In this episode of On The Mark, host Mark Immelman is joined by South African golf instructor Rick Currin, who teaches in Malaysia and specializes in making golf simpler, more playable, and easier to improve.

Rick brings a biomechanics and sports science background to his coaching, but his message is refreshingly practical: stop overcomplicating the game, manage the course smarter, and build a swing and short game that help you avoid big numbers.

Mark and Rick walk through a “mini boot camp” for your whole game—course management, driver setup, iron play, pitching, bunker shots, lag putting, and short putts—with one clear goal: help golfers score better by making better decisions and executing simpler shots.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

✅ Why avoiding double bogeys is one of the fastest ways to lower scores

✅ How to manage a golf course by playing to your strengths—not your ego

✅ Why “boring golf” can be the smartest path to better scores

✅ How better posture and setup can help you drive the ball more consistently

✅ Why irons should be treated like precision clubs, not power clubs

 ✅ A simple pitching key: narrow stance, toe down, rhythm, and less tension

✅ The bunker-shot mindset: speed and trust

✅ Why lag putting is an overlooked scoring skill—and how to practice it better, and

✅ How to improve short putts with a simple, repeatable routine.

Key Themes:

• Golf Made Simple - Rick’s coaching philosophy is built around cutting through overload. Instead of chasing every tip, golfers need simple, repeatable ideas they can actually use on the course.
• Course Management Saves Shots - You do not always need driver off the tee. Sometimes a 6-iron in play, followed by another smart shot, creates a better scoring opportunity than forcing driver into trouble. 
• Discipline Starts Before the Swing - Rick emphasizes discipline in the pre-shot routine and decision-making. Poor choices often begin before the club ever moves.
• Athletic Setup Matters - Better driving starts with posture, balance, and body readiness. Rick explains how rounded posture and tension can limit rotation and make it harder to square the face.
• Precision Over Power With irons and wedges - Rick encourages golfers to take an extra club, make a controlled swing, and focus on solid contact and dispersion—not maximum distance.
• Short Game Variety Wins - You do not always have to fly the ball to the hole. Rick prefers using the contours of the course, bump-and-run options, and different clubs around the green when the shot allows it.

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube - search and subscribe to Mark Immelman to watch it.

In this episode of On The Mark, Mark Immelman welcomes back Will Stubbs from Zen Green Stage / Zen Swing Stage for a conversation that hits a major truth about modern golf: the game doesn’t have an attraction problem—it has a retention problem. Golf participation has surged, but most new players don’t stick—largely because golf is hard, practice isn’t realistic, and learning infrastructure hasn’t kept up with access.

Will breaks down the “practice gap”—why sterile range/simulator reps don’t translate to the real golf course where slopes, lies, turf conditions, and wind change everything. Then he shares actionable ways to improve faster: build situational awareness, train on uneven lies, and learn to read greens using a simple clock-face method that teaches you to see gravity like a blueprint.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

1. Why golf has a retention problem (not an attraction problem)
2. The stat that should shock everyone: only ~25–27% become “committed golfers”
3. Why most beginners never get lessons (and how golf learning hasn’t scaled)
4. The “practice gap”: why simulator/range practice can be misleading
5. Why slopes (not length) are a course’s greatest defense
6. A simple putting read framework: Zero-grade line + clock face
7. How Zen Green Stage helps golfers train compound breaks and real-world pace/reads
8. How Zen Swing Stage recreates your lie instantly after each shot in sim play
9. Why better practice turns fear into confidence (tension comes from doubt), and
10. Where to find Zen + resources.

Key Takeaways

• Access has exploded, learning hasn’t. More people try golf, but most don’t become committed players.
• Information ≠ understanding. Data is everywhere, but experience is what teaches.
• Practice should look like golf. If you only train flat lies, the course will expose you.
• Read greens by finding gravity first. The clock-face method simplifies the entire problem.
• Better puzzle-solvers score better. Golf is problem solving—practice needs variety and constraints.
• This podcast is also available to watch on YouTube.  Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

In this episode of On The Mark, Mark Immelman welcomes Carolin Pinegger (Austrian national team alum, UCF golfer, former LPGA/Symetra player, and now coach + social media star). Carolin shares what it was like competing on Big Break: Myrtle Beach—five weeks isolated, long production days, constant cameras—and why that experience made competitive golf feel easy by comparison.

From there, the episode becomes a masterclass on what really wrecks swings: Tension, driven by brain “traffic.” Carolin explains how to train your brain like a muscle, use breathing to shift from “red” (overstimulated) back to “green,” and build dependable systems that hold up under pressure.

Then she delivers a set of at-home drills (no range required) to improve grip, sequencing, pressure shift, and putting start line—using everyday items like a hammer, mirror, towels, and books.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover: 

• What Big Break pressure is really like (cameras, no phones, 3 hours sleep)
• Why tension happens — and how the brain’s “traffic” affects your body
• The mindset truth: You don’t rise to standards — you fall to systems
• How to move from “red” to “green” using belly breathing, and
• Why at-home motion training works (less “hit ball” mode, more learning.)

Carolin also share 5 Game Improvement drills you can do at home:

Drill #1: Hammer & Hinge (fix grip + wrist set, stop early elbow fold)

Drill #2: Backswing Sequence (Mirror) (hinge → arms → shoulders → hips)

Drill #3: Mirror Depth Check (hands near heels; match top position to your shot shape)

Drill #4: Flow / Pressure Shift (towels under feet for rhythm + movement)

Drill #5: Book Putting Gate (start-line training + “through” mindset.) 

Key Takeaways:

1. Your brain is trainable. Treat it like a muscle and build routines that lower “traffic.” 
2. Pressure kills feel. Systems hold up when nerves show up.
3. Grip + wrist function matter. Many swing issues start with the trail hand and early elbow fold.
4. Sequence starts in the backswing. Build separation in the backswing, then keep moving through.
5. Putting begins with start line. You can’t make it if you can’t start it on your intended line.

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube.  In fact it is recommendable to watch it so you can learn exactly how to do the drills.  Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

In this episode of On The Mark, host Mark Immelman is joined by David Bertoli (aka “Davide”) for a deep, visual-first breakdown of how the golf swing actually works in 3D—not as frozen “positions,” but as moving phases driven by what the body is doing internally.

David shares how his team built a 3D system that reveals the skeleton, muscles, and fascia in motion—so golfers and coaches can stop chasing a Rory/McIlroy “look” and start optimizing their movement pattern.

A major focus is David’s framework: the Six Phases of the Golf Swing, built around Center of Mass (COM) movement + Anatomy Trains / fascia chains. They explore why the pelvis is the engine, how COM moves (horizontally and vertically), why maximum unweighting matters for speed, and how “carefree” phase-based movement beats “careful” position-chasing every time.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. ✅ Why 3D changes everything: stop studying the club “outside,” start understanding the body “inside”
2. ✅ The difference between positions vs phases (and why a golf swing is a “moving sculpture”)
3. ✅ What Center of Mass actually is, where it sits, and why the pelvis is so tied to it
4. ✅ How COM moves in an “almost infinity-sign” pattern (and why it anticipates the club)
5. ✅ Why elite players get lower than address in transition (and how that fuels speed)
6. ✅ What fascia is (and why the body is a “full web”) + how anatomy chains store/release energy 
7. ✅ The Six Phases: from address → shaft parallel → pelvis rotation → top → max unweighting → impact → hands chest-high
8. ✅ A huge myth at impact: why you should not try to open shoulders as much as the ribcage, and
9. ✅ The “eccentric load” trio: core stretch, lead-shoulder stretch, lead-wrist stretch (and why thoracic rotation matters.) 

Key Takeaways

• Stop copying positions. Many great swings look different—but the best swings move through similar phases.
• Pelvis movement predicts swing quality. If the pelvis (and COM) moves well, the rest organizes more naturally. 
• Speed requires going down before going up. The best players drop lower than address, then push up fast into impact.
• Fascia matters. Efficient golf is stored energy → redirected forces → released energy, not “hit the ball harder.”
• Carefree beats careful. When golfers chase positions, they get tense; when they move through phases, they flow. 

After you have listened to this podcast, go to YouTube, search and subscribe to Mark Immelman and watch the show to see David's graphics and presentation of his golfswing research and how his "Phases of the Swing" work.

In this episode of On The Mark, host Mark Immelman welcomes Arjun Malik—one of the leading voices helping grow the game in India—for a deep dive into the part of golf improvement that most players skip: routines and structure. 

Mark and Arjun's conversation quickly turns into a practical masterclass on what happens before the shot, after the shot, before the round, and after the round—and how those habits separate serious golfers from weekend “range ball beaters.”

Arjun shares his own journey as a self-taught golfer who struggled with “quantity over quality,” including a memorable tournament warm-up where he hit ~300 balls and was exhausted by the back nine. That experience shaped his coaching mission: build systems that help golfers prepare smarter, track performance honestly, and show up on the course with confidence—not chaos.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

✅ Why many golfers work hard but don’t improve (the missing ingredient is structure)

✅ A simple post-round template to turn “I played bad” into real feedback

✅ The easiest stats to track (fairways, greens, misses, up-and-downs, 3-putts) and what they reveal

✅ Why golfers get so negative—and how to “count the good shots” to reset your mindset

✅ A fast post-shot reset: what to ask yourself so mistakes don’t multiply

✅ How to build a pre-shot routine that fits your learning style (visual vs auditory)

✅ Why your routine should be timed (example: 12 seconds) and trained in the off-season, and

✅ How Tour players “replace the bad with good” using rehearsals after the shot.

 Key Takeaways:

1. Less can be more. Improvement isn’t about endless reps—it’s about purposeful reps.
2. Stats beat emotions. Track a few simple numbers and you’ll know exactly what to practice next.
3. Credit the good shots. Most golfers only react to mistakes; better players reinforce the wins too.
4. Reset after every shot. A quick check (“did it start/finish where I wanted?” “what did I feel?”) keeps you present.
5. Your pre-shot routine is a trigger—not a performance. It should create one clear feel and a “ready” click.

Develop your routines and go from chaos to clarity on the course.  Download and listen or watch on YouTube - search and subscrbe to Mark Immelman.

In this episode of On The Mark, host Mark Immelman welcomes back Cordie Walker (last on the show in 2019) for a practical, no-fluff conversation on what actually moves the needle for your golf game: Speed Training with intent, how to make Real Swing Changes, Practice Structure, Course Management using Dispersion, and Wedge Gapping that holds up under pressure. 

Cordie shares his journey chasing 180 → 190 → 200mph Ball Speed, why most golfers “speed train” the wrong way, and how dedicated sessions (with a real warmup and real volume) raise your floor, not just your ceiling.

Then the conversation pivots into improvement that transfers: Get Better Feedback (video + data), Practice with a Purpose (technique vs skill vs performance), and build a Wedge System that makes “shot #3” a weapon. 

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why “intent” is the missing ingredient in most speed training (and what a real session looks like) 
• The #1 speed-training sign you’re actually going hard enough (yes—it should feel out of control) 
• How video changes everything: what you feel vs what you actually do 
• Why swing changes are harder than golfers think—and what it really takes to make them stick 
• A simple practice framework: Technique vs Skill vs Performance (and why most practice fails) 
• How great course management can free you up (and when “send it” actually makes sense) 
• Why dispersion is a shotgun pattern, not a “rifle”—and how to use it to play smarter, and
• A wedge gapping starting point most golfers skip (and why it’s killing your scoring.)

Key Takeaways:

1. Speed is trainable—if you train it on purpose. Dedicated sessions, real warmup, and enough volume matter.
2. Feedback is everything. Video + launch monitor data keep you honest and accelerate change.
3. Practice needs a goal. Decide if you’re working on technique, skill, or performance—then practice accordingly.
4. Course management isn’t “play scared.” Know your dispersion and make emotionless decisions—then commit.
5. Wedge gapping wins tournaments for regular golfers. Build baselines, stop swinging wedges too hard, and refine.

Download this simple to comprehend and easy to apply episode and share it with your golfing friends.  Also watch it as a vodcast on YouTube.  Search and Subscribe to Mark Immelman.

Most golfers don’t fail because they aren’t trying… they fail because they’re showing up to lessons with the wrong expectations, the wrong habits, and no plan between sessions.

In this episode of #OnTheMark podcast, Mark Immelman is joined by Chris Smith, a Master PGA Professional and Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructor, to break down 5 common mistakes that ruin golf lessons—and what to do instead so your next lesson actually turns into lower scores.

You’ll Learn:

• How to get more value from every lesson
• What to stop doing immediately (and why it’s holding you back)
• How to practice between lessons so improvements stick
• How to communicate with your coach so you leave with clarity, and The simple mindset shift that makes training “transfer” to the course.

The 5 Things (and the Fix):

1. No clear goal for the lesson → Fix: define a “win” before you arrive (shot pattern, contact, start line, scoring goal)
2. Trying to rebuild everything at once → Fix: one priority, one feel, one drill—stack progress over time 
3. Collecting swing thoughts instead of building skill → Fix: convert tips into a repeatable drill + a checkpoint you can self-diagnose
4. No plan between lessons → Fix: a simple practice structure (block → random → on-course challenge)
5. Expecting range success to instantly become course success → Fix: train pressure, variability, and decision-making—not just mechanics.

If you’ve ever left a lesson feeling hopeful… then lost it by the weekend—this one is for you. Like, Subscribe, and comment below: What’s the #1 thing you want your next lesson to fix?

In this episode of On the Mark, host Mark Immelman sits down with PGA TOUR winner Chris Gotterup to go inside the ropes—covering the real nuts and bolts behind elite performance: power, feel vs. technical thoughts, practice drills, putting improvement, and handling pressure when it matters most. 

Chris shares what was happening in his mind and body during his playoff win at TPC Scottsdale, how he trains for speed without getting “too technical” in tournament weeks, and why communication with his caddie is one of the biggest keys to performing under the gun.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover: 

• What playoff pressure actually feels like—and how Chris handles it in real time
• How Chris thinks about power (and the setup tweaks he uses when he wants more distance)
• Why he avoids technical thoughts during tournament weeks (and saves them for offseason work)
• The “guardrails” approach: shaping shots without over-complicating your swing
• Training aids he uses (band, wrist device, HackMotion) and why they help
• Course management for different venues—Augusta vs. Harbour Town (and why mini driver matters)
• Putting improvement: start-line work, 3-putt avoidance, and speed training with Tim Yelverton
• Mental game under chaos (Waste Management), plus a playoff mindset: play to win
• Chris’s favorite win breakdown—and what each victory taught him

Key Themes:

1.  Pressure Is Normal—It Means You Care Chris is clear: nerves show up at the highest level, and that’s part of competing.
2. Feel First (Tournament Week), Technique Later (Offseason) He’ll work on mechanics away from competition, but once the tournament starts, he commits to what he brought that week.
3. “Guardrails” Beat Constant Overhauls He stays inside a preferred shot pattern—then adjusts toward neutral when needed, rather than rebuilding mid-week.
4. Communication Is a Performance Tool When things get loud or fast, Chris slows down by communicating clearly with his caddie about target, shape, and intent. 

 Episode Takeaways

➡ Power is useful—but it’s only valuable if the next shot backs it up.

 ➡ Feel-driven golf gets more reliable when you keep your swing inside simple “guardrails.”

 ➡ Putting improves when you start with start-line, then build speed control and accountability.

 ➡ Under pressure, slow down by communicating clearly—target, shape, and intent.

If you want more episodes like this—where Mark goes deep on how the best players actually practice, think, and compete—subscribe to On the Mark and share this episode with a golfer who wants to improve their game.  Also, search and subscribe to Mark Immelman on YouTube.

Nick Biondi is a PGA Member and the Director of Golf Instruction at Radley Run Country Club in West Chester, PA. One of the most respected golf instructors in the country, Nick has over 20 years of elite teaching experience.  His quality instruction has helped him build a reputation for transforming golfers through a science-backed and data-driven approach. 

Nick joins #OntheMark to illustrate some game improvement insights from his new book, "Making the Turn.":

This podcast features golf tips and nuggets that will help you improve your Scoring Shots:

• Deciding who you want to be in golf
• Putting and Checkpoints for a consistent, repeatable and productive Putting Stroke
• Being Reactive vs. Over-thinking
• Chipping and Pitching insights incl. Data for success
• 3 Different Styles for Pitching, and
• Setup and Posture keys for consistent Strikes and Spin Control.

This podcast is also available on YouTube - search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

Tyler Coonts is one of the leading young instructors in the game, and most certainly a leading "Online" golf instructor via Skillest.  Based in Las Vegas and mentored by George Gankas and Jeff Smith, Tyler preaches "Rotation" but joins the #OntheMark podcast to talk about Shallowing the Golf Club and how to do it correctly.

He talks about the following topics pertaining to the downswing and how the club should move:

• What is Shallowing the Club
• How does the Club Shallow
• What needs to Happen for the Club to Shallow
• What is the Correct Amount of Shallowing
• Playing Above, and Below the "Plane"
• Backswing vs Impact Work and Focus
• Overtake Rate and "Flipping" and
• Rotation and the Appropriate Side Tilts for success.

Tyler also illustrates how great ball-strikers shallow the club in the downswing.  Champions like:  Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Viktor Hovland.

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube.  Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.