Feel Is Real…Or Is It?
Healthy human beings are gifted with five senses: sight, sound, feel, smell, and taste. And three of those can be used in imparting golf instruction, unless someone has found a way to also incorporate smell and taste into a lesson. Now, wouldn’t that be interesting!
In many lesson scenarios, it’s common to hear the teacher keep up a running monologue for the duration of the lesson. Such teachers are sound-based, or audio-based, where most of the instruction is imparted via the spoken word.
Other teachers like to demonstrate often during the lesson by hitting many shots. One has to wonder whether they’re just trying to sneak in some practice on their own games by teaching this way. However, there actually may be some merit in this type of teaching, as it addresses the visual portion of our senses.
Less common is the lesson where the teacher is actively putting the students into swing positions, helping them move throughout the swing, or having them do drills for the majority of the lesson. This is a feel-based lesson, and for some reason it seems to be the least-used method of teaching.
Teachers who teach mainly with a sight-based or sound-based method of communicating should realize that the student needs to eventually translate this instruction into feel. Regardless if the student learns best by sight or sound, or is analytical, he or she uses feel to move the club throughout the swing.
Speaking of which, the teacher needs to determine which sense the student learns best with. Some players only need to hear what they need to do and can then translate this into feel; others need to see it in action.
The sense of sight
The two ways for a student to gather information in regards to sight are watching others or watching themselves, such as through video or still pictures. Students who learn best through sight can benefit from a teacher who hits many shots during the lesson, especially if the teacher has a fine swing. Think about it: A lot of people love to hang out at the range at a tour event, watching the players hit shot after shot. The late Moe Norman used to give clinics where he mainly hit shots for a couple of hours, with a minimum of instruction and speaking. People were fascinated with his abilities, and were content to just watch.
Some clues that may indicate a student learns best by sight is if they like to watch golf on television, like to look at swing sequence pictures, or are often videoing their own swings. Such students may benefit with the teacher also videoing the student’s swing throughout the lesson, instead of just filming a couple of swings to start the lesson, which is more the norm.
When giving demonstrations, teachers should take great care in making sure the demonstration is accurate, and that the demonstration matches up with the verbal explanation.
The sense of sound
Some students prefer to hear what they need to do. Highly-skilled players are experts at this, as they tend to have all their senses heightened when it comes to golf. Amateurs and club players may also tend to prefer verbal instruction if their overall comprehension skills are at a high level. Such people may include writers, editors, and people who do a lot of public speaking in their jobs. People who love to read books about golf may also be verbal-based learners.
When giving verbal instruction, the teacher needs to make sure the instruction is easily understood and accurate, and that the communication is clear. A good way to do this is for the teacher to speak to his or her students as if they are in grade school. This is not to say the students should be spoken to in a condescending manner, but rather, in a simplified manner.
The sense of feel
As was mentioned earlier, all instruction needs to eventually be translated into feel by the student, and feel is an individual thing. Two golfers may be making the same move and yet feel it in totally different ways. In helping a student translate visual and verbal instruction into feel, the teacher needs to ask the student what it feels like, instead of telling them what it should feel like. It’s okay to give some suggested feels, but the final judge is the student.
The headline of this article asks whether feel is real or not. A lot of teachers have pointed out that throughout the years, various tour players aren’t really doing what they say they are doing. With video being so prevalent, this doesn’t happen as much as in the past, but you still hear it. Mark O’Meara, in a Golf Magazine cover story a number of years ago, said he started his downswing with his arms and hands, although any video analysis clearly showed he started it with his lower body.
Another case where feel isn’t real is the student who drags the club back inside and then comes over the top. To them, they may well feel like they’re taking it back and through on the same plane. When they actually do take it back and through on the same plane, it will in all likelihood feel as if they’re taking the club back outside and looping it to the inside.
We can conclude feel is real when the student makes a move different than he or she is used to, but may not be when it comes to making their normal move. Golfers often give a feel-based analysis of what they did wrong after a poor shot, and generally this is an accurate feel of what went wrong. Our jobs as teachers involves not only making sure the student has the right feels, but feels them accurately. If we can do this, the student will have the minimum of trouble making the desired change.
The Private Lesson
The Importance Of Continuing Education
Golf is a game of conundrums and opposites. This fact is evident throughout all aspects of the game. Nothing is a better example than the contrast between the old traditions of instruction and the new methods and technology of modern-day golf.
Watching the old Bobby Jones instructional videos really brought this to light for me. Some of the basic core foundations of teaching are explained and demonstrated by Jones. If you have never taken the time to watch them, I would highly recommend you doing so. Not just for the entertainment value, but as a professional golf instructor. He didn’t need video or a launch monitor.
As a contrast, we have ball-flight launch monitors, detection devices that hook on your club delivering incredible data, sophisticated training aids, the 24/7 instruction from cable television, and of course, loads of golf instruction content readily available on the Internet.
Technology is a great thing, and I use it every day to help my clients and students. But as I watched and listened to Jones, I was amazed at the incredible quality of his instruction. It brought back memories of my childhood fascination with golf and how to become a better player.
It also reminded me how critical it is to continually learn and become more knowledgeable. I was fortunate to make this a priority early in my career. After 32 years working in the golf industry as a professional, this is the one thing I would point to as a key to my success. My thirst for knowledge was never-ending and still is to this day.
That is not to say that I incorporated every opinion and theory into my teaching. Golf is such a beautiful yet complicated game; I do not feel it is possible to ever have enough knowledge and expertise. My goal is to keep up with modern instruction, modern technology, and to also find new and improved methods of communication.
By watching and listening to other instructors, for example, I constantly find an improved method to describe something about the golf swing. I don’t always agree with all of the theories out there, but I try to expose myself to a variety of information.
A great example is a situation I remember clearly from a class I was teaching in 2003. The professionals in the class were tasked with writing a thesis on a golf-related subject. One professional wrote about the connection of emotion to memory. Basically, it was a great explanation of a study done that proves if we tie emotion to events and facts, the human brain can recall amazing things. If emotions are not generated that tie to the fact or event, our brain dumps it. This was the classic light bulb going off for me. If I was teaching monotone and mundane, my students wouldn’t retain the information. But if I add laughter or something out of the ordinary to the subject, they could recall it much better. I was floored. Scientists and psychologists are constantly understanding how people learn better. New methods of communicating are always being discovered or refined.
Sadly, I have come across too many teaching professionals that think they have all the answers or know everything. This is always a sobering situation for me. Not just that – it is bad for the game – but I feel sorry for that person.
Was Bobby Jones brilliant? Of course he was. He was so far ahead of his time from a teaching stand point. But I am convinced that if he were here today, he would be soaking up the knowledge we have gained from launch monitors and video. That brings to mind another story about a great player. Ben Hogan was once asked by a skeptical professional, “Hey Mr. Hogan, what do you think about all these young guys using video for their swings?” Hogan replied that if he had access to video during his playing career, he may have never lost a tournament.
My advice is this: Be open minded. Don’t stick your head in the sand. Even if you feel the information is beneath you, you don’t like the theory being taught, or the technology being used, open your mind and listen.
There may be something out there that might make you a better instructor or better professional. Continuing to learn should be a cornerstone of your foundation as a golf instructor.
Rule Changes For 2016
Teaching Junior Golfers
Hap Hazard is a golf teaching pro at Bucket O’ Balls Driving Range. He’s normally on time for his first lesson of the day, but as the morning wears on and morphs into afternoon, Hap is far behind on his lesson schedule. Mr. Smith arrives for his noon appointment, only to find that Hap can’t see him until 12:20. Mr. Smith decides to cancel the lesson and leaves.
Hap is actually happy to see this, because he can now get to his 12:30 lesson on time. The client, Mr. Jones, is someone to whom Hap gave a lesson two months ago. Mr. Jones keeps referring back to what Hap told him at that time, but Hap has no idea what Mr. Jones is talking about.
At the end of the week, Hap, an independent contractor who depends upon the range to collect his lesson fees, receives his check, but it doesn’t seem nearly enough for what he did. However, he has no way of disproving the check is wrong, so he has no choice but to accept the amount.
Hap Hazard is an example of a teaching professional who is highly disorganized. What are the mistakes Hap makes?
While this is a worst-case scenario, there are times where even the best among us may fall short occasionally. It takes great effort to keep an organized teaching operation. If a teaching professional is busy enough to the point that he or she has to book back-to-back lessons all day, it doesn’t make much sense to schedule the start of a lesson at the same time the previous lesson concludes. Someone is going to get short changed. A 5- or 10-minute buffer between lessons is helpful, and if the teacher is extremely busy, it makes sense to occasionally build in a 15- or even 30-minute break to recharge and make sure things are organized.
A teaching professional should also take notes regarding each lesson. Nothing is worse than a student returning after a long absence and the teacher having no clue what instruction was given the last time. The instruction might be so far removed from the previous teachings that the student will be confused. And asking the student to remind us what was worked on can make us look a little less competent in the eyes of that student.
It also goes without saying that a financial record of each lesson should be kept. Hap’s arrangement is not uncommon, and it also makes sense to go over the day’s lesson receipts at the end of the day. Other ways to be organized include having complete information about each student, including contact info, for future marketing purposes. It also doesn’t hurt to send birthday wishes or an occasional free golf tip.
It should go without saying that a golf teaching professional should be prepared for each lesson. If training aids are among a teacher’s arsenal, they should be readily available. Nothing is worse for the teacher to figure out that a certain training aid needs to be used, only to find it’s been left in the car or someplace in the cart barn.
Since video is becoming more frequent (al-though we find in 2017 that most teachers still don’t use it routinely, interestingly), making sure the equipment is in good working order, complete with charged batteries, is important.
Much of the advice given in this article seems like common sense, but you might be surprised how many times, or how many professionals, fall short in these departments, even if only occasion-ally. An organized pro equals happy students, and if they’re happy, they’re certain to return – and they might even tell their friends.
That being said, I think I have learned more as an instructor teaching my own 10-year-old son. I often caddie for him in junior competitions. As his instructor/caddie, my goal is to offer him guidance to nurture his golf game for the future. For us, it is not about today as it is about building for the future.
However, far too often I see the same mistakes made by over-enthusiastic parents who put enormous pressure on their child. I call it “Little League parent syndrome.” This often leads to conflict and a dislike for the game of golf by the time these kids are teenagers. This seems to be a growing theme that is nearly reaching epidemic proportions. Sadly, these kids will be lost from the game.
The following points are some advice as a golf instructor and a parent. It is important to understand that few children under 8 years old have the motor skill necessary to understand distance control, particularly with a putter. This translates to lots of putts on the greens. Ask yourself, how do I know how far or how hard to hit a putt? Is it motor skill, experience, or innate “feel”? I suspect it is a combination of all of these things. Young children have not yet developed the fine motor skill necessary to consistently control distance, nor have they had enough “experience” to understand the difference between 10 feet and 30 feet. This is okay; let them develop at their own pace.
Golf takes a long time to develop good routines and positive habits. Try to encourage good habits when practicing and playing. Often I see kids who have problems with alignment. Try to give them simple cues that help them line up properly. It is also important to stay away from complex swing instruction. An adequate grip, posture, and setup positions are all that are necessary to get them started. Let them swing away, as there will be plenty of time in the future for refinement. Of course, there will be misses and off-line shots. Kids should look at the ball and hit it. Often natural athletic ability will take over and they will find the ball on the downswing. I also believe that they should swing at the ball with some speed. This helps develop the muscles and coordination necessary to hit a golf ball. Later, the positions can be refined as they become more coordinated.
One of the amazing things one will notice is the developmental stages of each child. There will be big jumps in strength and coordination. This will all come with time; however, on average, I do seem to notice a big leap in coordination around the age of 10 years old. This will ebb and flow as each child grows and develops differently.
Lastly, keep it fun! It is important to try to avoid undue pressure. In our case, there is controlled practice and some technical work. However, we always set aside time for “free practice” where my son tries different shots on his own and has his own version of golf play time. He even explains different versions of shots to me! We often have up-and-down competitions where we try all sorts of crazy pitch shots. This develops his imagination and keeps the game fun for years to come.