I'm honored and happy to announce that I have won the 2013 Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Leader Award for our chapter. I have a lot of pride in my juniors and my program, and its great to get recognition for what I do. What makes it even better is that I love what I do and I would never change my job for anything, so getting this award for doing what I love is just awesome.
Next step is to win the same award for the entire North Texas section. That decision will be made soon, so hopefully its good news!
I have had several junior golfers make big breakthroughs this summer. Several have won individual tournaments and a few of my older high schoolers are talking with college programs about playing for them. Its a exciting time at the club and I am constantly reminded by member and employees at the club that they have never seen this many junior golfers out during a summer or throughout the year.
One of my personal goals is to be a better motivator for my juniors. Golf is the hardest game in the world and is never mastered. Improving takes time, patience, discipline, endurance, guidance, instruction and a great plan. I want all my juniors to be motivated to be the best they can be, and to do that they need to practice consistently.
A great instructor, buddy and teammate (in college) of mine found that research shows people who can practice consecutive days in a row will improve significantly more than those who practice once is a while or every other day. The basic premise is that 14 days (2 weeks) of consecutive practice will produce better results than 14 days spaced out over a month. Your body and brain have the ability to remember feels and thoughts throughout your practice that helps you maintain and progress in your practice. By taking days off between practice sessions, you body and mind forget what they are working on and the little ideas that help you progress.
Two of my students, Jordan and Kyler are a great example. They had high school tryouts today and have been working with me all summer (in my academy) with little practice in between trainings. Ten days before tryouts, they made a pact with me that they would practice for the next 10 days in a row for 5 hours per day in order to get ready for tryouts. I made them a detailed practice plan to follow to make sure they practiced with a purpose and structure. For the most part, they made it to the course everyday (even in pouring rain and 100+ heat) to practice their 5 hours. I am so impressed with them, and I knew they would perform well in their tryouts.
Last year, Kyler had trouble keeping his scored in the 90's with a good round being high 90's and a bad round having no real ceiling (scary). Jordan has been improving consistently for a while, had a career low of 89 in last years high school season but had an average somewhere in the mid to high 90's. Today, at Oak Hollow Golf Course, Jordan shot a new career low 87 and made her Varsity team. Kyler shot a career low 85 and made his JV team. He is on his way to Varsity next year and Jordan has now expressed some interest in playing golf in some capacity in college.
Its amazing what a little determination and commitment will do for your golf game.
I saw a great quote recently that really sums it all up:
"If it's important enough to you, you will find a way. If it's not, you will find an excuse"
All of my juniors tell me they want to get better at golf. They all do, just by being in my academy and getting time with me. But the ones who really want to be good will go the extra mile and put in the 20-30 hours per week it takes to really be great!
Great job to Jordan and Kyler!
Also, Jordan texted me after her round. After congratulating her, I said "Take a day off tomorrow, you deserve it." She texted me back "hahahaha nope, my chipping needs work." That is dedication and she has the internal motivation needed to be a great player. I'm excited for her this year.
Golf is Fun!
Monday, August 5, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
A Note From The Head Pro
Eldorado Country Club Head Golf Pro - Scott McClinton was kind enough to teach my juniors for a session while I was away at the TPI seminars. He wanted me to share this note with you:
"Coach Chad has spent the last few days in San Diego attending the Titleist TPI training, getting some great knowledge about the golf swing, golf fitness, and just being a better instructor. Good for him! While he was away, I got the opportunity to substitute coach for one of his academy classes. I just want to say to the parents and to Coach Chad how impressed I was with the academy players. Their attitudes were some of the best I have seen out of any junior golfers I have coached; Very positive, very driven, very respectful, and very polite. It was an awesome experience that was both fun, and rewarding for me. Great job to those juniors; keep it up, I see LOTS of promise, and great job to Coach Chad for helping mold some great young men and women. (Tori, Maddie, Jordan, Ryan, Kevin, and Logan – great job gang!)"
Thanks Scott!
"Coach Chad has spent the last few days in San Diego attending the Titleist TPI training, getting some great knowledge about the golf swing, golf fitness, and just being a better instructor. Good for him! While he was away, I got the opportunity to substitute coach for one of his academy classes. I just want to say to the parents and to Coach Chad how impressed I was with the academy players. Their attitudes were some of the best I have seen out of any junior golfers I have coached; Very positive, very driven, very respectful, and very polite. It was an awesome experience that was both fun, and rewarding for me. Great job to those juniors; keep it up, I see LOTS of promise, and great job to Coach Chad for helping mold some great young men and women. (Tori, Maddie, Jordan, Ryan, Kevin, and Logan – great job gang!)"
Thanks Scott!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
TPI Experience - Golf Fitness
Each player is taken through a physical assessment that will give the instructor knowledge of how their body is limited in the ability to swing into certain positions in the golf swing. From the results of this test, we can determine how those limitations will effect your swing and cause swing faults that will affect the ball flight. I learned techniques to identify these limitations and also how to help fix them so the player can make more efficient swings. The process is called a screening, and it takes a player through every necessary motion the body has to be put in if they want to have a perfectly efficient swing. Very few people can pass the entire screening, but it acts as a baseline for possible fitness work and a platform for me to know how to teach that individual.
I also learned many techniques that I can use with my students as a warm-up each day so that they are prepared to swing and play their best. Stretching and warming up properly is under-rated by golfers these days. Making sure your body is ready to handle a 80-100 mile per hour swing is very important and will help prevent future injury.
For my adult students, this will help me assess motions and positions in your swing that you are just not physically capable of hitting, and allow me to prescribe workouts to fix that imbalance or work around it as an instructor. There is nothing wrong with having a limitation in your body, but the best results will come when I know about them and can then work around them.
For my junior students, academy and summer camps, I have learned the value of having a body that can handle a golf swing and all its essential positions. I will be including more athletic activities as well as a warm-up program for all my juniors. Junior camps (Spring Break and Summer) will be VERY fun and full of exercises designed to develop the entire body (coordination, flexibility and strength) as well as learn great golf fundamentals and skills.
I am excited to use the new information I have learned this past week I can definitely see the benefits in my own game as well as my students. My quest for new knowledge about the golf swing never stops, and this was a great step into the fitness and body movement characteristics of the golf swing.
The philosophy for TPI is: "We don't believe there is one way to swing a club; we believe there are an infinite number of ways to swing a club. But we do believe there is one efficient way for everyone to swing a club and it is based on what they can physically do."
If you are interested in getting a screening (testing your body for proper golf positions) please let me know!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Finding YOUR Instructor
Dr. Bob Rotella’s five keys to finding the right instructor.
1. Find an instructor who has had success teaching golfers of your ability, age, sex and commitment level. Some teachers prefer (and are at their best) working with really good players, high-handicappers, men, women, kids or seniors. Ask potential teachers what type of golfers they regularly teach and even talk to a few students if you can.
2. Select a teacher who is close to where you live or work and has the time and energy to give you the attention you want. If you have to drive a long way to take your lesson, you might not stay with it. Also, you want to avoid teachers who are overbooked and might rush through a lesson with you.
3. Look for someone who you enjoy spending time with. You might have to take a couple of lessons to find out. Another way is to offer to pay a teacher for half an hour to ask some questions and get better acquainted. You need to find out if you connect.
4. Go for credibility. You can't learn if you don't trust the message. Unlike kids, adults tend to approach lessons with skepticism and question the instruction they receive. Kids are better at trusting what the teacher tells them. Adults could learn from that. If you don't believe in what the teacher is telling you, you're wasting your time.
5. Decide if you want a teacher who is technical and analytical or one who teaches based on feel and visualization. Both methods/philosophies work. But some golfers respond better to one or the other. Discuss your preference with any potential teacher.
All this said, keep in mind that the best instructor in the world might not be the best instructor for YOU. Find an instructor who is successful and you can communicate with and you will have great success!
1. Find an instructor who has had success teaching golfers of your ability, age, sex and commitment level. Some teachers prefer (and are at their best) working with really good players, high-handicappers, men, women, kids or seniors. Ask potential teachers what type of golfers they regularly teach and even talk to a few students if you can.
2. Select a teacher who is close to where you live or work and has the time and energy to give you the attention you want. If you have to drive a long way to take your lesson, you might not stay with it. Also, you want to avoid teachers who are overbooked and might rush through a lesson with you.
3. Look for someone who you enjoy spending time with. You might have to take a couple of lessons to find out. Another way is to offer to pay a teacher for half an hour to ask some questions and get better acquainted. You need to find out if you connect.
4. Go for credibility. You can't learn if you don't trust the message. Unlike kids, adults tend to approach lessons with skepticism and question the instruction they receive. Kids are better at trusting what the teacher tells them. Adults could learn from that. If you don't believe in what the teacher is telling you, you're wasting your time.
5. Decide if you want a teacher who is technical and analytical or one who teaches based on feel and visualization. Both methods/philosophies work. But some golfers respond better to one or the other. Discuss your preference with any potential teacher.
All this said, keep in mind that the best instructor in the world might not be the best instructor for YOU. Find an instructor who is successful and you can communicate with and you will have great success!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Committing to Change
There is a saying "keep doing what your doing, and you'll keep getting what you're getting."
As a golf instructor, there is a lot of truth to these words. Students come to us all the time to improve their game (long game, short game, putting, etc) and we have no problem giving help. In every lesson that I give, I see dramatic improvements to ball flight, distance, contact or short game but it is rare to have a follow-up lesson with that same student and be able to pick up right where we left off in the previous lesson.
I understand how hard it is to make a change, I was just like you all when I was learning. I had instructors tell me to make swings and put my body in positions that didn't feel comfortable and didn't feel right to me. But I made myself realize that the reason I came to this professional was to learn and improve. I gave up trying to fix everything on my own, and had to listen and perform what my instructor said no matter what. My golf pro was named Mitch Lowe (PGA), he still teaches to this day in Half Moon Bay, Ca. And to this day, I can attribute my golf swing and a large part of the way I teach to him.
The days of the "quick fix" are fading. Why? Because a quick fix is a temporary solution. As instructors, we would be doing a disservice to you if we gave you a quick fix every time. Our goal is to improve your golf and make you a more consistent and better golfer. All the advise and changes we make are designed to achieve that goal, unless you specify a different goal. That being said, quick fixes are far less awkward when learning, but they are far less effective in producing long term results.
If at anytime during instruction you are confused or don't understand what to do, ASK! If your pro cannot provide a solid reason for why they are making a change, you may want to find a new pro. Its like asking a doctor why he prescribed you a certain medication and he is unable to tell you the reason. That would send a red flag to me for sure! Ask as many questions as you would like, we are there to answer them.
So, if you are looking to get instruction, please see a PGA professional in your area and come in with the right frame of mind. Be willing and committed to change, and you WILL get better.
An example of a great change that resulted in better ball striking immediately. Club was across the line at the top, causing pulls and hooks. He committed to the change and texted me this "74 yesterday with 4 birdies. -1 on the back!"
As a golf instructor, there is a lot of truth to these words. Students come to us all the time to improve their game (long game, short game, putting, etc) and we have no problem giving help. In every lesson that I give, I see dramatic improvements to ball flight, distance, contact or short game but it is rare to have a follow-up lesson with that same student and be able to pick up right where we left off in the previous lesson.
I understand how hard it is to make a change, I was just like you all when I was learning. I had instructors tell me to make swings and put my body in positions that didn't feel comfortable and didn't feel right to me. But I made myself realize that the reason I came to this professional was to learn and improve. I gave up trying to fix everything on my own, and had to listen and perform what my instructor said no matter what. My golf pro was named Mitch Lowe (PGA), he still teaches to this day in Half Moon Bay, Ca. And to this day, I can attribute my golf swing and a large part of the way I teach to him.
The days of the "quick fix" are fading. Why? Because a quick fix is a temporary solution. As instructors, we would be doing a disservice to you if we gave you a quick fix every time. Our goal is to improve your golf and make you a more consistent and better golfer. All the advise and changes we make are designed to achieve that goal, unless you specify a different goal. That being said, quick fixes are far less awkward when learning, but they are far less effective in producing long term results.
If at anytime during instruction you are confused or don't understand what to do, ASK! If your pro cannot provide a solid reason for why they are making a change, you may want to find a new pro. Its like asking a doctor why he prescribed you a certain medication and he is unable to tell you the reason. That would send a red flag to me for sure! Ask as many questions as you would like, we are there to answer them.
So, if you are looking to get instruction, please see a PGA professional in your area and come in with the right frame of mind. Be willing and committed to change, and you WILL get better.
An example of a great change that resulted in better ball striking immediately. Club was across the line at the top, causing pulls and hooks. He committed to the change and texted me this "74 yesterday with 4 birdies. -1 on the back!"
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Student Success Stories - Melanie
Melanie:
This story is about confidence. Melanie plays on the SMU golf team and was an extremely good junior golfer. She played golf for Baylor before coming to SMU. During her junior year, her play was not up to her standards, she was having trouble getting the ball off the tee and therefore trouble scoring well. When I first played with her she qualified her drives before ever hitting one by saying she has not had confidence in her driver for the past year, hitting drives that are either 180 yard slices or 50 yard smother duck hooks (literally). I didn't really believe her at first, and I laughed the comment off like it was a complete exaggeration. But it wasn't.
I met Melanie while she was working an internship for Century Golf. They manage our property, so she came to help out for a couple months. The first time I watched her swing I was amazed by how much power she created. She hits the ball farther then any woman I have worked with. But she had an obvious (to me) flaw in her swing. For a normal golfer the flaw she had would be manageable, but for a golfer with as much speed as Melanie has the flaw is compounded. For her junior year, her average score was somewhere in the mid-high 80's. She was down on her game and has basically written off her senior year of golf.
After a few lessons, Melanie started to learn why the golf balls reacts the way it does off the club face, and she started to hit some amazing drives. She practiced very hard for about 6 weeks, working her way through the swing change. After a while, she started putting some great rounds together. Rounds that she said were more like what she used to do (what she expected to do). I could see her confidence rising with each drive that split the fairway.About a month ago, Melanie qualified to travel for the SMU team. She played amazing golf for three rounds, shooting a combined total of 8-under par including a 65 (course record) in the second round! She won the tournament and beat the previous tournament low total score by 3 strokes. She's now basically guaranteed a travel spot for the rest of the year, and is excited to be competing and hopefully winning more in the rest of her senior year!
She is a prime example of committing to a change in her swing and that change bringing the confidence she needed to play golf like she knows she can. I teach each student the same way, analyzing their game/swing and making and adjustment the the most critical part of the swing that is causing poor performance. It was Melanie who took the change and made it her own. She now has a much better understanding of her golf swing and a lot more confidence when she steps to the tee!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Student Success Stories - Jordan and Ryan
It has been quite a while since my last post, and it has been a great year for me and for my golf academy. And there have been a few really great success stories that I'd like to share with you.
Jordan:
The first one is a tribute to hard work. Jordan is a high school golfer and has really just started to take the game seriously about two or three years ago. She has great natural athletic ability which is very helpful, but the best attributes are her dedication and her attitude.
Jordan first started in my academy about 8 months ago and was shooting scores around 110-115. She wanted to improve and break 100 so she could compete on the JV team. I told her that it would take a lot of work and a lot of swing and practice, and she was OK with that. So, in addition to the 3 times each week that she meets with me, I had her start a practice routine at home each night. It started as hitting 100 chip shots (with whiffle balls) and 100 full swing practice swings (based on what we are working on). On her own, she has added swings and chips that now add up to about 500 swings/chips per night. She also realizes how important short game is, and has decided to give herself a 10 push-up penalty for any 3-putts she makes or any putt she misses under 3 ft.
Its safe to say Jordan has done thousands of extra practice swings/chips, and hundreds of extra push-ups as she tries to better her game. About two weeks ago, she shot a career low 91 in a golf tournament and was in disbelief when the girl keeping her score told her what the final score was.
Ryan:
This story is about determination more than anything. Ryan started playing golf only about 6 months before his high school tryouts. He worked very hard for those 6 months but unfortunately didn't perform as well as he would have liked during tryouts. But immediately after tryouts Ryan told me that he was going to stick with the academy and work all year to make the team next time. This story is special to me because many people would give up and concede to the fact that it just not their sport, or they aren't good enough, but Ryan came back with even more determination to improve.
Currently, Ryan is out practicing 6 days a week, including 3 days a week with me in the academy. He and I can both see the changes in his golf game, and there is no doubt in my mind he will make the team next year an be a great player if he keeps up his current work ethic. He has a great attitude and does not make excuses, just practices hard! Whether or not he becomes a great golfer, he will have a successful future because of his never give up attitude and determination to improve.
I will keep these stories coming. They are the reason I do what I do, and why I love my job!
Jordan:
The first one is a tribute to hard work. Jordan is a high school golfer and has really just started to take the game seriously about two or three years ago. She has great natural athletic ability which is very helpful, but the best attributes are her dedication and her attitude.
Jordan first started in my academy about 8 months ago and was shooting scores around 110-115. She wanted to improve and break 100 so she could compete on the JV team. I told her that it would take a lot of work and a lot of swing and practice, and she was OK with that. So, in addition to the 3 times each week that she meets with me, I had her start a practice routine at home each night. It started as hitting 100 chip shots (with whiffle balls) and 100 full swing practice swings (based on what we are working on). On her own, she has added swings and chips that now add up to about 500 swings/chips per night. She also realizes how important short game is, and has decided to give herself a 10 push-up penalty for any 3-putts she makes or any putt she misses under 3 ft.
Its safe to say Jordan has done thousands of extra practice swings/chips, and hundreds of extra push-ups as she tries to better her game. About two weeks ago, she shot a career low 91 in a golf tournament and was in disbelief when the girl keeping her score told her what the final score was.
Ryan:
This story is about determination more than anything. Ryan started playing golf only about 6 months before his high school tryouts. He worked very hard for those 6 months but unfortunately didn't perform as well as he would have liked during tryouts. But immediately after tryouts Ryan told me that he was going to stick with the academy and work all year to make the team next time. This story is special to me because many people would give up and concede to the fact that it just not their sport, or they aren't good enough, but Ryan came back with even more determination to improve.
Currently, Ryan is out practicing 6 days a week, including 3 days a week with me in the academy. He and I can both see the changes in his golf game, and there is no doubt in my mind he will make the team next year an be a great player if he keeps up his current work ethic. He has a great attitude and does not make excuses, just practices hard! Whether or not he becomes a great golfer, he will have a successful future because of his never give up attitude and determination to improve.
I will keep these stories coming. They are the reason I do what I do, and why I love my job!
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