First-Hand Learning.

There’s nothing quite like some first-hand experience and this week I got a good bit of that; more than I could have previously imagined.

I’m down in San Francisco meeting Dr. Fran Pirozzolo who is himself in town to work with Joey Sindelar and Bernhard Langer while they play in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at TPC Harding.  (that was quite the mouthful of a sentence)  By default, I got to walk inside the ropes yesterday with the guys on their practice round, go to dinner with Bernhard and then follow them today on their first round.  Tomorrow I have an interview in the morning with the BBC and then going to hit the driving range with Dr. Pirozzolo and finally follow Langer and Sindelar on their second day rounds before driving back to Portland.  It’s going to be an awesome day.

So far, I’ve learned a ton.  What I haven’t learned is specifics on the golf swing, that’s stuff my coach and I work on and not what I’m here to think about.  What I have learned is a bit of what it takes to perform at this level.  I’ve been able to observe closely the different styles that Langer and Sindelar bring to the game and how they make it work for them.  The two have completely different personalities and playing styles, yet they have both won and are champions of the game.

Joey is the kind of guy that shows up 15 minutes before his round starts, hits 15 balls, putts 2-3 times and then is ready for his round to start.  He said that if he’s at the course more than 45 minutes before his round starts that you can write him off.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, Bernhard arrives two hours before the round starts to have breakfast, putt, warm up each club and makes sure he has plenty of time to not feel rushed.  The lesson I took out of watching these guys work is that you have to be true to yourself and do what you need to do.  It doesn’t matter whether you need plenty of time to prepare or just like to walk up and grip it and rip it; what matters is figuring out how you work best and sticking to that.

The same can be said about the swing.  I’m not going to go into specifics here, but there are plenty of different swings out there and what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for the next.  So, again, find what works for you.

I got one photo from the day.  You weren’t allowed to take pics today, so this one is from the practice round Wednesday:

On that day it was nice and sunny.  The first day of the round was far from that with a high of about 50, 20 mph winds and plenty of rain.  The weather didn’t seem to daunt these guys though.  Not surprisingly, they paid little attention to anything except the shot at hand and breezed through the day making plenty of great shots and pulling off an even round each.  They’re in the top of the pack heading into tomorrow and I can’t wait to get out there and watch them for another 18.

After this, I also can’t wait to get back to work.  Nothing says inspiration like watching some of the best in the world perform.  I’ve been salivating over the potential of breaking out the driver for some time now and it looks like that time is at hand.  Christopher is going to Orlando to a golf conference this week, but as soon as he is back and I’m back in Portland we are going to have a lesson on the driver swing.  From that moment on, the driver will officially be in the bag.  I feel like The Dan Plan is about to step up to the next level.  There’s no looking back and the sky is the limit!