Golfers are, for lack of a better word, a bizarre bunch. Trap us in a room and we'd gladly talk about the game for hours on end without ever losing interest. This is precisely what we did last weekend at the third annual Better Golf Through Technology Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On February 24 and 25, 22 golfers, including top-ranked teachers, scientists, doctors and coaches, offered 16 one-hour presentations, ranging from the "Biomechanics of Putting," to "Providing the Average Golfer a Tour Quality Fit," to the "Impact of Physical Therapy on Improvement." Overwhelming? At times. Incredibly eye-opening? Absolutely. Although I don't want to give away too much information in this blog (keep your eyes peeled on upcoming issues), here are three tidbits that blew me away:

1. Teaching professionals David Edel and David Orr presented the findings of their research on putting in the presentation "Aim Bias and how it Affects Your Stroke." They discovered that a whopping 60 percent of golfers aim left of their intended target line, 25 percent aim right and a mere 15 percent aim straight. Also interesting is that left-aiming putters manipulate the clubface and open it on the backswing, while right-aiming putters manipulate it on their swing path. Putter that are improperly fit may cause many of these dilemmas, so fix that before tinkering with your stroke.
2. Eric Alpenfels, Director of Golf Course Instruction at Pinehurst, and Bob Christina, an internationally recognized scholar, analyzed how golfers can maximize their practice sessions in "The Way a Drill is Practiced Determines What Transfers to the Course." They concluded that while drills are traditionally practiced in isolation of a playing context, golfers should practice drills in a playing context if they want to transfer what they learn to the golf course. And practicing in a playing context isn't difficult; it just takes a bit more time because it means you have to follow your pre-shot and post-shot routines and hit to specific targets. And what about that iPod I listen to while I practice? No good (sigh).
3. Henry Brunton, Head Coach for the Canadian Men's Golf Team, presented "The Development of Expertise for Elite Competitive Golfers and the Related Probability of Advancing to the PGA Tour." He cited an English study that concludes it takes roughly 10 years and 10,000+ hours of intense practice and dedication for anyone to become a world-class athlete. Although deliberate practice is critical, it certainly doesn't ensure success. Take these numbers, for example: a Division I Men's golf team will produce a professional golfer only once every 24 years, and one in 20,418 high school players will make it to the PGA Tour. Even myself, a glass-half-full kinda gal, doesn't see much promise in these numbers.