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What do top teachers think about the current state of golf instruction?

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Stickney
Photo from http://www.youtube.com/user/tomstickneygolf

A few weeks ago, I was on a plane heading back from a corporate outing I do every year with about 20 other teaching professionals. All of us were either a Golf Digest Top-50 Teacher and/or a Golf Magazine Top-100 Teacher. Since you’re a GolfWRX reader, these are teachers that you probably know by name; you know, the ones who teach some of the best professional golfers in the world.

The event is one of my favorites of the year because, surrounded with so many great teachers, it’s impossible not to learn new things that can make me a better instructor to my students. Each night after teaching, we would all sit down together over a few drinks and tell different stories about life in the instructional world in which we live: some good, some bad, some ugly. I couldn’t help but reflect on a few things that were said about the game, the students we teach (both professionals and amateurs) and what these teachers viewed as the future of the game we all know and love.

So it’s with great pleasure that I present the thoughts of some of the very best teachers in the game today. I won’t name names, because it doesn’t really matter who said what. Everyone one of these insights is from one of golf’s most accomplished teaching professionals.

  • No amount of practice can overcome a bad attitude on the golf course. It will eventually catch up with you.
  • At the highest levels of proficiency, sometimes “letting go” on the putting green can take a player from struggling to putting well, instantly.
  • Doppler radar launch monitors like Trackman and FlightScope have changed the way we teach the game. When placed in the best hands, they can help players become LESS technical and LESS position-oriented with their swings.
  • Force plates are a wave of the future and will help us to better understand how to generate more power out of the ground.
  • The PGA of America must revamp its instructional curriculum to include the new technology, amended ball-flight laws and should also add a chapter covering the psychological aspects of instruction so our young professionals are more prepared.
  • The short game is important, but there’s been a shift in focus to improving longer shots. It’s an efforts to eliminate unmanageable approach shots, as well as ones that cause penalty shots.
  • Young professionals must be willing to work ungodly hours in an effort to build their brand and take advantage of the power of social media and the web.
  • No amount of reading, YouTube videos, or technology utilized by the younger generation of teachers can make up for the experience that 10,000 hours or on the lesson tee provides, but the gap is closing quickly.
  • If you have to be asked repeatedly during a lesson to remember to do something we asked earlier (like altering your grip before you hit a shot) then you are not listening and handicapping what the instructor is trying to piece together.
  • Sometimes fixing the path is impossible, but managing the face-to-path relationship can change a person’s life on the course.
  • There is no such thing as the “magic dust” that makes things better without focused practice.
  • During one lesson, a top teacher couldn’t get through to a student so he head-butted him. They guy listened from that point on.
  • Practice on the putting green without focusing on speed drills and feel is a waste of time.
  • Everyone should get at least a basic club fitting that includes: club length, lie, shaft flex, grip size and set make up based on their ability level.
  • Most players need a 60-degree wedge in their bag.
  • Wedge fitting is a must to eliminate gaps and to ensure you can hit the ball comfortable distances with each wedge.
  • At the higher levels, the golf ball you play can cost you distance off the tee and control into and around the green.
  • Hitting flatter trajectory wedges into the green is more consistent for distance and spin control.
  • Most players have the wrong bounce on their wedges.
  • Low spin drivers cannot make up for improper angles of attack or poor impact points.
  • Practicing on the golf course is a must after obtaining the “feel” you want on the range.
  • The serious high school and college golfers of today can score better than yesterday’s kids, but usually have only one shot that they can hit under pressure.
  • Ladies’ putters are often hand-me-downs and are the most ill-fitted clubs in the game of golf.
  • The most effective practice comes in short bursts, not overly long sessions.
  • Forcing everyone into a model swing is dangerous and tends to paint instructors into a corner.
  • Most people forget that golf is supposed to be FUN! Relax and enjoy it!

I hope you enjoyed the thoughts from my peers on golf today and what’s going on. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments section below and I’ll do my best to respond.

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Tom F. Stickney II, is a specialist in Biomechanics for Golf, Physiology, and 3d Motion Analysis. He has a degree in Exercise and Fitness and has been a Director of Instruction for almost 30 years at resorts and clubs such as- The Four Seasons Punta Mita, BIGHORN Golf Club, The Club at Cordillera, The Promontory Club, and the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. His past and present instructional awards include the following: Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Golf Digest Top 50 International Instructor, Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor, Best in State (Florida, Colorado, and California,) Top 20 Teachers Under 40, Best Young Teachers and many more. Tom is a Trackman University Master/Partner, a distinction held by less than 25 people in the world. Tom is TPI Certified- Level 1, Golf Level 2, Level 2- Power, and Level 2- Fitness and believes that you cannot reach your maximum potential as a player with out some focus on your physiology. You can reach him at [email protected] and he welcomes any questions you may have.

42 Comments

42 Comments

  1. Phil

    Jul 11, 2014 at 1:20 pm

    Very interesting list. One point about teaching. It lasts a lifetime. I’m sure eveyone reading this has had a lesson from years ago suddenly make sense during practice.

    What is “the wrong bounce” on a wedge? How do we determine the “right” bounce? I’ve never heard this before.

  2. Ken

    Jun 26, 2014 at 4:10 pm

    Most players need a 60° wedge. The only distinctive thing you can do with one is hit the ball over a tree from a very close distance. With a 14 club limit, learning how to use a gap wedge and sand wedge will obviate the need for 60’s in 99.99% of situations that arise during a round.

    Unless you need to replace a standard 56° mid to high bounce sand wedge because of the sand consistency at any given course, it seems to me that you’d have to remove a more useful club on the off chance that you’ll be stymied by a tree when you’re within 40 yards of the pin.

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 26, 2014 at 4:20 pm

      Ken- hitting the 60 full is the last thing I’m talking about when suggesting this club for the masses. If you’re using a 56 out of a deep bunker, pitching to a tight pin, playing greens that are 10+ on the stimp, etc you will never be the player you can be w/out one. Trust me.

  3. septic tank

    Jun 26, 2014 at 5:46 am

    Everything is very open with a clear description of the issues.
    It was definitely informative. Your website is extremely helpful.
    Many thanks for sharing!

  4. Randy

    Jun 25, 2014 at 4:20 pm

    Lots of great guidance here! But I have a concern about what, at least in my experience, seems to be a fundamental flaw in current golf instruction: starting with where a player is, without learning about how he/she got there. For example, at my first lesson at the age of 52, I told the PGA instructor that I had gone to the driving range during summer vacations, played one round of golf for the heck of it as a teenager, and played some rounds of mini-golf, mostly with my son. In retrospect, I think that I would have made faster progress if he had said, “Ok, let’s start with the basics: grip, stance, alignment, posture, weight transfer, etc.,” instead of saying, “Well, I see you’re swaying; here’s a drill to work on that.” I had never been taught the basics, as I suspect many recreational golfers have not. My experience with subsequent instructors has been similar. What do you think?

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 25, 2014 at 6:04 pm

      You should always begin with the basics…

  5. G.Love

    Jun 25, 2014 at 10:54 am

    Can you elaborate at all into what “letting it go” on putting green means?

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 25, 2014 at 2:15 pm

      Relax…don’t try and make it happen. Allow it to happen.

  6. paul

    Jun 24, 2014 at 2:42 pm

    I was hoping to see in the article that costs have to come down or people will never take lessons. Oh wait, 90% of golfers don’t take lessons. I would love to go to the range and see an instructor there, and be able to cough up $10 for a 10 minute lesson. Or some other affordable way to learn golf.

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 24, 2014 at 4:39 pm

      Sadly you often get what you pay for on the instructional end- not always but most if the time. Being a serious instructor is not cheap on my end either- the costs (out of our pockets) to buy video systems/TrackMan etc are very very expensive…there are affordable programs like get golf ready from the PGA and group instructional packages many of us offer as well.

      • DC

        Jun 25, 2014 at 11:41 am

        Tom, do you ever get frustrated by comments about how expensive lessons can be – only to look in the players bag and see $1,000 + worth of equipment in there? I get told all the time how expensive lessons are yet one hour with a top instructor costs 1/4 of that new driver in your bag – that you cant hit anyway.

        • Tom Stickney

          Jun 25, 2014 at 2:17 pm

          People also want cheap lawyers too but again you get what you pay for most of the time.

        • Mark M

          Jun 25, 2014 at 5:54 pm

          Lessons are an ongoing expense, gear is usually a one time expense. And I do believe that top instructors are considerably more expensive than you think. The main issue is the incredibly low quality of the vast majority of instructors out there. No one will commit time and money to see a local club pro or whatever if they don’t see it as being able to help them.
          Everyone knows someone who faithfully takes lessons and never improves. That’s the reality that the PGA and instructors need to address.

          • Tom Stickney

            Jun 25, 2014 at 11:33 pm

            Mark- as with any profession there are average and great people…golf is no different. Take the time to really investigate the teaching pros in your area. There will always be one or two names that pop up. Interview them. Ask for their philosophy etc. Equipment offered in their lessons. Check their status on top teacher lists etc. You must do your homework…I’d never go see a specialist about anything without doing my due diligence. Most people never take this step to heart…

          • DC

            Jun 26, 2014 at 7:20 am

            I don’t know any players who take lessons and don’t improve – unless they put in zero practice time and zero playing time in between lessons.

            People are going to get out of golf pretty much exactly what they put into it. You can take lessons from the world’s greatest instructors but if you aren’t willing to put in the work then you have no shot at getting better – regardless of how good the lesson was.

  7. Steve

    Jun 24, 2014 at 8:24 am

    Thanks for giving us an inside look. Can you expand on for some, path can’t be fixed? You’re saying that some who have an out to in path – no matter what they do they’ll never get it in to out? Is that because of physical limitations?

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 24, 2014 at 10:43 am

      No. As teachers/players we have all seen flaws that cannot be fixed in certain players for whatever the reason…at that point you must work around the issue to improve.

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 26, 2014 at 8:13 am

      DC– I’ve never seen anyone on the lesson tee that couldn’t improve…I’ve seen plenty of people stop trying to do so when they didn’t have instant results. NO one is exempt from the learning process!

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  9. Pingback: What do top teachers think about the current state of golf instruction? - I'd Rather Be Golfing

  10. Dan

    Jun 24, 2014 at 2:49 am

    Most players need a 60deg wedge? Thus is a bit controversial

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 24, 2014 at 3:07 am

      You ever short side yourself? Am’s need all the help around the greens they can get.

      • Dan

        Jun 24, 2014 at 3:23 am

        I have one in my bag. But so many pages you look at recommend for amateurs not to have them since we don’t have the skill to hit it properly

        • Mark M

          Jun 25, 2014 at 12:26 am

          While reading about golf on the internet and talking to golfers you meet can be informative, you have to take a lot of what is said with a grain of salt. For example, no amateur can hit a long iron, beginners shouldn’t use drivers off the tee, you can’t hit a lob wedge, you can’t hit a fairway wood off the deck, you can’t hit a flop shot. All these and more are pieces of “wisdom” I have come across. None of it is true. You can learn to hit any shot and any club if you practice and seek out help with lessons as needed.

          Some golfers assume because they struggle with something that everyone else can’t do it either.

        • Tom Stickney

          Jun 25, 2014 at 2:17 pm

          All about practice

        • tom stickney

          Jun 29, 2014 at 11:16 am

          I don’t buy that…saying you don’t have the skill to hit a 60 is like saying you don’t have the skill to hit any other higher lofted club. It’s only 4 degrees of difference. If you moved from a 56 degree to a 64, I might buy the argument but 56 to 60, no way.

      • Gary Lewis

        Jun 25, 2014 at 2:18 am

        I agree. The 60 degree is very helpful for some shots around the green and one can get fairly competent with the 60 with a little practice.

    • Paul

      Jun 25, 2014 at 7:21 pm

      I agree with the 60 degree wedge.

      In fact, most mid handicappers might gain more out of carrying 4 wedges (gap, sand, pw, lw) than carrying an extra wood. By getting rid of the 15-25 yard gap between the SW & PW, people would do better scoring. Plus the GW is a great chipping club too.

      • tom stickney

        Jun 29, 2014 at 11:17 am

        Ask Pelz what he thinks of the four wedge concept in the average golfers bag…

  11. marcel

    Jun 23, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    everyone get yourself AAA+ coach that costs peanuts in comparison to new equipment. I started hitting my drives straigh and long 250m on the average with few good hits 300m and one extra long last Saturday 340m. 36 yo, 3-4x gym per week, R1 stiff, Bridgestone J38 CB stiff.

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 24, 2014 at 3:08 am

      There are a bunch of good teachers out there for sure…

  12. Nick Chertock

    Jun 23, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    Tom: This is an excellent summary of where instruction is right now. I’m dying to know what this Corporate outing was where you end up with an airplane full of famous golf teachers. My advice is to charter a separate G5 for each pro in case of a terrorist attack. We wouldn’t want it to be “the day golf died”

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 23, 2014 at 6:55 pm

      Ha. I’m sure the game would survive…

  13. matt nicolle

    Jun 23, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    Really interesting insights into the best minds in the game right now, I like the last bullet point to sum things up, what it all boils down to is enjoyment, if too much focus is on the technical fine tuning and matching up of numbers on a screen a player will lose sight of what golf is all about, nice article.

    • Tom Stickney

      Jun 23, 2014 at 4:25 pm

      Thx. It’s just a game…

      • paul

        Jun 24, 2014 at 2:30 pm

        Just a game? You have to be kidding. Don’t tell my wife or she will have more ammunition to get me to play less. Thanks to golfwrx, YouTube, and devices I shot 2 over par on 9 holes. Don’t sell your articles and videos short. All the path and face articles really helped. I hit straight draws and fades very well now. However, 15 minutes with a pro every few months really helps the most. What I really need is a golf nerd I can bounce my thoughts off of once in a while that doesn’t cost $120/hour.

        • bradford

          Jun 24, 2014 at 2:46 pm

          Golf nerd reporting. I’ll do it for $100…

        • Tom Stickney

          Jun 25, 2014 at 11:38 pm

          Paul…that’s one of the biggest reasons why I’m on golfwrx. To help you all…and it’s free. This is also why I try and answer every reader question that’s posed herein.

      • Scott

        Jun 25, 2014 at 12:57 pm

        Right. Its not life or death. It is much more important than that.

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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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