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"Everyone has his own choking level, a level at which he fails to play his normal golf. As you get more experienced, your choking level rises." |
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 Dr. David Wright has been teaching golf for 25 years. He picked up the game during his childhood while caddying for and playing rounds with his uncle, father and grandfather. "Those are some of my fondest memories," said Wright, who once had aspirations of playing professional baseball. Wright, who now teaches at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, found the swings in golf and baseball to be similar. He discovered a natural transition to becoming a golf instructor. What's the most challenging thing about being a golf teacher? Not trying to change too much at once and determining what to change first in a student's setup to allow them to play without too much collateral damage. One setup change will cause a cascade of changes in the swing What's the most common problem you see and how do you fix it? Alignment. Good players draw an imaginary line from their ball to a precise target. How a player stands behind the ball determines how they see the line. We all have to have the club in a particular hand to see the line accurately. Once a player is in balance and square to the line, they perceive it accurately. I use a line on a ball aimed at a toothpick from 4 feet to teach this. Once a student sees it, proper alignment comes quickly. What's your best round ever and where? A 69 at Coto de Caza's North Course from the tips. That was a number of years ago. What's the most satisfying thing about being a golf teacher? I just finished three years of research on balance in Dr. Frank Jobe's biomechanics lab at Centinela Hospital. I really enjoyed the discovery process. Now I'm enjoying teaching the application of that research in my schools and lessons. What phrase do you most overuse on the course? "What's your target?" What professional golfer would you most like to be reincarnated as and why? Walter Hagen. I heard so many Hagen stories from my grandfather when I was a kid. He was a great shotmaker. He said his greatest skill on the golf course was his ability to forget a bad shot. What's your personal motto on the course? Stay visual. Your most treasured golf possession? I have a triangle I designed to measure putter clubface aim and a platform I used to measure hip rotation. Those things are at least 15 years old. That's where my research began. Who are your golf heroes? My grandfather, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Walter Hagen and Byron Nelson. SG |
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