Choosing an Instructor?

[Richie3Jack]

I was reading on Manzella's board the thread about choosing an instructor and it had a link from a PGA article suggesting how one should do that.

It was scoffed at by the crowd, and rightfully so, as the article basically stated that a certified PGA pro is what an instructor should have. Somebody should notify Jimmy Ballard about that since I don't think he's ever been a member of the PGA.

But it does bring up a good point about choosing instructors and how to find a good one. That's something I struggled with most of my golfing life as growing up I really didn't have an instructor outside of older golf pro, a great gentleman named Stu Jamieson, would give me some tips. But I don't think it was anything more than what you may read out of Harvey Penick's 'Little Red Book.'

I actually got a lesson from David Orr once...back in 1991 when David was still playing mini-tours. Ironically he taught me Ballard's 'left side connection' drill which was the rave back then. It actually worked quite well. After that I would basically get tips from a friend of mine who played D-1 golf and some mini tours and was a swing afficianado of sorts.

I started struggling with my swing in my freshman year of college. I then tried to figure out what was wrong with it and tried to completely rebuild the entire swing. At the time I was also in Coastal Carolina's Pro Golf Management program and wanted to become a teaching pro, so I read just about every instructional book I could find and watched those Golf Channel lesson academy's with a focus like I never had before. Still, the swing was a complete mystery to me and finding teaching pros that I thought who really knew the swing almost didn't exist.

My buddy (the swing afficianado) kept telling me that there was a guy named Tom Tomasello who worked out of Deer Track in Myrtle Beach that I had to go to and see and said that this guy 'really knows the swing.' I would drive down there, I had a friend that worked in the pro shop. But the golf school at the time was a seperate entity of the old Deer Track golf course and my buddy that worked in the pro shop didn't know who Tomasello was.

Eventually I was too shy to ask about him inside the golf academy and left it at that. In my sophomore year my buddy (swing afficianado) went to Myrtle and wanted to get lessons from Tomasello, but was told that Tom had recently passed away, but Chuck Wike (GSED) was his protege.

When I went to visit my buddy (swing afficianado) in his condo that he was staying at for the week, he showed me his video of his lesson with Chuck and I was blown away by the information and the improvement in my buddy's swing. Things like the FLW at impact was stuff that were never talked about in all of those books I read and those Golf Channel shows I watched.

That's where and when I was introduced to TGM.

I worked with Chuck on my game thru college. I wanted to learn TGM myself, but Chuck was averse to talking about it. He would sometimes go to the book and reference it, but Chuck had the idea that info like that just fills the mind up with too much stuff and isn't productive.

After I graduated college I stuck around Myrtle Beach for a year. It's really a great, fun place to live. I was excited about moving to Atlanta at the time, kind of that 'grass is always greener' mentality, but I really enjoyed my time in Myrtle and going to CCU. It's really like New Jersey - South as most of the people that go to school there are from the North and that helped me get acclimated to the culture shock.

Anyway, I finally moved to Atlanta and I've never been too keen on living here and if I could, I would move back to Myrtle w/o batting an eye.

Living in Atlanta helped force me to take an 8-year sabbatical from the game. Golf used to be extremely expensive in the ATL area and I was burned out on the game as well.

When I got back into the game, I decided that I'm going to do my best to really, really understand the game and I felt a good place to start is to fully understand TGM.

Fortunately while I am not too keen on living in Atlanta, there are quite a few good instructors and probably the most knowledge person on the planet when it comes to the book and what Homer Kelley was thinking in Lynn Blake.

It's funny, when I first went to Lynn's Web site I was so impressed with his videos and wanted to get a lesson from him, but I actually thought he was based out of NJ because that is where he held his Barclays clinic at.

Anyway, I kept reading his site and I wanted to go with a teacher, but I wanted somebody who would willingly answer questions I had on TGM. Lynn definitely is the guy for that, but I simply couldn't afford his rates. Then I kept reading Ted Fort's posts and it seemed to me that he knew TGM down pat and would be willing to answer my questions to TGM as well.

I also found there's other excellent teachers around as well, some even non-TGM guys like Tom Ness and Jim Goergon. And you can travel 3 hours to Tennessee to see John Dochety (aka Lake1926) and all of this also led me to Brian Manzella's site...whether or not you like Brian's personality, he is a great teacher. And sure enough I also found that David Orr was doing his thing at Campbell U and is not a putting researcher and a has been thru darome, S&T and is a GSEB.

Going back to the 'choosing an instructor' thread, there was one contingent that thought a good instructor should know the 'new ball flight laws.'

I think that can certainly help, but I think it's safe to say that there were many great instructors before using the 'old ball flight laws.' So I don't think it's mandatory to know them, at least not mandatory for me.

What I think people screw up on is that they get a bit bogged down on how much knowledge a teacher has instead of the bottom line...do they get their students hitting the ball better immediately?

IMO, it's much like a car salesman that knows everything about the car and the financing program in and out. That certainly can help in selling cars, but the bottom line is whether or not they are selling cars.

I would probably suggest the following things to look at when it comes to an instructor:

1. What are their credentials?

I actually don't care about PGA credentials, I care about teaching credentials. I think being TGM certified is a good start. I don't think TGM is infallible, but even darome, S&T and even Manzella discuss some aspects of the book quite often.

2. How well can they play?

This doesn't mean *that* much to me. I mean, Doug Blevins has been confined to a wheelchair his entire life and has never kicked a football, yet he may be the best football kicking coach in the world.

However, I would approach with caution the coach that just can't play. It's one thing to not break 80 in a tournament, but to never break 80 in a tournament tells me that they can't figure out what they are doing wrong, so how much can they really help you?

3. What do their students' swings look like?

This interests me just as much as anything else. How well do their students strike the ball? I'd be cautious if the teacher has a bunch of good junior golfers who all have very nice, but the same type of golf swing.

It's easy to pick up good habits at an early age if you're taught early on and so if you see these junior golfers with good swings, but very similar swings...while that is nice, I would be worried that the coach only really knows one type of golf swing to teach and if you're older in life, that may be something you cannot do.

Anyway, that's my experience and thoughts on the subject, I'd appreciate if you can add some of your own.





3JACK

[johngrahamgolf]

As a teacher, I don't know how to answer this questions. I think it is important to find someone that fits your personality and your information style. I think teaching is in the middle of a change to a model with fewer students and a more holistic approach.

I think relationship building will be very important but this all assumes you can actually help people get better.

Definitely get a referral from former or current students before choosing an instructor.

[gmbtempe]

Picking an instructor is hard IMO. People say ask for recommendations...when I did that I got, Peter Kostis, Mike Labeauve, Mike Makaskey......all top 100 names here in Phoenix. I mean that might be great but I dont have $200 times X for lessons.

I tried the one TGM instructor currently teaching in AZ, and a good guy but I did not improve at all after two lessons (not saying it was his fault just stating the fact).

So I am looking again and have no idea where to start other than throw darts. None of my golfing buddies have ever even taken a lesson here in Az.

[begolfpro]

A very good question!

I believe the ability to communicate with the student is the most important feature of a good teacher. Using this ability the teacher will then only dispense the required information to each student as he or she sees fit. Some students like lots of info others just want to know how to fix it. Also to communicate to the student as to how they should practice i.e. the importance of practicing with feedback.

I am not PGA certified but I have been "teaching" for the past 15 years as a successful Personal Fitness Trainer. I have been teaching golf for the past 2 years and I have carried over my ability to teach over into golf teaching.

As I was learning the golf swing over the past 8 years I came to realize that to change and improve I needed to work with feedback. For the first 5 years i did as many others and read many books, watched videos but only improved marginally. Once I discovered the importance of feedback i became a better player and now I am a better teacher for it as well.

Did you know that there has been scientific research to prove that a habit takes from around 30 to 45 days to change. The research shows that if you can make it to the 30 to 45 day mark you have a significantly higher chance of making a total change.

But the problem I see is that many instructors DO NOT encourage their students to consistently practice with feedback! To change a bad swing habit the student has to practice with feedback be it positive or negative. When having a lesson with a teacher the student will attempt to do exactly as the teacher instructs and will probably succeed. If the teacher sees what the problem is and gets the student during that session to eliminate it the student leaves feeling good. However, once they go and practice on their own they unfortunately without knowing it revert back to their own bad habits. This ONLY occurs if they practice without feedback! This is purely from my experience as a teacher. In addition students want to be fixed yesterday already but once teachers and students realize the importance of feedback and how long a change takes to occur everyone will improve. Teachers and students.

It can take six months to a year after you successfully change a habit to get to the point where the new habit becomes second nature. - Prochaska JO, Norcross JC, DiClemente CC. (1994). Changing for good: the revolutionary program that explains the six stages of change and teaches you how to free yourself from bad habits. New York: W. Morrow. ISBN 0688112633.

So my philosophy as a teacher is to LISTEN, ISOLATE THE PROBLEM, ENCOURAGE AND CONSISTENTLY SUPPORT my students even if they are not formally having a lesson with me.

"FEEDBACK IS THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS"

[fearlessgolfer]

I could write a thousand pages on this topic, Richie.

As I have gotten wiser in my old age, I began to interview my prospective teacher, doctor,CPA..etc.

Although I agree that you have to be effective communicator, the teacher must know and recognize the pupils needs immediately.
There are major/minor changes needed for every student/golfer.

The ability to accurately diagnose what is the major fault of a golfer, and then knowing and explaining cause and effect of it. Hence the student fully understands the issue at hand, and can practice with feedback to improve for next lesson.

Most ppl just take lessons without much improving. Just keep having same issues. I have been guilty of this in the past.

Guys like Brain Mogg, Mike Bender and Jim McLean knows what is a major flaw. As far as going about fixing it, it's their style and teaching philosophy.

I think there are two types of teachers.

1. They teach what they know.

2. They teach and keep learning to enhance their knowledge and ability to teach better.

Most range pros are #1. They teach what they know and how THEY do it.

The successful teachers like David Orr, Dana Dahlquist have learned different patterns and knows the causes and effect better than most, hence they can accurately assess your game and add the missing pieces as well as encourage the student to stay within complimentary patterns instead of mixing the patterns which most ppl do without recognizing it.

Picking the golf pro has gotten easier. And most of them are able to do "internet coaching."

Now, it comes down to choosing and mastering the pattern with A particular teacher is a must.

[joec]

for many years now my vacation time was spent taking golf lessons from very well known instructors. alot of tgm people. i wanted to improve and learn about the swing. i did not improve in my ball stricking, but i learned alot about the swing. i was about to quit taking lessons. then, i went to see jeff evans and, bingo, he found my problem. golf is fun again. after many years of trying, i found someone that helped me. why did it take so long? i do not think there are many great teachers out there, and the cost of lessons is getting much too high. jeff told me that if i was not happy with my results i did not have to pay him adime. maybe more golf teachers should put their money where their mouth is. all in all, it has been a great experience. my worst two lessons were from ron gring and tom stickney. my best two were from ted fort and jeff evans.

[Richie3Jack]

joec - welcome aboard.

I would like to think if I was an instructor I would have Jeff Evans' refund policy. Although I can understand why many instructors wouldn't like doing that because only 10% of the golfing population takes lessons and I would think a chunk of those golfers don't practice after their lesson and often times want a 'secret' or a magical tip that will cure all of their ills. I think if I could understand a student that was serious about improving, then Jeff's refund policy should apply.



3JACK