Mike Malaska introduces Garrett Richards for a Player Lesson and Sports Connect at Ocotillo Golf Course. Garrett, a retired MLB pitcher, previously played for the Boston Red Sox and, most recently, the Texas Rangers.

Mike talks about how he had always wanted to play baseball as a kid, and he pitched until college. He loved the hand-eye coordination of the sport.

Mike explains that he will look at Garrett's swing and relate that to pitching. Baseball players have great hand-eye coordination when they are hitting and throwing a ball. They already have the perfect golf swing.

There is a misconception that baseball and golf are different; however, they have the same body movement patterns. You hit the ball on a different plane and at a different spot, but the swings are very similar.

Garrett says that his misses are usually an over-draw to the left, and he struggles with pitch shots inside of 100 yards. He is more comfortable with 150 yards. Garrett says he tends to overthink tight lies with his wedges and catches the ball thin or fat.

Garrett says he is looking for a mindset, a comfortable feeling, or a weight shift that will find the clubface more often.

Mike asks Garrett how often he plays a week. He says that he uses a simulator at home and that he is a member of Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, AZ. He doesn’t get out as much as he would like because of kid’s activities, but usually, it’s once or twice a week.

Garrett usually warms up with a pitching wedge to loosen up. Mike watches Garrett hit a few shots to assess his swing.

Mike comments that Garrett has a nice motion, which he expected, having been a professional athlete. Mike says that he watched Garrett pitch, and Garrett explains that he was a cross-body pitcher. Mike says there are a lot of things that are similar in pitching and golf, specifically how quickly you open up. In golf, if your shoulders open up too fast, you are dead, and the same is true when you are pitching.

Mike explains that in golf, instead of throwing a pitch out in front of you, you have a ball on the ground, and the pitch is down there. You must rotate and stay rotated until you plant your feet. There are many similarities.

Mike says he will fix Garrett’s swing fast. He wants to work on a fundamental concept in golf that Garrett is weak on. Mike elaborates that he is fighting all his natural instincts for one particular motion. Once Garrett understands this, he will get significantly better.

Mike asked Garrett what type of pitch he liked the best: a fastball or a curveball. Garrett liked his slider better because he had more control over it. Based on this, Mike says he will show Garrett why he hooks the ball. Mike continues to explain that Garrett controls the type of pitch with his fingers on the ball. When you play golf, you can also control the clubface with your fingers.

That is how Mike does it because Mike used to be a pitcher. Mike controls the clubface by pressuring it with his fingers to hit a draw or fade and hit it straight, just like a pitcher does with a baseball. You curve and spin the golf ball the same way you do with a baseball. The clubface becomes an extension of your hands.

Mike takes Garrett’s hand and fingers and shows him how to manipulate his fingers to hit different shots, which is similar to pitching. Mike tells Garrett that he is so good at putting spin on a ball that he should be good at it with golf.

Garrett hits a ball, and Mike says that Garrett is going to improve easily.