Today we’d like to introduce you to Bob Swinnerton.
Hi bob, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I played golf for Fresno State University, the #3-ranked golf team in the country, my senior year. Followed my college career with a few years on the Canadian PGA Tour. After my years playing golf professionally, I began the Santa Cruz Golf Academy in 1994.
I have worked with golfers of all levels, from beginners to elite golfers, including the California State Amateur Champion and numerous Tour Professionals. I began life as a full-time golf instructor in a private indoor studio, where I learned to focus as much on the inner game as the physical motion of my students’ golf swing.
My approach to golf is holistic, always blending the way a student looks at the game with what they are trying to feel in the motion of the golf swing. It’s important to understand a student’s mental perspective, how their mind perceives the golf club’s motion, and how to create the ball flight. When the golfer learns to see beyond the initial reactions and train the mind as well as the body, then they will truly enjoy playing the game.
Over the years, I have come to appreciate and understand on a deeper level through my work the profound nature of the game of golf and what it can teach us about ourselves and the world around us. This work has led me to write a few books, including “Golfing Inside Out,” “Golfing from the Ground Up with the End In Mind,” and a golfing novel titled “Trippin Into Santa Cruz.”
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Playing golf and teaching golf is never a smooth or easy road. Each golf shot on the golf course is challenging, and each student has their own unique challenges that I must help them overcome. On the business side, I have traveled through challenging economic times where golf was seen as a waste of precious time. Then, after the COVID pandemic, playing golf is now seen as a great way to spend time with family and friends.
I have learned that doing anything at a high level takes commitment, perseverance, and the belief you will succeed even when everyone is telling you to do something different. Fortunately, I love to teach the game and have learned to move through the momentary challenges, knowing that the good time and one of the best golf shots of your life is always ahead.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Teaching golf for over thirty years has been quite the adventure. Each day someone new wants to learn the game, and someone else who has spent years trying to improve realizes they do not know how to achieve their goal and needs professional help. For some, learning the game is seen only as a physical game. The challenge most golfers are unaware of is how the mind creates many obstacles that will get in the way of the physical motion of the golf swing they believe they should be able to create.
What makes my approach to learning the game different is how I navigate a golfer through the mental and physical haze. I will bring more clarity to the mind in how it needs to look at the golf club, golf course, and golf ball. They will learn to use their imagination to support the movement within the golf swing and use their creativity to change a story that they may have in their head about a golf shot they want to perform on the golf course.
I am best known for my deep understanding of the relationship between the golfer’s mind and body and how to use them together to create a more natural and effortless way to play the game.
What is most surprising and what I am most proud of is my never-ending sense of curiosity about discovering what a golfer may have hidden from view. Bringing to light what was in the shadows for a new student is always exciting and rewarding, and seeing the game take on a new dimension, one of fascination and curiosity, never gets old.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
favorite childhood memory is hearing the new from my parents in 1977 that we are moving to California from Fairfax Virginia.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://santacruzgolf.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs1Vz_RCyRrWp8ssR76nqWw?view_as=subscriber
