Don’t Check Your Ego at the Door!

Trivia: “Where was [2008 FedEx Cup Champion] Vijay Singh born? A) The United States B) Fiji C) India D) Malaysia” Answer below.

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The following article comes from the Globe and Mail. You can find it online here.

It’s interesting. The author, Curtis Gillespie, advocates taking more golf lessons and being sure to park your ego at the door – or greenside – when you do so. The insinuation is of course that golf instruction can be hard on the ego. Perhaps even demeaning and/or depressing.

That’s because almost all golf instruction follows the error correction model. The instructor takes a good look at your golf swing and then eagerly pronounces all that is wrong with said swing. He/she points out the many flaws and errors in your swing before eventually advising you how to swing correctly.

We take a different approach at Parmasters Golf Training Centers. We teach you a brand new swing, from the ground up. We call it Straight-Line Golf. We keep nothing from your past swing. There are no errors and thus no correction. We use highly effective, proven teaching techniques such that each client learns Straight-Line Golf efficiently and effectively.

Since there are no errors, our teaching methods build you up rather than demeaning or depressing. We build up your ego, your golf ego, rather than causing it damage.

Having learned Straight-Line Golf, Parmasters clients feel they can effectively tackle any golf course on the face of this planet. And they’re correct!


SEE A PRO AND CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR
Golf magazines won't help your swing but a good teacher might - if you're the right kind of student

CURTIS GILLESPIE
From Friday's Globe and Mail
September 26, 2008 at 9:21 AM EDT

There aren't many things I can imagine paying $200 an hour for, and the few that I can are not ones I'm likely to admit to in public. However, there is something I would pay that kind of money for that I'll acknowledge with no shame.

It involves a level of enforced submission, it's true, though I probably deserve it. And yes, it encourages the addict in all of us. But standing in the heat with my master's hand gripping my forearm, his voice stern in its counsel, I realized that this was a weakness I ought to have made peace with long ago.

Suspend your lurid fantasies, because I'm referring to a golf lesson.

Though I'd had a group lesson as a junior and the odd conversation with a pro here and there over the years, I'd never had the kind of attention I received on a recent trip to Scottsdale, Ariz., where I met with Bill Forrest, born and raised in Ontario, but now one of America's best teachers (in 2006 he was named Teacher of the Year by the PGA of America).

He has taught everyone from foreign royalty to tour pros to Kevin Costner, but for one hour his only concern - or perhaps it's more accurate to say the source of his anguish - was my poor stray dog of a golf swing. It was an hour about me.

It was a solipsistic, decadent, narcissistic hour, unrelated to anything of any real importance or value.

I highly recommend it.

Why so few of us take proper instruction is a mystery, since the vast majority of us could really use it (and winter, indoors, is a perfect time for it, since we can focus on form rather than results). Certainly, it doesn't have to cost $200 an hour; most golf instruction is considerably less than that (few teachers are as experienced as Mr. Forrest).

Perhaps we don't pursue real teachers because every golf publication now focuses on the latest theory, the latest tip, the latest trend that's going to "unlock" our potential and effortlessly transform us into scratch handicaps.

Why pay all that money for a live teacher, part of us must think, when I can read a magazine and get better? Answer: Because you won't get better.

Golf magazines will go into mind-numbing detail about the Stack and Tilt swing, the Two Piece Takeaway, the X-Factor Swing, and any of the other thousands of swing theories floating around out there.

A country clubber unsheathing his new Stack and Tilt swing developed on what he's read in a magazine is like a mountain climber heading up Everest after reading a hiking guide; lives could be at risk.

You need a sherpa to guide you through the hazards.

Another factor in why we may not pursue instruction is that some of us sense, or already know, that we are less-than-perfect students.

While we chatted during my lesson, Mr. Forrest told me that he's noticed a few patterns over the decades he's been teaching: There are good students and bad students, he says.

Good students let down their defences, they listen and then they practise.

Bad students are usually men, usually older, usually successful in business and have about a 12 handicap.

Why is this the prototypical bad student?

"Because most men who are pretty fair players, a 12 handicap, for instance, aren't willing to get five shots worse at the start to get 10 shots better in the long run; because the male ego is resistant to instruction; and because successful people aren't used to being told what to do."

The best student, says Mr. Forrest, is the female beginner. "They improve in a hurry because they're so grateful to get some expertise, and because they actually listen to what you're telling them. They don't care if they aren't going to be tour pros."

Men, conversely, sometimes avoid instruction precisely because we need it, because it would be embarrassing to stand in front of a teacher and showcase that spasm that calls itself a golf swing. We shouldn't care; the world is full of hideous golf swings. David Feherty once likened the swing of world-class golfer Jim Furyk to "an octopus falling out of a tree." In any case, as Bruce Grierson points out in his fine book U-Turn, there is an old Turkish proverb that says, "No matter how far down the wrong road you have travelled, it is never too late to turn around."

Time is also a factor. If you have any of the following - children, spouse, job, bills, other hobbies, a life - the likelihood is that a scratch handicap will elude you. But being a little better wouldn't hurt, would it? Most of us would say we could use a little more Zen-like calm in our lives, but not many of us are running off to monasteries to enroll in two-week silent retreats.

Golf can be terrific fun even if you never manage to shoot 68. Keeping the ball in play, hitting the odd good shot, scoring at a level that's at least going to save you from embarrassment should you find yourself in a company tournament - all these things are quite achievable, provided you get the right kind of instruction, focusing on fundamentals.

Check your male ego - or your male - at the door. Find an instructor to teach you a decent grip, proper aim and alignment, a sense of rhythm, and you're ready to play.

Too many of us get our tips from some guy on the range, or we imitate our ill-equipped partners, or we mess ourselves up with every goofy swing theory in the latest golf magazine.

If that's how you learned the game, well, let that be a lesson.

Curtis Gillespie is the author of Playing Through: A Year of Life and Links along the Scottish Coast. His most recent book is the novel Crown Shyness.


And the answer: “B) Fiji”

The Downtown Card

Trivia: “Who was the first known female golfer?” Answer below.

It’s been another busy week. We’ve welcomed many new members – Welcome! – made progress on budgeting and space planning, welcomed a returning team member back, issued newsletters to members and future members, and signed up new community partners.

Our community partners are businesses throughout the community with whom we partner. I guess that’s why we call them “community partners”. They display our marketing literature in their place of business, and we do the same with their literature in our center. We also note them on our website, but we’re still working on that.

Our community partners also offer some sort of discount or incentive to our members, thus increasing the value of your Parmasters membership!

This past week also saw the launch of the new Downtown Card by the Kitchener Downtown Business Association! Businesses noted on the card offer some sort of incentive to people carrying and presenting the card. We offer 15% off of food and beverage from our Links Golf Cafe – when it opens – and the first month free with any membership.

And the answer: “Mary, Queen of Scots, who raised more than a few eyebrows when she was seen playing golf shortly after her husband’s death in 1567.”

Who knew?

Sunday 5km Race and Trivia

The run on Sunday went well. My results weren’t very impressive, but I did enjoy it. You can find our results here.

I’m going starting a new blog tradition. Or maybe it should be termed a “habit”. I’m not sure. Regardless, a wonderful friend gave me a book titled “The Ultimate PGA Tour Book of Trivia”. It’s brimming with interesting trivia, in the form of questions and answers. Most blog entries will now include one such question and answer. (I will add a permanent citation to my main blog page shortly.) Here we go.

“Many early sports, such as 15th century “Kolven” of Holland and “Chole” of Belgium, greatly resembled the game of golf. But what intrinsic part of the game was missing, keeping them from being considered early forms of the sport? A) A finishing point B) Clubs C) The ball D) The hole” Answer below.

The rest of the weekend is just a blur. Lots of work accomplished, children going here there and everywhere to activities, friends coming over, etc. And of course I caught as much of the Ryder Cup matches as I could. The golf was fantastic, as expected.

Yesterday we took delivery of a few banners from Mizuno. We sell custom-fitted Mizuno golf clubs. No other brands, and only custom-fitted. The banners will allow us to pretty-up our Temporary Event Center...

... Where we’ll be hosting another Preview Event this evening.

Yesterday we also welcomed back our first team member. Mike will focus on sending periodic newsletters to our members and future members, as well as partnering up with local golf courses.

The answer: “D) The hole. Both games, and many other similar ones, saw players hit balls around the landscape, but none involved dropping the ball below ground.”

Busy Weekend

I'm blogging from my son's archery lesson. They're just covering the basics during this first lesson. This is his second time taking archery lessons, so it's mostly review. I just hope they don't start shooting in this direction. So if this entry ends abruptly...

It's going to be a busy weekend. I had a great workout last night, but also discovered, as I lifted a few weights in my basement, that my dishwasher has sprung a leak. Happily I brought my tool box home yesterday. It had been at our Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo Temporary Event Center. I'll work on the dishwasher later today.

Hockey starts this weekend - early Sunday afternoon - for my other son. So we'll be getting skates sharpened on the way home from this lesson.

And the future archery expert has a sleep-over birthday party tonight. I'll retrieve him Sunday around noon.

Sunday morning I'll be competing in a 5 km charity run along with a close friend. I think maybe my blog entry a week or two ago prompted her to suggest this run. I'm really looking forward to it. I'd like us to do a lot more of these, and also work our way up to 10 km events. Early to bed tonight!

And of course, the Ryder Cup matches are on this weekend! The Golf Channel is providing unbelievable coverage. It's amazing how they come up with different angles and sidebar stories to explore. As a Canadian there's maybe not a lot of drama, as we aren't part of the matches. But the golf tends to be very, very good. And the team dynamics and strategies are something seen rarely in golf. Fun to watch!

And lastly, but very importantly, I have all kinds of work to do this weekend. Chris, one of our team members, has just completed another Preview Event. Since virtually everyone that attends sees the incredible value and purchases a membership, I assume we have welcomed a few more members to Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo. Welcome!

Time now to watch some archery, and to flip through a book given me by my 5 km run mate, "The Ultimate PGA Tour Book of Trivia". Many excerpts will make their way into this blog in the future.

A Very Central Location

It’s just after 6:00pm at our Temporary Event Center here in downtown Kitchener, and all is well. We’re just gearing up for another Preview Event.

We’re seeing the Parmasters KW buzz continue to grow and grow! It’s a real treat to see months, or actually YEARs of effort finally coming to fruition. Everyone is enthusiastic, supportive and eagerly anticipating our grand opening this winter! And we’ve yet to really kick our marketing efforts into gear.

A friend attended the Inspiring Women “The Experience” conference today and apparently had a great time! It was quite a treat, I’m told, to meet royalty!

I, of course, did not meet royalty today. But I did meet with several equally interesting individuals, making progress on several fronts. And there were countless phone calls and meetings booked well into the future.

When we selected Market Square (at the corner of King and Frederick Streets in downtown Kitchener) as our location, and signed that 20-year lease, we knew it was a very central and highly accessible location. Now, as we’ve opened our Temporary Event Center here, and this is my office, I’m even more amazed at how perfect this location is! I attend meetings all over Kitchener and Waterloo, and it’s always a quick and easy trip.

Well, back at it for now. Our guests will arrive shortly.

Running, Football, Golf, Etc.

It’s been a fairly productive day. We hosted yet another Preview Event at our Temporary Event Center at 10:00am and it’s been fairly busy since. I picked up some supplies at a local Staples and ran a few other errands, followed by some housework and tidying of my car (which had been badly neglected), and then more office work.

I also managed to squeak in a short (5 kms) run (I should probably use the term “jog”, but “run” sounds so more athletic!) this evening. It has rained most of the day, and actually really started to pour several times during the run. Between that and splashing through dozens of puddles, my time wasn’t great.

I haven’t run much lately. Just once or twice this summer really. I got out to RIM Park with a friend for a warm Sunday morning run a few weeks ago. I felt bad that I was holding her back. We ran in several 5 km charity events last summer, but have not tackled any thus far this year. I think she figures I’m too slow!

This evening I’m sitting in my family room with some golf and football on the television, and lots of reading and more work to do. Edmonton just took down Hamilton in a close CFL tilt! We’ll see how much more work I’m able to complete. Tomorrow will start with some golf practice, as my game is in terrible shape.