~Count Yogi Golf Co.

PART I: Count Yogi (Harry Montana Frankenberg). Who Is He and why are we Preserving His Legacy?

Count Yogi, his stage name adopted during the 1950’s, was born Harry Montana Von Frankenberg, ‘Blackie’ to his friends growing up on the mean streets of Chicago. To this very day he is still considered to be the world record holder of being the youngest (age 13) teaching professional in the history of the game! Later during his competitive playing years through the 1920’s, 30’s and early 40’s he was called the Great Frankenberg, especially in the Chicago area where he grew up. This is the link that goes into more detail of his origins and youth.

Despite the booming popularity of Hatha Yoga (the most popular form of yoga, using various exercises and postures), Count Yogi’s name has little to do with yoga. His stage name was taken following highly complimentary urgings from his show business friends: Count for being the Best and Yogi for being the Master.

Yogi was, and is, an American original, and was of that generation that birthed giants of sports and commerce. It was a friendly era, characterized by great hope and growth in the whole identity and power of the young nation. Think of it. Yogi’s own generation included these bigger than life individuals, just like himself, most of them from down and out origins.

Babe Ruth, Jim Thorpe, Sachel Paige, Ty Cobb, John Heisman, Babe Zacharias, Bobby Jones, Harry Vardon. Rene LaCoste (little alligators on shirts and first Frenchman to win the British Open) and others remind us that this generation was unique, had a great flavor, and was entirely inexplicable. These athletes are all original, having not been “instructed,” or trained or schooled as today’s greats are. They almost all had friendly nicknames. This is Count Yogi’s generation.

Add to that the overwhelming odds that this little boy would make anything of himself much less live makes his story alone fascinating. One cannot forget that Little Harry was on the wrong side of bigotry: his Great grandfather, Chief Gall made Yogi’s dark features and striking handsomeness appear exotic and ‘different.’ How true that was! Yogi was not only different; he was a man of astounding potential, truly American in every way. He is to be respected for maintaining a healthy and affectionate personality for his entire life, despite the handicaps of his early childhood.

Put yourself in his place. It is the early years of the past century, almost 100 years ago. A mother rouses her six-year old son. Her drunken husband is on a rampage, a rage because his boy, young Harry, wasted time watching some golfers and didn’t finish his chores. He would beat this boy. The mother, fearing the worst, hustled the child out of the humble house. The rest of this boy’s life would be lived out on the streets of Chicago, shining shoes and being considered a worthless waif by respectable people. He would sleep in a warehouse with other lost boys. He would fight, make friends, but he had integrity. He never was a thief and a sneak. He worked and loved to sell, to make money. His selling and shining of shoes took him around the Southside where he saw some men of power and wealth playing a fairly new game (in the US anyway) called golf.

Chicago was the site of the first 18-hole course in the US, finished less than 20 years before Yogi’s birth. Yogi was there at the birth of American golf.

Who would have ever guessed that this small, abandoned child would be the chosen son for the future of American golf and a key to health, grace and enjoyment of this venerable game? He would not have suspected such but when he received knowledge of the golf swing from his Creator as he always gave credit (for Yogi was a humble man), his life and the future of golf would be changed forever.

Looking back and hearing the story always brings in a mixed emotion. On the one hand, it is a dramatic and hear-warming story. On the other, it strains credulity. Furthermore, we sit here thinking we are superior in nearly all ways to the men of a hundred years ago. What could they possibly have to teach us? We have science. They were nearly all poor boys. We have an entire history of great tournaments and their stars. We have over 15,000 golf courses and the equipment is almost too good. What can an old man who learned to play on hickory sticks, never played as a PGA pro and had a crazy trick shot show teach US?

And even if he was inspired, why would I care about that? Using slow motion cameras, scientific analysis, and practice facilities are far superior to some odd notions from a man who had a voice from an invisible presence show him the golf swing.

Not only are those fair questions, they also tell us a great deal about the questioner. We do live in a scientific age, to be sure, and we all know that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. But, there are disadvantages. We may not know as much as we think we do. Also, we have another problem. The normal golfer, however great the new equipment and fabulously well maintained courses and great designs, is still lacking in even rudimentary skill and grace. Plus, the distance between the professional and regular golfer is huge and growing daily.

As we all have the same body as do other people, why is it to hard to acquire golf proficiency? It is a known fact that hard work at golf, such as long hours of range practice, exercises, constant play and study of the courses do not really bring high returns. It is a known fact that even among the ‘greats’ of golf, that their games are off and less pleasant as they age. Finally, golf remains a mystery in so many ways that it is the only game or sport to inspire titles like (Michael Murphy): “Golf in the Kingdom,” or “The Inner Game of Golf,” or Pinnicks “Little Red Book).”

There isn’t a day that goes by where thousands of golfers and teachers are exclaiming “AHA! Eureka, I got it!!” as did Archimedes when he understood the displacement of water. The difference is that today, thanks to Archimedes, we have the entire science of hydrology, but the poor and earnest practitioners of new ideas fail once more and go back to the range, not humbled as you would expect, but nearly obsessed with finding the ‘secret of the swing.’

This happens at the professional level so intensely that a modern pro is a composition of his ideas, his father’s ideas, his videos, his watching other pros, books, personal trainers, swing coaches, putting coaches, short game coaches and a dozen other assorted characters, including a sports psychologist. The modern pro unlike his cousin who made little money at golf in the early days of the Tour, stays healthy and works at it severely, while the old timers made good use of gambling and strong drink to cope with the difficulties of the game.

WHY WE SHOULD TAKE COUNT YOGI’S TEACHING SERIOUSLY – THE CALIBER OF THE MAN HIMSELF

“Ye shall know them by their fruits. You cannot gather figs from thistles nor grapes from thorns.” This is a truth to be used in all our ways, It could help if applied to golf. Another from Holy Scripture is that: “the blind shall lead the blind and both shall fall into the ditch.”

We at Count Yogi Golf are eager to PROVE to you that you are in good hands with Yogi’s teachings. We WANT to be tested and we want you to get good fruit from your efforts guided by ours. So, to clear the air on whether Count Yogi is a fraud and clown and we are out to make a sale, we wish to share our experience with the man, the method and the passion. We mentioned that Count Yogi as a man was humble. He NEVER took credit for the golf swing. He insisted right to the last day that it was a gift from God, the Creator. He said that he personally derived as much pleasure from executing a perfect swing or putt as the first time he ever did it.

He refused to cheapen his understanding for the great financial gain that would have brought him. Like “Johnny Appleseed, he took his game and trick shots all around the USA in over 7,000 ‘Perfect Shot’ shows. He was easily the first Ambassador of golf the US had ever seen. He showed and taught his skill at private courses, public courses, in all places and under all conditions. He experienced perfect weather during his shows! He charged for his shows and was eagerly paid for them and immediately invited back.

At every show, he did a two-hour trick shot show as well as playing at least one full round of golf with the head pro and the club champion and perhaps a major sponsor. Then, he would pack up his Cadillac or Rolls-Royce and head for the next town and booking. This was all happening during the late 1940’s through the 1970’s.

His show was more than casual entertainment or a little trick act like you have today. Yogi’s ‘PLAYing’ and show performances were second to none and cannot be matched by anyone to this very day! He wanted to demonstrate the absolute simplicity of the basic swing to everyone! He believed that the game was so much fun, so pleasant, and such a great opportunity to get in a lovely walk that an inept swing should not be allowed to ruin it. Thus, during his patter and joking during his show, he always would say “Golf is a simple game. Nothing to it!” Proving it by being the first to teach and start the blind at golf. Today there are tournaments for the ‘BLIND’ everywhere!

He did not like to make reference to hand position, physical descriptions of the swing or other techniques thought to be necessary. He always proved his point and ‘explode’ theories by clever use of his trick shots. Difficult to hit out of a divot? He would hit the ball out of a hole in a block of steel. Hard to use a whippy shaft? He would swing a club with a garden hose as a shaft! Difficult lie? He would stand on one foot and swing a driver perfectly, with great results.

Another example of his humility and prudence. When he played the guest rounds, he stopped breaking the course records because it caused envy and jealousy among the home pro and he wanted to keep them as friends. Otherwise he knew he would have lost valuable access to the people. You can be so good at something that it upsets other, good people.

That leads us to our last point about the man. If Yogi is so great, where are all his tour wins?

This is a fair question. Let us get a little perspective on tournament golf. Let’s start with Yogi’s contemporary, Bobby Jones. Bobby Jones is easily up there as a great and original golfer. Not only was he the first to win four majors in one year, and not only was he the father of Augusta National, he also was adamantly against being considered a professional golfer! In his day, and more in the UK, professionals were not well received. In fact, as you know, the whole idea of professionalism was sneered at by the elites in the US and in England.

A perfect example of this is the early Olympic Games. These games excluded professionals, or anyone who had EVER received money for sports. The saga of one of the greatest athletes of all time, Jim Thorpe, was made dramatic and sorrowful by his being stripped of his gold metals because of making money in football and baseball, I believe.

So, Bobby Jones, a member of the Southern elite was not interested in professionals. That is not to say that he didn’t like them, or even play with them. But he considered professional golfer to be low class. The PGA, originating around 1916, is a great sports organization, not without its controversial side. However, it is safe to say that it was not particularly profitable until the modern era, beginning with especially Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer and of course, television revenue. Yogi was not interested in the early PGA primarily for two reasons: 1) he believed that he had nothing to prove that he had not already done; and 2) he was very successful financially in his golf business and training centers that even a year on the Tour would have cost him money.

Finally, during the 1930’s and on, there was a low profile conflict between what Yogi said was the right way to swing the golf club and what the “Official” teaching method was, which at that time was strictly enforced among its members. Obviously, there was money in teaching golf, as Yogi himself and his shows demonstrated. Thus, it would be wise if the PGA could get out a book of standards and make certain its members were in agreement about the basic approach to teaching.

This proved easier said than done. Even as far back as the 1930’s, teaching theories and methods abounded. They were as contradictory as we find today. Without going into detail, it seemed prudent for the PGA to ‘standardize’ its book; not only from a marketing point of view, but to make sure that each potential student was exposed to the same ideas. The PGA enforced conformity to this by requiring a special training for teaching pros. This course was much more than just the swing, of course, covering all aspects of fitting clubs and merchandising, and so on. Still, it was their desire to have a “book” on teaching golf and they would not tolerate competing claims.

Yogi and all that knew or witnessed his abilities had for years claimed that he was the greatest golfer of all time and that he had the keys to a perfect swing. His method of teaching was definitely not in conformity with the PGA’s teachings. We will see in Part II how wrong this was. If anything, no one, perhaps not even Yogi himself, and certainly not the men at the PGA understood how truly modern valuable Yogi’s teaching was.

In fact, we maintain that Yogi’s approach to the golf swing is perhaps better suited to this generation. Why? Because we have all had our share of teaching disasters, physical setbacks, and sheer frustration from well trained, well-intentioned teachers (well, some are not so well intentioned and some are just frauds and screwballs).

SPECULATION ON YOGI’S CAREER AS A TOURNAMENT PRO IS FRUITLESS BUT WE WILL DO IT ANYWAY

We feel strongly that, had Yogi been accepted in the ranks as a PGA pro, he would have been one of not only the biggest winners of his generation, but one with the longest career. As far as the records of his accomplishments are still available, Yogi did in fact bring in low scores and long drives. He was not just a clown and a marginal character.

And then he would have been the first person of non-pure white to play on the tour. Like Tiger Woods today (very Yogi like), if not for such great talent, do you think he would have been invited into the locker rooms or clubhouses every time? The allowance of non-whites or in Yogi’s case ‘half-breeds’ into golf course country clubs didn’t happen at all until well into the 1970’s, so we can’t imagine that the PGA would have championed his cause. Why should it? It was a respectable organization, to be sure. But it was a poor one, until well into the 1970’s.

Other players who knew of Yogi’s ability, of course, wished him well, but why would they want him on the card? Just one more competitor like him they did not need!

The MAIN thing we believe would have happened if Yogi had been on tour would be this. The up and coming pros and the general public would see and copy his swing. He would have generously shared his swing secrets. Thus, by today, the chaos in golf teaching would be diminishing and we would see more pleasantness in tournament play and more fun on the home course.

But, alas, we will never know unless and until we have some ambitious, hard working talented younger person adopting Yogi Golf as his style and getting out there and making a name for himself on the Tour. That should settle the argument in the minds of all fair men whether the Yogi method is a winning method.

Yogi as a man was just as interesting as Yogi as a golfer. He had a unique life. He appreciated his life of health and fun. He worked hard. He had setbacks and failures. He was severely injured when an out of control bus smashed his car, when he was in his early 70’s. He died in relative obscurity. Most of the people he taught are no longer with us.

His heir and adopted son, a man who knew Count Yogi for over 30 years, was charged with the impossible but noble task of preserving and extending the art. Now, we have reached a critical time. YOU and Tim are going to have to partner to save this art form from extinction. Time is running out.

Why should we at Count Yogi Golf wish to talk about tournament golf? What insights can we derive from this to improve our games and understanding?

Nothing is more ‘obvious’ than the statement that golfing excellence is defined by the tournament players.

We believe quite differently. We disagree in part and we even insist that there is much more to golf than tournament golf. To show why your interest in Yogi’s teachings will be well rewarded out of proportion to the effort you invest in it, let us examine how most of us differ from our golfing brothers who are out there in tournament land, ‘grinding it out.’

Golfers come in all ages as well as over a lifetime, Historically, golf was seen as a private club game, usually played among the retired and wealthy of a particular country. Historically, golf was played by the amateur golfer (the word for ‘lovers,’ in French!). I want to emphasize this point very clearly so I am placing the dictionary definitions of the word “amateur” below:

AMATEUR Definition

1. A person who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession.

2. Sports An athlete who has never accepted money, or who accepts money under restrictions specified by a regulatory body, for participating in a competition.

3. One lacking the skill of a professional, as in an art.

There are two VERY telling aspects to this word, amateur. Let me put it in my own words, to make my point, and confine its use to amateur golfers.

1. A GOLFER who engages in the game as a PASTIME rather than as a profession.

2. Sports A GOLFER who does NOT play for prize MONEY or serious bets

3. A GOLFER lacking the SKILL of a PROFESSIONAL golfer

Now, notice that an amateur is a GOLFER who plays as a PASTIME (fun?), doesn’t play for serious MONEY and might lack the SKILL of a professional. We non-professionals play for fun, no heavy betting or prizes, and MIGHT lack the TOTAL skills of the pro.

This is as it should be and we at Count Yogi Golf are equipping you with additional powers to insure that you:

1. Have MORE fun while still playing seriously

3. Equip you with SKILLS that rival and exceed the tournament player but we do NOT equip you with the DRIVE and AMBITION and raw TALENT it takes to win tournaments

Thus, most of you who are golfers in private clubs are over 40. You have little time to devote to the refinement of your game. You want to have fun and not be exasperated when you play. You want to perform skillfully when you can play. Most of all, you DO NOT want to feel obligated to play scratch golf or compare yourself to those who do.

While we know that a Count Yogi inspired golfer, with the proper financial backing, drive, opportunity, etc. will one day make a very strong presence in the PGA or any other tournament group. However, our aim is to provide you, the occasional golfer, with the finest techniques available today that free you up to get the most out of your limited time on the course.

No matter how old, young or time-restrained you are, you will benefit from this approach. Why?

Golfing Count Yogi Style is fun, artful, graceful and easy to do. It is not necessary to practice excessively and pound range balls. Once learned, it is impossible to forget when you get the’ hang’ of it. It is healthful, benefits the body, promotes looseness of limb and back, and does not emphasize brute power. It travels well when you go on a golfing junket.

The Yogi inspired swing allows you to focus on what makes for great scores. One learns how the golf course plays. What is the best landing area? Where are the pins placed? What is the wind doing? What is the actual carry over that bunker near the flag?

With Yogi, you will need a minimum warm-up time. You will find that you have practically eliminated unnecessary anxiety. These benefits not only enhance your personal pleasure, but give you a real and genuine competitive advantage over your playing partners, or your regular pals as well as the foursome you may be assigned to at an out of town tournament.

If you think you need to be a scratch golfer, or if you are already a fine scorer, the Yogi method might allow you to enter pro tournaments, or more realistically, important amateur tournaments, like the City Opens, or various Club charity events offering cool prizes. Count Yogi Golf and advanced private lessons with Tim will be the key to this.

But, frankly, almost no one will become a pro in his middle years. It happens, but you know who you are! If you have what it takes and the proper sponsorship, the Yogi swing will serve you well. It will extend your career, eliminate all swing related injuries and hurts. It will make you respected by your peers for the grace, beauty and power of your game. The Yogi method will improve your outlook and your winning attitude.

Count Yogi Golf is NOT limited to the amateur. Yogi taught and advised many tournament players over his lifetime. His heart, though, was in introducing his and succeeding generations to the joys and pleasures of a LIFETIME of graceful, artistic and healthy golf. He spent the greater part of his career doing that successfully. We also desire that this knowledge be placed in the capable hands of REAL AMATEURS, lovers of the game who are not frustrated by the skill issues.

Simply put, we at Yogi believe with our hearts and minds that the Count Yogi teaching of swing, strokes and putts are the future of golf. We believe that there is no professional swing that is better than the Yogi swing. Period.

HOWEVER, the modern pro who makes it pay, and the home pros who do all the daily work at his or her own club are very skilled at more than the swing. To do just a partial listing. They know the courses, and how they are set up. They understand subtleties of the game very well. They have a super sense for estimating distance. They can drive long and accurately. They can almost always be in birdie position on par five’s. They can putt, drive, chip and pitch effectively. They know the rules backwards and forwards. They work at the game, work at the swing, and sacrifice both comfort and peace of mind to compete with the best in the world. They are often young men and women. Some are technically ‘amateurs,’ such as top college golfers, but we know that they play all the time.

But, skill is essential to bring in scores. Yogi provides the skills, as do many other teachers and teaching methods. The BIG difference is that Yogi skills are very easy to maintain and will not fail you, once you have worked through the learning curve and gained your minimum level of competence.

How often do you play? Regularly? On Vacations mostly? Every Saturday at 10AM? Do you play for business reasons? Social ones?

Most of us are lucky to play more than once a week. Often that is only a nine hole, half-round. Retired men frequently play three or four times a week on their home course.

In any event, you want that time to be aggravation free as much as possible. Let the course defeat you, not your skills.

Tournament players these days play a lot of golf. They practice as frequently as twice a day, as much as 1,000 range balls. They have coaches and other players of equal ability to work with. They map the courses, measure distances, and survey the greens and prevailing winds. They try to master various kinds of shots. They obsess on the short game and they drive themselves mad trying to make just one more putt as so many tournament spots and prize money is decided by one measly stroke.

Tournament players do not play golf like you and I do. Here is why. In a professional tournament, they typically play a Wednesday practice round. Then assuming they make the cut, they play FOUR 18 hole, stroke play rounds, walking with a personal caddy, from Thursday through Sunday. They have yardage books. They have specially fitted clubs, coveted putters, magic charms and rabbit’s feet in their golf bags.

If they are in a major televised tournament, they have large and often unruly crowds to deal with. If they are NOT stars, the spectators treat them with a vast indifference. If they are not heavy money winners, they feel like second class persons when the huge money players fly in on their own jets, and are carried to the course by their lackeys.

These fine, but lesser players might even have the sickening feeling that the caddies of the big stars make more money and travel in better style than they do.

If these unknowns happen to find themselves leading a major tournament, the whole world is waiting and expecting them to blow up right on camera so people can laugh at them.

If they are a great star like Greg Norman, the press unkindly remembers not his greatness as a player and genuineness as a man, they remember his odd loss at Augusta to Larry Mize or his loss of the lead at the British Open.

People are not very nice to the professional, even if he a great player with wonderful skills. Still though, the rewards of the Tour are high for the right kind of guy. So, the Tour goes on.

We amateurs range from very normal people athletically to former college and even professional players. But we do not play the way the pros do. We are not on the tiny, narrow track of bringing in a sub par score, non negotiable.

Our playing might be best ball on the weekly Friday Rabbit. We play match play, sort of. We concede to our buddies the short putts. We carry our own bag, or take a cart, or pull a cart. Some clubs still have real caddies who know the course. We get our yardage’s from our club’s yardage books. We don’t spend nearly enough time studying our course and it’s proper landing areas, illusions, greens, and prevailing winds, all the issues of course design.

We rarely practice at the range. We hardly practice putting, except for dollars and dimes with our friends.

If money comes into it we might belong to those famous and very colorful Country Clubs that have very heavy betting going on which changes the emotional dynamics of a round. A whole set of amusing stories could be written about heavy betting in Texas Oilmen golf courses. Funny stories abound among the Hollywood crowd’s big bettors.

But, still, ours are not four days of medallist play, no gimmes, no second tee shots (Mulligans), no chatter and joking on the greens, no television cameras and so on. Our lives as players are pretty simple compared to even our home pro.

Most of you like your home pro. He is usually pleasant, has good diplomatic skills, keeps confidences and tries not to get drawn into the amazing petty resentments found in private clubs. He has to teach the un-teachable. He has to arrange the Ladies Over 80 Years Annual tournament, making certain that the oxygen bottles are ready remembering to warn the Regular Players that there will be a six or seven hour round claiming the course that day.

He has to avoid being drawn into the idiotic boring and drunken conversations at the bar. He has to make sure that the greens are not mauled by the Superintendent, while keeping peace with the staff. He has to deal with the Board of Directors, the membership committee, fix the ball machine, remember his wife’s birthday, wish he were on the tour having All That Fun on TV. He rarely has time for a round, and when he does play, it is with Mr. Ironpockets, the billionaire who spends at least half the round complaining about his worthless son and giving the pro a personal tip when the pro, rusty from infrequent play, launches a drive into the wrong fairway.

The most incredible fact about head pros everywhere, no matter how great and historical the golf course is or how well paid he is, is how few Head pros are convicted of murder every year. They, of all men on the planet--even more than politicians--have the greatest motive and opportunity. If I were a head pro for even a month, when I was finally arrested, the detectives would find all the nastiest members bodies buried in my favorite sand traps.

Furthermore, I would go to the electric chair with no remorse and an elevated feeling of justice. The presiding judge would of course be horrified, because he is likely a member of a high status country club. He would not like to think that his head pro is Not Impressed with His Honor.

So, I admire the Head Pro for all the things they do well. I admire them for their patience. I admire them for tolerating the intolerable and for attempting to make this great and admirable game a FUN and memorable experience for the members. I am not saying that they are great men. Some of course may well be. But all of them are misunderstood and would like to have a little fun themselves once in a while. So, to you members reading this: Love Your Pro and give him a nice big cash tip once a year. Send him to a golf course once a year far away, so he can be a golfer and not worry that an indiscreet comment will get him in trouble with Mrs. Snootrocks. You don’t have to kiss him, but show you understand that he has a difficult job in which he combines the skills of a diplomat, a politician, a golfer, a manager, a salesman, an inventory expert, a public speaker, a tournament organizer, a teacher, husband, father, man and all around human being who never supposed to make a mistake or upset a key member.

Yogi often said that the Home Pro was his friend, the very cornerstone of Club Golf. He said that they liked him.

If today’s Home Pro could teach Yogi golf without running afoul of the PGA Teaching guidelines, he would have happier and healthier members, make more money on private lessons and help preserve and extend this amazing art form.

We would love to have the interested Home Pro join our team someday, when we have the opportunity to talk with you. It will make your members happier and remove one more pressure from your busy day.

This is merely a summary of our use of equipment best suited to the Yogi swing. Time and experience has shown that we are practically old-fashioned as well as completely contemporary in our appreciation of equipment design. We are tradition-minded regarding clubhead shape and weighting preferring forged steel with Cavity-back designs. We are modern in adopting the best and strongest advances in shaft and grip improvements. You will greatly benefit from our special knowledge here.

The biggest single change in golf in the past hundred years is the relentless improvements in both the design and power of equipment. No one thing has been more noticeable.

The other biggest change in golf in the past hundred years is the chaos in golf teaching despite the amazing advances in film, slow motion, kinesiology software and the emergence of the full time, independent teaching pro. In the old days, the teacher was normally the Club Pro.

We do not wish to address all the changes. We wish to recall to the reader that Count Yogi was actually on the spot during most of these changes. As a young man with hickory shafts he played with gutta percha balls. Then onto the dimpled balls and wound balls he goes. New cast head design came along in the 1930’s and 40’s. Metal shafts were next and finally, the emergence of the polymers, metal ‘woods,’ and frequency matched metal shafts, like the Dynamic Gold series. He smacked ‘em all a long way because of his knowledge and skill. And the improvements added distance and accuracy.

But, as is elaborated in another article (See Part II: The Controversy), the way the Yogi swing works best is with a higher swing frequency and lower torque than you would normally be fitted with, especially older men. We also utilize stiffer shafts with lower torque properties on irons or woods than would be expected as normal on club fitting charts.

During the Yogi swing, one stands as tall as possible, so the players irons are more upright (lie), in fact they are very upright. We wind the grips with two wraps of tape, one being an extra half wrap under the persons lead hand (left or right), or the hand on the grip that is closest to the clubhead. This helps minimize the over-use of the wrists and also helps promote more artistic control while brain messages (yogi golf word commands and thoughts) are being conveyed to the clubface, target and body. Finally, the preferred clubhead and clubhead designs for irons are strictly classical or cavity-backed forged (some carbon based models are approved). What are the reasons for using the best constructed and finest pro line clubs? As the forces of the elliptical swing gather and concentrate at the loft-line (bottom of the clubface), the old fashioned designs are still the best.

These designs when used properly not only feel better at impact, but also accommodate a large arc and intensify force more than the new cast cavity backed or offset club irons.

As only a few manufacturers produce these beautiful sets, one normally sees them in the hands of professionals and single digit handicap amateurs. They are the most expensive and most artistic on the market and worth every penny.

These are what we recommend. In fact, a fitted full set of irons and woods is included for our private students.

We insist on the finest equipment and won’t teach without the student being properly attired.

Who would object to swinging the finest irons made today, by the top manufacturers to showcase your most powerful swings or to assist you in your softest strokes?

You will ultimately agree with our recommendation, no matter how attached you are to you present set. As you start experiencing the Yogi Swing results, you will immediately notice two things. One, you will be overwhelming your shafts because of increased force generation. And, two, you will be surprised how most club designs are created to compensate for a bad or weak swing! Yogi swings are pure and nearly perfect so you need a club and shaft combination that can handle the forces as well as give you those top results.

The Yogi swing has one unexpected and delightful characteristic, which is nearly unbelievable to most golfers the first time they hear it. Yogi swings rarely take a divot (on purpose). The only time turf is taken a little (just the top of the ground) is on very tight lies (tight lies are lies where the grass is thin and the ball not setting up).

We are the golf superintendent’s best friends! We rarely take divots anywhere, even in the rough. Why? The main reason is that we catch the ball at the fullest reach of our arc, with the club turning up. The elliptical arc continues to move up through impact. Hence the club makes pure contact and the acceleration of the clubhead does all the work. Result: a strong shot with no, or nearly no, tuft.

You have all been taught, for generations now, to ‘hit down on it, ‘ especially with your irons. With the Yogi swing, this is not only not necessary, but also irrelevant. You will understand that assertion later. One very exciting consequence is that we have healthier hands, wrists and shoulders. Wiry thick rough and kikuya grass doesn’t threaten us. Nor are we intimidated by sand.

These all sound controversial of course. But, once you understand how to mentally swing the club UP you will know yourself why all this is so.

No one was a bigger skeptic than I on this point, when I was a new Yogi student. However, fast forward about a year to my own club. For fun (while I am at the practice range), the young guys will have me stroke 40 balls (medium bucket) to the 100-yard practice flag and bet how often I take turf. The bets are flattering, of course. Out of these 40 balls, my personal best is 37. The bets run anywhere from 2 to 5 strokes with turf. You have to experience this to believe it. On the downside, once in a while I won’t be paying attention to my swing and I will take a divot. The odd thing is that it still works. Why shouldn’t it? After all, the great tournament players out there take turf. If I take turf by mistake, I still hit a great shot. The only thing is, the shot feels heavy, as if I hit it fat!

Except for a very small handful of you, most of you will not play in pro style tournaments. You certainly will not play in 20 or 30 tournaments a year! So don’t frustrate yourself by using tournament players as your standards.

All of us amateurs want to have fun, be proficient as possible, practice as little as possible and have a consistent level of skill. This is possible with ‘Count Yogi Golf’!

Finally, Count Yogi Golf utilizes only the finest pro-line equipment and shafts. Your new Yogi Swing can handle the extra swing weights and stiffness. Your new Yogi swing generates so much force; you need solid and accurate equipment.

Your home pro can be your best ally in mastering your scores. Once your Yogi skills are second nature, you can plot and scheme how to play the proper shots for the conditions and pin placement. If you really want to know the subtle ins and outs of your course, the head pro can help.

Finally, even though we greatly admire and respect their amazing scores, one should NOT look to touring pros as models for our games. The two are completely incompatible. For example, a touring pro can hardly imagine a Thursday morning best ball with a rabbit on every third hole, carried over and drinks bought by the losers. On the other hand, a retired clubman who once was CEO of, say, a hospital complex in New York and has a nasty case of arthritis in his left knee can hardly imagine playing like a pro, which entails walking eighteen holes four days in a row, driving the ball 300 yards, and griping because he shot a 66 on Sunday and needed a 65 to win!

Winning, of course, IS fun, if that is how you define the game. Winning Majors is fun, if that is your career goal.

But, for guys like me, being able to spend a lovely day at the course, stroking the ball well most of the time, chatting with my friends and getting my mind thinking and my legs moving under me is just fine, thank you!

While there are endless ideas, notions, prejudices, weak observations, stupidities, insights, systems and ridiculous notions of what makes for a good golf swing, the amateur golfer has never had it better.

All PGA home pros have to pass a test on the basics of the swing, the short game and putting. They all know the basics of equipment and fitting of same. Many teachers have access to video cameras, swing trainers, slow motion studies, and software to measure force, momentum, shoe size! It’s all there.

Also, there are practice ranges, putting greens, short game areas and many swing training devices which can be used at home or even at the office.

So, if you are brand new to the game, you have ample opportunities to at least become familiar with the skillset.

WHY YOGI DESERVES OUR ADMIRATION AND RESPECT FOR BEING A TEACHER AND AMBASSADOR FOR THE GAME TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC

Put yourself back to say, 1935. There was no television. There were movies and the radio. If you ever saw a golfer, you saw him at his private club or at one of the few municipal clubs in the country. If you ever saw a golfer on film, it would be on the little news clips, like Movietone News. “Slammin’ Sammy Wins His Fourth US Open At Congressional,” or something like that. You would see Sam Snead with his hat, smiling holding the trophy and the $5,000 check and perhaps a three second cut of Sam whacking one off the tenth tee, while the music faded and the deep throated announcer says: “ and our hat’s off to the new 1937 US Open Champ, Slammin’ Sammy Snead.”

Yogi comes along, does 7,000 shows around the country before golf became a big media event. His shows consisted of an hour or two of amazing trick shots using all kinds of improbable clubs in all kinds of odd and amusing positions. Then, he would play at least one round with the head pro and the club champion. He would always score near or at the club record. If time permitted, he would run one of his famous teaching clinics, where he would have people hitting real golf shots within fifteen minutes!

His robust health and dark good looks and his amazing mastery of everything in golf, added to his sense of humor made golf and Yogi many friends. He deserves our praise and why is he not in the Golf hall of Fame?

He was a golfer, a teacher, an entertainer and a man who really was on a mission. He believed that if people had this knowledge of the swing, it would bring them happiness through mental and physical health. He believed that it would give them a game that was fun, one that could be enjoyed right up to the last days. He believed his approach would help eliminate the confusion of different and contradictory teaching methods. He believed his enthusiasm would allow people to use their country club more often and with more pleasure. He was right then as he is right now.

Basically, according to Yogi, the game of golf is a simple affair. Who agrees with that today!? The reality today is that golf seems very complex and nearly untouchable. How could both be right? Was Yogi exaggerating? Was he being insensitive because of his great talent? Or is it possible that our perceptions are clouded?

The simple truth is that the best things in life are free and easy to do, but impossible to understand rationally!

Let me repeat that in a different way. Breathing is free, easy to do and it is impossible to understand everything about the lungs, oxygen and red blood cells. If something goes wrong with breathing, who can fix it easily?

Another example: Unless you are injured or crippled, turning your torso is very easy. You do it every second. But, those of you who have had a disc injury will tell us that the slightest turn is incomprehensibly painful and prevents you from turning.

Nothing is easier than turning a key, steering a wheel, pushing the gas pedal, and shifting into drive. But who among us can unravel the workings of the automatic transmission? Who understands computer regulated fuel injection?

Because something isn’t fully understood by the intellect doesn’t mean it can’t work properly or is irrational. Most of our lives are lived with things we don’t understand, nor do the finest and best minds understand either.

Finally, there are blessed individuals who, from God or work, or the devil manage to break through and both DO AND UNDERSTAND. This is what we call the great teachers. A very old standard for a teacher is that the teacher is both a teacher and practitioner. You can learn medicine from lectures, study and books, but you can’t learn surgery that way. You have to ride shotgun with a skilled and experienced surgeon.

Many things are like that. They don’t ‘rationalize’ well. Sports skills are like that. I admit that great strides in training and polish of established skills has come along in the past fifty years. Athletes across the board are healthier (minus steroids) stronger, more practiced, less injured and have longer careers than their predecessors. This is a fact and to be respected.

But, some things are still way off from being understood rationally, analytically and intellectually.