Arnold Palmer and the Dreamswing golf training aid
In August of 1996 I attended the Franklin Quest Senior PGA Tour event in Park City Utah. My intent by attending was to renew my acquaintance with Jim Albus who endorsed the Dream Swing on an infomercial we filmed at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens Florida and Bruce Crampton who was experiencing dramatic game improvement after learning the Dream Swing. I was able to speak with Arnold Palmer and persuade him to get into the Dream Swing.
I had watched him hitting balls on the range and knew where he set his club at the top of his back swing. I set the height of the Dream Swing to guide me into the position I had seen him swing into. He came to where I was setup on the range and I put his club in the Dream Swing and he began to take full swing. It was truly beautiful to watch his swing while in the Dream Swing. It was perfect. He put a ball down and hit it while connected into the Dream Swing. The ball flew perfect. He put another ball down and just like before hit a perfect shot, long and straight. He stepped back few feet from the trainer and I said, Now I’m going to let you feel how this trains you. I took his club out and handed it to him and he took a swing. As he finished the swing he got this expression on his face like he had just seen a ghost. His mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide open. He looked at another Tour Player there with him and said.”Sh##, have you felt how this trains you” I stepped to him and said, “We could sell one of these to every serious golfer out there. Would you be on a one minute commercial we could run on The Golf Channel. Arnold said, “I don’t know about that but, I need to keep swinging this. Do you have one you can send with me?” I said I did and met Arnold about 20 minute later in the parking lot where we spoke for a few minutes and he took the Dream Swing and left. I returned home and the following Monday the Golf Instructor at Arnold’s course in LatrobePennsylvania called me and said, “Arnold just handed me your swing trainer, how do you use it.” I told him over the phone how to set it up and gave him specific instructions to set the height of the stand so it was guiding Mr. Palmer into the position he is normally in at the top of his swing.
I told the Instructor the worst thing he could do was change Arnold’s position at the top of his backswing. I wasn’t able to get back to Arnold to see how he was doing with the Dream Swing the rest of that summer. The following January just following Arnold’s Prostrate Surgery while in Orlando at the PGA Merchandise Show I was demonstrating the Dream Swing and a man who’s name tag said Arnold Palmer Golf Company came to my booth. I told him about Arnold experience with the Dream Swing out in Utah and told him I would be happy to set one up in Arnold’s exercise that he could swing during his recovery. The man said he would relay the message to Arnold. I gave him my contact information and he left. That night when I returned to my hotel room there was a message from Arnold’s office. It said, “Arnold won’t be swinging a club until the end of April or the first of May. Contact him back then.” I did this and while on a business trip to Orlandoin May I drove to Bay Hill and waited for Arnold to finish a business meeting before going with him t o the back range at Bay Hill to set him back into the Dream Swing.
I set it up and he began swinging The Dream Swing. He swung several swing and a person there with him said, “Arnold, what do you think of this.” Arnold then said, “this forces me to swing the way I’m supposed to swing. I’ve always had this problem of blocking my follow through and this forces me to extend out and finish with my hands up where there supposed to be.” The fellow then asked, “how do you know where to set it?” Arnold then said, “yah, how do you know where to set it? I swung it fine with you out in Utah and took it back to Latrobe and after swinging it I couldn’t hit the ball.” I had him step to the stand and he could see that the height was adjusted to the level of his nose for the 5 iron he that was in the Dream Swing. I told him there would be a different adjustment for each club but that he needed to set it so it felt good. He would know where the best spot for him was by how it felt.
The following year I was back at Park City and was able to speak with Mr. Palmer. I asked him how the Dream Swing was working for him and he said, It works great when I have time to swing it. Several months after my visit with Arnold at Bay Hill I was showing it to a golf editor and commented that I had set Arnold into it and left one with him. He said, “Right now, Arnold Palmer is swinging the most technically correct golf swing he has swung in his life.” I guarantee that YOU will experience a dramatic improvement when you start using the Dream Swing.
