James Marshall (Hogan1953)
New member
I've been teaching golf for two and a half years with a teaching qualification through the Spanish Golf Federation. The initial training course lasted a week followed by exams on the material taught two months later. The training provided can best be described as rudimentary. I've spent the last two and a half years reading, teaching, experimenting, going to see other teachers and now feel more comfortable giving classes. Most of my students are beginners which means I've had quite a lot of opportunity to experiment with my apporach in the first classes.
One of my principal concerns is not to provide too much initial information but at the same time enough for students to be able to get going with at least some idea of what occurs in a sound swing and a brief overview of what is trying to be achieved. I've read with interest some of the comments on the site and would like to know what other more experienced teachers do with their beginners.
At the moment I typically start with a brief introduction to some useful golfing vocabulary then explain what we are trying to achieve with a golf swing, i.e. hit down on the ball at seven o'clock with the clubface slightly open and the hands in front of the clubhead. I've incorporated Brian's comments on swinging in a circle to hit the ball straight and hitting down on the ball to make it go up. I try to feed into other sports when talking about displacement of mass, body weight following the direction of the club, to the right in the backswing, to the left in the downswing, tennis players serving, simply throwing balls down the range and monitoring what the body weight is doing. I highlight the importance of the maintenance of the spine angle throughout the stroke and how the shoulders rotate the spine.
I follow this with an explanation of the grip, its function what it allows us to achieve. Give them a routine for placing the hands on the club the same way every time. Practise it a fair few times before moving on.
Go through posture, with a routine, get them practising grip and posture together.
Ball position and finally alignment. That's probably 30 minutes of an hour lesson and they haven't hit a ball yet. I've seen other teachers at work and they have them hitting the ball after 2 or 3 minutes. It all seems a bit rushed to me and the students cannot possibly have any real idea what they are supposed to be doing.
I often get the students to take little short swings, shaft parallel to the ground, both sides trying to hit the ground past a tee in the ground. I place a shaft along the line of the feet both sides for some feedback on their early attempts. My initial suggestion for the last couple of months, which has worked pretty well, has been for them to keep their hands low and close the thighs as they start up. I gradually build up the swing and get them to hit some balls. Jim Waldron's comments on learning the martial arts has influenced my ideas and I often take time out of the class with the students to go through slow motion swing drills. I would really appreciate any comments on the above and any other suggestions/approaches would be welcomed. Look forward to reading your replies.
Hogan 1953
One of my principal concerns is not to provide too much initial information but at the same time enough for students to be able to get going with at least some idea of what occurs in a sound swing and a brief overview of what is trying to be achieved. I've read with interest some of the comments on the site and would like to know what other more experienced teachers do with their beginners.
At the moment I typically start with a brief introduction to some useful golfing vocabulary then explain what we are trying to achieve with a golf swing, i.e. hit down on the ball at seven o'clock with the clubface slightly open and the hands in front of the clubhead. I've incorporated Brian's comments on swinging in a circle to hit the ball straight and hitting down on the ball to make it go up. I try to feed into other sports when talking about displacement of mass, body weight following the direction of the club, to the right in the backswing, to the left in the downswing, tennis players serving, simply throwing balls down the range and monitoring what the body weight is doing. I highlight the importance of the maintenance of the spine angle throughout the stroke and how the shoulders rotate the spine.
I follow this with an explanation of the grip, its function what it allows us to achieve. Give them a routine for placing the hands on the club the same way every time. Practise it a fair few times before moving on.
Go through posture, with a routine, get them practising grip and posture together.
Ball position and finally alignment. That's probably 30 minutes of an hour lesson and they haven't hit a ball yet. I've seen other teachers at work and they have them hitting the ball after 2 or 3 minutes. It all seems a bit rushed to me and the students cannot possibly have any real idea what they are supposed to be doing.
I often get the students to take little short swings, shaft parallel to the ground, both sides trying to hit the ground past a tee in the ground. I place a shaft along the line of the feet both sides for some feedback on their early attempts. My initial suggestion for the last couple of months, which has worked pretty well, has been for them to keep their hands low and close the thighs as they start up. I gradually build up the swing and get them to hit some balls. Jim Waldron's comments on learning the martial arts has influenced my ideas and I often take time out of the class with the students to go through slow motion swing drills. I would really appreciate any comments on the above and any other suggestions/approaches would be welcomed. Look forward to reading your replies.
Hogan 1953
