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Click Here to Download the United States Deaf Golf Camps Media Package for 2007

Gary Van Sickle of Sports Illustrated covered the camp in Pittsburgh.

Here is his report:

• Rob Strano is making a difference. Strano, who struggled to play Tour golf for 15 years, is the lead instructor for the United States Deaf Golf Camps. He is hosting 18 camps for deaf children this year (25 are planned for 2007) and is believed to be the only pro who teaches completely in sign language. He founded the camps in 2004 and has expanded rapidly. I watched Strano teach last week in a camp at Edgewood Country Club in Pittsburgh and he is amazing.

The two things most impressive about the camps are Strano's ability to communicate and entertain while signing (and also the rapt attention he gets from his students) and the ingenious accelerated golf learning program he has devised. One surprising and obvious truth I noticed was, deaf children are tremendous learners. Strano started the session at Edgewood with seven high-school age students and, after barely an hour, had them swinging oversized golf clubs at tennis-ball sized golf balls with remarkable success."Deaf kids focus," Strano said. "They know if they don't watch, they'll miss it. They're much more focused. Hearing kids will go off and daydream on you. They know that if they miss it, you'll repeat it for them. Deaf kids know that once you sign it, it's gone."

Strano starts his camp with a brief exhibition, hitting a few shots and having the students focus on different parts of his swing. To make his point about swinging the club through the ball, he has them watch for the divot on one swing. You want to see focus? You should see seven students crowded around him, crouched down and staring intently at the ground when he swings next, not even turning their heads to follow the ball.
There's an introduction to the golf grip, quick and easy. Strano picks out one student, puts his index finger in the student's palm and has the student wrap her hand around his finger. Strano easily slides his finger out. Then he tries again, this time putting his finger across the the student's finger joints. When the student wraps her palm around his finger now, he struggles mightily but can't pull his finger out. Strano also has what he calls the Circle of Six -- photos posted on six lanyards in a circle, each one an image of a different portion of the golf swing (setup, backswing, etc.). He has the students take a club, stand in front of each photo, study it and then try to imitate it."These kids learn visually so really, I'm using the Phil Mickelson method -- he learned from watching his dad and mirroring his swing," Strano said. "That's why these kids pick it up so fast."

Strano uses two other training devices to help the students advance although on this day, their time on them is abbreviated. One is the LeaderBoard, endorsed by Stuart Appleby. It's a device the student stands on. One piece of it slides so the student can learn lower body stability and overcome the beginner's tendency to lift up the left foot.
The other is Smart Path, a training device that is particularly useful for beginners. It's a rectangular base that sits on the ground with a small piece of artificial turf in the middle and a tee. It is inscribed with lines that form an arc-path of a golf swing. On either side of the arc are super-sized rubber golf tees (you know, the kind you see on a public driving range mat). They're colored and they're angled and they create a tunnel. The challenge is to swing the club on the correct path to hit the ball. If the student doesn't swing correctly, the clubhead makes contact with some of the angled rubber tees, messing up the shot."It's a wonderful aid," Strano said. "The thing about it that's great is that is allows these kids to get the path of the golf swing. It's a more visual component and it's so colorful. It really gets the message across."

Strano's express golf-learning camp is effective and impressive. And while I'm there, he gets a predictable question. "Can you beat Tiger Woods?" asks one deaf girl wearing a cheerleading jacket. Strano laughs, shakes his head and signs, No."I get asked that every time," he said.

The 2006 Memorial Tournament with good friend Kevin Hall.

ESPN caught the two of them discussing putting secrets on the practice green...

To watch the clip from the Memorial Click Here

Photo from Kevin Hall Press Conference - Wednesday

Photo from Front Page of Columbus Newspaper - Thursday