A6 • December 6, 2013 • PALM CITY & TESORO • YOUR VOICE NEWS & VIEWS
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Local golf pro recognized nationally Shelley Koppel Staff writer
skoppel@YourVoiceWeekly.com
PALM CITY – Mike Malizia, director of golf instruction at Harbour Ridge Yacht and Country Club, knows golf from different perspectives. As a PGA and nationwide tour player, he played in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. As an instructor, he has worked with tour professionals and amateur golfers. This year, he was named one of Florida’s 50 Best teachers by Golf Digest magazine. The Palm City resident has been playing golf on the Treasure Coast for years. He was on the golf team at Martin County High School, from which he graduated in 1988. “It was the only year we won State,” he said. “After high school, I turned professional and toured for 16 years.” While Malizia loved playing golf, it was always the game itself that intrigued him. “I always had a passion for why things happened in the game,” he said. “I wanted to dissect the swing. To be a really good player, you need good mechanics. That’s how I help all my students, taking something complex and making it simple. We always say you can’t be the coach and the student.”
Malizia works with 11 active tour pros and many non-professionals. He is particularly interested in the biomechanics of each student. He is a Titleist Performance Institute Level 2 Certified Instructor and has Bio Golf Swing Dynamics certification, as well. “The TPI certification is about how the body works with muscles,” Malizia said. “I can run you through a series of tests and tell you what your limitations are with muscle mobility and stability. The Bio Golf certification deals with skeletal issues. Based on skeletal measurements and body structure, we can tell how the body will move and how the joints work. “These are absolutes. If the arm is a certain length, we can’t make it longer. It helps them understand how they should swing the clubs. There is no right way or wrong way to swing. It’s the way your body is designed to be most efficient. If someone is tight in the hip flexors, we can put the body in a position to increase mobility.” Malizia said that he brings his tour students a special view of the game. “I’m coaching them on a road I’ve walked down,” he said. “I know the mental stuff as well as the physical stuff. Not too many former players are instructors. Someone said that to be success-
ful as an athlete, you have to be selfish, and that as an instructor, you have to be giving. I like to help people find a better way to solve a problem. That’s why I teach. When you’re in the stardom business, you have to be selfish, because everyone wants something.” Malizia sits on the board of the Toastmasters group in Stuart, the Talking Heads. He does speaking engagements, but that was not his primary reason for becoming involved. “I really like it,” he said. “I felt that one of the areas I wanted to improve in teaching would be to become an expert communicator.” Malizia has become a sought-after speaker on effective communication skills in golf instruction. Malizia teaches both residents and non-residents at Harbour Ridge. He encourages people to start golf at any age. “If you played sports growing up, you learned the proper way to transfer energy,” he said. “Golf becomes a lot easier. For kids, he said that it has to be introduced properly. “It has to be fun, a game,” he said. “You can’t teach instruction as much as a game. They’ll learn as they go.” For Malizia, Harbour Ridge is the perfect place to be for golf and for his close-knit family. He
MOVIES from page A1
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ing hot dogs and ice cream, the children will get their first bit of law enforcement training. How and when to call 911. And what happens when they do. “We’re going to take them up and show them the dispatch center to take away some of the mystery,” the sheriff said. Snyder said there was a textbook case of good crime prevention that started with a knowledgeable teenager earlier this year. “Recently here in Martin County we had a high schooler call 911 when the pillowcase burglars were at his door,” Snyder said. That was 16-year-old Bryce Miranda, Palm City. On June 25, the Sheriff’s Office caught three suspected pillowcase burglars from Broward County because of the youth’s good observation and quick action. Rather than panicking, or foolishly confronting them, when the bad guys came around, Bryce barricaded himself
Mike Malizia is married to Judy. His brother, Tony, is baseball coach at Port St. Lucie High school, his mother Ann, lives in Palm City, and his sister, Angela, in Port St. Lucie. While he would agree that you can always improve, there’s not much he would change. For information about Mike Malizia and golf instruction, visit the website www.mikemaliziagolfperformance.com. For information about Harbour Ridge Golf and Country Club, visit the website. www.harbourridge. com.
in a room and called 911 with good descriptions of what was happening. Deputies grabbed one of the three burglars at the family’s home. Snyder said “Movie with the Sheriff” has three aims. One is fostering good relationships between law enforcement and children. The next is, of course, is teaching families about how and when children should use the emergency number. Then there’s giving children a spot of fun during the holiday season. Oh, and grants are paying for it. “We have money that comes in that’s not taxpayer money, but it’s earmarked for education,” Snyder said. And Dairy Queen is donating the ice cream. Christine Christofek Weiss, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, said about 125 children and youths attended the first “Movie with the Sheriff.” The event is free. Adults must accompany children.