Teaching Stone Cold Facts

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Brian Manzella

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Brian Manzella's RULE #1 of Golf Teaching


A. There is what the TEACHER wants the student to do.

B. There is what the student THINKS the teacher wants him to do.

C. There is what the student is actually doing.


Never forget it.


That is why the whole bass-akward way of teaching positions and moves that should be EFFECTS and not CAUSES can still work a certain percentage of golfers.

My batting average went way, way up when I stopped teaching positions and moves that I NOW KNOW ARE EFFECTS, but nothing is 100%.

And all of that folks is a stone cold fact.


When you teach, ALL YOU HAVE IS SUGGESTIONS. THAT'S IT.



Now hopefully, they aren't bullshit suggestions, but sometimes, they work too.

 
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Tony D'Antonio

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Having taught pitching/throwing to young baseball players all I know is that you have to have many drills for, and many ways of explaining the same thing. And you have to know when to stop with the technical details and the individual component drills and simplify. And you definitely have to practice just playing the game with more thought given to the strategy of the game and less to the technical details of throwing. If you don't do the last part you might be a great bullpen pitcher but you won't be a great game day pitcher. I am relearning this last part as I practice more and play less golf. I hit the ball better than ever on the range but I don't think I play the game better than when I was younger and just played alot. My two cents.
 
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TeeAce

New member
Have always said that whatever teacher is saying and whatever player is thinking, if it works, stay on it.

Good post Brian.
 
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wulsy

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I remember seeing a poster at a no name teaching facility about 15 years ago saying pretty much what Brian is hinting at here. Can't remember the quote exactly.

The teacher went on to be quite successful.;)
 
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art

New
Brian Manzella said:
Brian Manzella's RULE #1 of Golf Teaching


A. There is what the TEACHER wants the student to do.

B. There is what the student THINKS the teacher wants him to do.

C. There is what the student is actually doing.


Never forget it.


That is why the whole bass-akward way of teaching positions and moves that should be EFFECTS and not CAUSES can still work a certain percentage of golfers.

My batting average went way, way up when I stopped teaching positions and moves that I NOW KNOW ARE EFFECTS, but nothing is 100%.

And all of that folks is a stone cold fact.


When you teach, ALL YOU HAVE IS SUGGESTIONS. THAT'S IT.



Now hopefully, they aren't bullshit suggestions, but sometimes, they work too.

Click to expand...

Brian, in 2007, after realizing I was perfecting my golf swing ‘errors’ by trying to self-teach, I agreed to take a series of lessons from the former head teaching pro at a major Los Angeles Country Club. At the start of the second lesson, I displayed my summary notes from the first lesson and the pro inquired why I made those notes. I responded that I did not want to pay for that first lesson again. He said he was willing to provide me a copy of a book defining the first few lessons, and generously offered it to me for both a preview of what was coming, and a summary of the first three lessons making it unnecessary for me to make my own notes.
In reading the draft book, and providing 9 pages of what I thought were constructive comments from the students viewpoint, I summarized my findings as follows; “Mr. Pro, I find that it is not what the teacher says, but what the student hears”.
Now almost exactly 5 years and almost 1000 scientific, sports psychology and communication/teaching principles and methods research papers later, I have learned that “it’s not what the teacher (or author) says, but what the student LEARNS that is important”. So now, my participation in scientific discussions or teaching environments simply conclude by asking the student/client to become my teacher, and feed back what they have truly learned, and most importantly, what they have and hopefully will now RETAIN.
 
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Bigwill

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art said:
Brian, in 2007, after realizing I was perfecting my golf swing ‘errors’ by trying to self-teach, I agreed to take a series of lessons from the former head teaching pro at a major Los Angeles Country Club. At the start of the second lesson, I displayed my summary notes from the first lesson and the pro inquired why I made those notes. I responded that I did not want to pay for that first lesson again. He said he was willing to provide me a copy of a book defining the first few lessons, and generously offered it to me for both a preview of what was coming, and a summary of the first three lessons making it unnecessary for me to make my own notes.
In reading the draft book, and providing 9 pages of what I thought were constructive comments from the students viewpoint, I summarized my findings as follows; “Mr. Pro, I find that it is not what the teacher says, but what the student hears”.
Now almost exactly 5 years and almost 1000 scientific, sports psychology and communication/teaching principles and methods research papers later, I have learned that “it’s not what the teacher (or author) says, but what the student LEARNS that is important”. So now, my participation in scientific discussions or teaching environments simply conclude by asking the student/client to become my teacher, and feed back what they have truly learned, and most importantly, what they have and hopefully will now RETAIN.
Click to expand...

Wow, that makes a lot of sense. You know, a lot fewer students would get lost in the shuffle if more teachers/professors/instructors had this point of view. I like it...
 
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Brian Manzella

Administrator
Ah...

Art, you are correct.

The most important thing in teaching is .....

RESULTS.

Like Chuck Cook said : "If your players beat their players, you win."


The only real way to evaluate a teacher in the long term is how many golfers got better because of them.
 
Matt 4-L

Matt 4-L

New
I think one of the best ways to learn for the student is to teach it to someone else, the good teachers in school would always say now that you understand it Johnny now try to go over and help Tommy with that math problem, it helps you see the concept in a different light. In golf if the teacher asked the student to teach it back to them they would know right off what the student learnt or didn't.
 
walther

walther

New
A. There is what the SCIENTISTS say is optimal

B. There is what the TEACHER THINKS the SCIENTISTS wants him to do.

C. There is what the TEACHER is actually saying.

...just saying.

w
 
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