In Middle Tennessee

In Middle Tennessee

In Middle Tennessee, we are now in the season of transition. The leaves are bright orange and yellow. and all will soon leave their branches and fall to the earth. Nature is making its transition into winter.

Transition is a desirable state for many in the workforce. Many individuals are unhappy in their current state. They would like a higher paying job or just a more gratifying job. Some are fortunate enough to make that leap, while others have too many obligations to even think about making a change, despite being miserable at work.

Joe Moglia was one of the fortunate ones. He began his career as an assistant college football coach. He loved his job. But, he was only making $33,000 at the time and needed to feed his growing family, and that salary was not enough. He left the coaching business to join the financial advising business. With his skills and great charisma, he rose to the top of his game. Eventually, he became CEO of TD Ameritrade and a very wealthy man. Wealth did not motivate Joe. Football did.

Because he was then financially secure, he transitioned his way back into coaching. A few years ago, he started as a volunteer assistant coach for Nebraska. Currently, he is head football coach at Coastal Carolina University. Joe now does what he always wanted to do for a living – coach football.

However, most stories are not as happy as Joe’s. Perhaps you and want to make a leap into being a full-time golf instructor, but are fearful to make the transition. You don’t think you can swing it financially. You have a mortgage and children who need college tuition. You feel stuck. Transition to a happier place does not seem fiscally possible.

Career transition coach Kevin McNulty (and a friend of mine) has a plan for you. He recommends having a split personality in your dream job pursuits. In actuality, Kevin says that you must put food on the table, so one personality needs to act responsibly and hold down the current job.

But, the alter ego needs to actively pursue the dream job – in your case, being a full time golf instructor. Kevin recommends devising a plan to move in your dream job’s direction. Perhaps you need to get a mentor, or join a mastermind group who can give you some great business advice.

The first step is to create a plan with clear strategies that will allow you to make that career leap into being a full-time golf instructor. Kevin advises making a six-month fiscal plan. You need to put enough money away so that when you decide to make a leap, you need not work for almost six months. This is your safety net in case your new direction does not pan out on a full-time basis. It will also reduce your fear of making that jump into the unknown.

As with nature, our life is composed of seasons. With advanced planning, you can make your transition a season of joy and not a season of discontent.
Whatever happened to “for the love of the game”?

Whatever happened to “for the love of the game”?

Appearance fees…Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy just got a big bunch of change for playing in a tournament overseas. Tiger and Phil, it is said, got a lot of money to appear at the Greenbrier Classic. I understand it, but that does not make me happy about it. On the one hand you want to attract the largest crowd you can, but if there are no marquee players, attendance suffers.

Big-name players don’t necessarily want to play in the middle of nowhere, even if it is an historic course. Golf is big business. Gone are the days when players barnstormed the country in efforts to expose people to the game or raise money for worthy causes like the war effort. Money is what it is all about now. It is the world we live in.

In a way it is a shame, but the tour has no one to blame but itself. Like anything in life, once you give something, it is hard to take it away. Players are treated pretty well on the tour. They get free cars at every stop, free food and drink each day, and huge purses to play for. You would think that would be enough. To think that an individual making millions of dollars would need more just to show up is sad actually. That it is condoned is sadder.

The question, is how do you stop it? Does anyone even want to?
Helpful Tips for Students…continued

Helpful Tips for Students…continued

In continuation of the series “Helpful Tips for Students”, we move on to” around the green & putting”.

Around the Greens

Distance Control on Pitch Shots:  Control the distance of your wedges by swing speed, shortening the club and length of swing.

The best wedge players rely on their tempo or swing speed when hitting wedge shots under pressure.  Copy the great wedge players such as:  Bobby Jones, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Seve Ballesteros.

Soft Lob Shots:  Feel as if there is a quarter on the face of the club through impact.  Don’t let the quarter fall off.  The secret to high soft lob shots is to never let the face turn over through impact.

Sand Shots:  Practice with the club grounded about one inch behind the ball.  Too often I see golfer hover the club to high over the ball in the sand trap.  This is probably due to the fear of being penalized for touching the sand before the shot.  When practicing, don’t worry about touching the sand and get accustomed to where the club should contact the sand.  As you progress then just slightly hover the club over your intended contact point.

Putting

Putting should be broken down to two simple elements:

Mechanics:  When working on mechanics, putt a straight putt one meter from the hole.  Work on grip, alignment, set-up, and path.

Speed control:  When working on speed control, putt to very long holes first then to medium length holes.  Think about feel and distance control and less about mechanics.  Vary the types of “breaking” putts.

Short Putts:  Practice as many 2-foot putts as possible.  I was once asked why I practice so many short putts.  My response:  Unless I chip in or hole a long putt, I expect to have to make at least 15 putts under 3-feet every round.

Long Putts:  When you arrive at the practice green, try to putt the longest holes possible.  This will give you an immediate feedback on green speed.  You will quickly adapt to each golf course’s green speed.