Golf Lessons Now Available at Fairfield PAL

The Solano Golf Pro is now giving lessons at Fairfield PAL (Police Activities League) twice a week at the Matt Garcia Center (The old Sullivan Middle School). Any PAL member can come out on Mondays and Wednesdays at 5 pm to learn the fundamentals of the game. We also play a few short holes outside at the field. This of course is all at no cost; clubs and balls are supplied by the Solano Golf Pro and Future Legends Golf. For more information call Tom Nelson at 707-631-8884. 

FUTURE LEGENDS HIBERNATE FOR WINTER

Halloween marked the final Future Legends Clinic for 2015. The kids won prizes by showing off the skills they learned over the past months. Congratulations goes out to Nicholas Love for winning the Big Chip Off Challenge! The day concluded with a fry & chicken strip feast provided by Dan, George and their Legends Grill Team.  

Future Legends Clinics will start again in the 2016 Feb/Mar timeframe. If you want to be kept up to date on the Future Legends Clinics, just drop an email to solanogolfpro@gmail.com.  

2015 Future Legends Toast Dan Bieber. George Marshall and their Legends Grill Team

Nicholas Love, 2015 'Big Chip Off Challenge' Winner

Lesson #2 - The 10 to 20 Foot Putt

After the student becomes comfortable over a 3 to 4 foot putt (see Lesson #1), it is time for the second lesson. All we are going to do now is increase the length of the putt to 10 to 20 feet! During this lesson the instructor needs to reinforce the six basic skills learned in the first lesson. As the swing/stroke will be longer and need more force, it will be more challenging for the student keep their form. It is imperative that the instructor video the student and do a side by side comparison with their short putt stroke.

It is time to add one more key point to the six  learned in Lesson

#7 Hold the Finish: It is important that the student hold their finish at the end of the stroke. This habit needs to be learned and reinforced as early as possible as it is part of every golf swing, not just the putt. 

So that is it for this week's lesson. It is just another stepping stone on the golf path to greatness!

HOMEWORK - PRACTICE GOALS: Putt at a dime or penny instead of the hole. Do not just try to hit the coin, but also try to make all your putts stop about six inches past the hole. The key goal here is to control your speed so all your putts go the same distance beyond the cup.

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Lesson #1 - 3 to 4 Foot Putt

This is the first lesson. And we are going to start with the 3 to 4 foot putt! It sounds easy, but there a few main fundamentals that will carry over to all the golf shots. So, focus on learning these key skills to make all future lessons easier!

#1 The Grip: exactly how one holds the club at this point is not as important as having the student take a comfortable hold of the putter. It would be best if their hands are kept close together, but this too can be learned later. The only thing to teach at this point is that both thumbs should be pointing straight down the shaft. Most putter grips have a flat surface that makes it natural for the thumbs to rest on top.

#2 Keep You Head Still: A core fundamental that should be taught right away. Although it may seem elementary and easy to keep one's head steady while making such a short putt, videoing the students swing many times will reveal that the head is moving. . . Even if the student feels it is rock steady.

#3 Do Not Let the Left Wrist Break or Bend: In other words, one should never let the putter head pass the left wrist during a stroke. Again, video is worth 1000 words when explaining this to a student.

#4 Rock the Shoulders: Do Not Use the Hands: explain to the student why using the big muscles of the shoulders is important when they get nervous under the pressure of competition. It is always good to reinforce or set the image of the player winning future golf tournaments. This vision or goal is a great motivator.

#5 Keep the Backswing as Short As Possible: most beginners will take the putter back maybe a foot or more. This of course makes it that much harder to return the putter head sweet spot back to the ball. Tell your student, "Try to take it back as short as possible, but just far enough to get the ball to the hole." Demonstrating that one only needs to take the putter back an inch or two on a short putt is an easy way for the student to visually and quickly understand the concept.

#6 Use a Two Count Tempo: It is never too early to start teaching good tempo. Have the student count out loud while making their strokes. Some counts include "One - Two," "Rock - Roll," and "Tick- Tock." Just make sure the student counts out loud and they use the same tempo from stroke to stroke.

HOMEWORK - PRACTICE GOALS: Try to practice enough to make 5 putts in a row before moving on to Lesson #2.

**NEW** Online Lessons For Golf Newbies

It is high time I share what my junior students have taught me over the past 10 years about teaching one how to golf their ball. And since the summer months are starting, what better way than to use my Blog as a way to document  the basic steps for lessons.

I believe golf is best taught through regular lessons with lots of practice in between. So I will do my best to post one lesson per week. The series of lessons will be designed to take a novice through the lessons necessary for them to become comfortable playing on the course  . . .with others!

The lessons will contain video, stills and text. The ultimate goal will be to complete a series of digital lessons that will allow a non-PGA Professional (coaches, parents, etc.) to introduce someone to the game of golf.

To conclude, please share your thoughts and comments to the blog entries. Together, the final product will be better than what I can create alone.

Cheers,

Tom Nelson

@solanogolfpro

First Future Legends Clinic

The first Future Legends golf event got off to a great start this past Saturday at Rancho Solano. After the clinic, the kids took to the range to display their skills. (See attached picture.)

A big thanks goes out to all those that helped out the kids with their swings! This includes past Paradise Valley Club Champion Stan Dumdumaya, Holy Spirit Coach Mike Davenport, past PGA Touring Pro Scott Watson, Justin Sienna Varsity Golf Team members Drake Cody, Connor Hanna, and Jack Sullivan. What a display of  our Solano County Community joining together to bring golf to any kid that has a desire to learn and play.

The experienced players took to the course for a 9 hole 'Pick Up Tourney' thereafter with the following results:

• Low Gross - Drake Cody (Even par 36)
• Closest to the Pin - Connor Hanna
• Putting Contest  - Ted Davenport (1 under par)

NEWS ALERT!!

We are changing the time. Next Saturday's Clinic will start at 2:00pm at Rancho Solano..

So help spread the word. We want as many kids as possible to be able to enjoy the great game of golf.

To Golf Camp or Not To Golf Camp?

Well it is the Golf Camp Season! There is a golf camp out there for every kid of any age. They will be learning with their friends in a fun environment. Kids learn golf for a number of days straight - 4 to 8 hours a day. They are going to learn so much and greatly improve their games, right? WRONG!

It is my experience that golf camps are almost always better for the in$tructor$ than the students. After all, camps charge hundreds to thousands of dollars to give large group lessons.  But do not get me wrong, the content of the instruction is normally very good. Yet we need to remember that the students are kids. As a general rule they do not have the attention span to effectively learn from marathon lessons over such condensed periods of time. This is even more true for kids under 13!

A camp at $200 for four days may sound like a deal. But the individual attention each child actually receives will depend on the size of the group.

On the other hand, I have seen kids sent off to remote high end camps sometimes half way across the country. This may be a good life experience, but they always return with a new  'magic method' or 'magic move.' But after a short time the magic starts to fade and the kid quickly realizes their camp instructors are no longer available. Now what does the kid do? Normally they end up going back to their local instructor who attempts to undo what the kid learned at camp! There is something to be said about working with the same instructor as multiple instructors teaching multiple methods only confuses the student.

And remember that learning golf is similar to eating an elephant; one must take small bites over a long period of time. Only in golf, one needs to practice between each bite or meal! So, be very careful and do your homework before sending your kid to golf camp.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Unless the camp is extraordinary, even a $200 camp would be better spent sending the kid to individual or small group lessons over a 5 to 10 week period . . .from one instructor . . . with lots of practice between each lesson!

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So are golf camps good or bad? Share your experience below in the comments.