Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in
America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.
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When it comes to learning something, there are really 3 things you need to know. What, why, and how. To build a clear golf swing, you need to know what you are doing, and what you need to do. To really buy into it the what, you need to know why you are doing what you’re doing and why something else is better. And lastly, you really need to know how to practice it and how it feels when you don’t do it correctly. Here, at the Golf Smart Academy, the What and Why pieces will be covered in the concept sections, while the How will be stored in the Drills. This way, you can always go back and review the areas that you are having difficulty executing and get the right information as quickly as possible.
While every swing looks “different”, they share a lot of commonalities when you know what to look for. I know it seems crazy, but really, the golf club is a tool, designed for a specific purpose. Like any tool, there are key movements to get right.
Think of any other tool, like a hammer or a saw. Let’s take a hammer. In order to get it to work right, you have to hit the nail with the head of the hammer in a pretty straight line of force. These constraints, yield a fairly consistent “hammer technique”. Most people using a hammer grip it somewhat similarly and use a pretty similar motion. Think about it, when was the last time you saw someone hold a hammer crooked, or with the swing it across the nail.
The hammer is a simple tool, and every great hammer-er has used it in a similar way. So this begs the question, WHAT are the critical movements to a golf swing and WHY are they critical to swinging the golf club effectively. Well, sticking with the hammer analogy, we could either complicate things by studying the exact path that the hammer takes and try to replicate it, OR, we could understand that it is a simple movement from shoulder to wrist bend the elbow and the wrist, then extend the elbow just before you extend the wrist. My goal is to help you understand the key pieces to the golf swing, and give you strategies to explore them and apply them, regardless of your level of golf swing experience. In the Golf Smart Academy program, you will learn not only what you need the tool to do for a good golf swing, but the common combination of movements that makes it happen.
It’s important to understand that learning isn’t linear. Learning anything happens in layers of complexity. Let’s use the simple example of learning to dance. First, you learn the basic steps and timing of the music. Left foot goes here, right foot goes here, and step on a count of 1, 2. After you understand the basic steps, then you learn the more subtle movements that make it look a little better, like don’t just fall into the foot, PUSH off the foot your leaving. And don’t just put your foot down, you have to get all your weight over the foot for your partner to feel it. Little by little, and then layer after layer, you find how to make it better and more polished. The same thing happens with language, with math, and with any movement or skill.
The process of learning in layers was the inspiration for this program, and has served as the backbone of my teaching for some time. You are going to learn the 3 key movements of making a golf swing, but I am also going to teach you how to assess your feedback, how to practice the movements, both at home AND at the course, and all the areas of the short game.
The great thing about this system is that it is intended to be interactive. We want your feedback on how we can help you. We at Golf Smart Academy are striving to study and research and learn from the best in the business, and use this website as a way to communicate it all with you. We want this to be your first stop for any questions that you might have as you coach yourself to more successful golf. We will be regularly adding video and content, but your suggestions will help guide us, your personal coaching team on how to organize the information most effectively. We look forward to going on this journey with you...let’s begin.
Tags: Fundamentals, Beginner
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While every swing looks different, they share a lot in common when you know what to look for.
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I know it seems crazy, but really, the golf club is just a tool, designed for a specific purpose.
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Like any tool, there are movements that are key to getting it right.
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Think of any other tool, like a hammer or a saw, and how people look when they're using it.
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Let's take for example the hammer.
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In order to get it to work right, you have to hit the nail with the head of the hammer in a pretty straight line of force with the head
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and head pretty flat to the nail.
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These constraints yield a fairly consistent hammer technique.
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Most people are using a hammer, grip it somewhat similarly, and use a pretty similar motion.
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Think about it. When was the last time you saw someone hold a hammer crooked, or hold it between the fingers instead of in the middle of the palm?
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Or they swung it in a funny across the nail type fashion.
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You rarely see that because the hammer is a simple tool.
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And every great hammer has used it in a similar way.
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And this leads us to a logical question, which would be, what are the critical movements to a golf swing and why are they critical to using the tool?
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Well, sticking with the hammer analogy, we could either complicate things by studying the exact path that the hammer takes and compare it to all other hammers,
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or we could understand that it is a simple movement from shoulder to wrist with the body supporting.
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You just bend your elbow and your wrist, and then you extend your elbow just before you extend the wrist.
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You'll successfully have the hammer travel in a straight line, and you'll successfully hit the nail if you're lined up straight.
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My goal is to help you understand the key pieces of the golf swing, and give you strategies to explore and apply them, regardless of your level of golf swing experience.
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As you understand the movements, you will determine which are critical for you, and which don't really make that big of a difference in your game.
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This will take time and repetitions, but I'm going to make it as fun and painless as I can.
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Before you set off, it's important to understand that learning isn't linear.
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Learning anything happens in layers of complexity.
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One example where it's easy to see the layers is if you were learning to dance.
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First, you would learn the basic steps in the timing of the music.
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Left foot goes here, right foot goes here, step on account of one two.
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With just that information, you could probably make it through a song, okay?
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But you wouldn't look or feel very much like a dancer. You would probably feel very robotic.
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Well, after learning the basic steps, then you can learn the subtle ways to make it look a little better.
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Like, don't just fall onto the foot, push off of the foot that you're leaving.
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This will allow your partner to feel where you're going, and result in less mangled toes.
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Little by little, and then layer after layer, you will find how to make it look smoother and more polished.
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You can stop the process whenever you think it's good enough.
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You could learn to just dance enough to get through a song without looking silly.
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Or you could put in enough repetitions to look like a professional dancer.
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The difference between the beginner and the professional is the amount of time given to repetitions and the level of focus practice.
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This layered learning process is fairly universal.
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The same thing happens with language. You learn sounds and they become letters and letters become words.
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The same thing with math. You learn addition, multiplication, subtraction before you get into complex formulas.
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And it happens with any other movement or skill.
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So if you watch a video and aren't sure what we meant, please send us a question so that we can make it better the next time we film it.
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Or we can add a clarification note to that page.
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By asking us questions, you will help make great improvements to this site and to your golf game.
