GOLF INSTRUCTION IN THE COMPUTER AGE

Golf clubs are made of titanium, and balls are designed by rocket scientists. The only thing low-tech about golf anymore is the pro, sitting in a chair while critiquing your backswing. That is changing.

The future of golf instruction lies in equipment like his computerized swing analyzer with instantaneous video playback, says Mike Uhls, owner of the Heartland Golf Academy in Cape Girardeau.

"You can get a real step forward," he said. "It can show them the difference between what Tiger Woods does and what they do. That's powerful."

A golf pro can tell you what you're doing wrong, but seeing it is crucial, Uhls says.

"You've got to see it," he said. "Without video, I don't know how you teach golf."

Uhls and the teachers put golfers and their swings before video cameras. When the ball is hit, an impact sensor triggers the computer to capture a video clip of the swing. The video can be shot from behind the golfer or from a 90-degree angle. The teacher can then play back the swing, using slow motion and stop action and create lines on the screen to analyze the golfer's posture and swing path. The screen also can be split so both rear and side views can be seen at the same time.

The golfer's swing then can be saved on the computer's hard drive so it can be compared to a former swing, a future swing or even to the swing of another golfer like Tiger Woods.

This is state-of-the-art video analysis.

The Heartland Golf Academy is adjacent to Arena Park Golf at 2901 Hawthorne. It is separated from the driving range by a privacy fence to reduce distractions when people are trying to learn something.

The analysis is done indoors during the winter and moves outdoors when the weather warms. Mike Long, Larry McKinney and Harry Guth, all well-known to local golfers, teach with Uhls.

People come from all over Southeast Missouri for lessons. The cost is $70 an hour, which includes video analysis. A shorter lesson without video analysis costs less.

Uhls' father, the late Joe Uhls, coached the Southeast baseball team and was the Indians' assistant basketball coach for many years under Charles Parsley.

"I've got teaching or coaching in my blood," he says. "From the time I was 4 years old I've been going to baseball and basketball practices."

The younger Uhls played baseball and basketball at Central High School, but baseball coach Dale Meyer always knew where his first baseman was going when practice was over: To the golf course.

"He hated that," Uhls says.

Uhls played golf not baseball for Southeast. "He wasn't going to pressure me to play for him," Uhls said of his father. "He wasn't like that."

When Uhls started playing golf in the late 1960s, the sport was not popular with teen-agers. As a 13-year-old hanging out at the Jaycee Golf Course, his mentors were Bob McBride and Charley Weber. McBride was, and still is, one of the top players around. At that time, Weber owned the golf course.

Uhls caddied for McBride when he wasn't playing himself. "I used to walk 54 holes a day," he says.

He loved golf because he didn't have to have a team to play.

"It was just me," he said. "I didn't have to rely on anybody else. If I didn't do well, I couldn't blame it on another teammate."

He loves to see kids coming in for lessons.

"A kid of 13 is like a sponge," Uhls says. "They learn so fast."

His dream is to teach a champion.

"It would be good to have some kid come through here and get to the show," he says.

Uhls received a teaching degree from Southeast but worked in sales and the financial world before he and his wife, Dr. Ann Uhls, moved back to Cape Girardeau from Kansas City in 1996. He opened the golf academy last fall. They have two children, Joey, 10, and 21-month-old Lauren. Joey just got his first full set of golf clubs.

Uhls is certified as a teacher by the U.S. Golf Teachers Association. Later this year he plans to get his master's certification.

He dislikes opinion-based golf instruction, which is what most golfers get. The video takes opinion out of the equation.

Golf is a difficult sport but less mysterious when you can see what you're trying to do, he said.

"It's not like it's some big secret," he said. "You've just got to teach people to do certain things."