"Its brilliance is its simplicity"

The Roland Stafford teaching method was created by the school’s namesake Roland Stafford, to simplify the learning process of this perplexing game. Roland was able to reduce the golf swing into just four basic elements in which all swing errors can be classified. The brilliance of its simplicity makes it easy for students to understand, which in turn breeds confidence and allows them their best game on the golf course. Proven and demonstrated over time, this method works for golfers at all levels of abilities. As an educator with a Master’s Degree in Music Education, Roland’s musical talents and golf abilities together culminated in his success as a player, and evolved into his golf instruction methodology that has been benefiting students of the game for over twenty six years. As you might assume, rhythm and tempo are critical elements of his teaching methodology.

FIRST: You must have the proper grip if you are to reach your potential.
Left Hand: The club should be placed across the bottom of the fingers. When you close your fingers and thumb on the club, make sure the bottom of your index finger and thumb is pointing at your right eye. You will notice when you close your fingers on the club that the club moves slightly across the palm.

Right Hand: The club should be placed in the fingers of the right hand. Make sure the heel of the right hand covers the thumb of the left. Try not to hold the club too tightly. See Movie

SECOND: The head, shoulders, hips and knees should be as level as possible at address and throughout the swing. The ball being on the ground and your right hand being lower on the club automatically tilts your shoulders. Do not exaggerate this tilt. The hands are positioned over the ball at address. See Movie

THIRD: The feeling is the arms and body working together- connection. The elbows stay together and in front of your body throughout the swing. About waist high in the backswing the right arm will hinge. If you keep your elbows together through the hitting area, the left arm will rotate, the right arm will extend and cross the left producing the crossover. This is the power.
See Movie

FOURTH: Tempo- “a characteristic rate of activity”. For our purposes, tempo is the length of time it takes to make a swing from start to finish. Speed is how fast the club swings. You must have a smooth, rhythmic tempo to get the most out of your swing. Not fast, not slow, but smooth and rhythmic. Try to swing all your clubs with the same tempo. The speed of the club is dictated by the length of the club and should not be your concern. The same tempo is your concern. See Movie

A Note To Left-Handers: Although we illustrate for right-handers does not mean we have forgotten about you. We know you are use to mirroring everything you read and understand that it is impractical to describe everything both ways. We do want to point out that if you are a naturally left-handed person, you should play golf left-handed.