INTRODUCTION BY SHERRY JACKSON

Every couple of months we will be inviting local club professionals to write an article for our site. These articles will not only be good for our games technically but they will help us get to know some of the local professionals. We all need help at some point and having someone local is vital to our enjoyment of the game. Our first "guest pro" is Trevor Derrheim. Trevor is an independent professional who currently teaches out of Dragon Ridge. We have been working together for over a year and even though I'm not where I want to be with my swing we have made tremendous progress. He is a great guy and a wonderful teacher. We certainly appreciate him being our first "guest pro".

QUALIFICATIONS

Trevor's teaching qualifications are impressive. He was an assistant golf professional in Vancouver B.C. Canada and is a certified David Leadbetter Instructor (of which there are only 28 in North America). He taught for David Leadbetter Academies in Palm Springs and Las Vegas.

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One of the major benefits to being a David Leadbetter Instructor is that I watched assisted and learned how the best teachers in the world taught the best players in the world. Those teachers, in addition to David Leadbetter, included Mike Wilson, Adam Schriber, Chris Walkey, among others, and the players they instructed included Nick Faldo, Mike weir, Lanny Wadkins, David Frost and SeRi Pak whom remains a friend and who I consider to be the best all around player in women's golf. Give her time; you'll see what I mean.

After two years and some company restructuring, our Las Vegas office closed. I was then given the option to move back to California to resume my work for the DLGA. After careful consideration, I decided to make Las Vegas my home and start my own small independent instruction company. I named it ProMotion Golf Instruction, a small play on two words that made sense to me. Promoting golf is what I do and a Pro Motion is a base description of the ultimate swing.

My mission is to provide golf instruction that is suited to all levels of players, from new players to tour Professionals. Senior PGA Tour player and CBS Golf commentator Gary McCord once said, "A great teacher can describe the same thing 10 ways.". This being the case, I believe a good teacher can relate to players's ability, at their individual level. Adapting to each individuals understanding is how I try to approach all of my students. That kind of communication and adaptation between teacher and student is what makes a truly successful golf teacher, student relationship is all about. Of course a student's trust in his or hers teachers ability is very important as well.

Currently I work with a wide variety of players from Las Vegas and around the United States and Canada. These players run from rank beginners to aspiring tour players who play on college golf teams, such as Kyle White and Jarod Overton of the BYU men's golf team. I also assist on the PGA Tour my good friend and ex Leadbetter teacher Chris Walkey, who teaches Lanny Wadkins, David Frost and Dave Stockton among others. This has given me the chance to continue to learn from the best players in the game.

This past year I have had the fortune to work with some very respected members of the WSNGA. Sherry Jackson whom I met by chance on the driving range last spring has been a wonderful student, friend and a confidant over these past 8 months. Sherry is what I consider to be the ultimate student. She has the perfect attitude to become the player she envisions herself to be. By that I mean, she has set some goals that she would like to reach and has the foresight as well as focus to achieve them. Of course she works hard to make changes while maintaining her level of play. I have also had the opportunity to help Laurie Durant who was already a star at Las Vegas Country Club. Laurie is one of those players that will beat you with her short game alone, yet she knows that by improving her ball striking she could elevate her game even more. So we are still trying to get some more consistency out of her long game. Brenda Knott, whom I've known for a while, threatened for 8 months to come out for a lesson. Finally she gave in and agreed to meet me for a putting lesson. I'm glad she did and I believe with some more work she will gain the confidence to trust her putting in any situation. I am glad to have met and been able to help all of these ladies work toward their goals.

I had an idea that both Sherry and Brenda were enthusiastic about. It was simple like all great ideas are. I asked how I could be associated with the WSNGA and help their organization produce better players and at the same time draw interest to the new players of this great game? I remembered what Sherry had said to me 6 months ago. She made reference to the fact that most male golf professionals do not like to teach female players. Why not? I wondered? I on the other hand quite like teaching women! Why?

#1. Women are harder workers when it comes down to practice and focus. #2. Women are for the most part better listeners. More receptive to suggestions. #3. Women can do more than one task at a time. Men can't. Evolution! #4 Women aren't obsessed with length and have the mind set to develop a strong short game.

If any of you have suggestions on why women might make better students? Your suggestions are welcome at WSNGA website www.nevadawomensgolf.org.

The Following Are My Simple keys to a Successful Swing

When I look at a swing I never see two that are identical. First every golf swing has its own individual characteristics like each snowflake. Secondly, I like to think of the swing as simply a club motion coupled with a body motion, which will enable players regardless of body dimension or strength to achieve their maximum ability. The third key focuses on a proper setup position from which these two motions can be anchored around. Let's look at the Setup first.

The Set up; Your Anchor to a Solid Swing:

Funny as this might sound, most problems in the golf swing start with a faulty set-up position. It is funny in the sense that it takes absolutely no athletic ability or coordination at all to learn how to set up to the ball. Is this not astounding? Then why do I see so many amateurs with less than desirable set-up positions? How much effort does it take to learn a proper set-up? A desirable set-up also includes a sound pre-shot routine.

A fundamentally sound set-up position is step number one in building a repeatable, consistent swing. That doesn't mean every person holding onto the correct end of the golf club needs to set-up to the ball exactly the same way. This means, individual players will have a set-up position, which will allow her or him to play their best golf. I see numerous articles that revolve around theoretically correct positions. By this I mean the average article is written without regards for the individual. But hold on a minute, is this not what this great game is all about? You are challenged against the course, nature, and even yourself. Remember this if you never learn anything else about the golf swing: The grip is the only contact your body ever makes with the golf club. You know what that means? It had better be a good one! Now let's look at the motion of the club.

Club Motion

After we learn how to address the ball to the best of your ability, we now have a chance to make a repetitive golf swing. Now we can learn how to put the club into motion without the excessive use of your body. Most women that I teach have not learned to use the smaller muscles in their bodies (especially the hands, wrists and arms) to maximize club head speed. They lack the motion and therefore the speed these small muscles can create. I like to describe a club motion as how your arms wrists and club work together to achieve maximum club head speed with minimal effort. I believe for women, learning how to use these parts of the body and club-head is an integral part of playing to your potential and maximizing your distance. Now let's move on to the body's motion.

Body Motion

A body motion is again very much an individual thing. Due to different body shapes and styles, I do not expect to see any two motions that ever look exactly the same. Just like our snowflake, each person is a unique individual. However, I do know that each individual with a golf club in their hands has an ideal body motion suited for them. Again this does not mean that if your 5'4' 150lbs you can learn to move through the ball like Tiger Woods or Laura Davies. On the other hand, you can learn how to utilize your body to where it can be nearly 100% efficient.

My Overview of the Golf Swing

A golf swing is simply the marriage of a club motion and a body motion that works together to achieve maximum distance and accuracy. This marriage is anchored (there's that word again) around the solid foundation of your set-up. In my experience a club motion or body motion is much harder to change than a static set-up position. That being the case, I try to study each individual students set-up first, in order to understand then make the adjustments needed to cure a specific problem with the club? And body? Motion. Sometimes you can change a swing motion quite a bit through a minor set-up change. The best teachers in the game should be able to diagnose not only a fault in a swing but also the root cause of that fault and make a simple adjustment to aid that individual. And again usually this happens when your standing over the ball before you put the club into motion.

I hope you have learned something about yourself and possibly myself through this article. I look forward to meeting any interested parties and would enjoy receiving a return e-mail from you. If you would like to ask any questions or make any comments, please contact me by phone at 493-0410 or at trevorderrheim@hotmail.com. See you on the links!

Respectfully,

Trevor Derrheim
Teaching Professional
Dragon Ridge Golf Club