Thanks to all the participants for making 2016 another outstanding year for The First Tee Tri-Cities!
For the second straight year, we exceeded 300 program participants, and reached over 1,000 juniors in the area through a variety of youth golf programs. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2017!
Congrats to our 2016 Award Winners!
George Green: Respect
We are pleased to announce that George has certified Eagle level and is now one of three Ace participants!
Lexi Humbert: Integrity
Abigail Delaney: Responsibility
Caleb Leonard: Perseverance
Zach Fletcher: Confidence
We are pleased to announce that Zach has certified Eagle level and is now one of three Ace participants!
Golf is unlike other sports in that the player can act as his or her own referee. In other sports the players try to get away with rules infractions, and an umpire or referee is required to maintain the rules. This is why Honesty is so important to the fairness of the game. If a player chooses to break the rules without calling a penalty, the Integrity of the sport is compromised. If you think about it, a player who knowingly breaks the rules isn't really playing the game anyway. For similar reasons, The value of Honesty is equally important in school, at home, and in your future career.
PLAYer Fundamentals: Alignment
Perhaps the most underrated fundamental, Alignment can make or break your golf shot before you hit it. Most players struggle with Alignment.
Right-handers tend to line up too far to the right, which leads to a left swing path. This causes slices or pulls, depending on which way the club face is pointed at impact. Though the player feels that they are lined up correctly, this position affects the quality of their swing and becomes a bad habit.
Proper alignment begins with the feet positioned on a parallel line to the target. Notice that the foot line should actually be a little bit to the left. This promotes a "down-the-line" swing that will lead the straighter shots on average. The best way to work on this is to lay a club or alignment stick on the target line, and another one on the foot line.
