My best bud and old high school classmate, a scratch golfer himself, recommended a book he had read called Paper Tiger by Tom Coyne. Coyne had decided to dedicate a year of his life to seeing if he could get good enough to make it to a qualifying school. He spent a small fortune and over a year of his life to see what was possible. He started as a 6 handicap and, with the help of an exceptional teacher, Dr. Jim Suttie, ended as a +1. After reading about the scientific and iconoclastic approach of Dr. Suttie, I decided he was the guy I had to see.
Dr. Suttie has his PhD in biomechanics and is the da Vinci of golf instruction. His exceptional amalgam of the art of instruction and the science of the body and the swing is unparalleled. He explained his philosophy of advising individuals by first stating, "Every person's body is different and the goal is not to put a classic swing on you, or someone else's swing, but the swing that best suits your build." Dr. Suttie is a coach and consultant to many players both on the PGA tour and the Senior Tour.
Other than a profound knowledge of how the body works, there isn't anything that Dr. Suttie does that other golf pros aren't attempting to do. He talks about the basic fundamentals, uses the similar swing aids, utilizes video feedback, etc., but it is the way that he orchestrates all these elements and communicates his advice that makes him so unique. Like every other pro, he started with my grip but he did something that no other pro had ever done with me. He placed the club in my hand and moved my fingers to the exact place they should be and had me place the club on the ground. It felt like a foreign object. He told me it would feel that way for a while but, upon success, I would learn to adjust to it. Every other pro had simply pointed to the direction I should move my right or left hand. I had never had a "hands-on" experience regarding my grip. "Everything starts with and is informed by the grip," Dr. Suttie told me, "and I think you'll see your swing motion greatly affected by this grip."
Next he taught me how to begin my swing. "If you don't start right, everything you do after that is an attempt to make up for an errant beginning," he explained. "Your body will find a way, however flawed, to make contact." He brought out a swing aid that my club would bump into if I pulled the club back the wrong way. After every swing, he gave me instant feedback by showing video of the swing in slow motion and commenting on what I was doing correctly and where old habits were taking over. He ended by showing me a video where I did almost everything right and recorded his commentary on the swing. He sent the video to my e-mail immediately.
It cost me a few hundred dollars and a half day of my life, but it has added an energy and excitement to my hobby like I have never experienced. As I write this column, it is the day after I have finished playing the Olympic Club in San Francisco, the site of this year's U.S. Open. The course got the best of me, as I expected it would. My playing partner and pal of many years who had recommended Paper Tiger to me said, "I like what I'm seeing with your swing. Keep on the Suttie program." It gave a shot of hope to a middle-aged dog trying to learn new tricks.
As I flew home, I began to chart the principles at work in Dr. Suttie's approach that caused the experience with him to be so exceptional. His basis is a profound knowledge of how the body works and the realization that different body types require different approaches. But how he delivers his advice is what I found to be exceptional and differentiated him from the pack. Here are the crossover principles that come to mind:
Guidelines for Advice