a big, guy he's got really good, posture but as he was coming through, impact his left foot is lead, foot sliding around a lot he'd kind of get up on his toe and then his heel would kind of give. OUT i think a lot of people playing golf have that follow through to where that left. Foot it's like the toe is pointing towards the target right and your feet aren't. Stable so we had some swings to where we could get them on, video we could get them on a forest. Plate we got him on swing, catalyst and we talked to him about where his weight was and his, footwork and it was. INTERESTING i, said, listen you're trying to play a new. Sport you're trying to play, golf and you're not thinking about your footwork at. All but the sports that you played before a, goalkeeper think about how hard you were working on your, footwork and think about what you were trying to do with your feet and how stable you were trying to be because you didn't know where the ball was. Coming when someone was approaching you and trying to run at you and kick the ball past, you you don't know where they're to. Go you don't know where they're going to, Shoot you don't know where their body's going to. Go so your footwork has to be, really really, good has to be really, stable and he was, like you're, right you, know in the SPORT i, played my footwork was. Everything so we talked to him just about the footwork right just because the contact was. Bad he tended to hit behind the golf ball a. Lot there was a lot of clubface, rotation AND i think some of the things that he was trying to do weren't really. Working and so when we had him feel like his left foot was, stable that the heel was on the ground at, impact his left heel was on the ground at, impact we started off by doing really really short swings and just making short back swings and short follow, throughs and the only thing we were focusing on was his. Footwork and like a lot of average golfers that are learning to play and trying to, play he was thinking about a lot of other. Things he was thinking a lot about the golf. Club he was thinking a lot about his, Hands and he, said what about the club? Face what about my? Hands AND i, said, listen don't even worry about that right. Now, else try and have your lower, body especially your, footwork be as stable as, possible because the other thing that was happening is that left foot kind of slid and moved out of the, way the right foot would jump, up and then at, impact his legs were just moving all over the. Place so as we quieted his leg work down and quieted his footwork, down he started to have a lot more control over what the golf club was. Doing and we weren't even talking about what the golf club was. DOING i wasn't even saying anything about the golf. CLUB i just, said, listen try and keep your feet, stable try and have a really stable impact. Position and like a lot of, golfers he was really trying to get the golf ball into the air with his, irons something that he was struggling to. Do the golf ball wasn't getting into the. Air hitting a lot of golf balls fat hitting a lot of golf balls. Thin so then what we did WAS i had him just take out a sand wedge and, say, okay take the sandwich, out and THEN i took an alignment, stick AND i placed the alignment stick just on the inside of his eight foot and then that extended out to the. Ball so he's got a swing above the alignment, stick otherwise he's going to hit it and he's got to miss the alignment stick on the, downswing so trying to get him to get a little bit more of an angle of attack down on the golf, ball something that in an effort to try and get the golf ball in the, air and when the golf ball wasn't going into the, air he was doing the. Opposite he was trying to lean, back have a lot of weight on his right side it. Impact that's when that arc bottoms. Out he was hitting the golf, Ball he's landing the golf club behind the golf. Ball it wasn't getting into the. Air part of, that and a big reason why is that left foot was moving around all over the. Place and so once we stabilized his left foot and gave him that kind of visual with that, alignment stick to WHERE i was telling, Him, listen you need to make sure you've got more weight on your front footed. Impact your front foot needs to be more, stable and then you need to try and feel like you're hitting down on the ball and trying to take a. Divot that's kind of the opposite of what we kind of normally. Do RIGHT a lot of players are trying to swing up on the, ball especially with the. Irons i've talked about this, before if you're trying to get your irons into the, air we've got to have a steeper angle of. Attack and so the other. Thing through, technology we were able to show him not only what his body was, doing but we were able to show him that with a sand, wedge he was hitting one and a half degrees up on a sand wedge and he didn't even know what that meant and. Stuff so that's a great example of using technology to, say, listen you're hitting up on. It the ball isn't on a. Tee so in order to make the golf will go into the air with an, iron you've got A, fundamentally you've got to hit down on. It you've got to get the club to get back to the. Ball so through, technology we were able to show him that his angle of attack for just a basic little tiny waist tie back and waist tied through pitchhot is what you would want to try and have if you were hitting a, driver you would want to hit up on the driver because it's on a. Tee so all of the, sudden by trying to feel like he was hitting more down on, it by the fact that he was trying to feel like he missed the alignment stick that was on the ground behind the golf. Ball you can put, it you, know, three four or five golf balls behind the golf, ball or the easiest thing to do is just stick an alignment stick on the inside of your right foot and then it gives you that. Feelings oh, OKAY i have to hit more down on. It as soon as he did, that he started to hit the golf ball more, solid and you could see that he was just panicking. Less he didn't feel like he was drowning. Anymore and, yeah on the golf, course he hit some bad, shots for, sure but he hit some really good quality short iron. Shots and on the last day in the singles, match he was on the first. Tee there's water all the way down the right hand, side and he stood up and he just absolutely flushed one right in the middle of the, face beautiful drive right down the middle of the. Fairway he let out this big, yell which was GREAT. Tv but it was just so nice to see someone that was struggling so much a small little. CHANGE i saw him after every round that he, played and he was, Like i'm just trying to focus on that left foot and just trying to feel LIKE i took a, divot and so it's always incredibly rewarding for me as an instructor to say to, Someone, LISTEN i know this seems, COMPLEX i know this seems kind of, crazy but if you can just do a couple of these, things you can start to get the golf ball in the air more, often more. Consistently and that was the other THING i said to. Him you, know for, me getting the golf ball in the air with an iron every single, time to, me that's the tennis equivalent of getting the tennis ball over the net every. Time even if you moon ball it over the, net then someone can hit the ball back to. You but if every time you're playing tennis and every time you go to hit a forehand or every time you go to hit a backhand and the ball just goes into the net and you don't get it over the, net you can't play the. Sport AND i think a lot of people struggle in golf because fundamentally they just don't consistently get the golf ball in the, air especially with their. IRONS i see so many golfers that come to me and they, say, LISTEN i take a divot with a sand, wedge a pitching, wedge maybe a nine, iron but after a nine, iron my eight, iron seven, iron six, iron five, IRON i never take a. DIVOT i never get the golf ball in the. Air so In joe's, case and in working with him to just get that better understanding of hitting more down on the golf, ball having his lower, body specifically his, feet something he wasn't thinking, about the contact improved and he started to hit better. Shots so it was just amazing to watch an, elite high level, athlete you, know all of a sudden feel like they knew what they were. Doing because all of these, golfers, RIGHT i watched a lot of, them they struggle with. Contact AND i think WHAT i noticed on the golf course when you were watching these great athletes ON, tv the bad shots tended to come when the body got. Slow David Ginola french football are played in The premier Shi. Tottenham but just a really cool. Guy he used to have long, hair he's got the. Tan you can just see that this guy exudes, confidence, RIGHT i mean you couldn't meet a more confident. Person but with his golf, swing the golf swing gets slow on the golf. Course he's trying to steer. It and that was the other thing THAT i think a lot of those guys. Said these are elite professional, footballers, right who have won the biggest prizes you can win in their, sport the biggest, championships LIKE i, Said World, Cups players of The, year, ballendors all of these. Things but some of them on the golf course said AND i talked To David genola after one of the rounds and he, said, MAN i just it's hard for me on the golf course Because i'm trying to not hit a bad. Shot AND i said to, him, listen you're going to hit bad, shots, Right you're going to hit the ball. Offline you're not a, robot you're not a professional, golfer so you're going to make bad. Swings but why not just focus on trying to hit good. Shots you might not do it all the, time BUT i think if the mind one said, is, Hey i'm going to go out on the golf course today And i'm going to try and. Execute i'm going to try and hit good. Shots i'm not going to try and not hit bad. SHOTS i think that was something that we really saw from a lot of these players that they do what the rest of us. Do they're just trying to not hit a bad. Shot they're trying to not hit it. Offline they're trying to not hit it in the water or a. Bunker and so many times when you're trying to not hit a bad, shot what do you end up Doing you hit a bad? Shot, Why because there's nothing that you're focusing on other than trying to not hit it. Offline and that's a really difficult thing to do on a regular. Basis so trying to get a lot of these guys to, think, okay focus on trying to hit good. Shots and then the other thing that we saw looking at all of these, golfers the really good ones and two of the best of the, week one from The english, Side Teddy sheringham who Played Manchester. United he's got a really good golf. Swing he's probably a three or four. Handicap and Then Jean Franco zola played At chelsea The italian they called them The magician because of what he could do with the soccer. Ball, right those two, golfers WHEN i looked at their golf, swing they were probably the. Best and WHEN i was trying to figure out what made, them the best all strikers and the best, players is neither one of them got the backswing massively on the inside or massively on the outside going. Back so out of all of these great, athletes the ones that were the most consistent were the ones whose backswings weren't quick inside and then they had to come over it or massively, outside and the backswings looked pretty, neutral not too much, in not too much, out and then they can control the. Downswing but what we saw on the golf course is what we see in golf lessons all the, time is a lot of the players that were hitting bad shots were hitting bad shots because the golf swings on the. Course everybody thinks their golf swing gets faster on the golf. Course your golf swing doesn't necessarily get any faster on the golf course when you're hitting it. Poorly but the body starts to slow, down and as the body slows down doesn't, rotate the chest doesn't, rotate the hips don't. Rotate you're not able to turn through. Impact then the club face takes. Over so we saw a lot of players missing the golf ball massively to the, right or missing the golf ball massively to the, left mainly because the arms and the golf club working really really active and the body working really really. Slow SO i just found it incredibly interesting to watch all of these great, athletes who were great athletes in their sport struggle with golf like we all, do, right and that's. Golf that's what everybody goes. Through And i've got to work with a couple of the players and just talk to him about, listen try and make your impact position, better try and make sure that with an iron you don't have too much weight or more weight on your right foot than your left footed. Impact and seeing some of these great athletes on the golf course in an environment that they were incredibly uncomfortable, with hit some shots on the golf course that were really really, solid like most. Golfers when we looked at what they were, doing the majority of the good shots that these, great great soccer players footballers hit on the golf course in competition were a lot of short, irons eight, irons nine, irons pitching. Wedges those are the golf clubs that they can. Control those are the golf clubs that they can create good speed, With and those are the golf clubs that they can take divots, with so as a result of, that they can control the golf ball. Better as the clubs got, longer as they got into the longer, irons as they got into the, driver as they got into three, woods it was a struggle for a lot of them with the. DRIVER i think the tendency was we saw a lot of balls to the, right or we saw a lot of quick left balls because again club cass, control not being able to control what the body's. Doing and So i've always thought that if you can control and activate your, body your big, muscles your lower, body your upper, body then you don't have to use your hea hands so. Much i've been lucky enough to have two decades of my career working with tour players on the, men's the, women's and the elite, level And i've yet to have any elite professional golfer who's trying to play golf for a living SAY i need to get my hands more active in the golf. Swing every golfer That i've ever worked with is trying to take their hand action and what they're doing with the golf club out and get their body to move. More and in talking to a lot of these these great athletes and these great soccer, players the concept of using their body and their concept of some of the THINGS i tried to relate some of the ways That i've watched soccer players kick a, ball where their weight, is where their body, is how they have to adjust their body to a moving, ball and telling, them, listen the great thing about golf is it's like taking a penalty, kick. Right you know exactly where the ball is going to, be and you know where you're going to want to try and hit. It you know what you're going to try and do with, that and so what do you your body and what do you need to do as the player to get the ball to do? That? Right AND i think that concept for some of these guys, was you, know somewhat. Revolutionary they're, like, Oh i've never thought about it like, that BUT i think some of the. Similarities and WHAT i try to do ANYTIME i work with an, elite elite professional athlete is try and take some of the concepts and some of the movement patterns from the sport that they, played from the sport that they basically, mastered, right and, say, listen golf really isn't that. Dissimilar there's just a couple of things you're doing that if you did them in the sport that you. Played if you were trying to kick a soccer ball on a free kick with running up to the ball and then planning your left foot and then leaning way back with your chest and having your weight go, back what would that do to the contact of the, Ball what would that do to the curvature of the. Ball how solid would you be able to hit the. Ball so it was a really cool week for me to see this great, Goalkeeper Joe, hart who again was at the top of his, profession really ruggling to try and play golf as a person that's six six sixty, seven long, arms long, legs he's trying to organize all of these body parts and all of this this movement that he's, got and so working with him and trying to simplify what his body was doing was incredibly. Rewarding to see him then go out in a tournament WITH tv, cameras with, ropes with. Spectators, yeah he hit some balls, offline but he hit a lot of really good shots AND i think that will keep him coming. Back the joy that he had after the rounds he was, like, MAN i hit some really good shots, today and you, know golf is, hard AND i think it's it's interesting that golf is the ultimate, equalizer. Right you can take some of the greatest athletes in the world and get them to try and play, golf and they're so good at doing things that none of us can do right as, athletes but they're just trying to hit a little white ball as straight as. Possible so really really. Rewarding if you want to check that, out you can go on YouTube and go So icon series and watch some of, it and you can see some of these great, athletes these great soccer, players, footballers you can see them on the golf course hitting, shots AND i think it's something that is really really cool to. Watch so a really fun week for me and something That i'll take a lot. FROM i learned a lot from these. PLAYERS i learned a lot from watching them try and master, golf trying to hit more solid golf. Shots AND i think there's some things THAT i learned from them THAT i can apply to my own coaching and my own instruction and. Teaching so a really really fun week for. Me on the road for the next two, weeks In Hong kong And, singapore so really looking forward to. That it's always fun WHEN i travel internationally two different tour, events and you know when you do get outside The United, states and you, KNOW i went To australia earlier this, year i went To Saudi, arabia and Now i've gone To. Bangkok i'm In Hong kong this week and be In singapore next. Week the game is, growing right there is a lot of people all over the world who are obsessed With And i've said this before And i'll keep saying. THIS i, think, yeah at the professional level right, now there might be a lot of, unrest there might be a lot of, division and it's. EASY i see so many people in the media talking about you, know golf is in a bad. Place golf is in a bad. Place golf is in a bad. Place. Yeah if you want to focus on the one percent of people playing, golf professional golfers and think that the game of golf is in a bad, PLACE i mean that's your, opinion and you know. Whatever BUT i go all over the world AND i work with golfers from all over the, world from different, countries from different, nationalities AND i think the game is in a great. PLACE i think people are trying golf, more people are moving to golf more from other. Sports people want to get better at, golf and when you travel around the world and you go to different, places you realize that the game of golf IS i think in a good. PLACE i think people want to. PLAY i think people want to get out on the golf, course they want to take, lessons they want to improve their own golf. Game and it's always really really cool for me to come to different countries and see how passionate people are for the game of. Golf can't thank everybody enough for, listening, rate, review subscribe wherever you get your. 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