A Gift From Albert Einstein To All Teachers!
1 Jun 2012

A Gift From Albert Einstein To All Teachers!

Do yourself and your students a huge favor and memorize a quote from Albert Einstein, and then apply what he said to your teaching so that you can not only understand more about cause and effect in the golf swing, but also learn how to communicate with your students more effectively.  This quote is regarding his first postulate (assuming something is true because of a preponderance of evidence) of his Theory of Special Relativity.  Sound too intellectual?  Really, it is not difficult to comprehend once you can assimilate the basic meaning.

I memorized what he said back in 1998, and I can tell you emphatically it has made me a much more effective teacher.  In my opinion, what he said applies to every single facet of life.  I wish I had heard, memorized, and understood it back when I was in my teens, because it is the most fascinating information I have ever learned.  Not only does it apply to physics, it applies to mathematics, history, geography, and any other subject that you can think of.  Get this: It also applies to relationships, love, hate, anger, patience, creativity or any other thing you can imagine.  In my opinion, it is a principle that is as true and constant as time itself.

Here it is:  “All motion is relative, and all points of reference are arbitrary!”

Basically, this is what it means: Anything that moves is moving (or “changes is changing”) relative to something else, and you can choose to assess that motion from any perspective you choose.  But, that also means that you will have a limited understanding of that motion if you choose to view it from just the angle in which you first viewed it.  That doesn’t sound too terribly complicated, does it?  Nothing in my experiences as a teacher has better equipped me to teach than understanding this statement.  I am astounded by its simplicity and its application to every single facet of existence.

Would you like to be regarded as a teacher who has the ability to break down even the most complicated of subjects to such a degree that your students say that you are a gifted teacher who can teach difficult-to-understand concepts or principles to even the slowest of learners?  One of the critical aspects of learning is the ability to contextualize information.  Understanding what Einstein meant will send you light-years (no pun intended) ahead in your ability to contextualize information and thereby increase the speed at which you learn and are able to articulate your thoughts.

It will only take a minute or two to memorize this quote, but a lifetime to exhaust the limitations of its applications.  Please contact me to share any epiphanies that you may get as you apply this principle to every aspect of your understanding.  In doing so, you will broaden my perspectives and help me to become a better teacher!

Good Golfing!
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4 Feb 2010

Teaching Beginners Just got Easier!

And A lot More Enjoyable Take away the frustration of learning and replace it with immediate, positive achievement. T-Golf® allows the student to initially stand tall with no spine tilt and hit the ball at waist height. The golf club is only 2 ½ feet long with a specially designed huge hitting face. The ball always gets airborne and the thrill of immediately hitting the ball is fun and builds confidence.  After success at this, the adjustable tee is then lowered slightly and more spine tilt is introduced. This continues until the student eventually replaces the T-Golf® Club for a regular 7 or 8 iron. The following testimonial is one example of what teaching professionals are saying: “Over the past six years, T-Golf® has been phenomenal for all areas of my golf business.  The beginner golfer is instantly introduced to proper ball striking and everyone from young children, to seniors, to players that had previously quit the game are thrilled with their immediate success.  Comments from my students include, “This is easy”, “This is fun”, “I can really play golf”, and “Where was this when I first tried the game?”  T-Golf’s portability and simplicity has also opened new teaching opportunities and markets for me including physically challenged individuals, rehabilitation hospitals, and Veterans Administration Hospitals. T-Golf® has been a win-win for my students and the game of golf.”   CV Golf – Saratoga, NY Charles Veeder, USGTF
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21 Jan 2010

A Game Of Controlled Emotions

Grandpa Photo by sparktographyBy Bob Wyatt USGTF National Coordinator, Port St. Lucie, Florida This article was first printed in Golf Teaching Pro in the Spring 1995 edition when the magazine was known as American Golf Pro. This is another in a series that looks back through the archives of our member publication. How many times during the course of your golfing experiences have you been tempted to throw a club? I’m sure there are not too many of you that answered “never.” I’m not a doctor of psychology, but I do feel that after 25 years teaching golf, together with 40 years of playing this great game, I understand human nature. As a junior player, I was determined to become the best player I could as quickly as possible. This immature approach always carries with it a host of potential emotional problems, as you might imagine. As well-balanced instructors, we must not forget for a minute how much of a role emotions at any level can become prevalent in a student’s success or failure. There is an old cliché that goes, “The faster you go, the further behind you get!” I’m convinced the person who came up with this little phrase must have been a golfer. Teach your students the value of pacing themselves on the range, as well as on the golf course. This will go a long way toward reinforcing the understanding of the emotional and mechanical balance necessary when playing a good game of golf. As instructors, we should always be thinking of the emotional aspect of our game. How would you feel if, when taking a playing lesson, your golf instructor kept losing his temper? Your students, especially juniors, will watch you and attempt to emulate the image you project on the course. With this in mind, always strive to keep your personal profile in a strictly professional, organized, and, above all, emotionally controlled manner. You will perform more effectively, and so will your students.
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Developing Teaching Skills
17 Dec 2009

Developing Teaching Skills

By Thomas T Wartelle

USGTF Master Teaching Professional

Washington, Louisiana

Teach Correct Warm-up Techniques

Fitness research has shown that proper warm-up technique does not start with stretching.  This goes against traditional thinking.  Stretching is the same as activating or using a muscle.  Just as in lifting a dumbbell, when stretching a muscle group the muscles must expand and then contract to complete the task.  Imagine walking into the gym and curling a 60-lb. dumbbell without warming up.

The correct technique is to warm up slowly before stretching.  This could include a slow jog, but more realistically for the golfer it means simply striking a few short shots with an easy swing.  The best way is to make short 20-30 yard pitch shots, then slowly working into three-quarter pitch shots.  After a few minutes, begin stretching out the muscles, focusing on the major muscle groups for golf.  Some important golf muscles groups:  back, shoulders, forearms and wrists, legs and hamstrings. Remember to never “bounce” when stretching, but to hold the position for a few seconds and return to the relaxed position. As golf is an athletic game, learning correct warm-up techniques will help your clients have a more enjoyable golfing experience.  It also decreases the risk of injury therefore promoting continued lessons requested from the client.

Positive Communication Make sure you introduce the skill in a clear and concise way.  Use language that the golfer can understand.  Try to be as brief as possible and create a positive learning environment. •  Get the golfer’s attention. •  Make sure that the golfer can see and hear everything about the skill that they need to. •  Give a reason for learning the skill.

Demonstrations Every picture is worth a thousand words.  Shapes you see affect shapes you make.  Show more and talk less.  Ask players to mentally rehearse the movement after they have seen the demonstration.  For your own credibility, it is important that you use demonstration.  If you cannot perform the skill, use the best available model, or even use a video.

The Golf Swing is not Static When someone hits a golf ball, the swing is a continuous motion.  Too often the motion is broken down into separate parts, resulting in a loss of the continuity. The golf swing is best taught by correcting a flaw with a key thought or feeling.  Find a simple solution that allows the student to continue the motion of a full swing.  Encourage drills or training aids that promote the complete swinging motion.  These thoughts or feelings are less likely to break down when put under pressure.

Principles of Practice Only perfect practice makes perfect. Keep practices sessions short and frequent when working on a new skill.  Use practice time efficiently.  Students should experience a reasonable amount of success at each practice session.  Make practice fun as well as challenging.

Attitude Towards Learning No matter what the standard of the player, a good instructor will make the student better. It is important that any learning situation should focus toward success. The attitude of the teaching professional and student should be characterized by two qualities: – An open mind to receive new ideas. – An enquiring mind to question new ideas.

Organization Learning is based upon memory, and students will recall more information when the material is organized.  Think of our memory system as a file cabinet.  The more organized the material is filed, the easier it is retrieved. Thus, instructors need to devise their lesson plans.   This allows the student to easily organize the material.  Remember that teaching is about creating environments that enable players to develop at their optimal rate.

Photo by John and Gill
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