Tag: jason sutton

“Inspire Junior Golf” – by Rick Grayson…A Must Read For Any Coach,Junior Golfer or Parent – Review by Jason Sutton

October 30, 2012

“Knowing how to correct a slice is very cool and important, but not nearly as important as being a “hole model” (role model to juniors). The golf coach will be viewed as a hole model even if he or she doesn’t want to be. Any coach that spends time with a young person will be viewed as a hole model. It comes with the job – Rick Grayson

This is an excerpt from Rick Grayson’s new book “Inspire Junior Golf”. I am doing a book club with my staff and this is our book for this one and what an important topic this is. Our goal is to find at least 3 ideas that we can implement into our current program and improve it and we ended up with about 10. I just wanted to give my review on this wonderful book and also highlight some areas that might help us all as coaches, players and parents. I happen to be 2 of the 3 as I am a coach to many juniors and I am a parent to an 11-year-old junior golfer that is playing tournaments so this book spoke to me in many different ways.

As an overview, this book is great from many different aspects no matter where you are with your current program. It tells you how to start a junior golf program,  the importance of a junior golf program, where to find the kids and many ways to introduce them to golf. the importance and process of clubfitting is also huge when it comes to juniors and Rick nails it.  It also gives you great ideas on how to improve an already successful program by adding games, practice plans and understanding the kids that you are teaching and coaching. I like how it ties something for all levels of juniors….the new junior, introducing girls and boys and the elite junior as well. Mr. Grayson also gives you great insight on college recruiting and the process that we all need to know to give your player the best chance to find a spot on a college team. I would call this book the “Blueprint to Your Junior Golf Goals.”

So I want to highlight 4 chapters that I think are important and what we can learn from them.

Chapter 1 : The Benefit for kids

Grayson says,”Golf is one of the few sports in which you don’t play on an organized team until you are in the ninth grade.” He believes that team sports offer the greatest potential for individual growth of any organized activity in our society.” Here are the six ingredients team sports provide – 1.teachability 2.character 3.integrity 4.perserverance 5.positive attitude 6. self-esteem.

How many of you have used life skills with terms and definitions to encourage the kids while they learn. Golf is life and this is a great place to start with any program.

chapter 15 Thinking outside the box

This chapter is full of great ideas to make your junior golf program more exciting and fun. If you know Rick, you know he is the SNAG GOLF King. SNAG stands for Starting New At Golf and is a great way to introduce kids to golf in a fun way using big plastic clubs, targets and tennis balls. Birdie Ball is another great game to use in your programs (round plastic circle) that you can use indoors and out and the kids love it. Mr. Grayson is also big on blow up targets such as Golfzilla that you can hit real, tennis balls or birdie balls into and have contests. And lastly Rick’s new invention is a board game called “Golf Fore Fun”. It combines golf skills with exercise, rules and etiquette. Rick showed me this prototype over a year ago at a conference and I think it will be a staple to every junior program.

 Chapter 17 Class Time For Parents

“Today parents are more involved in their children’s sports programs than ever before. The only thing that is harder than being parents is being parents with a child who plays sports”

This has been something that has interested me as I teach a lot of elite juniors. I encourage the parents to be involved but not to the fact that it hurts or confuses the junior. Parents that try to teach their kids with the wrong information becomes a problem. This should be addressed right up front the role that they need to play.  Parents need to be careful of over teaching or teaching something that the coach is not which will create confusion. Rick agrees that you should have the parent observe the lesson so that this confusion doesn’t occur. He also stresses the importance of a parent displaying a positive attitude towards the kids as it can affect the performance if handled in a negative way. This is something that i have to work hard on as a parent as well. Asking the child what they did well instead of what they did wrong and encouraging them instead of always criticizing. Sometimes a parent can change affect the player on the course just by a groan, a noise or a look that the junior will pick up on. Rick says it is difficult but consistency in behavior is the key for the parents. Tone of voice and a smooth pitch level is important. Here is what parents can do: Start the junior young, give the junior the tools to learn, Keep it simple, value the sport;respect the game and the people who play it (my personal favorite),offer small prizes for success…….Great advice for sure!

Lastly, Chapter 21 Being A Great Coach

This was a great chapter for the coaches. These ideas don’t just apply to teaching juniors but to teaching golf in general. I have applied all of these topics at some point in my career and it has helped me for sure. So here is a recap:

1. Set the example “hole model” – playing fair on the course and in life.

2. Talk the Talk – The importance of being a good public speaker. Personally I was the worst public speaker on the planet when I started in this business and this is something that I knew I needed to be proficient at if I wanted to be a top teacher. Rick recommends taking a public speaking course. (I suggest Toastmasters), practice in a mirror and speak at as many functions that you can.

3. Be a good listener – conveying your ideas about the golf swing in a manner that the junior can understand it. The language you use is super important but having the ability to listen to the student is maybe a lost art. Too many teachers talk too much and don’t take the time to learn more about the student. Rick says,”You can gain valuable insight into the problem by listening.”

4. Social Networking – Quote,”If the coach is going to stay on top of business, he needs to be a part of the social networking world. The coach needs to join Facebook,Twitter and LinkdIn and use these services to communicate with juniors and their parents.” I would like to think I had some influence on this one as my friend John Graham and I introduced Rick to twitter awhile back and it is great to see him embracing the social media and marketing as I think this kind of forward thinking is important.

The rest of the chapter discusses the importance of keeping up with technology, education, leadership and hiring (Albert Einstein) people who are smarter than you. This is a fabulous outline of how a young coach or any coach could use to get better and improve their teaching skills.

To summarize, If you spend any time with Rick or just talk to him on the phone you can feel the passion and enthusiasm that he has for working with juniors and growing the game. These are key ingredients that are a must in developing a successful junior golf program and none do it better than Rick. There is so much valuable information in this book and It should be a must read for golf professionals that are interested in growing the game and improving as junior golf coach. In my opinion, this should be the junior golf manual for the PGA of America. Thank you Mr. Grayson for your hard work and for sharing the information. It will definitely help us all to grow this great game.

To contact Rick Grayson, you can find him on twitter @rickgraysongolf  or at rickgraysongolf.com

Let me know your thoughts on the book, junior golf or this review and feel free to share by using one of the buttons at the bottom.

You can find me on twitter @golfgurutv

Guru

 

Mastermind Skill #5 (D-Plane Knowledge)

September 18, 2012

I do a weekly tip for my members at Carmel CC that I only share with them but I thought that this tip is what I would consider “The Most Important Golf Lesson” that you may get so I wanted to share it with you. In my 5 Mastermind Skills or the framework of success that I teach at the Academy, this is #5 but it probably should be #1. I assume that all teachers know and understand about the D Plane but it is amazing to me how many times I run into what I consider top teachers, watch videos or read articles that get this wrong which is amazing to me. So in order for us to make sure everyone in our industry is at least agreeing with something that has to do with helping our students get better……This may be the one undisputable fact! Ball Flight Creation. I don’t give a lesson without making sure my student understands the basics of this concept because I want them to be able to somewhat diagnose their ball flight correctly. So here is just a very basic video of the D Plane. I know there are other factors such as A o A and friction etc. but this is a great place to start for the average golfer. At the bottom I will describe 2 scenarios where your ball flight can fake you out so make sure you read the bottom.

 

2 Ball Flight Fake Outs

#1 The Pull Slice – As I described in the video, if your ball is starting left or straight and curving too much to the right, you must get the club swinging more inside to out and shallower (especially with the driver) in order to get a playable ball flight. If you try to close the face and don’t fix the path, you will hit LOW PULL HOOKS!

#2 The Pull Hook or Draw – One of the most difficult ball flights to diagnose is when you are swinging the club from inside-out or to the right and the ball is starting left and curving more left. Without a trackman or video, this is a tough one because the same ball flight can be created by a left path with a face angle that is in the same direction. So if you find that your path is to the right, then you have to get the club face pointing to the right of target line but left of the path in order to hit a very playable….Push Draw. This often happens because you are trying to flip your hands and wrists through impact or square the clubface too soon which you now know that you shouldn’t do. (that’s for another blog)

Feel free to share this blog and video and leave questions or comments in the comment section. Lets grow the game with the correct information, One golfer at a time.

Follow me on twitter @golfgurutv

Guru

 

 

Golfgurutv.com Heads In A Different Direction…..whos coming with me?

July 18, 2012

First off, thanks for following my blog. You probably have noticed that I haven’t posted in a while but and I am still approaching 70,000 views which means that new people are still discovering my site or that you loyal readers are just taking your time to get through it all. I have worked very hard in the last couple of years to supply you all the most updated information to help you play better golf or become a better coach. As I have embarked on my new job change as the director of instruction at Carmel CC, I have been purely focused on raising the level of instruction for my staff by mentoring and training and concentrating on providing expert instruction to the wonderful membership at Carmel. I have changed my social media focus to strictly the membership by providing them with exciting programs for adults and kids, shooting weekly newsletters and video tips and improving the communication with the members as to keep them supplied with the best golf information and instructional opportunities to help improve their games. It is easy when you have such a supportive staff of PGA instructors (Eerik Kauppinen, Clint Udell and Adam Ohsberg) that have bought into our philosophy and implemented it to the members that they are working with and a membership that has been so appreciative of the efforts to bring the instruction to another level.  I have also been plodding along (slowly i might add) writing my first book. So I haven’t been ignoring you on purpose, I have been a little busy. As the videos will be purely for the members to see, I will be doing some writing (maybe a few excerpts from my book) and continuing to share my insights on this great game, throwing in a few posts for the coaches out there to discuss and helping to promote other coaches that have helped me so much (paying it forward as they say). I am not promoting anything with the exception of Aimpointgolf.com which I am so excited to be a part of and am the only certified instructor in the Charlotte area. (check out my AimPoint page). I have missed you guys and appreciate you following my blog.

Here are my picks for the upcoming British Open. Leave your picks in the comment section and don’t hesitate to leave a question or share a post. Here is a video that I shot last year at this time. How time flies.

1. Rickie Fowler

2. Padgraig Harrington

3. Ian Poulter

4. Francesca Molinari

5. Dustin Johnson

Best of Luck With Your Golf,

Guru

7 Nights At The Twitter Academy (Junior Edition)….A Must See If You Want To Play College Golf

May 18, 2012

For those of you who don’t follow me on twitter. The mastermind crew, orchestrated by my good friend Jason Helman, are helping the juniors this week with a variety of topics. I was fortunate to be joined by one of my Elite juniors, Philip Oweida as we talked about the value of using video during playing lessons. I was also joined by former LPGA tour player, Perry Swenson and former mini-tour and reigning Carmel Club Champion, Justin Livonius for an interview about the college recruiting process and some valuable tips that the juniors don’t want to miss. Here is my video submission and the entire interview (uncut) with Perry adn Justin. I hope you enjoy and share them with your junior golfer.

See you on the tee at “The Best Club In America”

Guru

7 Nights At The Twitter Junior Academy……Starts Tonight @8!

May 14, 2012

Here we go again. This time our mastermind crew is helping the juniors this week and it starts tonight at 8 pm. I love being a part of this group as we continue to grow the game and share information to help us become better coaches. Thanks to Jason Helman for putting it together and coming up with the topics and the great trailers. We have added two new faces to the line up which you will enjoy. A couple of young star coaches. Here is the line up and the topics that will be covered. Click on the link to follow these individuals on twitter.

May 14th – Day 1 – Jason Helman – Full Swing

May 15th – Day 2 – Dennis Sales – TPI Fitness and Outside Sports

May 16th – Megan Padua and Aaron Olson – Wedge game and Junior Fitting Importance

May 17th, Day 4 –  Rob McGill – Bunker Shots

May 18th – Day 5 – Jason Sutton – On course Playing lessons with Elite Juniors

May 19th – Day 6 – Sara Dickson – Games and Drills

May 20th – DAy 7 – John Graham – Putting, Neuro Learning and Junior Skill Development

I hope you will follow us and check out these top coaches and have your juniors join you for this Twitter Edition of the 7 Nights at the twitter academy

Guru

My Day at Augusta with Nicklaus Palmer and Masters Predictions

April 4, 2012

I’ve been attending the Masters since 1998 but until you can share it with someone who has never been, well it is just a place that every golfer needs to go. In 2001, it was my father in law Butch that went with me for the first time. He never takes this trip for granted. Butch battled Leukemia and won but in the process he missed the trip to Augusta two years ago so he has a great appreciation for Augusta. I knew it was going to be a great day when he looked at my son, Nicklaus as we approached the gate on Monday (acting like a kid himself) and said,”This will be one of the greatest days of your life!’ and that we are so blessed to be here. He was right.  I was so excited to share this special day with my 10-year-old son, Nicklaus Palmer (you have to love the name) who has become a passionate golfer in the last 2 years. Ever since he started going to the Wachovia (now the Wells Fargo Championship) he got the bug and I love it. We are entering the gate and he pulls out a plastic  baggie to put some Augusta grass into. That is what passionate golfers do and I love it. Nick couldn’t believe the condition of the golf course and he loved walking the golf course and seeing all of the holes that he had only seen on the internet and TV. After walking the course and watching Tiger and a few others play a few holes, we hit the range to watch the boys practice which I hoped would be educational and it was. He loved watching the short game area as we witnessed Hunter Mahan (one of his favorite players) take a pitching lesson. Is that what you want me to do daddy? Is all he said as he studied the technique of Hunter and Patrick Cantlay hitting wedge shots. The day would not have been complete without Nick’s favorite golfer making an appearance. Rickie Fowler. Even though it was 2:00 and we were getting tired, his step quickened as we caught up with his idol on the second hole. We followed Rickie throughout every shot on the front nine and Nick managed a couple of responses from all the “nice shot Rickie” that he kept throwing out after every shot and even got a high-five on no. 6 tee (I don’t think he has washed his hand). He even managed a few autographs such as Jack Fleck, which I thought was pretty cool. All in all it was a spectacular day spent with my boy and I think we created some memories of a lifetime. As we walked out of the gate Nick said,”Dad, can I come back next year?” You got it buddy, thanks for sharing this day with me and Papa. On the ride home, Nick told me the list of things that he learned from the day and that he couldn’t wait to get back and practice them on the golf course……..like father like son, always trying to learn and get better and I love him for that. He said that he will be playing in the Masters in 10 years (Big Dreams never hurt).

So to my Masters Picks:

1. Tiger: I know he is on everyone’s list but I don’t think I would have said this a couple of months ago. After watching him practice in person, there were no multiple rehearsal swings that I am used to seeing him make as he is working on his swing changes which means that he finally trusts his new move. As Phil Mickelson said in his press conference,”That Sucks for the Rest of Us.” He is as confident as I have seen him as his body language reflects it.

2. Rory McIlroy – redemtion time

3. Matt Kutchar- looked good Monday and I think is ready to win a major

4. Adam Scott – great showing last year and the new putter is working which has been missing in past majors

5. Padraig Harrington – was spotted working with AimPoint inventor, Mark Sweeney. Big advantage and has been hitting it better of late

Dark horses to watch out for:

Rickie Fowler – did not miss a shot the nine holes we walked with him. Puttng is the only problem. If he figures out the greens he could be dangerous

Bo Van Pelt – Aimpointer that has played well in the past. I like him to get another top 10

Bill Haas – Has the game to compete in the majors and has the length

I am not sure there has been a more anticipated Masters as this one and it should not disappoint. It looks like the course will play soft and long so you have to carry the ball far and hit the long irons well so we will see. Who is your top five picks? Thanks for reading and enjoy the Masters.

Guru

 

My Weekend In Tennessee With a True Professional

March 14, 2012

Most of you that follow me on twitter know where I was last weekend. For the first time in my career I took my teaching on the road. My good friend, Rob McGill asked if I would come and teach a short game school at his club in Nashville and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to spend the weekend with my buddy and do some teaching. I was truly honored that someone would think that I had something to offer his members and for that I am thankful. So I couldn’t leave this week without giving some props to Rob McGill because I feel like people deserve to know the type of guy that he is but most of all the type of golf professional he is as well. This is not about me but about my friend Rob. I show up at the airport and Rob and his son, Braxton surprise me with a folder with (www.golfgurutv.com #makeeverything on it) which was pretty cool. We go to the club for a wonderful dinner and I start to meet the members of this fine club. You can just tell the love and admiration that they have for their head professional by the way they respond and treat him. Rob is always good for a kind word and hello to everyone that passes by…not because he has to but because he genuinely loves people and the members at Stones River. In the day and age of PGA golf professionals that are losing there jobs it was great to see a professional that is always trying to better themself and more importantly creating value to the membership by bringing programs like the AimPoint Class with John Graham and my little short game school as well. I told the members in my intro that they were fortunate to have a head professional that is always trying to improve his skills and share with the members his knowledge.  As all great professionals , Rob is also a great mentor to his assistants, Matt Spain and the other staff members as he was continually checking on them and testing them in an unselfish constructive manner.  Being the great observer that I am, I was just filled with joy to see watch this guy work and engage the members throughout the weekend, and then teach alongside him as well. I enjoyed meeting his family as they treated us like one of the family with their hospitality and kindness and I just wanted to say thank you and recognize one of the true great PGA golf professionals in our business. Thank you Rob for everything.

****I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the epic mindmeld discussions on the golf swing that was had by John Graham, John Dochety, Rob, Matt Spain and with a special guest appearance by Kirk Oguri and Bob Townsend. We had a great time and I learned alot for sure. I know I promised some video and some video was taken but cannot be published unfortunately. Maybe next time.

Jason

This Is Why I Blog!

March 1, 2012

I just received the nicest email from a guy that found my blog on the internet. Sometimes we wonder if anyone is getting the information and if it really helps. I am not trying to toot my own horn here but only trying to encourage those of you who are sharing information out there in the blogosphere to continue to share. People are reading and learning whether we know it or not. Most of the time we just get the criticism from the uninformed “negative nellies” (you know who you are) and we don’t hear how we have affected a golfers game or even their lives. I was nearly in tears when I read this for the first time because it affected me so deeply. Thank you “Mr. Wiz” for allowing me to share this with my peeps in the golf world. I think this is going to be a great 2012 for everyone and I hope that you reach your golfing goals. Let me know if I can be of any assistance. It’s what I live to do!

Here is the email that I received that will promptly go into my new testimonial page:

Hi Jason,
It’s Sunday night and it’s my quiet time but I wanted to take this
opportunity and thank you for the help you have given me unknowingly
but your blog site is truly amazing!

I found you quite by accident on the web just looking for someone that
could suggest some help on the proper backswing/takeaway (my takeaway
was way inside). I am a 4 hdcp. at The Tuxedo Club in New York state
and have been as low as a scratch a few years back but that was 2 kids
ago and they are now 19 and 23 so that tells you how long it’s been.

I am a self taught player and student of the game. Finding someone
like you was nothing short of a miracle for me, as you explain things
both verbally and visually ( the broom drill, et al) that clearly
define the feeling and look portions of the swing should look and feel
like.

Last night I didn’t make friends with my wife taking her time away but
I had to watch and read as much of your blog and former videos while
you were at Dana Rader that I could. What a revelation and truly
amazing! You cleared up so many misconceptions I cannot begin to
explain.

Additionally I had the opportunity to read your farewell to your
cohorts at Dana Rader and it was truly heartwarming and nice to hear
someone give thanks for opportunities and leave on great terms and
with only the fondest of memories.

Knowing that most PGA pros don’t get a lot of accolades for their
work, I had to take these few minutes to tell you how proud the PGA
sector should be to have someone like you representing it. You are a
credit to them, your family and all of your co-workers and members at
Carmel CC and they are very lucky to have you!

I wish you only the best in your new endeavor at Carmel and whatever
else you undertake. I also will look forward to any updates and new
videos on gurutv.com. Hopefully our paths will cross at some point in
the near future, as I may make a pilgrimage down to Charlotte to see
and take a few lessons from you. I’m hoping for a rejuvenated year now.

If your ever up in the New Jersey/ New York area (metro) please give
me a call. I’d love to have you up to Tuxedo for a day of golf at one
of the oldest clubs in the country with a storied history.

Wishing you only the best!

Sincerely,

Andy “Wiz” Wyszomirski
Mahwah, NJ”

See you on the lesson tee at Carmel,

Guru