The Get-Better Goal
It’s clear that Small considers the robot a key member of his team and a revolutionary bridge between bedrock mechanics and a human being’s innate sense of “proper” motion — whether the moves they’ve been making all these years, in the case of longtime players, are as effective as they think they are.
“Golfers are always coming from the point of view that they’re doing what they should be doing, otherwise they’d be doing something different,” Small said. “This transforms them, changes the conversation about learning. I’m not telling them what to do. All of a sudden all of the arguments are gone — ‘This feels weird, you change my arm, you changed whatever.’ Golf instructors sometimes get criticized for having a different message each day. This is the same message.
“So does the robot make us obsolete? Just the opposite. It has to have a really good operator to guide them through the motion. Once they understand that, we can help them play golf better. Once they learn the patterns, we can help they hit shots, out on the golf course. They’re not hamstrung by being on the driving range.”
Small is careful to include the gamut of golfers, from neophyte to single-digit stick, in that statement. We’ve all heard stories of starstruck newbies shelling out nearly five bills to play their one and only round ever at Pebble Beach, just to say they have. Some of those stories are true, and Small is OK with that. His job is to make their once-in-a-lifetime experience the most fulfilling it can be, though the overwhelming majority of his guests are somewhere further along the playing spectrum.
“Golfers fall into two different categories: Those who want to get better, are willing to invest in their swing and their equipment; and those who just want to enjoy the game, have fun and are OK with being an 18- or 20-handicapper. That’s OK, we can still help them. Everybody has a different agenda, so we are respectful of that — why are they here and how can we be of service to them?”
