Speaking of swing gurus, it's time for my annual golf checkup with West Coast miracle worker Rob Stanger. The lesson is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so I flew in a day early to work the kinks out at one of my favorite commercial ranges, the College Golf Center of Palm Desert. It was a splendid evening -- slanting sun on green grass, cool breeze, the scent of money wafting in from nearby galleries and boutiques.

The range was crowded, but I found a nice patch of grass at the left end of the tee line. I didn't hit the ball very well, though. Twelve months without a lesson has left me uncertain about my posture and setup. Is it bad that my shoulders and feet are aligned to the right, while my knees and hips are open? Should my right shoulder be closer to my right knee on the followthrough? Would it help if I took off my left shoe?

These are questions that only a qualified professional like Rob can answer.

Tuesday, March 26

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The lesson tee of the Learning Center at Mission Hills is at the far end of the range, and Rob and I had it pretty much to ourselves yesterday afternoon. The tee at the clubhouse end was far enough off that I couldn't identify any of the women practicing for this week's Kraft Nabisco Championship. Was that Annika in the tan shorts? Was that Se Ri in the purple caftan and turban? (Probably not.)

Rob stretched a carpenter's string along the ground for a target line and had me hit a few half-swing pitches with my gap wedge. Then he had me take practice swings parallel to the string, urging me to rely more on my eyes, ears and body to inform my swings. "Most teachers teach the swing through mechanics," he said. "I teach it through the senses."

To control trajectory, for instance, he wanted me to associate the sound of a two-groove swing with the lightest brushing of the grass with the clubhead, as opposed to a seven-groove swing, which sounds more like a bird crashing into a glass patio door. In the "feel" category, he got me to swing into a more vertical, less-bowed position on the followthrough. The Stanger method does not ask the student to coax his body parts into a lot of prescribed positions. It's more a matter of learning from the feedback of ball flight and letting the student find the right mechanics naturally.

The biggest breakthrough of the two-hour-long lesson involved the visual aspect of the swing. "What did you see?" Rob asked me after I had hit a nice wedge shot toward a distant blue flag.

"I saw the ball launching on a 12 o'clock swing path with 12 o'clock spin," I answered. "Which is great, because that's what I was trying to do."

Apparently, I had misunderstood the question.

"Were you observing the ball with your eyes?" he asked. "Or directing it with your eyes?"

I stood with my mouth open. Gurus are great at asking questions that only make sense after they answer them for you.

"Were you passively watching the ball take off down the line? Or were you directing the tip of the shaft down the target line with your eyes?"

Ah! I got the distinction. I had been having difficulty keeping the clubhead from "exiting left" on the followthrough, creating a pulled shot. Rob wanted me to actively "see" the end of the shaft down the target line, as surely as if I were drawing a line with a marker.

To master that sensation, I had to slow my practice swing way down, so I could see what the shaft and clubface were actually doing. (Warning to future playing partners: Get ready for the seven-hour round.) In a few minutes, though, I could swing at about 80 percent power and still guide the shaft on the right launch angle. That was with a wedge or an 8-iron, of course. When Rob had me try it with a driver, I sprayed the ball all over the lot.

For a while, though, he had me performing like a trained seal. Standing behind me, he'd say, "Swing from 6 to 12 with 11:30 spin," and I'd hit an 8-iron that launched straight and drew slightly to the left of the blue flag. He'd say, "Now swing from 7 to 1 with 12 o'clock spin," and I'd hit a straight push to the right of the flag. "Everybody teaches Keep your head down, eye on the ball," he said. "Why? It's the club that controls the ball. Use your vision to guide the shaft right down the target line. See it."

This morning I drove over to the wonderful grass range at Cimarron Golf Club and hit balls for two hours, focusing mostly on this visual approach to ball control. I got wonderful results with my wedges and short irons, but my long irons didn't respond until a stranger came up behind me while I was hitting 4-irons toward a flagstick 190 yards away.

"What are you trying to do?" he asked, noticing that I had a carpenter's string stretched across the ground.

"I'm trying to keep the shaft working down the target line. I'm accomplishing that -- I'm launching the ball straight -- but I can't seem to close the clubface. I'm hitting weak fades."

He watched me hit a couple of shots and then volunteered, "You're taking the club away a little outside."

"Really?" I took a couple of practice swings, checking to see that the clubhead didn't wander across the string. Then I took a whack at the ball.

"Whoa!" My shot rocketed downrange, a powerful draw, perfect trajectory, and -- get this -- hit the flagstick on the fly, making it dance.

"Better," I said. (I'm the king of understatement.)

I hit several more solid 4-irons before driving back to my hotel room for a shower and a gallon of PowerAde. It will be interesting to see what happens when I tee it up Thursday morning in a media outing at the Westin Mission Hills Resort Course.

Which Garrity will appear? The champ or the chump?

Watch this space for another installment of Mats Only. To send John Garrity advice, share your experiences, or suggest a driving range, click here.

 

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