PutterZone – Best Putter Reviews
Ted Gallina has been with the SeeMore Putter Company ever since its rebirth under new ownership in 2007. Prior to joining SeeMore, he was the head golf professional at Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tennessee, for more than 10 years. He was named by his peers and the PGA of America as the PGA National Merchandiser of the Year for his contributions at the Vanderbilt Legends Club. “I guess you could say that was my 15 minutes of fame!” he says. As the SeeMore’s director of instruction, he heads up the SeeMore Putter Institute (a.k.a. SPi), a national network of putting instructors dedicated to helping golfers raise their game. We caught up with Ted to learn more about SPi, and how it is making a difference for golfers across the United States. Following is our exclusive interview:
What is the SeeMore Putter Institute?
The SeeMore Putter Institute (SPi) is where golfers and instructors come together in person and online to share fundamental ideas about how to improve putting performance. Presently over 350 global instructors are utilizing SPi to generate more lessons, more revenue and more game improvement.
SPi is a learning system based on the simple fundamentals of finding the proper grip, alignment, stance, and posture. This allows for a natural, free, and simple putting stroke on each and every putt. It is based on the technology built into the SeeMore putter itself, and on the refined teachings of SeeMore Global Ambassador Pat O’Brien. Pat has worked with Zach Johnson and many other PGA Tour and developing players. He has been teaching the SeeMore system around the world for more than 12 years, ever since he watched his good friend, the late Payne Stewart, benefit from the SeeMore putting system to win 1999 U.S. Open and lead the tour in putting statistics that year.
Becoming SPi certified helps golf teachers formulate a complete teaching plan to help their existing students and recruit new students to become great putters using the SeeMore system that has won two major championships and set numerous putting records on the PGA Tour.
How can golfers around the country connect with SPi? What is the cost and commitment?
Golfers can go to our SPi locator on SeeMore.com to find the closest instructor. We also have a SPi Cyber Coach for online instruction if they are unable to find an instructor close to them. All of our SPi instructors enjoy giving a putting lesson. Their putting lesson is based off of the SPi method. Cost varies from each individual SPi instructor.
If someone is interested in taking a putting lesson from a SPi instructor, we suggest they contact the instructor directly. The student receives a quality putting lesson that will give them the “why” behind the putting stroke. They will also be shown how the fundamentals of golf such as posture, stance, alignment, grip are so important in the putting stroke. Length of a putting lesson varies per instructor, but our goal is for the student to walk away knowing how a SeeMore putter reinforces how important feel and the fundamentals of golf work together.
All of our SPi instructors gradually “break you down” and then “build you back up” with a solid foundation. We give you the “why” during the putting stroke.
Do you need to own a SeeMore putter to take a lesson from an SPi instructor?
You do not need to own a SeeMore to take a lesson from a SPi instructor. We encourage every new student to bring the putter that they are presently using.
What are the typical results you see from average golfers who work with an SPi instructor?
The typical results that we see from the Tour pros all the way to high handicappers is that they now know what a good putt feels like and can improve upon a bad stroke. They learn the difference between a good putt and a bad putt. Because they have the same starting point for every single putt, they will learn what their good putt feels like. When they happen to make a bad putt, they now have an idea and actually know how to improve the putting stroke. Our goal for every new student is that right before they leave the lesson, they turn around and say, “I did not know this would be so easy.”
The SeeMore putter and SPi go hand in hand. SPi is a system based of the teachings of Pat O’Brien. It is simple and not hard to learn. The SeeMore putter is there to reinforce the teachings and bring consistency to your putting. It gives you a consistent starting point for every single putt.
What is your message to golfers who spend a lot of time on the range but little time on the practice green?
Putting accounts for 40 percent of your strokes on average during a round of golf! Everyone knows that the putter and short game lower your score. However, most people do not know how to practice putting. Therefore they go through putters like a one-hit wonder. Ninety percent of the new lessons that SPi instructors give are to golfers who have never received a putting lesson.
Everyone has always been told that putting is a “feel” stroke. They say this because most instructors don’t want to teach putting. This is the easy way out! All of our SPi instructors want to give a putting lesson. There is some “feel” to the putting stroke, but there also needs to be the fundamentals of golf involved as well. Our SPi instructors know how to combine the two.
Thanks, Ted!
