Tag: junior golf

“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

 

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

Junior Elite Training System Update: Training Champion Golfers

May 31, 2011

As most of you know, I started a new junior golf program for elite juniors called (J.E.T.S.) that includes 2 coaching sessions per month as well as 2 private lessons per month as well. I wanted to do something different from the normal junior golf program so I partnered with my T.P.I. level 3 trainer, Mark Kane (kanetraining.com) to help develop the kids physically as well as help them improve their golfing skills. I just finished my second month and I am very excited to say that is going very well. We have five kids currently signed up and I am so proud of how hard they have all worked. They are required to keep a journal of what they do when they practice and keep track of their stats using shotbyshot.com. My goal was to create athletes through the fitness and the drills and then teach them golf. The kids did a nice job of setting goals and writing them down and a few of them have been able to mark off a few which is pretty cool. Here are some wins to report so far:

  • Luke Thalman shot a career low tournament round of 65
  • Henry Shimp won a NJGC event by shooting 69-71 and is now ranked number one on that tour.
  • Aaron Walker shot 79-72 to win his first NJGC event

All of the kids have worked so hard and they have pushed each other which was one of my goals of this program. I try to promote a competitive team atmosphere to help motivate each of these fine young men. Here is a couple of videos that will give you an idea of how my coaching sessions are set up. Enjoy.

For more information about this program, please visit our website at http://www.danarader.com/

Follow me on twitter @www.twitter.com/golfgurutv

See you on the lesson tee,

Jason

J.E.T.S. (junior elite training system): A different way to teach junior golfers

April 27, 2011

In an attempt to revamp our junior golf program this season, I took the reins on our elite junior program. I was already coaching several very good junior players so I came up with a system that I thought would bring them together and help take their games to another level. I was already doing many of these things with my kids so I just gathered all of the information and created this program to enhance some teamwork amongst the kids. My program includes 2 hours of private lessons per/month which allows me spend one on one time to work on mechanics and then bringing them together for two group coaching sessions twice a month where I can create a supervised practice atmosphere (similar to a football practice) and I have partnered with the best TPI trainer in Charlotte, Mark Kane to get the kids working on agility, mobility and power. My vision is to bring these kids together to promote some teamwork and also a competitive atmosphere that will drive the kids to become better. It is amazing how much more they tend to focus when their peers are watching and participating. I am also instilling in them the work that is required to become proficient players that might have the ability to play at the collegiate level. I give them homework every session that will include:

  • journaling about their practice sessions, lessons and results  of their required drills
  • entering scores in their shotbyshot.com accounts to track results and give us direction on the area of the game that we need to work on in our private sessions
  • the word of the day. So far we have discussed Accountability and Trust

I also created a Facebook group page to allow me to communicate and they can send me results of tournaments, questions that they may have and I can post pictures, articles and videos that I think would be helpful for the group.

Our first month was a huge success as Mark Kane worked the kids out last night and did an amazing job connecting and motivating the kids to push themselves through the “Cyclone” stations. Check out the video and meet our new stars or the future.

If you need more information about this program or have questions, feel free to email me at jasonsuttn@aol.com or check out the Dana Rader Golf School website @http://www.danarader.com or call 704-542-7635 to schedule a lesson

Please share if you feel this information is helpful and thanks for checking out my blog.

follow me on twitter @twitter.com/golfgurutv

See you on the lesson tee,

Jason

Alan King: A model for a Junior Golfer To Follow and Tips on How To Be A Junior Golf Parent

May 23, 2010

http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/story.aspx?id=458880 : check out this video of Alan Kings final shot of his high school career

Alan King

Alan King from Columbia, South Carolina is part of the State Championship A.C. Flora high school golf team and one of my students. What a great way to end your high school career winning it all and being a part of a team of champions. Alan is one of my elite juniors that I am fortunate to work with and I am so proud to think that I had a little bit to do with his success. I have been working with Alan for about three years and I can’t say enough about the young man and his maturity as a player and as a great young man. As you can tell I am so proud of Alan and what he has accomplished in his career thus far. Alan is going to continue his golfing career at Wofford College which has a great golf program. This will allow Alan to really hone his skills and also not be too far from his coach (only an hour and a half away) which is so important to keeping his game in shape. I think that Wofford got a steal of a recruit as I think Alan’s best golf is still ahead of him. He is a a tall (6’6) and is starting to fill out and get stronger. He already hits it a long way but I am anxious to see what we can do when he fills out a bit. I get so much enjoyment working with hight school kids and I work with a lot of very talented juniors that have aspirations of playing college and professional golf. Behind every talented junior golfer is a parent that ultimately wants the kid to succeed. Unfortunately, a lot of parents tend to get too involved in the process and end up hurting the kid instead of helping.

David King (Alans father) is absolutely one of the best parent that I have ever worked with (The Tobeys are another one that comes to mind). I told David that he should write the chapter in my book on how to be a junior golf parent. Every parent wants to be Earl Woods, unfortunately you can’t. The important thing is to know your role. If you are going to teach/coach your kid then you don’t need a qualified teacher or coach, if not,  I want to give all of the parents a checklist of do’s and don’ts in being a junior golf parent.

Don’ts

1. When interacting with the coach, let the kid express the feelings about their game. Too many times when I am interviewing the child, the parent does all the talking. Little Johnny is hitting his driver bad and he is a horrible putter. Oh, also he makes stupid decisions when he gets in trouble. This does nothing but make the child feel that they are getting scolded and does nothing to help his or her self-confidence. If the kid gives the coach their assessment of their game, it allows them to take responsibility of their own game (Let Your Kid Talk!) This also strengthens the player/coach relationship

2. Getting Too involved in the lesson or questioning the coach on the juniors swing or technique. You are paying the coach to help the junior with their swing technique and overall golfing skill. If you are constantly asking the coach about this thing in their swing or that, you are hurting the process and relationship of the player/coach. If you could teach the child, you wouldn’t be paying the coach to do it so leave the changes to the expert.

3. Leave or Stay out-of-the-way when your child is getting the lesson. I know you want to see what the coach and student are working on but the kid will be more receptive and act differently if they don’t think they are being watched or critiqued by the parent. If you are going to watch, keep it at a distance. If the instructor wants you to know what they are working on, they will let you know at the end of the lesson.

Do’s

1.  Research the coaches in your area that are the best for your child. Ask around to see who has the best reputation for helping juniors and helping them reach there goals. This is the most important thing that you can do as a parent, find a great coach.

2.  Be the eyes and ears for the coach when you are away from the lesson tee. Your job as a parent is the give feedback on the scores that junior is shooting, the shots that they are hitting, the amount of practice that they are putting in and that is all. Leave the rest up to the coach.

3.  Get with the coach and create the schedule. The coach will know the best tournaments and junior tours that will fit your child and their goals and skill level.

4. The most important thing that you can do for your child  is: BE SUPPORTIVE, ENCOURAGING AND POSITIVE ABOUT THEIR GAME. THE KIDS ATTITUDE OFTEN MIRRORS THE PARENT. SHOW ME A POSITIVE CHILD AND I WILL SHOW YOU AN ENCOURAGING PARENT. HOW YOU INTERACT AND TALK TO YOUR CHILD WILL DIRECTLY RESULT IN THEIR SUCCESS.

I would love to hear from you coaches out there that teach elite juniors and also you parents that agree or disagree with my points. I look forward to hearing from you  all.

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru……………704-542-7635 to schedule a lesson

http://www.danarader.com