For more than a year now, we have been using recent discoveries in the science of learning new movement patterns to help hundreds of players improve their games.

With your help, we can test an even more focused approach to our groundbreaking instructional program and quantify some of the impressive results our students have been enjoying.

High-level summary of the science behind the project:

• The golf swing is a complex, athletic movement made up of a series of relatively simple, smaller movements.
• Improving a golf swing involves moving in a new way.
• All humans learn new movements the same way because learning is dependent on the biology of the brain.
• Research shows that the brain learns best when one small movement is mastered through lots of repetitions during intense, focused practice. The next movement is then added to the first, and the repetitions and practice continue until the entire series of movements have been added together and mastered.

This process can be seen in most physical activities we learn (e.g. playing the guitar or piano, driving a car, etc.). We have had tremendous success incorporating this knowledge into our golf instruction during individual lessons and 2-day clinics with our students. However, these instructional formats do not allow for enough interaction and time to effect real change in more than a couple of the golf swing movements. This research project aims to change all that by providing you a precise 6-week learning regimen during which you will learn the Rotary Swing Tour (RST).

Highlights of the 6-week learning regimen:

• Full day spent gaining an intellectual understanding of the simple movements of the RST and of how the brain learns.
• Full day group lesson introducing you to what it feels like to correctly perform the RST movements (this is referred to as "kinesthetic knowledge").
• Viewing instructional videos describing in detail the RST drills that need to be completed to learn the RST movements.
• Performing thousands of repetitions of these drills with and without a club in the comfort of your own home.
• Slow incorporation of partial and full golf shots once the drills have been mastered.
• Video submissions to and feedback from RST certified instructors.

Project Details

Date: February 20 - April 3, 2010 (6 weeks)
Commitment: 2-day (10 hours total) golf clinic then approximately 6 hours per week spent performing drills, hitting balls, and submitting videos
Requirements: Individuals must be self-disciplined and have access to video camera and high speed internet (all skill levels are welcome)
Location: Clinic and meetings with researchers -- somewhere in Colorado; Practice time -- home and at your favorite driving range
Regular price: $895 Research participant price: $400!! (Limit of 50 at this price)

Researchers

Dr. Jeff Broker, Associate Professor of Biomechanics at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Chuck Quinton, Professional Golfer and Founder of Rotary Swing Golf

Click here to see their full bios.