Brian Manzella
Administrator
The Genesis for the "Anti-Summit" (and what it is & what it isn't) by Brian Manzella
Anti-Summit II is just a few days away. It is a lot of work to organize such an event, and even more to pull it off without a hitch. Many folks have no idea our purpose for such a symposium, or why we ever thought of doing one in the first place. I think the truth may surprise a whole bunch of people, and probably make total sense to some others.
I have attended more national golf teaching "summits" than anyone else alive. I want—and get—no credit for that fact. But, after the first PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit in Dallas that I attended with Don Villavaso, Mike Finney started attending these with me until his family got big and his job did as well. He and I attended the 1990 PGA Summit in Nashville, the 1992 one in San Francisco, the 1994, 1996, and 1998 event in our hometown of New Orleans, and then Mike went with me to the first two in Port St. Luice before he stopped going until this last one in early 2011.
Of course, goofy me, I have been to all of them.
Plus a whole bunch of other national summits. All the AMF/GBN summits, every MIT summit ever held until they ran it into the ground, and every TGM one until they told Aaron Zick to "Shut up" and they told me the PGA Tour players don't know how to chip properly.
I'm sure I must be missing a couple more of them somewhere...
So, except for the first PGA Summit, the first MIT summit, and the second TGM summit, they have universally been very disappointing. Mike felt the same way about the ones he attended.
We always wanted to run one ourselves and show 'em how its done.
The problem was, what would we do different? That idea came to me when we started learning from multiple scientists at the onset of Project 1.68. "That's it," I shouted through the phone one morning, "we'll have three or four scientists, no stupid presentations, and a full day of the one thing everyone seems scared to do—take questions. I'll moderate and keep it from getting out of hand."
The detractors had a field day. Many said I would be a horrible moderator. Most thought it would be chaos at best, and a free for all fight at worst.
It was nothing of the kind.
It went great.
Mike & I never got ONE SINGLE SHRED OF CREDIT for conceiving, financing, organizing, promoting, and delivering a world-class event. None. Nada. Zilch. Zero.
So, when we met more scientists, we thought we invite them as well for AS2. This year's event will feature six of the foremost SCIENTIFIC experts on golf on planet earth. Our friend Dan Parks who runs a scientific journal website, thinks the panel is the greatest of its kind ever assembled.
And for $250, golf swing teachers, theorists, and junkies, will get to learn from and talk with this esteemed panel.
Any question, theory, gadget, or whatever, on a variety of pieces of the puzzle that is golf, like biomechanics, equipment, ball collision, ball flight, math models, reverse engineered golf swing models, pure physics, and probably a few other things, will surely result in a solid answer. Last year, in a 6+ hour symposium, only one question was left unanswered.
It is sort of like the Supreme Court of golf instruction, if your idea has scientific merit, and those six agree, you've got something. If it is only a "seems as if" bunch of ideas, you'll know that too.
It will be a great day to learn, discuss, and debate, and then let the scientists break all ties.
But all of that all assumes one little detail—the attendees must respect the knowledge and experience of the scientific panel. With 50 people in the room, there is simply not enough time to challenge the science of the scientists without taking up half the day to do it.
If there is one thing scientists like to do, it is defend their science and data collection. It is brutal theatre though.
The Anti-Summit is NOT for me, I now get ask to talk at multiple events a year around the country. It isn't for "us" either, meaning the Manzella/1.68 group, we have all these scientists and a couple of others on speed-dial, and can call or Skype them anytime to ask and learn.
This symposium is for the attendees, the few actually intellectually curious golf teachers and players who want to learn from the best.
My promise to all of them is that we will make it worth all the time, effort, and expense to attend.
There is still a few spots available, just drop me or Mike Finney a line and will get you signed up.
Brian
Anti-Summit II is just a few days away. It is a lot of work to organize such an event, and even more to pull it off without a hitch. Many folks have no idea our purpose for such a symposium, or why we ever thought of doing one in the first place. I think the truth may surprise a whole bunch of people, and probably make total sense to some others.
I have attended more national golf teaching "summits" than anyone else alive. I want—and get—no credit for that fact. But, after the first PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit in Dallas that I attended with Don Villavaso, Mike Finney started attending these with me until his family got big and his job did as well. He and I attended the 1990 PGA Summit in Nashville, the 1992 one in San Francisco, the 1994, 1996, and 1998 event in our hometown of New Orleans, and then Mike went with me to the first two in Port St. Luice before he stopped going until this last one in early 2011.
Of course, goofy me, I have been to all of them.
Plus a whole bunch of other national summits. All the AMF/GBN summits, every MIT summit ever held until they ran it into the ground, and every TGM one until they told Aaron Zick to "Shut up" and they told me the PGA Tour players don't know how to chip properly.
I'm sure I must be missing a couple more of them somewhere...
So, except for the first PGA Summit, the first MIT summit, and the second TGM summit, they have universally been very disappointing. Mike felt the same way about the ones he attended.
We always wanted to run one ourselves and show 'em how its done.
The problem was, what would we do different? That idea came to me when we started learning from multiple scientists at the onset of Project 1.68. "That's it," I shouted through the phone one morning, "we'll have three or four scientists, no stupid presentations, and a full day of the one thing everyone seems scared to do—take questions. I'll moderate and keep it from getting out of hand."
The detractors had a field day. Many said I would be a horrible moderator. Most thought it would be chaos at best, and a free for all fight at worst.
It was nothing of the kind.
It went great.
Mike & I never got ONE SINGLE SHRED OF CREDIT for conceiving, financing, organizing, promoting, and delivering a world-class event. None. Nada. Zilch. Zero.
So, when we met more scientists, we thought we invite them as well for AS2. This year's event will feature six of the foremost SCIENTIFIC experts on golf on planet earth. Our friend Dan Parks who runs a scientific journal website, thinks the panel is the greatest of its kind ever assembled.
And for $250, golf swing teachers, theorists, and junkies, will get to learn from and talk with this esteemed panel.
Any question, theory, gadget, or whatever, on a variety of pieces of the puzzle that is golf, like biomechanics, equipment, ball collision, ball flight, math models, reverse engineered golf swing models, pure physics, and probably a few other things, will surely result in a solid answer. Last year, in a 6+ hour symposium, only one question was left unanswered.
It is sort of like the Supreme Court of golf instruction, if your idea has scientific merit, and those six agree, you've got something. If it is only a "seems as if" bunch of ideas, you'll know that too.
It will be a great day to learn, discuss, and debate, and then let the scientists break all ties.
But all of that all assumes one little detail—the attendees must respect the knowledge and experience of the scientific panel. With 50 people in the room, there is simply not enough time to challenge the science of the scientists without taking up half the day to do it.
If there is one thing scientists like to do, it is defend their science and data collection. It is brutal theatre though.
The Anti-Summit is NOT for me, I now get ask to talk at multiple events a year around the country. It isn't for "us" either, meaning the Manzella/1.68 group, we have all these scientists and a couple of others on speed-dial, and can call or Skype them anytime to ask and learn.
This symposium is for the attendees, the few actually intellectually curious golf teachers and players who want to learn from the best.
My promise to all of them is that we will make it worth all the time, effort, and expense to attend.
There is still a few spots available, just drop me or Mike Finney a line and will get you signed up.
Brian
