Yes, I know! I have a PuttingZone DVD coming soon, hopefully. I have loose arrangements now with Bob Koch of the Medicus Institute to get one made and distributed in the US and also a plan in Germany to shoot some footage and start editing this May. One way or another out of this combination, I expect to have a reasonably professional DVD available sometime in mid-summer or early, early fall.
Any suggestions are certainly welcome as to content and format, and even participation if the time and place works for anyone. just send me email or post on this forum to discuss it. Everyone and anyone who is interested is welcome to help, by all means (I believe completely that a communal effort is highly likely to prove superior to the effort of a single individual in these matters).
Part 1. Where to putt .. telling us what happens to the ball after impact and rolls to the hole. Not only that, tell us what happens from the hole to the start of rolling. Both ways. What does grass do to rolling balls??
Part 2. How to putt .. but not excessively scientific .. K.I.S.S. ... because in advertising circles it is well known that if it's not understood to a 12 year old, it will not be understood by 95% of the audience. Do not overestimate the intelligence of the average recreational golfer .. and the good golfers too.
Part 3. Your equipment ... because virtually all golfers want to know if they are using the 'best' putter. I suppose it's all part of the neurotic mentality of the average golfer who believes if he doesn't have the 'best' putter, he might as well not bother learning anything more.
Appendix A ... to throw in some of your fundamental scientific knowledge that backs up your putting knowledge ... but do it succinctly and few strange words.
Appendix B ... Data on the pros .. because in every duffer there is the fantasy.
Oppps .. sounds like my advice is for a book and not a DVD .. but good luck ..!!
I've listened to three audio podcasts of you being interviewed.
I've listened to the short educational audio podcasts you produced.
I've watched the short educational videos you produced.
I've read your book more than once.
The book contains the most information. All of this information could not possibly be included in a video / audio.
There is a marked difference between the podcasts in which you were interviewed vs. the ones that you produced yourself.
The self-produced podcasts are very 'dry' (almost morose).
The podcasts in which you are interviewed by someone else (Paul Hobart and Fred Greene) are lively, witty, humourous, and transmit information very well.
My conclusion is that you need to employ a professional interviewer in your audio/visual presentations. (I believe that Fred Greene offers such services). You appear to 'loosen up' when someone asks you questions and allows you to respond 'spontaneously', instead of your trying to stoically follow a script (sounds kind of like instinct-based putting, doesn't it?).
Your audio podcasts with Hobart and Greene were so good IMO, that I would even suggest that you create the script for the video by first being fully - spontaneously - interviewed in audio. Say, 1/2 hour or 1 hour per RAST (read, aim, stroke, touch) topic (4 x 1/2 hour or 4 x 1 hour segments). (If you were to choose to teach touch before stroke, the acronym would be RATS).
In the Hobart and Greene interviews, you created very strong visual images just with words.
The video could key on these images (the tilted CD, the line drawn in the dew with a finger from the hole back to the ball, one potato two, drop down and do a push-up on the 3/9 line, etc.) and act as a visual reinforcement of what is said in the interview.
A follow-on section on the DVD could have clips of the various bits that were not covered in the spontaneous interview, that you think are important, plus a video clip for each of the practice drills in your book (a video / picture each drill would would clarify / visualize the intent).
Aside: Your audio interviews were so strong that I actually keep them cued up in my iPod and listen to them in my car on the way to the course. If your video script were equally strong, then it would be nice to also supply an audio MP3 on the DVD that could be downloaded into one's iPod...
(And, if you are going to be in the Toronto area, I volunteer to be your guinea pig.)
I suppose trying to get as much in video as possible and not making it too long is a problem.. I like some of the suggestions made here about it..I'm not sure how people feel about "negative"" images but I like the idea of using some of your students who make the most prevalent mistakes (there are probably are some very common problems that most do), showing these and how to correct it..
I know one of the golf magazines at one time had handicap golfers swinging and then an analysis of their swing.. I find this much more helpful then a sequence of Tiger Woods or some other pro doing it "correctly"
FOr example right now I am trying to decide how to make backswing correctly inspite of all I"ve learned in book.youtube,and cd.
One time i just try to rock my shoulders down and back up..Next time I try to feel like my swing is coming from my lower back or stomach.. The next time i try to feel like the arms are sort of like noodles with very little feel to them.. All these thoughts seem to work with none more helpful then the other...Just my thoughts
Good to see that you and Medicus are hooked in some way--lots of similarities in purpose
Ideas for the DVD
1. Don't film during a wind storm
2. Break it into the four cornerstones you lay out in your book and put the appropriate drills in each section and any training aides that you endorse for each skill
3. Come up with tests to measure progress
4. It would be interesting to film some lessons as you give them--also according to the skill you are teaching
5. Putter fitting and mental skills may be helpful as well aka Cary Mumford who Medicus seems to like
I am using your methods, as I understand them, and have noticed a definite improvement so far and the season hasn't really started--keep up the good work
have a segment of you playing an actual round - demonstrating how the green reading process begins from the tee, etc., and how you can shoot 64 and miss all GIRs by being a good putter.
What do you guys think about incorporating interactive features in the DVD that allow the viewer to use the DVD like a virtual lesson? I appreciate the feedback!
Geoff, how about using David Orr's facility to help create a video. I believe he has indoor and outdoor space available. We could work together to find a professional to film it. I like the interviewer suggestion, it does keep it more lively.
David or I could help with that when we get together.
The idea of a virtual lesson sounds great, if you can pull it off.
My usual method of viewing an instructional golf video (to the chagrin of the rest of my family members), is to sit back and watch the whole thing at least once, to see if I buy the reasoning, and to catch the overall drift.
Afterwards, when I want to try the techniques, I find it difficult to remember where the bits of real meat were in the DVD.
At a minimum, if there was a collection of "structured" links back into the various chapters of the DVD to remind me of the sequence of things I should do, if would be helpful. The "real meat" should be found on separate chapters, so that they can easily be selected with the remote.
Another point - I can practice in front of a T.V., but I can't bring myself to practice in front of a computer (or laptop). So, I would vote that this be a T.V.-compatible DVD, not an interactive computer-only CD-ROM.
(Premier Login aceputt) Forum Owner 64.203.145.213
Good Ideas
July 27 2008, 8:44 PM
Thanks, Paul. These are good ideas, and I agree with the need to get back to the meat. Perhaps there can be something of an INDEX. And ditto re the TV.
I think that it would be very helpful if you could use camera angles from the golfer's view. For example, if you placed a camera above the golfer, you could show exactly what we should see when we address the ball. Another example would be to place a camera at the exact height that our eyes should be at when we are reading the green. In general, the more that you make the camera a substitute for our eyes, the easier it will be for us to learn the concepts that you want to impart.
To me, the fact that golf videos don't do what I'm suggesting is a huge limitation. How absurd is it, for example, to demonstrate the proper plane of a full swing from a face-on view?