This is the sort of golf tuition which appeals to my addled brain. Interestingly, it comes from no less a figure than the great Albert Einstein (left) and concerns the occasion in the late 1930s when he was invited to join the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton University in the US. The story was recounted to Anne Cain, instructor at the Amelia Island GC in Florid a, by 84-year-old Princeton resident, Dr Robert Lewis.

If you never imagined Einstein to have been a golfer, you are quite correct. But in deference to the institute's founder, who adored the game, Einstein finally agreed to visit the nearby Springdale GC, where lessons were arranged with a young, energetic pro.

The first lesson covered chipping and putting and the professional soon realised that his celebrated pupil wasn't nearly as skilled with his hands as with his mind. Still, desperate to help, he kept issuing further instructions every time Einstein failed to make contact with the ball, causing the great man to become increasingly confused and frustrated.

Finally, he asked to be handed a few balls which the instructor duly did, albeit with a puzzled look. Whereupon Einstein threw all the balls at the young man and shouted, "Catch!" Waving his arms furiously, the professional failed to catch a single ball. Einstein paused a moment, raised his finger, and said: "Young man, when I throw you one ball, you catch it. But, when I throw you four balls, you catch nothing! So when you teach, make only one point at a time!"

Ms Cain concluded that the story provided "a simple, but profound, message about teaching or learning any difficult task, including golf: Keep your thoughts simple and work on one key at a time." Couldn't agree more. Now, what was that clever thing about relativity . . .