Over the years we've seen many faces through our doors and out onto the golf course. We figured it's time to tell some of these fantastic stories about our customers, their objectives and the road we took to help get them to where they want to be.
Of course, all names are changed. However, maybe you might recognize yourself in one of our stories or be able to identify with the paths to success.
Our first story is about a very old customer who we'll call Andy.
Andy had heard about us through his friend who had since moved back to Louisiana. I used to play frequently on Thursday evenings with Andy's friend. So Andy came into our facility on the referral of his friend.
Andy and his friend had been playing golf recently in their spare time. Andy was a specialized engineer who was in the UAE to design and regulate the design of the many hospitals that were to be built. His contract was coming to an end and he wanted to head back home to retire and play more golf. But Andy had one problem: his distance was waning and no matter what he did he couldn't keep up with his friend.
Andy was worried about returning home to his old high school and military buddies and not being able to enjoy as much as before. He was blaming his age as a reason why he couldn't hit the ball with any power anymore. HIs frustration had gotten the best of him!
When Andy came on the first day, he brought 4 drivers with him. I found it strange but upon discussing Andy's goals I could instantly see that he was after gaining back some distance.
Andy had outlined how he used to be able to hit the ball 250 and lately he was struggling to reach 220 yards. He was really at his wits end about the distance loss and so he had heard about some new clubs and the process of club fitting. He decided to try a new driver with hopes that his distance losses would be alleviated.
Without much success with the newly fit golf clubs (which were way too long and way too stiff for him to hit the ball in the center of the face) we started outlining the plan to help him get some distance back in his game.
Andy's problem wasn't at all his age, his strength or anything else. He had a few misconceptions about how to create distance. In fact, the first thing I did was hit a driver for him on camera and show him that despite not being able to detect much movement when watching someone swing, that the key to success was indeed more movement!
The second thing we did was outline and discuss how the shape of the club shaft was more important than the head, and that Andy needed to let the club open and close through the shot. We outlined the following program for him with the objective of getting back to that coveted 250 yard mark he used to enjoy when he was playing golf in the military.
The plan entailed a 5 lesson program in which we would take each portion of the swing and focus on one portion per lesson. We didn't deviate from this plan, and although at points it didn't make much sense and felt strange, we were making steady progress.
I agreed to see Andy once per week over the next 5 weeks and we got down to work. Here's what we did excatly:
Lesson 1: Increased Pre-wrist hinge at Set Up
Lesson 2: Allowed the Club to Open on the back swing and increase the wrist hinge
Lesson 3: Learned how to move our head (Yes, that's correct move our head!)
Lesson 4: Release of the Club Through the Ball
Lesson 5: Full Finish & Tempo
Andy was diligent. He came weekly ready to go and he completely understood what was about to happen before hand. We took a holistic approach to the fix and set out a clear path to success that was transparent.
After 5 weeks Andy returned back to playing golf with his friend in Abu Dhabi. Without really saying anything to Andy's friend, Andy stood confidently on the tee and hit his first drive up the middle.
His nerves got to him a bit; but because the club's balance was in the correct spot, he managed to hit the center of the fairway with a respectable distance. The hard work had set in - Andy was relaxed and could get on with his round.
At the 3rd hole, Andy's friend could notice something was different. Andy was no longer way far behind his friend off the tee, he was back being neck and neck.
His friend asked him about his new drivers that he had bought when he noticed that his old trusty was back in the bag and performing like never before. Andy informed his friend that he had taken him up on the referral to get some lessons and improve his swing. The results spoke for themselves and Andy's friend was happy that he'd given good advice to have a look at the swing and improve the clubhead speed.
I sent Andy a message the other week to check on him and was happy to hear he had been playing golf with his buddies like he had before. Andy mentioned that he felt confident that regardless of age, he could compete and enjoy himself into retirement again. He said it took some time to get everything locked into place on a consistent basis, but that in general he was feeling good about his game and that golf was back loving the game again. It brought Andy back to the golf he remembered so fondly from his past.
This is why we do what we do. The cost to gain back those yardages again was cheaper than those drivers bought, and the changes have provided a consistency that has brought joy back into our customer's golfing experience.
We'd approached Andy's game differently and better than a single bandage lesson. This provided Andy with gains that were harder earned but faster than tinkering with new equipment or worrying about his age. We're happy for you Andy and hope you keep up the love affair with the age old game of Golf!
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