Are golf lessons absolutely necessary to play golf? The short answer is no. There are lots of people who play the game every day who have not taken a lesson. They play because they heard it was fun, they think it would be beneficial to their career or they were persuaded by a friend and got hooked. If you watch these people closely, the majority offer more in the way of comic relief than they do skill. Every so often, these players plateau and come to the realization that they cannot improve without proper instruction.
At Beaver Golf, our goal as teaching professionals is to help our students develop a complete understanding of their swing. It is our hope that they will be able to replicate what we are teaching them during their practice time. Each lesson builds upon the other until the student has the confidence to identify and fix issues in their swing quickly when playing. One strategy that works well is to take notes after the lesson. We especially encourage this for junior golfers. A small notebook can be stored in the golf bag so it easy to retrieve when practicing and playing just like the yardage or green notebook that most professional golfers use during a round. We receive countless texts from students asking questions that were answered during the lesson. It makes sense, new information needs time to connect but note taking whether in words or pictures definitely speeds up the process. Try it!!
Healthy Habit: Family
Our junior program is unique in that all siblings can learn golf in the same group setting at the same time. It is really neat to see the younger siblings eventually grow up to be old enough to participate. We have several families where this has happened. If the love for the sport develops, any one of our sibling groups could become the next power family in golf.
Whether it is multiple children or or just one child that decides to pursue golf as a career, it is important to always remember the sacrifices that parents make to help them attain that goal.
Of course, if the desire to play golf for fun is all that develops that is a win too!! Make memories.
Tuesday at The Honda Classic is always very eventful. This year, Shannon Miller who was once the United States Most Decorated Olympic Gymnast was the keynote speaker and the Women's Leadership Forum. First Tee Participant of the Year, Jayda Dookie and Annika Collado were invited to attend to the breakfast where they were able to meet Ms. Miller and Barbara Nicklaus (that's Jack's wife). Jayda said Ms. Miller was very inspirational and her lesson about having a gold medal mindset was one that she will use as she prepares to enter college next year. She also appreciated her encouragement to keep a great team around you if you want to stay positive. Annika agreed that it was definitely worth taking the day off from school. She will be applying the gold medal mindset this week as she works hard to catch up on assignments the rest of the week before returning to caddy at Pine Tree Golf Club. One of her other highlights was meeting Barbara Nicklaus. Later in the day, several Beaver Golf students attended a free clinic hosted by First Tee. Dennis Walters and Gussie put on another wonderful show and Professional Golfer Andrew Kozan shared some insights into how he decided to pursue a career in golf. He cautioned the golfers that while golf is fun, you need to treat it like a job if you want to make it your career which means dedicating a significant portion of your day to practice if you really want to have a chance. He also encouraged the golfers to eat healthy and get fit because without your body a golfer does not have a career. The clinic closed with two First Tee participants exhibiting club head speed with the driver. Mateo Muñiz was one of those, Carl Mistretta, Executive Director of First Tee-Florida Gold Coast was very complimentary of his talent and Beaver Golf in his introduction.
Finally, all of the participants were able to celebrate 42 years of The Honda Classic Cares support of First Tee by posing for a picture with a check for $1.6 million which represents the total amount that the program received over those years. Thank you Honda, you have been amazing. Beaver Golf had the pleasure of having two students receive an invitation to play in The Honda Classic Pro-Am this year. Annika Collado played on the First Tee of the Palm Beaches girls team and Mateo Muñiz played on the boys. A Pro-Am is when both professional golfers and amateur golfers compete in a tournament. In this case, the First Tee teams were paired with a professional golfer to turn in an overall team score. The boys played gross (total strokes) and the girls net (total strokes minus handicap). The boys were paired with Marcus Byrd who competed in the Genesis Invitational hosted by Tiger Woods just this past weekend. They finished 3 strokes behind the girls when the final scores were calculated. Mateo said, "I left some shots out there because my mental game was out of focus; but I learned a lot from the experience. I have some things to work on for sure." He enjoyed playing with Mr. Byrd and thought it was cool that he had just seen him play on television last week. The victorious girls were paired with Erik Barnes who played in the 2022 U.S. Open. Annika said, "It was great opportunity. I got to see how pros practice and prepare which makes me excited to someday hopefully be there myself." She said everyone was really nice and she will always remember how the girls laughed at their mistakes and cheered when they made putts.
This opportunity impacted Mateo and Annika in different ways and that's what makes golf such a unique sport.
While I love golf, I have played my fair share of team sports so I always encourage my coaches to incorporate team challenges instead of individual challenges to make it interesting. Team challenges foster collaboration. It is fun to watch a group of strong personalities determine the playing order because each one thinks they should be first but eventually reason prevails. Occasionally, a group of passive players is formed and no one wants to take the lead. In these cases, I have to offer some helpful advice to move things along. I especially enjoy watching the golfers collaborate when they are grouped with golfers they have not spent a lot time with in class.
When the golfers collaborate they have to work together to complete the skills challenge. If they are observant during practice rounds they have the opportunity to determine how to best use the talents on their team to succeed. One golfer may be a great long putter while another excels at the short putt. One golfer could be clutch at chipping while another has a great drive. One golfer, may be awesome at encouragement and another in leadership.
Each golfer has their own talents just like the people in our lives. It is important to create a team of go-to people around you to help you become your best self. You need people who can offer good advice and you need people who can help you improve in your skills so you can accomplish your goals. When the right people are working in the correct roles, collaboration is easier. |
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