Golf Magazine Top 100 Teachers Summit at Pinehurst and some interesting perspective on practice time and the future of instruction.
A little over a month ago, I was at Pinehurst for the Golf Magazine Top 100 Teachers Summit. This conference is designed solely for the Top 100 Teachers in America and over the course of four days we shared ideas, traded some great stories and had the opportunity to listen to some interesting guest speakers. Charles Plott spoke on “Connecting Personality and Movement”. Jon Tatersall and Brian Yee spoke on “Correct Gait & Foot Mechanics”. Dr. Bob Christina gave a presentation on “How People Learn to Control Their Movements: A Neuropsychological Perspective“.
One of the most interesting speakers for me was Dr. Dan Landers. His topic was “The Art and Science of Mental Practice For Golfers” and this really hit home with me. I believe this is the future of golf instruction in so many ways. Private lessons are becoming a thing of the past. Why? As teachers we typically give a lesson to an individual student, providing on-site instruction and information, and expect them to process and implement this plan during the time between lessons. For a majority of students, when they return for their next lesson, there has been no progress. This is frustrating for everyone, including me!
Change happens when you are consistently thinking about it, rehearsing it and spending dedicated time to implementation. So, the only way positive change in your game can occur is with correct repetition, or “correctional repetition”. This is why, seven years ago, we started performance training for golf. Most of our students are seen on a regular basis – usually a minimum of twice per week in a team training environment. We are able to take a 1-year learning process and condense it into 3 months. The results are staggering!
So, the next time you think about taking a lesson or enrolling in an instruction program, think about the learning environment you will be in. This will make all the difference.
Shawn