Fairways For Warriors Making A Difference
26 Aug 2016

Fairways For Warriors Making A Difference

USGTF Certified Golf Teaching Professional Dennis Daugherty from Clermont, Florida, has a passion for giving back. Through his work organizing golf events for the American Cancer Society, United Way, Make A Wish Foundation and others, Daugherty’s efforts reap rewards for those who face life’s difficulties.

Most recently, he has worked with a group called Fairways for Warriors, an organization that has as its mission providing golf instruction, equipment, and outings for combat-wounded veterans. This helps with the rehabilitation process through physical, cognitive, social, and emotional health benefits through the game of golf. In addition, families are aided through their participation in the programs.

According to its website, “Warriors can’t heal alone, so Fairways for Warriors events and support community is open to the families of wounded warriors, as well. We provide golf equipment, instruction, and outings to wounded warriors and all their family members who wish to participate in the spirit of fun and healing.”

When it comes to rehabilitation, Fairways for Warriors says the most significant injuries aren’t seen, and include depression, post-traumatic stress, and brain injury. The program is designed to help men and women heal from such injuries and the wounded warriors “experience a sense of support and community again.”

In regards to physical health benefits, Fairways for Warriors aims to improve hand-eye coordination and increase functional independence, balance, strength, endurance, fine motor skills, and flexibility, with the goal of reducing the risk of secondary medical complications. Cognitive health benefits include enhanced self-esteem, assisting with managing stress and anxiety, alleviating and  decreasing the risk of depression, and increasing coordination skills, focus, and attention. Social health benefits are enhanced relationships among fellow veterans, families and friends; creating networks and providing accessible resources while giving veterans a sense of belonging, and creating a shared space and experience that helps breakdown negative perceptions, allowing individuals to focus on their commonalities. Finally, the emotional health benefits allow veterans the freedom to make choices that lead to meaningful leisure experiences, and draw on their strengths and assets of energy, enthusiasm, skills, and the desire to excel.

A number of veterans sing the praises of Fairways for Warriors. Steven Allberry said, “Fairways for Warriors has changed my life in so many ways…. And I am now part of the biggest family and support team ever. All of the members of Fairways for Warriors are my brothers and sisters.”

Jack Wiseman, a Vietnam War veteran, commented, “Fairways gives the older vets an opportunity to share our experience, strength, and hope, to the younger vets, not just in golf, but in life.”

Bryan C. Coons stated, “This group of people has allowed me to live again through fellowship, friendship, and lastly golf. I love the game of golf and it allows me the camaraderie that I need in the aspect that it mimics life and military state of friendship. Fairways for Warriors has made me a better Christian, husband/father, and all-around person.”

Fairways for Warriors currently has three chapters in Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; and Jacksonville, Florida. Tom Underdown is the founder and director, and his e-mail address is tom@fairwaysforwarriorsorg.

For more information on the organization, please visit www.FairwaysForWarriors.com.  
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Growing The Game
17 Aug 2016

Growing The Game

By: Dave Hill WGCA contributing writer I woke up Sunday morning, August 14th, thinking about the Olympics and the day’s events. Going to be an exciting day as the gold medal will be decided and, oh yeah, I think there’s golf. The gold medal I’m talking about is, of course, the fastest man on earth. No need to mention a name, because we all know who won. Oh yeah, who won the golf again? Wait, let me check…oh okay, it was Justin Rose…oh, and look at that, the champion golfer of the year won the silver. Who got bronze? Not sure, but me being Canadian, it was incredible and a proud moment to witness Andre DeGrasse get the bronze medal head-to-head against Usain Bolt and the bond they developed. It is clear Bolt clearly recognizes his successor. Okay, back to the golf. Course looks alright. Wonder when the Olympics are over if anyone in Rio is going to play there? Other than soccer, it is apparent beach volleyball is the other fixture for Brazilians. Who can blame them with the spectacular beaches of Rio, warm climate and the low cost of the sport? Okay, back to the golf. Wait, it was just playing on the CBC (Canada’s national network)! Oh, okay, now they’re showing beach volleyball with boxing to follow. Cool! Is golf playing on the Golf Channel?.. no of course not; they don’t have the television rights. Oh, here we go, it’s on TSN2 (TSN is Canada’s national sports broadcaster). Wonderful; I don’t have that channel in my package. No biggie, back to the beach! Oh, here we go, more golf… sorry it’s just an update…Rosey and Stenson are tied, but it’s early…back to the beach, followed by women’s 3-meter diving. Cool, we have a Canadian in contention for a medal! Oh, okay, now the golf is back on. Let’s check out Facebook and see what’s going on. Can probably mutli-task while watching golf. Let me see…Rob Kleabir laughing at the low medal count of team Canada compared to the U.S. in spite of the fact we have nine times less population… all in jest and good fun. Okay an interesting article on growing the game. Making it younger via dress code, cell phone/social media on course and simply being more welcoming for our youth. Some of it makes sense. Here’s an interesting comment by a young professional in Utah stating there is an influx of new young professionals employed at golf courses and developing incredible youth programs through their passion and exuberance. He’s very excited about the future growth and health of the game in his state! Et voila! This is not the first time I’ve professed my views how golf in the Olympics will not grow the game. Let’s call a spade a spade here. Some of the best players in the world, including numbers 1 and 2, bowed out, along with Rory McIlroy, who stated how he did not grow up watching the Olympics or dream of winning gold. He dreamt of winning the Claret Jug and a green jacket. I realize he was attacked for his comments, but the truth hurts. Golf’s reintroduction into the Olympics was a big yawn-fest. I can’t speak for other countries; however, golf in Canada has one of the highest participation rates in the world, yet we showed very little of the event on our main networks. I’m not sure what this says about its appeal as an Olympic sport, but we’re a golfing nation and there was little interest. Makes one wonder how this Olympics’ version of golf will help grow the game. Fortunately enough, the golf aired on our national network was so not awe-inspiring that it propelled me to multi-task and discover the game is doing quite well in some regions. This also made me realize the game can grow via internal measures from those employed in the industry and who are in the trenches every day, welcoming and teaching existing and new people to golf of all ages. It will take vision, effort and courage to grow the game, but as a like-minded collective group of professionals, we can accomplish this feat and regain our true status as the stewards of the game.
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17 Aug 2016

The Power of Mindset and Positive Self-Talk

By Brian Burke USGTF Associate Member, Tampa, Florida We have all been victims to some form of negative self-talk, played golf with someone who beat themselves up verbally during his/her round, or had a student that lashed out at themselves during a lesson. As a golf teaching professional, I have seen about everything from grumbles under their breath to throwing clubs in frustration in learning new techniques. Even some of the best players in the world have been caught on film and fined on the tour for their verbal escapades on the course. This negative self-talk may seem funny at first to those who witness the show of emotion, but it can lead to a round that spirals out of control, and leaves your playing partners with no plans for you to join them in future outings. I ask my students a simple question: “Would you tolerate someone talking to you that way?” This simple question can bring attention to what they just did. Sometimes they don’t even notice that they are beating themselves up. As an instructor, you can work with your students to evaluate their behavior. It is as simple as deciding between two mindsets. Carol Dweck wrote Mindset: The Neuropsychology of Success, in which she divides mindsets into two distinct groups that can be used to overcome the negative tendencies our students may be experiencing. The two mindsets that Dr. Dweck describes are the fixed and growth mindsets. If individuals are in a fixed mindset, they believe that intelligence is static and not able to change or learn new concepts. It avoids challenges, gets defensive with change, ignores useful negative feedback, and gives very little, if any, effort to overcome obstacles in its way. In the growth mindset, individuals believe knowledge can be developed for new swing ideas and techniques. They embrace change and give their best effort to overcome obstacles. They see criticism as an opportunity to grow to levels that would not be possible alone without outside observations and correction. Some years ago, I caddied in a local pro-am event and got paired up with a retired corporate-level executive. While hitting balls on the range, we conversed in small talk and I told him about my background, and he notified me that if I saw anything that I could help him out with, he was open to my input (growth mindset). While he was warming up, I noticed a few things that he was doing well and others that he could make some small corrections to. I made some small alignment and ball-position adjustments that increased his directional control, and he ended the range session hitting the ball very well, with solid contact. During the round, he started reverting back to his previous alignment and ball positions with negative results. He became frustrated and disgusted with himself. Here he was, playing with a pro and a famous guitar player from a touring band, and he could not even hit the ball in the fairway. This went on for a few holes, and he obviously forgot that I was on his team as his caddie (fixed mindset). I asked him if he would like my input, like on the driving range, and I could tell that he totally zoned out and thought he was on his own. Once he came around, he was very receptive to my input again. The next hole was a par-3, around 150 yards. As he was lining up, I corrected his alignment, and suggested ball placement where he had it on the driving range when he was striking it so well. He was totally in the growth mindset, listening to every word on the adjustments. As he struck the ball he remained in balance, the ball flight was true, and it stopped three feet from the pin. His eyes lit up, the whole group was clapping, and he was on top of the world. As you could guess, I gained his trust that he could do great things with me on his bag. For the rest of the round, he continued to be open to feedback before each shot to ensure he was set up correctly, to give himself the best possible opportunity to hit a good shot. Now, do you think the outcome would have been the same if he would have remained in a fixed mindset? If he would have thought that he had all the answers? Of course not. By aligning our students with a growth mindset and positive self-talk, we can move them in a direction for positive change and improvement. Our students are not always going to be the best ballstrikers in the game or wizards of the short game, but as long as they are aware of both mindsets, they can make the choice to go with the one that most suits them to enjoy the game and allows for continuous improvement.
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Getting Worse Before Getting Better (more to the story)
17 Aug 2016

Getting Worse Before Getting Better (more to the story)

Golf professional helping young man with his swing

“You have to get worse before you get better” is a mantra of golf teaching professionals throughout the years, and is also generally accepted by most golfers. This saying refers to making swing changes, with the belief that a person’s performance will suffer during the transitioning phase from getting rid of old habits and ingraining new ones.

You might see someone undergoing a swing change who hits almost every ball poorly, but they stick with it under the guise of getting worse before getting better. However in fact, this person may not actually be on the right path. The question becomes, how can we distinguish between someone getting worse who will eventually get better, as opposed to someone getting worse before…staying that way?

We can start with these two tenets: 1) Students who execute our instruction properly during a given swing should hit the ball better with that swing. 2) Students who execute our instruction properly, but either don’t see improvement or hit the ball worse, means that our instruction is incorrect.

Now, the student who sees ball striking improvement with our instruction may get worse in terms of consistency. That’s the key word. In most cases they’re still going to hit more poor shots than good ones initially, but as long as they’re hitting some good shots and seeing a better ball flight on occasion, then we’re on the right track. Here’s an example:

Bob is chicken-winging his left elbow through impact, which we diagnose to be his major problem. We get Bob to turn his body better through impact, eliminating the chicken wing. He hits some good shots, but also some bad ones. Do the bad shots mean he’s not executing our instruction correctly? In a very narrow sense, yes, but that’s too strict of a measure. The key here is that Bob is seeing an improvement in his ballstriking on some shots, but he has yet to learn the nuances involved in the new move, making it understandable why he hits many poor shots initially. We’re on the right path. Bob’s scores may suffer for a while, but eventually he’ll turn it around and start improving. Here’s where “getting worse before getting better” makes sense.

We’ll use the same example for the second tenet mentioned earlier. We get Bob to turn his body better through impact, eliminating the chicken wing, but he can’t hit a good shot to save his life. Should we just tell Bob he needs to just grin and bear it, that you have to get worse before you get better? No. And what’s worse, that’s lazy teaching. We may have correctly diagnosed Bob’s problem and come up with the correct solution, but people aren’t like robots that we can program to be automatic.

So now we have to find a way for Bob to start seeing some good results at least once in a while. For example, maybe he had to stand too close to the ball with his old swing because of the reduced radius; now he’s got a bigger radius and is not used to it. Standing farther away may help his cause. Whatever the reason Bob is struggling, we have to come up with a way for him to hit the ball better– at least occasionally – before the lesson ends. More often than not, this involves giving him an additional key to focus on, or making a secondary change to go with the main one.

One aspect that needs to be discussed is when we accurately diagnose the problem, give the proper cure, and the student just cannot get it, no matter what. It’s tempting to send the student on his way, telling him to just keep working on it and to remember that you have to get worse before you get better. But such action is akin to teaching malpractice. It may be hard to abandon what we know to be the correct solution, but if it becomes obvious the student will never get it, we must change course.
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Three Ways To Boost Confidence In Your Athletes
12 Aug 2016

Three Ways To Boost Confidence In Your Athletes

By: Dr. Shaunna Taylor, Ph.D Start by encouraging them to examine their core beliefs about themselves. Every coach has struggled with building confidence in their athletes and team, and yet, there are surprisingly few resources that help address this important challenge. While every athlete has their own individual profile and history, there are some important foundational theories that apply to all. Confidence really begins with the idea of belief. It emanates from an athlete’s core beliefs and is combined with the effect of real-life evidence. Core beliefs are formed throughout childhood and are integral to how we operate in our lives. They are foundational and affect the way we view the world— many of these beliefs are set by the time we reach the age of ten. They tend to drive our actions and the way we navigate life. Belief is the “director” that often runs the entire production. Early in life, we are heavily influenced by the people who cared for us, and the early experiences that formed our worldview. Our core beliefs involve such things as whether we believe most people are essentially good (or bad), whether we are capable and powerful (or incapable and powerless), or whether life can be satisfying and joyful (or a struggle and full of sadness). Beliefs are the lens through which we determine if the glass is half full or half empty. Although beliefs are forged at a young age, they do not have to dictate our destiny. In fact, when we re-evaluate them later in life, we can come to see that many core beliefs aren’t based on fact. But unless we examine and critique the core beliefs that drive our actions, they will continue to run the production, and we may find ourselves limited (versus being set free) to make the necessary choices that can move us in new, positive directions in life. In light of this, here are three concrete steps coaches can consider to help athletes increase their confidence:
  1. Help them become aware of — and challenge — their core beliefs.
Some of the athletes you are coaching will have very positive and empowering core beliefs. When mixed with a strong work ethic and a solid base of skills, this can be a potent combination. But you may also have athletes with a strong base of skills who also have negative core beliefs. As a result, the confidence levels — and performance record — in this second group may often be more inconsistent and volatile. One way to help athletes put their core beliefs to the test is to challenge them with evidence. For example, show athletes (through videos, storytelling, recalling past performances as a group or individually) that they are capable of overcoming adversity, or achieving past positive performance outcomes. Create a highlight reel, or encourage them to come up with one of their own. Show them the evidence of their past accomplishments. If your athlete has a generally negative self-view, or you observe negative body language, it can help to offer up evidence of their capabilities. Talk about your belief in them, and provide them with goals to override their defeatist perspective. This can serve to build competency which, in turn, can lead to greater confidence over time. 2. Build a confidence and evidence inventory. One form of irrefutable evidence that can demonstrate an athlete’s capability is examples of past wins and strong performances. But sport is a dynamic and often heartless arena, and wins come and go. Coaches need to build a steady bank of strong past performances, and include current examples of how the athlete’s strong work ethic is paying off — as well as evidence of skill progression and mastery— in order to challenge an athlete’s negative core beliefs. Athletes can also incorporate visualization while reviewing techniques and tactics through mental rehearsal. Coaches can also encourage them to engage in constructive self-talk that involves optimistic, evidence-based statements. 3. Keep your standards high. Coaches who maintain high expectations for their athletes and teams should also follow up with constructive and encouraging actions. If you believe an athlete can reach their goals and you have faith they can improve, then be sure to act like this is the case. Expect hard work and commitment, factors that are within your athlete’s control and have nothing to do with outcomes. This will translate into a greater probability of encouraging a self-fulfilling prophecy in the athlete. It also cultivates a culture of continual improvement and striving for yourself as a coach and leader for your program. The belief we have in ourselves drives our actions and our ability to strive for positive performance. Don’t compromise or lower your work ethic, be sure to create a positive environment, and incorporate a relentless pursuit of daily improvement and mastery. Setting the bar high will drive everyone — athletes and coaches included— to rise up and feel confident when it comes to aiming for their goals. Editor’s note:  This article first appeared in Coaches Plan magazine and can also be accessed online at www.CoachesPlan-Digital.com. Reprinted by permission. Dr. Shaunna Taylor, Ph.D., is a sport leader at Pacific Sport Okanagan and co-chair of the managing council of the Canadian Sport Psychology Association, as well as an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia in the Masters of Coaching program. She has been consulting with coaches and athletes from the grassroots level to the Olympic/Paralympic level for 15+ years.
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