Lessons from the links
Chesterfield golf professionals give their best advice for being successful on the course
By Lynn Warren CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Page Dowdy/Chesterfield Observer Birkdale golf pro Chris McNeil warns golfers not to over think their game.

The irony that those who play golf must ultimately concede is that golf is not a game; it is a skill. And, it is a skill that can never be mastered.

But that doesn't stop golfers from spending billions of dollars each year on equipment and instructions even though these products typically never claim to make one a winner, but only to improve skill levels.

It also doesn't deter most golf courses from investing in a golf pro to help players hone their games. Golf pros at both public and private golf facilities are the grassroots practitioners for neophyte golfers as well as the lightening rods for experienced players.

These club pros may use different teaching methods, but all agree that the key to success is to develop and maintain solid techniques.

"What other pros call the basics, I call the essentials," said Mike West, golf pro at Independence Golf Club. Grip and stance are the Mike West building blocks with grip being the most "essential."

Simply speaking, a golfer will move (swing) the club the way he or she grips it. Most negative results come from an incorrect grip. If a golfer consistently slices his shots it is because he is holding the club in such a manner that the ball has to slice, West pointed out.

But for most golfers, the real problem actually comes with the realization of the problem.

"Typically golfers change their swing in order to correct a slice (or a hook) when they should be changing the way they grip the club. It all starts with the grip, not the swing," West promised.

Once an effective grip is established, West concentrates on developing more essentials in posture, alignment and arm swing. But even when a golfer has honed his or her skills to a high level, "the essentials are the essentials are the essentials, regardless of skill levels," West warned.

"Golf is a very mental game," continued Birkdale pro Chris McNeil, "and it is easy to over think it."

His basics are swing tempo, keeping the head down and body position. He talks about the more technical "set points" or how your swing comes together, and is adamant that the swing plane is where success lies.

"Repetition is the key," said McNeil, pointing out how difficult it actually is to change one's swing.

Muscle memory builds up when one continually duplicates a motion - in this case, an erroneous golf swing. Muscle memory dictates that what one thinks is a correction (you think it's happening but it isn't) is actually an under correction, pointed out McNeil.

"I have to convince you to overcompensate," he explained.

Stonehenge pro Richard Smith is also an advocate of the basics. "Setup, setup and setup are the basic building blocks," he agreed. "If you are not prepared to make a good swing, you won't."

Teaching older and more experienced golfers is simply a matter of looking for bad habits to correct.

His real motivation, however, is mentoring the junior golfers in the Stonehenge Golf Academy.

"My passion is teaching the junior golfers," Smith admitted.

Smith uses a lot of teaching aids and fun games to help the younger golfers stay focused. He offers the Interactive Metronomic Computer Program (IMCP) to keep his kids heading in the right direction. The IMCP, or Groove, is a program designed to do exactly that: keep the golfer in the groove.

"The program is designed to refine timing, sharpen focus and promote mental control. In the end, it's all about staying at the same pace both mentally and physically."

But foremost in his teaching is making sure "you have lots of fun and enjoy what you're doing out there."