Editorial

21 Feb 2019 admin

As a Certified Golf Teaching Professional® Which Social Platform should I use?

By: Kenneth Weaver

When you consider the vast array of Social Media Platforms it can be a daunting task trying to decide exactly where your Social Media presence would be best suited.

First you need to take a close look at your reasons for having a social media presence. Here are a few of the primary reasons why you need a social presence.

Establish credibility with new clients/prospects

Networking with consumers & Industry leaders

Increase business leads/sales

Boost SEO for your business website

Competitive advantage

SMM Drives targeted traffic to your website

Helps you build relationships with your audience

Which Social Platform/s should I use?

That can vary depending on the focus of your business as well as the time and energy you have available to maintain your social presence.

If your time and resources are limited you should have at the least have a Professional Facebook “Business Page” regardless of your business focus.

For Golf teaching and coaching professionals:

Facebook: Your home base for social media marketing. This is also the best platform for paid/targeted marketing in your geographical region through Facebook ad campaigns. Note: 68% of Americans are on Facebook!

Linkedin: Your personal professional page to help establish your credibility and network. Linkedin also offers professional business pages that can be very effective, especially if you already have a professional following.

Instagram: Popular platform to share images/videos such as golf tips, feature students, feature teams…) all posts can be easily shared on your Facebook business page. Creating posts for Instagram (IG) is quite easy and time efficient with the added benefit that when you post on IG your post can also roll over to your FB page (one post covers two sites). Your IG posts can also be easily shared on Twitter!

If you have the time/resources to take things a step further:

Twitter: The top social platform to reach out and interact with others of similar interest. You choose who you follow and engage. The more active you are the higher level of engagement and exposure you will receive. You can easily share images/articles from your website to Twitter with “call to action” links back to your desired landing page/s.

If you have products or merchandise that you are selling/promoting:

Pinterest: This is by far the best social platform to promote products/merchandise for sale. The “pins” are easy to create can direct traffic back to your website or specifically your online marketplace. With Pinterest you set up “boards” covering various topics related to your business or niche. The boards attract followers and in turn the followers see and can click on your pins that display your products/merchandise.

The only reason I placed Facebook ahead of Linkedin is that Facebook provides more options for business in regard to targeted marketing and is a more effective platform for building and directing a large audience (68% of Americans are on FB) to your website. That being said having a Linkedin profile and business page is easy to maintain once it is set up. Facebook requires more input to build your following and engagement but is more effective overall.

Summary

Regardless which Social platform/s you choose it is vital that you set up profiles that are “Professional” in appearance and a bio that is well written with a clear message stating what you have to offer perspective clients/customers. Another vital element is “engagement” with your following. Unless you are a major celebrity most people won’t engage with you unless you interact back with them. Show them that you care and are interested in what they are posting. Be responsive and reply to comments that followers leave on your timeline. Take a few minutes three or four times a week and cruise your “home feed” and like/comment on your followers content. This more often than not brings them back to your content! As the title implies these are “Social” platforms and social implies that there is two way communication.

In Social Media marketing (SMM) it is important to remember that your followers (prospects) don’t want to be constantly pitched to – they want honest informative/entertaining engagement. You have to provide them something of value. This can be by the way of entertaining images/videos, education (golf tips) a bit of humor goes a long way!

If you want people to follow you, it is vital to present them a unique path filled with value that’s interesting to them!

Note: This is the second in a series of social Media marketing articles. Be sure and click on one or more of the Social Media Icons at the top right of the page to follow us on your favorite social platform. I monitor all USGTF social platforms and will be posting additional articles through those channels. If you have any questions or need assistance in regard to social media marketing, SEO or graphic design feel free to contact me either through USGTF social channels or directly through email: Kenneth@weaverentp.com or on my Facebook business page: https://www.facebook.com/NetWebWeaver/ .

If you would like a free consultation session with me you can follow link to schedule: CLICK HERE

My next article is “Do I need a Website for my golf teaching/coaching business”?

If you’ve found this information to be helpful please take a moment and click on one of the Social Share buttons below.

13 Feb 2019 admin

Is Golf Too Hard?

By Mike Stevens, USGTF contributing writer

In the movie A league of Their Own, Gina Davis, the star player, tells Tom Hanks, the manager, she is quitting because the game is too hard. He replies, “It’s supposed to be hard; if it was easy, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.” The difficulty is often cited as a reason golf’s population has declined in recent years or why people don’t take up the game as readily as some might like. I think it’s nonsense. Like anything that is a challenge, few will embrace the challenge, but most won’t. But in a country of 350 million, a few is still a lot. They say 24 million people play golf. Plenty for a thriving industry.

Is it too hard? Balderdash! Yes, it is hard, but it was never meant to be easy. The game is supposed to test you. In playing it, you learn as much about yourself as anything else you experience in life. Simply put, golf takes effort, and effort takes commitment. It also requires a desire to be good at it because it doesn’t come quickly. To those few that have the mettle, the game is very rewarding despite the hard. As Kipling wrote, “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, then you’ll be a man, my son.” Or woman, my daughter – don’t want to be politically incorrect.

8 Feb 2019 admin

The Spring Practice Plan    

By David Vaught, USGTF Master Teacher and Hall of Fame Member

With spring comes the excitement of a new golf season. Helping your students prepare for a fun and great ball striking season is a tremendous opportunity to build loyalty and get referrals.

One of my core beliefs about the game and the struggle to improve is how poorly and unstructured the average golfer’s practice is. As an instructor, you can make a difference in how your students prepare for success. Let’s lay out some simple solutions and a sample plan to get the wheels turning in your mind about how this can be a success for you and your student.

Most all of us know the difference between block practice and varied practice, but we should do a quick review. Block is the same task with the same club; varied is changing the task and the club and/or shot selection. We also know that golfers hit too many balls, too fast, and then wonder why they get poor results on the course. To remedy that, we need to be specific and direct about what how to practice.

First, be adamant about stretching and make a very specific recommendations on stretches. If you are not comfortable with this, there is a bountiful amount of information out there. Pete Egoscue and Roger Fredericks are two I recommend reading. The stretches should be specific to their swing issues and restrictions. It should also be short. Time is critical to a good practice plan.

Second, block putting to begin. Most golfers start with the driver. Big mistake. This should focus on a specific issue, using an aid. An example would be path or face using some sort of variation of golf tee setup or a putting mirror. Again, short blocks of time. The golfer then should practice from different distances, varying with each ball. Short, long, mid distances. They should play the putt out each time.This is the varied practice.

Repeat this for chipping. Again, varied practice to finish with two different clubs. If possible, do the same with pitching. Block practice to work on the mechanics and then varied trajectory, never hitting the same shot twice in a row.

Moving to the full swing, the judgment of the instructor is crucial here. Block practice should be very specific and focused on the golfer’s main challenge: low point, face, path or spin loft. The most effective block practice is with an aid or drill that can be used to create a ball strike. This simulates the condition of ball striking as opposed to swinging at air. There is some use to swings with no ball but they are not as effective. Be specific. For example, 20 balls with drill A and 20 balls with drill B. Once the blocked practice is complete, it is time to practice playing conditions. Tee off with the driver, then pull out an iron for the simulated approach shot. Next would be executing a pitch shot. Teach them to go through the pre-shot routine for each shot. Repeat the previous routine three or four times.

This sample practice should take 60 to 90 minutes. My suggestion is to write down a basic template and then personalize it for each student.

A golf instructor is not only a teacher but also a coach, mentor, great golf resource and a motivator. Good luck and have a successful year improving your students and growing the game we love.

6 Feb 2019 admin

Impact! Understand These Simple Principles

By Thomas T Wartelle, WGTF Master Professional

There are five human performance factors that affect distance and direction:

Direction
1) Position of clubface at impact to the Intended Target Line: The initial path, the curve of the ball during its flight, and where the ball will finish are all greatly influenced by the clubhead position at impact. 2) Path of the clubhead at impact to the Intended Target Line: The initial direction of the ball is slightly influenced by the clubhead path at impact. Path and clubface position at impact influence the amount of tilt of the spin axis imparted on the golf ball.

Direction/Distance
3) Angle of approach: The angle of approach of the clubface at impact influences ball flight, the initial launch angle, spin rate, and true loft of the clubface. 4) Centeredness of contact: Shots not struck on the center of the clubface will result in reduced distance. An off-center hit also imparts curvature (tilt of the spin axis) to the ball via the gear-effect.

Distance
5) Clubhead speed:
There are five human factors that influence clubhead speed at impact:
a. physical strength
b. body flexibility
c. swing technique
d. leverage
e. neuro-muscular coordination

A ball struck on the sweet spot will always leave the clubface very near to the direction the clubface was facing at impact. The ball will curve relative to the differential between the clubface and path of the clubhead at impact.

Remember my expression – “The clubface sends it, and the differential bends it.”

In summary, there is only one position in the golf swing that has influence on the ball. This is the moment in time when the clubface strikes the ball. The clubface position at impact is the primary concern. The differential between the clubface and the path of the clubhead at impact create the curvature: left curvature, right curvature, or no curvature.

The ball will never cross the path of the clubhead (unless it is moved by an outside force, i.e., the wind). The ball has no bias and will react only to the forces applied to it at the moment of truth – IMPACT!

23 Jan 2019 admin

As a Certified Golf Teaching Professional® – Is a Social Media Presence Important?

By: Kenneth Weaver

I’ll cut straight to the point by stating one simple fact: Your business needs a “healthy” social media presence.

Having a social media presence has reached the level where it is “expected”. If people search for you or your business and you don’t have a “healthy” presence on social media they often move on to the next business that does. A healthy and viable social media presence should be an essential element of your marketing strategy.

There is never a “wrong time” to start building a social media presence. With that being said it is vital that your presence reflects yourself and your business in a professional manner. This is especially important in the golf industry (I’ll address this specific topic in an upcoming article).

A consistent and viable Social Media Strategy can drive credibility and growth for yourself and your business by building relationships with your customers and prospects.

Five ways a Social Media Presence can benefit your Golf Business

Increased visibility and awareness of your brand

Through a consistent and relevant social media presence targeting your “niche” and region will ultimately increase awareness of your “brand” of services and/or products!

Build engagement with customers and prospects while taking customer service to a higher level

Social Media provides an effective platform to engage with your customers and prospects by offering online support.

Be quick to respond to any concerns or questions.

Be helpful and portray a positive image.

Be a good listener and make your customers/followers feel heard.

Be quick to like/thank/compliment customers/followers when they engage with your posts.

Know when to resolve certain conversations in private messages or with a phone call.

Truly listen to what your customers/followers are saying. They can provide you with invaluable insight.

Build authority for yourself & your business within the Golf community

Today’s customers have become more discerning when making the decision as to which businesses they choose to patronize and support. More often than not they will look for you and/or your business online. They will have an expectation of finding a professional, functional and up to date website. In addition they will be looking for your Facebook Business Page as well as other social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. This provides you with the perfect opportunity to establish yourself as an “authority” in your niche. Be it as a golf teacher, golf coach or in the golf merchandise business. This is your opportunity to outshine your competition.

Social Media Marketing is less expensive than traditional advertising

Let’s face it, conventional marketing (TV, Radio, Print Ads, direct mailing…) can be very expensive and not every business (especially small businesses) can afford huge campaigns. With social media advertising you can get a lot of value for your dollar. This provides an excellent and affordable opportunity to grow your audience. Using social media advertising platforms such as Facebook and/or Instagram you have the ability to reach out to a very specific and targeted market. If you make use of no other social media platform I highly recommend that you at the very least have a viable/active Facebook “business page” presence. I must emphasize that the “business page” presence is not the same as having your own personal Facebook. All posts/content on the business page need to be relative to your business or industry. This is not the place to be posting photos of you and your buddies Saturday night venture to the brew pub (I will address post content in an upcoming article).

Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms among adults in the United States. According to Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 2018 around two-thirds of U.S. adults (68%) actively use Facebook. By using the Facebook marketing platform you can target your advertising by region, sex, age, profession and interests. This is one of several means in which you can reach out to a large targeted audience within your geographic region.

Although it isn’t necessary to used paid social advertising to build your brand and find new customers it is by far the fastest means to do so. You always have the option of making full use of the appropriate platforms without the use of paid ads. This can work well if you happen to be someone that already has a personal social presence with a significant following. You can simple invite your current friends/followers to follow your new platforms and start building from there. This is a great approach to use to get started even if you plan to develop a paid advertising campaign.

Note: This is the first in a series of Social Media Marketing articles. Be sure and click on one or more of the Social Media Icons at the top right of the page to follow us on your favorite social platform. I monitor all of the USGTF social platforms and will be posting additional articles through those channels. If you have any questions in regard to social media marketing feel free to contact me either through USGTF social channels or directly via my email: weaverentp@gmail.com

If you’ve found this information to be helpful please take a moment and click on one of the Social Share buttons below.

9 Jan 2019 admin

We Have A New Set Of Rules…Big Deal

By Mike Stevens

What’s the big whoop about new and simplified rules? I guess it’s human nature to resist change, but anything to speed up play is good, in my opinion. I just wonder why it took so long to get these implemented. The process began back in 2012. Remember the Nike ad – “Just Do It.” Heck, if you’re the so-called ruling body, you should be able to make whatever changes are in the best interest of the game. There were originally 13 basic rules, and except for the one saying you must tee off within one clublength from the hole, they served the game well for hundreds of years. Now, there will be 24, down from 34. They’re going in the right direction.

But here is the real rub: 90 percent of golfers don’t play strictly by the rules, anyway. Yes, rules are important. As Kramer once said, “Without rules, there would be chaos.”  For tournament play, absolutely! The average golfer is just out for a day with their buddies. I play with a group of guys once a week. Even after a half-hour on the driving range, they all hit two balls off the first tee. It’s commonplace to improve their lie or take a drop for lost balls and O.B. shots instead of going back to replay. Guess what? They use their illegitimate handicaps each week and no one complains about rule breaking in the $5 skins game. So, if I were the King of Golf, the last page of my rule book would say, “These rules are for tournament play. For all other forms of recreational play – do as you please.”

19 Dec 2018 admin

Virtual Reality Still Searching for a Place in the Golf Industry

By Ben Bryant

In early 2016, I wrote about the advent of virtual reality and its potential impact on the future of the golf industry.  Two and a half years later, virtual reality equipment is becoming more and more ubiquitous.  Some of the top holiday season sales are for VR gear from companies like Oculus and HTC.  One of the top movies last Spring was Ready Player One, a film about how VR will soon consume our society.  With VR becoming more and more popular, it’s time to revisit this trend and see how it’s affecting the entertainment industry generally and golf industry.

Getting a top-of-the-line VR setup isn’t cheap. First, you’ll need a pretty powerful computer to operate the software.  Next, you’ll need to buy the VR equipment.  The aforementioned Oculus and HTC brands run around $350 to $500.  Finally, you’ll need a large empty room devoid of obstacles like furniture so you don’t hurt yourself or break something while playing. Setup is simple. A visor covers your eyes and most of your face and allows you see the virtual world.  A handheld controller allows you to interact with objects like golf balls and clubs and to navigate through menus.  The more advanced (expensive) VR setups include cameras set around the room, which place your body in the VR environment and records the movement of your body.

One of the most fun things you do once everything is set up is to take a virtual tour of your favorite golf course.  Using Google Maps, you can explore any golf course you want on a 3-D tour.  Having never made it to the Masters yet, my first stop was Augusta National.  It’s an incredible experience to be “standing” on Hogan’s Bridge on No. 12.  Of course, what you’re actually exploring are high resolution static photographs – you can’t interact with the golf course, just explore it.  It’s fun to survey famous courses that I might not have the chance to visit in the real world, but it’s also useful to scout out a golf course I might play soon.  If you do nothing else with virtual reality, this ability is worth the price of admission.

If you actually want to swing a club, you’ll need to buy a game that allows you to do so.  The top two golf programs are Galaxy Golf and Golf Club VR. The first is a sort of cartoonish mini-golf game where you hit bank shots to islands floating in space.  Obviously geared toward younger players, it’s safe to say it doesn’t create a very realistic golf experience.  Golf Club VR, on the other hand, is designed to be a more serious game.  You play on a realistic looking golf course.  Users can even design their own course and play on courses other players have designed. There are excellent reproductions of famous tracks like St. Andrews.  But most significantly, in order to play Golf Club VR well, you have to make an actual golf swing. Poor swings result in poor shots.  The big takeaway here is that improving your golf swing in Golf Club VR could have real-world impact on your game.

Of course, there is still a long way to go until VR golf is comparable with the real thing.  For one, the controller could not be more unlike a golf club.  There are users who have attached their controller to a golf club shaft in order to provide a more authentic swing experience, but there’s nothing official from Oculus or HTC.  Also, Golf Club VR is a single-player game, which means you can’t play with friends or, for example, bring a golf teacher into your game for a lesson.  Lastly, the interactive graphics of the game lack the detail and naturalness of the static images in Google Earth.  Overall, these limitations feel like they’re temporary and will be solved with time.  As designers iron out exactly what users want to see, many of these barriers will be eliminated.

While I was testing out this technology, the primary question I kept asking myself was, “Would a lesson in VR improve my game in real life?”  I think the answer to that question today would be a solid “maybe.”  There are certainly things you could work on in VR that would translate to your weekend foursome, but there is also still a pretty hefty gap to close.  There is, however, definitely a novelty to playing golf in VR.  A few hours after letting my son have a turn in Golf Club VR, he asked if we could go to the range to hit some golf balls – in real life.  For now, this might be the key to understanding how VR is changing the golf industry:  it can help get people interested in the real thing.

2 Nov 2018 admin

Coping With Diminishing Skills?

By Mike Stevens, USGTF contributing writer

I’m going to bare my soul here. I mean push the door wide open. It might be one of the toughest decisions to make, especially if you are competitive in nature. That is recognizing when your skills are no longer adequate to compete at a high level. I find myself in such a situation. I guess I can blame it on age; after all, I am 68. Or that I play with 100-year-old clubs. Even with them, I was still playing at a high level. Started noticing little things over the past couple of years. My driving distance declined by 10% and I might be fudging that. Reaching par-four holes required more low irons and often a fairway wood. Par-fives, two good woods and I was still 150 or so out. My handicap slowing inched upward. Yet I refused to believe I couldn’t compete with my fellow pros.

At the last World Golf Teachers Cup in 2017, I put one decent round together. The rest was a struggle. I played in Italy this past May as a member of the U.S. hickory team against Europe and could not reach several par fours in regulation. Fortunately, my short game was on and was able to win a couple of matches. But even the short shots are beginning to give me fits, especially when getting it in the hole really counts. At the World Hickory Open just completed, I had a chance to finish in the top 10, tooling along at even par and then went three-putt, three-putt, three-putt, one for double bogey, and I turned a 72 into a 79. It has been happening far to often. So reluctantly and painfully, I realize that it may be time to retire from the competitive part of the game. It is said that life is a journey, not a destination. Yet it is the destination and the exhilaration that makes you want to make more journeys. But when you find that you can’t complete the journey any longer, admitting it to yourself and accepting it is gut wrenching.

10 Oct 2018 admin

Today’s Golfer

By Cole Golden, WGTF Master Golf Teaching Professional More than 20 years ago when I became a certified golf teaching professional, golf was a different game. Multi-layer golf balls weren’t around, launch monitors didn’t exist and high-tech video systems weren’t available. Many players weren’t focused on being a well-rounded player who focused on fitness for one reason or another. The college or mini-tour level golfers I knew could be described as the “partiers.”

Tiger Woods altered the trajectory of the game by making an impact on advertising, the purse of golf tournaments, clothing and the cool-factor – especially with attracting athletes form other sports. But the most noticeable change was emphasizing the importance of a golfer being a well-rounded athlete through nutrition, strength and conditioning.

If you look at the top players in the world, most have a swing coach, a short-game coach, or even a mental coach, too. But all players have a strength and conditioning coach. This has become a big business; you can even buy workouts from the top strength coaches online. Golfers have evolved into world-class athletes.

A few weeks ago, Brooks Koepka’s strength coach said he could bench over 300 lbs.; that’s crazy! He looks like a defensive back in the NFL but has built his body to help improve his golf game. He’s not the only one: DJ, Tiger, Rory, Adam Scott and Justin Thomas all have personal trainers on staff.

As golf teaching professionals, it is recommended that we incorporate this type of training into our programs for our students. I am not saying you need to be become a certified personal trainer, but you could research and recommend local trainers. This is especially important if your student wants to pursue golf as a career. Gaining strength and flexibility will help any golfer – including ourselves! I challenge you to become familiar with what the top personal trainers are doing to help their clients to help you improve yours.