My Posts

Golf Lesson Goals

Golf Teacher Goals

My goal here is to relate the information and experience I have gained in the golf business over the past thirty years to help make those who visit golfteacher.com better golfers, better shot-makers, and to enhance their enjoyment of the game. Golf truly is the “game of a lifetime.”

I use both high tech teaching equipment and observation. Watching your golf ball flight in regards to what you are doing in your golf swing is the key to any good golf lesson.

By watching and listening to great golfers, and sitting behind the counter watching countless thousands of golfers tee off on the first tee and hit balls on the range, I have developed a great eye and ear for technique or lack of technique in any golf swing. Being able to see and decipher each individual golf  swing as it relates to itself is the key component to any great teacher of the game.

High tech equipment is great, but only for the student who requires it. Most of us just want some simple, common sense help with our golf games.

I started using video in my lessons as an instructional tool back in the early 1990’s. I have used many video systems that have evolved into taking video with an iPhone using the V1 system. I take and analyze video seamlessly in real time with no interruptions, right at the site of the lesson. It is a quick accurate system that gives, you the student, instantaneous feedback before you have a chance to forget the feel and results of the shots that we have on video. Video training has also helped me as a player, as it is always a new experience seeing yourself in real time on the screen. Pictures do not lie.

I just this week (4/23/2017) purchased a SkyTrak Golf Launch Monitor Unit. Its a great piece of equipment. I will probably  only use it for myself but I view it as a very worthwhile investment in my career as a golf teacher and a golf professional; and as a proficient player. The SkyTrak has much the same interface as the old GolfAchiever, only much more refined.

Over the years I have also used the GolfAchiever golf swing analyzer and launch monitor, the Ernest Golf ES12 monitor, as well as my iPhone video camera and iPhone swing analyzing devices and software. I have hit countless thousands of golf balls using this swing analyzers. But one thing I have found is that most golfers want to get better, but do not necessarily have a need for high tech teaching tools or high priced swing aids that just add to the confusion.

If somebody, a golf teacher for example, would have offered lessons and told me 40 years ago when I first started to golf seriously, (and it is ok to take it seriously because I figure everyone’s goal is to play better, to do this you have to have a little interest) that there is one golf swing move to practice that will incorporate and nurture all other moves into a cohesive pattern that would produce good to great consistent golf shots, I would probably have been skeptical at best and figured there was no easy way to make this move called the golf swing. That is why I spent the last 30 to 35 years as a teacher, player, and observer while playing and giving lessons, trying to figure out how to hit consistent golf shots. And again, I never ran across anybody or any body of work as far as golf swing instruction that would lead me down the path to what I call good golf and good to great golf shots, consistently. Anything that is understandable, coherent, and to the point.

I took my first golf lesson and only golf lesson from Mike Pedersen, a world renowned teacher at PGA National in Florida. I learned about my golf swing, and I learned how great golf teachers teach.

I have heard it said that “you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.” Taking a golf lesson or two from a qualified golf teacher that speaks to you in common sense language can improve your game and the quality of your shot-making, thereby improving your scores.

Why You Should Play Golf

Why People Are NOT PLAYING Golf:

TOP REASONS

Among the reasons cited for not playing or giving up the game include golf being too expensive, too hard to learn and enjoy, too long to play.

Why People SHOULD BE Playing Golf:

My Take:

Golf is game. Golf is a mindset. Not everyone is going to play on a Top-Level Tour. Golf is lifelong exercise, mental and physical. Golf can keep you healthy. Golf can make you happy. The simple act of swinging a golf club, no matter what the outcome, is a positive investment in your future and your overall well-being. The dividends you collect will far outweigh any bad shots or negative experiences. Golf really is the “game of a lifetime. It is what you make it, and what you want it to be!

Core Golf Swing

Core Golf

Definition of “Core”: The central or most important part of something. When I think of the word “Core” as it relates to the  golf swing, a huge amount of information floods my brain, recalled from both memory and experience. Like the floodgates open and the dam overflows.

A core golf swing is the pathway, the connection to successful easier to repeat golf swing fundamentals.

Core golf is not just swinging with your core muscles. If you think about it for a second or two, the fundamentals of any golf swing are the core values that drive the swing to begin with. Coupled with the action of the physical act of swinging the club with your core muscles, you then gain a new perspective on the golf swing as a whole.

I have been teaching a Ladies Golf Academy for the better part of 30 years, and have believed and still believe that teaching the fundamentals of the golf swing first and foremost is the best way to start with anyone new  to the game. As a matter of fact, fundamentals are a great way enter any lesson.

This year, 2017 on May 3 I decided to take a new tactical approach to my ladies instruction. I decided to jump right into the explanation of how to use the core muscles while swinging a golf club; for the first time in 30 years.

The results were astoundingly positive.

Just the one simple point of trying to get them to keep the golf club and their arms in front of them throughout their swing gave them a radically different starting point on their journey toward becoming accomplished golfers. I talked fleetingly about the grip and setup, and promised them we would fine tune their basic move as the weeks progressed.

But the key point was to keep a functioning core muscle golf swing in the forefront of our lesson plan.

I was able to illustrate before their actual practice session by hitting 4 perfect driver shots long and straight. My driver had been in the bag for the better part of three weeks. I pulled it out and let it fly, using the very explanation and information that I just revealed to my lady golfer/students.

I could not hit a bad shot. I tried to show them what happens when the arms get away from the body but I kept catching up and hitting it with the same trajectory in the same direction. Even better than hitting it bad I guess.

The girls did great. Raw beginners were swinging like they had been playing for years. the basic premise was a success.

It can work for anybody!

 

 

 

 

 

Golf Lesson Primer

Put A Smile On Your Face!

Golf Lesson Preparation.

There are many reasons to take a golf lesson, from learning fundamentals to the ultimate goal of lowering your scores by hitting consistently better golf shots. This leads to increased satisfaction in your golf game simply from being a better player.

It is my goal as a teacher to first and foremost connect with you as a student, on some level. Then we can go about our business of making you a more consistent and competent golfers.

If you are looking for lessons, find a teacher who will meet your needs. Use email and the telephone to interview your prospective teachers and find someone who first of all cares about what he or she is doing, and second of all who can relate to you honestly as an individual golfer. Stay away from system or method teachers.

Being a teacher of the game of golf, golf swing instructor and accomplished player, someone skilled in ball striking and teaching, I have a good feeling as to how to approach each lesson. From the initial contact to about 5 minutes into the lesson, I know how to go about relating the important golf information to each student on an individual basis. Feel, intuition, and experience all figure into the equation.

What works for one golfer may not work for another. It is more important to relate swing fundamentals, both pre-swing and in-swing, to you particular situation, to getting you on the road to being a better player. Remember the words feel and intuition, and use them to your advantage on your search for a golf teacher or instructor.

If you are thinking of taking golf lesson, realize first as I am sure you do, that this can be a major investment. Even one lesson at a $60 to $80 price range can cut into your golfing and living budget. In my experience, I realize how hard it is to get by these days on what we have, so if you take a lesson from me, and I can only speak for myself, I can guarantee that you will get the most for your money.

When a new or existing student comes to me for lessons, I know I have done something correct in my teaching approach somewhere along the line.

I recently attended a seminar presented by Michael Breed of The Golf Channel. At one point in the presentation, Breed asked for 2 key words from the audience. He had a list of words that he had collected from all his previous seminars, and wanted to add 2 words from this audience, made up primarily of PGA professionals. Breed read us his list and got 2 more words from this group. No place on his list were the words I have previously mention, feel and intuition. Most in attendance agreed that it took about one-third to one-quarter of each lesson to figure out how to approach the student. I thought to myself that they are wasting a great deal of time on a part of teaching that they should have figured out in the lesson booking and in the first five minutes of the lesson: how to approach the relaying and relating of information.

My artistic background has given me a great foundation on which to base my teaching method. In the first place, I have learned over the last 40 years how to reduce information to its lowest common denominator, and how to get to the root of most problems quickly. In the second place, I have learned how to relay this information in a timely, simple to understand, common sense, coherent way. I have learned to operate on many levels at once, to get to the heart of the matter and get that information to the student precisely and quickly. No one wants to waste time and money; your golf lesson is no different that anything else.

Remember once you get on the road, it takes a little work on your part to maintain your knowledge, put it into practice, and keep on moving to new horizons.

Golf Lesson Advice

Golf Lesson Advice

golf lesson advice www.golfteacher.com

If you are considering taking a golf lesson, think about this.

Find a teacher that can communicate to you in a way that you understand.

Golf lesson advice 101.

Great teachers are able to find your one key swing fault, the fault that leads to every other fault that affects your game. It is like chain reaction where one mistake compounds another. If you fix the first one, the cause of the other trouble, you eliminate the symptoms.

But remember this too: the rest is up to you. Some teachers teach method, others teach what you need to know for your own game. But you have to practice and work hard to make changes. Good golf lesson advice. They do not happen just because someone tells you something that you think is the holy grail of golf swing technique. There is is no easy way around this.

Practice what works and learn to repeat it. this is good golf lesson advice. If you do not practice, you will never make a change or get better. All the golf lessons in the world will never help you if you are not willing to put in the time and effort to make yourself a better striker of the ball and a better player.

The cost of a golf lesson should be irrelevant up to a point. The truth is that some golf teachers are better communicators that others; but the important thing is to find a golf teacher who can relate to you in the way you most easily understand.

Ask questions, listen and ask more questions. Find a PGA professional. talk it over before you make a commitment, but by all means after finding the right teacher for you, make the commitment. Your game will improve and the satisfaction and happiness you find in playing the game a little better will grow by leaps and bounds.

Golf Lessons Things You Should Know

Things To Know About Taking A Golf Lesson

Posted on May 26, 2015

Golf-Stay In The Game!

Golf Lessons Primer

When a new or existing student comes to me for lessons, I know I have done something correct in my teaching approach somewhere along the line. Being a golf instructor and teacher, someone skilled in ball striking and teaching, I have a good feeling as to how to approach each lesson. From the initial contact to about 5 minutes into the lesson, I know how to go about relating the important golf information to each student on an individual basis. Feel, intuition, and experience all figure into the equation.

If you are thinking of taking golf lesson, realize first as I am sure you do, that this can be a major investment. Even one lesson at a $60 to $80 price range can cut into your golfing and living budget. In my experience, I realize how hard it is to get by these days on what we have, so if you take a lesson from me, and I can only speak for myself, I can guarantee that you will get the most for your money.

I recently attended a seminar presented by Michael Breed of The Golf Channel. At one point in tthe presentation, Breed asked for 2 key words from the audience. He had a list of words that he had collected from all his previous seminars, and wanted to add 2 words from this audience, made up primarily of PGA professionals. Breed read us his list and got 2 more words from this group. No place on his list were the words I have previously mention, feel and intuition. Most in attendance agreed that it took about one-third to one-quarter of each lesson to figure out how to approach the student. I thought to myself that they are wasting a great deal of time on a part of teaching that they should have figured out in the lesson booking and in the first five minutes of the lesson: how to approach the relaying and relating of information.

My artistic background has given me a great foundation on which to base my teaching method. In the first place, I have learned over the last 40 years how to reduce information to its lowest common denominator, and how to get to the root of most problems quickly. In the second place, I have learned how to relay this information in a timely, simple to understand, common sense, coherent way. I have learned to operate on many levels at once, to get to the heart of the matter and get that information to the student precisely and quickly. No one wants to waste time and money; your golf lesson is no different that anything else.

I could tell you many reasons to take a lesson, from learning fundamentals to the ultimate goal of lowering your scores by hitting consistently better golf shots. This leads to increased satisfaction in your golf game simply from being a better player.

It is my goal as a teacher to first and foremost connect with you as a student, on some level. Then we can go about our business of making you a more consistent and competent golfers.

If you are looking for lessons, find a teacher who will meet your needs. Use email and the telephone to interview your prospective teachers and find someone who first of all cares about what he or she is doing, and second of all who can relate to you honestly as an individual golfer.

Stay away from system or method teachers. What works for one golfer may not work for another. It is more important to relate swing fundamentals, both pre-swing and in-swing, to you particular situation, to getting you on the road to being a better player. Remember the words feel and intuition, and use them to your advantage on your search for a golf teacher or instructor.

Remember once you get on the road, it takes a little work on your part to maintain your knowledge, put it into practice, and keep on moving to new horizons.

The Moment Of Swing Synapse

The Moment Of Swing Synapse – IT’S ALL IN THE TIMING!

TIMING, RHYTHM, SWING SYNAPSE, START YOUR SWING, TIMING BETWEEN SETUP AND BEGINNING YOUR SWING MOTION, MOMENT OF AWARENESS

We spend so much time thinking about golf swing technique, actual swing mechanics, that we overlook the timing aspect of our total swing experience.

If you think about the times you were hitting your shots really well consistently, you will undoubtedly become aware of the sequence that you followed to get to those good golf swings.

Not the actual mechanical sequence, as in grip aim stance etc., but the timing sequence as in the muscular synapse, or when you started your swing after you set up to the ball. How much time did it take you to start your motion once you felt comfortable over the ball.

When did you feel in your muscles that you could let your swing happen? Your swing awareness at the time lead you to the exact moment that your swing was supposed to happen, and then you let it go. More often than not a bad shot creeps in here and there, and if you think about it, your timing mechanism was a little off meaning you got a little anxious or waited just a little too long, maybe because of doubt or indecision, to let you sequence begin, to begin your swing.

As a result, your muscle synapse, within your consciousness of that particular moment as it related to that particular shot was not in the same reality that surrounded the good sequence of shots. You changed your golf swing synapse, if only slightly, and altered the experience of that particular shot. It is a matter of a millisecond a small moment in time that can make a gigantic difference between high success, moderate success or failure of anything in between.

Let’s face it we all want to hit good golf shots or we probably would not be playing the game. Your golf swing synapse, when you allow your muscles to fire, means as much or more than your actual physical mechanics. I guess it relates to “being in the zone” or in the flow of the moment that it takes to let your swing happen.

It is not even something that you can think about afterwards it is more of a “consciousness of the moment” sort of thing, where it happens on one shot, then when you are ready to hit the next shot, you feel your moment, the moment to start your swing, then you trust it, then you let it go. Doubt or indecision will sometimes enter the equation and we all do the best we can do. But if you think about this “moment of golf swing synapse moment of being ready to swing”, maybe your best will start to get a little better.

Trust your decisions, trust your judgment, trust your mechanics, then get in there and get in there and let your swing happen. Wait for your swing moment to arrive, then just let it go.

The Moment Of Swing Synapse
The Moment Of Swing Synapse

Many Ways To Swing A Golf Club

Many Ways To Swing A Golf Club

“Line Up The Parts”
Many Ways To Swing A Golf Club

You can never get it back, except in golf!

One thing to remember is that your basic swing does not change. What changes is your physical and mental response to your golf swing as you attempt to hit shots and to shoot scores. By giving yourself a place to go, to get to, your physical response can be productive and consistent. No matter what kind of shape you are in, if you learn to line a a few key body parts, you can hit good golf shots over a long period of time.

To hit good shots you have to get your body and golf club in a good position. What I have learned over the years is to start at the finish so to speak.

There are many ways to swing a golf club effectively and to hit functional golf shots that allow you to score better. As a matter of fact, it has always been my intention to learn to swing a golf club, and to hit good to great golf shots, in a consistent manner that does not get too involved in the shot process. This good intention has become a life-long journey.

Due to the passing of time and to changing physical conditions as regards my body and muscles, I have had to learn to swing the golf club in many different ways. It is a matter of necessity. If you want to play good golf, better golf, and do it consistently as the years go by, you have to learn to adjust solid fundamental golf swing technique to your own changing muscle and body requirements. You cannot do things now that you were able to do just a few years ago.

Being a PGA professional, I have also had to learn to play golf on a moments notice without warm-up, or without having played in many days. It is a tough proposition. When I was playing everyday it was easy. I always shot between 67 and 74, without fail. Whether I hit 16 greens or 3 greens in regulation my scores were always the same. I practiced a lot and played even more.

As job requirements as a club professional changed over the years, I began to play less and less, and was able to play less than that. To be honest, my game suffered greatly for many years. Kind of like when a well trained professional athlete retires and loses that edge that kept them in the pros.

Golf truly is the game of a lifetime. As the years went by I had to learn to play and play effectively again. Many years and many injuries later I have come to realize that there are certain moves that are common to all good great golf swings. There are certain ways to line up your body body parts and let them move in a sequence that allows great golfers to hit great golf shots over long periods of time, over a lifetime. While solid pre-golf swing fundamentals never go out of style, there are simple in-swing keys, ways of getting our body parts in the correct position, that can allow you go hit consistently good shots.

With good shots come good scores.

One of the greatest players and ball strikers I have ever encountered once told me to learn to do simple things and learn to repeat them every day. While adjustment is the life-blood of every golfer and golf game, you still have to get yourself, your body parts, and the golf club, in the right place to make solid contact with the golf ball.

As a golf teacher and PGA pro, I try to get my students to understand the importance of executing consistent and solid fundamentals within the confines of their own unique golf swing requirements. Our goal is to get the club face on the golf ball, to hit the ball out there a way, and to make the ball go reasonably straight. As a golf teacher and instructor, and player, I have had to learn to intertwine all these aspects of golf, and to learn to incorporate them as a player and to communicate these simple swing ideas on the lesson tee. You have to be able to make a useful move at the ball and get a useful result to get someone to buy in to what you are telling them. You have to see the results and see the results now in order for an idea to take hold.

The move or moves I am offering here are just as common to Ben Hogan and Sam Snead as they were to Old Tom Morris and are to Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

 

Impact Position

Impact Position

Golf Lesson Rates

impact position white dot back of left hand

White Dot Back Of Left Hand At ImpactI took a video trying to illustrate the impact position of the top hand in my case the left hand by using a white dot placed on the back of my glove.

What I got was a great picture of this  position illustrated by the white dot. This position squares my club face and allows me to swing into a balanced proper follow through given the fundamentals of the swing illustrated here.

This is indeed a proper impact position. The ball is gone and sailing toward the target. What happens after the impact does not really matter since the ball is already gone.

But what happens after the impact is a direct result of what I need to do get get the club face square at impact and ultimately what happens to get me into a balanced follow through and end of swing position.

I am balanced on my left side pushing off with my right side with my head and chest pointing at the golf ball.