Our members have told us that swing instruction is important to them. In response to that, the SCGA has partnered with GolfTEC to provide resources to help you improve your game.
Check back in the near future for information on the process of improving your swing, using technology to lower your scores, perfect practice and more!
The golfer has gotten serious about his game. He buys high-end equipment, practices often and gets onto a course for a round of 18 at least once a week. His Handicap Index creeps down in direct proportion to a satisfying rise in confidence.
But then something disheartening – and perhaps inevitable – occurs. He levels off. No amount of effort can shave off a couple of strokes.
It’s the plateau. And in a sport known for cruel turns of fortune, this can be one of the most maddening.
“I’d say about 80 percent of the people I see initially are extremely frustrated,” said GolfTEC coach Thomas Howell Jr. (pictured above left, with client). “They come in with big emotional pains in the game of golf. It stems from them being the shortest hitter in their group. Or they’ve got the one friend, brother, brother-in-law or father-in-law that they can never beat, no matter how well they play. Or they’re an accomplished athlete in another sport and have deep emotional frustration about not playing golf as well as they feel they should.
“They’re embarrassed about what’s expected of them.”
These golfers have a lot of company, apparently. According to the National Golf Foundation, 1 million people take up the game of golf each year . . . and another 1 million quit it.
Sometimes the exasperation of the plateau is only compounded by the many golf tips that can be found in magazines and on websites. “All this information is valid,” Howell said, “but it’s not customized.”
Howell suggests a series of steps to bust through a plateau.
Get help. Hitting a slew of balls on the range by yourself isn’t practicing, Howell said, “it’s ingraining habits, more bad than good.” Find a coach with solid credentials, either a PGA Professional or someone with other certifications and a proven track record.
Be patient. Improvement in golf doesn’t often come quickly. Be prepared to devote resources to this effort – and that doesn’t just mean money. Your time commitment is critical, too.
Be honest. Leave your ego in the parking lot and don’t embellish when your coach starts asking questions. If he wants to know how far you hit a 7-iron, don’t tell him about that one swing of your life, tell him about your average. Be forthright about your driving distance, your short game . . . and your objectives. What’s more important to you, out-driving your playing partners or lowering your scores?
Develop a plan. You’ll need to put your trust in that coach and come up with a practice program. Many golfers work on their strengths, because swinging a favorite club well is so satisfying. It’s much wiser to concentrate on the weak areas of your game.
Set goals. In order to determine where you want to go, you have to be realistic about where you are. Start keeping track of how many fairways you hit, how many greens you reach in regulation, how many putts you require per round, and how far you reasonably hit that 9-iron.
For more information on GolfTEC, click here.
When a golfer is looking for a coach, there is no substitute for prestigious credentials, and the PGA’s exhaustive certification process ensures them.
“There are a lot of strict guidelines to becoming a PGA Professional,” said Casey Wire (pictured), a PGA Professional who coaches at GolfTEC’s Santa Monica center. “Does that mean if you’re not a PGA Professional you can’t be a good coach? No, absolutely not. But at least when you get a PGA Professional, you know they’ve gone through a certain process to get where they are.”
The considerable rigor of the certification is by design. “Once you’ve attained your PGA membership, that logo means a great deal,” said Tom Addis, president and CEO of the Southern California Section of the PGA of America. “The training and experience that are behind it are critical for that reason. You’re joining one of the most important, renowned golf organizations in the world.”
The process is far-reaching, Wire said. An apprenticeship can last up to four years. More than 700 hours of course work are required. There is also a playing ability test, in which the prospective pro must play 36 holes in one day and shoot a target score. And then there is apprentice work done under the supervision of an existing PGA Professional, during which all aspects of the golf business are covered.
Through three stages of training, an apprentice learns that business from the ground up – agronomy, merchandise, food and beverage, the golf cart fleet. “Whether it’s in the golf shop or on the lesson tee, that’s part of the experience,” Addis said. “It is a very comprehensive, covering course work, examination and mentoring.”
Wire added: “At the end of each stage, you take a test. It’s nerve-wracking.”
Golf instruction comprises only about 25 percent of the training, because of the emphasis on the business side of golf.
In fact, Wire says he was attracted to GolfTEC precisely because of the opportunity it provided to teach full time. “Many PGA Professionals don’t have that luxury,” he said. “They’re under the pressure of management to make money. They can’t be on the range all the time. I really like the one-on-one with a client rather than being behind the desk doing paperwork.”
There is continuing education for PGA Professionals, too. They must spend a certain number of hours attending meetings and seminars, to keep abreast of new developments in the industry.
“You’re going to get consistency from a PGA Professional,” Wire said. “You know this guy is going through certification; he’s constantly learning.”
For more information on GolfTEC, click here.
“These clubs on the store rack look pretty good. I think I’ll buy them. Now let’s go play golf.”
It’s a pretty common progression for someone who is taking up the game of golf, but it is not the most advisable course. Clubs should be fitted to a particular golfer – based on height, length of arms, swing posture and a host of other variables. If they aren’t, it can lead to untold and unnecessary frustration.
“It’s like trying to learn archery with crooked arrows,” said Timothy Day, a coach at GolfTEC’s Santa Monica center. “You’re going to do everything you can to make that arrow fly straight – or, in this case, hit the ball in the air – when a lot of times you could just be compensating for the arrow or the club.”
Susan Roll, the SCPGA’s Golf Professional of the Year for 2011, strongly agrees. “I had some students that no matter what I did in my lessons, I could only get them doing something just briefly,” she said of her work at the Carlsbad Golf Center. “They couldn’t hold it. They could never get better. Then once I added that dimension of fitting, all of a sudden they were the most improved player in their club and loving golf.”
At GolfTEC, a number of factors are taken into consideration during the club-fitting process. First are the static measurements: Length of club when the golfer is in proper address posture, to begin with. If the club is too short, you’ll drop down too much. If it’s too long, you’ll stand up too tall. Other measurements include wrist-to-floor measurements and how the grip fits in your hand.
Then come the dynamic measurements. This involves checking the proper lie angle of the club by putting special tape on the face and bottom of the club and having the golfer hit a few balls. Impressions of impact will be left on the tape, which will determine if the club head needs to be adjusted up or down to get it flat at impact.
Then it’s on to another dynamic measurement: determining what type of shaft is optimal for you. GolfTEC does this with the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer, a device that fits onto the club shaft and uses sensors to determine how it’s performing in your hands.
“The shaft is the most important part of the club,” Day said. “It’s the engine of the golf club. If you have a club shaft that is too heavy, you’ll find that people fall back all the time to help get the ball in the air. If the shaft is too weak, you’ll spray the ball all over the place and you’ll think that something is wrong with your swing, when in reality you might just need a stiffer shaft.”
When should you get your clubs fitted? When you’re new to the game, or just starting lessons, or you’ve just made a major swing change, according to Day. But the most important thing is to do it. “Once I learned that you have to marry the equipment with the swing,” said Roll, “it introduced a whole other dimension to my teaching.”
For more information on GolfTEC, click here.
When you have made the decision to change your swing, there are no shortcuts, no quick fixes. Bad habits must be identified and broken down, and there must be a process to building a new foundation . . . one step at a time. It takes time.
Frustration sometimes occurs as a golfer’s handicap can go up while he or she makes critical swing changes.
“Most of our clients have been grooving a bad swing for 30 years. It is not unrealistic to think a minimum of 1-2 years is necessary to make real improvement,” said Forrest Blake, owner of the Southern California GolfTEC franchises. “It’s going to get tough, and the student is going to have to grind through it. But at the end of the day you’re going to come out with a reliable swing that will create lower scores. It is a process and isn’t easy.”
GolfTEC seeks a long-term commitment from clients. This is how it gets clients to lower their handicap, win tournaments and shoot their personal bests. This type of process-orientated instruction varies from that which is customarily offered at a driving range.
Michael Katz (pictured), a PGA professional and coach at GolfTEC’s Woodland Hills center, says this fast-food approach to instruction forces the golf professional to find the quick fix. “Normally, in an outdoor lesson, the focus is 100 percent on ball flight,” he said. “Teachers want to show ball-flight improvement instantly, so they tend to go to impact and downswing elements.”
But what if the foundation of the golfer’s swing is completely out of whack? How long before faulty aspects such as address, posture, takeaway and backswing overpower any slight improvements experienced in that session on the range?
GolfTEC coaches routinely take a dozen or so weeks on that foundation alone. Only then are downswing and impact addressed – which typically results in the infuriating condition of scores climbing. But through patience and work ethic, Katz said, there is an ultimate payoff: “As you start to make long-lasting ball flight change, people start to see that long-term improvement.”
Blake says his most satisfying moments occur when a client turns this corner. “Success breeds success,” he said. “When a guy comes in and says, ‘I broke 90 for the first time,” or, ‘I shot my best round,’ or, ‘I won my event over the weekend,’ now he is standing tall with a smile on his face and the desire to set new goals and get even better. Questions like, ‘Do you think I could break 80?’ come to mind. Our coaches use this energy to get our students to take quantum leaps in their games and, yes, with patience and work anything is possible.”
For more information on GolfTEC, click here.
When and how did you first become associated with GolfTEC
?
It was back in 2005, I was playing a lot of golf. I was taking lessons out on the range, and then I discovered GolfTEC. I came in and bought a lesson series. And after about a year and a half, I went from a 3 handicap to a plus-2. I was real excited about that.
What kind of benefits were you able to realize from that in competition?
I won a couple of SCGA qualifiers and played in the California Amateur twice. I loved it. I saw that it worked for me and thought, ‘This is fantastic.’
And that’s what compelled you to move beyond the role of client?
I saw the business opportunity. So over 2006, 2007, 2008, I purchased most of the franchises in Southern California. We own 15 locations, with some 15,000-17,000 clients now engaged with us. Every day when I walk in and they say, ‘I had my personal best,’ it just makes me happy.
I came from a corporate background, day to day pushing paper, and to be able to be in the business of golf and to be able to help people play better, and to take their free time and make it that much more useful, it’s a great feeling, a lot of fun.
There are many instructional programs out there. What do you feel makes GolfTEC stand apart from them?
It’s really a proven path. We go through a methodical approach to teaching golf. It’s not just a one-time lesson. It’s a series of lessons. It’s six months. It’s a year.
It’s a stepped approach. We start off with setup. We move to takeaway. We move to the downswing. It’s not just one piece; we look at the entire swing. We really help people to reach their goals.
What else do you feel is distinctive about the method?
Having the ability to practice with video feedback. Nobody has that. And to be able to come into a climate-controlled environment, that really helps folks.
We have over 450 golf coaches throughout the country. This is all we do – teach golf. We have the highest caliber of instructors with the most amount of technology, and when you add in the experience of teaching more than 3 million lessons, we’re going to get players better, no doubt about it.
Finally, another key component of the GolfTEC program is precision-matched clubs. How does that work?
We feel that we want to be neutral in regard to vendors, so we’ll take your swing and use today’s technology to match your swing with clubs. We’re not going to say, ‘You have to be with one vendor.’ We’re going to say, ‘Which one works the best?’ Then we’ll test against that. And whatever club works, we’ll custom-order those products and get those delivered to you the way you want them.
For more information on GolfTEC, click here.
