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Choosing the right instructor

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Finding a golf instructor that will help you reach your goals can be tough. Many times, I think golfers never even bother to do the research before deciding what instructor to contact.

In this story I want to give you some valuable guidelines to follow before you choose your instructor.

I have divided the search in these steps:

  1. Ask yourself, “What do I want to fix?”
  2. Look for an instructor who can get you to your desired level.
  3. Find out which instructors will work for you.
  4. Start contacting them and see if they are affordable.

In the first step, I need you to ask yourself these questions:

  • What is the problem you need the instructor to solve? Do you have a hook, slice, short game problem, need to increase driver distance, etc.?
  • Do you have a specific goal? Do you want to reach a certain level of handicap, play on the PGA Tour or perhaps beat your neighbor in match play next month?
  • How much time can you spend training to achieve your goal? Is it 30 minutes per day three times a week, four hours per day four times in a week, etc.?
  • How much money each month do you want to spend until you reached your goal? Can you spend $500 per month, $1000 per month, etc.?

During my first year as an instructor, I recognized many golfers took lessons without considering the training they had to do between lessons. To prevent this, I constructed an interview sheet with questions that clarified that players were on track to reach their goals, scheduled time to practice between lessons and emphasized what they had learned from the last session. This made it easier for each golfer to follow the required training from the last lesson.

The next step is to search for the perfect instructor for you. The questions you asked yourself in previous step can affect your selection of instructors. For example, if you want to learn more regarding the short game, then the search would be filtered toward instructors that are known to be expert in that particular area. If you had a lot of time and money, then perhaps the absolute best instructors to pick may be Dave Pelz or Harold Swash. However, that is a luxury few can afford. The more realistic approach is to focus on the location where you will be training.

What kind of instructors are there near your location? I strongly suggest that you choose a PGA educated instructor. Otherwise, it will be a gamble, and you will surely end up with someone that teaches you his or her current swing fault, or even worse the instructor teaches you one of the most common myths in golf, such as “keep your head still.”

The best instructors always evaluate the golfer to see the possibilities to achieve the best result from the clients.

So the selection can be narrowed down even more if you search for PGA educated club professionals. Even better if the instructor is part of a Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) team. These teams may include experts in various fields, such as basic golf instructions, medical, fitness, psychologist, nutrition, equipment, etc. In the first lesson with the TPI instructor, you will be “screened.” The screen includes an evaluation in these regions:

TPI Screening

I can assure you that you will be well prepared for making a change in your golf if you choose a TPI certified instructor.

When you have found some club professionals in your area, the next step would be to gather information about them. Some tips on finding valuable information:

  • Check if the instructor is registered as a PGA member. Each country has its own PGA site, this link takes you to the PGA of America page for finding an instructor in your location: http://www.pga.com/golf-instruction/find-instructor
  • Search the Internet for articles or blog posts created by the instructor or someone that have blogged about him/her.
  • Talk to members of the golf club who have worked with that the instructor.
  • Use Titleist Performance Institute search page for experts: http://www.mytpi.com/experts

Right Golf Instructor

After you have done this search, the next step is to reduce the number of selected instructor to three at the most and contact them. This step can be little bit tricky. For example, you may live in an area that only consists of high-priced lessons that you can’t afford. Here are some possible solutions:

  • Each golf club usually has a head pro and some assistant pros. Often the assistant pros charge a lower price for their lessons, and can sometimes even be more educated than the head pro.
  • My suggestion is to call or visit your selected pros and talk to them about what you want with your golf and what price you can afford. Some pros are happily surprised when golfers know what they want and also have the time to make a change. Maybe they will give you a great deal with lessons, practice area access and range balls.
  • Combine private and group lessons to lower the price.

If you follow these steps you will minimize the chances for miscommunication between you and the selected instructor. Good luck.

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Simon Selin PGA Club Professional in Sweden, extensive teaching experience coaching both amateur and professional-level golfers. Coached on the Ladies European Tour 2007-2010 TPI Certified Level 2 Golf Coach "Your swing should fit your body instead of your body to adapt to a type of a golf swing."

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. station

    Feb 6, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    Hi there! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new iphone 4!
    Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward
    to all your posts! Carry on the great work!

  2. Pingback: How To Choose The Right Golf Coach And Trainer - Golf Retriever

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Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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Instruction

Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

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You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

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