On the Mark Golf Podcast

Mike Thomas is a PGA Master Professional and the father of the 2017 PGA Championship winner, Justin Thomas.  An accomplished player and a decorated teacher, Mike shares some lessons he has given Justin from childhood through the present.  He talks about properly fitting and advising junior golfers.  Mike also shares insights on how to best communicate and direct competitive children and juniors and he talks at length about Justin Thomas and Justin's growth as a player from his junior days to his PGA Championship victory.  

Pete Cowen is arguably the leading golf instructor in the professional game.  Among others Cowen teaches Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen and Danny Willett and he joins our podcast to share lessons you can learn from these great ball-strikers and champions.  Pete also shares his thoughts on the golf swing and how an effective golf swing operates.  Pete talks at length about pressure vs. speed and gives tips and drills on how you can create more compression at impact and how you can control spin by applying the correct pressure to the golf club.

VJ Trolio is a PGA TOUR Instructor and a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher.  Trolio is also the co-inventor of the popular golf training aid "The Putting Arc".  VJ joins the podcast to talk about the swinging arc of the golf club, from the putter through the bag.  He shares insights on the putting arc and tips to improve your putting.  He then takes you off the green and talks about the expansion of the swing arc and how it pertains to "Swing Path", "Clubface Alignment" and "Angle of Attack".  Using examples like Ben Hogan, VJ shares tips and drills for you to improve your swing arc and as a result hole more putts and strike better quality shots.

Randy Smith is a member of The PGA of America Hall of Fame and the all-time leading PGA of America National Award National Award Winner (18 times).  Randy Smith is also a highly sought after instructor on the PGA TOUR.  He joins the podcast to share stories and lessons he gleaned from such Hall-of-Famers as Harvey Penick and Lee Trevino.  Smith shares wisdom and insights on the Clubface Alignment and Swing Path relationship and how that impact hooks and slices.  He also addresses the timing between the body pivot and the swing of the arms and club and the influence on spin.  Smith then opines further on the golf swing, golf swing technique and golf instruction and he talks about playing golf like a Pro.

Kapil Gupta M.D. helps professional golfers, hockey players and Olympians to achieve greatness by conquering their minds.  He joins the podcast to share insight and wisdom to help you to understand your mind and how it works.  Dr. Gupta talks about hope and fear and their relationship to each other and achieving greatness. He talks about the understanding of what is necessary to play good golf.  He also shares personal anecdotes from his experiences in the game - those anecdotes explain more deeply the very nature of golf and competition.

The 146th Open at Royal Birkdale was an intriguing affair with story-lines aplenty.  Mark Immelman puts on his golf instructor and coaching hat and unpacks them all for you.  He illustrates lessons you can learn from the major protagonists:  Jordan Spieth, Matt Kuchar, Rory McIlroy and Branden Grace.  Immelman talks about the nature of golf and how to successfully navigate the inevitable ebbs and flows it presents.  He talks about the value of attitude, awareness and shot selection.  He also delves into elements like the long bunker shot, body alignment and self-talk. 

Skip Guss, the 2014 New England PGA Teacher of the Year, employs a simple and easy to understand approach to the game and the instruction thereof.  It is an approach he learned from some of the great golf teachers like Jim Flick and Bob Toski.  Skip also learned the game from the World Golf Hall of Fame member, Sam Snead, and he shares some of the lessons he learned from "Slammin' Sam".  He also shares anecdotes from one of the best swingers of a golf club of all time.  In short, he brings you simple to understand, and easy to apply lessons that will help you improve your golf.

Ian Baker-Finch is a true gentleman and is emblematic of the true golf professional.  On this podcast "Finchy" shares his thoughts on golf swing technique and the development of technique in the modern game.  He talks about his development as a professional golfer and in so doing shares insights on how you can improve your game.  Ian then talks about his career in Links Golf and The Open, the lessons he learned, his ups and downs and his famous victory in 1991.  Ian revisits the final round of The '91 Open, his approach and his thoughts and emotions as he navigated his way around Royal Birkdale.  He also shares an honest assessment of his loss of form as he attempted to make golf swing improvements.  His anecdotes are loaded with valuable lessons that every golfer can parlay into individual success.

Jeff Leishman has been one of the leading golf instructors in the game and on the PGA TOUR for a long time.  He employs a intriguing mantra "Keep getting better does NOT mean keep getting different" and his approach is perfect to help you to understand how to "swing your swing".  Jeff references his PGA TOUR clients Daniel Berger, Carl Pettersson and Will MacKenzie as he shares real-time examples of perfecting YOUR OWN technique for improved ballstriking and scoring.

Jeff Isler is one of the leading authorities on golf coaching and instruction for golfers of all ages and skill levels.  He runs a North Texas-based comprehensive coaching program for aspiring juniors, collegiate athletes, touring professionals and serious adult golfers.  In this podcast he shares advice for parents of junior golfers on how to navigate the pitfalls and challenges of parenting a young athlete.  He also speaks about technical golf instruction, fitness for golf, mental techniques for improvement, club-fitting and goal-setting.  Jeff also addresses statistics for advanced improvement and he chats about "style over function" with regard to golf swing technique.