Bob Toski

The Mighty Mouse
Bob Toski.

Old school? no way!

illustrated by Bill Knowles

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of Kevin Battersby PGA, I was able to gain access to the legendary Bob Toski and put together this new section. The thoughts and wisdom of the teaching Hall of famer will accompany swing film, photography and art.
Hope you enjoy it all.

Robert Algustoski

(1926 - )

Toski at 40

00:53

Play Video

Toski at 80

00:00

Play Video

Toski at 90

00:09

Play Video

The three swings from different eras are perfect examples of the Toski longevity.

The first video is of Toski over 50 years ago while still making rare Tour appearances. In the second video, Bob Toski is in his seventies demonstrating great swing speed and flexibility. The last video is Toski at 96 years old and still going strong. What a swing!

The wonderful swing Bob Toski made was based on a natural use of the hands and arms.

He gives much credit to his brother for his short game skills, and tells how he was forced to learn the short game first when only five years old. Even today Bob feels that it is a relevant way of teaching, as the short game connects the beginner with the target from the beginning.

Judy Rankin's lesson
with Bob Toski.

When Bob Toski starts talking about his past pupils and tells stories from his diary and scrapbook it is brimming with accounts of how he helped many great tour players and amateurs who competed over the last four decades of the former century. One pupil/teacher story that stands out is how Bob helped a struggling Judy Rankin realise her talents and become one of the greatest legends the womens game has ever seen.

In 1964 the struggling Judy Rankin was sent to Bob Toski by the famous golf agent Mark McCormack. Already tired of the poor effects instructers had on her, Judy was very cautious of yet another teacher who would say the same things she knew would not work for her. Yet she was also aware that she had been given the choice of going to Toski or being dropped from the list of top clients that McCormack managed at the time.

From the beginning Bob knew he had to treat his pupil with great care. The fact was that not one teacher could look beyond Judy's grip as the cause of her woes. Ultra-strong (twisted excessively to the right) meant the rest of Judy`s swing was in a fight to keep the clubface from closing.

Bob's creative talents coupled with long experience helped him to search for a solution rather than penalize Judy Rankin for her long established habit. Bob tells the story of his first meeting with Judy:

"I said. 'Do you have any thoughts about a grip change?'
She said 'No, and if you try to change my grip I am going home on the next plane.'
So I [...] went and found the superintendent. I told him,'put the flag on the right hand corner of the green over the bunker.' Judy could get to it but she wouldn't hold the green because she's gotta cut the ball against the crosswind."

"So we go out, she hits a drive on that hole to the middle of the fairway and I asked, 'Judy what kind of shot are you going to play?' She says, 'The only shot I have is a hook, or a draw.' So she hits a hook, it lands on the green and rolls off. So I said, 'That's the wrong shot. I am going to teach you how to cut the ball with the same grip.'"

Rankin would later say that was when she knew she could trust Toski and it was the beginning of a great learning process. The process Bob used was straightforward and effective.

"'Put your hands on the the club' I said and I put my hand right over her hand. 'Let me control your hands.' So we swung it back - we didn't hit any golf balls - and when we got to the bottom of the swing I pulled her hand dead left. When you pull your hand left at impact the ball goes right because the clubface opens up."

"Once I make contact and go left, the ball will start left of line and fade away from the target. The thumb comes sideways. We had a whole bag of balls and she's out there for an hour" he said, recalling how she hit one approach after another to that same 11th hole."

"Within an hour she's got the ball curving right. When you make changes like that, you shank, you hit, push fades. The ball flight control is not going to be what you think; that would be a miracle. Going from a duck hook to a nice little fade, it doesn`t happen that way. But after an hour she`s got the ball fading in to the target."

The process had begun.

A unique partnership; Kevin Boyd Battersby and Bob Toski have enjoyed 50 years of working together. Kevin could not have a better mentor as The Hall Of Fame teacher.