30 Nov 2016

TECHNOLOGY, MODERN TEACHING

When I started teaching golf twenty years ago, there wasn’t very much technology available to the average player.  If you were lucky, you might have had a video camera to film someone’s golf swing.  You would video your student, take the tape out of the camera, and then go inside to find a television to watch and break down their golf swing.  Times have changed! Today, technology is in every part of golf, from fitting clubs and teaching the golf swing to looking at the putting stroke.  While watching the game on TV, you see the ProTracer technology in use.  Launch monitors have changed the way golf is taught, because they provide instantaneous feedback.  No longer do you have to wait to see your golf swing; each shot can be analyzed on the range. Technology can be expensive.  Some of the launch monitors are over $20,000.  After adding additional high-tech video equipment, it can become overwhelming.  Some of you might use technology already, and that’s great.  If you are not, then you need to take a different approach and consider how students of today learn best. I’m not saying you need to invest in thousands of dollars in equipment.  However, you’d be amazed how much you can do with an iPad and downloading a teaching app.  Most apps can be purchased for under $20 and will allow you to break down your student’s swing on the driving range.  After reviewing at the tee, you have the ability to email them the file for future reference. Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and your business!  The dividends you and your student will receive are worth it.
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29 Nov 2016

FLEXIBILITY

As winter enters most areas of the country, now is a great time to brainstorm with your students on things they can do to improve their golf games for the spring.  One area most players want to improve is gaining distance.  One of the quickest ways to improve distance is to increase your flexibility. As people get older, they lose their flexibility and have to make a conscious choice to work on it.  As golf teaching professionals, we can recommend programs to them to help improve in this area.  If they work on their flexibility all winter, come spring they will be ready to jump back into lessons and already be on the right track to improve their game. A few years ago, I partnered with a local fitness instructor to offer packages to my students.  Having a trained fitness professional design programs for your students is a great way to help them reach their goals.  I was pleasantly shocked on how my students eagerly jumped at this opportunity.  Working with the fitness instructor over the winter months gave most of the students increased flexibility and strength. Sometimes we need to think outside the box of normal golf teaching to help students improve.  Try this with some of your students over the winter and you will be amazed with their results!
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2 Nov 2016

Golf Course Maintenance “Zero” Budgets

By Marc Gelbke USGTF Member and Contributing Writer Any manager of a facility who is familiar with its overall performance-based budget knows that a big part of expenses, if not the biggest part, comes from maintaining the golf course on an annual basis. So, it is only wise to be very familiar with, and to be part of, establishing your annual maintenance budget, along with your superintendent and committees, if present. As the overall economy continues to be challenging for golf course owners, a different approach to establishing your budget may be warranted. A very effective way to study costs is to develop a “zero” budget so that each line item has to be justified. This may be a far better approach than the traditional approach of applying inflation adjustments to your budget items year after year, as the “zero” budget will provide you with a justifiable course budget based on real costs for the year, and there by providing the possibility of saving on expenses and increasing your net operating income. The approach to this budget concept is to establish written standards of your annual maintenance goals, and should be explained in detail of the how, why, and who, so that a “zero”budget can be put together successfully.  Your superintendent and/or greens committee should be the ones to draft their goals and maintenance standards for the course and be reviewed and discussed with you, the manager. Once goals have been established and all parties involved are in agreement, the “zero” budget can begin to be put together,starting with all line items being zero. Labor and all predicted activities should begin the process. Include unpredictable occurrences, such as weather (being one of the biggest), that can have a significant impact on dollars needed to keep an acceptable standard for your course. Other items like labor, fertilizer needed and equipment needed, function cycles, as well as equipment maintenance, are relatively easy to forecast. Some distinct advantages of a“zero” budget are: Efficient allocation of funds and resources based on needs, goals, and standards. Challenges superintendent to look for cost-effective ways to improve operation. Eliminates the “standard” inflation-based budgeting. Involves staff and motivates by being involved in setting and monitoring set goals. Improves communication between staff, committees, and manager. Provides an “out of the box” and“refreshing” way of doing things and shows initiative. Next time you are tasked with annual budgeting, think of “zero” budgeting.
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Of Old Golf Clubs And Spiders!
2 Nov 2016

Of Old Golf Clubs And Spiders!

I am Norm’s driver. I am a Callaway FT-9. I know, I am a bit old. But Norm is really old. He is older than some of the dirt that flies in the air when he hits a fat shot with me (all too often, I might add). At the moment, I am in a corner in the basement. I have been here for over a year!  I was put here to “learn a lesson.”  Old Norm thinks that by having me stand in the corner of the cold and dark basement, when I get out I will be so happy I will behave and he will hit straight drives again. Give me a break!

This is not the first time I have been down here. This seems to happen more and more as he reads golf tips online or in golf magazines, then tries to put them into practice. He is hopeless and confused, is the way I look at it. I mean, crap, he stands up to the ball and I look back and see his eyeballs rolling around and smoke coming out of his ears just before he grips my handle end so tight I think I am going to choke. Then he rips the downswing off the top in a casting action that would make you think he is fishing for whales. This is quickly followed by my head hitting the ground just behind the ball, giving me a headache and pointing my face somewhere east of where the ball should go. Then I am slammed into the golf bag and a club cover is put over my head.

As I sit here in my dark corner, I think back to bouncing around on the back of the cart. I manage to look around from time to time and wonder why I am the only one sent to the dungeon. I look down on those little bitty wedgies and know they hit more bad shots than I do…and talk about hitting it fat and adventures in the sand bins! Then those other clubs, I don’t even know why he brings them along. He can’t hit his five-or six-iron and relies on a “utility club,” whatever that is.

So here I am, just me and the spiders. I hate spiders! Old Normie spends so much time at the practice range that he never cleans up the basement. Cobwebs and spiders everywhere!  They used to crawl up my shaft and bite my grip. That taught them a lesson, I tell you. Norm is such a tight wad that he changes his grips every two years or so. They are so shiny and sweaty I don’t know how he hangs onto me. Anyway, back to the spiders. I think they tried to bite the grips and either the smell or the sweaty salt did them in as there were a few dead ones on the floor one day. Now the spiders just go by and wave at me. I am not sure if these are friendly waves, even though we have been here together so long, or a one-finger wave, as I can’t quite make out if they have hands or not.

Well, here it is spring again and Old Normie is dusting off the golf bag and the rest of his paraphernalia and has actually put me in the bag. He is a year older and a year weaker, is my thinking. Perhaps he will swing a bit easier, keep his head behind the ball and let me do my stuff. Could be a good year coming up or I could be back with the spiders.

Even golf professionals have bad days. Average Human Beings (AHBs) can choose to pick their attitude at the start of every day; professionals have to pick their attitude every day. Don’t blame the driver…and watch out for spiders!
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