Scottie Scheffler and coach Randy Smith on the field at the Masters.
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It doesn’t have to be that complex. it it should not to be.
This was one of my points as I listened to Scottie Scheffler describe (for Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz, hosts of Subpar) what he and longtime coach Randy Smith are working on.
Of course, it’s easier to simplify things when you’ve got decades of golf obsession under your belt. It’s easier to simplify things when you’ve been the best player in most of your tournaments for most of your life. It’s easier to simplify things when you combine genius with generational talent. And “genius” is exactly the word Scheffler used to describe Smith.
My favorite conversational exchange came when Knost, who used to play and practice at the Royal Oaks in Dallas under Smith’s watchful eye (and with a young Scheffler watching), asked Scheffler if he was surprised more Tour pros hadn’t gone to see him.
“I mean, am I surprised? Yes, – Scheffler said with a laugh. “Randy is like — I mean, he’s completely out of his mind. But when it comes to the golf swing, he’s such a genius. He’s like a little genius.”
In an era of high-tech, data-heavy coaching, Smith is something of a throwback. He relies on his eyes and intuition. Scheffler also relies on them.
“I was there before the Presidents Cup and I was telling Randy, I said, ‘I’m trying something, but I’m not going to tell you what it is. I’ll see if you can figure it out,” Scheffler said. how did you do that?’”
Scheffler also isn’t afraid to rely on Smith in the middle of the tournament. A particularly important diagnosis came Thursday afternoon at this year’s Masters.
“He gave me a swing tip after the first round,” Scheffler said. “The first round I had played well, I scored very well, some of the best of the year in terms of my play, scoring and ball control. But I didn’t feel too good about how I was swinging it.
“I came off the course and Randy said, ‘great job, how are you feeling?’ And I said, ‘My swing didn’t feel good today, I feel like I’m scraping it around.’
“I told him what I was feeling, he gave me a tip to adjust my grip a little bit, I hit a few shots and it was like a light bulb went off. I felt what I wanted to feel and it was a game from there, I didn’t have to think about anything else.”
Game on from there it meant returning to his second career Masters victory, this time by four. And it marked the next step in a dominant eight-win season that has Scheffler at world No. 1 by a significant margin.
Another detail of note: Scheffler and Smith’s use of a release monitor—or lack thereof. With the exception of Tiger Woods, you’d be hard-pressed to find a player in the modern era who has been as good from the tee on the green as Scheffler has been in recent years. But modern technology does not deserve much credit.
“It’s funny with Trackman and stuff,” Scheffler said. “I practice with mine almost every day at home because I’m always looking at the distance and stuff. And Randy, if I’m ever struggling, will always try to call the numbers. And I’ll literally pick up the iPad and say, ‘We don’t need any of this stuff. We don’t know how to do this. We look into the distance and that’s it.”
Instead, Scheffler said, his most effective form of practice is going back to the basics. Good grip, good posture, good ball position – what he calls the ABCs – as he calculates a baseline for the day.
“Then we’re just hitting, creating shots, continuing to learn how to control that little golf ball.”
So good, so far.
