I am, by any yardstick, and my own admission, a far less than average golfer. This fact is, however, more than compensated for by my prowess as a world-ranked athlete in a highly technical event in my early 20s. I clearly have a profound understanding of things bio-mechanical with an acute ability to identify errors of technique in a wide variety of activities, and, what's more important, the skill to impart precise instructions/concepts to rectify those.
From memory, I have given only three actual lessons, that is in the two sports I am, by my own admission absolute rubbish at, namely golf and tennis. These lessons, each a 'one-off', were separated by a number of years, but each one produced immediate and dramatic improvement. The first of these was with an elderly chap who, if I may say, was a much worse golfer than even I. And that's saying something. 50 metres along the ground was his stock shot. I asked, politely, if he'd mind if I gave some advice. He acquiesced and I told him that the vast majority of power in a golf shot comes from the late unlocking of the wrists. This seemed to come as some surprise. I then demonstrated, using nothing more than wrist action, and, mercifully, struck a 5 iron about 150 metres down the middle. He copied what I'd just done and, amazingly, hit his ball nearly as far and it even had some 'air-time'. I shall never forget his look of incredulity. He looked at me, then at his ball, then back at me, then again at the ball, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. I then wandered off and left him to it.
The other golf lesson I cover in some detail in the text and concerns the ridding of a fellow golfer's suddenly acquired 'yips'. This 'lesson' took some 10 minutes and resulted in the total banishment of that dreaded condition. If they ever recur, he will instantly know how to eradicate them.
The balance of the 50 pages deals with ways and means of taking a number of shots off your score by the use of a common-sense approach to the game. I've found that one has to think one's way round the course. I propose that, for the golf duffer especially, high risk shots should/must be eliminated.
This is written by a duffer for duffers, but I sense that even the goodish player will find the odd pearl of wisdom herein
