Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/130253
iG1304--rev 5/13/13 7:47 AM Page 1 INSTRUCTION BY JEFF SUTHERLAND AND JEFF PALMER THE JEFF PALMER PROJECT E T ON PAR PALMER LIKES TO USE BOTH VISUAL AND TECHNICAL AIDS Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to (re)build a 51-year old mid-handicap golfer with a grooved, mediocre swing. Jeff Sutherland will be that man. Can we make him better than he was before? Better (fitness), stronger (short game), faster (clubhead speed). The idea here was to test the Hank Haney Project approach trying it with a Western Canadian golfer a little closer to Rush Limbaugh than Michael Phelps in both age and physical limitations. And the Six-Million Dollar Man TV series reference is intentional. There have been advances in the past decade that have fundamentally changed golf teaching. The instructor in this case is Jeff "Stick" Palmer, a holistic teaching guru who has traveled the world working in locales from Hawaii to Shanghai and now has returned to his roots at Olympic View GC in Victoria, BC... this time as Director of Instruction. The student is myself, Inside Golf publisher Jeff Sutherland, who comes to Palmer with a swing described four years ago by fellow golf journalist and CPGA teaching professional, Brad Ewart as "a good publisher's swing." I knew the comment was double-edged... a slight compliment and a nice poke in the ribs at the same time. In any case, it awakened a motivation to want to make a change. It would take until 2012 to find the time and I came to Stick with a myriad of issues most notably a six-year case of the short game yips that could have playing partners staring at the sky for extended periods of time. My swing was 26 THE INITIAL VI VIDEO ANALYSIS at best repeatable and the saving grace a very solid putting game that hid a lot of bad approaches. In this ongoing series,we will go through the stages of making the move to improve... CHOOSING THE RIGHT INSTRUCTOR In an interview with respected instructor Mark Ludeman in 1996 (who is now at Burnaby Mountain), iG asked Mark how to choose an instructor. His reply was simple "...on their reputation." Olympic View has a first rate practice facility and after moving to Victoria in May of last year, I began to hit balls there and saw this tall guy working his way down the tee line shaking hands and offering advice. I liked the positive attitude and found out it was Jeff . A little Googling showed a golf coach with a pedigree and resume that would get a ten-outof-ten on the Ludeman test. I approached him with the idea of doing the "Project." After discussion, it emerged there could be a good fit between the two of us, with his usual infectious optimism, Stick signed on. PALMER PERSPECTIVE Not all coaches and clients are meant for one another. There are different learning and teaching styles so a player has to choose a coach that they believe they can trust and one they genuinely like. An experienced coach will learn about and adapt to different learning styles. At the end of it both need to agree on what the goal is and what needs to be done to achieve that goal. THE CURRENT STATE OF THE SWING ESTABLISHING THE GOALS Our first meeting was the usual... what did I want to achieve and what time / effort was I will willing to commit to the process. I'd thought a lot about this and my goal was to be able to go to Scotland and play those courses the way they are meant to be played. In other words I wanted to have a solid, fundamentally sound golf swing. It was my belief that coupled with my putting and a short game that no longer hurt me, I could over two-years take five shots off my index becoming a 6 to 7handicapper. PALMER PERSPECTIVE A Game Plan is a rough outline of a client's evident opportunities for improvement and upon being introduced to the idea of working with Jeff on a long term basis, I was excited to test some of my working theories on coaching on a continuous basis. After our 9-hole assessment, I was impressed with his intensity and gamesmanship as well as his "working man's" athleticism. I thought he could become a better player with some technical knowledge, motor training and dedication. DEFINING THE GAME PLAN This started with an illuminating V1 video analysis after a 9-hole playing assessment. As Palmer said in the VI analysis he posted for me, "I've got the list." And it was an extensive one from taking it away outside, to too much spine angle, etc. and so on. Surprisingly it did not bother me it all. I was just DISCUSSING THE MENTAL ASPECTS OF THE GAME excited to get underway. A first quarter 11 week, 11 sequential lesson plan followed. It looked great but appeared very compressed. PALMER PERSPECTIVE In drafting a game plan, I prefer to observe a client on the golf course. This is the environment that best reveals a player's tendencies in all phases of the game: long, short and mental. It also shines a bright light on the golfer's temperament, character and learning style. STARTING THE JOURNEY A strategy truism: How long does any battle plan last? Until you make contact with the enemy. Even during the first lesson, it became apparent that the path of our "journey," as Palmer referred to it, might be significantly different than the one scripted in the 11 week plan. Week #1 lesson was titled "Full Swing fundamentals", week #2 - "Full Swing Mechanics" , week #3 - "Lower Body vs. Upper Body (the Kinematic Sequence)"and week #4 - Extension and Clubhead Release. Palmer is philosophically rather a coach than a teacher with just one approach... Stick tailors his instruction to the specific student. With me, it became clear that with my goals, it would take longer to make the necessary sequential changes. He immediately slowed the tempo of the lessons. He also began to search out different drills to deal with my particular needs. It would be nearly 20 lessons and five months before we would get to the week #4 lesson. The slow downs were in no way Stick's