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Gurus 2014 Top Teacher Twitter List

December 31, 2014

Another great year has flown by and I hope you have had time for reflection and have taken some time off to recharge. For me its been a great year of learning, growing in many areas of my life and hard work. New relationships were formed and current ones were made stronger which is what it’s all about. When my time on this earth is finished, I hope that my legacy wont be remembered by the material things, awards or lists that I might have made BUT by the relationships that I have built and other people who I have affected in a positive way. As Zig Ziglar says,”If you can help as many other people get what they want, you can have everything that you want…If you are interested” We don’t do nice things for other people to get something in return or for what you GET but because it is the right thing to do as a person and for what you BECOME. So many of you on this list I can now call a good friend and it all started here on “twitter.” I have learned so much and it has created so many opportunities for all of us. Before I get to the new inductees of the Top Teacher Twitter List I want to give a shout out to my amazing staff for without you I would be nothing. Maggie Simons, who just made top 50 US Kids instructor has done an amazing job this year stepping in as junior golf leader. I am so proud of your growth as an instructor and big things are ahead. Hard to believe that we could grow anymore but we did. With the help of Ryan Dailey and Matt Reagan, IGROW junior golf has taken our program to another level. I recommend you check this out as it is a definite game changer. Also congrats to Matt Reagan for winning the Youth Development Award for the Carolinas PGA section. Back to back for the IGROW team. Great to see your hard work paying off. Secondly, my addition of Josh Spragins has been a home run. If I haven’t learned anything over the years it been how to hire great people and Josh is no exception. He is going to be a superstar and brings a wealth of knowledge to our team with a great work ethic. If you are down at the show or visit the club, I hope that you get to meet Josh. Now I have to get him tweeting more :)….which is job requirement when you work for me.

GOAL OF THE LIST.….

To highlight individuals that are ACTIVE on twitter and doing the following: 1) sharing quality content 2) engaging with other coaches and golfers…which means answering tweets, using debate in a healthy way (no bashing other teachers) 3) promoting and lifting up other coaches to improve and recognizing good work

Requirement to qualify for the list You must have at least 3000 tweets. Next year it will be 4000 so if you didn’t make the list, get to tweeting. Make it a goal next year to reach out to these people and learn from them. Click on their names, follow them and add them to your lists. Thanks for all your support this year and I hope to see everyone in Orlando for #tweetup15!

Congratulations to our 16 new inductees to this years list. There were a few that were just short that I feel will make it next year and will receive honorable mention……. Also there were a few that were on last years list that didn’t make the 3000 that are on probation:)

James Hong @jameshonggolf 5461
Brandon Roby @brobypga 4090
Allen Burton @docattherock 3015
Preston Combs @pcombs21 5016
Rodd Slater @roddslaterpga 5071
Brandi Jackson @bjacksongolf 5512
Jeff Pierce @thejeffbhf 4329
Martin Park @parkythepro 17,100
Jason Birnbaum @birnbaumgolf 3247
Jason Guss @jasongussgolf 3381
Phil Kenyon @swashputting 6552
Tom Motley @motleygolf 12,300
Sarah Bennett @sbennettgolf 3396
Peter Brown @zippybrown2 9976
Frank Guastella @fgcards 6314
Maggie Simons @maggiesimons 3071

John Graham @johngrahamgolf 68.6K
Sara Dickson @sara_pga 28.2k
Jason Helman @jasonhelmangolf.com 8219
Rob McGill @golfprorob 12.7K
Kirk Oguri @kirkoguri 24.4K
Andrew Marr @andrewmarrgolf 10.8K
Dennis Sales @dennissalesgolf 14.5K
Andrew Rice @andrewricegolf 8115
Mike Fay @mikefaygolf 15.4K
James Ridyard @jamesridyard 14.2K
Vikki Vanderpool @vvanderpool 7168
Mark Sweeney @aimpointgolf 5933
Brad Redding @bradreddinggolf 7268
Ed Bowe @bowegolf 7392
Mark Durland @durlandgolf 4503
Andy Griffith @andygriffiths1 7574
Ryan Chaney @oraclerio 15.6K
Rick Grayson @rickgraysongolf 5977
Ryan Crysler @ryancrysler 21.5K
Josh Boggs @boggspga 4004
Hugh Marr @hughmarr 6000
Erik Barzeski @iacas 8538
Mitch Walz @walzygolf 8455
Robert Campbell @rcampbellgolf 2779
Petri Parviainen @piiter77 11000
Ian Peek @ianpeekgolf 9269
Jamie Donalson @golfdonaldson 9675
Keith Stewart @kjpga 4270
Matt Diederichs @mattdgolf 24.5K
Blake Graham @blakegrahampga 19.6K
Denise Hastings @hastingsgolf 2729
Brett Packee @brettpackeegolf 6610
Joe Mayo @trackmanmaestro 10.8K
George Connor @connorgolf 4098
Denis Pugh @Dpugh54 5803
Derek Hooper @derekhoopergolf 3173
TJ Yeaton @tjyeatongolf 3597
Chris Gibson @chrisgibsongolf 5094
Jesse Struebing @jstruebs 7700
Kate Tempesta @KTUrbangolf 3390
Andy Gordon @andygordongolf 4821
Martin Park @parkythepro 17100
Kevin Flynn @kflypga 8494
James Martin @James_W_martin 3106
Meindert Jan Boekel @BKLGolf 6030
Donal Scott @donalscott 5723
Michael Balderstone @mjbalderstone 3274

Here are a few amateurs that are doing a great job of growing the game through social media:

1. Ricky Lee Potts –@rickyleepotts aside from the many talks that he has given at PGA shows and such about how to use social media, he is leading the way with his incredible Google + Golf (almost 15,000 members) group. He utilizes the group to promote teaching professionals with his Friday Foursome hangouts as well as sharing information with golfers all over the world

2. Nick Chertock – @golfprogress. Nick is an avid golfer that has started several groups on Facebook including the most popular (Golf Teaching Professionals) group which attracted over 3000 members/teaching pros to the first LIVE forum at the PGA show. This year is number 3 and should be worth checking into. You don’t want to miss this years as it is going to be awesome.

2. Rich Hunt – @richie3jack Rich is doing some incredible analysis on PGA tour stats that is changing the way golfers and pros are thinking about different parts of the game. Make sure you get his 2014 golf synopsis that can be found on his twitter page.

Sports Psychologists – Dr. Bhrett McCabe, PHD , Andy Morrison

Up and Coming Twitter Coaches (Guys and Girls that have alot to share and need to tweet more)

Josh Jeffers, Corey Lundberg, Megan Padua, Josh Spragins, Eric Corgorno, Tim Cooke, Scott Chisholm, Tom Stickney, Cameron McCormick, Adam Ohsberg

Thanks so much for reading and feel free to share!

Guru @golfgurutv 17.6K

Guru’s Teaching and Coaching Workshop (Presenters Lineup )

December 4, 2014

I am happy to host and present at the 4th annual “Guru’s Teaching and Coaching Workshop” at Carmel CC. This years event will be on Monday, March 23rd and the entry fee will be $225.00.

My goal has always been to provide you with the best and most current information from the top coaches in the country at an affordable price. I started this workshop 4 years ago when I presented all by myself and every year I have added some of the best instructors in the business to share their ideas and what makes them successful. This will be an outstanding day of learning and networking that I hope you can take advantage of. As you know if you attended last year, we don’t stop when the seminar is over……The after pre-game and after party allows you to get up close and meet the presenters and all of the top coaches that attend. This is a great way to meet new people in the industry, ask questions and build your learning base to get the year started out right. So without further delay……Here is our lineup of presenters for #guruworkshop15

cameron-mccormick_337 — Cameron McCormick

Cameron McCormick began coaching golf in his home country of Australia in

1998. Moving to the United States in 2000 he brought with him the coaching
principles honed under the tutelage of the Victorian Institute of Sport coaches.
With a background in competitive golf, both collegiate, amateur and
professionally; in addition to knowledge in the biomechanics, motor learning and
psychology domains, Cameron has developed a national reputation as a sought
after coach to players at, or aspiring to, high levels of competitive mastery.
McCormick’s client list covers the gamut from beginner to elite players.
He is most well-known for coaching PGA Tour winner and 2013 PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year, Jordan Spieth since the age of 12. His clients, past and
present, include over 20 PGA, Web.com and LPGA Tour players & 3 of the last 6
USGA Junior Amateur champions.
McCormick is a PGA Class A professional with TPI certification in Fitness, Junior
Golf and Biomechanics; and has had his instruction articles published in Golf
Digest, DFW Links Magazine, Golf Illustrated, PGA Magazine and FORE Texas
Magazine.
He is the Director of Instruction at the historic Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas,
Texas. He is a Golf Digest Top 40 under 40 from 2010-2013, a US Kids Master
Kids Coach and in 2007 and 2013 he was named the North Texas PGA’s
Teacher of the Year.

Workshop Topic: Performance: Navigating the path to success from ignition to achievement

John Graham

Senior AimPoint Green Reading Specialist
Full- Time Putting Coach
Works with Several PGA andLPGA Tour Players including TrevorImmelman, Charles Howell, JamieLovemark, KrisTumilis and Mark Wilson
John Graham
Partners with James Ridyard in the Short Game Secrets video series and Golf Schools
Has been featured on many radio shows and podcasts talking putting instruction and green reading

Workshop Topic: Putting Strategies and Drills when working with Tour Players and Elite Golfers

James Hong

National Advisor, Future Champions Golf Junior Tour
James Hong
2014 GRAA Top 50 Teacher in America & 2012 US Kids Golf Top 50 Lifetime Master Teacher
Nominated Golf Magazine Top 100 Teachers list
Over 193 tournament wins by past and present students, both juniors and adults
Certifications include: TPI Level 2 Adult & Junior Coaching, US Kids Golf instructor, K-Vest 3D Biomechanics.
Media credits: Golf Channel Swing Fix Instructor, Athlete Nation Online Instructor and Golfing Magazine.

Workshop Topic: Training and Developing Junior Golfers

Kirk Oguri

Golf Professional/Club Specialist at The Greens at Half Hollow
Kirk Oguri
Master Teacher/Club Fitter at Petes Golf Shop
Top 100 Club Fitter – Golf Digest
Top Player in the Met Section

Workshop Topic: Blending Instruction and Club Fitting to increase your value and grow your business

James Ridyard

specialist in golf performance, consulting, research and recent addition to the 2015
James Ridyard

PGA of America Teaching & Coaching Summit list of speakers.
Co-Founder with John Graham of Short Game Secrets golf schools and DVD Series
Specializes in short game and wedge play with cutting edge research to back it up
James has been fortunate enough to meet many inspiring individuals who have shaped his skills to the point we find today, the quest for personal development is ongoing however and will continue indefinitely. With past and current clients from the European Tour, Ladies European Tour, LPGA and experience on the PGA Tour James has a proven ability at the highest level to instil positive change in his players.James’ journey began as an Assistant Professional at The Bedfordshire Golf Club in 2000, an aspiring player he continued to compete throughout his PGA training period gaining qualification in 2004. A move to Orlando soon followed in order to hone his game and compete as much as possible. It was during this time that the urge to research the golf swing and the teaching of it really grew through his own struggles with form vs function.On his return to the UK he knew playing at the highest level was beyond him and started to dig for answers. This process took in many different countries, coaches and teaching philosophies. It’s fair to say that the most influential people James has met with regards to teaching the golf swing are Mike Bennett & Andy Plummer, not only for what they teach but the way the golf swing is looked at. This structure is what allowed James to pursue his research into the short game and put this research into a simple, understandable format.While continuing to research and develop himself and his ideas James takes great pride in providing the highest level of full swing and short game coaching available, something you can be sure of is that no stone will be left unturned in helping you achieve your potential.

Workshop Topic: What the best wedge players in the world are doing and how to use this information to help your players (Wedges Research and Using the Sprectrum for short game success)

Finally, a little about myself

Jason Sutton

Director of Instruction at Carmel CC in Charlotte, NC
Has been teaching golf for 23 years
2013 Carolinas PGA Section Teacher of the Year
Ranked #7 in the State of NC by Golf Digest 2013
Ranked #9 in the State of NC by Golf Digest 2009
Nominated 4 times to Golf Magazine top 100 list
AimPoint Certified since 2011
Teaches with Trackman, SAM Putt Lab and BodiTrak
Teaches numerous Mini tour, Web.com, Symetra Tour, Top amateurs and elite juniors
Have been featured on radio shows such as: XM PGA Tour Radio (Dewsweepers golf show with Tony Ruggerio, Maginnes of Tap with John Maginnes) Global Golf Radio with Virgil Herring and Ned Michaels- 104.5)

Workshop Topic: How to fix your students most common full swing and putting issues (including my fix for the yips)

I feel like we have an outstanding lineup for this years workshop. These are all friends of mine in which I have learned so much from over the years and I am glad to be able to bring them to Carmel so you can learn and interact with them as well.

To reserve your spot: email me at jsutton@carmelcountryclub.org. Once you sign up, you will recieve an invoice to pay your entry. The first 100 paid entry fees get in!

Please use one of the share features at the bottom to share this article and follow us on twitter

@golfgurutv @johngrahamgolf @cmcCormickgolf @jameshonggolf @jamesridyard @kirkoguri

See you soon,

Guru

2013 in review – Thank You For Supporting My Site! Let’s Grow Ourselves and The Game in 2014

January 11, 2014

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 36,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 13 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

“Guru’s Teaching and Coaching Workshop” on March 31st (Details Inside)

January 7, 2014

I am excited to announce that for the 3rd year, I will be hosting my teaching workshop at Carmel CC on Monday, March 31st. I started this workshop 3 years ago where I presented by myself. Year 2 I started to add top teachers like John Graham to come and present which brought it to whole other level. This year I am proud to be joined by Andrew Rice, Director of Instruction at Berkeley Hall in Hilton Head, SC. This will make for an exciting, interactive learning experience for all involved. The cost is 200.00 per person which includes lunch and (8) MSR Credits. The Theme of this year is: “Using todays technology and research with yesterdays language to help your students improve”

I have already had quite a response from pros from different states but I hope that the pros in the Carolinas take advantage of this outstanding educational opportunity. Here is more about your speakers and what will be covered:

Jason Sutton, Jason is the Director of Instruction at Carmel CC in Charlotte, NC and is the 2013 Carolinas PGA Section Teacher of the Year, will be hosting a workshop designed to take your teaching and coaching skills to the next level. Jason will share the knowledge acquired from over 23 years of teaching experience and thousands of hours on the lesson tee which will include his framework for teaching full swing and putting, keys to success through personal development and will also unveil his putting research using the SAM Putt Lab data and how to use it to help your students improve their putting. Jason utilizes technology such as TrackMan and SAMPuttLab to help his students improve at an accelerated rate.

John Graham. John is the Director of Instruction at Webster Golf Club in Rochester New York, Ranked #21 in New York by Golf Digest, A Senior AimPoint green reading Instructor that specializes in teaching putting. John will discuss the common myths in putting and green reading and share how to properly assess your students in a putting lesson coupled with SAMPuttLab data research on real life situations. He is also expert in social media and will share his story of how social media has helped him grow his business and how it can help you and your facility.

Andrew Rice , Andrew is the Director of Instruction at Berkeley Hall where his students learn to understand, and better control, the factors that influence the flight of their golf ball. He has been teaching golf for almost 25 years and uses current teaching technology such as TrackMan and Swing Catalyst to help golfers of all abilities improve. He is one of nine TrackMan Partners and is also a SwingCatalyst Ambassador.

Originally from South Africa, Andrew Rice has been involved with the game of golf for more than 35 years. Andrew will share his experience with teaching with TrackMan and Swing Catalyst to help his students improve.

What Will Be Covered

This will be an interactive day of mentoring, sharing and improving you’re teaching skills. Here are topics that will be discussed:

The 5 Mastermind Skills that every teacher should know – The CGA Framework
The art of moving and manipulation the student to create pattern changes
How to use technology such as Trackman, Swing Catalyst and SAMPuttLab to speed up the learning process
Understanding Ground Forces and how to teach it to your student
Teaching Putting at the Next Level – Learn the 5 Most Important Aspects of Putting and how to teach them
S.A.M. Putt Lab Data and research will be revealed that will dispel the “most common myth in putting”
How to use social media to drive business, create brand awareness and improve your teaching skills
An Introduction to AimPoint Green Reading and the most common myths that you must know as an instructor
How to set up a coaching programs to increase your bottom line and add value to your students

To sign up: Emal Me at jsutton@carmelcountryclub.org

Hope to see you at the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show!

Jason

2013 Guru’s Top Twitter Active Teacher List (The Ultimate FF)

December 29, 2013

As the end of 2013 draws near, it is a great time to reflect on our year but also to recognize people in our industry that help grow the game in so many ways. I hope that you all have accomplished your goals and are ready to set new ones for 2014. I have had an outstanding year thanks to so many of you and my outstanding team (Adam Ohsberg, Maggie Simons and Alex Van der linden). I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your efforts as I have learned so much from you and enjoy watching your continued growth as professionals and as outstanding people. Being recognized as the Carolina PGA Section Teacher of the Year is such a huge honor and I am so humbled by this award. Awards like this don’t happen without a lot of help and guidance from my mentors. The people who you choose to be around you says so much about who you are and what you stand for. I hope that the way I conduct myself has made a small impact on the attitude and direction that our industry is heading. The days of putting yourself in a little box, protecting the information and best practices that you have accumulated over the years and refusing to share it with anyone in the hopes that you may get ahead of the next guy is OVER. The days of sharing, discovering through continued research and mentoring others is what we must focus on going forward. Our game and the ones following in our footsteps are counting on us to set the example and share what has been passed down to us with them. This is the only way that we are to improve our skills as coaches and how we will be able to help guide the average golfer to improvement. This is the what I call the Cycle of Evolution For Growing the Game. Even though this list focuses on Twitter, the use of social media has grown in many ways and has allowed us as coaches a platform to provide golfers and other coaches with valuable information that will help us all grow and improve.

The Goal Of The List

The main goal of this teacher list is to highlight individuals that are ACTIVE on twitter and doing the following: 1) sharing quality content 2) engaging with other coaches and golfer…which means answering tweets, using debate in a healthy way (no bashing other teachers) 3) promoting and lifting up other coaches to improve and recognizing good work

Requirement To Qualify for List = Must have at least 2000 Tweets (as I promised from last year). Next Year will be 3000 minimum

It has been incredible to see the growth in the number of tweets and the number of followers from last years professionals. I have a couple of special categories for a few amateurs that are doing some great things and a couple of sport psychologists as well. I also am recognizing some of the coaches that I feel have a lot to share but didn’t quite make the tweet count. I hope this will motivate you to shoot some video, start a blog, reach out to some of these coaches that can help you. because they will be willing to help in many ways. I don’t want to hear the excuse that you are too busy teaching and that your lesson book is full. I am pretty sure that most of these folks are busy, I know that I am…..you just have to make it a priority and view it as important. Twitter should be a part of your improvement plan for 2014. Before I get to the list, Happy New Year and I hope to meet you all at the #tweetup13 in Orlando. So here you go…………………!!

Congratulations to the 18 new inductees that are the first on the list so you can click and follow them!

Number of Tweets

John Graham @johngrahamgolf 59000
Sara Dickson @sara_pga 26670
Jason Helman @jasonhelmangolf.com 6601
Rob McGill @golfprorob 10459
Kirk Oguri @kirkoguri 19576
Andrew Marr @andrewmarrgolf 10676
Dennis Sales @dennissalesgolf 11365
Andrew Rice @andrewricegolf 4884
Mike Fay @mikefaygolf 11091
James Ridyard @jamesridyard 12121
Vikki Vanderpool @vvanderpool 5243
Mark Sweeney @aimpointgolf 5104
Brad Redding @bradreddinggolf 6304
Ed Bowe @bowegolf 6489
Mark Durland @durlandgolf 2708
Andy Griffith @andygriffiths1 6250
Ryan Chaney @oraclerio 6912
Rick Grayson @rickgraysongolf 5237
Ryan Crysler @ryancrysler 20241
Josh Boggs @boggspga 2791
Hugh Marr @hughmarr 5069
Erik Barzeski @iacas 7865
Mitch Walz @walzygolf 7902
Robert Campbell @rcampbellgolf 2282
Petri Parviainen @piiter77 8496
Ian Peek @ianpeekgolf 7124
Jamie Donalson @golfdonaldson 8281
Keith Stewart @kjpga 2323
Matt Diederichs @mattdgolf 18400
Blake Graham @blakegrahampga 17200
Denise Hastings @hastingsgolf 2147
Brett Packee @brettpackeegolf 4772
Joe Mayo @trackmanmaestro 7879
George Connor @connorgolf 3237
Denis Pugh @Dpugh54 9737
Derek Hooper @derekhoopergolf 2193
TJ Yeaton @tjyeatongolf 2750
Chris Gibson @chrisgibsongolf 4196
Jesse Struebing @jstruebs 6739
Kate Tempesta @KTUrbangolf 3047
Andy Gordon @andygordongolf 4545
Martin Park @parkythepro 13254
Kevin Flynn @kflypga 6949
James Martin @James_W_martin 2671
Meindert Jan Boekel @BKLGolf 5722
Donal Scott @donalscott 4415
Michael Balderstone @mjbalderstone 3098

Here are a few amateurs that are doing a great job of growing the game through social media

1. Ricky Lee Potts –@rickyleepotts aside from the many talks that he has given at PGA shows and such about how to use social media, he is leading the way with his incredible Google + Golf (almost 10,000 members) group. He utilizes the group to promote teaching professionals with his Friday Foursome hangouts as well as sharing information with golfers all over the world

2. Nick Chertock – @golfprogress. Nick is an avid golfer that has started several groups on Facebook including the most popular (Golf Teaching Professionals) group which attracted over 200 top teaching pros to the first LIVE forum at the PGA show. Talking about thinking out of the box . You don’t want to miss this years as it is going to be awesome.

2. Rich Hunt – @richie3jack Rich is doing some incredible analysis on PGA tour stats that is changing the way golfers and pros are thinking about different parts of the game. Make sure you get his 2013 golf synopsis that can be found on his twitter page.

Sports Psychologists – Dr. Bhrett McCabe, PHD , Andy Morrison

Up and Coming Twitter Coaches (Guys and Girls that have alot to share and need to tweet more)

Corey Lundberg, Brandon Roby,Cameron McCormick, James Hong, Alex Pisano, Adam Ohsberg, Maggie Simons,Alex van der Linden, Megan Padua, Tim Cooke, Scott Chisholm, Allen Burton, Skip Maiwald, Tom Stickney, Travis Lloyd, Aaron Olson

Thanks so much for reading and feel free to share!

Guru

My 3 Months With Mr. Trackman: A Coach’s Prespective

September 11, 2013

Technology has become a huge part of golf instruction in the last 10 to 15 years. First it was high-speed video and the ability to slow down professional golfers swings and compare them to the average golfer for a comparison. Now it is sophisticated launch monitors for full swing and putting that have taken the analysis to a whole new level for the student and the teacher. Recently on the Golf Channel, Frank Nobilo and Brandel Chamblee were discussing what they called the “New Age” or “The Modern Teacher.” Mr. Nobilo said that these coaches were now using devices such as “Trackman”, “SAMPutt Lab” and “Aimpoint Trackman Adam style Green Reading“. He brought up names such as Sean Foley, David Orr and my good friend John Graham which was nice of him because these guys need to get credit for bringing these technologies to forefront. I actually had a few of my members email or contact me after they saw this segment to mention to me that they thought that I would fall under this category which was pretty cool. Since I have been using the SAM Putt Lab and teaching AimPoint for almost 2 years, I would have to say that I fall under this “Modern Teacher” category even though I still consider myself old school in many ways as I will explain. Even though I have educated myself on understanding “correct” ball flight, the D Plane and trackman numbers, I have only recently been fortunate enough to actually teach with one. Thanks to Cobra/Puma Golf for allowing us to borrow a Trackman as a promotion for the last couple of months and it has been very educational for sure. I will attempt to put into words some of the things that I have learned while using trackman and give you my thoughts on this old school vs. new school teacher idea that has been thrown around by many of you as well as our friend Mr. Chamblee who has proclaimed that technology such as Trackman is hurting the game.

There has been alot of discussion amongst my fellow teaching professionals on twitter and some facebook forums of the importance of being able to get and ultimately deliver “accurate information” to the golfer. I couldn’t agree more with this sentiment but it still remains that the teacher is still responsible for interpreting the information and ultimately communicating it to the laymen golfer for them to improve. I have many of my students that I work with today that could interpret trackman and SAM Putt Lab numbers but wouldn’t have the first idea about giving a quality golf lesson. Are you with me so far?

Using Trackman (Old School meets New School)

After teaching with Trackman for almost 3 months, I have to remind myself and and my staff that standing behind the machine and barking out numbers and telling them to move the numbers is not teaching golf! This is where the old school meets the new school in my opinion. Trackman is merely a great device to give us the information on what the club is doing that we may not be able to see with the naked eye. It has allowed me to 1) Bring the D Plane to life for my students with a definitive ball flight explanation 2) Given me a quicker solution to the problem and 3) Given my student some measurement to the change that we are making in the lesson. Trackman is not method biased. It is still up to the teacher to 1) interpret the numbers 2) communicate the important piece to the student that needs to change and 3) GIVE THE STUDENT THE FEEL AND/OR DRILL TO MAKE THE CHANGE. #3 is where I feel that alot of new teachers fall short and don’t know how to help the student move the numbers or make the long lasting change. This is where my old school meets new school (did I say that already?)

DON’T BE AFRAID TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY (Get In There Man)

For those who have watched me teach or have followed me in the past know that I am very big on manipulating the student. This means getting in there and moving the club and or body in an exaggerated fasion in order to create a feel for the opposite move in order to make a change. This is an acquired skill that has to be practiced. After you have decided on what you are working on with your student, you can’t rely on them to just do it without you creating a feel through moving them or giving them the appropriate drill. Because if you tell the student that you need the path number to move from -6 degrees to plus 2 and can’t make it happen, then you have a very frustrated student on your hands and trackman has done nothing but expose you as a coach who can’t get results, so be careful. Once the student sees the numbers change and the desired results they can use it to create a repeatable pattern. This is the feedback that I have received from my students about their experience on trackman.

Key Things That I Have Learned On Trackman

For those of you who have been using Trackman this will be remedial but I am just giving you my thoughts on using trackman the last few months.

1) Impact Location is crucial – Especially with hitting the driver, unerstanding gear effect is huge. It make the D Plane numbers look silly and you have to explain this to your students. I use Dr. Sholls powder and video replay to figure out the impact location on every shot.

2) Golfer Alignment and Trackman Callibration Is Important – Trackman only knows the target line that you callibrated it to. It doesn’t know where the golfer is aiming or how they are standing relative to the target. Similar to camera angles in video, the target line is important in how the numbers are interpreted.

3) Angle Of Attack – This Is the most difficult dimension to calculate if you don’t have trackman. I am pretty good at guessing path and face numbers (it is a fun game to play during a lesson) but AoA is difficult. Using video is helpful to diagnose why someone hits down too much or up too much depending on the club your are working on. Some pieces that I look at regarding AoA are: 1. handle location 2. the distance from the front shoulder and the ground (Thank you James Ridyard) which is a direct reflection of how bent the knees are at impact and for how long.

Its All About Spin Loft – The Angle between Club Orientation and Club Direction. (Not really just had to put that in there for my boy Ryan Cheney) (@oraclerio) follow him on twitter, you won’t be disappointed.

The main numbers that I use when teaching (not fitting) is: Face, Path, Angle of Attack, Swing Plane, Dynamic Loft, Spin Loft, Axis Tilt. – With Driver I would add: Smash factor (ball speed/clubhead speed), Launch angle and spin rate.

Path vs. Face debate

There has been several threads and conversations over the last several months with teaching pros about what to fix first…..swing path or club face. I will say that in the past (before I fully understood D Plane) I tended to fix the face first with OK results. Now that I understand starting direction and curve, I would say it has evened out and probably work on path more than ever but I don’t neglect the fact that golfers do respond a face change that will change the path. My point is that it a subjective change depending on the characteristics of the students pattern you are working with. A lot of time I will make a grip change (face) and work on path without even mentioning the face but I did change it. The genius still lies upon the expert teacher that will make the appropriate correction to create the desired ball flight of the STUDENTS GOALS! I use video to look at positions and how they relate to the numbers on trackman to get to the quickest solution. If you are only fixing one side of the equation then I think you are short siding the student.

When To Use Technology

Every student will not benefit from Trackman all of the time. You have to be able to read the student and tell whether they need to feedback. I typically keep it running but don’t show them the numbers unless they ask or I want to show them the change, not unlike video analysis. Listening and reading the students learning style is crucial in using it effectively.

Recap

Overall I have been very pleased with the results and the feedback from my students about using trackman. The students experience is the ultimate feedback and it has been overwhelmingly positive which improves our chances of getting our own orange box. The thing that I hope you got out of this piece is that Trackman is simply a measuring tool for the teacher and student but it does not take the place of the expert coach that has to guide the learning experience and change for the pupil.

I have alot to learn but now I feel like I have the device to give me the answers……..

Thanks for reading and feel free to share if you deem worthy. As the season winds down, i will start to write again and continue to do what I love……gather, share and mentor other teachers to help us all grow the game.

Follow me on twitter @golfgurutv

Guru

The #1 Myth In Putting and How To Change It

June 5, 2013

In my last article I discussed what I feel is the most important factor in distance control (feel and touch) in the putting stroke. Aside from knowing how to read greens (www.aimpointgolf.com) controlling the distance your ball rolls is critical. How do myths and misconceptions is golf get started? Someone has an idea, tries it, feels like it works and shares it with someone else. The word spreads and we have a myth or fact. The difference is that a fact is researched, tested with accurate data and hard numbers. I trust the numbers. Since having a data collector like the S.A.M. Putt lab, my staff and I have been able to learn a lot about what creates a great putting stroke and we have been able to help more of our players improve with some simple ideas and drills.

Cruise Through Impact don’t punch it!

Good putters arrive at impact mostly at a constant acceleration rate which means that their peak velocity is before impact. In my opinion, the average golfer overaccelerates because of 3 reasons:

1. They have been told by their buddies or other golf pros that when they leave a putt short they decelerated

2. they don’t have enough backswing because they are trying not to make a mistake (tentative). They think shorter is more efficient

3. The don’t have enough speed in the backswing to have a smooth acceleration rate through impact.

How To Change It

The best way to change this profile, smooth out the stroke and also create some balance to the length of the stroke is as follows:

1. Take the putter back with more speed

2. If it is too short for the length of the stroke, add some length. (trial and error)

3. Don’t forget to brake at the finish (don’t be sloppy)

****You must get your putter velocity up to speed sooner in order to create a (cruising) through impact.

Consistency In Whatever you do Is Key

I understand that their are good players that can overaccelerate prior to impact and putt pretty good. But the best players arent always the best putters and can always improve. Whatever you do if you do it with a high consistency rate with repeatability you can make it work.

Closing Remarks – Results and Testing

I have shared this idea with few LPGA Tour players EGolf pros, elite juniors, top amateurs including our club champ and many every day golfers and they it always makes sense to them and they have improved so their is something to it. I will keep testing it and researching it.

Let me know what you think, if you can improve on it or am I completely out of my mind. All I want to do is share great information with other golf coaches and help players play better.

Thanks for reading and don’t be afraid to share!

Follow me on twitter @golfgurutv

Guru

Sometimes A Simple Change In Putting Can Make A Big Difference

April 19, 2013

Thompson Claims Third Career eGolf Tour Title with Flawless Final-Round 65 at Ballantyne

Chris Thompson

By Stewart Moore

Charlotte, NC – Chris Thompson of Lawrence, KS entered the final-round of the weather-shortened Championship at Ballantyne Country Club on Thursday knowing he needed some magic in order to pick up his third career eGolf Tour title. The former Web.com Tour member and Kansas Jayhawk star more than delivered, posting seven birdies en route to a bogey-free 65 and a 36-hole total of 11-under 133, good for a two-shot victory and the event’s $17,000 first-place prize.

The Championship at Ballantyne Country Club was the fourth of 24 scheduled events on the 2013 eGolf Tour schedule, and was contested this week at Ballantyne Country Club in Charlotte, NC.

The week began with a seven-hour delay preceding Tuesday’s opening round, as heavy overnight and morning rain left the golf course unplayable until 3 PM in the afternoon. The extended delay pushed the completion of the first round into Wednesday afternoon, which in turn forced officials to reduce the event to 36 holes.

With only a handful of groups able to complete two rounds by late Wednesday night, second-round play resumed at 10 AM (after a one-hour frost delay) on Thursday morning, with players in the early wave returning to their holes from the night before, and players in the late wave teeing off accordingly thereafter.

Thompson entered Thursday’s final round trailing overnight leader Chris Epperson of Hilton Head Island, SC by five shots after posting a first-round 68 – 16 holes of which were played on Tuesday, with the other two being wrapped up on Wednesday morning.

Epperson, arguably the best player on the eGolf Tour without a victory, finished his 36 holes just before darkness set in on Wednesday night, notching rounds of 69-66—135 to set the overnight pace at 9-under par.

“I knew entering the day that I had to at least get to 9-under to have a chance, but a lot of it depended on what Brent (Witcher) was doing,” said Thompson of the tournament’s 18-hole leader. “I felt like, if I could get off to a solid start, there would be some birdie holes once I made the turn.”

Thompson began his final round on the back nine of the Rees Jones-designed course, posting pars on his first four holes to remain at 4-under for the week. A late surge of birdies on Nos. 14, 16 and 18 vaulted him to 7-under par, at the time just two back of Epperson’s lead.

“It was big for me to get that birdie at 18 because that set me up for the front nine,” said the 36-year-old Thompson.

Chris Epperson Chris EppersonThe front nine is where the former Jayhawk “All American” went to work, as birdies at the par-4 first and the par-4 second took him to 9-under par, finally tied with Epperson and at his minimum target score with seven holes still to play.

At the par-5 fifth, Thompson took his first lead of the tournament, posting his sixth birdie of the day to reach 10-under par for the week.

Just two holes later, at the watery dogleg-right par-5 seventh, he sealed his name on the winner’s check, posting one more birdie to reach 7-under for his round and 11-under overall. Pars on Nos. 8 and 9 gave the native Midwesterner a final-round 65 and an 11-under 133 tally in the clubhouse – all done without a single view of a leaderboard.

“I usually like to know where I’m at on the course, but with the rain-shortened event it was hard to tell,” said Thompson, alluding to the fact that players simply remained in their first-round pairings over two rounds. “I’ve played in enough Monday qualifiers where you don’t know how you stand, so I just kept trying to make birdies.”

Thompson, forced to wait roughly two hours to see if he would win, watched as literally zero players threatened his 11-under total. When the final group came to the table at 4:45 PM, Thompson had locked up his third eGolf Tour title, posting a two-shot win over Epperson.

“I really enjoy coming to the South and playing this tour,” said Thompson, who annually competes in four to six eGolf Tour events. “The courses are very good, and the fields are deep to the point where, if you win out here, you’ve played extremely well.”

Thompson’s win may not have come to fruition had it not been for a visit to noted golf instructor Jason Sutton at nearby Carmel Country Club on Wednesday afternoon.

With nothing but time on his hands, knowing he wouldn’t begin round two until Thursday, Thompson and a friend went to Carmel to have Sutton take a look at his putting stroke, using the SAM Putting Lab in order to analyze his setup and path.

“I had been putting poorly all year long – honestly, last week (Irish Creek) was probably the worst I’ve ever putted,” said Thompson. “Jason made a few changes and suggestions, and I putted incredibly today. I felt like I couldn’t miss.”

The win was Thompson’s third since the 2010 season. In 2010, he claimed his first eGolf Tour title at the HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn, while win No. 2 came at the Columbia Open in May of 2011. He is now third on the eGolf Tour money list with $19,216 in earnings.

David Erdy David ErdyEpperson earned $10,000 for his runner-up finish, ascending to No. 1 on the eGolf Tour’s 2013 money list with $25,430 in earnings.

The runner-up finish marked the best of Epperson’s eGolf Tour career, which dates back to the start of the 2006 season. The former Armstrong Atlantic State golfer has now posted four top-4 finishes in four starts thus far in 2013, and owns a staggering nine top-4 finishes in his last 18 starts on tour – dating back to a solo-third-place effort at the 2012 Irish Creek Classic.

David Erdy of Evansville, IN finished in solo-third-place with rounds of 67-69—136. The former Indiana University golfer earned $7,280 for his efforts – the first made check of his eGolf Tour career.

Erdy nearly missed the tournament entirely when he showed up at 2:30 PM on Tuesday afternoon, thinking it was the day of the practice round (most eGolf Tour events start on Wednesdays). Erdy’s original tee time was 9:10 AM, which in most circumstances would have left him with a “Did Not Show” designation on the tournament scoreboard; however, given the seven-hour weather delay, he had arrived roughly an hour-and-a-half shy of his new 4:10 PM tee time.

Stefan Wiedergruen of Germany, Fielding Brewbaker of Salem, VA, Chip Lynn of Lillington, NC, Marty Jeppesen of Saline, MI and Bruce Woodall of Yanceyville, NC tied for fourth at 6-under 138. Each player earned $3,900.

• The tour would like to thank Ballantyne head golf professional Matt Saggio and his staff for their help in coordinating this inaugural event. A special thanks goes to Ballantyne head golf course superintendent Scott Cochran and his crew for presenting a wonderful venue for the week, and for putting in extra work to prepare the course around numerous delays. Finally, a special thank you goes to the members of Ballantyne Country Club for allowing the tour to utilize their club for the week, and for their tireless efforts in volunteering. Without their support, the event would not be possible.

• The eGolf Tour will take next week off before returning to action for the fourth annual Championship at St. James Plantation, to be contested at The Reserve Club at St. James Plantation in Southport, NC on March 27-30.

Guru

My Masters Week and Picks From A Proud Father’s Prospective

April 10, 2013

I am pretty sure that all fathers want to give their kids a life that they didn’t have as a child. In my case I am so fortunate to have two wonderful kids, Brittanie (13) and Nicklaus (11). At one time they both played golf but in the last couple of years, Nicklaus Palmer has really gotten the bug for this great sport. As a teaching professional are kids are often looked at as that they are supposed to be golfers and they are supposed to be good at it just because their dad could play or teach. This isn’t always the case as we know and as we slip the parent hat on and take the coach hat off at times we have to make a decision, how much should we push our kids into golf? In this unusual place we run the risk of having the child hate the game forever and often times maybe resent what dad does for a living as we are often away from the house more than normal dads are. In my case with Nick and Britt, I never pushed golf on them. I made a conscious effort to give them the opportunity but to never make it mandatory for them to learn. They both gravitated out of curiosity to the pee-wee clinics and junior clinics at the Dana Rader Golf School which at least game them a glimpse of what it was all about. They both started about 3-4 years old. As Brittanie got older and decided to not play golf any longer and Nick took a liking to football I didn’t think either one of them would grow to love golf as I did as a kid which was fine with me as long as they were happy and active I didn’t care.

THE TURNING POINT FOR NICK

Being in the same town as a PGA tour event is very cool and I would always take the family out the Wells Fargo Championship for the day to see the best in the world play. The kids enjoyed it and it soon lit a fire under Nicklaus as he would start to beg me to bring him to work so he could practice and play like (Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson). These guys really do have an influence on young people and I feel great that Nick has some outstanding role models including the members at Carmel Country Club that are so nice as he comes out to practice and play every chance he gets. We just finished up his spring break and he didn’t miss a day of practice at the club. The cool thing is I don’t have to ask him to practice, he just loves it. It has been so neat to see how much he has improved in the last year and a half as he plays his junior tournaments and drags me out onto the golf course whenever I can to give me a run. His first official US Kids tournament about 2 years ago he shot 116. Yesterday after attending the Masters Monday, he shot 35 for 9 holes from the white tees. Hard work paying off for sure as I have never seen a kid practice harder and try to gather information more for an 11-year-old. I keep giving him info and I can’t fill him up which is fun. So back to giving him more than I had……………………….I never had a country club to practice as the only country club that I had been the one I was working at and that has not changed and I never got to go to the Masters until I moved to the Carolinas in 1997 and I havent missed a year. So here is my latest Masters memory through the eyes of an 11-year-old for those who havent heard it yet (if you don’t follow me on twitter)

MY MONDAY AT AUGUSTA

It was a typical day that started at 4 a.m. as we traveled to Augusta. We were the first ones through the gate as we made our way to the perfect practice area and range to watch Nicks favorite player, Webb Simpson, warm up and head to the first tee. We walked around with Webb for his 9 holes and then proceeded to have a few pimento cheese and egg salad sandwiches along the way as we watched the other players on the course practice and play. Nick was extra interested in the young 14-year-old from China as he was only 2 years older than him as he dreamed of playing Augusta at that age. The kid handled himself with maturity beyond his years. As the day started to wind down, we heard that Tiger was on the practice range so we headed that way. We watched Tiger hit some bunker shots and some putts as he headed out to play a late nine. Thinking our only chance of getting to see him for the last time we must go several holes out so we camped out behind #16 tee with some friends that I ran into. The crowd was getting enormous as they had the same idea of seeing number 1 in the world hit a couple of shots into the green. In the meantime, Peter Hanson from Sweden came up by himself to the tee. I struck up a conversation about the yardage and how I thought my son could hit that green if he had the chance. He couldn’t have been a nicer guy and not thinking it would ever happen, after he hit his shot to the green, he asked me what club would the boy need to hit a shot. Yes, he called Nick out onto the tee to hit a tee shot on #16 at Augusta. As he walked out I couldn’t help think of how nervous I would have been and how incredibly calm he seemed to be as he handed him his 6 iron and went through his pre shot routine like we have worked on a thousand times. Hit the pretty good shot under the circumstances with a crowd cheering like crazy. I couldn’t have been prouder and I can’t thank Mr. Hanson enough for creating such a lasting memory for a young passionate golfer. He obviously gets it! He also is now one of mine and Nicks favorite players for sure. As this was all going on, I completely choked with the video camera and only managed a picture. Luckily a great guy sitting beside me videoed the whole thing and put it on you tube. Enjoy the video and thank you for letting me rant as a proud father of both my kids. I love them so much. The only way it could have been better is if my wife, father and mother in law and my parents could have been there to witness it. Creating memories for sure!

My picks for this years Masters:

1. Justin Rose

2. Webb Simpson

3. Peter Hanson

4. Rory Mcilroy

5. Bo Van Pelt

Have a great week and enjoy the Masters

Guru

Putting – “The Art and The Science”

April 1, 2013

Is Putting an “Art or is it Science?” I think it is a little of both. I have always considered myself a pretty decent putting coach as I have spent time with some of the best trying to learn how I can help my students more with such a huge part of the game. As a teacher we have to inspire our students to practice and to be willing to make changes that will show up in their score. Two years ago I had taken my putting instruction as far as it could go until I was introduced to two pieces of technology…..AimPoint Green Reading and The S.A.M. Putt Lab. One for green reading and one for stroke mechanics and feel. I was now armed with a deadly combination that has taken my putting instruction to an entirely new level. I recently hosted and spoke at a PGA teaching seminar with my good friend, John Graham in which we focused on putting. John introduced AimPoint and I revealed some of the studies and findings of our S.A.M. Lab data that we have compiled over the last year. Thanks to my new assistant, Alex van der Linden (aka Poindexter the Golf Geek) for his expertise and helping me crunch the numbers we found some interesting trends and some valuable information that I think has helped us with our teaching. I won’t reveal all of our findings but want to focus on what I think is one of the most important part of being a great putter……TOUCH and FEEL. We know that distance control is important but how do you teach. Just giving your student a series of drills is not the entire answer or it isn’t the one that satisfied me or John Graham.

Speed vs. Acceleration and A Myth Dispelled

One of the most frequent ideas that I hear the average golfer say that they are trying to do with their putting stroke is to ACCELERATE through the ball and follow through. They do this because they have the misconception that they always decelerate which couldn’t be further from the truth. Most of the golfers that we tested overaccelerated which means that their peak velocity happened after impact and peak acceleration happened just prior to impact. This makes it very difficult to control your speed. (see graph below)

What Good Putters Do

We found the opposite when testing PGA tour, LPGA tour, Mini Tour Players and top amateurs. they had constant speed control which included zero acceleration through impact. Good putters had a very flat top to their acceleration graph like the one below. Also I have posted a short video of a recent putting lesson that includes this common misconception as well as a few more helpful nuggets.

RESEARCH TO PROVE MY WAY OF FIXING THE PROBLEM

I believe that I have a way to change this pattern as I have had much success with my students. This way is easy to understand and is teachable through using the SAM Putt Lab to create the proper feel for the stroke. currently, Alex and I are doing a research project to test my theory to see if there is a distinct correlation between the profiles that we have seen and consistent distance control. Before I reveal my idea I would like to gather more data.

Follow me on twitter @golfgurutv

Here is the #makingeverthing

Guru