In this episode of On The Mark, Mark Immelman welcomes back Will Stubbs from Zen Green Stage / Zen Swing Stage for a conversation that hits a major truth about modern golf: the game doesn't have an attraction problem—it has a retention problem. Golf participation has surged, but most new players don't stick—largely because golf is hard, practice isn't realistic, and learning infrastructure hasn't kept up with access.

Will breaks down the "practice gap"—why sterile range/simulator reps don't translate to the real golf course where slopes, lies, turf conditions, and wind change everything. Then he shares actionable ways to improve faster: build situational awareness, train on uneven lies, and learn to read greens using a simple clock-face method that teaches you to see gravity like a blueprint.

In This Episode, You'll Discover:

1. Why golf has a retention problem (not an attraction problem)
2. The stat that should shock everyone: only ~25–27% become "committed golfers"
3. Why most beginners never get lessons (and how golf learning hasn't scaled)
4. The "practice gap": why simulator/range practice can be misleading
5. Why slopes (not length) are a course's greatest defense
6. A simple putting read framework: Zero-grade line + clock face
7. How Zen Green Stage helps golfers train compound breaks and real-world pace/reads
8. How Zen Swing Stage recreates your lie instantly after each shot in sim play
9. Why better practice turns fear into confidence (tension comes from doubt), and
10. Where to find Zen + resources.

Key Takeaways

• Access has exploded, learning hasn't. More people try golf, but most don't become committed players.
• Information ≠ understanding. Data is everywhere, but experience is what teaches.
• Practice should look like golf. If you only train flat lies, the course will expose you.
• Read greens by finding gravity first. The clock-face method simplifies the entire problem.
• Better puzzle-solvers score better. Golf is problem solving—practice needs variety and constraints.
• This podcast is also available to watch on YouTube. Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

In this episode of On The Mark, Mark Immelman welcomes Carolin Pinegger (Austrian national team alum, UCF golfer, former LPGA/Symetra player, and now coach + social media star). Carolin shares what it was like competing on Big Break: Myrtle Beach—five weeks isolated, long production days, constant cameras—and why that experience made competitive golf feel easy by comparison.

From there, the episode becomes a masterclass on what really wrecks swings: Tension, driven by brain "traffic." Carolin explains how to train your brain like a muscle, use breathing to shift from "red" (overstimulated) back to "green," and build dependable systems that hold up under pressure.

Then she delivers a set of at-home drills (no range required) to improve grip, sequencing, pressure shift, and putting start line—using everyday items like a hammer, mirror, towels, and books.

In This Episode, You'll Discover:

• What Big Break pressure is really like (cameras, no phones, 3 hours sleep)
• Why tension happens — and how the brain's "traffic" affects your body
• The mindset truth: You don't rise to standards — you fall to systems
• How to move from "red" to "green" using belly breathing, and
• Why at-home motion training works (less "hit ball" mode, more learning.)

Carolin also share 5 Game Improvement drills you can do at home:

Drill #1: Hammer & Hinge (fix grip + wrist set, stop early elbow fold)

Drill #2: Backswing Sequence (Mirror) (hinge → arms → shoulders → hips)

Drill #3: Mirror Depth Check (hands near heels; match top position to your shot shape)

Drill #4: Flow / Pressure Shift (towels under feet for rhythm + movement)

Drill #5: Book Putting Gate (start-line training + "through" mindset.)

Key Takeaways:

1. Your brain is trainable. Treat it like a muscle and build routines that lower "traffic."
2. Pressure kills feel. Systems hold up when nerves show up.
3. Grip + wrist function matter. Many swing issues start with the trail hand and early elbow fold.
4. Sequence starts in the backswing. Build separation in the backswing, then keep moving through.
5. Putting begins with start line. You can't make it if you can't start it on your intended line.

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube. In fact it is recommendable to watch it so you can learn exactly how to do the drills. Search and subscribe to Mark Immelman.

In this episode of On The Mark, host Mark Immelman is joined by David Bertoli (aka "Davide") for a deep, visual-first breakdown of how the golf swing actually works in 3D—not as frozen "positions," but as moving phases driven by what the body is doing internally.

David shares how his team built a 3D system that reveals the skeleton, muscles, and fascia in motion—so golfers and coaches can stop chasing a Rory/McIlroy "look" and start optimizing their movement pattern.

A major focus is David's framework: the Six Phases of the Golf Swing, built around Center of Mass (COM) movement + Anatomy Trains / fascia chains. They explore why the pelvis is the engine, how COM moves (horizontally and vertically), why maximum unweighting matters for speed, and how "carefree" phase-based movement beats "careful" position-chasing every time.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

1. ✅ Why 3D changes everything: stop studying the club "outside," start understanding the body "inside"
2. ✅ The difference between positions vs phases (and why a golf swing is a "moving sculpture")
3. ✅ What Center of Mass actually is, where it sits, and why the pelvis is so tied to it
4. ✅ How COM moves in an "almost infinity-sign" pattern (and why it anticipates the club)
5. ✅ Why elite players get lower than address in transition (and how that fuels speed)
6. ✅ What fascia is (and why the body is a "full web") + how anatomy chains store/release energy
7. ✅ The Six Phases: from address → shaft parallel → pelvis rotation → top → max unweighting → impact → hands chest-high
8. ✅ A huge myth at impact: why you should not try to open shoulders as much as the ribcage, and
9. ✅ The "eccentric load" trio: core stretch, lead-shoulder stretch, lead-wrist stretch (and why thoracic rotation matters.)

Key Takeaways

• Stop copying positions. Many great swings look different—but the best swings move through similar phases.
• Pelvis movement predicts swing quality. If the pelvis (and COM) moves well, the rest organizes more naturally.
• Speed requires going down before going up. The best players drop lower than address, then push up fast into impact.
• Fascia matters. Efficient golf is stored energy → redirected forces → released energy, not "hit the ball harder."
• Carefree beats careful. When golfers chase positions, they get tense; when they move through phases, they flow.

After you have listened to this podcast, go to YouTube, search and subscribe to Mark Immelman and watch the show to see David's graphics and presentation of his golfswing research and how his "Phases of the Swing" work.