In this episode of On The Mark, host Mark Immelman is joined by South African golf instructor Rick Currin, who teaches in Malaysia and specializes in making golf simpler, more playable, and easier to improve.

Rick brings a biomechanics and sports science background to his coaching, but his message is refreshingly practical: stop overcomplicating the game, manage the course smarter, and build a swing and short game that help you avoid big numbers.

Mark and Rick walk through a "mini boot camp" for your whole game—course management, driver setup, iron play, pitching, bunker shots, lag putting, and short putts—with one clear goal: help golfers score better by making better decisions and executing simpler shots.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

✅ Why avoiding double bogeys is one of the fastest ways to lower scores

✅ How to manage a golf course by playing to your strengths—not your ego

✅ Why "boring golf" can be the smartest path to better scores

✅ How better posture and setup can help you drive the ball more consistently

✅ Why irons should be treated like precision clubs, not power clubs

✅ A simple pitching key: narrow stance, toe down, rhythm, and less tension

✅ The bunker-shot mindset: speed and trust

✅ Why lag putting is an overlooked scoring skill—and how to practice it better, and

✅ How to improve short putts with a simple, repeatable routine.

Key Themes:

• Golf Made Simple - Rick's coaching philosophy is built around cutting through overload. Instead of chasing every tip, golfers need simple, repeatable ideas they can actually use on the course.
• Course Management Saves Shots - You do not always need driver off the tee. Sometimes a 6-iron in play, followed by another smart shot, creates a better scoring opportunity than forcing driver into trouble.
• Discipline Starts Before the Swing - Rick emphasizes discipline in the pre-shot routine and decision-making. Poor choices often begin before the club ever moves.
• Athletic Setup Matters - Better driving starts with posture, balance, and body readiness. Rick explains how rounded posture and tension can limit rotation and make it harder to square the face.
• Precision Over Power With irons and wedges - Rick encourages golfers to take an extra club, make a controlled swing, and focus on solid contact and dispersion—not maximum distance.
• Short Game Variety Wins - You do not always have to fly the ball to the hole. Rick prefers using the contours of the course, bump-and-run options, and different clubs around the green when the shot allows it.

This podcast is also available as a vodcast on YouTube - search and subscribe to Mark Immelman to watch it.

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.