Golf instruction

Last updated

Golf instruction is the art of equipping and training golfers to play better golf through improved awareness of swing cause and effects as a result of the actions by their body, the club, and their effect on the golf ball. Most great golfers have a few common elements that make them great including: proper intentionality, swing repeatability to produce an action that fits the golfers intentionality, and a strong level of automaticity for long lasting enjoyment of the game golf.

Contents

Required skills

Golf instruction consists of five primary skills: shots from a tee (most notable: driving that uses a driver), full shots from the ground (mostly known as "iron shots", pitching (or 3/4 shots designed for distance control, chipping (short shots around the green the require less than a full swing), putting (1 club preferably "the putter") and course strategy or gamesmanship. Proficiency in teaching golf instruction requires not only technical and physical ability, but also knowledge of the rules and etiquette of the game. Golf instruction offered on many platforms in the United States including: the PGA of America, GolfTEC, and independent golfers who "may" or "may not" have credentials that are recognized by credible teachers certified sources such as the PGA of America. Although there are many great golf instructors in the United States who are PGA Class A Professionals, not all great instructors carry this status nor find it a major determiner of golf instruction proficiency.

Forms of instruction

Golf instruction can be wide ranging, but many great modern day instructors are able to diagnose and prescribe swing frustrations accurately and present a clear fix that encourages the golfer in the discovery of lasting repeatability from the specific ailment that "plagued" them from a sound repeatable swing to play a golf course successfully. Many modern instructors include the following in their diagnosis:

  1. Visual feedback through video and bio motion analysis
  2. Personalized golf club fitting for individual body and swing types
  3. On-course play under real conditions
  4. Mental performance development
  5. Golf specific body conditioning for optimal golf bio-mechanics

Beginning players can start lesson in several ways, but most do so in either a group or individual setting, covering the five primary skills of golf as noted above golf swing. Golf is an asymmetrical exercise that can break body balances, requiring also adequate exercises to keep the balance in muscles. [1] Experienced recreational players often return for instruction, either to fix a specific problem they are encountering or to improve their game. Reconstruction of a golf swing to reach a high level of play often involves series of lessons over an extended period of time. Junior golfers often begin receiving instruction by age 10 or younger, and often retain private teachers even when coached on a high school golf team.

Notable instructors

Some top instructors who work with professional golfers have become quite well known in their own right over the years, including Harvey Penick, Jack Grout, Dick Harmon, David Leadbetter, Butch Harmon, Gary Wiren, [2] Hank Haney, Chip Thomson, Sean Foley, Quentin Patterson and Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer. Some of the teachers maintain teaching facilities or schools where they or their disciples use their methods or systems. A few instructors focus solely on a particular aspect of the sport, such as Dave Pelz with the short game. Some famous golfers have been tightly bound with their instructor, such as Jack Nicklaus with Jack Grout, while in other cases golfers have made high-profile switches from one instructor to another, such as Tiger Woods moving from Butch Harmon to various other instructors.

Golf instruction may be augmented by training aids such as specially weighting or jointed clubs, putting cups for practice on the den room carpet, mini practice tees with feedback for use in garages, et cetera. Some training aids are sold via television infomercials and the more peculiar varieties were satirized in the 1996 film Tin Cup .

Publications and media

Recreational golfers are constantly seeking tips on how to improve, and the major golf publications such as Golf Magazine and Golf Digest devote substantial portions of their pages to instructional material of various kinds, often written by top-level instructors. Even television broadcasts of professional golf tournaments often contain short instructional segments, delivered by commentators who are also instructors such as Peter Kostis.

Effectiveness

Golf instruction is no guarantee of success or improved play in the game. Bad mechanics can be deeply ingrained in a subject's swing, and psychological factors can also hinder progress. The 2009 Golf Channel program The Haney Project: Charles Barkley showcased some of these issues, as Hank Haney attempted to fix former NBA great Charles Barkley's infamously bad swing. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiger Woods</span> American professional golfer (born 1975)

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. Woods is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and is one of the most famous athletes in modern history. He is an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Nicklaus</span> American professional golfer (born 1940)

Jack William Nicklaus, nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be either the greatest or one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tournaments in his career. Over a quarter-century, he won a record 18 major championships, three more than second-placed Tiger Woods. Nicklaus focused on the major championships—the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship—and played a selective schedule of regular PGA Tour events. He competed in 164 major tournaments, more than any other player, and finished with 73 PGA Tour victories, third behind Sam Snead (82) and Woods (82).

Murray Irwin "Moe" Norman was a Canadian professional golfer whose accuracy and ability to hit shot after shot perfectly straight gave him the nickname "Pipeline Moe". During his career Norman won 54 tournaments in Canada and set 33 course records. He has total 55 professional wins in his golf career.

The following is a glossary of the terminology currently used in the sport of golf. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. Old names for clubs can be found at Obsolete golf clubs.

Eugene Claude Harmon Sr. was an American professional golfer and golf instructor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butch Harmon</span> Professional golfer, golf instructor, author

Claude "Butch" Harmon Jr. is an American golf instructor and former professional player. He is the son of 1948 Masters Tournament champion Claude Harmon Sr. and has been in the golf industry since 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Leadbetter (golf instructor)</span> American golf instructor

David Leadbetter is a leading golf instructor, originally from Worthing in Sussex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandt Snedeker</span> American professional golfer

Brandt Newell Snedeker is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2012 FedEx Cup with a victory in the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Following this victory, he moved into the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career. In February 2013, after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, he moved to a career high of number four in the world. On August 16, 2018, he shot the tenth sub-60 round in the history of the PGA Tour, firing an opening round 59 at the Wyndham Championship.

Michael S. Breed is a professional golf instructor and television host. In 2003, he was selected as a Top 100 Instructor in America by Golf Magazine, and in 2011, he was voted one of the Top 50 Instructors in America by Golf Digest. In 2012, Breed was chosen as the PGA's National Teacher of the Year. Prior to his time as a television host, Breed was the Head Golf Professional at Sunningdale Country Club for 12 years from 2001–2012, and the Head Golf Professional at Birchwood Country Club, as well as the Assistant Professional at Deepdale Golf Club and Augusta National Golf Club. He has served on different boards for the Metropolitan PGA for over 10 years and has represented the PGA of America at the National Golf Day in Washington D.C. since 2012. He is involved in charities such as The First Tee, Folds of Honor, Hope for the Warriors, Wounded Warriors Foundation and Salute Military Golf Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Haney</span> American professional golf instructor (born 1955)

Hank Haney is an American professional golf instructor best known for coaching Tiger Woods and two-time major championship winner Mark O'Meara. Graduate of the University of Tulsa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golf</span> Club-and-ball sport

Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit a ball into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel de la Torre (golfer)</span> American professional golfer

Manuel de la Torre was an American professional golfer and golf instructor. He is recognized as being one of golf's top teachers. His career includes playing competitively on tour, head golf professional at Milwaukee Country Club one of America's most esteemed golf clubs, and a career of teaching both tour professional and amateur golfers. Among the tour professionals he has taught are Masters champion Tommy Aaron, U.S. Women's Open champion Carol Mann, du Maurier Classic champion Martha Nause and Women's British Open champion Sherri Steinhauer. He was the first member of the PGA to be awarded their Teacher of the Year Award in 1986. He is one of only several golf instructors to be inducted into both the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame as well as the PGA Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Grout</span> American professional golfer (1910–1989)

John Frederick Grout was an American professional golfer who competed on the PGA Tour from 1931 to 1953. Though he taught many Hall of Fame players, he is best known as the 'first and only' golf teacher of Jack Nicklaus. He was inducted into the Golf Magazine World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame in 2016.

David T. Pelz is an American golf coach, known for his expertise and published writing on the art of the short game, particularly putting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Foley (golf instructor)</span> Canadian golf instructor

Sean Foley is a Canadian born golf instructor, who resides in Orlando, Florida and has coached Tiger Woods, Lydia Ko, Sean O'Hair, Hunter Mahan, Stephen Ames, An Byeong-hun, Cameron Champ, Michael Kim, Erik van Rooyen, Sam Horsfield, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood, as well as other PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and LIV Golf professionals. Foley also coached many players on PGA Tour Canada, including players such as Chris Baryla. Foley began working with Tiger Woods during the summer of 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drive (golf)</span>

In golf stroke mechanics, a drive, also known as a tee shot, is a long-distance shot played from the tee box, intended to move the ball a great distance down the fairway towards the green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of golf</span> Overview of and topical guide to golf

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to golf:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trump International Golf Club (West Palm Beach)</span> Private golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida

Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach is a private 27-hole golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. It was designed by Jim Fazio, who was given a budget of over US$40 million and was opened in 1999. This venue was Trump's first golf course property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim McLean (golfer)</span>

James C. McLean is a leading American golf instructor. He is known for coining the phrase “X-Factor”, observing that the greater the differential between the hips and shoulders at the top of the swing, the more power the golfer can create. McLean is CEO of the Jim McLean Golf School, which operates from eight locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Wiren</span>

Gary Wiren is a PGA Master Professional instructor. Wiren was the Director of Education, Learning, and Research for the PGA of America between 1972 and 1985, during which time he produced the "Laws, Principles, and Preferences" of golf swing instruction. He is the founder of three golf schools, and is now the senior director of instruction for Trump Golf Properties. Wiren is a member of both the PGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Teachers' Hall of Fame. As an author, he has written fourteen books, and Wiren is also the founder of Golf Around the World.

References

  1. Ahn Hyejung (November 11, 2012), World Class Fitness Trainers, John Sitaras , Golf Digest (Korean edition)
  2. Wagner, Gary Wiren,Patrick. "Masters Golf Tournament – Interview with Dr. Gary Wiren". Smithsonian Journeys.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Rudy, Matthew (March 2009). "The Haney Project: Can Hank Haney fix this swing?". Golf Digest . Archived from the original on 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-04-26.