GolfTuitionOnline.com Staff

• FREE Golf Video Lessons: P.G.A. Golf Video Lessons
• Forums: Post Questions & Answers with Interesting Golf Discussion
• Guides: Find step by step instructions to improve your golf and equipment
• Gallery: Upload your Videos/Photos to our Golf Gallery
• Blogs: Create your own Golf Blog/Journal to keep track of your golf
• Golf Fitness: Get Golf Fitness Instruction to increase your power!
• Reviews: All Latest Golf Equipment and Golf Course Reviews
• Arcade: Relax and enjoy friendly competition with other members in the Games Arcade
• P.G.A. Professional Advice: Ask our P.G.A. Professionals for advice on any of our golf forums

My Golfing History:

I did not pick up a golf club until I was 18. I played tennis on the high school and college team. On a spring break, I found my Dad's old clubs, "Spalding Syncrodyne" with the red leather grips, in the basement. They were one of the first true "matched" swing weighted clubs ever made. They didn't really help me because I was awful. I had one of the worst swings you could see, but I made it my own and got pretty good at it. You do anything enough and you can get pretty consistent at it and that is a lot of what the golf swing is about. I, as we all did, got hooked. Still in college, I quit tennis and got a job delivering pizzas to pay for range balls and greens fees. I got my handicap down to around 12. The day I got my first job at a computer firm in 1987, I found a golf club in Maryland that had a low initiation fee and about $200 per month dues. I figured I had to play 6 times a month to break even. I played about 20; every weekend, every tournament, after work, before work.... during work. I got acquainted with the pro there, JP, and he took me under his wing. I paid for his drinks and he gave me some good advice. Best deal in town. He got my handicap down to 3. But I was stubborn. There were things about my swing that I would not change. I had a slide. My hips would not really rotate as much as they would move Laterally. I would hit the ball low but very straight. He accepted my flaw and the friendship was born. We even moved in together on the 7th hole playing in all the Pro/Ams.

After about 2 years, I got an idea to try to turn pro. I had some 67's under my belt and got a little cocky. I moved to Florida to play on the Tommy Armour Tour, a mini-tour that you pay about $350 for a 4 day tournament where the winner gets about $5000 and only the top 30% make any money back. I was not expecting what I found. These guys were levels above me. I was so out of my league that I stopped and joined a practice facility at Grand Cypress. There I met Fred Griffin and Phil Rodgers. They had this computer system that they called, "The Model Swing". You swing and it overlays you on the screen and a stick figure of the model swing four your height. You get to see it all angles and from each position. I was then able to see every flaw that JP was talking about. Fred worked with me for about 4 months to get me to match the model. And I got pretty close. But with any major swing change, it was going to take time and I was just about out of money. I played in a few tournaments again finishing 2nd once and getting my 2nd hole-in-one. But after about 9 months I had to come back home to Virginia to make more money in computers to maybe try again. About 3 years later PJ quit the club pro job and started working at The Original Golf School Ocean City Md. He liked my new swing and was impressed in the model's approach and asked me if I wanted to begin to teach on the weekends. He taught me how to teach and I loved it. So we worked together at the school for about 5 years. There I learned more about the swing, how to diagnose problems, how to relate to different people's approach to learning, and my abilities as a player improved. The school was worth more to me then just the money. It changed they way I looked at the game from my students perspectives. I am now married with 2 kids and that has really put a damper on my playing and teaching time. I work full time in computer programming and only have private students local to the Washington DC area. I put up my own website with some questions and answers, which is well worth a look.

Thank you & Happy Golfing

Greg J Willis