There is a lot of style versus substance in golf these days. While most of it centers on the golf clubs and what driver or putter works better than the other guy’s, Bobby Clampett prefers to concentrate on the golf swing and what he calls “style-based” teaching.
Bobby Clampett
“Style-based teaching doesn’t help golfers get better,” said Clampett, best known as a golf commentator for CBS, two-time college player of the year at BYU and past winner on the PGA Tour. “Instructors don’t know what to prioritize when first working with a student. I see it over and over again.
“I was a frustrated Tour pro who was listening to style-based teaching. Golf right now is an enigma to people who play. You go to one teaching professional who says, ‘Load your left side.‘ The next guy says to load the right side. One guy says one thing about the swing plane and another says something else.
“Confusion abounds. The bottom line is people want to learn to play better golf. If you learn to improve impact, you learn to play better golf.”
Clampett first unveiled Impact Zone Golf in his 2007 book of the same name. The book, which still draws praise from teachers and players, is one the better instruction books you’ll ever read and launched Clampett’s career in golf instruction.
In 2012, Clampett and Impact Zone Golf introduced “The Advanced Training” program, a three-level program designed to equip golf instructors to properly instruct all levels of golfers in every aspect of the game.
“Advanced Level 1 shows how to teach a raw beginner,” Clampett said. “A raw beginner is like a piece of clay. You teach the setup, the grip, the back swing, the downswing and how to put it all together.
“The Impact Zone Training System by Impact Zone Golf,” created by Clampett, is now available for personal download, as well as in specially packaged DVD form at www.impactzonegolf.com.
In the new online downloadable product and DVD set, Clampett offers tips and drills designed to produce more consistent golf shots and explains in detail the “Five Key Dynamics” to becoming a great ball-striker:
- The Flat Left Wrist
- Four Inches in Front of the Ball Swing Bottom
- Loading the Club on the Backswing
- Club Head Lag
- Straight Plane Line
“Impact is the starting point and ending point of all teaching,” Clampett said. “Impact is the common denominator of all great players in the game. It is the moment of truth in golf. When you understand impact, you understand how to play golf and you understand the difference between what a Tour pro does at impact versus what amateurs do at impact.”
The key to understanding the way golfers are going to improve, Clampett said, is to improve their impact
“Instructors today are teaching students how to begin psychologically dependent on them,” Clampett said. “It Impact Golf, we empower the students to be able to coach themselves. Our whole training system is really a self-study – with the DVD program that leads a person through that.
“The bottom line is, people want to learn to play better golf. If you learn to improve impact, you learn to play better golf.”
