Simple Skills for Advanced Play - Golf
For Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Players
Running time: 78 minutes
Available from Kallassy Sports, 2001
www.kallassysports.com $29.95

Presenting! Innovative entrepreneur Charles Kallassy (Kallassy Swing Magic) gets back to basics. "When you master the fundamentals," he preaches, "you're master." He's assisted by former LPGA great Sandra Palmer, Brad Brewer, cofounder of the Arnold Palmer Academies and Dana Radar, Top 100 Golf Magazine and Top 50 Golf Digest instructor. There's also a guest appearance by Viktor Johansson, 2000 RE/MAX Long Drive Champeen of the World!

Upshot: Not crisply presented but the goods are there. Grip, posture & balance, alignment, chipping, putting, bunker play, pre-shot routine, etc. (Depressing isn't it to think the fundamentals haven't changed markedly in centuries.)

Camera Work/Production Values: Low budget. (And can't someone please look at the camera?) Strange angles and we rarely get to see a shot, even a chip, finish.

Quote: "A little forward press is a beautiful thing," says Sandra, walking through the pre-shot routine. Runner-up: "The hardest thing to do when you're playing, when you're distracted, is to stop." And how.

Get Me Rewrite: Too many "I sees," "wows, "yeses," "uh huhs," "you knows," "sures," "rights," "OKs," "yeas," etc. Script anybody? Runner-up: too much time spent showing us the wrong way, detailing problems like improper alignment.

Consider the Following: On a scale of 1-10, long drive champ Johansson says his grip pressure is about a three.

Swing Thought: "My swing thought is left shoulder over right knee," says Mr. Viktor, who has banged a 422-yard drive in competition.

Comic Relief: After numerous interruptions, the ever modest (and adorable) Sandra Palmer actually hits a mid iron. "Go in the hole," she begs. There's not a green in site. Cute.

Quick Tip: "Spotting," picking an intermediate target between you and the hole, gets a coherent once over. Sandra Palmer describes it aptly as "bringing your target in on a very small scale."

Pep talk: "Players who really want to improve, they really have to practice the pre-shot routine. There has to be some time that you stop the mind of practicing every little move and trust your swing. You have to practice your routine."

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