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Bradley Clayton is
classified as a PGA of America Master Teaching Professional.
He teaches out of The Golf Zone Learning Center in Oxford, North
Carolina and in Raleigh, North Carolina. With over twenty
years of teaching experience {fourteen of which were full time}, he
has instructed in Germany, Austria, Florida, South Carolina, North
Carolina, and Virginia. His playing career led him to compete
with moderate success throughout the United States, Europe, and in
Canada. After the birth of his first child, Nickolas, and
later his second, Winona, he decided that being on the road was not
quite what it once was. As a result, he decided to dedicate
his time to his family, helping others improve their golf games, and
to the pursuit of becoming the most efficient teacher
possible.
Bradley strives each day to improve himself as a teacher,
through constant reading, writing, video viewing, swing analyzing,
seminars, and peer interaction, realizing long ago that one can not
ever know it all and there is always something new to learn.
He takes the results his students achieve personally, feeling their
highs and lows and has a genuine interest in their success.
Throughout
Brad's career, he has had the great fortune of learning
directly from some of the games great golf professionals: Al Nelson,
Naples Florida; Wimpy Caldwell, deceased; Ed Ibarguen, Durham, North
Carolina; Volker Knornsheld, Tegernsee, Germany; David Leadbetter,
Orlando Florida; Bill Lytton, Pinehurst, North Carolina; Bill
Strausbaugh, deceased, and Dick Tiddy, deceased. There
have been many others, professional and amateur alike, who have
influenced him throughout the years. To name them all
would almost be impossible, but he is forever grateful for the
time with each person.
Brad
has four components he goes by to help students become the best they
can be. They are: swing mechanics, the mental side of the game
{including course management}, physical abilities and limitations,
and the equipment used. When any of the four components
is lacking, a person can not reach his/her optimal performance
level. Brad refers his students to David Bass at Hillandale
Golf Club for club fitting and purchasing needs and handles the
other three components on his own.
Brads'
swing model and philosophy revolve around the simplicity of
basic fundamentals and adapting them to each individual student's
physical abilities and mental desires. Learning to efficiently
and consistently set up to the ball, understanding how the
word balance applies in many ways to a golf swing and the
game, understanding cause and effect, and understanding why the
ball does what it does are the basis of Brads' model and
philosophy. Hitting solid, straight, and long golf shots is
not as difficult as most people make it. He says, "Once
a person understands a few simple ideas they are
amazed at what they are capable of." Hence two of his favorite
quotes:
"The
average golfer's problem is not so much a lack of ability as it is a
lack of knowledge about what he should be doing." - Ben
Hogan
And
"If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what
you always got." Verne Hill
Call
Bradley Today at 919 691
2330 | 
