Middle Atlantic PGA
Vol. II - Issue IV
The Professional
In This Issue... Ryan Zylstra Wins PGA Asst. Championship PGA HOPE at Congressional Players of the Year President’s Letter The Professional
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FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear MAPGA Professionals, It is my honor to have been elected as your President last month. It is humbling to be affirmed by your peers and I will work every day to make sure we communicate effectively and make every decision as to what is best for our members and our Section. Looking forward to 2018, we are quite proud of the way the Tournament Schedule is coming together. I ask that you remember why you originally got into the golf business. What better way to celebrate your love of the game than striving to play more golf this year, especially by competing with your peers. I will lead the charge, as I plan on playing more this coming year. It’s more important now that it ever has been in the past. I hope all of you make it your goal to be on the golf course more, no matter the circumstances.
J.P. LUNN, PGA SECTION PRESIDENT
Our MSR cycle is closing at the end of June. Hopefully, you aren’t behind in your education credits but if you are, there are still plenty of opportunities at the Show, Spring Chapter & Section Meetings and other seminars. Remember, this requirement is to motivate you to always be learning more about your industry, enhance your current job and continue to increase your opportunities. We have had a few changes in the staff this offseason with Bob Heintz taking over as the Tournament Director and Will Martindale moving up to Junior Golf Director. I ask that you help them (they are both Level 2 Apprentices and will hopefully soon be PGA Members) by offering to assist in any way that you may be able. Lastly, we are working to grow our MAPGA Foundation. The long-term financial health of our Section can be facilitated by our Foundation. With the help of an outside firm, we have developed a strategic plan to continue to grow Junior Golf, Military Programs and Scholarships which are the three pillars of the Foundation. Keep an eye out for more information on these ventures and how you can get involved.
Layout & Design Ethan Brady Contributing Writers Ethan Brady, Jaacob Bowden Tajma Brown, Brian Dix, Bob Heintz, Kurt Knapper, J.P. Lunn Cover photo by Traci Edwards -PGA of America
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As we move closer to the end of the year, I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy this offseason with your families. This time of year usually proves to allow us more time to spend at home. Have a great New Year and I look forward to seeing you on the course in 2018! Warm regards, J.P. Lunn, PGA MAPGA President Page 2
NEWS. EVENTS. FEATURES.
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CONTENTS
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Hall of Fame Inductee Fred Funk
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Tournament Department Update
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Matt Miskelly & Companies Team Champ.
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Zylstra Wins PGA Asst. Champ.
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APA Update - Brian Dix
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2018 MAPGA Players of the Year
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Congressional CC’s H.O.P.E. Program
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Jumping For Distance - The Two Foot Jump Page 4
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WELCOME FRED FUNK 2018 MAPGA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE
The Middle Atlantic PGA Section is proud to announce the selection of PGA Professional Fred Funk to the MAPGA Hall of Fame Class of 2018. He will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2018 MAPGA Hall of Fame & Awards Banquet at Washington Golf & Country Club March 17.
After turning professional in 1981 upon graduation from the University of Maryland, Fred Funk became the golf coach at Maryland from 1982-1988. He was an accomplished player in MAPGA events, winning the MAPGA Professional Championship three years in a row (1987-89), the Maryland Open in 1983 and 1987, and both the MAPGA Assistant Professional Championship and National PGA Assistant Professional Championship in 1984. He won several additional events, including the year-ending MAPGA Tournament of Champions in 1984 and 1988. He was also the MAPGA Player of the Year in 1983. Funk made it to the PGA TOUR in 1989, playing in 29 events. However, he broke through in 1992 with his first PGA Tour win. In May of that year he captured the Shell Houston Open with a 16-under score for a two-stroke win over Kirk Triplett and winnings of $216,000. In 2005, Funk scored his biggest PGA Tour win when he captured The Players Championship, also becoming its oldest winner at 48 years, 9 months, 14 days. He earned $1.44 million for the win. In total, Funk has won eight times on the PGA TOUR, and nine times on the PGA Champions Tour, including three Champions Tour Majors (2009 US Senior Open, 2008 & 2010 JELD-WEN Tradition). He represented his country as a member of the USA Ryder Cup team in 2004, and the Presidents Cup in 2003 and 2005. One of Funk’s lasting legacies with the MAPGA is the scholarship fund in his name. Funk used a portion of his charitable dollars from the 2005 Presidents Cup team to help fund and endow the MAPGA Family Scholarships. The Bill Deck/Fred Funk Family Scholarships annually gives educational funding to children and grandchildren of MAPGA members. Funk was born in Takoma Park, Md., and earned his PGA membership in 1986. He is married to wife, Sharon, and has three adult children: Eric, Taylor and Perri. He currently resides in Ponta Vedra Beach, Fla.
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2018
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TOURNAMENT DEPARTMENT
UPDATE TOURNAMENT DATES APRIL. 16 THE MAPGA Two-Person Scramble APRIL 23-24 MAPGA MATCH PLAY CHAMP. MAY 14 CLUB CAR PRO-PRESIDENT MAY 21 SENIOR-JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP JUNE 25 MAPGA SPRING PRO-SCRATCH JULY 30-31 MAPGA ASSISTANTS CHAMPIONSHIP AUG. 20 MAPGA FALL PRO-NET AUG. 27-28 MAPGA SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FULL SCHEDULE
BOB HEINTZ TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR
Dear MAPGA Members and Friends, Having been with the MAPGA for over 11 years as the Junior Golf Director, I am extremely excited and honored to be selected as the Tournament Director. I know I will have big shoes to fill with Jeremy Greiner’s departure, but with the help of Tournament Program Administrator Eric Southard I hope to fit right in. I was able to shadow Jeremy for the last few Section events and think I have a pretty good grasp on the mechanics of running out MAPGA tournaments. Keep in mind, I want to still have the Professionalism and attention to detail that Jeremy did so well, but incorporate some of my own flair into the events. Over the first few weeks on the job I made it a point to talk to some of the Professionals that played in events to get their opinion on making tournaments different and also talk to some of the Professionals that didn’t play in events to see how to get them out there on course in 2018. Working junior events over the years, I was able to take the program from just over 30 one-day tournaments to installing two-day events, a Rydercup event, and multiple other tournaments to make the program bigger and stronger. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel with our tournament program but I do think I can bring a fresh look to see how we can make our tournaments better. Thank you in advance for your support and please don’t hesitate to give me a call. I can be reached at 540-784-1966 or by email at bheintz@pgahq. com. Sincerely,
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THE MAPGA PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BALTIMORE COUNTRY CLUB TIMONIUM, MARYLAND SEPTEMBER 24-26, 2018 The Professional
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MATT MISKELLY & COMPANIES TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATT MISKELLY & COMPANIES TEAM CHAMP.
Trailing by seven strokes on the last day of play, Rick Schuller and Frank Ferguson put together a bogey-free 27 holes to come back and win the 2017 Matt Miskelly & Companies Team Championship at Salisbury Country Club by two strokes.
The pair finished with a 13-under-95 for the second day and a two-day total of 20-under 196. After the first day, Schuller and Ferguson were in third place with a 27-hole score of 101. By the end of the tournament, they led the field with 51 holes of par-or-better and also had 21 birdies. The impressive 4-under during the alternate shot portion of the round gave Schuller and Ferguson a strong jump in the leaderboard. “I thought if we could play a decent round and not have any bogeys we would be fine,” Schuller said. “It always comes down to the alternate shot and
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we were awesome today during that portion with four birdies.” Round one leaders Chip Sullivan and Kenny Clark started the second day with a strong 6-under nine-hole scramble, but their final nine holes in the alternate-shot format resulted in four bogeys, dropping them behind Schuller and Ferguson. “I personally thought we were playing for second place,” Schuller said.“Chip and Kenny are such good players and the way they played yesterday was so rare to see a six-stroke lead in a team event. Hats off to them for that round.” “To me, the Matt Miskelly Team Championship is the most fun event of the year,” Ferguson said. “It’s a great end to the season and I look forward to it every year.”
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2017 CHAMP
THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC PGA CONGRATULATES
RYAN ZYLSTRA ON WINNING THE 2017 PGA ASSISTANT PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP The Professional
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Zylstra Wins Assistant PGA Championship By Pat Kravitz, PGA of America
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – At the PGA Golf Club, the rain kept falling, the wind was constant, and the nearest competitor was relentless. In the end, nothing proved enough to slow Ryan Zylstra. The 38-year-old from Richmond, Virginia, won the 41st National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship with a finishing score of 11-under 277. With his victory, Zylstra claimed the first-place prize of $12,000 from the $150,000 total purse. Derek Berg finished with a solo second, one stroke back at 10-under 278. “I don’t know what this win is going to do for me,” said Zylstra, who spends his time at The Federal Club in Glen Allen, Virginia. “I’m new to the business. I’ve only been an apprentice since February. I’m very thankful that I have the opportunity to play a lot of golf and get to represent my club and family.” Zylstra, playing in the penultimate group, entered the final round trailing Berg by two strokes. With wet and windy conditions at the Wanamaker Course, he attacked the front nine and converted three birdies on holes 3, 5, and 6. With a threeputt bogey on the par-3 4th, Zylstra made the turn at 10-under for the Championship. “I knew it was going to be tough,” said Zylstra, referring to the weather. “You have two options: you either embrace it and take it for what it is, or let it bother you and get upset. I figured if I could maintain a good attitude that I’d be able to do the best I could. Accept that there’s going to be rough The Professional
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patches, you’re going to hit bad shots and get bad breaks. Everyone’s getting it. I’m not the only one playing these conditions. I think that really helped keep me levelheaded.” Zylstra’s positivity helped him overcome a three-putt bogey at the 10th. He would add two birdies at 13 and 16, where he played a combined 7-under during the Championship. Par saves on 17 and 18 sealed the victory. Berg, the 36 and 54-hole leader, entered the final round with a one-stroke advantage on the field. The 36-year-old from Duvall,Washington, played steady through his first eight holes, with seven pars and a birdie on the par-3 6th. Berg, who is an apprentice at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington, faltered on the 9th hole with a bogey to make the turn at even-par for the day. Bogeys by Berg on 13 and 14 proved to be enough separation for Zylstra to pull away. Adam Rainaud (Chester, Connecticut) and Ryan Botts (Lebanon, Tennessee) tied for third place at 5-under 283. 2017 has been quite the year for Zylstra, who was recently named the Middle Atlantic PGA Section OMEGA Player of the Year. He has won a mind-boggling thirteen times this year, including his victory on Sunday. But his greatest accomplishment came by the way of his first child, Jaxon, who was born this past summer, days after winning the State Open of Virginia.
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“I really love competitive golf,” said Zylstra. “I struggled for a lot of years as a professional on mini tours. The birth of my son has eased up everything this year. From that aspect, golf isn’t as important to me as it was previous years when I was trying to grind it out. “I didn’t see this year coming. I always knew I had the potential to do this once I figured out how to win. This year has just been unreal. I’m very thankful.” With their finish in the top 4, Zylstra, Berg, Rainaud, and Botts have earned a berth into the 2018 National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship, provided eligibility is met and maintained. The 2018 Championship will be played November 15-18 at PGA Golf Club. The 41st National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship was supported by Cleveland Golf, Srixon, XXIO, John Deere, and Golf Advisor.
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The APA Brian Dix, PGA APA President
W
e are just one month away from 2018. As the season officially winds down, we take time to reflect on this past golf season. The APA has had a successful year and there are always changes happening from year to year. Myself, and the directors of the APA review each of its various aspects and find how we can improve to grow our membership and participation. Although, we hosted a few less tournaments this year, we were able to have great participation and play great courses within our section. We are grateful enough to have fellow PGA Professionals dedicated to continuing to help the APA in its mission to grow opportunities for its association. I thank them for their continued dedication to our association. The Professional
As we look onto 2018, we are already looking at our potential tournament schedule, changes to our tournament program, and setting up educational events directed at the APA. I feel we will do another great job of providing great opportunities to learn and play. We are looking forward to some great winter educational seminars. Kevin Tanner at GolfTec North Bethesda is hosting an event in January prior to the PGA Show and we are in talks with another PGA Professional for another event after the PGA show. So, keep an eye out for emails, Facebook posts and the like. Are you an apprentice and an APA member? There is a unique opportunity for you within our association. Each year the APA provides twelve Page 18
ASSISTANT PROFESSIONAL
$500 scholarships for those APA members that complete a level within a calendar year.You must complete one of your levels and be in the top 4 of that level against fellow APA members. There are a few other requirements that can all be found on the APA portion of the MAPGA website. Did you know the APA is not just for assistant professionals? All apprentices, A-8’s & A-6’s are eligible to be members of the APA. While we do what we think is best for our association, we always encourage suggestions and thoughts about what can make us better. If you ever have a thought, concern, or suggestion, do not hesitate to reach out and let us know how together we would be able to better our association. The Chapter Directors and I are open to discuss with anyone how we can accomplish our goals and make the APA an even The Professional
bigger success. I’d like to welcome the new and returning chapter directors of the APA. Mike Wood- Northern Chapter A-8 Director Eli Mireles- Central Chapter A-8 Director Andrea Wilson- Southern Chapter A-8 Director It is my belief that each of these Professionals will be dedicated to running great tournaments, educational opportunities, and various other opportunities for the APA. We are going to do our best to communicate tournaments, and any educational opportunities available to the APA. I look forward to a wonderful 2018 and all it has to bring our association!
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PLAYERS OF THE
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2017 OMEGA Players of the Year
By Ethan Brady
F
ollowing the final Player of the Year points eligible event at the Rocky Gap Players Cup, Joanna Coe, Ryan Zylstra and Rick Schuller are the 2017 MAPGA Players of the Year. For the second consecutive season, the 2017 OMEGA Women’s Player of the Year is Joanna Coe, of Baltimore Country Club. “It’s a great honor to win this award in the Middle Atlantic Section,” Coe said. “We have such great players and courses in this Section and it’s been a lot of fun playing at the local level.” In just her second year in the business side of golf, Coe says balancing work and practice has been different from her usual routine. “The work-play balance is definitely different,” Coe said. “My game turned on late in the year and April through July I wasn’t hitting the ball very well. In August, I was able to turn on my game and played much better at the end of the season.” Not only did that strong play earn Coe Player of the Year honors, but she successfully qualified for the 2018 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Kildeer, IL. Coe also won the 2017 MAPGA Women’s Championship by 10 strokes and finished seventh at the National Car Rental Assistants Championship. The Professional
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Ryan Zylstra had an incredible tournament season winning a number of large tournaments. The 2017 State Open of Virginia Champion, continued his success in PGA tournaments, placing first in five other events, the Southern Chapter Championship, National Car Rental Spring Pro-Scratch, National Car Rental Assistant Championship, Rocky Gap Players Cup and the PGA Assistant Professional Championship. “After I won the State Open, I knew I had a chance,” Zylstra said. “I had a really good year this season, by far the best year I’ve had as a professional. It’s very exciting because winning Player of the Year was one of my goals at the beginning of the season.” In his first year as an apprentice, Ryan Zylstra is the 2017 OMEGA Open Player of the Year with 1,420 points earned over six events. “As an apprentice, I can’t play in the Section Championship so I knew I had to play well in my other events.,” Zylstra said. “I’m very thankful of Tim Dale and the ownership at Federal Club to allow me to play a lot of tournament golf and represent our club,” Zylstra said. “It was a great season and I hope to continue my success into next year.” In the Senior Player of the Year race, Rick Schuller, of Stonehenge Golf Club in Richmond,Va., was closely followed by Ricky Touma, of Burning Tree Club. A strong finish atop the leaderboard at the Rocky Gap Players Championship solidified Schuller as the 2017 Senior Player of the Year. Schuller has previously won the MAPGA Open Player of the Year five times, and this will be his third Senior Player of the Year honors. He was the highest finishing senior in three events this season, the National Car Rental Spring Pro-Scratch, National Car Rental Fall Pro-Net and the Rocky Gap Players Cup. Among those accomplishments, Schuller played in the 2018 Senior PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club in May.
The 2018 MAPGA Hall of Fame & Awards Banquet March 17, 2018 Washington Golf & Country Club Tickets Available Soon on MAPGA.com
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L E N S
T E C H N O L O G Y
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Captain Registration is
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Be sure to sign up your teams before the registration goes live to the junior golfers! It only takes a few minutes to get setup to participate in this great program!
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CONGRESSIONAL COUNTRY CLUB BY TAJMA BROWN
PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) is the flagship military program of PGA REACH, the
charitable foundation of the PGA of America. PGA HOPE introduces golf to Veterans with disabilities to enhance their physical, mental, social and emotional well-being. Adaptive sports, for many injured veterans, are their first exposure to physical activity after injury. Physical activity is important for helping to maintain or improve health. PGA HOPE was created to help veterans reintegrate back into their communities through the social interaction the game of golf provides. From September through October, Congressional Country Club hosted the PGA HOPE program. The six-week program allowed wounded veterans in the DC community the opportunity to learn from PGA professionals for free of charge. Along those veterans were gold star widows. For two hours a week, program participants were able to learn the rules of the game or for those who just needed a brush up, professionals were there to help them tune their skills. The veterans and widows learned every aspect of the game, from how to hold a golf club to how to hit a drive. On the last day of the program, they were given the chance to put their new skills to the test and they competed in a scramble tournament. For the Congressional members, there was a tremendous sense of pride for having the ability to host and witness this program. For a club such as Congressional, the PGA HOPE program was a natural fit. Giving back to the military and being able to support the PGA were important factors for the club. For the veterans, it was an opportunity for them to be with one another and to share their stories; an opportunity to share camaraderie. This program shifts their focus from their injuries and puts their focus on The Professional
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the here and now, on that moment. “The program was powerful. Staff was met with a standing ovation at the end of graduation,” said Jason Epstein. “All of the professionals donated their time, and it was equally beneficial to them to help the veterans.The veterans were always energetic.” After the success, and impact, of the HOPE program for the members of the community surrounding Congressional, the club looks forward to bringing it back for years to come. PGA HOPE has already impacted over 3,500 veterans to date. The Professional
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JUMPING FOR
DISTANCE
THE TWO FOOT JUMP
If you follow the sport of long drive
(whether as a former competitor like me or as a non-competitor) and are interested in distance, you may have come across this modern idea of squatting down during your swing and jumping up with both legs to get more power as you come through impact, even to the point of coming off the ground. In this two-part article, I’d like to share my current thoughts about this. In Part 1, I’ll go over how I think this two-foot jump concept came about and why I don’t think it’s necessarily a good idea to implement in your swing. Part 2 will discuss the 1-foot “jump” alternative and why I believe it is better. With the two-foot jump, I think this came about from a few things. First, in this age of using more advanced photography to analyze golf swings, it’s possible to look at a freeze frame moment of a golf The Professional
By Jaacob Bowd swing with great visual clarity and think that that a specific position is some key or secret to the golf swing. But it’s important to keep in mind that a single positional snap shot could simply be a split-second moment of a larger fluid motion. Think of the Sam Snead squat. Snead was a long hitter and great player. If you take look at his down swing, he does get in to a position that looks like a squat. Because Snead was so good, I think the instruction world looked at this as some sort of key to Snead’s distance and play. Years go by and then the instruction morphs in to the squat being thought of as a key component to playing good golf. However, looking at the larger motion, in the backswing Snead straightened his trail leg and got his weight over on his trail foot. By the time he finished his swing, this was reversed with his lead leg being straight and weight shifted over to that lead leg. It’s a relatively simple motion and in the middle of that transition, both legs happen to be Page 26
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slightly bent and look like a partial squat. Second, similarly with the slow-motion footage, analysis, and interest in long hitters and professional long drivers these days, I think perhaps it started out by noticing that a player happens to have a squat look in their swing with a subsequent two-foot jump type move that gets them airborne. This again gets thought of as some type of secret to power and it starts getting taught. Before you know it in our small world of golf, multiple players have caught wind of the concept and are trying to do it. The instruction world then notices and says “Look, now multiple players are doing it! It must be the key!”, even though they are the ones who propagated it. It’s sort of like quantum theory in which the observer can affect the outcome. Third, there could be a level of correlation vs causation taking place in which to beware. From 1999 to 2009, it was noticed that the number of people who drowned in swimming pools each year had a strong correlation with the number of films Nicolas Cage appeared in. Should Cage then not make a movie to prevent people from drowning in pools? Simply because multiple long
hitting golfers are observed to squat, jump, and get airborne, it’s important to consider that this may not be what is causing the power. Lastly, again with the advent of modern technology like force plates, one can see that longer hitters generally do generate more vertical ground forces than short hitters. It is also true that there is a strength correlation as you move from amateurs to tour players to long drivers. As I’ve mentioned in numerous other articles, long drivers tend to be incredibly strong compared to other golfer groups. Thus, it’s not unreasonable to again then make the conclusion that squatting down and jumping off the ground with two feet will generate more power and distance. All that being said, I’d like to make the case that these long hitters are actually airborne not because of this secret “squat and two-foot jump and get airborne” move, but rather in part from a flawed setup. I believe one of the problems in golf instruction is that we’re commonly taught to take a wider stance when we want to hit the driver or hit for more power. In some cases, this has been taken to an extreme and now some stances have become too wide. When you get too wide, ironically it becomes more difficult to maintain balance when swinging hard. If you look at players that hit the ball long like Count Yogi, Mike Austin, Sam Snead, or John Daly, they are wide but not so wide that they can’t still have good footwork and stay in balance. When you get wider than that, which happens commonly with professional long drivers, it becomes more difficult to finish in balance on your lead foot. This is also complicated by limited hip mobility.You can read more about this in this article, but most golfers of all skill levels have better external hip mobility vs internal hip mobility. Because of this, when you set up with your feet perpendicular to the path you want to swing on, you will likely have the lead foot external mobility to make a full enough back swing, but you probably don’t have the internal hip mobility to keep your foot in the same place and get your hips rotated all the way around to facing your target. As a built-in protection mechanism, you probably either get your
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weight on your lead heel and spin the foot open…or you must come off that foot completely (get airborne) to allow your leg to rotate to a position where you won’t hurt yourself. But I’ve been asked…what about Bubba Watson? He hits relatively powerfully and has a narrower stance with an open lead foot at address. Yes, this is true. However, notice that in his downswing, he replants that lead foot back to a position where it is more perpendicular to his swing path. Of course, then because of the limit of his internal hip mobility and the replant, he must either get airborne or spin out on that foot as a way of protecting himself from injury. If he opened his lead foot a little bit more at address and replanted back in this spot on the way down, he wouldn’t need to get off that foot to protect himself from injury. So, to me, this two-foot squat and jump off the ground instruction is flawed. If one were to set up with a more appropriate stance width, open the lead foot sufficiently to accommodate your own personal level of hip mobility, and not replant the foot too closed relative to the limit of your personal level of internal hip mobility on the downswing, it’s possible to maintain better balance, not get airborne, and head off potential injury while still generating huge amounts of vertical ground force. This can be done through a one-foot jump motion…and without jumping off the ground.
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If you are interested in contributing to The Professional, contact Ethan Brady at ebrady@pgahq.com
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