Testimonials and Validation for the Zone Golf System

We are collecting testimonials for players who have been with the Zone Golf Academy and system and have had amazing success.  They will be included shortly.

Until then, the following chapter from the Zone Golf book provides the best validation for the ZG system:

Want to Be Scratch or Better?

(Zone Golf System Validation)

I have wanted to write this chapter for about 10 years.  Finally, I can generate this experiential report.  There are no secrets, no special clubs, and no voodoo.  The game is ‘built from the dirt’ and a plan.  A blue collar approach.

As Joe Paterno says “Everybody has the will to win, just a few have the will to properly plan and prepare”.

The journey to go from a 9 handicap to a scratch player started in earnest about 18 months ago at age 61.  On August 22, 2009, I shot a 70 in a Trilogy La Quinta Men’s Club tournament.  On that date, I became a scratch player as the computer displayed an index of 0.0!  Since then it drop to a +.6

It is very similar to Tim Galliway’s journey to break 80 at Perfect Liberty in Malibu before a publisher deadline for his “Inner Game of Golf’ book.  It is different from Tim’s journey because I have no publisher deadline, and my results included about 30 scores of better than par in the last year or so.

We all should realize by now that the handicap is ephemeral and dynamic, especially at the ripe young age of 63.  I still have days where I shot what seems like a million for a net score of a million. 

However, I believe once you get to that point, it will be easier to regain it and even improve.  With a continuation to execute your plan coupled with getting stronger, more flexible, and more coordinated each month that the improvement will continue. 

Of course, there will be some performance plateaus and even some low points.  However, if you steady the course, improvement will continue.  To steady the course, one needs maximum levels perseverance, commitment, motivation, confidence, and discipline- all cognitive processes.  These processes become stronger each month for me.

The path was not linear.  It was not like training to run marathons- where the more you run the faster you travel.  The reward for golf preparation is not that linear – different from some other sports.  For example, in the last 19 months my handicap went something like:

Percentage-wise, the biggest growth came in the last 5 months.  Jumping from 4.2 to 0.0 is huge.  I contribute the growth to the following:

• A great ZG blueprint to improve the mental game, the physical game, and all golf techniques.
• Continued with Master instruction.
• Finally understand all nuances of the model full swing, chipping, and putting. 
• My swing is very close to be on plane- the current errors now come from improper sequencing.  Problems with sequencing are much easier to correct than plane errors.
• Worked out harder than ever. Developed and used Yog-Golf™ techniques.
• Did more mirror swings, chips, and putts plus other daily ‘rituals’.

On the path to success, we will be tested.  Along the path I took a lot of ‘hits’ including:

• A 7 week period where my game was a mess- did not win a championship where I was a favorite because I could not keep the ball even in play.
• In addition, I shot ‘a million’ more often than I would like.
• Was told that I was wasting my time and money, I was too old, I should have started golf earlier, and other BS.  Because of my training I did not allow myself to ‘hear’ the comments.  So my ego could not engage such thoughts.
• Suffered some physical ailments including a neck that would produce a pop when I turned it, tendonitis in the right elbow, a surgically repaired ankle that goes into an episode for a day or two, some traces of arthritis in the wrists, etc. Listening to my body steered me to required rest, varied training, rehab type exercises, improved diet, and more adjustments.
• Living in the Valley of the sun requires special training and practice considerations.

As my buddies are quick to point up (and I agree), my +.6 handicap is mostly based on a ‘not-too-tough’ of a course (slope is 126).  My next goal is to see if my handicap ‘travels’ to a tougher home course. 

Stayed tuned.