I got a call from CC, an LPGA Professional who heard that I was having a lot of success helping players hit the ball longer and she wanted and needed some of that. At the first lesson, I always qualify students by asking questions about their life and golf game. I want to know things like: How long have they played? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Do they have any physical problems that can affect their setup or swing? What are their goals? And I always ask how they heard about me and, specifically, what are they looking for from me and how much are they prepared to work? Being a successful LPGA Professional (I checked out her career stats), I knew she could play.
CC told me that she felt her strongest asset was a great total short game. She added, 'It had to be because I'm such a short hitter.' Women's golf, like men's golf, was becoming more and more a power game dominated by long hitters. Courses were getting longer and she felt that she had to get longer to survive. She was right on all counts about golf being more power driven, and I told her I was sure I could help her. I could help her get some with her swing and, since she did not work out, by starting a good, supervised strength and conditioning regime, she could add even more yards. The last good point was she said that she lived close and could get to Hilton Head and Harbour Town easily and often, to work on her swing with me.
I started off the first lesson, as always, with her running her set of clubs. She was using a complete set of graphite shafted irons and woods which at that time was just beginning to gain acceptance (despite the high price), especially for ladies. She hit every club in the set well in the first swing so they checked out OK. I then did my diagnosis/prescription sheet, then video taped her swing with a wedge, 7 iron, long iron, fairway wood (there were no hybrids then) and the driver. She had a pretty good setup and swing but was working on the usual 'hit it longer' swing keys of a big turn and parallel backswing. I started her into the PPGS limited turn ¾ vertical backswing with emphasis on the transition to impact.
But now, let's get to CC's short game, which she said was so good. We were always working primarily on her long swing, but one day were wrapping up a lesson with her hitting pitch shots with a sand wedge. My next lesson was with a PGA Tour professional who walked up. I introduced them and he started stretching and listening as CC was giving me a how to on her wedge game. After around 3 or 4 exceptionally good shots landing right at her target, the PGA Tour guy, who was standing beside me, started asking CC questions about her setup and technique, because she certainly was good.
The next thing you know CC is giving me and PGA Tour guy a great lesson on pitching and flopping wedge shots. And both of us are soaking up every word and gesture. She was not only good, she was awesome. She could really make that wedge do her talking. We asked for a shot and she did it. She was absolutely a master with her wedge and I was certain that mastery also applied to the rest of her short game. I got my answer late one afternoon after our lesson when I proposed we go play a few holes. She was excited about that as she would get to play the front nine at Harbour Town.
CC was a magician around the greens. She had all the shots and executed them with precision. She was as good as I have ever seen for a woman player, and could hang in with the best men if not beat them. I became a total believer in her short game expertise on the 5th hole when she hit her 3rd shot on the par 5 into the left greenside bunker. This one is fairly deep, as the lip is around 4 to 5 feet high and straight up steep. The pin was around 10 feet from the edge and the green was sloped away from the bunker, so the ball would likely release and run out away from the hole.
I had a pretty good short game, and have always had an especially really good bunker game, despite the fact that I didn't get to play much (the life of a teaching pro!) and did even less practice. So I figured that if she hit anything but a real good shot I would jump in and offer some advice and demonstrate, as I was confident in my sand play ability to hit a really good shot.
CC walked in and dug in and then hit an excellent shot that ended up around 6 feet past the hole. I was impressed with her technique and touch. I was just about to step up and step in when she reached into her pocket and with what looked like a little anger and disgust she threw down another ball. I stopped in my tracks and watched her snap one up and out that sat down with one hop, like it had air brakes, less than a foot from the hole. She asked me to throw her another ball and she did it again just as well.
I clapped and commented that those were impressive and one day, maybe we could have a contest, say the loser buys lunch. She accepted the challenge and looked forward to it. I walked away thinking to myself that I needed to get in some serious bunker shot practice or I was buying lunch.
That lady had some serious short game. She had all the shots and she was a pleasure to watch. The key to her short game was that she realized very early, the importance of having a superior short game to subsidize her shorter than average length. She is the perfect example of realizing her weakness and finding and mastering the short game because that's what she needed to compete. The key for all golfers is to analyze your game and recognize your strengths and weaknesses. You work on your strengths to keep them strong. More importantly, you have to work extra hard on your weaknesses to make them strong, which makes you a complete and more competitive player.
Oh yes, I bought lunch.
The Surge!