It’s All About the Student

 Many years ago, I learned an invaluable lesson in my work, and it has remained my driving force ever since. 

“The person I am teaching is far more important than anything I am teaching them”!

That simple mantra has guided me ever since. I have met with and taught golf to thousands of people. No two of them have been alike. They differ in athleticism, coordination, learning styles, and personalities. They come to the lessons in various states of humor and temperament; brimming with confidence, intimidated, open-minded, not so open-minded, and many other ways. Every one of them must be a factor in my approach to their lesson plan. The variety of folks I meet is the spice of my day.  The variety of golf swing issues they present is the problem-solving part of my day. 

Golf is a game; nothing more, nothing less. It is, for some of us, the greatest leisure time activity in the world. Personally, I couldn’t breathe if it were not for the game of golf, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of my career in it.  But ultimately it is a game. My personal role in the game at this point is to help those who come to see me play a little better and enjoy it a bit more. It gives me satisfaction to see their reactions when they improve or at the very least, feel they have a route to that improvement. It is how I have endured for some 40 years doing what I do.

A teacher or coach needs to know the student as well as the swing. It is my job to get to know my students, to know why they have come to see me and to know what they expect from our session. Golfers take their game seriously enough to entrust me with the task of helping them with it. I am always trying to create as stress-free an environment as possible. Many students come to the lesson full of internal distractions. I try to provide a learning atmosphere that minimizes external distractions, with privacy, comfortability, and a stress-free lesson tee. I try to put myself in the student’s place.

For a teacher, the lesson is one of many he or she will conduct in a day, in a year. For me, that is some 25,000 or more in my career. So, it is easy to fall into the “oh, here we go again” mentality. I constantly remind myself that although this is one of many for me, my student has been looking forward to the session for some time, and it is the ONLY lesson they will have this day, week, or month. “Beginners mind” is a good teacher’s best friend. Never forget how important this time together is to the person in front of me. 

Having done this work for some 40+ years, I am fully aware I cannot give it my all for a long day on the lesson tee. That is why I limit my teaching day to three hours. That is a time frame where I can be fresh and problem-solve with all my wits. You will always have my full and undivided attention on every swing you take.