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| THE GREAT BEN HOGAN |
MIAMI, Florida - There are literally hundreds of golf instruction programs out there specifically designed for kids. While most of them have a cost associated with participation, many others are absolutely free. In life, golf is one of the most wholesome and uplifting activities we have as a society so encouraging as many youngsters as possible to become part of the game is important. But as in everything else that has to be learned, we must accept that a certain percentage of individuals will drop out due to either disinterest or an inability to benefit from the instruction. Everybody reading this from kids to veteran golfers knows one thing - the golf swing is one of the most difficult things of all to master. So most kids walk away from golf and find other, easier things to do.
The coolest part of demonstrating OVER THE TOP GOLF to people is seeing how kids so readily adapt to the method while some of the best golfers among us, the club pros, seem bewildered by it. I'd love to think that everyone can benefit from my golf swing method but seeing the occasional golf pro get all tangled up is worth the sad realization that it can't. So why do amateur golfers, particularly younger ones, find OVER THE TOP GOLF so easy to learn? It's foundation is simplicity and simple equals consistency. So why is conventional PGA-style golf instruction so decidedly un-cool for most of us?
The answer can be traced to just one man - Ben Hogan - one of the greatest golfers to ever grace a fairway - and, unfortunately, also at the root of why most kids give up on golf. Just as sure as Jack Nicklaus' TV appearances were almost single-handedly responsible for slow play, Hogan can take most of the credit for complicating the crap out of the golf swing. Not only did Ben devise a devilishly complex swing where all bio-mechanical movements had to be in complete synchronization to succeed, soon afterward every golf pro on earth began teaching the difficult-to-master Hogan method or variations thereof. Why? Well, because it was the best golf swing method of all and probably still is!
Which brings us to the paradox. Not even Ben Hogan himself was able to keep this finely-tuned golf swing of his in check without constant practice. The Hoganesque golf swing involves countless unnatural movements that most amateur golfers can never hope to replicate. Grade-school teachers don't attempt to turn their students into little Albert Einsteins. They just want to help them to learn math, something that is eminently useful in life. So why do golf instruction pros try to create nothing but little Ben Hogans? Wouldn't it serve both kids as well as the game of golf far better to teach boys and girls a golf swing method that is both productive and more easily-learned? Skeptics point out that if the lesson is too easy the golf instructor will soon be out of a job.
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| IS OVER THE TOP GOLF FORE KIDS? |
OVER THE TOP GOLF places an emphasis on the comfortable, more natural movements of the body. By incorporating things we normally do on a daily basis into the golf swing, things as common as walking, the golf swing becomes more innate and familiar. I've often said "once you learn it you own it" when referring to OVER THE TOP GOLF. When your golf swing breaks down, as all golf swings do, you can self-correct and get back to playing good golf within a hole or two. Even the great Ben Hogan couldn't do that.
Keywords for this article: golf instruction, learn golf swing, golf, kids, program, OVER THE TOP GOLF, Ben Hogan, golf swing method, golf swing break down, self-correct, PGA-style
