In this excerpt from over ten years ago, I have my first golf lesson ever with Mike Stark, the head pro at San Juan Country Club at that time. This was an exciting thing for me. What amazes me, reading this again, is that I am now back to a neutral grip, my head holds still, and I have come so far in the past ten years. I shoot much lower scores after all these years with all of my lessons, practices, and playing. I was thirsting for knowledge and quick improvement back then, but now, I am not in such a hurry. I do play better now, and that helps, but I am also more patient.
6-10-00
It’s official. I have had my first lesson with a golf pro, Mike Stark. We were originally going to work only on putting, but...
he changed his mind and he took a look at my full swing. We talked about two things that he noticed right away. First, he changed my grip to a very strong grip. He also switched it from an interlocking to an overlapping grip. Second, he showed me what a reverse pivot was. We talked about how Troy had changed my set-up to be more straight-legged, and how Troy had told me to hit it harder, but not with my hands. To make a long story short, before Mike I was confused and hitting it to the right. Afterwards, I was not as confused and hitting it straighter and longer than I’ve probably ever hit it before. He said I was hitting my seven iron one hundred sixty-five yards! I used to try and keep my head still. Now I move my head laterally behind the ball until I see my shoulder is behind the ball. He said it is okay to move your head side to side, but not up and down. Also, I learned to not straighten my right leg. That’s what creates the dreaded reverse pivot. I really felt I was moving behind the ball more than I ever had before. Really good shots felt really effortless.
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