[...]... Having seen tens of thousands of golfers, I feel fairly safe in making this generalization: some players are blessed with above-average 5 Two Steps to a Perfect Golf Swing 6 athletic ability—the vast majority of players are not As a teacher, you welcome that as a challenge You learn to look for and maximize the strengths each individual has rather than dwell on the person’s limitations You learn, particularly... to mind 9 Photo 1.3 Live.” Shawn and Troy appearing on the Golf Channel’s “Academy Two Steps to a Perfect Golf Swing Like other great athletes, Troy could have relied solely on his raw power and natural athletic ability Instead, he has become a sponge for knowledge Yes, he has the talent, but he also has acquired knowledge and skill to go with that talent In fact, Troy has become so knowledgeable about... tournaments and charity events But mostly, it’s in Troy’s nature to excel at anything he does He realized that in order to improve as a golfer, he needed to learn everything he could about his swing This is the same cut-no-corners route he took as a quarterback and has since taken as a member of Fox’s lead NFL broadcast team To sum up Troy’s swing flaw and tie it in with this book, he wasn’t maintaining... player to have a fundamentally sound grip and that the grip is a good starting point in learning the swing But when an intermediate or advanced player asks me to work with him or her, seldom do we start with the grip Usually, we start by analyzing the player’s swing Does the player have the proper plane and swing path? Does the player have the type of swing that produces the ideal ball flight a draw—which... up a club, their first instinct is to hold it in the palms of their hands That’s probably because people are taught to hold a baseball bat and tennis racket that way There’s a Get a Good Grip reason why they’re held that way: a bat or racket handle is larger in diameter than a golf club, so naturally it engulfs more of your hand Holding the golf club in your palms, however, severely restricts your ability... Track or world-class hand -to- eye coordination like Aikman And if your golf wisdom were anything close to Byron’s, you wouldn’t be reading an instructional book But we can always learn from great examples Picturing eighty-seven-year-old Byron Nelson practicing for several weeks in order to hit one perfect tee shot is a great reminder that golf takes dedication and that the importance of rehearsal cannot... Position Two (which I will explain later) during his backswing In other words, instead of maintaining width with his arms and keeping them away from his body, he pulled his arms in as he brought the club back Troy’s improvement, from a double-digit-handicap down to a three in one year, was so dramatic that we were asked to appear on the Golf Channel’s “Academy Live” in April 2003 as part of the show’s “Master... mother Two Steps to a Perfect Golf Swing 8 may view learning golf as an opportunity to spend more time with her avidly playing husband or child After talking with Troy for a few minutes, it became obvious why he was a number one draft pick, why his Cowboys teams won three Super Bowls, and why he is a golf instructor’s dream His desire to improve stemmed from the fact that he was starting to play in... “Master Your Game” week (Photo 1.3) It wasn’t my first “Academy Live” appearance, but as is often the case, the student provided the night’s most valuable insight Troy’s calm demeanor and attention to detail impressed me and everyone on the “Academy Live” set Prior to our arrival, he wanted to have all the details of what was going to happen on the show and what type of questions he would be asked, so... and ball flight For instance, if their tendency is to slice the ball fifteen yards, they probably have fifteen yards of hook in their grip In other words, they use a strong grip Actually, this is a mistake made by players at all levels They assume the best and eas- 11 Copyright © 2004 by Shawn Humphries and Brad Townsend Click here for terms of use Two Steps to a Perfect Golf Swing 12 iest way to alter .