Studio Host: Courtesy of Myrtle Beach Golf Trips and check back in with Charlie.
Charlie: All right, Bailey. And I love me some Myrtle Beach. It feels like home. I grew up not too far from here. When you go out to dinner at night and order sweet tea, they don’t look at you like you’re crazy. They know what that is around here.
TPC Myrtle Bach is a heck of a Tom Fazio golf course. It’s a Top-100 public golf course, a wonderful venue for the 90 boys and girls from six countries teeing it up here this week.
We’re joined by Allen Terrell, long-time coach of Dustin Johnson. Also, a Golf Channel Academy lead coach. And of course, PGA Tour winner, Brian Bateman.
Allen, far into the range, I know you’re very excited that Dustin Johnson Golf School broke ground on new building there yesterday. Dustin Johnson, obviously, could have put his golf school a lot of different golf courses. Why did he choose TPC Myrtle Beach?
Allen: Well, D.J., this is a special place for him. He went to college, practice here. Was here when he first turned pro. The relationship that Dustin and I have with founder, Founders Group International, obviously, was a big reason why we wanted to make this our main headquarters.
Charlie: As his college coach, Allen, what part of D.J.’s game did the two of you spend a lot of time trying to improve when he was in school?
Allen: Definitely his mid wedges, scoring wedges, you know, for him, 120 to 40 yards.
Charlie: Show us, give us a demonstration, if you will, of maybe some of the things that you two worked on back in the day.
Allen: Well, the biggest thing is no college kids know how far to hit it. So, we worked on just developing a wedge system. The biggest thing when trying to work on your wedges is try to flight it as low as you can when no divot. I think there’s a misconception you gotta hit down on it, take a divot. That actually makes the ball spin less.
We try to, Dustin’s always trying to Harley take a divot and hit it as low as he can. So when he does that, he spins maximum and trajectory is distance control.
Charlie: You watched him hit balls yesterday here at the other end of the range. What did you see from D.J.? He’s preparing to defend his crown in a couple of weeks in Mexico at the WGC, Mexico Championship. What was he working on?
Allen: Well, if you tell the Number 1 player in the world something new, you’re probably doing a bad job coaching.
Brian: And Charlie?
Allen: Yeah, I heard that. So, you know, it’s posture related. His tendency is to get a little bit too far away from the ball. His arms get a little bit too far away. That means when he swings back, he’s gonna go to his toes and his left arm is gonna kind of swing and get a little disconnected early. That actually makes him come down a little bit too steep and a little bit too across it if he starts hitting it on the toe.
You know, Dustin, like Charlie and I were talking about earlier, the quality of practice, you know, he may not practice for five hours, but he watches every ball, the flight, the spin, the contact, he is unbelievable. So if it’s not right, he’s not happy. We just worked on those little take-away really things, some balance/counterbalance stuff. He knows his swing, so you’re just reminding him.
Charlie: You obviously got your hands on him way back. Were you ever tempted to address it bowed left wrists. Did he ever even think about it?
Allen: No. It actually has gotten more as he’s gotten out on tour. I think the more you bend your left wrists or the more you bow, rather, your left wrist, actually the further you can hit it eventually because your body is going to start working in a certain manner. But, no, we never fix it. You know, he’s always the trajectory is something he’s gonna work through and because of that, he’s gonna have a tendency to want to tilt back to get the ball a little more low. He just has to maintain that.
Charlie: Any concern long-term injury with that left wrist?
Allen: No. I don’t think this causes a lot of pressure. It’s more what you’re doing through the ball that would create injury. He’s pretty good through the ball. He’s a pretty passive release guy. So, you know, if he was really active and there’s a lot of bending or bowing either way coming through the ball, you’d have to address that.
Charlie: Well, Allen, we appreciate your thoughts here. Good luck with the new building. The end of this beautiful range here you could see Myrtle Beach with the Dustin Johnson Golf School.
Allen: Thanks guys.
Charlie: But for now, let’s go back to the studio and check-in with Bailey Mosier.
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