Golf And Life Still Smooth And In Rhythm For The Shark

Courtesy of Greg Stoda
Palm Beach Post

HOBE SOUND, Florida — The 5-iron shots flew into the brilliant sunshine of a South Florida day at whatever trajectory Greg Norman chose.

Norman who played the Humana Challenge last week on the PGA Tour, plans to play in the Mayakoba Golf Classic and is considering entering the Honda Classic.

These went high.

Those went low.

Others went somewhere in-between.

The trick was that the ball position in Norman's stance never changed, which was the point of the lesson to be seen as part of a five-episode instructional series that was began Tuesday night on Golf Channel.

Norman has a knack for this teaching stuff.

"I think I still have a good eye for the game," said Norman, a long-time world's No. 1-ranked golfer in a former life who doesn't play competitively very often anymore. "I'm at a point where I get more enjoyment out of giving back to the game more than I do playing. It's been that way for a while. I've lost my enthusiasm for practice, which is probably at the root of everything. I don't enjoy the preparation work."

But he did play in the Humana Challenge last week (paired with President Clinton for Saturday's round) on the PGA Tour, plans to play in the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico next month and is considering entering the Honda Classic (March 1-4 at PGA National).

"If my body says I can," Norman said.

He'll soon celebrate a 57th birthday, and looks exactly like you'd expect a guy who was an Aussie matinee-idol star of sport a couple or three decades ago to look. He's fit and tan. He's still blond-haired under the trademark wide-brimmed straw hat, and if there's less volume to the mane and more lines to the face, it speaks to a comfortable maturity.

Norman seems more a man in full than he ever was as a global icon defined by his assorted golfing disappointments - either due to his own failings or someone else's achievements - as anything. He prefers business and staying busy these days, which is why Norman was cramming the taping sessions into a day-and-a-half time frame at his Medalist Club.

Norman (with host Rich Lerner) is featured in a five-episode instructional series that began this week on Golf Channel.

The cameras needed to be moved as the teaching lesson switched from driver and full-swing clubs to bunker play?

Norman had things to do in the meantime. He jumped into a cart and drove off to a conference call to discuss wines or clothing lines or his own expanding teaching facility in Myrtle Beach, S.C., which he launched in 2010 for the purpose of high-level instruction for juniors hoping to embark on a golf career.

No wonder Rich Lerner, co-host of the Golf Channel Academy segments, calls Norman "a natural" when it comes to communicating ideas.

Norman's approach to teaching, though it necessarily involves technical aspects of golf, is more casual when addressing players of modest skill.

"I've always found the best way to explain something that can be as complicated as a golf swing is to make everything as simple as possible," Norman said. "The advice you're trying to give can get lost otherwise. And how many different swings do you see, anyway, when you're talking about the average golfer? If you can just find something that will unlock one idea for somebody, it's going to be beneficial.

"One of the main problems the average player has is over-thinking. If you're thinking too much while you're making your backswing, you're downswing probably isn't going to be what you want it to be and the ball isn't going to go where you want it to go. What's the point?"

So he talks with visuals in mind. He says it's better to fire the back hip instead of sliding the front one, and mentions how a balanced swing should end with the player being able to stand on the front leg without stumbling.

Norman's own final swing thought is always simple and the same.

"I just tell myself, 'Greg, good rhythm,'" he said.

He found a good rhythm during the instruction lessons. If he wasn't happy with a take, Norman didn't wait for a director to tell him what needed to be done.

"Start from the top, OK, guys?" he said after flubbing a line.

They did. Norman nailed the next attempt, re-addressed the ball and sailed another 5-iron into the sky.

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