HOW US GOLF THEORY HAS SPREAD TO JAPAN
In Japan, when it comes to golf, it normally means American golf. Why?
The real pleasure of playing golf would be provided by the following four elements:
• Long drives.
• Accurate high iron shots dead to the pin.
• Approach shots with exaggerated backspin
• Putting techniques to hole putts on the incredible breaks of the greens.
I think the Masters must be the most popular golf tournament that can provide all of these four elements. I have been asking many Japanese golfers which tournaments they like the best, and most of their answers are “the Masters.” The Masters tournament is held in the US, and almost all the winners of the tournament are Americans. For this reason, Japanese golfers have a common understanding that the US leads the world in the fi eld of golf.
How do Japanese golfers get the latest US golf techniques?
• Reading golf magazines published in Japan. Japanese golf magazines mainly consist of the swing analysis based on the US swing techniques. Japanese golfers check their swing sequences and learn how to analyze their swings.
• Japanese golfers learn from experienced golfers who have learned at golf academies or schools in the US. These experienced golfers teach their students what they have learned from their American coaches as if it is a main US golf method.
The problems of reading golf magazines published in Japan:
• USGTF-JAPAN regards a fi xed camera angle as important when analyzing golf swings. This is because a fi xed camera angle is essential to evaluate golf swings correctly. Japanese golf magazines, however, normally use the image processing pictures of playing golfers on the courses, and we can never know its exact camera position or height. Some pictures are selected for analysis without specifying when they were taken. Their analysis can be designed to meet their assumptions without reliable references, and this doesn’t seem scientifi c. In addition, it is uncertain that analysts, appointed only for their popularity or their past reputation, have the latest correct knowledge of swing analysis.
Recent evaluation of USGTF-JAPAN
The USGTF-JAPAN, has strived to keep up-todate on all new effective teaching methods. We select innovative golf techniques in the US, make practical Japanese manuals, and have free training sessions for USGTF-JAPAN members, as we introduced in the last issue of Golf Teaching Pro.
These USGTF-JAPAN achievements have been getting highly evaluated by golf teaching professionals. More and more new applicants have applied to USGTF certifi cation programs by word of mouth, getting program details from USGTF-JAPAN certified pros. We have attracted a wide range of golfers, and even teaching professionals of the JPGA, trying to get USGTF-JAPAN certification.
We would like to continue to make USGTF-JAPAN stand out even more over the other golf organizations, not only by focusing on up-to-date US golf theory, but by following USGTF and WGTF general principles.
