What Makes a Good Instructor?
 

Can we add to the list of Great Instructor Characteristics the ability to help students enjoy their golf? This goes beyond 'hitting better shots' and 'shooting lower scores.' In fact, it is a much tougher proposition than is generally appreciated, for both low and high handicappers alike.

For proof of the problem, look no further than the people you know -- some of whom play and practice golf to the point of obsession -- who not only fail to enjoy their game, but who actually succeed in making themselves miserable. The same phenomenon can be seen in the many public figures who have achieved both fame and fortune, but who are unable to enjoy their accomplishments and thus remain Losers in the Game of Life.

I'll have more to say on this later. Meanwhile, how do you feel about this? Just what is the instructor's responsibility for the student's enjoyment of the game?

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#52
 

Thanks for the kind words, DD. And since you like the personal anecdotes -- and since I love to supply them! -- let me post this little tidbit (even though this may not be the 'proper' forum for it).

About 10 a.m. last Saturday morning, I walked onto the practice tee at the Atlanta Country Club and, as usual, headed toward the far end of the tee. Even though it's a walk of only about 50 yards, the turf is always much better there :oops:simply because most people stop at the first available station. I set up at the end of the tee and started my routine as usual: Always with one of my four wedges and always with the Basic Motion Curriculum (12-5).

First, a few Basic Motion Strokes (12-5-1) without a ball: 'See' the Straight Plane Line. Set the Flying Wedges. Left Wrist Flat, Level and Vertical. Right Wrist Bent, Level and Vertical. The Hands now are basically done: They are merely Clamps that control Alignments -- not produce Power -- and those alignments have now been set. Check the Plane of the Right Forearm. This is the precise up-and-down direction my Stroke must take. Now take the Hands up that Plane to the Top. Load the #3 Lag Pressure Point and Drive it through to Both Arms Straight. Take a little turf. Continuous Motion. Two feet back. Two feet through. Back and Through. Take a little turf. Watch the Clubhead Blur. Trace the Plane Line. Feel the Lag Load at the Top. Drive the Lag through to Both Arms Straight. Take a little turf. Now with Ball. Same Motion. Load the Lag. Drive it through. Take turf. Now another Ball: See the Line; Set the Wedges; Load; Drive. Take turf.

Then the Acquired Motion. See The Line. Feel the Wedges. Left Wrist Flat. Right Wrist Bent. Right Forearm on Plane and pointing to the Line well in front of the Ball. Take the Hands Up the Plane of the Right Forearm to Hip-High (Right Forearm level to the ground). Two Accumulators only (#1 and #3). Load the Lag. Hit the Ball with the #3 Pressure Point as you Drive Downplane through the Ball. All the way down. No Steering. No Quitting. All the way Down Plane...through Both Arms Straight...to the Finish.

A few minutes into my routine, I heard a polite "Hello." Larry Nelson had just emerged from the trees at 'my' end of the tee -- directly on the line of his home off the 18th fairway at Atlanta Country Club -- with a half dozen clubs in his hand. Too much trouble to carry even the 'light' bag. He had just deposited $340,000 for his first place win at the Kinko's-FedEx Classic on the Champions Tour.

"Hi Larry," says I, "Congrats on last week!"

"Thanks," says he, almost embarrassed at the mention.

"What time is your talk Monday? 1:15?" I was scheduled to play early (7:45 a.m.!) in the first wave of a morning-afternoon Christian outing, and he was the keynote speaker.

"I'm not sure. Lunch is at 12:30, so that sounds about right."

He then got down to his work. He started with the Sand Wedge, gripping way down, his Right Forefinger almost touching the steel. His Right Wrist was Bent. His Left Wrist was Flat. The upper end of the Clubshaft pointed up his Left Forearm.

His first shot was Acquired Motion. Right Forearm level to the ground on the Backstroke. Right Forearm level to the ground at the Finish. He Drove Down and Through. Took a little turf. The Ball went no more than twenty yards. He hit another. Twenty yards. And another. Twenty yards. Twenty minutes and about fifty balls later, his Right Forefinger was still at the steel. His Motion was still Acquired. And the Ball still had yet to be hit more than thirty yards.

This was a man who had just finished at the top of Senior Golf. This was the third longest driver on the Champions Tour. This was -- and is -- arguably one of the greatest Ball Strikers who has ever played The Game. One of only three men to win three 'majors' in the decade of the '80s. A man who went undefeated in his first two Ryder Cups. A man Seve Ballesteros called "the most feared match play competitor in the world."

And he's been hitting balls for twenty minutes, and they aren't going beyond the first tier of the tee!

Flat Left Wrist. Bent Right Wrist.

Acquired Motion: Right Forearm level to the ground.

Up On Plane. Down On Plane.

Twenty yards.

Twenty minutes.

Any questions?

:oops:

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#55
 

Patrick,

Thanks for posting Wayne's great quote. It's the key to sustained progress toward realistic and attainable goals.

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#63
 

You're 'doin' it right,' DD! I admire your discipline and willingness to stick to 'The Plan' in spite of the near-term assault on your ego and pocketbook. There are not many golfers who will ante up today's prices for a super-sized bucket of balls, and then 'waste' half of them with little chips and pitches. Particularly when everybody else is 'Out to Launch.' :oops:

Stay with it. Remember:

Computer programs are slowly and painstakingly written. That process is often accompanied by considerable frustration on the part of the programmers and no doubt, more than an occasional outburst of 'longshoreman's lingo.' But finally comes the day when the many lines of code deliver their promised result at lightning speed and without error.

Trust in the science behind your procedures. Continue to carefully and precisely lay one brick against another. Enjoy and be proud of your work:

You are laying the foundation for a lifetime of better golf.

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#66
 

I would add a fifth characteristic: Ability to demonstrate.

Now, I invite each reader to add any additional characteristics they deem important. Once we have a complete list, maybe somebody (Patrick?!) could put up a Poll giving each characteristic a Priority Ranking so we can get a real feel for the "Characteristics Of The Great Instructor."

Credit where credit is due . . . and other stuff GM#68
 

Homer Kelley had great respect and admiration for the golf teaching professional, whether TGM Authorized or not. He believed that most were "wonderful athletes" who were capable of doing the "most marvelous things" with a golf club, even if they were unable to explain accurately why they were good as they were. He also admired their devotion to students and the countless drills and techniques they invented to get their points across. That is why he put only two drills in the book:

"I want you guys to have a free hand."


His goal was to get accurate information into the hands of teaching professionals everywhere, so that it could be disseminated to the golf students of the world. He knew his text was inaccessible to all but the most ardent, but he refused to compromise by making it more 'simple.' In fact, he said:

"The only acceptable simplification of my book is the Authorized Instructor. You know what needs to be done, and I have every confidence in your ability to simplify it as necessary for the individual student."


I do not propose to speak for Chuck on this issue. However, when he references the way Homer 'wanted it taught,' I offer the following three points:

First, Homer wanted his AIs to teach the correct facts. These are not 'hidden facts' as recorded on private tapes for the "privileged few," but simply the facts as detailed in the book itself.

"I spent forty years of my life researching and validating the correct information. I see no reason why any other person should ever have to do it again. Where there are conflicts regarding the facts as presented and the teaching of others, the AI should begin with the position that the book is correct until proven otherwise."

[Here, regretfully, there is a break in the post.]

Credit where credit is due . . . and other stuff GM#72
 

In 1986, the 'older guy' was 40. Now he is even older. And greener. :oops:

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#74
 

Agreed.

And just as important...don't neglect Playing(3-B). Too many 'practicers' are unable to make the 'Longest Walk in Golf:"

From the Practice Tee...To the First Tee!

Teaching a Kid GM#76
 

Do they throw 'right handed' as well? If they do, then that's a plus: They've never 'learned' to flatten their Left Wrist (as all Lefties do when they throw).

As your young Left Handers learn to strike a Golf Ball, that should make it much easier to keep the Left Wrist Bent during Impact.

Credit where credit is due . . . and other stuff GM#79
 

Brian,

I am 100 percent in favor of an annual TGM Summit. Any ideas as to an ideal format, e.g., time of year, site, length of conference, format, organizing committee members, speaker and content selection, main platform presentations versus breakout sessions, cost, sponsorship opportunities, etc.?