All Posts - Page 64 of 209 - United States Golf Teachers Federation

6 Dec 2019 admin

Like America and Apple Pie…It’s Golf and Family Ties

What are the first memories that you have of golf? If you started the game as a kid, they probably have to do with a family member – usually a parent – who introduced the game to you. Many golfers look back on those days with great fondness and nostalgia. There is no better family sport than golf. Four family members can all play in the same group, something that is difficult to do in other sports. You can indeed do the same thing in tennis if you’re playing doubles, but unless the skill level is relatively similar among the four, it can make for a difficult time. Since golf, of course, doesn’t have other players affecting your playing of the game, it doesn’t matter if there is a skill disparity, even a great one, among those in the same group. Golf also has an amount of down time that others sports do not offer. In tennis, there is constant action. In bowling, there is always someone rolling the ball down the lane. But in golf, most of the time is spent walking or riding to the next shot, so there is ample time for conversation and bonding. Some of the best friendships golfers have were formed on the golf course. Indeed, it’s not uncommon for golfers to have mainly or only golfers as friends. The game also tends to lend itself to easy conversation that may not be found in other venues. Those who are parents know how tough it is sometimes to have conversations with their children as they get older, especially teenagers. But for some reason, conversation while playing golf seems to come naturally for most participants. It has been said countless times that golf is also a metaphor for life. A well-known adageis that if you want to truly get to know a person’s character, play 18 holes of golf with them. It is the rare person who changes the character and behavior they exhibit outside the course once they step onto the first tee. Life lessons can also be imparted to our younger family members as they play the game. Perhaps a child is having a tough time that day on the course and they feel like quitting. Teaching them to persevere on the course is a good lesson that can carry them through life. Let’s face it – although we say golf is fun, it’s also difficult to excel at. If someone wants to play scratch golf or better, they have to put in countless hours over countless days over countless years, unless they are some sort of athletic freak. Golf can teach our children the valuable life values of determination and perseverance, and keeping a calm mind when things go awry. Although the game can understandably lend itself to temper tantrums and worse, we must always remember that unless the game directly affects our well-being as a professional golfer, it’s only a game to the rest of us. How we do doesn’t affect our lives in any way, shape, or form, and it’s important to keep this perspective. These are the things that our younger family members, and sometimes even ourselves, should take to heart.

The lessons children learn on the golf course, from perseverance to patience, often mirror the lessons they need in everyday life. Struggles, mistakes, and frustrations become opportunities to build character and resilience, while the calm moments teach them the value of focus and perspective. Families that encourage these lessons create stronger bonds by showing children that success isn’t about perfection but about growth and effort. In many ways, games like golf become metaphors for life itself, reminding us all that setbacks are temporary and persistence leads to progress.

Just as these life values are nurtured within families, there are also moments when families face challenges that require guidance beyond what love and patience alone can resolve. Disputes over parenting, property, or separation can place incredible strain on relationships, making it important to seek trusted support that prioritizes both fairness and compassion. Sterling Lawyers in Fond du Lac provide that balance by offering legal clarity while keeping the well-being of families at the center of their work. This kind of guidance allows families to move forward with confidence, ensuring that the lessons of resilience and calm taught on the course also carry through in life’s more difficult transitions.

Many golfers also take buddy trips specifically to play that golf course they always wanted to play. Our friends are not technically family, but they certainly are in terms of the bonds that we create and share with them, and there is nothing more natural than traveling with friends to hit the links.

One of the things that athletes in team sports say they miss once they retire is the camaraderie among their teammates. A family atmosphere can certainly be created in such an environment. But although golf is an individual sport, the family atmosphere most certainly is prevalent among members of the men’s or ladies’ golf associations at many clubs, or even among a regular Saturday foursome. Other individual sports have a more difficult time duplicating that sense of belonging to a family. Golf has given all of us who love the game a lot, and for that we are grateful. But aside from the actual playing of the game itself, perhaps the most enduring memory we will have once our playing days are done is the family ties that are created, regardless if we are related or not.

Read more 0

2 Dec 2019 admin

Transition to Impact

By Thomas T Wartelle, USGTF Teaching Professional Washington, Louisiana

We know the moment of truth is impact. The golf ball does not care about a teacher’s opinion; the ball is only influenced by physics. There are five human performance factors that influence the golf ball at impact. They are as follows: 1) clubface position, 2) club path, 3) centeredness of contact,4) angle of approach, and 5) clubhead speed. All great ball strikers achieve a high level of each of these components.

Therefore, the question arises, “How can we maximize a golfer’s impact position?” Besides basic fundamentals such as the golfer’s “GPA” (grip, posture and alignment), dynamics in the swing can have a great influence on the impact position. For this discussion, let’s break it down from transition at the top of the swing to impact.

We must first establish that mass (COM) is not pressure (COP). For this discussion, pressure (COP) is the reference point. During the backswing, there should be a “loading,” or pressure, applied to the heel of the trail leg. In their backswing, powerful Tour players reach over 80 percent pressure on their trail foot when their transition begins. Transition actually starts before the golfer reaches the finish of the backswing. For most Tour players, this begins when the lead arm is parallel to the ground on the backswing. The body is actually moving in two directions at once. The midsection, or torso, should shift the pressure towards the target. The sensation is the clubhead is lagging behind as the body begins its transition by transferring pressure and uncoiling towards the target. The reality is there is no delay of the release, but simply a forward swing pressure creating a powerful action.

On the downswing, the torso should pressure-shift toward the target and then rotate with a feeling that the lead hip and glute are pulling or rotating away from the ball. This is very similar to a squat movement into the lead glute. At the halfway down (lead arm parallel to the ground) point, the vast majority of Tour players will see a peak in the total force under the lead foot (70 percent or more).

As the impact position is approached, the spine angle is maintained with a feeling of the lead hip rotating and pushing back into a wall. The lead leg will somewhat straighten naturally at impact as the lead hip begins to rise higher than the trailing hip. In this position, the golfer is maximizing the “ground forces” and creating maximum torque and energy. Some Tour players and long drivers even have a jumping motion at impact as they are applying tremendous force into the ground.

The dynamics of the golf swing (transition move and pressure change) influence the five human performance factors at impact. Clubface position at impact and club path at impact can be affected; however, centeredness of contact, angle of approach, and clubhead speed are directly correlated to transition and pressure flow from trail foot to lead foot.

How does this all relate to teaching? An interesting observation can be made in the above photos. Without describing any of the above, we use a simple drill in the gym of throwing a medicine ball against the wall. Notice that all of the positions are achieved by using a simple, athletic motion.

For more teaching info or tips, visit the USGTF website or Thomas T Wartelle / TTW Golf on YouTube or Instagram.

Read more 0

26 Nov 2019 admin

Revisiting “The Stroke” and Looking at the Target

By David Vaught, USGTF Teaching Professional Bradenton, Florida

It is often said necessity is the mother of invention. This applies to golf instruction, and golf in general in many circumstances, one of which is the creativity of an experienced instructor when it comes to helping golfers improve their game. With that thought in mind, I felt it appropriate to look again at a method to help golfers improve their putting.

Many years ago, a major golf publication published an article about looking at the target while putting. The basic conclusion was that the average golfer could improve their putting by 28 percent. To quantify that, the average golfer would drop about four to six strokes per round. The first premise is simply common sense. When one begins reciting the list of sports where the athlete looks at a target, it is not a short one. Throwing a baseball or softball, bowling, throwing a football, darts, curling, cornhole, and the list goes on. We train our brains and muscles to work this way from the crib.

Should we start a “looking at the target while putting” revolution in golf? Of course not. This can simply be a tool for teaching. One very useful outcome of practicing this for putting would be distance control. Again, think about why we look at the target for the other sports. It triggers a response in our brain that we are born with and utilize at a very young age. That skill is the judging of distance, using our eyes in coordination with the speed and effort put forth into the motion that achieves the desirable distance – exactly what the average golfer needs to do to improve their putting. Keep in mind what we know to be true: The overwhelming majority of three putts are a result of poor distance control.

Simply using looking at the target as a drill over time can improve distance control greatly, and it improves confidence. We have all seen the putting stroke that moves the putter back in a rapid pace and then slows down the putter head dramatically through impact. I have yet to see a golfer that putts looking at the target do this. Not once, ever.

Why, you might ask? During a stroke while looking at the ball, many golfers subconsciously or consciously alter the motion. Decelerating, twisting the face and increasing grip pressure are just a few of the issues we see through impact with the average golfer. Some do so more than others, and some do it, but not consistently – just on those days when the putting goes awry through a lack of confidence or trust. Have you seen a golfer panic during the backstroke and unnaturally accelerate the putter through impact? If you have ever played, I guarantee you have. Our objective for rhythm ratio for putting is 2:1,which is the time from takeaway to transition(2), and time from transition to impact (1).This is 100 percent on tour, by the way. It is amazing how close the average golfer achieves this ratio while looking at the target. Another benefit is that the average golfer also tends to be much more stable with the body during the stroke while looking at the target. Instinctively, they realize a lot of excess movement in the core and legs would jeopardize their ability to strike the ball solidly.

It also builds confidence in the motion. The key word here is motion. As the great Gary Wiren has stated as a pillar of his teaching philosophies, “Swinging hits, not hitting swings.” We could write an entire book on this subject, but keeping on point with putting, our goal is for the ball to get in the way of the putter. When watching great putters on the men’s and ladies’ tour, you cannot differentiate between the stroke with the ball and without the ball. They are just making a stroke, which is the goal. You will rarely see this with an average golfer. Looking at the target reinforces making a “stroke” to the average golfer. Their brain becomes much more in tune with the motion and the force required to reach the desired destination, instead of their focus being the strike or the ball. I have also had students over the years admit that practicing this assisted them in curing the dreaded yips.

To try this, start short and make sure the setup is sound first. Once some proficiency is established, which is usually quick, vary the distance for each putt. Instructors who have the improvement of the students as their foremost objective are most always willing to think outside the box and are not timid about introducing new ideas to their students. Who knows, they might even start using this on the golf course!

Read more 0

22 Nov 2019 admin

Max Faulkner Returns Claret Jug to the British Isles

By Mike Stevens, USGTF Teaching Professional Tampa, Florida

In 1951 the Open Championship was played outside Great Britain for the first time. The site was Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, which hosts once again this year. I could not find a reason for going there other than it is a beautiful course with magnificent landscape. I guess the R&A just wanted a change of pace.

The odds-on favorite going in was defending champion Bobby Locke of South Africa. Max Faulkner, the eventual winner, on the other hand was a decent player with a few minor tournament victories in England. Born on England’s south coast in 1916, he was introduced to the game by his father Gus, a former assistant to the great James Braid. Max was a multisport talent, but golf seemed to be his favorite pastime. He joined his dad as an assistant pro after his schooling and started getting some notoriety as a potential player until the big one began. From 1939 to 1945, he played exactly two rounds of golf while serving his country in defeating the German war machine.

Once peace returned, Faulkner went back to work on his game, which came back quickly, but what he was most noted for was his dashing attire in bold colors and cheerful disposition. Entering the ’51 Open, he had a good feeling about his chances. He played Portrush in the Irish Open at21, finishing third, and felt it favored his power fade as most of the holes have a right-hand curve. He al so believed a very light putter, one of the many he owned, would come in handy on the fastest greens of all Open venues. His premonition was correct, needing only 51 putts with the magic wand in the first two rounds to top the leaderboard with a score of 141. The final two rounds of the Open in those days were played on the same day, and Max, playing well in the morning round, came to the 16th hole well in the lead, but hit a disastrous drive that landed within two feet of a barbed-wire boundary fence. But Max believed it was his day. Rather than chip out, he took his 4-wood and with his backside against the barbs, he abruptly cut the ball out over the OB fence, curving the ball on to the putting surface. His playing partner, American Frank Stranahan, walked over and commented to him that it was the finest shot he had ever seen. Faulkner would finish the third round six shots clear of the field.

Here is where the story gets even more interesting. After a brief respite, Max headed for the first tee. As he walked, a young boy approached and asked him to sign a ball, but Faulkner was reluctant, not wanting to be distracted. Then the boy said, “You’re going to win,” and at the urging of the boy’s father who mentioned how much it would mean to the boy, Max signed the ball – Max Faulkner, Open Champion 1951. For the first time, he let the thought of blowing a big lead enter his mind, and struggled a bit coming home in 74. There were no scoreboards at the time, so runners were dispatched to and from to let people know what was going on with players still on the course. Word came in that Tony Cerda had turned in 34 and was a threat to catch the leader. A bit later, the word was that three fours on the final holes would tie Faulkner. A final messenger approached Max and related to him, “Cerda’s taken six; it’s your Open.”His dream had proved true – he was the Champion Golfer of the Year. The Claret Jug held by South African Bobby Locke would be returning to Britain.

Max Faulkner would go on to win 16 tournaments in Europe, but never another Open Championship. It was his crowning achievement and all he ever wanted. He also played on five Ryder Cup teams, including the surprise 1957 team in which Britain won for the first time since 1933.

Another interesting chapter in his life came in1973 during the Open at Troon. He was paired with Gene Sarazen when Sarazen recorded a hole-in-one at the famed Postage Stamp. It was Sarazen and Walter Hagen who were models for Faulkner’s snappy attire on the golf course.

Max Faulkner played for six decades, observing golf from the hickory era to the many changes in ball and club technology. A true sportsman, he could have played professionally at tennis, cricket or soccer, but golf was his true love. On the 50thanniversary of his triumph in the Open, he was honored with the Order of the British Empire for his service to golf. He lived out his remaining years in Sussex and passed away in 2005 after contracting pneumonia at the age of 88, a true gentleman of the game who should not be forgotten.

Read more 0

15 Nov 2019 admin

24th Annual United States Golf Teachers Cup®

HUANG TAKES U.S. CUP TITLE; RICHARDS ENDS GULYCH’S REIGN

Of all the places that the United States Golf Teachers Cup has been played in its previous 23 years, it would be difficult to say that there was a more beautiful setting than the 2019 edition featured. Sedona, Arizona, was the venue for the 24th playing of the USGTF’s national championship event, held this past October at Oakcreek Country Club. Participants from all over the country and several international competitors teed it up at the Robert Trent Jones design.

Shouting (Hunter) Huang, from Atlanta, Georgia, staged an incredible rally the final day to win the U.S. Cup for the first time, overtaking first-round leader and seven-time champion Mark Harman with a brilliant final nine-hole score of 31, allowing him to edge runner-up Jose Esteves of uerto Rico by two shots. Huang finished with scores of 75-68 – 143 in taking down top honors.

Most of the field struggled to put a good score on the board the first day, with Harman leading the pack at 74. Huang and Esteves, along with Costa Rica’s Alejandro Duque, were a stroke back at 75.

“I got off to a slow start as I was three over for the first three holes,” remarked Harman. “When my 74 held up for the lead, I was surprised as the field was strong and the course was there for the taking.”

Duque fired a strong 34 on the outward nine the second day to forge into the lead at +1 for the tournament, a stroke ahead of both Esteves and Harman. Huang shot a pedestrian 37 and was three strokes behind, and although he birdied the par- 5 10th hole, so did his three closest competitors.Esteves made the first move when he also birdied the 11th and 12th holes and parred the 13th, taking a two-shot lead over Harman, and led Duque and Huang by four. It looked all but over for the latter two, but Huang had other ideas. Starting on the 14th hole, Huang ripped off his own birdie barrage with four in a row while each of his closest pursuers all had a double bogey during that stretch.

By the time he got to the 18th hole, Huang, playing with Esteves, had a two-shot lead over the eventual runner-up in a stunning turn of events. Starting on the 14th hole and ending on the 17th, Huang outscored Esteves and Harman by six strokes, and Duque by five. It was a display of golf that is sure to become legendary in U.S. Cup lore. “It was incredible to watch,” said Esteves. Duque wound up in third while Harman faded to fourth.

Huang’s victory capped off a fine season of play in USGTF events. He also won the USGTF Central Region Championship in August, becoming the first in USGTF history to win both a region championship and the U.S. Cup title in the same year.

Richards thwarts Gulych’s attempt at three-peat

Grant Gulych from St. Thomas, Ontario, had a chokehold on the United States Senior Golf Teachers Cup, winning the first two titles in an event that was inaugurated in 2017. With his experience and playing resume, Gulych was one of the favorites to win and certainly was in strong position after a first-round 71.

However, complicating the matter for Gulychand the other competitors was the presence of Christopher Richards from Trinidad & Tobago, making his first appearance at the U.S. Senor Cup. Richards also had a formidable resume that included winning the individual 2007 World Golf Teachers Cup championship and the 2010 U.S. Cup. Richards fired a first-round 70 that could have been so much better, but the Oakcreek course proved to be a tricky opponent for Richards. The Trinidadian managed to make six birdies, but two bogeys and a double bogey derailed what could have been a special round. Canada’s Dave Belling, a two-time U.S. Cup champion and individual 2003 World Golf Teachers Cup champion, lurked two strokes off the pace at 72, followed by Steve Simer at 73 and Michael Wolf at 75.

Playing together in the final round, Richards and Gulych both went out in even-par 36 while Belling was at 37. Simer and Wolf both failed to break 40 and no longer posed a threat. The contest was still close after 12 with Richards clinging to a one-shot lead when he engaged in fireworks of his own. A birdie on #13, followed by an eagle on the drivable par-4 14th staked Richards out to a three-shot lead over Gulych, and that effectively was the turning point. Gulych managed to cut the lead to one shot entering the final hole, but a bogey there ended his chances. Richards carefully two-putted from short range for his own bogey, sealing the deal. He finished with scores of 70-70 – 140, while Gulych’s strong defense of his title fell just short at 71-70 – 141. Belling wound up third at 72-70 – 142.

The Super Senior division of the U.S. Senior Cup was closely fought as John McGaugh from Calimesa, California, overcame first-round leader Daniel Lee from Kenmore, Washington, to win by two strokes with scores of 77-73 – 150. A four-way tie at 155 by Jim Perez, Ken Butler, Bruce Sims and Vito Cisternino highlighted the strength of the 60-and-over crowd. All were eligible for overall U.S. Senior Cup honors as their division played from the same tees as did the Senior division.

Longtime competitor Pat Church from Eugene, Oregon, and a USGTF Hall of Fame member, captured her first Ladies division title. Gary Focken from The Villages, Florida, fired scores of 78-74 – 152 to defeat runner-up Jim Peters from Newport, Kentucky, by five shots in the Legends division.

For the first time ever, a concurrent pro-am was contested in conjunction with the U.S. and U.S. Senior Cups. Players were invited to bring an amateur partner with them and compete in the same format that is conducted at Pebble Beach every year on the PGA Tour. Seventeen teams teed it up as the amateurs got to see their professional partners up close in a national championship professional event. A clinic was held after the first round, conducted by Wolf and Gulych.

Duque and his amateur partner Diengo Chou fired a two-round total of 129 in a fourball format that included the professional playing at scratch and amateur receiving 80 percent of their course handicaps. Focken and his amateur partner Terry Edwards also shot a 129, but lost in the tiebreaking procedure where the professional’s score in the final round determined the winner. Steve Fine and his amateur partner Cliff Armstrong finished third at 133.

Oakcreek Country Club was in outstanding shape and may well have been the best-conditioned course in the 24-year history of the United States Golf Teachers Cup. The bentgrass greens rolled fast and true, and the fairways were green and lush. Redtinged sand bunkers that contrasted with the hue of the grass, along with well-placed and well-maintained ponds, completed the aesthetically pleasing aspects of the course. Sedona itself is one of the USA’s mostvisited tourist locations with almost three million visitors finding the time to make the worthwhile trek to northern Arizona’s incredible scenery. Sedona features spectacular red rock formations and a high desert climate, creating a stunning beauty that many wll never forget for the rest of their lives. It was certainly a venue that lived up to its billing, and all participants who weighed in said it was one of the most enjoyable places they’ve ever played.

Read more 0

12 Nov 2019 admin

Social Media Marketing for Golf Professionals

By Jim LaBuda USGTF Teaching Professional, West Seneca, New York

As golf professionals and instructors, we rely on golf students coming to us and paying for our instruction services. Whether you are employed by a local golf club or driving range, or you are an independent contractor whose main source of income is from instruction, having a social media presence is important. More and more people today are using social media platforms to search for all types of services they want to hire someone for, including golf instruction.

What Exactly is Social Media?

Social media can be defined as different types of electronic communication that allows people to create online communities to share ideas, information, personal content, videos, etc. Typically, most social media services are accessed via a desktop or laptop computer. However, with the invention of smartphones and tablets, more and more users are finding it easier to access these social media platforms “on the go” instead of sitting behind a desk in a more traditional setting. Also, with millions of people on various social media platforms at any point in time, it can be seen as very attractive for business owners who are trying to promote a product or service.

How is Social Media Used Today?

Social media today is used by individuals and businesses alike to share ideas, photos, videos, experiences, etc. There is almost nothing that can’t be shared via some type of social media site. Most social media sites today will allow you to set up a profile or a social media account for free. This is one reason why social media is so attractive for businesses today, because for the most part it doesn’t cost anything. Sure, there are promotions or paid advertisements that you can run and will be an expense to your business, but we will discuss this more in a little bit. Setting up a social media profile is also something which requires almost no technological experience or ability. Just about anyone can visit one of many social medial websites, click on “create a profile,” and the site will walk you through everything that you need to do in order to set up a profile on that site. If you are setting up a business profile, there are standard questions that will be asked, including your business contact info, location, what type of a business are you, etc. Fill in the info, upload a photo or two and you now have a social media profile on that site.

As golf professionals, social media and technology are something that we should all be very involved with. I remember when I first started teaching golf professionally and visited local driving ranges on a busy evening. Instructors were known to “walk the line,” which meant walking up and down the driving range or the tee line and offering free tips or passing out business cards to anyone who may have seemed like they were struggling that day. This may have been something that worked years ago to gain students, and to be perfectly honest with you it maybe something that works today. It’s not a practice that I have done lately and I don’t know of many instructors who have.

These days, when someone is looking for something or needs to know how to perform a certain task, they are told to “Google it.” When someone determines that they are in need of golf instruction, what are they most likely to do? If they aren’t a member at a local course where an instructor is based, or they don’t know an instructor personally, they are going to grab their smart phone or tablet and they are going to search for “golf instructors in my area” or “golf instructors near me.”This is where the first and most important social media platform comes into play.

Do You Have Your Own Website?

Having a website for your business is very important and it is something different from some of the social media examples I gave above. Usually, there is a cost involved in having a website, either in the website construction or the hosting of the site. You can spend the money and have someone design your website for you professionally, or you can attempt to design it yourself.

The first thing that you will need to do is to purchase a website domain and hosting. I purchased my website domain, http://www.jimlabudagolf.com, and I have to pay annual hosting costs for this. Hosting a website is basically the space, or “land,” where your website will be. If you don’t pay the annual hosting cost, people will not be able to find your website online.

Once you purchase your domain name and pay for your website to be hosted, it’s time to design your website. Designing a website seems like it can be intimidating, but it can become a fairly simple process. Many companies today offer domain names, website hosting and design services. There are many different templates you can choose from, depending on what you want your website to look like and the “theme” that you want your site to have. If you don’t have any experience writing HTML code to build a website from scratch, then I would recommend using one of the companies that offer domain names, hosting and website design. Personally, I use GoDaddy (www.godaddy.com) for my domain and hosting services. I then used one of their templates to design and customize my website with different pictures, various information and different tabs detailing different services that I offer.

Once your website is designed and live on the internet, people can put your site address in their search bar and find you. But if no one knows that you have a website, how can they find out about you and the types of services that you offer? As golf professionals, there are many things we can include on a website. You can have a page that tells potential students more about yourself, lesson rates, where your lessons are usually given, any certifications you may have, etc. I use my website to try and tell potential students why they should come take a golf lesson from me and how I can help their game. You can post videos, testimonials from past students, pictures of you giving a lesson, etc. The opportunities are endless, but one of the main things a website should do is have a place where people can enter an email address and become part of your email list. This is great way for you to build your email and customer list.

Why Do I Need to Use Email Marketing?

Let’s face it. Everyone these days has an email address, and we are all getting bombarded with emails from companies that we have done business with in the past, and even some spam email from companies that we may have never done business with. Sure, you may open some of the emails that you receive and read them, but most of them you may not. So, why should we use email marketing as golf professionals? Because email marketing is a great way to stay in contact with not only your current students, but also with potential future students. It helps your students remember that you want to be the only golf instructor that they ever turn to for assistance and also keeps reminding your potential students that “I am here to help in case you need me.”

A well-crafted email can be one of the most powerful marketing tools that a golf professional can have. Your email can contain a recap from the previous week’s PGA or LPGA Tour event, golf tips, product reviews, lesson and clinic information, or share some news about yourself and your business. During the golf season, I try to send out at least two emails a week to my email list. I try to change up what I provide everyone in my email, but I have sent out golf tips via video I posted on my website and YouTube, golf fitness videos, clinic and lesson information, and even professional swing analyses I have completed.

So, how does sending emails to potential students help me? Let’s say you have a student that is struggling with distance. You give them lessons, see something in their swing that you can change, and by the end of the lesson you have them hitting the golf ball 15 yards farther. You can tell this story to everyone on your email list about how you helped a student pick up 15 additional yards in one lesson! All it takes is for one person on your email list that also wants more distance to say, hey, if it worked for that other person, maybe it will work for me. Now your email marketing has converted someone on your email list, a potential student, to a current student. They visited your website, entered their email address, and you have now converted that student into a sale and a paying customer.

How do we get people to visit our website and sign up for our email list? This is where social media marketing comes in. Your website will be your main online presence, and the various social media platforms will be how you drive people to your website.

What Social Media Platforms Can I Use?

Today there are so many different social media platforms available that it would take me all day to go through them. Most individuals have at least one profile set up on social media, and some probably have multiple accounts. I’ll touch on some of the most popular platforms now and how they can be beneficial to a golf professional.

Facebook

Facebook is probably one of the most popular social media networking sites today. It’s an easy way to communicate with family and friends nearby and across the world. You can post pictures, articles, videos and numerous other things. Businesses can use Facebook to advertise to potential customers by posting anything that may relate to the goods or services that they are trying to promote. As a golf professional, I created a Facebook page called Jim LaBuda Golf to try and advertise my instruction services to potential customers. People will follow my Facebook page, and then they can “share” anything that I post to their friends. This is a great way to basically advertise for free. People can share the golf tips that I post on Facebook with the people that they are Facebook friends with, and hopefully will introduce new potential customers to the services that I have to offer. They visit my website to learn more about me and what I have to offer, and can even sign up to be on my email list. Then, when they are in need of a service that I can offer them in the future, hopefully they will remember me and contact me.

Businesses that have Facebook profiles can also purchase paid advertisements. The business will determine where they want to target their customers (either locally or nationwide), who they want their potential customers to be, and how long of a period of time they want this ad to run. Then, based on the potential customer that the business defined, Facebook will run the ad for that business in the potential customer’s Facebook news feed. They will use the information that the business provided them, along with each individual’s Facebook profile, pages that they currently follow, and potential interests to determine who to show the ad to. Then, the person who sees this ad can determine whether or not they want to click on the ad to find out more information about what is being advertised. I have personally run Facebook ads to promote clinics that I was hosting and didn’t have anyone sign up for the clinics. However, I did have people who saw my ad on Facebook go to my website and sign up for my email list, so in that respect, running the ad was a success.

Twitter

Twitter is an online social media and networking site. People can write short messages called “tweets” and post pictures and short videos. People can use Twitter to follow companies or products that they are interested in and can then see when someone posts a tweet. Twitter is a good social networking site for someone who wants to scan through their feed quickly and not sit and read anything. You can scan through your tweets and only read the ones that you are interested in reading. One of the downfalls to Twitter, however, is that reading a tweet can be confusing. Since you have a limited number of characters in your tweet, you must get creative in how you are trying to get your point across. Sometimes the result of the limited characters tweet can be very clever; other times it can get very confusing.

People who follow you on Twitter can see your tweets and then re-tweet what you post so that the people who follow them can see what they re-tweeted. They can also “like” your tweets which their followers can also see.

I like to use Twitter to post links to the emails I send out to my email list. Most of the time I just tweet something like, “Checkout my latest newsletter,” along with a link to where someone can access this newsletter. Then, I hope that my followers will click on the link, check out what I have to say in my newsletter or email campaign, and then re-tweet it to their followers. Once they do that, there are an endless number of people who can see what you have to offer based on how many people tweet and re-tweet what you have to say.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is basically a social media networking site for professionals. The LinkedIn courtesy is to not post anything personal on the site, but to have more professional or business-related posts. LinkedIn is considered to be the high-tech equivalent of attending your local Chamber of Commerce networking event. It’s a place to discuss business ideas, exchange business cards and talk a little bit about what you do.

I don’t believe LinkedIn is a social media platform where you will find new golf students or promote your instruction services. However, if you are looking for a new professional opportunity, or if you are looking for new employment, then having a presence on LinkedIn will be beneficial. It’s always a good idea to connect with similar professionals in your industry. You never know when you may need to contact someone for a professional service, and you never know when someone may need to contact you.

Instagram

Instagram is another social media platform that offers free photo and video sharing. It is similar to other social media platforms where you follow other accounts of interest, and the posts that they create show up in your Instagram feed. Instagram is similar to Facebook but has a greater emphasis on mobile photo and video sharing. Therefore, Instagram is an extremely popular social media platform with the 18-29 year-old crowd. Instagram is a great way to post pictures and videos, but the videos shouldn’t be more than about 60 seconds long. So, if you post a video on Instagram, can you tell someone how to cure their slice in 60 seconds? You may be able to, but don’t forget the main purpose of using social media. You want to give someone an idea of how you can fix their slice on Instagram, but you really want to send them to your website and sign up for your email list to get the full story. I’ve personally started using Instagram more to post pictures and short videos, because it seems to be used more with a younger generation. Since we are golf professionals trying to grow and promote this game of golf, wouldn’t it make sense that we should have a social media presence with the younger generation? Instagram isn’t going away anytime soon, and in a very short period of time may become more popular than Facebook and Twitter.

YouTube

YouTube is an extremely popular service for sharing videos where users can like, comment, watch, share and upload their own videos. Videos can be uploaded using a desktop or laptop computer, or can be uploaded via a mobile device. YouTube videos today consist of a wide range of topics, anywhere from how to grow tomatoes to how to pour a concrete driveway. Anyone with a mobile phone or video camera can upload videos to YouTube.

Because it is so easy to upload videos to YouTube, there are a good number of people on there who are looking to have the next “viral” video. A viral video is defined as one that becomes popular through internet or social media sharing. But how do you produce a video that can become viral? It’s impossible to answer, because no one knows. YouTube uses an algorithm where it can suggest video to a user based on the number of views it receives in the first 48 hours of being published on YouTube. For example, let’s say you’re looking for a video on YouTube that describes what the correct golf grip should be. Once you search for the correct golf grip in the YouTube search box, you will receive other suggested videos for the correct golf grip.

As a YouTube creator, it is imperative that your video become one of these suggested videos by making sure that you receive as much view time as possible in these first 48 hours. How can you do this? The answer is simple: Post a link to your new YouTube video on as many social media sites as you possibly can. Send it out to your email marketing list, inviting people to watch your new video, post a link on Facebook, tweet a link on Twitter, and post a link on LinkedIn and Instagram. YouTube is the perfect place to post videos and be able to have people all over the world watch them, but you also need to understand YouTube’s algorithm for the videos that it recommends. You can make money on YouTube, but in order to monetize your channel, you need at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. Those may seem like intimidating numbers, but you can achieve these totals with the proper focus and commitment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I can’t tell you which social media platforms will work best for you. Some instructors are finding more success by posting shorter videos on Instagram, while other instructors are posting longer, more in-depth instructional videos on YouTube. You will need to experiment with different platforms and different types of posts to see which ones may work for you.

The internet and social media are not something which are going away. There are more and more social media platforms being introduced and gaining traction every day. Sites like Snapchat are becoming popular with a whole new generation of golfers, and as instructors we need to be able to adapt to the social media platforms our students are on.

Will our future students find our services via social media? Possibly, but we want to make sure that when someone in our area is looking for a golf instructor, our profile is front and center with them.

Read more 0

5 Nov 2019 admin

Huang, Richards Take Titles In Sedona

Shouting “Hunter” Huang of Atlanta, Georgia, won his first United States Golf Teachers Cup championship this past October 7-8 at Oakcreek Country Club in beautiful Sedona, Arizona, with scores of 75-68 – 143 to win by two shots over Jose Esteves of Puerto Rico. Huang came from behind with four consecutive birdies during the final round on holes 14 through 17 to seal the deal. Alejandro Duque of Costa Rica finished third at 75-72 – 147, while first-round leader and defending champion Mark Harman of Ridgeland, South Carolina, was at 74-74 – 148.

Christopher Richards of Trinidad & Tobago earned his first United States Senior Golf Teachers Cup title, knocking off two-time defending champion Grant Gulych from St. Thomas, Ontario, with scores of 70-70 – 140. Gulych was in at 71-70 – 141, while another Canadian, Dave “The Sheriff” Belling was third at 72-70 – 142. Michael Wolf from Evansville, Indiana, rounded out the top four at 75-77 – 152.

The Super Senior division was won by John McGaugh, while the Ladies title was nabbed by USGTF Hall of Famer Pat Church. Gary Focken won the Legends division championship.

In the concurrent pro-am competition, Duque and his amateur partner Diengo Chou won the championship with a two-round total of 129 in the net fourball competition. Focken and Terry Edwards also finished at 129, but the team of Duque/Chou won on the strength of Duque’s lower final round score serving as the tiebreaker. Steve Fine and Cliff Armstrong finished third.

Sedona proved to be a wonderful setting for the tournament, and participants remarked on the incredible beauty of the area. For all scores, please visit www.USGolfTeachersCup.com.

Pictured from left to right: Cole Golden, Shouting Huang and Mark Harman

Read more 0

Blog

HUANG TAKES U.S. CUP TITLE; RICHARDS ENDS GULYCH’S REIGN