News

Chamblee and McCord join forces with Tathata Golf

Published

12 years ago

May 23, 2014

Former PGA Tour professionals and current analysts Brandel Chamblee and Gary McCord are throwing their weight behind a new golf training program, Tathata Golf. They’ll begin appearing in ads for the company some time this summer.

And a point of note: the two are unpaid spokespeople.

The program’s creator, Brian Hepler, says Tathata was inspired by elements of martial arts, the best golfers in history and elite athletes.

If this all sounds a tad too specious and New Agey, here’s a breakdown of what Tathata is all about.

The company was founded by the aforementioned Mr. Hepler in 2011 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Its mission is “to help golfers and instructors everywhere become their greatness through unique practices designed to build strength within their golf game as well as their total life.”

As you might expect, a significant part of the Tathata training is mental. Hepler describes this element as “a curriculum, a path, and a truth … to quiet the golfer’s mind.” Reportedly, the program contains elements of neuro-linguistic programming and attempts to move past traditional sports psychology.

Regarding chipping, putting, and the other facets of the game, Hepler says, “We’ve gone through each position of the golf swing … and created a path for the golfer.” This “path” will be accessible to consumers in mid-June when the company rolls out its 60-day in-home training program, which, incidentally, Chamblee and McCord have both gone through.

While we’ll have to wait to see what”becoming your greatness” means in practice, it’s clear that Brandel Chamblee is a believer in the system. As he said:

“I’m not here for the money. I’m here for one thing and one thing only … I believe in what Bryan teaches. I’ve watched the best players in the world, I’ve studied them and there is something missing in the world of instruction today. There are commonalities that the greatest players have had that are being missed … what he is doing is correcting golf instruction”

The company’s Tathata Golf Certified Training Program is intended to help instructors distill complicated swing mechanics in a simple fashion, and thus accelerate learning.

More about the company from their press release:

“Tathata, in its truest sense means “suchness,” a sense of complete understanding and all-knowing. The essence of Tathata and suchness is found deep within the simple understanding of knowing who you are and being trained in such a way that you always have a sense of your greatness building.

Throughout our conversation, Hepler repeatedly brought up the example of holding a hockey stick and hitting a shot, as well as stepping up to a soccer ball to kick it. The young do both with confidence, self-belief, and without a concern about fundamentals and technique.

With Tathata, Hepler seeks a way to play golf that is more in line with the above than, say, the somber, mechanistic grind that is high-level junior golf today.

Beyond benefitting students, with Tathata Hepler hopes to illuminate “a simpler way to play the game. A faster way to play the game” and “a way for us to bring golf instruction together.”

It will be interesting to see who buys in (quite literally) to Hepler’s vision. Clearly Misters Chamblee and McCord do.

Check out Tathata’s website here.

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Ben Alberstadt

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

21 Comments

Stella bryan

Feb 5, 2016 at 12:44 am

I am shocked at your comments. I just completed the Tathata 60 day course and it was the best golf training I have had in the 4 years l have been playing golf. It is disheartening that you all comment in such a negative way about a training program that is not only exceptional in the quality of its presentation, but also in the experiential building of the mechanics of the swing. Shame on those of you who dissed it without putting the time and energy into taking the full program, which is inexpensive compared to regular golf lessons! It is an amazing program and encourages a much more natural way of swinging the club than the normal lessons taught by most PGA professional. I don’t need to knock their techniques, but do know that for many of us that worrying about the angle of our spine being correct, or something equally mechanical, does not yield natural and athletic movements but simply interferes with our ability to swing in a free and simple manner. I am grateful for Tathata training and Brian’s genius in putting it together and would recommend the course to anyone.

Reply Report comment
Brock Landers

May 24, 2014 at 2:57 pm

Does this training aid make me a washed up hack who takes cheap shot after cheap shot at REAL players, on a consistent basis?….oh wait, I am describing Chamblee….nothing could ever make me as good as him. This guy is a DELTA BRAVO and McCord is about as funny as a tumor in your brain. These guys are idiots.

Reply Report comment
- Double Mocha Man
  
  May 24, 2014 at 3:24 pm
  
  Now Brock, McCord is pretty clever/funny… he just needs to force it less often.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Bamicus
  
  May 25, 2014 at 9:52 am
  
  You nailed it Brock!
  
  Reply Report comment
ButtFvck_Chandelier

May 24, 2014 at 1:42 am

How is this idiot still making money from the golf world? Disgraceful.

Reply Report comment
thefullsp

May 23, 2014 at 7:01 pm

Ohhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Just try yoga and believe you’re gonna hole everything. Boom! Job done. PayPal details on request 😉 Namaste

Reply Report comment
RG

May 23, 2014 at 5:08 pm

I don’t know what all the fuss is about. For a perfect golf game all one must do is align their Shakra with the Chi force, insert these in a static warp shell by combining matter and anti-matter in a dylithium crystal matrix. Add two jiggers of vermouth and gin and Voila! Perfection!

Reply Report comment
- 4pillars
  
  May 24, 2014 at 11:31 am
  
  I never realized golf was that simple.
  
  Thanks for your clarity
  
  Reply Report comment
mizzy

May 23, 2014 at 3:03 pm

The website seems to emphasize more on how to become an instructor than how they will help the client with the game. This model reaks of Multi-Level Marketing which will get people to pay to teach the methodology while pushing an inferior product to the end user.

Reply Report comment
- mizzy
  
  May 23, 2014 at 3:04 pm
  
  reeks*
  
  Reply Report comment
Bryan

May 23, 2014 at 2:18 pm

Brandel can’t – until he explains in lengthy detail how Tiger’s swing-plane and head movement won’t allow him to hit driver like he did with his “Butch” swing…additional thoughts and nonsense….diarrhea of the mouth…blah, blah, blah…

Reply Report comment
Tony Lynam

May 23, 2014 at 1:36 pm

I made it to the 2:08 mark of the video and could not take it anymore.

Reply Report comment
4pillars

May 23, 2014 at 1:24 pm

Perhaps Brandel will recommend it to Tiger.

Reply Report comment
DB

May 23, 2014 at 12:25 pm

So McCord endorsing another hippy pseudo scientific company out of Scottsdale?

I can hardly believe it.

Reply Report comment
- The dude
  
  May 23, 2014 at 8:54 pm
  
  Ha!…..nailed it!
  
  Reply Report comment
MFB

May 23, 2014 at 11:32 am

Is there a product that McCord has not made a commercial for ?

Reply Report comment
brtnsbs

May 23, 2014 at 11:14 am

I don’t get it, is this just a training program with drills to ingrain your swing either through mental practice or physical practice?

Reply Report comment
ca1879

May 23, 2014 at 11:13 am

Grasshopper, snatch the ProV1 from my hand…

I certainly hope this completely new and simple distillation of the one true approach to golf is better than all the other completely new and simple distillations of the one true approach to golf have been. More proof that people will fall for anything.

Reply Report comment
Zach Szczepanski

May 23, 2014 at 11:09 am

Very interested in going through this program. I was out in Scottsdale this winter and had the opportunity to speak with Brian and tour the facility. Great looking program. Interested to see how well it catches on.

Reply Report comment
- John kuczeski
  
  Jun 27, 2014 at 10:13 am
  
  Zach,
  
  Just curious, did you ever check out the program? Thanks!
  
  Reply Report comment
IH8

May 23, 2014 at 11:09 am

Seriously? This sounds about as credible as a horoscope. And how does Brandel Chamblee reconcile his endorsement of this product, which aims at improvement, and his several comments on golf channel about how improvement is over-rated and experience is the be all and end all of greatness?

Reply Report comment

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Metal: Titleist TS3 at 16.5 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist TSi2 at 21 degrees. Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT hybrid 100 TX
Iron: Titleist T250 4-iron. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 5-6 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 7-9 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
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Alvaro’s time comes in Raleigh with his first win @UNCHealthChamp ? pic.twitter.com/2dmtZdbSzk

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