Ahead of a PGA Learn coaching course in November at The Belfry, Philip Sparks explains the theory behind his Easiest Swing concept, which was originally developed by his late brother and fellow PGA Member Brian.
PGA Professional Philip Sparks has a fascinating and intuitive way of coaching the game and he will be sharing his thoughts in a senior coaching session at The Belfry on November 20.
Sparks, who was the Professional at Prince’s in the 1980s and 90s, is the younger brother of fellow PGA Pro Brian Sparks, who sadly died in 2022 after a long-running battle with cancer.
In the mid 1980s, Brian began experimenting with some different ideas on movement rather than positional golf and wrote a book called Positive Impact Golf in 2010.
"He knew that he wasn't going to become a very old man and he decided that he needed to document his findings,” said Philip. “He put the book out there along with a video on YouTube which he called 'The Easiest Swing In Golf', which is still there today. It's a non-verbal video, which is unlike nearly everything else out there. He just demonstrated swinging the golf club while breaking some of the rules.
"Simple things like he didn't try and keep his head still, he didn't try and keep his left arm straight and he didn't try and keep his left heel on the ground.
“And yet when you watched it, it looked really easy and, from that, he evolved this whole thing called The Easiest Swing.
“More and more senior golfers kept coming to us and telling us that they struggled with all the positional stuff, but they were able to do what we suggested.”
Last year, Philip wrote a second book, The Easiest Swing In Golf, which was a collaboration with his late brother, and one of the leading premises in their philosophy is to help senior golfers.
"When you think of most club pros, what is the age of their average member? It's definitely in the senior bracket and yet these golfers avoid going for lessons because they don't want to get their swings changed and they're terrified of having a lesson. "
"But if you had a way of actually coaching them that they found was easy and enjoyable and they could do it, you've got something very satisfying as well as a great business opportunity. They have the time, the money and the opportunity to make great progress with you. And that's really why we want to share it with other coaches."
Case study: The long-time scratch player who couldn’t break 80
I had a guy get in touch recently and he had been a +1 golfer until 2019. But now he was 65 and couldn't break 80. He said that he had been watching our YouTube videos and couldn't believe what he was seeing. He said: ‘It surely can’t be that easy?’
He came down to my studio and we had a look at his swing. I never told him how to swing the golf club and I never talked to him about any positions, I just exposed some beliefs that he had that were wrong. And he tried something different. After the first lesson, he came back to me two days later and said he'd shot level par in a match against a 3-handicapper and it was the first time that he'd broken 80 in six years. Now he's back loving his golf again and we've never once told him how or what to do, but we’ve instead changed his concept of what he's trying to do.
Case study: The novice who just wanted not to embarrass himself
My brother was coaching a guy who said that he played twice a year but among a competitive group of people. And he said that he made an idiot of himself every time he turned up. He simply wanted to go out and be able to hit the ball and not make a fool of himself. Brian didn't change his swing or his grip but he just gave him permission to move a bit more freely. And all of a sudden, the guy could hit the ball better. And he now enjoys his golf and plays a few times a year now because he's actually enjoying it more. That's very much a part of it – if we can help people to learn how to play the game and come off the course with a smile on their face and a bit of energy and not feel exhausted by the game, then that's great.'
To confirm your attendance for the upcoming PGA Learn course at The Belfry, click here.
About Philip
Philip is a PGA Professional and a director of Easiest Swing Club Ltd.
Click here to learn more or call 07957 862 635.
Book now for Philip’s coaching conference here.
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