{"id":2236,"date":"2016-12-20T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/?p=2236"},"modified":"2021-01-27T21:55:24","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T21:55:24","slug":"secret-golf-its-in-the-digital-dirt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/golf\/instruction\/2236\/secret-golf-its-in-the-digital-dirt","title":{"rendered":"Secret Golf: ‘it’s in the (digital) dirt’"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Elk<\/a>\n

Psst! Want to know a secret? Well, let me introduce you to Secret Golf<\/a>, a possible last minute Christmas gift suggestion for the serious, competitive and\/or passionate golfer on your list. Available by digital subscription only, Secret Golf is an ad-free streaming portal to access exclusive golf, entertainment, and instructional content through dedicated Player Channels. And until Jan. 1, 2017, it\u2019s offered at nearly a 50% savings. More on that later.<\/p>\n

The calibre of the players currently offering content in this innovative manner is impressive: Major winners such as Steve Elkington,\u00a0Jackie Burke, Jr., and Stacy Lewis; recent PGA Tour tournament winner Pat Perez; current Tour players Colt Knost and Jason Kokrak; and teaching professional Bradley Hughes of Australia, a former Tour player who was on a President\u2019s Cup. All have a dedicated channel, allowing fans a direct and intimate connection to them and their paths to success.<\/p>\n

Other Player Channels to follow in the early part of 2017 include Jason Dufner and Ryan Palmer, both four-time winners on the PGA Tour, Mexico\u2019s Gaby Lopez, an LPGA rookie in 2016, and Jason Gore, the web.com Tour\u2019s Player of the Year in 2005 and a winner of 12 professional titles overall.<\/p>\n

Elkington, founding member of Secret Golf and the 1995 PGA champion, compares these Player Channels to \u201ca video book that gives the average player an inside and in-depth look at everything a Tour player really knows. It\u2019s like a backstage pass when you go to a concert.\u00a0It\u2019s exciting to go behind the curtain and see what is back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, I was given a pass to take a look at Secret Golf and explore some of its content. I expected to spend only a brief period of time because, like many, I\u2019m oversubscribed if not overloaded with golf and instructional material. Sometimes I feel like taking a machete to all the clutter out there. But I must confess that in spite of being a skeptic about these channels, I was drawn into them and got hooked.<\/p>\n

Like his mentor Jackie Burke at Champions Club in Houston, Elkington lends a strong and sure-handed presence to Secret Golf. His insight and rapport with Tour players are both authentic and dynamic and he\u2019s adept at drawing out essential swing and playing strengths. As he boldly sums up what the platform offers, \u201cThis is not a tip; this is reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

I watched a series of on-demand videos where Elkington interacted with fellow team members and liked the following vignettes:<\/p>\n

\u2014How Elkington and Burke discuss the origins of the \u201cit\u2019s in the dirt\u201d maxim attributed to Ben Hogan. Back then, players hit shag balls in the caddie yard where blades of grass were rare.<\/p>\n

\u2014How Burke talks about and demonstrates the importance of \u201clow and slow\u201d in the putter takeaway. And later the value of Burke\u2019s \u201cold timey\u201d and lost art putting routine of starting the putter in front of the ball and then placing it behind the ball. \u201cIt helps to have some motion to trigger the stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014How Knost, a highly ranked Tour putter inside ten feet, shows why he hovers the putter to start his silky stroke. \u201cEspecially on fast greens, hovering the putter helps with my pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014How Lewis, the acclaimed LPGA player, explains her typical practice routine before a tournament start including, \u201cI always hit one six-iron off a tee and hit two drivers as if they were off the first tee, shaping them in different directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014How Lewis and Elkington discuss the keys to her powerful yet graceful swing. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s all about synching my hip and shoulder turn and having them stop at the same time on the backswing,\u201d says Lewis.<\/p>\n

In all, there\u2019s more than 1,500 vintage vault videos, two seasons of \u2018Secret Golf with Elkington,\u2019 15 hours of instructional videos and the growing content of the Player Channels. In a few cases of the older video content, some shows lacked polish and careful editing. But the newer content, especially the Player Channels, is professionally done and edited.<\/p>\n

At $7.95 per month or $69.95 annually (a 25% savings), Secret Golf seems reasonably priced for golf fanatics, coaches, aspiring competitive players and doting parents and grandparents alike. But currently there\u2019s an end-of-the-year holiday special (ending Jan.1, 2017) of $36 for an annual subscription. Now that\u2019s a stocking stuffer!<\/p>\n

Heck, Jackie Burke alone is worth the price of admission.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit www.secretgolf.com <\/a>Amazon Prime members may opt for a 7-day free trial.<\/p>\n

Image courtesy of Secret Golf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Psst! Want to know a secret? Well, let me introduce you to Secret Golf, a possible last minute Christmas gift… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":2237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,18,17,7],"tags":[703,1012973,1012974,2832,1012975,894,1012976,760966,1006367,90124,1012978,202795,1012969,1012970,3908],"class_list":["post-2236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-instruction","category-golf","category-lifestyle","category-courses-and-travel","category-personalities","tag-jr","tag-pat-perez","tag-colt-knost","tag-terry-moore","tag-its-in-the-dirt","tag-ben-hogan","tag-last-minute-christmas-golf-gifts","tag-steve-elkington","tag-champions-club","tag-jason-dufner","tag-jason-kokrak","tag-stacy-lewis","tag-secret-golf","tag-player-channels","tag-jackie-burke"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2016\/12\/Elk-Secret-Golf.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2236"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3296,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236\/revisions\/3296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}