As far back as 1988 I built, by today’s standards, a very crude Balance Board.
Today’s version of the TPGOLF Balance Board has come light years in terms of stability and quality, as well as the uses I have developed.
The original premise is simply, as its title suggests, to train, through live action and repetition, the ability of the recreational golfer to make a complete golf motion while in total command of his or her balance.
Let’s be very clear: understand that, without your ability to swing your club in absolutely perfect balance, finding the center of the face (we call that the “sweet spot!”) is at best a crap shoot. One of the first things my students realize is that to achieve perfect balance they may need to swing the club at a different tempo. Imagine that.
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Tempo + Balance = Quality of Contact. This translates almost instantly into a controlled, compressed ball flight.
Next, your ability to understand, in space and time, where your weight is at different junctures of the swing is critical to being able to sequence a motion that will allow you to time that moment we refer to as impact. Understand I’m not suggesting that you become a “dual post” player or a “single axis” player. I’m saying that whichever method you employ, you’d best know how to feel/train your pristine arrival to a solid impact point!
The TP Balance Board will certainly help with that.
Of course, last by not at all least, that magically elusive element of golf we often refer to as timing can be learned on the TPGOLF Balance Board simply by making swings on it. The brain is a wonderful learner, given proper rehearsals.
SHORT GAME SOLUTION
I also use the board to train pitching and chipping. For example, for the student to whom I suggest setting up 60 percent/40 percent on his or her left foot (as a right-handed player ) to hit a nice crisp low pitch and run shot, but he often falls off the shot, the TPGOLF Balance Board is a great short game tool.
The beauty of the TPGOLF Balance Board is that every drill I suggested above each can be done right at home, in your living room. Think about that. What if every night you would hop on the board and follow any of the above suggestions for 10 to 15 minutes each? Where would your balance, weight shift, and timing be six months down the road?
I also have students—once they are experienced with the TPGOLF Balance Board—hit live shots using it on the practice range.
If you think a TPGOLF Balance Board should be a part of your daily golf life and would like to purchase one, email me at tpatri.mindspring.com for details. Include your full name, email and cell number.
Tom Patri is a Golf Tips Magazine Top 25 Instructor in America and a Contributing Editor. Tom is also a former Met PGA as well as South Florida PGA Teacher of the Year. Tom is the Director of Instruction at The Hawthorns Golf and Country Club in Fishers , Indiana, May-October, and November-April he is based at The Esplanade in Naples, Florida. You can reach Tom via email tpatri@mindspring.com Text 239-404-7790 Visit him at www.tompatri.com
A portion of this lesson was reprinted from The Six Spoke Approach, available on Amazon.
