Jim McLean was a featured speaker at the recent 2006 PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit held in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Over 1,000 PGA professionals and apprentices were in attendance.
This marks the 7th time Jim has presented his ideas at a National PGA Summit. Jim was the co-chairman of the 1992 Summit held in San Francisco, California.
The subject this year was an explanation of Jim's three tier teaching approach" from The Eight Step Swing. Our instructors are trained to teach beginners far differently than advanced players. This is why we do not teach a single method.
Jim explained the differences between a method and a system noting that our system was not rigid and how we have corridors and safety zones.
Jim brought David McClain to the presentation as a live student. You might remember that David did the first "reality show" with Jim on The Golf Channel. It was called "Break 100."
David's first round back then (2001) was 123. He had been only an occasional golfer and almost never recorded a score. In a six week time frame he broke 100 three times. David went on to break 90 and then recently broke 80. He now has a 6.6 handicap index.
David McClain is now 54 years old and is a retired police officer. In 1998 he was shot in the chest which led to the earlier than expected retirement.
He was chosen for the Break 100 Show from many golfers who showed up at six different Florida locations. David now resides in Lake Mary, Florida. He visits Doral regularly and stays in communication with Jim.
At this years presentation (the Summit is held every two years) David demonstrated the drills he used to break each barrier. For breaking 100 he hit shots using the Claude Harmon resist chipping drill and the Harvey Penick tee chip drill. For breaking 90 he "walked the dog," a chipping drill that is quite difficult. David hit every chip perfectly. For breaking 80 he demonstrated a drill Jim devised to help David control swing speed and gauge trajectory. The way this drill is done; mark five balls with a number, mark five additional balls with a second number and then mark five more balls with a third number. David then hit each set of five balls with a different club to the same pin location. For example, five balls with a pitching wedge, five balls with an 8 iron, and five balls with a 6 iron, all to a pin perhaps 100 yards away. Then David would go see which set of golf balls ended up closest to the pin. The results sometimes surprised him, but he learned a lot about swing control and distance control.
Jim also discussed his ideas on teaching at different levels and explained how The Jim McLean Teaching System is not a method. Our teachers adapt to the student, not the other way around.
After the presentation literally hundreds of PGA professionals spoke with Jim, David, or Jim's current assistant, Joey Wuertemberger (who greatly helped put this entire presentation together). David McClain was inundated with praise and amazement for his golf accomplishments.
The teaching and Coaching Summit was a three day affair with many Jim McLean Instructors attending. Our entire staff goes over all of the information presented by other golf companies and teachers. We dissect every claim and everyone continues to learn more and more about this wild game of golf.
