Interview with Gerry Coleman about his rehabilitation post-surgery:
1. Tell us about the operation.
It just an operation I had to give my father the kidney because he was having some kidney problems. I was just in the hospital for a couple of days but I was out of work for several weeks. And I could not pick up a golf club for 10 weeks, which is 2 months, per doctor’s orders. Obviously, with any major organ donation you can’t really twist and turn very much.
2. What did George introduce to you when he first found out about you having the operation?
Actually when I told him, I was upset. I was disappointed because I had worked with him for 5 months and I was upset because after putting that work in, it was all going to be lost because I couldn’t play for 2 months. So basically when I came to him about it, I was upset but he was actually excited. He told me right off the gate that this 2 and a half months off would probably do wonders for my game. Of course I didn’t believe him but just because I’m stubborn but he introduced to me a CD of some players and some old CDs of myself (of my previous swing) and told me what to work on and told me just to watch those while I was in the hospital. And I did.
3. How did you react initially to what George had to suggest about your time away from golf and your recovery?
I thought it just him trying to cheer me up kind of, and to not be disappointed about it. My initial reaction was “whatever, ok” but sure enough he was totally right.
4. How was your golf game before having the operation?
I started seeing George in November, but the summer before I came to see him I was actually playing really well, not as well as I am now, but I was playing at about a 15 handicap. When I started seeing him in November, it just went to hell. My game was terrible I just couldn’t do anything but he just tried to convince me that I was going through training and it was going to be bad but to just be patient with it Then I got to the principles that he set forth in front of me and once he did that and I actually took it to heart, and just said “OK I tried everything else, I put my hands to George with my golf” and now I’m playing wonderful!
5. Describe your daily training program and please include some of the exercises.
The only thing I’ve done is stand on the wall with my butt on the wall and do a little thing he taught me against the wall, a little chair drill. It keeps my posture and I just watch the mirror and make sure my hands drop down before my head turns around. Just do that, look at the mirror, and that’s all. I just do that 20-30 times a day and sometimes I’ll miss a day but I do stick to it; it is part of my routine. Not only could I not play golf [after surgery] but I couldn’t lift anything over 10 lbs. so that’s all I could do were those wall drills. That was something that he had introduced to me in November but I just never really did them. Well, I did them but I didn’t concentrate on them. But now I realize if I could do this and get better and I don’t have to go hit balls for 2 hrs in the sun, I’m concentrating on this.
6. How did it feel to break your personal record? Describe in detail.
It felt great. It felt great but then I was mad because I missed a lot of putts and I thought that the 77 should have been a 74 or 73 but I was very, very happy. [I was] stunned and shocked. I wouldn’t say stunned or shocked because I knew I had the ability to be a single digit handicap, I just need somebody to bring it out of me and have that mindset and that’s what George has done for me. I know I have the talent to do it, it’s just he’s doing a good job of working with me and knowing how I think.
7. Is there anything else you would like to add?
The only thing I’d like to add is: I think the big, important thing not only was my training routine while I was in surgery, but it was that highlight reel he has done for me. He has me go down and put down the best hole or best shot that I’m about to hit and think about what hole and how I hit it before. And when I do that, then that’s all I think about on the course. It makes the golf so much easier because I know if I pull out my 3-iron, I just think of a 3-iron I’ve hit in the past, and I’ve got it written down so I know I can hit the shot. I know I can do it but then if I don’t do it, I just say “oh well, bad shot,” but the thing about it is that it blocks everything else from my head. I just picture that shot and then just go hit it; just be an athlete.