Trevino’s Wisdom Resonates Today – AZGA Arizona Golf Staff
AZGA Arizona Golf Tool Chest – AZGA Breaking the Code:
Lee Trevino is credited with a statement uttered almost 20 years ago that’s as true today as it was then: I can beat you today with any bag of clubs on this range because I can manipulate the club face, precisely, every single swing, and make the club perform the way I want it to. You tell the everyday golfer they can’t do that, and that’s why it’s more important their clubs fit them, than it is my clubs fit me.
Gary Blaisdell
Throughout my 20+ years as master equipment fitter and instructor for Henry-Griffitts®, Slazenger® and since 2000, my own Blaisdell Performance Systems®, I still find it to be the simplest expression of why the avid club player and recreational golfer must have equipment custom tailored to fit them.
The Arizona Golf Authority has invited me to share my thoughts on the current state of the custom-fitted golf equipment industry with you. Throughout this series of articles I will explain the substantial difference between “fitted golf equipment” and “golf equipment custom-fitted to you”. Don’t think you have been properly fitted just because a store clerk has watched you hit balls ten feet into a net, or used a swing simulator. There’s a lot more to it than that, as we will discuss in later articles.
We will also visit the common elements that constitute an enjoyable golf experience for the player. Our research has demonstrated that regardless of the level of play, professional competition, club or recreational golf, each golfer expresses almost the exact same answers to questions about “enjoyable golf”.
The warm-up is complete, now we’re off to the first tee to get started by debunking a few myths.
“Gary, my golf swing is so inconsistent, I’ll score well for a while and then poof, it’s gone.”
Not true, my friend, you are as consistent as the day is long and I’ll prove it to you. We go stand off to the side of the first green, turn back and watch the first tee. We can’t see anyone’s face from over 400 yards away but invariably, simply watching whomever it may be strike their tee shot immediately reveals the name of the player. “Yea, that’s Wally, that’s his move.”
Ladies and gentlemen, don’t fret over your perception of inconsistency, rather, let’s capitalize upon the highly predictable consistency you own right now, and most likely will own far into the future.
“Gary, I don’t play as well as Mr. B who’s in our group because he’s a former all-conference athlete blessed with supreme hand-eye coordination.”
No sir that cannot be true. Hand-eye coordination has no significance in the game of golf because the ball is at rest, it’s not moving. If hand-eye coordination had any role to play in the act of striking a golf ball well, the blind players I have fitted and who are currently enjoying the game would not be able to do so. Yet they are, right now, even though they can’t see anything.
I assure you, a proper golf swing for you is a simple exercise in choreographed balance. Focus on that last word, balance, as we will return to it often.
The topic of balance requires a column in itself and I’ll address that next month. Between now and then, here’s what you can do to prep. Absent a golf club, assume an address position that feels balanced to you. To do so, image a shortstop or a point guard preparing to move athletically in any direction, or perhaps someone about to propel a 460cc lump on the end of a stick at 80, 90 or 100 mph through space. Once you have found your position of balance, don’t move. Have someone hand your golf club to you and make note of where it contacts the ground in relation to you. You may be surprised to see your club doesn’t touch the ground at all and could inhibit your ability to address the golf ball in balance.
Check in for the next edition and we’ll help you understand what you have just discovered. In the meantime, if you have questions, Gary would be happy to respond. You can use the form below to send them his way.
Gary Blaisdell is the Founder and CEO of the custom golf equipment fitting and instruction company Blaisdell Performance Systems, Inc. headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Gary can be reached at:
17212 North Scottsdale Road/Scottsdale, AZ 85255
602.617.2594
Send an E-Mail to Gary Blaisdell:gbps@cox.net