I have never never ever in 23 years of playing golf seen David Leadbetter hit a golf ball. Does he hit any shots on his videos? To be honest, I've never watched one.
In an older series of videos, Leadbetter hits plenty of golf balls. I have them in a box in my basement somewhere so I will have to dig them up to get the title, but they were made in the 80s or early 90s I believe.
I have one of those tapes, he has a nice swing, but... Bird makes a good point- most instructors don't hit balls on their instruction tapes and many can't play a "Competitive" round of golf. “Competitive" golf puts the swing under pressure where all the technique taught is accountable. Wayne DeFrancesco who writes for “GolfStyles”, once called Washington Monthly and is one of the best non-TGM instructors, has for years wrote that an instructor needs to play competitive golf not only to see if he and his teaching can stand up to the pressure but to also Learn more about golf and the swing to be a better instructor for his students. I laugh at some big names that dare not to swing at a ball on their tapes or shows.
McLean and Butch still swing. Ballard doesn’t even stand near a ball. And of course you have to pry the club away from Lynn or your lesson tee exposes the low, low point plane line forever.
Let's remember that these Leadbetters, Harmons, McLeans, etc. have immense demands on their time. They have devoted their lives to teaching golfers at the highest levels of the game. They have to attend at the very minimum the majors, WGC events, and a few other select big-name tournaments. They often teach on not only the PGA Tour but also the LPGA, Champions, and sometimes European tours. In addition to traveling to and from those events, dealing with their players nagging them, and writing/filming instruction material, they have to make time to teach everyday hacks.
After all of this, I would not expect them to be competitive golfers. They've played all they can play, and now they teach. They literally have close to zero time to tune up their own games, much less play in tournaments. I would expect these big-name instructors to at least have decent swings, but anything above and beyond that just isn't a practical demand of them.
I have played 9 holes with David in 93 and he could play. Not real long of the tee but a good short game. He shot 4 under for 9 holes. I also worked with Jimmy from 91-97 and never played a round with him. He would demo shots in lessons and had a great touch around the green. They all could play at one time. One thing I noticed is there swings did not match their instruction. Interesting?
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