Teaching Philosophy
I believe the definition of a good golf lesson is a lesson whereby you leave HITTING THE BALL BETTER than when you came. (it doesn’t mean acquiring more information) Acquiring information does you no good when you’re looking for your ball in the woods or hitting the top of the ball or digging into the ground. If you aren’t hitting the ball better at the end of the lesson then you have not gotten better. This is a lesson i learned a long time ago as a youngster. Hitting the ball better means hitting/compressing the ball straighter and farther. That being said, please forgive me for not having many tips on my site. I believe every person is different. One tip could be great for you but bad for someone else. 'One person's medicine is another's poison.' I've given over 50,000 golf lessons. I've never given the same lesson twice. If a golfer wants their swing to be completely overhauled, then we will take it apart and re-build it. If a golfer wants to 'just work on the driver' then we will 'just work on the driver'. If someone just wants a ‘tweak’ of their swing to improve their ball flight, then we’ll do that. (but let's discuss what needs to be changed if you’d like to be as good as you can) I am not an “it’s my way or the highway” teacher. There are times when someone simply can’t do what i’m asking, in which case we’ll find something else. There are hundreds of ways to swing a golf club with success. There are times when someone can’t repeat the swing that we are working on, in which case we’ll find a swing that is repeatable for them. It’s important for lessons to be a collaborative team effort, not a dictatorship. How soon should you see results? This may surprise you but you should see better shots within the first 3 balls, yes 3 balls. Sometimes it takes just one or two balls and sometimes it may take 10. I may need to have you rehearse the change by making a number of practice swings. Once i see that you are executing the change repeatedly, i will give you a ball to hit. If I give you a ball to hit i do NOT expect it to ‘get worse before it gets better.’ Why would someone give you a ball to hit if they expect it to be a ‘worse’ shot? This doesn’t make sense, I’ve been told many times, “Jeff, everyone tells me that my practice swing is great.” To which I reply, “well where’s the evidence? The ball flight is the ONLY evidence” Their practice swing may ‘look’ prettier to the untrained eye. It may have a better rhythm or tempo but that doesn’t make it a good swing. A good swing produces a correct impact with a repetitive motion for that individual.
What I say is less important than what you hear. A given phrase said to one student may be interpreted very differently by another student. What I say to you might be the exact opposite of what I say to my next student. If I were a doctor I wouldn't give a Valium to someone who simply needs an Aspirin. I try to find the ideal "prescription" that will unlock the player's swing and true potential.
I feel it is very important for lessons to be given outdoors. We must see the ball fly. Clubfitting can be done indoors but lessons should be given outdoors. Ball flight must be confirmed to prove that progress has been made.
Education. I feel it is very important to listen to my students. Education is "drawing out", not putting in. I've never learned anything while I was talking. I don't believe 'you get worse before you get better.' You may become 'uncomfortable' before you get better but you should not get worse. If you get worse then I have not helped you.
COUPLES
JUNIORS
If you want your significant other to play golf with you then please keep the atmosphere light and easy. Don't force him/her to incur a 2-stroke penalty for moving the ball out of a divot hole. lol Tee it up in the middle of the fairway, keep it easy. Have some laughs. As his or her game improves you can make it more competitive in the future if you'd like.
I believe, for the most part, that fun trumps form. If a child is consistently not having any fun, that child will not want to play. Do we want the child to go home from the lesson with a beautiful, fundamentally sound golf swing? Of course we do. But if the child doesn't want to come back then something is wrong. However, if you want your child's lesson to be very intensive then we WILL do that.