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My
name is Phillip Smalley, and I designed The Right Trac,
as a
tool to assist me in my endeavours to master the game of golf, after everything
else I tried had failed. I started playing golf regularly in the early 1990's,
although I had played a little before that, about 10 to 20 rounds between 1983,
and 1989.
When I started playing again, I thought I would take the game seriously, so I read all the books on golf that I could find, and watched all the videos. None of this seemed to help. In the winter of 1998, I took some lessons, that was also a big mistake. What the pro was asking me to do, were things I was not capable of doing, and although I tried to do what he suggested, it was mentally impossible. In the summer of that year, following his advice, I rarely shot under 100. He said, " You have to stick with it, it takes years, and you never master this game." He went on to say, "Maybe you are not aware of it, but did you know, that less than 10% of golfers can shoot under a 100?" I had virtually resigned myself to the fact that I might never get better. I couldn't get what he had said out of my mind. There had to be a way to improve, quickly.
Then I recalled an incident that had occurred in 1988. We were paired with a guy at a local golf course, who hit the ball straighter and farther than us. His drives went at least 40 yards farther every time. It doesn't seem that unusual, except that, this guy had lost his right arm in a machine accident. He shot an 80 or an 81 that day, beating us by about 20 strokes. Since then, I have seen - a blind man hit the ball 265 yards at a driving range; a 12 year old girl hit the ball 185 yards, while standing on one leg; and a man, paralyzed from the waist down, hit one ball after the other, straight up the middle and far, while leaning up against a golf cart. There was clearly less to this game than I thought!
After months of research into golf, and the laws of physics, I finally discovered the real secret to this game. It was the one thing that all professional players do consistently, although they all have different ways of achieving it. Learning this, and practice, helped me shoot over 20 rounds in the 80's, and 3 rounds in the 70's, in the summer of 1999 - none of which I had ever done before. The secret was, quite simply, hitting the ball correctly. Believe it or not, there is only one way that can be done. I designed The Right Trac, to show me how close I was to achieving this. After 20 minutes on The Right Trac, I discovered that my swing was 'out to in', I consistently hit the ball towards the toe of the club, and I came down 2 to 3 inches before the ball. I moved my right foot back, stepped in 1 inch, and adjusted my stance 2 to 3 inches to the left. I spent 3 to 4 months of the winter practicing on The Right Trac and, for the first time ever, I shot 3 rounds in 1999 that were in the 70's, the lowest a 76. I shot only 2 rounds in the 90's, in treacherous conditions, and apart from those 5 rounds, I never shot over 85. In one round, I hit 15 of the 18 greens in regulation and only made one birdie, but that's golf. As I write this, it is December 1999 and I can't wait to see how I do in the spring. Now I have to find something to help with my putting!