General
USGTF profiles from Golf Teaching Pro magazine,
the International member publication of the USGTF
Winter
Issue 2003
Marc
Gelbke Kevin
Bohach
Fall
Issue 2002
Jack
Charron Charles
Hunter Bruce
Sims Robert
Rusay John
Malizia Tammy
Harris Charles
French Steve
Kisner
Spring/Summer
2002
Robert
Rusay Bruce Sims Charles
Hunter Jack Charron
Winter
2002
Bob
Wyatt Harold Patterson
Trish Beucher Wayne
Dahlstrom Fred Featherstone
Gerry Connally Larry
Whelan
Charles French
USGTF Teaching Professional, Washington, D.C.
It
is my opinion that we, as golf professionals, have to stay up
with new equipment and training aids that are on the market to
help students progress faster in their development of a new and
complete golf swing.
I work at the Capital City Golf School in Washington,
D.C., and teach sixty to seventy private lessons per month. We
also have ten USGTF members employed at our facility.
For my students' practice sessions on the driving
range, I suggest to them that they should bring only two clubs
to the session. They should commit themselves to be able to hit
the first club more consistently before moving on to hit with
the next club.
Even though the driver is the club most golfers
choose to hit, it is not the club for them to first use when building
a golf swing from the ground up. The teaching methods I use have
brought my students to the point of obtaining greater success
with hitting each of their clubs.
I take pride in being chosen by my students to
teach, mentor, and listen to them by giving them skills I have
learned from the Federation, and from continually keeping myself
up to date on ways to improve their golf swings. I feel like I
am my students' doctor, and they have the confidence in me to
fix their swing problems. I call that a very big responsibility,
and I take on the challenge with great success. It is my hope
that I will continue to love teaching and to work with people
in the golf profession to bring more young people into the game.
Because no two students have the same type of body,
height, and weight, we as teachers have to be able to give students
the best instruction for their type of golf swing. I work very
hard to make learning golf fun, especially with my junior golfers.
In many cases, they are learning golf, not because it is something
they chose for themselves, but because their parents make them
do it. When I end my sessions with the juniors, I get great satisfaction
to hear them say, "Mr. French, thank you for spending time helping
me to become a golfer."
There are times they say that they would consider
making golf their career choice. For me, that is what being in
the profession is all about - having people say "thank you" for
being there for them.
