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28 Jul 2011 admin

Teaching Women Golfers

By Wayne Mills Contributing Writer Nashua, New Hampshire There is a rumor going around that men and women are actually quite different. For the sake of this article, we will leave the social and political arguments aside and just focus on the real and practical experiences of two golf instructors, one woman and one man, on teaching women golfers. Seth Dichard, owner and operator of the Seth Dichard Golf School in Hudson, New Hampshire, a Top 100 Teacher in the World Golf Teachers Federation, has had a lot of experience in teaching women golfers and with substantial success. His prize pupil is Alison Walshe, born in Galway, Ireland, but raised in Westford, Massachusetts, who became a student of Dichard’s while in high school. Alison went on to play on the boy’s golf team in high school, earn a college golf scholarship, become an All- American at Arizona State, and play her way onto the LPGA Tour, where she is climbing the rankings and is poised to enter the winner’s circle any day now. Another young woman who has fl ourished under Dichard is Tracy Martin, who also came under Dichard’s guidance while a junior golfer, and has now earned a full scholarship to the University of Richmond and plays on the women’s golf team. Dichard gives an unvarnished observation. “The obvious differences are women’s build (chest and wider hips) and that women are generally weaker than men. You would think that they would just hit the ball shorter, and other than that, their build wouldn’t pose any problems, but it does. “Due to their high levels of fl exibility, particularly in their hips (and shoulders), one of the most common swing flaws I see in women is their lack of stability in their swing, especially lower body stability, due to their overly flexible hips. This leads to long and powerless swings. So, generally when I work with women, I work on creating stability in their lower body with a good upper body rotation to help shorten their golf swings for better control, while keeping whatever power they have. I then make sure I put them in a stronger grip (closed clubface grip) to help them to hit a draw for added distance. “Since women tend to be weaker in the arms and hands compared to men, I may even have them set the club earlier to help establish more leverage during the backswing for added power. Their legs seem to be the strongest part of their body, so I then may teach them to use them more by driving the legs toward the target, depending on the lack of strength. “Specifically, some other changes I look for are: • Bent forward posture, enough so that they can swing past their chests freely. • Lower hands due to a bent over posture that allows for an earlier wrist set. • Wider stances to help create stability. “I teach women specific drills to help increase clubhead speed and proper release, because most women don’t ever release the club properly due to their lack of strength. And, I teach nearly all my women students (and most men initially) to draw the ball, promoting more of an inside-out swing path that produces more power.” As far as the student-teacher relationship, Dichard has some surprising views. “In regards to teaching women vs. men emotionally, or even how they learn differently, it really depends on the person. Some men act like emotional train wrecks and some women act and think like a world-class athlete. “Engineers can be argumentative whether they are a woman or a man. I’ve seen it and experienced it. But, in my experience teaching over the past ten years, I’ve seen all kinds of students, and it’s honestly hard to put women in a different category emotionally than a man. I guess I’ve seen a couple of women students cry and a couple of men students almost cry, but that’s about it. I’ve seen athletic women who are as good as any man and I’ve seen men who I think almost have never even thrown a ball. It sounds crazy but true.” Helen Gawlik, a Level II USGTF member from Illinois, offers her observations from the women’s point of view. “There are two separate types of individuals who play and/or want to learn golf. First, we have men, then we have women; however, we must separate them into the ‘competitive’ or ‘social’ category. Let’s take women first. “They are open-minded and take stock into the advice you give. When they do win, they want other golfers to come back and play. There are emotions that women display during their instruction and/or their play. Women who are competitive are just happy if they play par golf and look forward to always improving their game of golf, either by club adjustments and/or basic instruction. “The average social beginner or intermediate golfer wants to address an area of the game that they seem not to be able to correct (i.e., teeing off, chipping, putting). Again, we have emotions when they are given instruction and implement and achieve the desired outcome. They believe all is fi ne with their game; their drive to achieve anything higher than having a ‘social’ game of golf with their friends, husband, family, etc., will be accomplished as long as they can hit a ball and putt. However, they are too worried about their looks, and constantly concerned about what others are doing. They don’t pay attention to where their carts are, talking and/or texting on the phone. Or, to top it off, they are worried about where another golfer is positioned or what someone else is wearing. Insofar as instruction to these types of ‘social’ golfers, as mentioned earlier, they want to achieve, but are too worried about everyone and everything else instead of focusing on their golf game. “Men play golf to be competitive, and their goal is to win at all costs. They want to beat you! Insofar as instruction is concerned, they do listen, but I don’t see implementation after they have left a lesson and gone back out on the golf course. They basically know how to play golf and want to achieve without instruction. Okay, I haven’t had a beginner ‘male’ golfer yet, only the male golfers that I have had the honor of golfing with and noticed these areas. On the other hand, you have the average ‘social’ golfer who takes a moment to listen and possibly implement the advice you give. They will try to achieve a better golf game. However, they truly don’t want to be the leader of the pack; they are comfortable just going out and socializing with their friends. They are very intimidated when a woman who is in their foursome is achieving a better game, even though they will always acknowledge and respect the female golfer. They ask questions of that woman with regards to where they learned how to play, etc., but yet hesitate to pursue instruction because again, they feel they don’t need it, they socialize. “With the aforesaid, the bottom line in instruction is that men want the instruction to win at the game of golf, and women want to achieve at the game.”

28 Jul 2011 admin

The Future of Teaching Golf

It wasn’t too long ago that teaching golf consisted of having a teacher telling a student to “swing like this,” and then demonstrating a move for the student to copy. If the ball fl ight was satisfactory, then the mission was considered accomplished. Today, the use of computers, videos, and training aids is common among those who are full-time practitioners of teaching golf, but what will the industry look like a decade and beyond into the future? What avenues of imparting instruction have yet to be explored? The advent of the portable video camera in 1981 changed forever the face of golf instruction. Teachers were able to take a moving picture of their students’ swings and then show them immediately what their swings looked like. Not only was this valuable to the student to see visual feedback, but it was also helpful to the teacher, because now he or she could see things that weren’t apparent with the naked eye. Most all teaching today among full-time instructors still revolves around the use of a video recorder, even if the images are then converted for use with a computer. As for training aids, it seems every month a new product infomercial premiers on Golf Channel. While today’s teacher has all of these high-tech tools at his or her disposal, certainly the future of golf teaching will continue to evolve. One area that is just now getting attention is motor learning. There are three senses that people use to learn golf: sight, sound, and feel. You would think that the days of Tommy Armour sitting in a chair under an umbrella barking out verbal instructions to hapless students are long gone; yet, unfortunately too many teachers today neglect to impart enough sight and feel instruction into their lessons. USGTF members learn about these important aspects during their certification week, so our members get a good head start in this area as compared to non-USGTF instructors. Lessons of the future are likely to involve much more video, teacher demonstrations, drills, and the teacher putting students into certain swing positions or motions than do lessons of today. Other aspects of motor learning involve distributed practice vs. massed practice, and random practice vs. blocked practice. Distributed practice involves doing an activity, taking a break, doing an activity, taking a break, etc., with the result being the activity time and resting time are roughly equal. Massed practice means doing an activity with little or no break. Despite the growing body of research showing distributed practice to be superior to massed practice, most golfers and teachers insist on a program of massed practice. This is likely due to the fact that such research is not widely known among the golf population, among other reasons. Why would taking frequent breaks be beneficial? The theory is that the brain needs time to process what it just learned. If we just keep going on and on with hitting or chipping balls, let’s say, after a few repetitions our brains somewhat tune out, and true learning ceases. The current thinking in golf training is “the more balls hit, the better,” but this simply isn’t true. As the benefits of distributed practice become more widely known and accepted, golf teachers of the future are likely to adopt this type of practice schedule in their lessons. Instead of having students beat ball after ball, future instructors will likely have them hit only a few at a time before taking a mandatory break. Random practice means the activity changes either with each repetition or with great frequency, while blocked practice means doing the same thing over and over with little or no change. Present day teachers and players overwhelmingly promote blocked practice, where the golfer hits the same club several times until a groove is reached. However, research shows a random schedule is likely to be more effective than a blocked practice schedule. This theory is based upon the principle of “re-learning,” where the brain tends to retain information better in the long-term if material is “forgotten” and then “re-learned.” For example, in golf, if we are trying to hit our driver better, instead of hitting ball after ball with the driver, it might be better to hit one or two shots with it, go to another club for one or two shots, and then come back to the driver. Golf lessons of the future are likely to incorporate much more random practice than what we now currently see. Training aids undoubtedly will rise to a higher level, although right now there are some very effective high-tech, but expensive, tools available today. For example, the K-Vest is a great training aid and involves a very high level of motor learning, but it costs several thousand dollars. If a teacher is in a high-volume area, he or she can make such an investment work, but others may not recoup their outlay. Future high-tech training aids are likely to be more cost-effective than what we now see. Speaking of tomorrow’s training aids, what is likely to be developed? One educated guess is that someone will invent a “machine” that a student steps into, and this machine will consist of various levers and such which will be strapped onto the student. Only when the student makes the “correct” motion will the levers move in the correct order, allowing the student to continue to swing. If the student does not make the “correct” move, the levers will cease to move until the proper motion is performed. Launch monitors that now cost thousands of dollars will likely be only a few hundred dollars in the coming years. Their use will become more widespread, as teachers can accurately see exactly what the clubhead path, clubface angle, clubhead speed, and angle of approach are without any guesswork. This will allow the teacher to hone right in on the area of need, and provide a more structured lesson. Players will also be able to dial in their equipment with the coming proliferation of launch monitors. While they are of course available now, it is rare to find one at a golf course. This will not likely be the case as time marches on, so more players will be able to take easier advantage of them. As for opportunity, it follows that as we continue to add population, more golfers and more facilities are likely to come into the fold. In other countries, the game is booming. China expects to build 3,000 courses in the next 10 years, and teachers from all over the world are expected to converge there. Although technology is likely to play a greater role in future instruction, it will never replace the personal interaction between teacher and student. The future looks very bright for golf teachers everywhere.

28 Jul 2011 admin

Business Results in Golf Management

By Dr. Patrick J. Montana USGTF Level IV Member and National Course Director U.S. Golf Managers Association

Golf is a powerful business and social tool.

The interest in integrating one’s golf skills in business and one’s business skills in golf has grown significantly in recent years. There is a reciprocal relationship. If you can improve your productivity on the golf course, it’s going to help your business and, likewise, if you can improve your productivity in business, it’s going to help your golf game. Any careerminded individual who has taken advantage of the game’s business benefits can easily explain why. One of my former students who is CEO of his own Manhattan-based law firm commented, “I think the thing about golf is that you have a captive audience for four hours. It’s networking. People are more likely to give you business if they know you.” Another student said, “It’s definitely helped with my management skills and strategic thinking. After each shot you take, you have to prepare for the next one.” This year I developed and implemented a three credit elective course requested by the students enrolled in the Executive MBA program at Fordham University. The major objective of the course was to provide them with an understanding of golf as a business tool as well as to teach them how to play golf or improve their golf game. During the course, I taught them how to develop and apply a results-oriented management system to their business and golf game. In a recent Wall Street Journal cover story, reporter/golf columnist John Paul Newport wrote, “Golf and business are similar in a lot of ways, according to both business people and professional players. Both, for example, require a lot of discipline, they say.” He quotes Tiger Woods as saying, “Strategy and patience, they go hand and hand in both cases,” when asked about connections between the two. “It’s a question of when to be aggressive and when not to be aggressive, when to be conservative, and that’s done through experience.” There are many similarities in management and golf as well as in teaching management and golf. Both require strategic thinking, planning, execution, control, evaluation and feedback. Let me begin by stating that at the heart of a system of managing for results is managing expectations. More often than not, managing expectations seems to be the missing link in business practice. However, it occurs seldomly in golf because everyone knows what is expected. There is an agreed upon standard of performance – namely, par. Standards of performance in management have one major purpose and that is to develop your people. You may use them for merit, promotion, transfer and compensation purposes, but primarily as a manager you want to develop your staff to meet expectations. I might illustrate this point by the game of golf. Par on the golf course is the standard of performance for a professional golfer. Now you can go out all by yourself in the morning, or join three other people in a happy foursome, and when you come in from #18, you know – no matter what the comments are – you know immediately whether you are a good golfer or whether you need development. As golf teaching professionals, we know what our students need to develop to become better golfers. The standard of performance for a job should be as clear as par on a golf course, at least to the extent language will allow. In order to develop a system of managing for results which negotiates performance contracts through managing expectations, it is important to step back and review or learn the purpose of management and the management process and to break down the process to see how a results-oriented management system fits into the process. In addition to learning this system of managing for results, during the golf club management certification course students hear from practicing golf club managers and professionals about customer relations and customer service, golf facility operations, merchandising operations, food and beverage, tournament management, golf club financial management, ownership management, turf management operations, golf instructional operations, and even learn about today’s modern golf equipment. If you’re thinking about a career in golf club or golf resort management, you may want to consider enrolling in a United States Golf Managers Association certification course and increase your employment opportunities in this growing global field. For further information, please check out our website at www.USGolfManagersAssociation.com.