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<\/a>Charlie Sorrell, Master PGA Professional<\/p><\/div>\n
A long time industry friend whom I first met when he won his national award in 1990, Sorrell, 71, is staying young by teaching at the PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance in Port St. Lucie, FL. \u201cMy job is take on the overflow,\u201d says Sorrell. \u201cI\u2019m the on-call doctor.\u201d Sorrell and his beloved wife Joyce retired to Port St. Lucie in 2007 after selling their home and property which housed his Golf Meadows teaching academy in Stockbridge, GA. He\u2019s compiled a laudable teaching career that emphasizes a non-jargon, simple and fun approach to giving golf lessons. He\u2019s also known for his clever rhymes to stress certain swing fundamentals, such as: \u201cWrists that are tight\/destroy ball flight\u201d and \u201cWhen you\u2019re balanced throughout the swing\/A repeatable motion is a sure thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
A long time ago, Deb and I visited the always affable and self-effacing Charlie at his teaching academy in Georgia and he provided Deb with the most effective lesson she\u2019s ever had\u2014then or now. Basically, he encouraged her to generate more clubhead speed while remaining on plane by this simple adage: \u201cHinge and sling.\u201d He got Deb to correctly hinge her wrists, creating a powerful and correct angle, and then for her to swing through the shot. The results were immediate and remarkable. As Charlie more fully explained, \u201cThe hands are made to hold, the wrists are made to hinge, the arms are made to fold and the arms are made to swing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sorrell\u2019s golf career was influenced by his first boss in the business, Virgil Morey, head professional at Riverside CC in Lanette, Alabama. \u201cHe gave me two very important lessons about teaching golf. Number one: kill them with kindness; and number two: learn how to cure a slice or a hook quickly.\u201d In over forty years teaching the game he loves, Sorrell has added a third bedrock tenet. \u201cI also stress MYFI\u2014which stands for Making You Feel Important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the winter, Sorrell was part of a panel presentation that talked about \u201cblending the old styles of teaching of modern technology.\u201d He said today\u2019s teachers have excellent tools, particularly with video, to identify and correct swing maladies. \u201cBut the human element of teaching can\u2019t be underestimated,\u201d says Sorrell, \u201cbecause everything still must be communicated properly.\u201d When asked about Tour Tempo and its recent research findings on tempo for Tour player swings, Sorrell brought up the story of how in winning the 1937 Masters Byron Nelson reminded himself to compare his swing tempo to dancing a waltz. \u201cMost of what we know about the game and the swing is not new; but we\u2019re seeing it in a new light with the help of technology.\u201d<\/p>\n