Most of you that follow me on twitter know where I was last weekend. For the first time in my career I took my teaching on the road. My good friend, Rob McGill asked if I would come and teach a short game school at his club in Nashville and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to spend the weekend with my buddy and do some teaching. I was truly honored that someone would think that I had something to offer his members and for that I am thankful. So I couldn’t leave this week without giving some props to Rob McGill because I feel like people deserve to know the type of guy that he is but most of all the type of golf professional he is as well. This is not about me but about my friend Rob. I show up at the airport and Rob and his son, Braxton surprise me with a folder with (www.golfgurutv.com #makeeverything on it) which was pretty cool. We go to the club for a wonderful dinner and I start to meet the members of this fine club. You can just tell the love and admiration that they have for their head professional by the way they respond and treat him. Rob is always good for a kind word and hello to everyone that passes by…not because he has to but because he genuinely loves people and the members at Stones River. In the day and age of PGA golf professionals that are losing there jobs it was great to see a professional that is always trying to better themself and more importantly creating value to the membership by bringing programs like the AimPoint Class with John Graham and my little short game school as well. I told the members in my intro that they were fortunate to have a head professional that is always trying to improve his skills and share with the members his knowledge. As all great professionals , Rob is also a great mentor to his assistants, Matt Spain and the other staff members as he was continually checking on them and testing them in an unselfish constructive manner. Being the great observer that I am, I was just filled with joy to see watch this guy work and engage the members throughout the weekend, and then teach alongside him as well. I enjoyed meeting his family as they treated us like one of the family with their hospitality and kindness and I just wanted to say thank you and recognize one of the true great PGA golf professionals in our business. Thank you Rob for everything.
****I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the epic mindmeld discussions on the golf swing that was had by John Graham, John Dochety, Rob, Matt Spain and with a special guest appearance by Kirk Oguri and Bob Townsend. We had a great time and I learned alot for sure. I know I promised some video and some video was taken but cannot be published unfortunately. Maybe next time.
I just received the nicest email from a guy that found my blog on the internet. Sometimes we wonder if anyone is getting the information and if it really helps. I am not trying to toot my own horn here but only trying to encourage those of you who are sharing information out there in the blogosphere to continue to share. People are reading and learning whether we know it or not. Most of the time we just get the criticism from the uninformed “negative nellies” (you know who you are) and we don’t hear how we have affected a golfers game or even their lives. I was nearly in tears when I read this for the first time because it affected me so deeply. Thank you “Mr. Wiz” for allowing me to share this with my peeps in the golf world. I think this is going to be a great 2012 for everyone and I hope that you reach your golfing goals. Let me know if I can be of any assistance. It’s what I live to do!
Here is the email that I received that will promptly go into my new testimonial page:
Hi Jason,
It’s Sunday night and it’s my quiet time but I wanted to take this
opportunity and thank you for the help you have given me unknowingly
but your blog site is truly amazing!
I found you quite by accident on the web just looking for someone that
could suggest some help on the proper backswing/takeaway (my takeaway
was way inside). I am a 4 hdcp. at The Tuxedo Club in New York state
and have been as low as a scratch a few years back but that was 2 kids
ago and they are now 19 and 23 so that tells you how long it’s been.
I am a self taught player and student of the game. Finding someone
like you was nothing short of a miracle for me, as you explain things
both verbally and visually ( the broom drill, et al) that clearly
define the feeling and look portions of the swing should look and feel
like.
Last night I didn’t make friends with my wife taking her time away but
I had to watch and read as much of your blog and former videos while
you were at Dana Rader that I could. What a revelation and truly
amazing! You cleared up so many misconceptions I cannot begin to
explain.
Additionally I had the opportunity to read your farewell to your
cohorts at Dana Rader and it was truly heartwarming and nice to hear
someone give thanks for opportunities and leave on great terms and
with only the fondest of memories.
Knowing that most PGA pros don’t get a lot of accolades for their
work, I had to take these few minutes to tell you how proud the PGA
sector should be to have someone like you representing it. You are a
credit to them, your family and all of your co-workers and members at
Carmel CC and they are very lucky to have you!
I wish you only the best in your new endeavor at Carmel and whatever
else you undertake. I also will look forward to any updates and new
videos on gurutv.com. Hopefully our paths will cross at some point in
the near future, as I may make a pilgrimage down to Charlotte to see
and take a few lessons from you. I’m hoping for a rejuvenated year now.
If your ever up in the New Jersey/ New York area (metro) please give
me a call. I’d love to have you up to Tuxedo for a day of golf at one
of the oldest clubs in the country with a storied history.
The cool thing about a blog is that I get to write about life changing experiences and hopefully inspire others to join you in things that just don’t come along everyday. In this case it was my AimPoint Green Reading final certification weekend. Officially there are 18 more golfers on the planet that don’t have to wonder,”What the heck is this AimPoint stuff I keep hearing the Guru talk about? For the rest of you, AimPoint is a unbelieveable green reading system developed by Mark Sweeney that allow you to gather information, plug them into a chart and know “EXACTLY” where to aim in order to make every putt on the putting green. The cool thing is that anyone can do it with a bit of coaching and some practice of some basic skills. You may have seen the green line on Golf Channel that represents where the ball must roll at the correct speed in order for the ball to go in. Well now there is a teachable system that Mark has developed that can be applied to the average golfer to the tour player alike. I was introduced to this by my good friend John Graham and I am happy to say that I am officially a Certified Instructor to teach this phenomenal system. Mark came down this past weekend and spent some valuable time working with me on the fundamentals and how to apply it to the lesson plan for the students. Watching Mark read putts was like watching Picasso paint a picture. He was reading putts up to 60 feet in less than 25 seconds which is faster than most tour players read a simple 15 footer which sold me and my other teachers that with practice and some repetition, you can not only read putts with perfect accuracy but also faster than the old fashion squatting, plumb bob, walking around the hole procedure. Working with Mark was great as he was very willing to share any information that will help us teach this system to be the best of our ability. As he did the first clinic with my members, I soon found out why he is so successful. everyone had a great time and they were always engaging with so many good questions. As the putts started to drop, they were hooked and excited. After I did my best Mark Sweeney impersonation in the second clinic, which was not even close I was so excited to be a part of this new and growing group of AimPoint Instructors. It is amazing that after so many years that this great game has been around that no one has even come close to developing a system that takes all of the guesswork out of one of the most mysterious parts of the golf, Green Reading! We should all be thankful to alive and have the opportunity to take part in such a game changing process. I am confident that you will start to see more of the games great players adopt this system in the near future. All I know is that we have 18 very excited golfers that will soon be #makingeverything. Feel free to contact me to come to your club to do a clinic by emailing me @jsutton@carmelcountryclub.org or hit me up on twitter @twitter.com/golfgurutv. ps. I think 7 or 8 of the participants in the clinic signed up because of my interaction on twitter. There is some ROI in there somewhere, lol.
Special thanks to Mark Sweeney for allowing me to be a part of this prestigious group of coaches and to my friend, John Graham for all the training and extra time that he has spent with me over the last year. I promise to share the information as we are truly doing something that will grow the game.
Just in case you missed it. I got the mastermind crew together, (Charlie King called us the next great teachers) for a little roundtable discussion at the PGA Show. There were two members missing, Sara Dickson and Switzerland (JG) but they were not forgotten as they were involved in many sidebar discussions during the week. Stay tuned for the next twitter academy. You have to watch the last episode to find out what is next for the group. There is talks of a major group golf school that could pop up later this year. Who would sign up for that? What a great mix of talent would be assembled and big things are coming for 2012. I hope you enjoy the #Roundtwitter Golf Discussion with Jason Helman, Rob McGill, Andrew Marr, Dennis Sales and Kirk Oguri (listed as seated). Thanks again for our good friend Ricky Lee Potts for moderating and Eric Ballard for filming it. Follow these guys on twitter for more #banter and knowledge than you can stand
Follow me on twitter @golfgurutv and I will see you on the lesson tee @ Carmel CC
So many of my counterparts have already finished their recap of this years PGA Merchandise show so here is my take on this years haps. In my opinion this years show was the best ever. As I have written in the past, the PGA show is what you make of it. The people you choose to be around, the seminars you attend and the products you are interested in. The PGA of America is starting to get the fact that it is a social media opportunity to connect with the members and the experience is getting better and better. As always, I had a definite plan to get around as many top coaches and to see as much of the show as I can which can be difficult in a very short stretch so I went for it. I can break this post down into 2 parts: 1)The networking and spending time with good friends and 2)the products that I thought were new and innovative and would help your game.
Part 1 (Networking)
I was very excited to hang out with and spend time with my good friends John Graham, Dennis Sales, Jason Helman, Rob McGill, Andrew Marr, Sara Dickson, Kirk Oguri and Ricky Lee Potts which you have heard me call my mastermind crew. We have all become very close and the side bar conversations are so valuable and I always come away with new information on how to teach better. For those of you who could keep up with our twtter feeds would know that we had a Pre Tweet up on Wednesday where we got together for dinner and then John Graham’s and Richie Hunt’s Big tweet up on Thursday which was awesome. I got to meet so many new people who I had talked to on twitter like Steve Mitchell, Nick Starchuck, Megan Pudua, James Hong, Michel Mennard, Travis Lloyd, John Randle, Zach Baron. I even got to stay with Aaron Olson, one of the bright young stars in the business from Arizona. He works with Megan Pudua, Jeff Rittter and Martin Chuck at the Raven. You will be hearning great things from this young man as he was very impressive for sure. There were so many people who I met I am sure I am leaving someone out. As for the tweetup, it did not disappoint as the swing discussion and demonstration was led by good friend and one of my favorite people, John Dochety as he turned Andrew Marr into a pretzel demonstrating the multiple tilts in the golf swing. Doc, you are the best my friend and I always learn so much when we get together. Thank you to John Graham for putting it together and I know it is going to make a difference in our industry for such a group of coaches to come together from all different philosophies and theories to share and enjoy one another’s company. Trust me, the teaching summit had nothing on what went on this evening. I have included a short montage put together by Nick Chertock (who better be in attendance next year) which was awesome. Thank you my friend. One of my big goals while I was there was to take the opportunity to shoot some video of all the mastermind crew. So I put together our team and how had a round table discussion the next morning that lasted about 40 minutes. I think you can get the feeling of how much we care about one another which for me has been life changing. The only bummer was that Sara Dickson and Switzerland (JG) could not be a part of it but there will be a next time. Big thanks for my friend, Ricky Lee Potts for moderating the discussion and my friend Eric “LaFama Blanca” for the excellent camera work. We will step it up with some wireless mics next time (Nick C). I hope you enjoyed it as much I we did filming it. I could go on and on about all the side bar moments that I had discussing Aimpoint and the importance of ankle mobility with John Graham and Dennis Sales or watching one a teaching legend like Jim Hardy give a lesson in the garage with a broom or how Kirk Oguri has better hair than Robert Rock but I don’t have enough time. You will have to hit me up another time. Now to part 2
Equipment and training aids:
Best Booth : Taylor Made City. You could even get a picture with Dustin Johnson, very cool. It took up the entire end of the show.
Training Aids that I liked :
Guru training systemwww.gurutrainingsystem.com 3D training with no wires or sensors. Very cool. (still looking for my royalties)
Swing byte – http://swingbyte.com/ I bought one of these as it gives you 3d motion of the club from different angles and connects to your ipad or phone so it is portable. It also gives you data from each shot. Looking forward to playing with this for sure.
ES 12 digital golf assistant – great for gap training and tells you how far each shot travels. here is a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF6HSrdlkD8 I bought one of these too. I will be doing wedge schools and on course training with this guy.
Shotstothehole.com - a very good stats tracker that i may use this year.
Trackman 3 - www.trackmangolf.com This would be the final piece to my teaching academy as I would love to get one of these. The new one is more portable and now has a short game feature that will track down to 2 yards. I met with the rep and was very impresseed.
True Links Shoes - A low profile golf shoe that was very comfortable and allowed you to feel the ground. Mark Sweeney calls them AimPoint green reading shoes. JG, Dennis and I bought a pair.
I also want to thank Lorin Anderson from GBN for putting together such great education seminars. I attended Brian Manzella, Charlie King and Jeff Ritter which was a great way to start the show. I could say so much more but I will leave you with this:
It was great to spend time with my crew and meet so many top coaches and great people who have influenced my career such as Chuck Evans, Charlie King and Todd Sones which is what the PGA show is all about. As I said before, it is all what you make of it. If you didn’t get anything out of it, It no fault but your own. See you next year.
I know its been awhile since I shot a Guru TV episode but here is a special edition that I hope you enjoy. I recently reached 2000 followers on Twitter and I wanted to do something special for that person. I was willing to give away some Guru Swag but come to find that this young lady did not need that since she was already a professional golfer and had a sponsor. So I offered to do a video swing analysis (A mini-Guru Project) since she is in Arizona and she kindly agreed to let me have a look at her golf swing. Chelsea is playing the mini-tours and is working toward to LPGA tour. Her coach has done a fantastic job with her so I thought I would give her my ideas to add to an already fabulous golf swing. I had to break up the video into 2 parts due to my lengthy analysis so click on the second one to see the finished product.
As I strive to learn more about the golf swing and ultimately help my students play better, I often turn to my golf pro friends through my social media connections. Whether it is one of the many groups that I am in on Facebook or my favorite way to exchange ideas,Twitter.com. So I was curious about what everyone thought about FOOT FLARE or the positioning of the feet at address and how it impacted a golfers swing. As I write this post I will tell you that I don’t have all the answers but experience and reasearch have their place because I can tell you what has worked for me as I will give you my opinion on this subject and give you some options that might help. But I want to share with you first what my colleagues answered when I posed the question: How much foot flare (with both feet) do you teach and feel is important and why? Here is what I got:
@golfgurutv OK back to original question. Trail foot square lead foot flair towards target.
So it seems that most are in favor of some foot flare. 10 to 30 degrees seems to be the consensus on the front foot. The back foot seemas to be mixed a bit.Some want it square and some flared. So here is how I see it. I would love to hear from more coaches and players with their opinions as I am just trying to learn what is the best way for the player. From my experience:
1. One of the most consistent swing errors that I see is the trail hip moving lateral in the backswing (sometimes even moving the weight to the outside of the rear shoe). This can cause you to limit your shoulder rotation and throw off your timing and sequence in the downswing. It often happens when the player is trying to keep their hips still (X Factor). With a limited shoulder turn, your hands/arms and the club cannot get deep (more behind you) enough to have a chance to returning the club on plane or from the inside without a huge plane shift.
2. Secondly, I see so many golfers that have been drilled into their heads the importance of turning through the downswing that they don’t have enough lateral slide toward to target to allow the hands/arms club shaft to drop to the inside enough. They spin the body, keep their weight back too long and end up cutting across the ball. I call these players, “BACK SIDED SPIN DOCTORS”
So how will foot flare help these problems and why?
I would suspect that it has a lot to do with knee, hip and ankle mobility for sure so this should be checked. I work with som many golfers that have had knee and ankle injuries and foot positioning is crucial for these folks.
RIGHT FOOT FLARE: Angling your rear foot out 10 to 20 degrees will increase your ability to extend your rear leg and rotate your hips more. More hip rotation will increase your shoulder rotation. If you don’t think you turn your shoulders enough, check this and you will see what i mean. The right knee will change flexion on the backswing. Look at any good player and you will see this. I didn’t say straighten but change, very important. If you try to keep your right knee flexed and don’t let your hips turn……Unless you are extremely hypermobile….I would expect you to shoot somewhere in the low 200′s.
Both Feet Square "Blocked"
SQUARE FOOT: You will see golfers with this back foot position and you can do it if you have good hip/knee/ankle mobility. It is easier to roll to the outside of your rear foot with your weight in this position so be careful.
LEAD FOOT FLARE:Probably the most important foot position in the golf swing: Teachers like Mac O’Grady
Lead Flare back Square
and many others have spoken of the importance of left foot flare. So what benefit will you have by flaring your foot 10-30 degrees.
1. It allows for the hips to slide laterally longer in the downswing which slows down the shoulder rotation (keeps you spin doctors at bay). This allows time to drop the club to the inside much easier. So If you are a cut across slicer, you probably need more slide and less turn for sure.
2. It takes pressure off of the left knee as it allows the knee to get over or slightly outside the ankle joint before starting to straighten (or post)……Does Tiger Woods come to mind? His new more centered pivot requires more hip and knee slide toward the target which is easier on his bad knee…hmmmm? And he has more foot flare as well. Less injury to the knees and ankles can’t be bad, right?
BOTH FEET FLARED = DUCK STANCE (best of both worlds)
The Duck Stance "My recommendation"
I see so many of my students that start with a square lead foot and pick it up and turn their toes toward the target and wonder why….Because it should have been there to begin with.
When you are watching football this weekend, pay close attention to the position of the place kickers lead foot and how that affects his ability to slide forward, swing his leg from the inside and turn his hips through the strike.
Ok, so that’s my take on foot flare. Would love to hear what you think as I am trying to learn and the more I look at players on the PGA tour the more different everyone looks so we need to make some sense of it all. Until then…..
Most of you that follow me on twitter know where I was last weekend. For the first time in my career I took my teaching on the road. My good friend, Rob McGill asked if I would come and teach a short game school at his club in Nashville and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to spend the weekend with my buddy and do some teaching. I was truly honored that someone would think that I had something to offer his members and for that I am thankful. So I couldn’t leave this week without giving some props to Rob McGill because I feel like people deserve to know the type of guy that he is but most of all the type of golf professional he is as well. This is not about me but about my friend Rob. I show up at the airport and Rob and his son, Braxton surprise me with a folder with 
(www.golfgurutv.com #makeeverything on it) which was pretty cool. We go to the club for a wonderful dinner and I start to meet the members of this fine club. You can just tell the love and admiration that they have for their head professional by the way they respond and treat him. Rob is always good for a kind word and hello to everyone that passes by…not because he has to but because he genuinely loves people and the members at Stones River. In the day and age of PGA golf professionals that are losing there jobs it was great to see a professional that is always trying to better themself and more importantly creating value to the membership by bringing programs like the AimPoint Class with John Graham and my little short game school as well. I told the members in my intro that they were fortunate to have a head professional that is always trying to improve his skills and share with the members his knowledge. As all great professionals , Rob is also a great mentor to his assistants, Matt Spain and the other staff members as he was continually checking on them and testing them in an unselfish constructive manner. Being the great observer that I am, I was just filled with joy to see watch this guy work and engage the members throughout the weekend, and then teach alongside him as well. I enjoyed meeting his family as they treated us like one of the family with their hospitality and kindness and I just wanted to say thank you and recognize one of the true great PGA golf professionals in our business. Thank you Rob for everything. 
****I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the epic mindmeld discussions on the golf swing that was had by John Graham, John Dochety, Rob, Matt Spain and with a special guest appearance by Kirk Oguri and Bob Townsend. We had a great time and I learned alot for sure. I know I promised some video and some video was taken but cannot be published unfortunately. Maybe next time.
