One time, he had the shanks. I thought he needed to close the club- face more at impact, so I spent 30 minutes trying everything I could to get him to shut the face. He shanked every ball. I finally went to my father and asked for help. He said, “Ah, Butchie’s got a shanker. I can see what you’re doing over there, but he’s closing the face too much – that’s why he’s shanking. You’re making it worse.” Dad came over and gave him a drill, and he hit the first one right out of the middle of the face. My les- son: It’s important to know what you don’t know. I never forgot that. ● ● ● The two biggest mistakes I see from average golfers are not tak- ing enough club on approach shots and using too much loft around the greens. When’s the last time you saw a 90s-shooter hit a solid shot that carried past the hole? It almost never happens. Figure out what you want to hit, then add one more. For greenside shots, most amateurs just grab their sand or lob wedge without looking at the lie, hole location, nothing. If you’re Phil Mickelson, have at it with your 60-degree, but I chip with every- thing up to a 7-iron. You should, too. ● ● ● One misconception I constantly have to talk players out of is keep- ing their head still. Last I checked, the head is attached to the shoulders
I learned to teach at a time when we didn’t have any technology to analyse the swing or ball flight. We had our eyes – and the ball is the ultimate teacher. If you watch what the ball does, it tells you the clubface angle and the swing path at impact, and those are the biggest things. I see teachers today who rely on technol- ogy way too much, looking at all the data more than the student or the actual swing. We’re teaching people, not robots. Find me something that works better than my own eyes, and I’ll change my tune. ● ● ● In August of 1993, Earl Woods brought Tiger to see me for the first time. He was 17, skinny as a rail, but he could unwind his body on the downswing faster than anybody I ever saw, except maybe Ben Hogan. His swing was pretty loose, and a lot needed to be cleaned up, but with that speed, I knew he’d be able to do things other players couldn’t do. Ti- ger had incredible natural gifts, and it turned out his work ethic was beyond belief. How do you beat that? Nobody could’ve guessed who Tiger would be- come, but I saw the makings of it from the very first day. ● ● ● As a young teacher working for my dad at Winged Foot, we had a member who would come up from New York once a week for a lesson.
Editor’s note: Starting in 2001, Butch Harmon was voted by his peers No 1 on Golf Digest’s 50 Best Teachers in America for more than two decades. In a sport obsessed with records, it’s hard to imagine that one ever being broken. Harmon’s historic run as a coach, from Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler, proves his enduring influence. Now, we’ve created a new recognition – The Legends of Golf Instruction – to honour Harmon and 20 other leading teachers who have been fixtures on the instruc- tor ranking since its inception in 2000. Harmon tops the list and is joined by David Leadbetter, Jim McLean, Bob Toski, Hank Haney and Dave Pelz, to name several. See the full list on the next page. – PETER MORRICE ● ● ● There are two things you won’t hear in a lesson I’m giving – one from me, one from my student. First, I never say, “I think.” That’s like saying, “Hey, let’s see what this does.” No. My job is to be 100 percent sure of how I can make you better. The stu- dent’s job is to try, so the second thing you won’t hear is, “I can’t.” They might say it once, but we’re going to have a conversation. If I hear a tour player utter those words, I stop cold. When you have your name on your bag, you better believe you can do anything. Skill level aside, if the play- er is willing, we’re ready to go.
34 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
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