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The Shade

Tree

Pro

By Charles Calhoun

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CONTENTS

1. Contents

2. About Charles

3. Forward

4. The Fist Grip

5. The Setup

6. The Backswing

7. Body Swing Through Impact (Downswing)

8. Clockwise Club Path Swing

9. The Finish

10. Conclusion

11. Summary

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ABOUT CHARLES From Fishing to Fairways

I wish I could say I was born with a golf club in my hand. Although the local country club was a couple

miles from my grandfather’s neighborhood store in Summerlee, W.Va., I really never took in its rolling

greens and fairways until Bobby Ferris invited me fishing. I was about 10 years old or so, casting into the

murky waters of White Oak Country Club’s ponds when I first noticed the golf balls dotting the

landscape around me. When the blue gill weren’t biting, I’d start my own collection, hauling balls home

in my tackle box to swat around later in the woods with my baseball bat; some habits seem to never

change, now I find them to feed the water God’s in my lake.

Golf was as foreign to us kids as grown-up talk around the Sunday dinner table. And these were the days

of Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer and many of the great golfers of the past. What’s more,

some of the men who hung around my grandfather’s store said black people didn’t play golf. This was

more of a statement than an overall fact. Truth told I had never seen a person of color playing golf, ever.

Their opinion toward the game was enough for me, as a youngster, to dismiss it without asking the whys

that would become so important to me later on in my life.

Although I wasn’t born with a golf club in my hand, I was reborn by one. Today, having played golf since

my college days, I define myself by the game. I’m a professional golfer.

I’ve been a successful independent golf instructor, golf professional, caddie, member of grounds crew,

and college golf coach. I learned the game like a lot of the players of old, by what I see that works and

not what I hear in theory. What’s more, I’ve paid my dues as a caddie at renowned golf courses in

Columbus, Ohio, and Orlando, Fla. But foremost and always, I’ve been a steadfast player, devoting my

life with countless hours, days, months, and years of training to find my path in life.

Although I've played in my share of tournaments and mini-tour events, one of the highlights of my

career has been as a participant on The Golf Channel’s “The Big Break.” I was chosen from a nationwide

search as one of 10 aspiring tour professionals to be featured on the reality show’s original series in the

fall of 2003. If you watch The Golf Channel, you probably know the show’s premise: It pits contestants

against one another in various skills challenges, culminating with a winner who receives exemptions on a

major tour and other various prizes. The show has gone on to become a major hit, with many players’

moving on to play on some of the worlds’ major golf tours.

Although I didn't make it all the way, the show was a fantastic experience. It’s given me a chance to

meet people who love the game as much as I do. It’s also given me a chance to reflect on my life. In the

end, my goal remains constant: I want to keep growing – and help others grow – in the game of golf. For

me, there’s no other game.

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FORWARD

I’ve always believed that knowledge is the key to a better understanding of the golf swing. It’s been said

much too often that as an instructor, you can give the student too much information. I beg to differ; you

can’t ever give too much of the right information. The information I provide in this book allows you to

see and understand what naturally moves in the body during a golf swing, creating the best golf swing. I

hope this book, and my illustrations, allows you to see the moves of the swing. It likely will force you to

think, because I want you to see the positions of the body’s natural, day-to-day movements and equate

them to building your best golf swing.

You must know how and why you set-up, how and why you make a backswing and how you get back

and through the golf ball and on to the finish, swing after swing, just like Moe, Ben and others. It may

appear to be a lot of information at first, but it’s based on movements, and we move our joints and

muscles every day. My illustrations allow you to open your mind’s eye to not only feel your swing but to

know why your swing works … and most important, the repeatable movements that allow you to move

by instinct.

Moe Norman’s golf swing was based on movements of the body. As you know, he said vanity is a luxury

of fools. Most teachers don't teach what Moe did. They don't understand it -- they can't explain it. That's

because it requires you to think deeper beyond what you see. My grandfather taught me a life lesson

driving around one day. He asked me what was the most important aspect of the particular home we

were looking at. Just like most, I gave the typical answer, which was the vanity. But he said if it were not

for the little nails that keep everything together, then it would be just a big pile of wood. Yet here from

the road, you can't see them.

I equated this to my understanding of the golf swing, which allows me to go deeper than just what my

eyes see. Because the golf swing is nothing more than a collaboration of movements, the questions that

should be asked are:

What causes the body to move? THE HUMAN JOINTS.

What moves the joints? THE MUSCLES.

What controls the muscles? THE BRAIN.

Every move Moe made was based on a sequence of motion. After 20 plus years of studying the

swing and its movements, the knowledge I obtained over the years came together for me. I can say now

the reason golfers can't take their swing from the range to the 1st tee is because they try to take a

FEEL, and the golf swing is a move. Just like walking, a move repeats itself. It is a move that creates the

swing and not a swing that creates a move.

Thank you, Charles

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THE FIST GRIP

As shown in the illustration, the lines demonstrate how the knuckles of the hand naturally align

themselves when a fist is created to form the golf grip.

Knuckles align the hands to match one another as you create a version of

a FIST around the grip. You are swinging your fist in the golf swing and not

your hands. There is a difference … and how the body reacts to that

difference. So develop your FIST-EYE COORDINATION for a great grip, and

the FIST will create a consistent feel and pressures required to swing the

golf club. If you focus your mind on your fist, your brain is going to allow

your body to act accordingly. Funny how the brain will make the body

work, through simple use of words like “GO” for you to simply move.

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THE SET-UP

Ears lined up with big toes

because our equilibrium for

balance is in our ears. And the

big toe helps to balance our

feet.

Pressure is on the inside of both arms

as a version of a FIST grips the handle

of the golf club in your desired

alignment.

Weight remains on the insides of

both legs and feet.

Big toes balance up with the ears. The big toe

has its own singular muscle and is the most

powerful aspect of the foot for balance.

This is the neutral position

for all golf swings. All golf

swings must start from a

neutral position. The red

lines depict the neutral

pressures. The flaring

open of the left foot

presets from the neutral

position the direction in

which we intend to move.

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THE BACKSWING

The fist swings the golf

club, and the inside of the

arms work together as

one unit.

The right pectoral muscle

lifts the right arm up in the

backswing as the right lat

muscle completes the turn of

the right side as it coils

against the bracing of the

right leg.

The right hip creates a sit-down

position in the backswing for balance

and stability of the right side in a

complete full backswing.

The big toes provide balance and

stability for the action of the lower

body throughout the entire swing.

Pressure is still on the insides of both

legs at the top of the backswing.

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BODY SWING THROUGH IMPACT

Left side sequence of motion: 1. Left Ankle 2. Left knee 3. Left hip 4.

Left lat muscle 5. Left pectoral muscle going up

Lat muscle turns the back

muscles as the pectoral

muscle follows and

swings the left arm UP,

as the green arrow

depicts, to a desired

finish position.

The angle of the right leg

with the red line not only

adds power but acts as a

brace to keep the body

moving left and staying left in

the downswing and through

impact.

Outside left

knee shifts

your weight.

Outside of the

Left hip turns.

Big toes provide balance and stability

as the lower body turns in

conjunction with the upper body.

The inside of the arms swing on a

CLOCKWISE PATH WITH YOUR FIST-

EYE COORDINATION this keeps the

arms on an inside path

Big toe and

turn of the left

ankles inside

and out.

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CLOCKWISE CLUB PATH SWING

The swing path of the golf club

is as simple as facing a clock

and swinging the club in a

clockwise manner for the

downswing. The magic of the

swing path is your clubface

enters through 5 on through 6,

and 7, which is the impact

hitting zone.

Player’s

Posterior 9

12

2

3

7 5

6

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THE FINISH

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CONCLUSION

When I tell people I study the game of golf, they never truly understand what I mean when I say “I study

the game of golf.” I started studying the game more than 20 years ago, and the pursuit of knowledge in

this game has been my life’s pursuit. It’s taken me many places – euphoric places, then dark places all

serious students of the game can go to when trying to play and study this game.

In recent years, the study of Moe Norman has been my focus. I’ve reviewed every video on YouTube you

can find on him, and again and again. And again. Sleepless nights with my mind on coming up with the

most efficient, effective swing based on the natural movements of the human body. That’s where Moe

took me. He took me down a path to study the anatomy of the human body, in particular how our joints

and muscles work. I see so many instructors and players teaching and playing with golf swings that are

counter to the body’s natural movements. That’s why players get hurt. We practice in repitition. So if we

are continously moving our bodies in a way that is against our natural movement, we’ll hurt our back,

our hip and other areas.

I have learned this through study of the body as well as the golf swing. Believe me, I have tried

everything when it comes to the swing. I’ve studied instructors whom I may not agree with their method

or how they came to their conclusions, but I still respect the challeges they have gone through to create

a living in this game. When you throw knowledge of the body’s natural movements together with

knowledge of the golf swing, you come up with something special. I believe my approach to the golf

swing is from one of experience, deep study – not just my opinion – and finally, from the personal joy of

succeeding in a lifelong pursuit of figuring out the golf swing and sharing my knowledge with the world.

What has continuously guided me when I wanted to quit in the pursuit of the golf

swing is a quote by the great Marcus Aurelius:

“Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume it is beyond

the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man,

believe that it is within your own compass also.” -- Marcus Aurelius

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SUMMARY

Charles Calhoun is based in Orlando, Florida, and has more than 20 years of experience playing

golf professionally, teaching and coaching, and authoring golf-related articles and books. A

former contestant on The Golf Channel’s “The Big Break,” Charles in an in-depth thinker and b

“I wasn’t born with a golf club in my hand, but I was reborn with one.” – Charles Calhoun

The reason for this book is for the player to get a better understand of sequences of the body

needed to allow for YOU to make your best swing. Also, how to make your sequence of the

body work more often and where to look to begin.

I would like to thank all the great teachers, both past and present, who have been my

inspiration. As my grandparents Roosevelt and Mary Ann Calhoun taught me, “find something

you love to do and never give up doing it.”

Thank you,

Charles Calhoun

Always Good Golfing

Contact

curlycalhoun@gmail.com

@charlescalhoun7

youtube.com/curlycalhoun

www.shadetreepro.com

407.288.2960

Copyright © 2015 Charles Calhoun all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means,

including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the

publisher, Charles Calhoun. curlycalhoun@gmail.com.