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Editorial – Paying College Golfers: Good or Bad?
Getting The Most From Our Students
People come to us in hopes of getting better at golf. Some have realistic expectations; some don’t. Although we love what we do, our job is not the easiest. We are under a lot of pressure to make sure our students go away with something solid that they can use and with which to improve.
Part of the difficulty in teaching and coaching is that much of what our success is based on is largely out of our hands. We can teach, coach, show, demonstrate, etc., maybe 50 percent of what a student needs to know, but the other 50 percent is up to them. They have to put in the time and effort, not only physically but mentally, in order to reap the benefits of what we have taught them. Yet, our50 percent factor in their success is critical, because without it, they have little or no chance to fulfill their half of their “contract” with us.
It starts with being able to assess what a student can or cannot do. For example, if they are physically incapable of making a full turn on the backswing, we cannot keep insisting that they learn to do so. This may be common sense, but a lot of teachers and good ones, at that have fallen prey to this well-intentioned but ineffective path.
But, you say, even though they cannot physically do what we are asking at the moment, if they put the time and effort to physically change their bodies, they can do it. This is where we need to get real. How many of our students, most of whom are older, are really going to spend a couple of hours a week specifically on exercises to help themselves to physically be able to move in a more efficient manner? That percentage is probably pretty close to zero. So, we’re going to have to give them something to do that they’re capable of doing at that moment.
It all starts with how the clubhead is moving into the ball. We’ve stated this on the pages of Golf Teaching Pro time and time again, but we can never say it enough. Most people are capable of getting the clubhead to move into the ball with a good path and square clubface angle, even if they can’t move anywhere near like a tour pro.
It starts with the setup. Noted teaching professional Michael Breed has often said it takes no athletic ability to assume a proper setup position, and he’s right. Yes, there may be some physical limitations that prevent some of our students from taking a model posture, but the ball doesn’t know this. And the movement of the club itself isn’t necessarily dependent upon this.
It’s also important to limit the amount of information that is given to a student. One USGTF teaching professional related the story of when he was a young teacher and had a student who was shooting in the mid-90s and wanted merely to break 90 consistently. He enthusiastically showed the student several things he needed to change in order to reach his goal. When the teacher saw the student a few weeks later and asked him how he was coming along, the student replied, “Terrible! I can’t break 100 now!”
It’s cases like this that can give a teacher, and also unfortunately the teaching profession, a bad name. The young teacher then worked with the student for 30 minutes on the spot, simplifying the information that was originally given, and having the student concentrate on only one or two things.
Many new teachers are eager to impart a lot of information, erroneously thinking that they are short changing their students if they don’t. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Getting the most out of our students requires two things on our part: 1) Getting them to do things of which they are capable, and 2) giving the minimum amount of information necessary. It’s a recipe that works well for the best teachers and coaches in the world, and even though we may not be considered a worldwide guru, it works for the rest of us, too.
Harman, Team USA Win World Cup
It took 21 years, but Mark Harman is finally back in the winner’s circle at the World Golf Teachers Cup. Since capturing his second individual championship in 1998 at San Roque, Spain, Harman watched other outstanding golfers like Dave Belling, Christopher Richards, James Douris and Ken Butler hoist the trophy. But this past February at La Iguana Golf Club in Herradura, Costa Rica, Harman emerged victorious by shooting 71-75 – 146 to edge Costa Rica’s Alejandro Duque by two shots. Overcoming an opening-hole double bogey, a four-putt on the third hole and three-putting two of the final three holes during the final round, Harman played the other 14 holes in three-under-par. Belling, the 2003 individual champion, finished third for the overall title and earned the World Golf Senior Teachers Cup individual title in the process, shooting74-79 – 153. Ray Holder’s two-round total of172 on scores of 85-87 defeated runner-up Peter Louis. Mary Wolf captured the Ladies title with 87-84 – 171.
Employing a round-robin team match play format, Team USA swept all its matches to emerge victorious in the team competition, with Canada second and Asia third. Competitor Louis summed up the feelings of the participants when he said, “Fabulous golf course, unbelievable facilities. It was a pleasure to meet you all and to play with some of you. You are all exceptional and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it. Thanks to Mark and the rest of the team for organizing this treat.”
Teaching Golf In Today’s Power Era
Jack Nicklaus has been concerned about it for a longtime. Gary Player has weighed in, as has virtually every golf pundit. We’re talking about the power game today and how modern professionals hit the ball over 300 yards with regularity.
It’s not just the professionals and pundits who are interested in power, but also the average amateur. Those who work as club fitters and use launch monitor technology like TrackMan, FlightScope and GC Quad can all tell you tales of customers coming in to their stores and ranges who boast of distances that the monitors say they are not capable of. It’s almost comical, but also sad in a way, because golfers who are unrealistic about the distance they hit the ball are almost sure to come up short time after time.
We would be more than justified in telling our students, “No, you do not hit your driver 300 yards…or 250…or 200 (or whatever distance they’re claiming), and no, you do not hit your 7-iron 150.” Any teacher who has worked with a launch monitor is familiar with such unrealistic students. Why do some of our pupils believe they hit the ball distances that they clearly are not capable of hitting?
Much of it deals with ego. Besides ego, many golfers goby their maximum distance they’ve achieved with each club. They remember hitting a 5-iron 170yards, oblivious to the fact that the ball carried 145, hit a hard spot in front of the green and had a tailwind, to boot.
Many of us would like to think that we are hitting the ball farther than we actually do. We hear television commentators telling us the pros are hitting the ball 320 with their driver and it seems impossible that we are 100 or more yards behind that, refusing to believe that we are that weak. Some of the skepticism, though, is warranted, as television often exaggerates the distances players are capable of hitting.
At the PGA Championship a couple of years ago, Golf Channel had a shot tracer on Rory McIlroy as he warmed up for a practice round. On one drive, the tracer showed McIlroy carrying – repeat, carrying – the ball 365yards. This is completely absurd. Long-drive competitors with swing speeds of 140 mph carry the ball that far. McIlroy’s swing speed is an impressive 122 mph, but that’s nowhere in the ballpark of what a long-drive competitor can do. It doesn’t help our cause as teachers when television creates fictional numbers in order to create some sort of “wow” factor.
Older players have long been guilty of overestimating their distances. As age has robbed them of their strength and quickness, they seem to be denying reality and hope against hope that they can still hit their 7-ironthe 150 yards they did 20 years ago, only to see the ball time after time coming up short of the green. So, instead of adjusting for how far they now hit the ball, they rush to there tail store and buy the latest and greatest new irons with flexible faces and jacked-uplofts, complete with low tungsten weighting and lightweight graphite shafts. Now, don’t get us wrong – many players should be taking advantage of all the modern technology out there. But modern technology can only makeup for so much lost distance, and may result in a disappointed consumer.
How can we teach golf in today’s power era when most golfers are unrealistic about their distances or their expectations? We must emphasize that unless they’re going to compete at the highest levels on 7,400-yard courses, the first thing they should be doing is playing from the appropriate set of tees. If the average tour pro’s drive is 292 (at the time of this writing for the 2018-19 season) and our student’s average is 210, that comes out to 72 percent of the average tour pro, meaning our student should be playing from 5,328 yards to have an equivalent experience. Since most male golfers aren’t going to play from that distance, at the very least they should be playing no longer than 6,000 yards.
Another step we need to take is getting our students to have a realistic idea of how far they can actually carry the ball. We hear all the time that “I hit my 7-iron 150 yards,” when in reality it flies 135 and then rolls out another15 because they are using a low-spin ball. That 15-yard roll also represents a best-case scenario, usually when the ball hits a firm part of the course. There’s also a definite difference between a 150-yard distance to the hole when the pin is either up front or in the back. Knowing the carry distance to a reason able margin of error is important in these situations.
We can also ask our students to chart their rounds and keep track of one simple stat onpar-4s and par-5s: their scoring average when their drive found the fairway vs. when it didn’t. Most average golfers should see a difference of a full stroke. Charting this information should give them pause to consider whether distance or accuracy is more important to their personal game.
However, let’s suppose we have a student who insists on gaining distance. There are three ways to do this: through equipment, technique, or physical fitness. The first is easy enough and the second is realistic. But the third? That requires a real commitment that, frankly, most of our students are unwilling to undertake. And yet, it may be the most critical element in gaining distance.
Teaching golf in today’s power era requires a different skill set than in previous generations. If we can convince our students that they can still enjoy the game and play to a high level without hitting 300-, or even 250-yard drives, then it can be considered a job well done.
Why You Should Play In The U.S. CUP
By Mark Harman, USGTF Course Director Ridgeland, South Carolina
It’s hard for me to write this article without some of it sounding a little like I’m blowing my own horn, but I assure you that is not my intention. I am writing this to hopefully convince a few more people to enter this year’s (and future years’) United States Golf Teachers Cup.
I have the privilege of being the only person to have competed in every single one of the previous 23 versions of this event. From St. Augustine, Florida (where it all started), to California, Nevada, Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and other states, I have seen every U.S. Cup played. What I can tell you is that it is not just the highlight of my competitive calendar every year, but it is the highlight of my golf experience every year.
Why is that? I have been fortunate to win the event seven times, so you might say it’s obvious why I look forward to it on that account. Yet, that would be untrue. There was a long spell where I never was in contention, and yes, it bugged me, but in the end that really didn’t matter. What mattered is every year I got to play with and see some of not only my best friends in golf, but best friends, period. If I start mentioning names, I’m sure to leave someone out that I didn’t mean to, so I’ll just say that I have yet to meet someone at the U.S. Cup who isn’t a friend of mine.
The memories that are also the most enduring are the wonderful courses and cities where we take the Cup. This year’s tournament is in Sedona, Arizona, at Oakcreek Country Club. If you haven’t been to Oakcreek, you frankly don’t know what you’ve been missing. It’s one of the most beautiful courses I’ve ever played, and I can say that as someone who has played Pebble Beach and have been to the Masters at Augusta National. Oakcreek’s stunning views of the incredible red rock formations, along with its well-manicured fairways and greens are just short of the equal of these two icons of American golf. The course itself is extremely fun to play, challenging while not beating you up And speaking of Pebble Beach, every year the AT&T National Pro-Am is played there, where one pro is teamed up with one amateur. This year’s U.S. Cup will also feature basically the same format, where a USGTF professional competitor can play with an amateur of his or her choosing. Yes, we will still be competing for individual honors as always, but the Pro-Am is sure to bring a boost of energy to our great national championship event. And if you don’t have an amateur partner you can bring, no worries. You can still play without one.
There is always something for every-one. We actually have two tournaments being contested, the U.S. Cup and the United States Senior Golf Teachers Cup for those 50 and over. The Senior Cup also has age divisions of 60-and-over (the Super Senior division) and 70-and-over (the Legends division). We also offer separate prizes for those in the Legends division who shoot the best score in relation to their age.
From the non-competitive aspects point of view, I earlier mentioned great friendships. But what also takes place is the energy of so many like-minded people getting together, the chance to support your organization and its showcase event. Sedona has quite a few off-course activities and tourist attractions, and is quite popular as a tourist destination. I encourage you to enter this tournament early as lodging accommodations are sure to fill up quickly. For those of you who are more budget-minded, we have arranged rates of just $74.99 per night at the Comfort Inn in Camp Verde, which is approximately a 25-minute drive from the course. If you’d like to stay closer in Sedona itself, there are accommodations that can be had for reasonable pricing. As most of you are internet savvy, you can find some good deals that are closer to the course.
We generally have three types of participants at the U.S. Cup: Those who play every year or almost every year; those who play some of the time, and those who play once or rarely. I realize that this is not an inexpensive trip for most of you, and I truly appreciate those who make the time and effort to join us whenever they can, whether it be regular competitors or those who compete sparingly. And I know I speak for other officers of the USGTF when I say that.
Why not join us this year in Sedona? I look forward to seeing you there.
Learning Golf Should Mirror Skiing
Teaching Hacks That Work
We all know that there is no substitute for teaching proper fundamentals. They are the bases of forming a good swing and overall game. There is no doubt that the finest players in the game have mastered the fundamentals, and the closer our students can do the same, the more they will improve.
But there are times when gaining proficiency in the fundamentals is rather difficult for some of our students. There are some teaching shortcuts that can be used in conjunction with the fundamentals that can expedite the learning process. Keep in mind that these won’t work for every student, but they’re worth trying when a student’s progress is stalled. Here are a few that cover the basic errant ball flights:
SLICING
Many students have a hard time squaring the clubface because they don’t understand the feel of the proper release through impact.
Using an extremely strong grip –Most students employing this grip will have no choice but to square or close the clubface at impact.
Back to the target drill – The student sets up with a stance that is at least 45° closed to the target line. Since they can’t turn very well through the impact area, the arms and hands will tend to release properly through impact. This drill works for the vast majority of slicers.
Try to hit the ball with the toe of the clubhead – USGTF Hall of Fame teacher David Vaught emphasizes that the student must do the opposite of what he or she is currently doing in order to effect a change. This feeling of trying to hit the ball with the toe of the clubhead (not the toe of the clubface, but the actual toe of the clubhead) helps many slicers realize how much clubhead rotation is necessary through impact. And if you’re worried about the student actually hitting the ball off the toe of the clubhead and ruining their $500 driver, relax. Members of the USGTF Technical Committee have yet to see one student do this in our collective years of teaching.
HOOKING
Hooking, of course, is the opposite of slicing, as the clubface is closed to the clubhead path at impact. This is more of a good player’s problem, but we still see average players and novices struggle with it.
Drag the grip or clubhead inside through impact – USGTF teaching legend Bob Toski has been quoted as saying, “Swing in the direction of your miss.” So, if the ball is hooking left for a right-hander, it is imperative that the clubhead and/or grip be swung hard to the left through impact. Some may get the feeling of “sawing” across the ball.
Feel the lead shoulder move down and behind the golfer through impact – Golfers who hook often drop the clubhead too far inside starting down, the result of the lead shoulder moving too far out and up. Cultivating the opposite feel can do wonders.
TOPPING
Golfers can top the ball as the clubhead is either ascending or descending. Regardless of the angle of attack, many toppers “chicken-wing” the lead arm through impact, the result of not turning properly. But until that fundamental problem is fixed, a simple solution is to get the student to try to hit underneath the ball instead of trying to hit the back of the ball. Having them take practice swings where they brush the grass, or even take a slight divot, gets them to feel where the bottom of the clubhead is in relation to the ground.
HITTING IT FAT
This is the opposite of topping, as the student is hitting the ground before hitting the ball. Both topping and fat shots can have their origin in poor posture, but those hitting it fat really need to emphasize a more proper posture as they are likely to be too hunched over at setup. Also, as in topping, it is helpful to get the student to try to do the opposite of what he or she is actually doing, and this would involve trying to top the ball. And this bears emphasis: Knowing where the bottom of the clubhead is at impact is a crucial skill that must be mastered for any sort of proficiency in the game.
SHANKING
The best advice here might be the old saying, “Take two weeks off…then quit.” Seriously, shanking is a problem that has a number of causes, but the result is the same – hitting balls off the hosel of the club. A quick fix is to place an empty water bottle just outside where the toe of the clubhead should be at impact. Another quick fix in extreme cases is to have the student address the ball off the toe of the club and actually try to either hit the ball off the toe of the clubface, or even try to whiff to the inside of the ball. Sometimes all it takes is for a student to see his or her perception doesn’t match reality, and this can get them going in the right direction.
SUMMARY
These teaching “hacks” aren’t substitutes for emphasizing the proper fundamentals, but they can help get results where other traditional methods may have either failed or are taking a long time to implement. It’s our job to get our students hitting the ball solidly, and sometimes that may mean taking shortcuts until the root cause of the problem is corrected.