There are few times in our lives when we have the opportunity to work with and learn from a true master. I’ve had that opportunity as an LPGA touring professional; Manuel de la Torre is that master. Upon graduation from college, I decided to embark upon the adventure of playing professional golf. I was lucky to book two thirty-minute lessons with Manuel the summer prior to getting on the tour. I had taken golf lessons many other times, but after those two half hour lessons, I was never more energized and excited in my life. The golf swing, as presented to me by Manuel, made so much sense. The questions he asked me during those lessons were tough ones as I’d never really thought about the swing prior to that. When I didn’t know the answer to his questions, he asked more questions until I finally arrived at the answer he was looking for. Then and only then did I start to understand the swing upon which I would build my career. Now, thirty years later I reflect back on those two lessons as the beginning of my adventure – not so much the playing of professional golf but, rather, the learning of the nuances of the game and the swing, and teaching the golf swing that I have learned from one of the masters of our sport.
Lessons with Manuel are amazing experiences. Unlike so many other lessons I’ve taken in my life, I’ve never been challenged to think and to understand the why of what was being taught as I am, to this day, with Manuel. Manuel wants his students to understand the golf swing as a simple concept, but he also knows that though the concept is simple, the execution of it may not be. From that first day on Manuel’s lesson tee, I saw the beauty of the swing concept he was teaching. It made so much sense; could it really be that simple? And if it made so much sense, how could I not embrace it? Manuel relates the golf swing to many other things we do in life: performing other sporting motions, driving a car, drawing a picture, as well as using our minds prior to any action we take. That is the beauty of Manuel’s concept of the golf swing as well as the genius of his teaching. Manuel’s brilliance as a teacher doesn’t stop with only the motion of swinging the golf club. His insistence on his students using their minds properly has always been important in his teaching as well. Sports psychologists have been utilized in golf instruction for the past twenty years or so. Manuel talked about using your mind properly well before that.
After retiring from a twenty-two year career of golf on the LPGA tour, I’ve taken Manuel’s concept of playing golf and swinging the golf club to the lesson tee as I now teach and coach, passing along the knowledge I’ve accumulated from him through all these years. I’ve found that Manuel’s swing concept holds up across the board, from beginners to advanced players. I now consult with Manuel as much on how to teach as I do on how to actually swing the golf club.
In the book Learning Golf with Manuel, John Hayes gives the readers a glimpse into how remarkable Manuel is as both a teacher of the golf swing and as a person. Each chapter captures the essence of not only what Manuel teaches but also his innate ability to connect the golf swing to other common everyday things we do in life. He is truly a man who loves teaching the golf swing. As a student of Manuel’s, you always have his undivided attention. There is nothing more important to Manuel during a lesson than his student, and he wants that student to understand what is being taught. People have told me that they think taking a lesson from Manuel can be intimidating. Looking at him physically, intimidation would probably be the farthest thing from a person’s mind. Manuel is patient yet persistent, asking many questions to help his students understand. His persistence and his questions allow the students to find the answers, making his teaching style a challenging yet wonderful learning ground.
As a teacher using Manuel’s swing concept and teaching style, I found John Hayes’ book, Learning Golf with Manuel, to be a great resource and complement to Manuel’s own book about the golf swing. John has captured not only the content of what Manuel teaches but has accurately recorded conversations Manuel is likely to have with a student during a lesson. As someone who has taken lessons from Manuel for thirty years, so many of the chapters brought me right back to the teaching tee at Milwaukee Country Club and the times I’ve worked with him since 1977.
Manuel de la Torre is a humble man who has devoted his life to teaching the golf swing, and I am so fortunate to be a student of his. I’ve had golf lessons with Manuel over the phone, in the rain, in the snow, early in the morning and late at night. Manuel loves giving golf lessons and talking about the golf swing! I’ve heard Manuel say to people who tell him he could charge $1000 per person for a lesson instead of his customary $40, “I’d rather give one thousand people a lesson for $1.00, than one person a lesson for $1000.00!” That is the answer of a true master.
Martha Nause
