WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:02.480
Hey everybody, it's Josh Cart and it's Friday, so that
2
00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.360
means Mulligans. Today's Mulligans episode is fine tuning your swing
3
00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:10.080
off season with Jim Venitos. Here's the episode.
4
00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.640
Golf Smarter Premium number five hundred and five, published on
5
00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:21.839
September eighth, twenty fifteen. Calm slash Golf Smarter from a
6
00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:25.440
listeners suggestion, We're going to meet Jim Venettas and here
7
00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:31.679
about his keys to solid contact. This is Golf Smarter Premium.
8
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:35.719
Here's your host, Fred Green. Welcome to the Golf Smarter podcast.
9
00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:38.600
Jim, Hi, Fred, thanks for having me on the show.
10
00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:42.759
Thank you for agreeing to participate here because I received
11
00:00:42.759 --> 00:00:46.560
an email from a longtime listener, a guy named Stuart Margolis,
12
00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:52.399
who said, drop everything. This is a no brainer for
13
00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:57.679
Golf Smarter. Jim is You're going to absolutely love Jim.
14
00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.920
Yes, Stuart's an excellent student and I had the pleasure
15
00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:02.960
of meeting up with them on my cross country trip
16
00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:05.200
this year, which was which is really fun.
17
00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:07.519
Tell me about your cross country trip.
18
00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:12.280
Well, I traveled from Los Angeles to New England and
19
00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:16.079
I taught students along the way that are members of
20
00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:20.719
my online golf school, and you know how we interact
21
00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.879
is just through video or through Skype lessons or through
22
00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:28.840
phone conversations. But I've never met a lot of these guys.
23
00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:32.680
So I traveled in zigzag the Northern Route all across
24
00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:35.200
the country until I got to New England. Took me
25
00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:36.200
twenty three days.
26
00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:36.799
Wow.
27
00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:40.920
I saw twenty students and it was really really cool.
28
00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:42.480
Do you drive this by yourself?
29
00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:45.920
Yeah, just solo, me and my loft and line machine.
30
00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:49.359
I adjusted people's lofts and lies that they had forged
31
00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:52.920
clubs and just gave these full day lessons with these guys.
32
00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:54.480
It was super super fun.
33
00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.280
Deep into your head on this trip.
34
00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:02.599
Yeah, yeah, I definitely. It's interesting, especially going across Nebraska.
35
00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:03.680
Why Nebraska.
36
00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:08.520
It's tough. It's tough, it's very flat, it's very similar.
37
00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:11.680
It's a long drive through Nebraska. You can't help but
38
00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:13.479
think of it. So I shot a lot of content
39
00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:18.039
along the way too, called him road blogs and posted them,
40
00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:21.000
posted them on my blog, just sort of reporting where
41
00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:24.199
I was at and how the students were doing. And
42
00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:27.000
I got to play some really cool courses. Got to
43
00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:31.560
play Oakmont wow, Yeah, which was amazing.
44
00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:33.120
How did you get on that?
45
00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:37.159
One of my students is His brother is a member there,
46
00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.840
and he had said a year ago when he first
47
00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:43.240
started working with me, gosh, I want to get you
48
00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:45.400
out here somedays so that we could play Oakmont. And
49
00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:48.840
then once I announced the cross country trip, he said,
50
00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:50.919
I want you to stay here for a few days,
51
00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:52.759
and one of the days we're going to play Oakmont.
52
00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:58.159
And it was super supermut hardest course I've ever played. Really, yeah,
53
00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.039
I've played US Open courses. I've played a lot of them,
54
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:05.120
and the typical US Open course only has about maybe
55
00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:10.199
six to eight tough holes, really tough holds. There was
56
00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:13.560
not one easy shot on Oakmont.
57
00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:16.879
Not an easy hole, not an easy shot, an easy shot.
58
00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:18.960
It was outrageous. I hit the ball really good. We
59
00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:21.520
had caddies, We walked the course and the caddies telling me,
60
00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:26.280
hit it here, and it's you're hitting pinpoint spots on
61
00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:31.080
the biggest greens you've ever seen and relying upon the
62
00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:35.719
green to funnel the ball forty fifty yards sometimes to
63
00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:38.520
the target. So it was super cool. I can't wait
64
00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:39.439
to watch it next year.
65
00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:42.520
Dude, there's just wait a minute here. So now you're
66
00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:45.199
hitting pinpoint shots. You were following the lead from your
67
00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:48.199
caddy and you were probably doing pretty well and still
68
00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:50.080
leaving yourself with difficult shots.
69
00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:52.879
Oh yeah, if you didn't hit that pinpoint spot. So
70
00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.599
you know, I was smoking driver. I'm smoking three with
71
00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:57.800
which is a lot of what was required off the tea.
72
00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.479
So I'm really well set up for the approach shots
73
00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:04.199
hitting lots of wedges, you know, just between eighty and
74
00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:08.439
one hundred and forty yards, but you just can't miss,
75
00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:11.000
and the spots are super precise, and if you miss
76
00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:13.080
that spot, you know, if you hit the right shot,
77
00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:15.080
you got an eight footer. That's one of the easier
78
00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:17.439
looking putts that you've had all day. If you missed
79
00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:19.920
that spot, you might have a sixty footer. That's just
80
00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:22.360
the hardest sixty footer you could ever imagine to have.
81
00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:28.720
So it's just it's super demanding, but it was super beautiful.
82
00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:31.639
The member that had me out super gracious, you know,
83
00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:34.079
show me around, tell me about when the open was
84
00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:37.360
there before, and the history, and it was just really
85
00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:38.680
a special, special day.
86
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:44.639
That sounds amazing. Yeah, So it was like the ball
87
00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.360
would hit the green and just release, take off, fall
88
00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:49.639
off the green if it didn't hold her.
89
00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:53.199
It was about a three club Winka, so the win
90
00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:54.759
was definitely influencing.
91
00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:58.680
The club is significant, and the greens.
92
00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.399
Are fast and obviously going to be much faster for
93
00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:05.399
the Open. But it's just, you know, even the caddy said,
94
00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:07.879
you know, of course is playing really tough today between
95
00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:10.879
positions and just between the way the direction that the
96
00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:14.000
wind was blowing. They had removed every tree on the
97
00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:17.920
course except for one, so it's really it's barren as
98
00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:21.920
can be. So the wind really influences shots. Wow, yeah,
99
00:05:21.959 --> 00:05:23.720
you'll see it next year. It's super super cool.
100
00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:27.279
What about the rough did you find yourself and having
101
00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:27.720
to deal with it?
102
00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:30.240
Rough? But the big thing there is the bunkers, right,
103
00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:34.120
they got the church pews and I avoided all church pews,
104
00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:37.600
but one set there's they have many pews, they have megapews.
105
00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:40.240
They got there's a few different holes where you come
106
00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.839
across these church pew strips of grass in the middle
107
00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:45.519
of bunkers is what they are.
108
00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:48.120
Oh okay, I was like, what are you talking about?
109
00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.319
No idea? What you meant?
110
00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:53.040
Yeah, And if you hit it in there, you really
111
00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:54.800
don't have much of a shot. You're just trying to
112
00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:56.040
play back onto the fairway.
113
00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:01.040
Amazing all right, So should I drive through Nebraska at night?
114
00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:03.439
I mean, if there's nothing in it, it's really it's
115
00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:07.480
worse than driving Highway five from LA to San Francisco.
116
00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:10.439
Huh much worse. It feels like it's a hundred times longer.
117
00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:17.160
Oh yeah, it's interested. Yeah, I've never done across country tripe.
118
00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:18.879
I don't know if I could without going on out
119
00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:19.360
of my mind.
120
00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:22.240
It is beautiful, and especially the golf courses. You know.
121
00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:24.600
I also played a lot of little, small, you know,
122
00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.439
a couple executive courses that just happen to be where
123
00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:31.199
some of my members are are regularly playing at. So
124
00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:33.399
it was fun to just play all levels of.
125
00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:36.160
Yes, so cool, that's so cool.
126
00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:38.279
I'm going to play Bethpage Black on the way home.
127
00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:40.959
And now do you have to do you have someone
128
00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:42.480
who can get you on or you just got to
129
00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:43.879
get there at four in the morning to try to
130
00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:44.519
get a tea time.
131
00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:48.720
You know, That's that's the folklore, right But inside Scoop says,
132
00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:51.600
maybe you don't have to get there and necessarily at four,
133
00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:53.399
but I'll probably do it just to see what the
134
00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:57.360
culture is like. I'm I'm documenting my whole trip back
135
00:06:57.399 --> 00:06:59.759
and forth so you know, I'll have some cameras going
136
00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:01.839
just see what it's like and then you know, be
137
00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:03.199
able to share that with everybody.
138
00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.920
Really, and where are you sharing it? Tell us? Tell
139
00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:07.879
us about your website or where you can find it.
140
00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:11.879
I have a Jim Venettes Golf Academy dot com is
141
00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:15.160
my school, and then on the school there's a blog
142
00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:20.120
and it's in the blog that is free access for anybody,
143
00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:23.199
and it's that's where all that content is, or it's
144
00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.399
on YouTube. I have a YouTube channel with the same
145
00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:27.680
same handle, Jim Venettes Golf Academy.
146
00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:30.800
Okay, and Vanettas is V E N E T O
147
00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:36.360
S correct vs in Victor. Very cool. How is it
148
00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:41.439
that you come across in your videos, which I've watched
149
00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.199
a number of them and have really learned a lot
150
00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:47.959
from you. You don't come across like the average everyday
151
00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:54.079
PGA certified instructor. You were a bit of a heretic,
152
00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:55.199
aren't you. Oh?
153
00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.079
I'm not trying to be, but I just have a
154
00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:01.920
very clear point of view on how I think the
155
00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:06.160
golf swing should be and I've seen it. I've taught.
156
00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:10.560
I've taught the same methodology for twenty two years and
157
00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:15.079
thousands of students, and I've seen so many just benefit
158
00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:20.759
from this different ideology, which is you know, it's really
159
00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:24.600
it's really, it's really quite simple when it comes down
160
00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.480
to it. I just teach non movements as opposed to movements.
161
00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:31.399
I teach the position that you could set your body
162
00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:35.440
in that will force the correct movements of the club.
163
00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:38.159
So it's really about what I teach is just about
164
00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:41.480
getting to the source of the matter. And because I've
165
00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.919
seen it help so many players from all levels too,
166
00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:48.240
you know, from beginners all the way up to I
167
00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:51.600
got a one student who's a phenomenal player. He's a
168
00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:54.840
Mini tour pro. He holds the course record at my
169
00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:58.639
home course of sixty one. And this kid is you know,
170
00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:01.480
there was seven months last year where I played with
171
00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:05.039
him and he did not shoot over sixty seven. It was, Oh,
172
00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:06.919
it was the most fun thing to watch ever. And
173
00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:09.759
he's super devoted to the technique. And so I've seen
174
00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:13.000
it operate on all different levels, from students that are
175
00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:16.200
handicapped in some way, or have a bad back, or
176
00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:21.080
not very strong or are very strong, and so consequently,
177
00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:24.399
I think it gives me a lot of emotion as
178
00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:27.399
I'm making my videos because I'm really trying to get
179
00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:29.320
a point across that I think can help a lot
180
00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:31.000
of people play a lot better golf.
181
00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:36.120
Right, Actually, I was more referring to your physical appearance
182
00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:40.759
versus I mean, you're the only golf instructor I've ever
183
00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:46.399
seen who wears Converse high tops, or not even high tops.
184
00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:49.200
Right, just low tops. I figure they're good enough for
185
00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.519
Jerry West and the NBA, they're good enough for me
186
00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.080
and golf. I wear them when I play golf because
187
00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:56.679
I don't have a weight shift in my swing, so
188
00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:01.159
the requirement of spikes is really not necessary. You know,
189
00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:04.240
I'll wear spikes on a day where it's it's good,
190
00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:06.879
it's going to be raining, or I'm playing a course
191
00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:10.399
like Riviera or like Oakmont where I know I'm going
192
00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:12.960
to have some lies that are going to be, you know,
193
00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:16.679
of the most demanding in nature. So then I'll I
194
00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:20.080
have put you ay classics, you know, from a few
195
00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:22.080
years ago. They stopped making them, but I bought a
196
00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:24.320
bunch of hair and I like wearing old wingtips if
197
00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:26.679
I'm going to wear a golf shoe. But other than that,
198
00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:28.200
you know, I feel, like I said, I figure, if
199
00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:30.200
they're good enough for the NBA in the sixties. They're
200
00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:31.559
good enough for me just to go.
201
00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:33.000
Yeah, nothing's changed since then.
202
00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:34.679
It's still and exactly in.
203
00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:39.200
Golf or basketball gear. Yeah, it's all this exactly the
204
00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:43.759
same since the sixties. So let's let's break your method
205
00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:47.519
down here. You know, if if you're not moving at
206
00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:49.960
all and you don't need spikes to hold you down,
207
00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:55.480
what makes your method unique? What where did you How
208
00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:56.240
did you get there?
209
00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:00.399
Well? Yeah, so you know, I learned from top one
210
00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:03.519
hundred golf instructors when I was younger. I played junior
211
00:11:03.559 --> 00:11:08.240
golf with Tiger and had a very strong high school career,
212
00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:10.919
and then walked onto a Division one college team and
213
00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:14.600
was learning from top one hundred instructors. Other guys on
214
00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:18.360
the team were taking lessons from other top one hundred instructors,
215
00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:20.799
and we'd all share that information. You know, we're just
216
00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.360
we're just you know, poor college kids, but we're super
217
00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:26.960
desperate to improve and get better. And we actually had
218
00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.799
a really solid team and you know, got nationally ranked,
219
00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.159
which was really a big feat for us because we
220
00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:37.639
were a low budget Division one school. But you know,
221
00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:42.200
in the process of learning the game, I just reached
222
00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:46.559
a point where I operated more off of my own
223
00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:53.360
ballflight than trying to move or manipulate the swing as
224
00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.879
was conventionally taught, instead of thinking about the movements for
225
00:11:56.919 --> 00:11:59.080
the swing. Like when I got to college, one of
226
00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:02.039
my teammates, who a really great player, Gerald Wong, said
227
00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:04.120
to me, you know, you seem to be able to
228
00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:06.480
hit a draw on a fade anytime you want. You know,
229
00:12:06.519 --> 00:12:08.799
how do you do that? I said, I feel draw,
230
00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:12.039
hit draw, I feel fade hit fade. So I had
231
00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:14.759
a good innate sense for how to manipulate the ball
232
00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:16.600
and hit the shots that I wanted to hit and
233
00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:19.840
take control over my ball flight. Well, it was through
234
00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:23.000
that that I found myself not needing to shift my
235
00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:25.879
weight because as I was trying to control ball flight,
236
00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:29.159
I was keeping my weight very planted. And I thought
237
00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:32.320
what I would do is maybe sacrifice some power but
238
00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:35.519
gain control over my trajectory and the shape of my shots.
239
00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:40.000
But the cool thing was I actually gained power, and