Copyright 2019
The Golf Project is an effort by Steven E. Greer, MD begun in the summer of 2016. After 20-years of living in Manhattan and having abandoned the game, upon moving back to Ohio, Dr. Greer began to study the golf swing in an attempt to shoot par and compete with the best players.
Guided by some of the best PGA swing coaches all over the country, The Golf Project takes a unique medical and scientific approach to the understanding the swing. Experimental evidence trumps dogma and golf lore. Nothing is sacrosanct.
What the Golf Project has already yielded are new insights into how to move the body to affect consistent ball striking. Interestingly, many of the discoveries by the Golf Project are not completely novel. The likes of Ben Hogan have taught similar concepts.
The Golf Project is a rational approach to studying the swing. Concepts from neurology and kinesiology are combined with traditional coaching methods more commonly used in other sports, such as football. Swing results are analyzed in slow motion and compared side-by-side to the best players. “Playing by feel”, hitting buckets of balls without seeing the actual swing, is not a method advocated here.
While it is true that a good golf swing is a subconscious and athletic move, The Golf Project strives to first understand the swing in a didactic fashion. Knowledge of the swing provides for a more durable golf swing that can self-correct when the wheels fall off.
From Steven Greer:
“I started The Golf Project in July of 2016 when I moved back to Central Ohio after having been in Manhattan for 19-years. I am attempting to achieve a swing as good as a professional player using a rational experimental approach, with the aid of top teachers and video analysis. I am fortunate enough to still have a healthy athletic body and want to see how good I can get before it is too late.
I started golfing when I was 12, but my parents could not afford to provide me with a fancy golf club membership. I managed to learn on my own and swing well enough to occasionally score well. I was the MVP of my golf team at Buckeye Valley High School in rural Ohio. My best score was a one-under 35 against Dublin High School. But due to poor form, I had to have perfect timing with my hands in order to play well. My short game saved me.
I tried to get some proper lessons from Jack Grout at Muirfield Village Golf Club in 1984. He was Jack Nicklaus’ teacher and was surprisingly available to the public. But a handful of lessons was not enough to make a difference with me.
As an adult living in Manhattan, I tried a few times from 2003-2005 to get proper lessons from Jason Carbone at Muirfield Village Golf Club. But when Jason left Muirfield, I never found a replacement and just quit the game entirely.
I am back at it now. This time, however, better video technology exists and I have knowledge of physiology and neurology. I can see my swing and send short videos to Jason Carbone in New Jersey at Baltusrol and Steve Dahlby in Phoenix. I also started to get lessons locally from Brian Unk who has a Trackman.
I have more resources available to me now than I did as a kid. There are no excuses this time.
After two-years, I am confident that I understand the swing better than most PGA professionals. I am currently trying to transfer my good swing on the driving range to the actual course and get my scores down. When everything is clicking, I can compete from championship tees with the best golfers in the world. But I cannot quite put an entire round together.
Stay tuned.
I am documenting my breakthroughs and insights for others to possibly learn from as well.
Please feel free to post comments.
Steven E. Greer, MD”