In the fifty-five years I have played golf, I have been forming a mental list of the correct way to swing a golf club and how to make the golf swing fundamentals easier to learn. This list was the foundation for the training aids I’ve developed and it’s now the inspiration for this blog. I love this game and it gives me great pleasure to help others succeed.
Today I’m a soft wedge away from seventy. My index is between 3 and 4. I can still hit the ball further than I can see (possibly due to failing eyesight). I pack my bag and walk whenever possible. My friends ask me how the heck do you hit the ball like that and they often ask me to help them with their swing. Most of these golfers know the pre-swing set-up skills of grip, posture, stance and body motion. What’s often missing is an understanding of the two most elusive, critical and counter-intuitive golf swing fundamentals – correct RELEASE of the hands and club head and how to swing them ON-PLANE.
The golf video below shows me swinging the club using the golf swing tools I’ve developed.
I will explain in greater detail these elusive skills but, for this first blog posting, let me give you some background about how golf and I grew up together – where the mental list began.
I was born in 1943 in San Francisco and grew up in the Southwest part of the city. If we had lived in any other part of the city, golf would not have been an option for me (possibly bowling or pool, but not golf). As it turned out, I found myself smack in the middle – less than a mile away – from four great golf courses – the Olympic Club (where Webb Simpson took home the 112th U.S. Open trophy), San Francisco Golf Club (a Tillinghast masterpiece), Lake Merced Golf Club, and my training ground, 200 yards from my front door, Harding Golf Course.
I was lucky, but millions of others don’t live near a course and don’t have the chance to learn how to play the game. They are effectively disenfranchised from golf. This barrier was always in the back of my mind when inventing my golf training products. I wanted to bring golf to anyone, anywhere.
I started caddying and playing at Harding when I was twelve years old and eventually caddied at all four golf courses. By watching people play and emulating the swings I though looked good, is how I developed my swing.
I captained the Lincoln High School golf team, the same school that Venturi and Miller played for. I also captained the City College of San Francisco team, which had some of the best players in San Francisco, through two intercollegiate tournaments at Pasatiempo and I finished fourth in the State finals.
The years following were filled with work for the City of San Francisco and my family. In between all that, I started a solar business, a sound reduction and climate control window business and a Giants Baseball 10-game plan ticket business. Upon my retirement, I finally turned my focus on building a business based on my greatest passion ~ golf. I approached the game as an inventor and launched Slingergolf, Inc. to manufacture golf swing improvement tools ~ Slinger, InsideMove and Velcro Target.
Today, Slinger Golf swing training aids can be found on the web on Ebay and in Amazon.com stores, and our website. It makes me feel good to know (keep those cards and letters coming), that golf games and handicaps are improving from the use of my products!
Never stop improving.
– Bruce Hubley, Inventor
Voice Your Opinion at the end of this golf blog, on Twitter @SlingerGolf and on my Facebook page.
Group lessons are aenthor option. You could try your local community college or other school to see if they offer a class through their phys. ed. department. Most golf courses (small and large ones) have pros and most pros LOVE beginners (some of them are better at teaching first-timers than others). I have had great success with group lessons in the past. It will give you the opportunity to see if you really like the sport before you dive into $60.00/hour private lessons or buy a bunch of equipment that\’s not right for a beginner.Good luck!