Bad shots are part of the game of golf; we all hit them. After hitting a bad shot, there are different options on what happens next: We can lose our temper while trying to hit a hero shot, or we can stay composed and hit a good shot to get us out of trouble. I have found that one of the things separating great players from the rest of the field is they never follow a bad shot with another bad shot.
Many times, watching the PGA Tour on TV, you will hear the announcer talk about a “comeback birdie.” This is in reference to the player scoring a birdie after having a bogey or worse on the hole before. Competitive golf is a lot about momentum. Executing a good shot after a bad shot helps you keep a positive attitude.
As teaching professionals, we need to teach our students how to keep the wheels from falling off once they hit a bad shot or have a bad hole. Some of this is about teaching how to hit proper recovery shots, and the other is about maintaining a positive attitude when things go south. One great way to teach these skills is to go on the course with your students for playing lessons. It allows you to see how they handle bad situations and what recovery shots they need to learn. In addition, it provides you with an opportunity to get out on the course and play a little golf yourself!
One of the things that fascinates me the most about the golf business, and there is a lot, is that even golf teachers and golf professionals don’t understand the avenues available through the big name original equipment manufacturers to acquire the correct equipment without buying thousands of dollars of poorly matched equipment.
It is an established fact that, through years of research by many different research firms, that the average golf consumer has a ”golf budget”: greens fees, lessons, and equipment. Golf teaching professionals that do not help their students get the right equipment are unwittingly hurting their own business. How? Very simple. When the average golfer buys a mass-produced golf club that doesn’t work with their swing and ball flight, they are wasting a good chunk of their golf budget. Once again, through research, we know that these “off-the-rack golfers” don’t take that many lessons. So, the answer is very simple, and most long-term teachers know this. If they don’t buy the right equipment, they buy more clubs. Hooray for the massive corporations; bad news for the teaching professional. That fourth driver in the last year that Joe Golfer bought could have been spent on instruction. Now, not everyone would spend that on lessons, but a surprising majority would.
Personally, I can tell you honestly there were hundreds of times over the years students would pay for a series a lessons after a club fitting session with me, relieved at finding the correct equipment and the specs that worked with their swing and ball flight. They spent that extra golf money with ME! Not for the third set of irons in six months at the mammoth golf retail store. It’s the same as you may have heard about the large casinos in Vegas. How do you think they got so big?
The most pressing problem is that even golf professionals don’t know that every OEM has a custom department in their assembly facility. Two companies, Ping and Mizuno, generate 80% of their sales through their custom department.
Basically, iron sets, drivers, wedges, hybrids, and even putters are assembled two ways, not counting the tour department that takes care of the obvious. One of the components, and the most profitable one, for all companies is the component of the company that produces one type of shaft, one lie angle, one length, one static weight, one swing weight, one loft, one grip size and one set makeup – the dreaded “off-the-rack” set: mass-produced, boxed up and sent to the large big box stores to sell off the shelf to the uneducated golfer by the uneducated retail clerk. Or, even worse, by the uninformed golf professional. One of the worst things about these clubs is the inexpensive and poorly designed “stock” shafts used. Of course, among other things, they just have one-size-fits-all specifications.
Let me ask you something. Have you ever seen two identical golf swings? Same path and face angle? Same angle of attack, same tempo? Same club head speed? Same toe deflection? Take all of those variables and mix them up. Are you serious? Do you really think there are two golfers that have all of those variables exactly the same?
The other component of the OEMs’ manufacturing occurs in the custom department. To the average golfer, this sounds expensive, right? Wrong. Most OEMs offer no-charge shaft upgrades on many shafts. For example, one of the largest companies in the history of the golf equipment industry offers five different aftermarket shafts on all of their iron sets for FREE. You could fit you your students to a different lie, different loft, upgraded aftermarket shafts that fits them better (and better quality, by the way), different size grip, and the cost would be…FREE! Yes, that’s right, for those that don’t know. All the OEMs offer no-extra-charge custom-made clubs, woods, irons, putters, and hybrids through their CUSTOM department. Some OEMs charge a minimal amount for some shafts, $3 to $10 per club. All other specs, including grip size, are FREE.
Do they make the same profit on the custom department sets? Of course not. That’s why they don’t advertise it. Even the sales reps push off-the-rack clubs at demo days.
Educate yourself. Educated your golfer. Sell more series, and at the same time, make your golfer better by helping them get better-fit equipment. They will be grateful, and you will be a better teaching professional. The massive-size conglomerates will make a little less profit. So, the star tour player gets 8 mil this year instead of 9 mil. Do you really care? I know your student won’t.
LEARNING A SKILL, PART 1
A successful teacher can transmit his information to the student in the most effective manner possible. To help achieve this goal, it is important to understand how the student receives the information the teachers is sending him. Rather than delve into theories of learning a skill, use simple techniques to reach a student without the scientific clutter, although the goals are the same.
Sports performance is basically how one’s psychomotor skills react to achieve a goal. The term “muscle memory” is misleading. Information is stored in the body’s computer – the brain. The brain is what stores memories.
Many sports have similar actions and movements. All sports that require body rotation rely on the same core muscles as the source of stability and power. Therefore, when a student has already performed other sports, often it is easy to transmit the same images to the golf swing.
Too often a teacher pushes a student with excessive images and thoughts that lead to “overload.” Try this experiment. Hand a beginning golfer a golf club and tell him to hit the ball. That’s all. Most of the time, they will make contact.
LEARNING A SKILL, PART 2
The golf swing is basically a natural movement. When a child picks up a stick and swings at a pine cone, nobody explains the techniques of “hitting a pine cone.” Therefore, in your teaching, try to start as basic as possible. Let the movement begin naturally and let it ingrain with repetition. In many cases, less is more.
The same can be said with advanced golfers. Often, good golfer feels as if a swing change is a huge undertaking, when in reality, it might be as simple as a few centimeters. Even advanced golfers should work on simple drills and exercises to “age” a swing change.
For example, I have a client who is a scratch golfer. Since he was a child, he had a huge loop in his swing. He came to me one day and said, “The loop in my swing is gone! I have worked it out! Watch me hit some balls, Pro.”
As I watched a few shots, every ball was straight down the middle, but the loop was still there. In his mind it was gone and his performance was elevated. For the next year, we didn’t let him see his video and I gradually worked the loop out little by little. He was hardly aware of it because I kept the drills simple, never more than one exercise at a time.
Important points to remember when teaching a skill:
• Let natural ability guide your students.
• Limit the amount of information, especially with beginner golfers.
Old ingrained habits can be changed. It is simply a matter of:
• Understanding the fault.
• Finding a simple, effective exercise or thought to correct the fault.
• Repeating and aging the correct movement.
The brain is a powerful instrument. If we can find a simple way to correct a fault, we can have immediate results. But, often when a golfer finds a way to correct a fault, he thinks that after a few shots that all is cured.
In reality, to produce a correct repeating motion one has to:
• Age the correct motion until it is ingrained,
and / or
• Have a clear mental focus with a simple thought to produce the correct movement.
LEARNING A SKILL, PART 1
A successful teacher can transmit his information to the student in the most effective manner possible. To help achieve this goal, it is important to understand how the student receives the information the teachers is sending him. Rather than delve into theories of learning a skill, use simple techniques to reach a student without the scientific clutter, although the goals are the same.
Sports performance is basically how one’s psychomotor skills react to achieve a goal. The term “muscle memory” is misleading. Information is stored in the body’s computer – the brain. The brain is what stores memories.
Many sports have similar actions and movements. All sports that require body rotation rely on the same core muscles as the source of stability and power. Therefore, when a student has already performed other sports, often it is easy to transmit the same images to the golf swing.
Too often a teacher pushes a student with excessive images and thoughts that lead to “overload.” Try this experiment. Hand a beginning golfer a golf club and tell him to hit the ball. That’s all. Most of the time, they will make contact.
LEARNING A SKILL, PART 2
The golf swing is basically a natural movement. When a child picks up a stick and swings at a pine cone, nobody explains the techniques of “hitting a pine cone.” Therefore, in your teaching, try to start as basic as possible. Let the movement begin naturally and let it ingrain with repetition. In many cases, less is more.
The same can be said with advanced golfers. Often, good golfer feels as if a swing change is a huge undertaking, when in reality, it might be as simple as a few centimeters. Even advanced golfers should work on simple drills and exercises to “age” a swing change.
For example, I have a client who is a scratch golfer. Since he was a child, he had a huge loop in his swing. He came to me one day and said, “The loop in my swing is gone! I have worked it out! Watch me hit some balls, Pro.”
As I watched a few shots, every ball was straight down the middle, but the loop was still there. In his mind it was gone and his performance was elevated. For the next year, we didn’t let him see his video and I gradually worked the loop out little by little. He was hardly aware of it because I kept the drills simple, never more than one exercise at a time.
Important points to remember when teaching a skill:
• Let natural ability guide your students.
• Limit the amount of information, especially with beginner golfers.
Old ingrained habits can be changed. It is simply a matter of:
• Understanding the fault.
• Finding a simple, effective exercise or thought to correct the fault.
• Repeating and aging the correct movement.
The brain is a powerful instrument. If we can find a simple way to correct a fault, we can have immediate results. But, often when a golfer finds a way to correct a fault, he thinks that after a few shots that all is cured.
In reality, to produce a correct repeating motion one has to:
• Age the correct motion until it is ingrained,
and / or
• Have a clear mental focus with a simple thought to produce the correct movement.
There was a lot of brown showing in the recent U.S. Opens hosted at Pinehurst #2, along with several weeds around the edges of the course. On television, it looked a little ragged compared to most American golf courses that host tournaments on a weekly basis. In reality, most municipal courses in the country look more like Pinehurst than Augusta, and experience unfair criticism as a result. It takes a lot of water to keep grass green on the fairways, and water is becoming more and more a commodity we should not waste. Pinehurst now uses 70 percent less water per year, and from what I could see, the course played very well and was enjoyed by all the participants.
The golf courses I grew up on did not get irrigation systems until the late ‘60s, and it was common for the fairways to turn brown during hot, dry summers. No one complained as long as the greens were good. Oftentimes, we looked forward to the browning, because 230-yard drives were rolling out to 260 or more. In 1968, the primary course I grew up on got a new watering system. After all, back then everything was cheap. Hershey bars were a nickel. Water was free, or at least we thought so. Within a few years, if so much as a brown spot showed up on the course, the members were screaming. The term “dirt track” became the tag on any course that did not drown their fairways with liquid refreshment.
We got spoiled and failed to think of the future. Even now, very few want to bite the bullet and step back a bit. Maybe it will take something like a brown U.S. Open to open our eyes.
Recently, I was playing golf with a few members of the golf club where I am at. Both gentlemen are around 45-50 years of age and have about 10 handicaps. On a long par-3, I noticed one of them pulled out a 3-iron. He made a decent swing at it, but caught it a little thin and missed the green about 25 yards short and right of the green.
When I inquired as to why was he carrying a long iron versus a hybrid, his answer shocked me. He said that better players played long irons, including 2- and 3-irons. I started laughing at his statement, which started a nice little debate about long irons versus hybrids. Both players were shocked that the longest iron in my bag is a 4-iron.
My point to them was that they needed to think about golf as a game of misses. Very few golf shots are struck perfectly. If my miss is a “better” miss than your miss, then I will beat you. If you mishit a long iron, it does not fly as far or as straight as it would with a mishit hybrid. By simply changing the clubs in their bag from long irons to hybrids, it would help lower their scores.
My next point was to educate them on hybrids, and what they can do for your game. There are lots of shots where hybrids come in handy: deep rough, long par-3s, second shots on par-5s and little chips around the greens. After our conversation, they began to
understand this philosophy. Later that week, one of them got fitted for the new Callaway hybrids to replace his 2- and 3-irons.
Make sure you talk to your students about hybrids if they are still carrying long irons. It will improve their game, lower their scores, and make the game more enjoyable.
I was watching NBC Nightly News over the weekend and one of their segments caught my eye. Some fellows on a golf course were kicking a soccer ball down the fairway and then at a hole the size of a 55-gallon drum in circumference. Apparently, this new sport called “foot golf” is all the rage. I am not necessarily one to cast aspersions on people who come up with new ways to entertain themselves, but I won’t be joining the ranks of foot golfers across the globe…just as I have never played a round of disc golf either.
Why? Well, I became an avid golfer because of the challenge. How hard can it be to kick a big ball down a wide open fairway? Want to make it interesting, forego the soccer ball, and use something more like a tennis ball. I can’t wait to see how they handle an uphill fairway when gravity returns the old soccer ball back to their feet time after time.
All kidding aside, if people find this to be fun, more power to them. Will this propel interest in the actual game of golf? I doubt it. The PGA thinks it might, but I am skeptical. Humans in this day and age tend not to gravitate from something easy to something much more complicated, difficult, and expensive. The fact that foot golf was even created probably means that someone was looking for an alternative to the challenge of golf. Maybe I am wrong and this foot thing will ultimately help
the game of golf. It might also keep people from ever trying real golf in the first place. I hope not. Only time will tell.
By Thomas T Wartelle
A simple diagnosis of a swing fault leads to a simple remedy. This leads to positive results and success.
Remember that most students are happy to hit the ball straight and 150 yards. If a student wants to continue his progress, make a plan and work on only one or two swing faults a lesson. With advanced golfers, find out what their goals are and develop a strategy to make improvements to their game.
In teaching the game of golf, it is important not to overload the student with too many swing thoughts. When many swing faults are diagnosed, too much effort is made in correction. The student often becomes frustrated and loses confidence in his game. At this point golf, becomes less enjoyable and the teaching professional has failed.
A happy student will take another lesson! Therefore, to be successful as a teacher, our goal is to guide the student and provide a positive learning environment.
The Teaching Professional Chart:
Teacher 1: No technical skills; no empathy (failed results).
Teacher 2: Technical Skills; No Empathy (poor results).
Teacher 3: Low technical skills; Empathy (moderate results).
Teacher 4: High Technical Skills; High Empathy (maximum results).
Which teacher will be the most successful? As a teaching professional, how do you rate on the technical skill scale and the empathy scale? By making an honest examination of yourself, you can take your teaching to the next level.
A few weeks ago, I was playing a round of golf with some buddies. Their handicap range was from 15-25. About halfway through the round, I was shocked that none of them could pitch the ball with any height around the greens. Each one played their pitch shots with the leading edge of the club versus using the bounce.
About halfway through our back nine, I asked each of them about bounce, of which they didn’t know what I was talking about. We had the course to ourselves, so I had each of them get a few extra balls out and we set up about 30 yards from the green. I explained what the bounce is and what it is there for. I had each player take some practice swings with their leading hand only, making sure to really hit the bounce on the ground. When executed properly, there is a nice “thud” sound. They learned that by using the bounce, they could use the entire loft on the wedge.
After a few swings, they started hitting shots. However, like most people, they would not swing enough through the shot. A few were hit fat, and then all of sudden, one played a high-lofted shot that hit the green and stopped fairly quickly with a little spin. The shock on their face as each of them hit a sweet shot was priceless. They couldn’t believe how aggressive they could swing with the ball going high and coming down soft.
For the average golfers who don’t play a lot, they might not understand the importance of bounce on their wedges. As teachers, it is something we can show them to help their games, which will in turn, lower their scores.
Often, as golf teachers, we become so immersed in technical aspects of the golf swing that we tend to forget the basic fundamentals that should be followed as a golf teaching professional. The following are six basic fundamentals forming the foundation of the successful golf teaching professional:
Professional Appearance
One never gets a second chance to make a first impression. Appearance includes the obvious such as clothing and hairstyle. But, it goes much further than the obvious. A teacher’s personal action, manner, and style greatly influence the client.
Besides the obvious, some common negative appearances are: The “know it all” pro, the egotistical tour pro, the cell phone slave, cigarette Marlboro man, and the disorganized pro.
The first and final impressions of a lesson often influence the client’s choice of returning for repeat sessions.
Explanation
Teach simplicity while never assuming your students understand certain terms or phrases.
Demonstration
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Detection and Correction
A simple detection of an error should lead to a simple correction. Never detect too many errors in one lesson.
Encouragement vs. Criticism
Use positive reinforcement over negative criticism.
Did students enjoy themselves?
Insure that your students have fun.
The successful teaching professional understands the importance of communication, empathy and technical knowledge. This will lead to repeat customers.
