Bobby Clampett’s Moment of Truth

The popular player and part-time Steamboat resident’s greatest impact may be as an instructor

Jon Rizzi

Does Jim Furyk’s ball know how funky his swing is? Does Bubba Watson’s or Matt Kuchar’s? Did Lee Trevino’s or Johnny Miller’s? Of course not. “The ball only knows impact,” says Champions Tour player and PGA Tour champion Bobby Clampett. “Every one of these players has a swing style that traditional instructors would never teach, but these players are some of the best ball-strikers ever because their impact positions are almost identical.”

Impact, Clampett says, is “the moment of truth, where the rubber hits the road.” That’s why he created Impact Zone Golf. “It’s a shift in teaching philosophy. Impact is the starting and end point for improving a student’s golf game. It’s not about copying anyone’s swing. It’s about putting yourself in position to make the best possible impact with your swing. It’s like Arnold Palmer says in that commercial: ‘Swing your swing…I did.’”

Clampett swung his swing to a stellar collegiate career at Brigham Young University and then to 17h place on the PGA Tour money list in 1981. But when he decided to take his game to a higher level, the swing style teachers wanted him basically “to start over— and I was dumb enough to believe them.” He soon found himself starting over…as a part-time broadcaster with CBS in 1991—a position he held for 20 years. Watching the world’s best players, as well as playing with amateurs in pro-ams, inspired “an aha moment” that led him to author The Impact Zone in 2007. “It changed my whole way of thinking about the game. There’s a whole process of learning the game from that perspective now.”

What Clampett saw were amateurs trying to emulate the swings of the pros but bottoming out four inches behind the ball, or flicking at it. That led him to develop the five dynamic fundamentals. They are not modeled after any Tour player—“You don’t teach the 5th graders the same thing you’d teach graduate students,” he says—and are designed to produce consistent, solid impact.

The dynamics are 1) a flat left wrist; 2) a swing bottom (divot) four inches in front of the ball; 3) loading the club on the backswing; 4) using a strong workhorse (pivot) to lag the clubhead on the downswing; and 5) maintaining a straight plane line.

Clampett, who has earned more than $1 million since qualifying for the Champions Tour in 2010, says he has invested most of those earnings in spreading the Impact Zone gospel—DVDs, teacher certification training (there are more than 100 certified Impact Zone instructors), marketing and company infrastructure. “This is my attempt to get back to the game and give back to it,” he says.

It’s paying off. In February, he became the first Tour player ever to achieve Advanced Designation as a PGA Certified Professional, having completed the requirements to achieve certification through the advanced PGA Certified Professional Program 2.0 (CPP 2.0). In addition, Clampett also owns a line of wines, Clampett Cellars, and flies his own 1986 Piper Mailbu.

This month, he’ll be piloting it to Steamboat Springs, where he has a home and will be conducting a two-day Impact Zone School at Haymaker Golf Course July 6 and 7 (call 877-243-8718 for more information). Joining him will be Impact Zone instructor and two-time Colorado PGA Western Chapter Teacher of the Year Luke Brosterhous.

“What I like is that Bobby’s system gives people a framework they can understand,” says Brosterhous. “It’s easily conveyable as an instructor. Giving people the effect of what we want to happen at impact, showing them the dynamics of impact and just asking them to let that happen and swing into it, it’s hugely successful from the technical and mental side.”

Swing Sequence

1 Clampett’s address prepares him to be able to swing the club to deliver the club into Dynamic Impact.

2 Loading the club on the backswing (Dynamic #3) sets him up to lag the club on the downswing (Dynamic #4).

3 Clubhead lag (Dynamic #4) on the downswing is the secret to producing Dynamic Impact, leading to longer, more solid and straighter shots and lower scores.

4 Dynamic Impact includes a Flat Left Wrist (Dynamic #1), a Four-Inch-in-Front Swing Bottom (Dynamic #2), and a Straight Plane Line (Dynamic #5).

5 Utilizing a powerful workhorse (pivot) allows him to deliver clubhead lag through impact and results in a stable, high finish.

Visit impactzonegolf.com for more on Bobby Clampett Golf Schools and Impact Zone Golf.

Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com. Jon Rizzi is the founding editor and co-owner of this regional golf-related media company producing magazines, web content, tournaments, events and the Golf Passport.