Read my bi-monthly column
www.virginiagolfreport.com
Read my bi-monthly golf instruction column for Virginia Golf Report magazine, available online at www.virginiagolfreport.com.
Teaching Kids to Play
Making golf a game for a lifetime entails giving children solid instruction in a learning friendly environment
Do you remember you first golf lesson? Here's how I got started in the game: I was riding in a golf cart on the outward nine at the Country Club of Virginia's James River course with my father Bill Smith, PGA. He plated nine holes and I, at the age of 6, eagerly watched. He narrated from tee to green, explaining where to stand on the tee, what club to hit from the fairway, how to rake a bunker and line up a putt. With my interest piqued, my father taught me hot to practice and I soon learned the fundamentals of the grip, stance, posture and swing on the James River practice range. Read more...
Stretch for Success
Achieving optimal results in golf entails staying fit.
As the diretor of golf instruction at Salisbury Country Club in Midlothian, Va., I give approxmiately 700 private golf lessons a year. During the winter months I teach indoors, incorporating the use of video equipment. Watching golf swings in slow motion is quite revealing. When I notice a lack of flexibility in my students, I tell them that they will need to start stretching in order to reach the positions necessary for them to hit consistently good golf shots. Most inflexible golfers agree that they need to stretch. In visiting with my students, "how" to stretch for golf is the question that always arises. Read more...
