Golf In A Parallel Universe (16 page)

We went out one of the big bay doors and to my surprise there was a huge golf driving range. A beautiful range! Must have been 500 yards long and 200 yards wide. We went over to this thing that had a big silver canvas tarp or cover over it. “I would like you to meet Betsey," he said as he pulled a silver looking tarp off this machine. And it was a golf Robot testing machine. “She’s a cutie ain’t she?," he said smiling. Now this ain't your Grandma’s golf testing machine. This is high tech like you would not believe," he said as he laid the tarp down to the side. “Wow, impressive," I remarked. “This is just another piece of equipment that Gus is a pioneer of. He revolutionized the golf robot testing machines. This machine mimics the human body more than any of its predecessor. From swing path to hip turn, it does it all. Want to see it in action?," he asked. “Sure," I replied.

He turned it on. And it took a few seconds to boot up, just like a computer. It already had a club in it, which was a driver. He teed a ball up. The he typed some commands computer key board on the back of the machine. “Step back” he said. Then the machine made a nice swing and Bam! The ball took off dead straight about 300 yards.

“Wow!," I said laughing. He teed up another ball. Bam! same shot. Then again Bam! Right down the middle. “Ok let's do some test," he said. He clicked on the keyboard again. He took out the driver. Put in an 8 iron. Then typed in some commands again. The machine moved a little and got lined up with the ball. It hit 3 shots with 8 iron. All greats shots. Then he changed to a 5 iron. Entered some commands, and the machine changed its position slightly again and hit 3 more shots. All perfect 5 iron shots. Then same thing with a 3 iron. All great shots.

“So! what do you think he asked," he asked. “Amazing” I replied. He asked me what I notice about the swings on those three clubs. The 8 iron, then the 5 iron, and the three iron. “Well, nice swing. It seemed pretty much the same on every swing," I told him. He held up his finger, in a come here gesture. “Look here,"he replied as he pointed at the computer screen. I looked on the screen and there was info on the screen which was the swing data. The first three swings are with the 8 iron. The second three is the 5 iron and the last three is the 3 iron. Look at the end of each line and it has the swing speed. What do you see?," he asked. I looked, and it was 85mph on the 8 iron shots. Also 85 mph on the 5 iron shots and 85 mph on the three iron shots. “Light bulb go off in your head yet?," remarked Gus from behind me. I took a deep breath. “Yeah starting to make sense," I replied. “In our actual testing, we do adjust the speed swing a little from shot to shot because we know the human body is not perfect," replied Brad. “But the moral of the story is what I believe Gus is trying to make you understand. And that is that you really need to have basically the same swing speed or tempo on all your shots. No matter what club it is. “Tempo, Tempo, Tempo, that is the theme of the day." Brad told me as he was looking at the machine.

“Now let's get down to business," said Gus as he looked like he was ready to show me some things. “OK, I will let you kids get to work. The range and Betsey is all yours, let me know if you need anything," said Brad. And he smiled and walked off.

Gus went to the keyboard of the machine. “I am going to have you hit some balls with Betsey here. I want you to mimic her swing tempo. Your clubs are right behind you," he told me as he pointed behind me. Sure enough someone brought my clubs right here. As he was typing on the keyboard, I jokingly asked if he can handle this high tech computerized machine. He mumbled as he was typing. “Back in my day, we used to knobs and levers on the testing machines, but this is pretty cool," he said as he was typing. Then he hit a key, and the machine made a quick jerk and brought the club up and made baseball swing with the club and almost hit me. “Whoa Whoa," I said as I jumped back. “OK, OK I got it," he mumbled. He took out the three iron and put in a 9 iron. “Ok come behind here. We have a place for you to hit.," he told me as he directed me behind the machine. I went behind and there were some practice balls setup and it was real grass, not mats. “OK, get your 9 iron out and loosing up. Once we start. Here is what I want you to do. You just watch the machine swing and hit a shot. Then the next shot, you hit your shot the same time the machine does. After you get the hang of it, you should be able to match your tempo to the machines tempo," he told me.

So I did just that. I would watch the machine hit the ball, Then the next one I would swing at the same time. At first it was hard. But after a while, I starting swing about the same temp as the machine. We hit a few with the 9 iron. Then changed to 8 iron and kept on hitting. Gus would put the ball down for the machine on each shot then back off and watch me swing. We progressed all the way up to the three iron. I was really starting to get the feel of this. My tempo was matching the machine.

We must have hit balls for an hour. Then Gus said “Ok take a break. Do you feel that? Do you feel your tempo the same with all of your irons?," he asked. I shook my head “I do, I really do," I replied. “And you are hitting some really good shots” Yep I he said as he looked out towards the driving range. “Let me ask you something," he said looking at me. “Do you think if I yelled at that machine would get upset? Do you think old Betsey would panic and start whacking away?," he asked smiling. “No," I said laughing.

“So as you can see,," he continued. “The physics is the same. The ball will be hit correctly with the same tempo and swing speed, no matter what club you use. Of course as you get into the Driver and the Fairway woods, the swing speed will change slightly. But basically you should always have about the same tempo no matter what club you it. Your problem is that you have a different tempo and a different swing speed for just about every club in your bag. And we need to change that. Understand?," he asked looking at me. I nodded in agreement.

“Ok, let's do more," he said as he was teeing up another ball. We continued to do the same thing for another hour. But he would change the irons in all different order, between, short, mid and long irons, not gradual like before. And this really started to get through my thick skull, and my brain was really thinking tempo. I was memorized by the swing of the machine and I felt like I was really in sync to the machine. Finally we finished.

“I could have told you a million times on the range to have the same tempo on all your swings and you would never get it. But after today, I think you can see the importance of this," he said in a satisfied tone. “Yes I can," I replied.

“This machine has no emotions so it will not get rattled," he told me. He explained to me that I need to train brain to do the same. And that is to block out my emotions for those few seconds when I am setting up and swinging at the ball. “The elite tour players can do that, and you can to. I think you got the concept and we will be working on that the next few days," he told me. Finally, we are calling it a day. “Tomorrow is Saturday. We have three days left of our seven day commitment. We will be very busy the next three days, I need your undivided attention, OK?," he said looking at me intently.

“No problem” I replied enthusiastically. I got my gear, and Brad came by as we were leaving. I thanked him for having me by. He told me to come by anytime and that I can have use to the range and Robot testing machines if needed. I told him I just may just do that sometime. We left the building and when we got to our cars and Gus just held up his hand and waved goodbye. “See you in the morning 8:00am, he barked out in his grumpy tone. I laugh to myself at his grumpy personality. I never can figure out his personality.

I checked the time, and it was 4:30pm. I started driving home, and I was thinking about the day and the last few days working with Gus. I was thinking how unique his teaching techniques are. Working with Pendulums, Softballs and now this today. I was a little skeptical the first few days. But now I really see the big picture. I am going all out to apply his techniques. I am at a turning point in my golf career and I feel like I am on a role. I am focused at getting my game together and making a Serious Run at the US Open which is just is just a few weeks away. As I am driving, then I remember, I have a date with Emily tonight! I am excited but not really nervous. Besides, I am tired after working hard the last few days with Gus. So the plan is, I will get home, get cleaned up. Then I will drive to Lakeland which is about a 30 minute drive from my house since I live on the west side of Orlando.

I get home and relax. I want to drink beer. But I do not think I want alcohol on my breath on my first date with her. I am wonder if I should text or call her to confirm. But I decided not to. We made plans to meet at the restaurant at 7:00pm, so I will be there.

I get cleaned up and head that way. I am starting to feel a little nervous. I arrive at the restaurant about 6:50PM. I sit in my car, feeling nervous and wondering how this is going to go. I go into the restaurant right at 6:55pm. This is basically your typical modern family-style restaurant with a Bar in the Middle of the restaurant. I look around and do not see her anywhere. I think about waiting at the bar. But I do not know if she drinks. There is a little waiting area by the front door. The host asked me if I am ready to sit. But I tell her that I am meeting someone, and I will just wait here. I sit down and wait. I am really starting to get nervous. “What do I do?," I ask myself. “Do I give her a hug, shake her hand or what?”

Before I know it the door opens and someone walks in and sure enough it is her. She sees me, and I stand up. She has a warm smile and reaches out and shakes my hand. We exchange typical polite greeting for a minute and the host ask if we are ready to sit, and she takes us to the table. As we sit we start talking. Just normal chit chat to start out. But after the first couple of minutes I felt so comfortable with her. It just seemed like we were old friends. It was really nice. The server asked us if we wanted a drink. We looked at each other. I told her if she would like a drink that would be fine. She ordered a glass of wine and I ordered a beer.

“I guess one drink is OK for me” she said. “But I am a little nervous because I am driving," she explained. “Don't worry about it, I am sure that will be fine” I replied.

We talked a little while and then I asked her. “So, are you enjoying your vacation?," I asked. She paused and shook her head in very satisfaction type of gesture and smiled. “Yeah, I really am. It feels so good to get out of New York, and I am really enjoying spending some time with my parents. We just have not seen much of each other the last few years,," she explained.

“Nice how long are you going to be down here?," I asked. “Well," she said as she was putting her hand on her chin. “I am not sure. Actually, I am not really on vacation. I recently quit my Job at NBC, so I am not sure what I will be doing in the near future," she told me. I put my hands down on the table. “What! You are kidding me!," I replied in a surprised but caring tone.

“Yeah it has been something that I have been thinking about for a while. I had a great job, a great career in the TV business. Sometimes I loved it. But a lot of the times I really did not like what I was doing. And the last year or so has really been hard for me. I am constantly dealing with show business types. There are a lot of good people in that business. But let me tell you. There are a lot phony people in the business as well. And a lot of cutthroat, backstabbing goes on in the business,," she explained.

“I can imagine” I replied nodding my head. She explained that her job was to get guest prepared for the show. And a lot of times dealing with celebrities is a handful. However, she said that most celebrities are really nice. It takes a quality person to make it in that business and they are hard working good people. She went on to explain that there a lot of celebrities that live in a different world. They feel like they are the greatest thing ever.They are arrogant and treat people very rudely. They expect everyone to bow to them like they are God or someone.

“So I had had enough. And besides. I never really enjoyed living in New York so put in my notice in. I gave them a two month notice which they honored and my last day was two weeks ago," she told me in a happy and somewhat relieved tone.

“Wow!" I replied. "Yeah it was a big step for me. I do miss most of my co-workers. And there were a lot of things that I liked about that job. But a lot of things that I did not like. I felt, like now was the time to make a move in my career," she explained.“What do you want to do for a career,," I asked.

“I am not really sure at the point. Teaching is my first love, and I was an elementary school for a few years before I went to NBC. My plan now is to take a year off. I have saved some money so I am ok there. I may do some traveling or maybe take some classes or something like that. At this point, I just feel free and I will enjoy the time off and we will see what happens,," she explained.

I asked if she still has her place in New York. “Nope, I am out of there. I may go back there to visit my old friends. But for now I will be with my parents for a while as my home base," she explained.

“Cool! It will be good to have some time for yourself for a while," I told her.

“Enough about me. How about you?, What have you been up to since your big win at the masters?," she asked.

We talked for awhile as we were eating. I told her how things have been since the masters and that it has been crazy. I told her how I have seemed to have new enthusiasm for my game and I have been working hard. She seemed very interested and knowledgeable about golf and sports in general. I told her that I am in the same situation that she is in. I am at a turning point in my career. And I need to really get my game to the next level to have the success that I want. She told me that she saw me play at World Golf Championship Match Play in San Francisco on TV that I won. And also the TPC at Sawgrass.

I was a little surprised that she had seemed to be following me on the tour, and that felt good. I told her about what I am going through with Gus with my lessons. I was telling her about his personality and the crazy things he has had me do. We had some pretty good laughs talking about Gus. She has been the first person I have had a chance to talk to about him. So we finally finished dinner and walked out. I asked if maybe we can get together again since she is in the area for a while. She said she would be happy to get together again. I told her that things are crazy now since I am in the middle of tour season. But I will try to keep in touch and hopefully we will find some time to see each other again. She understood.