So this is my teaching philosophy, direct from my website:
"Our philosophy is to create successful golfers by focusing on understanding how the student learns and creating a plan for what the student needs. There are no secrets more than good fundamentals and lots of hard work.
We balance our time over 6 areas for improvement: (1) proper swing technique (2) a solid short game (3) good mental skills (4) course management (5) properly fit equipment (6) physical fitness.
We also want to help the student understand HOW to practice; how to divide up the important areas into easy-to-understand concepts so that the student can become his/her own coach. We can only accomplish this by creating trust between student and instructor. That is why EVERY student from beginner to expert will receive the same amount of energy and enthusiasm from our academy. We want YOU to succeed."
I have always taken this philosophy to mean that "If there is a problem, one should get to the root of the problem and then create a practice plan to fix the problem." Last Friday, I had a student that could not get the ball much more airborne than a low hook. She was not having any fun and was very un-motivated to play the game. Even though she likes to practice, she was having difficulty improving. My dilemma is that I could say we should fix the root problem which would mean possibly losing the entire playing season, which is only about 3-4 months here in Sweden. Instead, I decided to "try" a quick fix of addressing the ball on the heel (because her previous shots were very much on the toe) and open the face (to try and match up the swing shape which should take out the curve). WOW! She hit 5 shots in a row 170m straight down the middle of the range. I saw energy fill her body, with enthusiasm she missed for the previous 2 months.
Now, I explained to her that this is an alternative for hitting her driver, since her other clubs were ok. This may not be a long term solution, but just something to get her through the season with some fun. Then when the season is over, we would evaluate the swing again and create a plan for the Fall / Winter to attack the root problem.
So my question is: Is a bandaid (quick fix) really all that bad? If the student gets all the information that this may be short term to get through a golf season, or if the student repeats this motion everytime with this particular club (for example, like Fuzzy Zoeller addressing the driver on the heel), is this a bad thing? I promote self discovery and awareness in the swing with all of my students. If a student knows that hitting on the toe produces a low hook, is it all that bad to stand a bit closer and try and hit the heel?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter. Thanks for reading!
Regards,
Steven McDaniel
PGA of America member
PGA of Sweden member
TPI GP3
TPI Junior Coach 2
AMF Instructor member
HI Steven. Completely agree. I have met few people that are really prepared to go through hours of practice to change their movement. especially club golfers. So why not let them have a bit of fun and hit a few good shots. I think their is a huge difference in building a base (kids) when they have a learning phase of years and adults (club golfers) who really just want a little more success than they are currently having. If someone walks in and says they will practice 4 times a week and do all the drills we say then great, our job is generally easy, but people have other things to do in their overcrowded lives.
ReplyDeleteAs the great Jim Hardy says, they want to hit the next shot better" and theat is our job to help them. Motivation will come from success. A good golf swing is one that creates repetive shots that give a desired result.
I see only one danger of this method and that is when mr knowitall comes along and makes a comment to them that something is not correct. We need to make them aware that they are using a compensation so they understand their friendly playing partner will just have to accept it and not comment that they are "doing it wrong!"
I had flipper that was so good at flipping the face, the ball landed on the rubber tee every shot. I had him set up with a WIDE open face, toe pointing to the 19th hole. He found the sweet spot & the golf course but was unhappy to leave school with this fix. I explained to him that his impact alignmentswere so ingrained that a 3 day school would not beat it out of him. He had to stay with the toe at addess pointing dead away from target until he changed his habbit with static drills educating his hands to be QUIET. He understood and did not ask forthe money back guarantee.
ReplyDeleteHey Steven !
ReplyDeleteHope all is well :)
I'd say it sounds like you jumped straight in and got the "root" problem !!
Be well,
Carl-Magnus
Thanks for your comments! This is an interesting topic for sure and one that I will continue to explore.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Steven