Golf Teaching Pro Magazine

14 Mar 2019 admin

The New Fundamentals of Teaching The Driver

Okay, so in full disclosure, these fundamentals may not exactly be new, but hey, this catchy headline grabbed your attention, didn’t it?  And we  are  going  to  introduce  a  thought  that  may  be somewhat  controversial.  In  any  event,  there  are distinct  differences  between  what  was  taught  a number of years ago with what is necessary today to get maximum effectiveness out of the driver.

Back in the persimmon wood and balata ball era, the desired ball flight started low and then all of a sudden climbed up into the sky. This was due to the dimple pattern on the golf ball, the construction of the ball itself, and the downward strike that most good players employed, which resulted in much higher backspin rates than we see today.

We know now that to get maximum distance, the ball flight must be fairly high and the backspin rate fairly low. It wasn’t too long ago that a launch angle of 10° to 12° with backspin under 3,300 rpm was considered ideal.  Launch monitors tell us that launch angles of 15°, 16°, and even 17° and 18° are required for golfers of average swing speeds to carry the ball its maximum distance, and spin rates should be under 2,500 rpm.  TaylorMade Golf, a USGTF industry partner, tells us that the holy grail of driver ball flight is 17° of launch angle with 1,700 rpm of backspin.  Today’s driver and shaft combinations make that possible, although it can be difficult for many golfers to achieve.

Golfers tend to make the same mistakes when it comes to the driver. They don’t tee the ball high enough and they don’t set up properly. They then tend to swing outside-in in relation to the intended target line with a downward strike and an open clubface, further robbing them of distance.

To correct these problems, the first thing is to make sure at least half the ball is teed above the top of the clubface. As traditionally taught, ball position should be opposite the forward heel. Many golfers suffer  from  a  stance  that  is  too  narrow,  and  it’s recommended  that  the  stance  be  wide  enough  so the insides of the heels are at least shoulder-width.

Here is where things get interesting. The USGTF Technical Committee sees golfers who, time after time, set up with open shoulders in relation to the feet and a back shoulder that is far too high. This results in not only improper alignment, but a center of  mass  and  a  body  tilt  that  is  too  far  forward.  It is imperative that these golfers set up with square shoulders and a lower back shoulder, with the center of mass centered between the feet or even slightly back. Most golfers who are put in this position will tell you that they feel really closed to the target line with their shoulders and that they are leaning too far back, but a simple picture or quick video should convince them otherwise.

We’ve  long  been  taught  that  a  backswing  that is  too  far  to  the  inside  will  result  in  an  over-the- top  swing,  but  the  Technical  Committee  has  been seeing more and more golfers who incorrectly take the  club  back  too  far  to  the  outside.  Members of the Technical Committee have found success in encouraging players to take the club back more to the  inside  and  returning  the  club  from  the  inside with  an  upwards  strike.  This  might  go  against what  you’ve  been  taught  or  even  your  personal experience  with  some  students,  but  we’ve  found this is a necessity with many.

In order to return the club from the inside, students should be encouraged to keep their back to the target on the downswing much longer than they are used to. Many of these students spin their shoulders  out  prematurely,  which  throws  the  club to  the  outside  and  results  in  the  dreaded  outside-in swing path through impact. Another image that has worked well is to get the student to drive the butt end of the club into an imaginary target that is to the right of the target line. While technically the direction of the downswing path is determined by the quality of the transition move from backswing to downswing, getting a student to move the hands and  arms  in  a  certain  direction  can  be  a  path  to success. Please be aware, and we are not ignorant of the fact, that these tidbits of teaching instruction will not work on everyone. But when it comes to getting a student to deliver the clubhead to the ball in a certain way, we must be open to ideas that we may not have thought of or are different than what we may believe.

Equipment-wise, some students don’t want to go out and buy a new $500 driver every year, but the fact is that there are incremental improvements with each  iteration  of  driver  introductions  by  the  major manufacturers. So while it’s not necessary to buy a new driver annually, a driver should be updated at least every 2-3 years.  Manufacturers keep making the effective sweet spots on drivers bigger so that mis-hits will lose very little distance compared to sweet-spot strikes. Spin rates are being optimized and equipment makers are also finding ways to, in effect, get around the USGA limits on spring-face technology and have produced drivers with more ball speed the last couple of years.

The bottom line with teaching the driver is the ball flight must be fairly high with low spin rates. Through equipment and innovative teaching, we can get our students to take part in the driver distance revolution that has consumed the golf world the past several years.

1 Mar 2019 admin

Clubface Contact, The “Forgotten” Aspect of the Ball Flight Laws

We’ve long been taught that the two main aspects of the ball flight laws are clubhead path through impact and clubface angle at impact. These are the two main focal points of most teaching, because a clubface angle that is square to the clubhead path at impact will produce a dead straight shot…or so we’ve been taught.

Before we go any further, let’s look at the five aspects of the ball flight laws:
• Clubhead path through impact
• Clubface angle at impact
• Centeredness of clubface contact
• Angle of approach
• Clubhead speed

Assuming a square clubface angle to the clubhead path at impact, what could possibly happen, besides an outside force such as the wind, to make the ball not go straight? The answer to that would be failing to contact the ball on the club’s “sweet spot,” or center of percussion. Technically, the sweet spot is only a small point on the clubface, so if a ball is not perfectly or close to perfectly struck on this spot, a reaction known as “gear effect” takes place. Basically, the ball rolls or attempts to roll toward the center of percussion if it is not perfectly struck. Here is what happens when the four general areas around the sweet spot – above, below, on the toe and on the heel – strike the ball:

Above: Virtually every shot with any sort of decent contact will have backspin, so a ball struck here will not produce topspin. But it will reduce the amount of backspin, unless the club is descending at such an angle at impact that the golfer only contacts the lower part of the ball, in which case a pop-up with lots of backspin results (usually with a driver, fairway wood or hybrid; doing this with irons is rare). Hitting the ball above the sweet spot is important to produce long drives, so drivers are manufactured with a very low sweet spot in most cases. Irons hit appreciably above the sweet spot will produce shots with greatly reduced distance.

Below: A large increase in backspin will result, unless the ball is skulled or topped.

On the toe: This is where gear effect becomes extremely noticeable. High-speed video shows that balls hit on the toe of the club result in a clubface that twists open, sometimes severely, upon contact. Since the ball will want to roll towards the center of percussion, hook spin results. Launch monitor data show that toe strikes with a square clubface and path result in a hook the majority of times, and can even overcome an open clubface to the point of still producing a hook! On other occasions, if the toe strike is especially severe or the player has weaker hands, the clubface can open to an extent that it results not in a hook but a more severe fade or slice. This is not as common as a draw or hook with a toe strike, but it has been shown through the GC Quad launch monitor, which has the capability of “seeing” where on the clubface the ball was struck.

On the heel: As with toe strikes, heel strikes have noticeable gear effect, with fades and slices resulting. Here as well, heel strikes can produce fades and slices even when the clubface is closed to the clubhead path at impact. Although heel strikes often close the clubface at impact, they do not normally make a hook worse, according to GC Quad data. This is due to the heel being closer to the shaft than the toe, which means lack of hand strength isn’t as much of a factor as it can be with toe hits.

So, how can we use all of this in our teaching? It’s important to see where the student is striking the ball on the clubface so we can determine if something else is causing an errant ball flight besides clubhead path and clubface angle. With a driver, impact stickers or foot powder spray do the trick nicely. Impact stickers tend to also work on irons when hitting off of grass, and will always work on artificial turf mats. Foot powder spray may not work very well with irons hit off the grass.

If clubhead path and clubface angle are the two main aspects of the ball flight laws, then centeredness of contact is a close, and in fact a very close, third. Some teachers even argue that it’s the most important, because without striking the clubface squarely nothing else matters. Whatever your position, pay attention to this most important aspect of the ball flight laws.

26 Feb 2019 admin

Who Is In Your Shadow?

By Norm Crerar, USGTF Contributing Writer, Vernon, British Columbia

I am going to receive a medal. Word came via a phone call from the Governor General’s office about mid-July. For readers not familiar with Canadian history and culture, Queen Elizabeth is Queen of Canada, and as she does not reside in Canada, a Governor General is appointed to fill in for her. The post is somewhat symbolic, but it is a functioning part of our government.

The kind lady from the Governor General’s office informed me that my name had been put forward for the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Governor General had agreed. I was to keep the news to myself until I received formal notice in writing via mail within a few weeks. To say that I was overwhelmed would be to put it mildly. I had to do a search to see what the medal really meant and found that the Meritorious Service Medal, civilian division, was an award the Governor General, in right of the Queen, could confer on a person who had done something extraordinary to affect the lives of those around him or her in a positive way. I had been recommended for the medal for starting the Okanagan Military Tattoo. The short story is that I took an idea I had for a Military Tattoo to some like-minded friends, and they found some friends, and we got started talking in 2012. By2014 we had enough support and funding to put on our first event, and we are now into the planning of our sixth annual event.

The more I thought about the upcoming award, the more I started to feel bad. I was getting the medal, and all the people working with me to make the event the success that it has become were not getting anything! The more I thought about it, the worse I felt. I sought out the advice of a friend of mine who happens to be the commanding officer of our local primary reserve militia. He is a veteran of Afghanistan and spent his time there flying a British Army Air Corps attack helicopter. He did a lot of other stuff, as well, in a very busy military career. When I told him about my medal and my quandary, he went and brought out his medal board. “This one here, “he said, “you get for just showing up. This one you get for doing something out of the ordinary.” He then quoted Winston Churchill: “Every medal presented casts a shadow!” We talked about that for a long while, and I felt a lot better for our time together.

But, I am still thinking, all those people in my shadow really deserve my thanks. At the time of this writing, I am just six days away from standing in front of Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General and Commander in Chief, Canada, and having her pinning a medal on me. I will wonder if she thinks of the people that were behind her, such as the first Canadian female astronaut. I know I will be thinking about all those who have been part of me being able to receive this distinguished award.

And how does this all fit in with the USGTF and teaching golf? Everything is connected! On one of my phone calls in 2013 to your president, the Old Funseeker himself, Geoff Bryant, he asked me what I was up to. I explained about the Okanagan Military Tattoo and that we were having great success inputting the program together, but were having troublefinding funding. He promptly sent me a cheque, and with that first bit of money in the bank, we started making the rounds of other sponsors and partners. No one wanted to be first! So, Geoff and the USGT Fare in my shadow and I will always be grateful. The event now has 600 performers, and our annual turnover is in the $200,000 range. The USGTF is still on our sponsor/partner/supporter page.

Are you known as the best golf instructor of your area? Of your state/province? Top 100 in the country? Who helped you get to where you are?

Who is in your shadow?

20 Feb 2019 admin

To Be Truly Successful, You Need Grit

By Dr. Michelle Cleere USGTF Contributing Writer Oakland, California

The definition of grit is as follows: “courage and resolve; strength of character.” I am reading Angela Duckworth’s book, Grit – The Power of Passion and Perseverance.  While I always understood this basic concept, Angela’s research in this area explains grit in much more depth.

Her research gives grit life by explaining the secret to success. There’s so much important information in Angela’s book, far too much for this conversation. However, let’s discuss it in relation to mental training.

State of sports today
Over the past ten years, youth sports have changed. We continue to see a rise of youth sports programs in the U.S.  We have pay-to-play sports outside of the public-school system, and now in the schools. And the status of sports is all encompassing. Many kids start playing sports around 4, 5, or 6 years of age and continue to try to play through college or as a professional (which is typically why they were put into the sport at such an early age).

As  a  result,  the  youth’s  identity  hinges  on  their sport  and  the  message  received  from  coaches  and parents.  Kids  are  influenced  by  the  messages  they get  about  being  good,  being  intelligent  and  being perfect,  versus  what  they  did  that  was  good,  how they improved, a new skill they learned, and/or their passion and intent.

Some of the problems associated with it is that youth sports can take over the lives of youths. And this  can  result  in  it  not  being  fun  for  them.  Why? Stress. Pressure. These youths do not have the skills to deal with the pressures.  Not to mention, youths are burnt out by the time they are in middle school and high school because they are playing one sport, year around.

How we currently think about success
Angela’s first statements in her TED Talk piqued my interest:  “What struck me was that IQ was not the only difference between my best and my worst students.  Some  of  my  strongest  performers  did  not have  stratospheric  IQ  scores.  Some of my smartest kids weren’t doing so well.”

Why?  Because  the  smartest,  most  athletic  kids attribute  their  smarts  and  athleticism  to  talent  and aren’t  always  willing  to  persevere  and  be  resilient. Their goal is making sure the outcome is perfect and they are unable to enjoy the process, to be in it. This also means they are unable to deal with challenges and adversity.  They  may  be  okay  dealing  with challenges and adversity the first time, but certainly struggle  and  want  to  give  up  if  it  lasts  longer  than that. So many times, I’ve heard from kids, “I am okay with the first mistake, but if I keep making the same mistake,  I  get  frustrated  and  angry  and  can’t  let  go of it.”

We’ve taught kids to be afraid of making mistakes. Kids who are afraid to fail don’t succeed.

What is actually true about success
“Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not  just  for  the  month,  but  for  years,  and  working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Perfectly said. (Source: Grit by Dr. Angela Duckworth.)

Grit shows up in different ways but has one theme – drive:

• •Push through challenges to get your purpose
  
  •Be open to change and growth
  
  •Realize that talent is only a small part of the equation
  
  •Know there is no such thing as perfection and know it sets you up for failure
  
  •Realize there are challenges and it makes you stronger.
  How do we evolve into this new place?
  “So  far, the  best  idea  I’ve  heard  about  building grit in kids is something called ‘growth mindset.’ This is an idea developed at Stanford University by CarolDweck,  and  it  is  the  belief  that  the  ability  to  learn is not fixed, that it can change with your effort. Dr. Dweck  has  shown  that  when  kids  read  and  learn about  the  brain  and  how  it  changes  and  grows  in response  to  challenge,  they’re  much  more  likely  to persevere when they fail, because they don’t believe that  failure  is  a  permanent  condition.  We  need  to measure  whether  we’ve  been  successful,  and  we have to be willing to fail, to be wrong, to start over again  with  lessons  learned.”  (Source:  Grit by Dr. Angela Duckworth.)
  She goes on to the consequences of a fixed mindset.  When  you  have  a  fixed  mindset  about your   ability,   this   leads   to   pessimistic   thinking about  adversity,  giving  up  on  challenges,  and  not attempting them at all. On the other hand, she notes that a growth mindset leads to optimistic self-talk, which leads to perseverance over adversity.
  So to evolve, you need to think growth; you need to understand that you and your actions really can change. Mistakes are not a permanent, evil beast. Mistakes are learning opportunities where you can grow and improve and advance.
  Everyone plays a role in grit: parents, teachers, and coaches
  Everyone  has  a  responsibility  in  whether  kids choose  to  take  the  path  toward  grit  and  a  growth mindset.  From a young age, kids will imitate what we do.  They hear what we say and interpret what they see and internalize it. Does that mean you have to be a perfect parent, teacher, or coach?  No.  But you have to be aware and understand that there are better indirect and direct messages you can send.
  Wise  parenting,  teaching  and  coaching  is  supportive  and  demanding  –  being  able  to  reflect  on something at which a child failed is an opportunity. It is critical to show them that they are still loved after failing and they are celebrated for it.
  I highly recommend the book Grit – The Power of Passion and Perseverance for all parents, teachers, and coaches. It’s a must-read! Thank you, Angela, for your expansive research in this area.
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4 Feb 2019 admin

A Puzzle for the Teacher

By Mark Harman USGTF Course Director Ridgeland, South Carolina

Let me give you a little background about myself. I’ve been teaching golf since 1989 and have been the USGTF national course director since 1993. That’s a long time! In my journey as a teacher, I’ve read many books, had many discussions with other teachers and am involved in a Facebook group where golf teachers from around the world congregate and throw ideas around. I’ve taught everyone from beginners to professionals.

The easy part of teaching is seeing what is wrong and what needs to be corrected. With the vast majority of players, even good ones, there is a clear path to improvement the player must take in order to achieve their goals. But there are still times when a student presents a puzzle that is difficult to solve. I think this happens to all teachers, no matter what their abilities are. This is especially true when the player is an extremely good player, or even a great player, and they want to improve.

The annals of professional golf are littered with players who tried to get better through changing their swings, only to find that what they previously had was what worked best for them. These players never again found the form that made them what they were.

At the USGTF certification classes, we advise prospective teachers that repeatability is more important than conforming to some sort of model. The trick is in figuring out when a student has the most repeatable swing they can execute and changing it will result in making that student worse, even if the changes make the swing more fundamentally correct according to an accepted swing model.

I teach at an indoor facility with a GC Quad from Foresight Sports, a launch monitor that gives me every piece of data about the ball and club that I could ever want. We also use high-speed video with two cameras running simultaneously. Combining the GC Quad with the video, there is absolutely no doubt as to what a particular student is or isn’t doing. Despite all this technology and my years of teaching experience, two dilemmas presented themselves to me recently where there may not be a clear path of what to do. I will present them, along with my thinking about why I took the course of action with each student that I did.

The first involves a young champion golfer who is the best for his age in the entire world. Yes, the entire world. I will not give his accomplishments in order to preserve some sense of anonymity for him. Although I am not his official coach, his father trusts me enough to consult with his son and to give him occasional lessons.

This kid has an ability for golf that is freakish, reminding one of a young Tiger Woods. Whether he becomes a major champion or never makes the tour remains to be seen, but for now he loves the game and is highly motivated. During his swing, he pushes off his right foot with such force that his right heel is well off the ground during the delivery position (club shaft parallel to the ground and butt end of club pointing to the target on the downswing). His father believes he should have his entire foot on the ground at this stage of his swing, as do the vast majority of tour players. The kid is so talented that he is easily able to do anything you ask him to do.

I voted that he keep pushing off his right foot and letting the heel come off the ground well before impact. My reasoning was threefold: 1) his swing repeats; 2) it’s a very natural move that kids make because the club is proportionally heavier to them that it is to adults, and 3) when he kept his right foot on the ground, his swing no longer looked smooth and fluid. His current swing also looks very much like what Justin Thomas does, and so far his career has turned out all right. Supremely gifted golfers also tend to find the swing that works best for them, because they are so in tune with their bodies kinesthetically that they can feel what it takes to hit good golf shots time and time again. My belief is as long as he doesn’t stray from the accepted general fundamentals – and it’s hard to see him doing that – he will continue to develop and improve.

The second dilemma involved a 51-year-old who has a handicap index of +1.3 and wants to get better. He aims with an open stance and his clubhead swing path through impact is approximately four degrees to the right of the target line. He does this because coming down, he drops the clubhead somewhat under the original shaft-plane line he had at address. Swinging in this manner risks “getting stuck” and having to flip and time the hands properly during the release.

He wanted to have a swing that is more on-plane, and during our first lesson we worked on this. I showed him how he needed to do this and the necessary drills. We left it at that. A couple of months later, he came back and had the exact same swing he had prior to the first lesson. I told him that because he did not change his swing in any appreciable manner, he needed to keep what he had: open stance and swinging inside-out. Zach Johnson and Tom Lehman immediately come to mind when you think of current players, not to mention Lee Trevino in the past.

He mildly objected because he wanted a swing that was more “correct.” I told him that his swing path was incredibly consistent, so why change it? The only problem he had was the occasional hook and block, and that was because his grip was too strong. A full release led to a hook and holding off the release led to a block right, so he was attempting to hit it at the target by half-releasing, which is the worst thing you can do. We weakened his left-hand grip slightly and had him fully release, which led to a beautiful little draw. The only problem was because his swing path was so far to the right, the ball kept finishing to the right of the target. Opening up the stance more than he had been doing was the easy solution to that problem. He now was able to fully release without fearing a hook and the ball was now finishing at the target.

Had this student brought a more on-plane swing to me for the second lesson, I would have kept him on that path. But because he didn’t, it seemed that his natural tendency to swing inside-out was too strong for him to overcome. Although the instruction I came up with left the student with a more “incorrect” swing according to presently accepted swing models, it fixed his problem and led to more consistent ballstriking.

Other teachers might have had the young champion golfer keep his right foot on the ground longer, and to keep directing the 51-year-old golfer to swing more on plane – and they may well not be incorrect. When there are multiple courses of possible action to take with a student, take time to think it through and then trust your instincts. Doing so will serve you well when faced with these teaching puzzles.

31 Jan 2019 admin

Target Marketing: Enhancing Your Sales and Marketing Effectiveness

By Jill J. Johnson, USGTF Contributing Writer Minneapolis, Minnesota

Your customers can be grouped according to a variety of different identifiable characteristics that reflect their specific needs and interests. These needs and interests impact their attitudes toward purchasing decisions. Each of these groups is called a target market. Target marketing is the response to identified market needs. These needs will differ for groups within the total population and they can change over time. Target marketing can turn challenges created by changes in our economic environment into opportunities to better achieve your organizational goals.

While it may seem very limiting to narrow your market, the truth is you cannot be all things to all people. It is difficult and costly to develop effective promotional messages or reach your most likely purchasers if your target is too broad.

There are three major components to developing effective target marketing for sales results. First, you have to clarify your market segments. Then you have to engage in data mining to verify the market opportunity really exists. Finally, link your target market to your operating, sales and promotional strategies.

1. Clarify Your Market Segments

A solid framework for evaluating your target market incorporates many different variables to develop your customer profile. The key is to begin to identify the distinctive patterns of attitudes, desires, concerns, and decision-making criteria for them. By understanding these elements, you can focus your marketing approaches to more effectively reach your target audience and to influence their purchasing decisions. Customers are more likely to identify with messages specifically tailored to their individual needs.

Target marketing typically incorporates an assessment of the demographics of your customer base. There are many demographic variables that can be easily identified and measured. A few examples for a consumer market include such aspects as age, gender, income, or marital status. Business customers can consider aspects such as employees, revenue, or years in operation. Knowing where your customers live or work is another method for evaluating your target market. Geography is typically combined with demographics to measure market size.

The psychological profile is an exceptionally important variable in target marketing. Under-standing your customer’s personality, buying motivations and interests provide powerful opportunities to develop communication messages designed to trigger a buying response in your customer.

Other variables may influence your customers ‘purchasing decisions. These can include generational differences or customer brand loyalty. They may be highly influenced by other people being involved in their purchasing decisions. Do you need to position your marketing messages to influence decision influencers, too? Clearly assessing these target market segments provides a gateway for creating better marketing messages to ensure your customers and their decision influencers are compatible with your options.

2. Data Mining

The second critical step to developing your target markets is to quantify your market size. You do this by data mining. Data mining involves analytically reviewing your internal customer and comparing it to external market information. Look for patterns and relationships to help understand your customer’s buying patterns and opportunities to influence them at each stage of their buying decision cycle.

Start by reviewing your Internal Customer Data. Prepare historical summaries reflecting several years of data. Most people only look at one year of data – this is not sufficient to help you determine if your market has achieved its maximum potential or is on a decline. Look for trends and patterns. What types of profiles can you create of those who buy from you? When do they buy? Who is most profitable to you? Start evaluating how effectively your marketing approach reaches them and matches their purchasing decision approach.

Then, conduct a detailed review of the available External Data. Assess how your current customer profile matches up with the real market opportunity. Do the demographics show a potential for long-term growth? Does the data show anything else that might impact your sales success?

3. Tie Your Target Market to Your Promotional Activities

Promotion must be customer oriented and matched to how, why and when they buy. Whereto they look for information to solve their problem or meet their need? It is not about what you want to sell them. You will need different marketing messages for those who are at the awareness stage gathering information than those who are ready to make a final purchase.

Match each of your promotional efforts to your target market. Clarify in detail how it benefits or provides value to them. What needs of theirs does it meet? How does it meet their needs in ways your competitors cannot?

Make your prospective customers understand how you will help them solve their problems or meet their needs by using your target market insight to customize your promotional messages! Tie your promotions to their decision-making cycle and move them through their purchasing decision-making stages in a deliberate and effective manner. Heal their pain points!

There are numerous promotional options beyond sales activities that can help you communicate with your target market. These include advertising, public relations, social media, collateral materials, direct mail, email campaigns, website, ours, presentations, networking, participating in community events, open houses, trade fairs, using giveaways and generating referrals from satisfied customers.

The effectiveness of how you communicate your value to your customers and key referral sources will determine your ultimate sales success. Communicate with them in the ways they expect. Develop a matrix to clearly define each target market you want and need to influence. Then identify how you will use each promotional opportunity to communicate with and influence each market segment.

Final Thoughts

Using target marketing provides you with a disciplined approach to crafting highly effective marketing messages that have the potential to drastically influence your sales. The process of target marketing is ongoing and dynamic. You have to work hard to keep up with your market and discern when it is changing. Changes can be subtle. You will need to adjust your strategies to change with them or you may have to find new customers to remain a viable business.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jill J. Johnson is the president and founder of Johnson Consulting Services, a highly accomplished speaker, an award-winning management consultant, and author of the bestselling book Compounding Your Confidence. Jill helps her clients make critical business decisions and develop market-based strategic plans for turnarounds or growth. Her consulting work has impacted more than $4 billion worth of decisions. She has a proven track record of dealing with complex business issues and getting results. For more information on Jill J. Johnson, please visit www.jcs-usa.

24 Jan 2019 admin

Tools To Grow The Game

By Dane Wiren and John Leighton, GOLF AROUND THE WORLD
www.GolfTrainingAids.com – You can follow them on Instagram @GolfTrainingAids

The golf industry has been working hard on ways to grow the game. As the founder of the first international values-based junior golf camps in the 1970s, Dr. Gary Wiren gives this advice:

“The biggest problem we face is reaching prospective players in non-traditional settings. Plenty of people want to learn to play golf. The key is keeping the instruction simple while ensuring success. Make it fun and they will come – that philosophy works at any age.” – Dr. Gary Wiren

The points made by Dr. Wiren are, first, don’t go to a golf course or driving range to recruit new golfers; they are already there. Move away from the course to reach players in non-golf settings, namely schools, churches, city parks, community centers, senior care facilities, YMCAs, etc. Secondly, technical jargon should be replaced with simple instructions that allow the player to see, feel and understand the game. Lastly, keep it fun. Golf is a game wherever it is played.

If you had to pick one indispensable tool to teach the game, what would it be? As the general manager of a company whose mission is to work with teachers to find the most useful teaching products, I can shed some light on what products are proving their worth on the lesson tee. Below are three groups of products: perennial favorites, what’s hot now, and the most useful kits for teaching beginners. After all, growing the game not only means recruiting new players, but keeping the ones you have happy. Everyone wants to improve their game!

Here are the 10 top aids that have been on the market for more than 5 years. There are hundreds that are useful, but these are the top of the charts: Swingyde, Orange Whip, Impact Bag, eGolfRing, Impact Ball, Alignment Rods, Impact SNAP, Putting Alignment Mirror, Putting Arc T3, Power Fan.

Next, let’s look at 10 products you don’t want to miss that have come to the aid of the golf world more recently. Consider this a recommended reading list for your next lesson plan. Some are great visual aids, others measure speed or precision, while some will make your life as a teacher a little easier: The Hanger, Chip Tac Toe, Acu-Strike Mat, SmartBall, PuttOUT Pressure Trainer, SuperSpeed Sets, Perfect Practice Putting Mat, Strike Spray, Colour Path Golf System, Total Golf Trainer.

But the question remains, what is the best way to start someone off right? How do you teach a person golf where traditional golf may not even be allowed? What is the best “first touch” golf system?

The answer is Wally Armstrong’s Go Start Golf kit. Wally is a USGTF member and lifetime Tour member who has invested over 30 years bringing our great game, with safe equipment and fun teaching methods, to first-time players of all ages and abilities around the world in every setting imaginable.

The coaching kit provides his AirGolfFlyers, which teach the game of golf and a feeling for the four shots of golf, all while playing. Wally calls this his Play-To-Learn golf method. Participants learn the rules of golf and the terminology as they’re developing their swing feelings. There are many fun games that can be played indoors or outdoors using AirGolf. Once these basic swing, distance and direction skills are acquired, the student transitions into ShortGolf. ShortGolf provides safe and fun First Touch equipment that you can utilize in your lesson plans to get them hooked and grow the game.

Moving away from the golf course and using a proven First Touch training system that can be used anywhere and will bring more players to the game. Keeping your lessons fun and focused will keep them playing for life.

Dane Wiren is general manager and John Leighton is customer relations manager for www.GolfTrainingAids.com. Founded in 1984, the company offers the largest selection of teaching aids in the world. Discounts are provided to USGTF members.

15 Jan 2019 admin

Thirty Years of Constant Change

There’s an old saying, “The more things change, the more things stay the same.” That applies to the golf industry somewhat, but no one can doubt the seismic changes the golf landscape has seen in the past 30 years.

This year, 2019, marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the United States Golf Teachers Federation. But when we think back to the beginning of 1989, things were markedly different, not only in the golf industry as a whole but also specifically in the golf teaching industry.

Golf schools thrived. Nationally recognized schools such as Golf Digest, Roland Stafford, Craft-Zavichas, Ben Sutton, Mt. Snow, United States Golf Academy, and of course, The Florida Golf School and the Illinois Golf School were attended annually by thousands of students from everywhere. The latter two were owned and operated by Geoff Bryant, who was able to successfully enter the golf school industry in the early 1980s with locations such as Club Med Sandpiper in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Rolling Hills Country Club just down the road in Fort Lauderdale. With the success of those early locations, The Florida Golf School soon expanded to other destinations such as Daytona Beach, Clearwater, Lehigh Acres and Pompano Beach. Summer sessions were held at the Eagle Ridge Resort in Galena, Illinois.

Golf in 1989 was different than what it is in 2019. Wooden-headed drivers were still the norm and balata golf balls were played by tour players. Metal spikes still click-clacked on cart paths, and the back tees at most courses topped out at around 6,800 yards. Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros and Curtis Strange ruled the professional game with drives that averaged in the 260s-range. Going for a par-5 in two shots was a big deal, and most of the time a fairway wood was required. Greens at tour events usually read around 9.5 on the Stimpmeter, and major championship events featured greens that rolled at a lighting pace, 11 or so. Pebble Beach could still be played for around $150, and premium golf balls cost around $2 per ball or $24 per dozen.

Getting back to the teaching industry, while golf schools were thriving, local professionals were doling out individual lessons, but most of the time students were getting a teacher who had not been properly trained – if he was even trained at all. And note that the use of the pronoun “he” is not an accident in that last sentence. Women professionals were few and far between unless they belonged to the LPGA. The system back then was that the head professional was supposed to help his assistants learn to teach, but in fact most would-be professionals were tossed out on the lesson tee and expected to figure it out for themselves.

In this backdrop, Bryant had a difficult time finding the qualified and personable teachers that he sought. So in 1989, he ran an ad in Golf Digest that said, “Learn to teach golf. The profession of a lifetime.” In September of that year, 12 candidates showed up at Lehigh Acres to learn the craft of teaching the game, and in January 1990 over 40 came. This signaled an historic sea change in the way the golf teaching industry would conduct itself, and golf teacher training and education would never be the same.

Those early classes featured a multitude of examiners with a wide array of teaching experience, imparting their wisdom to their charges. In turn, the newly-minted members returned home and successfully started their own teaching businesses. This change was so profound that at a PGA of America national meeting in the early 1990s, they realized that the USGTF had usurped its position as the “leader in the field of golf instruction,” and changed the way its members were certified as a direct result.

The dawn of the internet age in the late 1990s and early 2000s meant that online learning was taking place at colleges and universities, and the USGTF soon expanded into this area when it began offering Associate Member courses through online training. Looking into the future, plans are in the works to offer webinar-based certification classes and the ability of USGTF Master Teaching Professionals to certify members at their home facilities.

Golf itself today would be unrecognizable in many ways to golfers back in 1989. Small wooden-headed drivers have been replaced by 460cc titanium and composite drivers; metal spikes replaced by state-of-the-art plastic spikes that actually offer better traction; balata balls replaced by multi-material rocket-ship golf balls; par-5 snow routinely reached in two by professionals, and greens that Stimpmeter at 10-11 for everyday play at most top-end facilities. Rules are different in 2019, including taking drops from knee-height and leaving the flagstick in the hole while putting.

But even with these changes, some things do remain the same. Players of every ability want to improve. The challenge of getting a 1.68” ball into a 4 ¼” hole remains the same, even if the color of the ball is not always white anymore. Getting out into the fresh air and sunshine with friends is still sought after, even if occasionally a few times during the round one or more of the foursome have to check their smart phones.

But most of all, golf remains the enjoyable challenge that it has always been. And that part is sure to remain a constant for as long as the game is played.