December 9, 2019

Education and Training for High School Golf Coaches

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Although many high school golf coaches are teachers, in my opinion, there is a lack of education and resources available for high school golf coaches. Being a good coach requires knowledge in leadership, communication, and sport-specific expertise. Golf, being an individual sport is different than many other high school sports given the swing mechanics are complex in nature, the mental game is crucial to playing the sport well, every field (golf course) is different, and students do not need to be athletes to be a successful golfer. 

Instead of saying education needs to be improved, the team at the National High School Golf Association decided to take action and will host the first annual high school golf coaches conference in conjunction with the PGA Merchandise show January 21-25^th 2020 in Orlando, FL. Given the NSHGA is owned and operated by the PGA of America, this conference will showcase top PGA Professionals and golf instructors who will provide world-class coaching to the high school golf community in attendance. 

Learn more about the conference

The conference will include 2 days of classroom and on-course education, networking between senior leaders and brands in the golf industry, and include a golf coach tournament for coaches to show off their personal golf talents on the course. “The high school coaching community has been asking the NHGSA for education to help high school golf teams and coaches better perform. We are excited to partner with the team from the PGA Merchandise show to make this a reality in 2020,” says Chris Noble, NHSGA Manager. 

Beyond the in-person conference, the NHSGA team will continue to provide weekly content on the NHSGA blog, work with local PGA of America sections to offer in-person education at the local level, and provide digital education for coaches in the future. If you are a high school golf coach who is seeking help, would like education brought to your area, or have topics of interest you would like us to research and explore, please connect with NHSGA Manager Chris Noble at Chris@highschoolgolf.org.

If you are seeking the best education for high school coaches, join us in the warmth and sunshine in January at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando FL for the Annual High School Golf Coaches Conference. If you can’t make it this January, no worries, the PGA Merchandise Show is an annual event held at the end of the month each January.

December 2, 2019

How to become a high school golf coach

Reading Time: 2 minutesAt the National High School Golf Association, we often get questions from avid golfers, parents, or PGA Professionals who are interested in becoming a high school golf coach. Being a coach in any form is a very rewarding job where you are able to contribute positively to your community and impact the lives of boys and girls through athletics. 

Unfortunately being a high school golf coach is not a full time job so if financial considerations are your motivation for becoming a high school golf coach, I would advise not to become a coach. If you are seeking a part time (low compensation) or volunteer position and have a love for golf, high school coaching may be right for you (Why become a high school golf coach). Here are some important steps if you are looking to become a high school golf coach:

1. Associate with the right people in your local golf community – Coaches who are members of golf courses, have close relationships with PGA Professionals, or know the movers and shakers in the golf community can really help high school golf teams succeed. One of the most important attributes of a successful high school golf team is being able to practice and have matches at a local golf course. If you can deliver a golf course, instruction, or golf relationships to help the team succeed, your value as a coach is very significant.
2. Get a license and/or certifications – Do you have a CDL (Commercial Drivers License) so you can drive a bus? Are you certified in first AID and/or CPR? Have you completed SafeSport training? Being a coach is an important job which comes with a lot of responsibility. Some states will require specific certifications to coach high school golf so it is important to check with your local state athletic association to see which certifications your state requires.
3. Golf training, education and accolades – Being a good golfer with an impressive personal playing resume can certainly help getting a job as a high school golf coach since students will look up to you and want to play like their coach. Even though being a great golfer is helpful, coaches who are trained and educated in the business of golf are typically the best coaches. I am not advising that anyone looking to be a golf coach needs to be a PGA Professional, but the best high school golf coaches are typically coaching who are professionally educated and trained in the game trough the PGA. Attending education events like the annual high school golf coaches conference and getting certifications like PGA, TPI, and US Kids will help you become a better golf coach. 

Taking the steps above will certainly help you if you are looking to become a high school golf coach. The easiest way to become a high school golf coach is working at a high school that is seeking a teacher to coach. Many golf coaching jobs never go to the community or job boards since the positions can be filled internally. If you do not work within a school system, but are looking for golf coaching jobs check out our golf coaching job board. 

Hope the above commentary helps! In a perfect world, every high school would offer golf. If this vision was a reality, we would need a lot more high school golf coaches!!

October 23, 2019

Course management tips for high school golfers

Reading Time: 3 minutesGolf is a game that requires more thinking than any other sport, and most of it must be done by yourself. I’ve seen plenty of players with beautiful swings and incredible ball-striking ability that simply cannot put up good scores because they make poor decisions. Here are some tips to help you think your way around the course and manage your game properly.

1. Don’t immediately pull out driver on par 4’s and 5’s – This was a mistake that I made for years playing high school and junior golf and got me into trouble more times than I can count. Unless the hole is incredibly long, you don’t necessarily need to hit your driver. Having a trusty wood, hybrid, or long iron that you know you can hit straight most of the time will give you confidence on the tee and a much smaller chance of making a double bogey or worse. So you have a 6-iron into the green instead of an 8-iron, big whoop. At least you’ll be in play and have a great chance at par more often than not.

2. Short is usually better than long – While this is just a rule of thumb and isn’t always true, it’s generally easier to get up and down from in front of the green than it is from behind. Trees, long rough, bunkers and other obstacles often lurk behind greens, and most green complexes slope back to front. An example is the image above, where clearly being short is much safer as anything over the green is likely in the water. If you’re between clubs take the shorter one and make sure to be in front of the green rather than behind to save yourself a stroke or two.

3. Avoid 3-putting – The most dreaded happening in golf, this one seems obvious but there are a few tips to help with this problem. Focusing on your lag putting will be the easiest way to avoid 3-putting during your round. On a put 20 feet or longer, your main focus on the putt shouldn’t be making it, but rather getting it close enough for a stress-free next putt. Often times when trying to make a putt, you focus too much on the line and forget to think about the speed causing the putt to be either well short or way past the hole. These 4-8 foot putts are where 3-putts can easily happen, so avoiding those putts by lagging it closer will ultimately save you strokes.

4. Take it one shot at a time and stay focused – I’ve found that dwelling on past holes or looking too far ahead to the next hole is the easiest way to make a double bogey or worse. Maybe you missed an easy birdie putt and can’t get it out of your head. Maybe a really tough hole is coming up and you’re thinking about the shots you’ll need to hit there to make par. Focusing every ounce of your energy on the current shot and current hole is absolutely crucial to success on the course.

I hope that these course management tips are helpful for you during your next round. You can also check out our tips on how to play good golf in bad weather, which requires a similar mindset and utilizes the tips listed above.

September 24, 2019

Pace of play tips for high school golf

Reading Time: 3 minutesWorking with high school golf nationally, we hear a lot of feedback from coaches and athletic directors on ways that the high school game can improve. When it comes to a round of golf, the pace of play is a hot topic issue for almost every level of the game, and high school golf is no exception. Check out some of these easy, quick and simple ways that you and your team can help improve the pace of play for your high school matches. 

Play ready golf 

Tournament golf is more serious than a regular round – however, there is no excuse for the round to take longer. One of the simplest ways to speed up play is playing ready golf. Rather than waiting for the player to hit who is the farthest away, agree early in the round that your group is fine with playing ready golf. This way regardless of who is out, the player that is ready to hit will play. When another player is hitting, the other players in the group can walk to their ball and go through their pre-shot routine. 

Enforcing double par

High school golf coaches struggle with some of their more inexperienced players taking too long on holes. A way to combat this is to enforce a double par rule. Simply put, multiply the par of the hole by 2, and if you get to that score and haven’t holed the ball out, pick up and move onto the next hole. This will not only save time but encourage players to have more fun. 

Play a provisional ball 

How many times have you hit a tee shot close to an Out-of-Bounds marker, thinking the ball is in bounds only to find that it isn’t and proceed the 250+ yard walk back to the tee? I know I have. Any time you are unsure where your tee shot or golf shot ended up, you are entitled to hit a provisional ball. Make sure you announce to everyone in your group that you are playing a provisional – this will not only save time but help eliminate added frustration of walking back to hit your previous shot again. 

Aim to hit your shot in 20 seconds 

Think about how many other major sports like football and basketball have a play or shot clocks that players have to complete their shots. Golf is no exception. Mentally, once you get set for your shot, go through your pre-shot routine, get set and pull the trigger within 20 seconds. This will save on wasted seconds standing over the ball and help you be more decisive with your shot-making. 

Keep up with the group in front of you 

As long as you are not the lead group (first group off for the day) do your absolute best to keep pace with the group in front of you to eliminate large gaps on the course. Once you finish out a hole, you want to ensure that the group in front of you is a shot ahead (hitting their second shots on that same hole). 

Encouraging your team members to abide by these above tips during a tournament round will help with rounds taking less time and players ultimately having more fun!

August 26, 2019

High school golf van ride horror stories

Reading Time: 2 minutesWhen I was in high school, we always went to golf matches in a school van driven by our 75-year-old golf coach. I’m sure many high school golf teams still utilize smaller school vans rather than buses or your own vehicles to get to matches and tournaments. We had a few interesting experiences with our high school van rides that I thought were worth mentioning.

The highway incident: This is the day that I thought my life was really going to end. I had a brief moment where I actually thought it was over. Our coach turned right to get on a highway without paying attention to the signs, and we were headed down the off-ramp towards incoming 70 mph traffic. We’re screaming “coach lookout” from the back seat and luckily he realized what was happening a few seconds before it was too late.

We stopped, turned around on the shoulder and exited the highway. We stopped at the nearest gas station so we could all get out and take a breath. Coach just chilled in the driver seat as if nothing had happened.

Bottoming out: On the driveway headed into the school parking lot, there were these massive speed bumps that for some reason my coach liked to pretend didn’t exist. He would go straight on through these bumps without slowing down, and all of us squeezed together in the back seat would bounce into each other a bit painfully.

This one time towards the end of the season, Coach went over the bumps a little too fast, causing the van to bottom out and break a hole in our muffler. We had our final match of the season the very next day and that van was the only one available, so we drove across town in the loudest vehicle you have ever heard. I may still have hearing damage from that day.

Speeding away: Coach pulled up to the curb at a local course so we could load up our clubs and hop in the van. 5 of the 6 of us put our clubs in the trunk and hopped in the van, leaving the trunk open for the final team member to come out of the bathroom and throw their clubs back there too.

I guess Coach though we were all in the van because he quickly drove away with all of us yelling for him to stop because not only is the trunk with all our bags open, but our teammate is still inside the clubhouse.

The cookie incident: Our coach’s wife always made cookies for our van rides to matches. A player on the team didn’t get along very well with the coach, especially after his performance that day and thought it would be funny to crack open the window of our ’02 Chevy Astro van and drop cookies out the window as our coach sped down the highway. Coach finally saw what was happening out of the rearview mirror and proceeded to scream at us while driving. Unfortunately, that was the end of homemade cookies on road trips.

Have a high school golf horror story that you would like to share? Email chris@highschoolgolf.org and tell us about your cringe-worthy moments.

August 13, 2019

Why coach high school golf?

Reading Time: 2 minutesEvery year our team at the National High School Golf Association runs an annual high school golf coaches survey to gather information to help improve high school golf. In our 2019 survey, we asked the question “why do you coach high school golf”? Given this was an open-ended question, we did not know what coaches would say, but our team enjoyed reading the responses so much that we thought it was worthwhile to share a few and celebrate all the high school coaches out there. Golf coaches are inspiring, heartfelt, and truly care. The word “Love” was used by 556 responses. Maybe after you read this you will be inspired to get involved as a high school golf coach or maybe even start a new high school golf team in your community. 

Why I coach high school golf……

“I love the sport and what it teaches you about life. I really enjoy watching boys develop into men, and hopefully men that will be positive leaders in our world.”

“I enjoy the game. I am the school’s baseball coach and enjoy the kids involved in the golf program.  No one would take the team so I stepped up to help the kids out.”

“I enjoy working with young adults. Since golfers compete mainly against the golf course and not against others per se I enjoy the friendships and sportsmanship that develop among the players from other schools that we compete against. I also love the integrity aspect of playing golf the right way.”

“After being a PGA Professional at facilities for 45 years, I wanted to continue giving back to juniors to be better golfers and better people”

“I get paid to go to the golf course. What could be better than that! I enjoy fostering a love for a game my players can play the rest of their lives.”

Inspired yet? Coach or start a high school golf team in your community

“Golf is an awesome sport because you can use it to teach kids a lot more than just golf (although that’s very important) you can teach them about integrity, honesty, responsibility. After all, this is the only sport I can think of that you call penalties on yourself.”

“Love being around the game and believe that coaching young men and women in golf is a lot like life.  I enjoy watching kids improve throughout the years and love watching them hit a tricky shot in a tournament that we’ve practiced.” 

“I have coached almost every high school sport since 1974. Golf, being a life skill sport, offers boys & girls an activity they can be involved in late into life…With family, friends and former classmates.”

“To make an impact in a young person’s life.”

“I have a deep love for the game and I strive to give something back to grow the game.”

Want to be a golf coach? Check out our golf coaching job board for opportunities available

Cheers to all the high school golf coaches out there. Thank you! You are a big reason why high school golf is so special and we appreciate your time, service, and dedication. 

August 7, 2019

Running a high school golf meeting

Reading Time: 2 minutesHigh school golf coaches come from a variety of different backgrounds and experience levels of coaching. One of the most important meetings that a coach will have all year is a pre-season meeting before a practice or match happens. Let’s take a look at some good goals and action items for any coach to have to get the most out of their players.

Understanding the Rules of Golf changes

High school golf coaches noted in our annual coaches survey that the changes to the Rules of Golf are an important topic to their teams. A great resource to utilize would be through the USGA and their curriculum on the rules changes. Do keep in mind that USGA members can receive a free copy of the Rules of Golf for all their team members!

Setting standards on qualifying

High school golf teams can range from a couple of players to more than ten. It is important to set the understanding and expectation of how a player can make the traveling team for a tournament. Is it a form of coach selection, qualifying rounds or maybe a combination of both? The more cut and dry you can make the standards, less confusion will come from it and lead to better team morale.

Goals – personal and team goals for the season

A simple suggestion would be to create a survey for your players – this could be digital such as SurveyMonkey or just a simple handout. Specifically, ask your players what their goals are for the season and what parts of their game that they want to improve the most? This will be helpful throughout the season for you to make the most of your individual time with each player ensuring they are getting the most out of your time.

Team goals need to be understood and a plan put in place – is that winning conference, advancing to regionals or maybe even the state finals? Putting a plan in place for your goals will keep your practices and players organized each day they show up at the course.

Fundraising goals and methods

High school golf coaches continue to communicate to us that lack of funding for their teams is a major issue. We are pleased to provide some simple ideas and suggestions of fundraising ideas that high school golf teams can explore to raise needed funds for travel and tournament expenses.

Code of conduct for team members

Setting standards for your players during the first meeting is essential. Discuss items from the expectation on the dress on trips, to team uniforms and the inclusion of all players on the team. It would be important to discuss consequences for players missing class, not making grades or even skipping practices. 

Hopefully, some of these above ideas will help make a great pre-season golf meeting and set the team up for a successful season! Additional questions? Email me at Chris@highschoolgolf.org and I would be happy to provide other ideas and insight.

August 2, 2019

Why every PGA Professional should care about high school…

Reading Time: 3 minutesHigh school golf often gets a bad rap. Unfortunately, some high school kids are immature, not patient, and often are less skilled golfers than the best junior golfers locally at the course. The good news is that high school golfers are kids that are passionate about the game and are playing the sport competitively. In my opinion, every PGA Professional should coach or get involved with a local high school golf team for the following reasons:

Lessons and coaching – The majority of high school golf coaches are not PGA Professionals. With that said, high school coaches are the main influence on boys and girls who are playing high school golf. If I were a PGA Professional, I would develop relationships with the high school golf coaches in the area to offer coaching instruction and make sure the students and their parents knew I was available for private coaching and lessons. Better yet, why aren’t more PGA Professionals high school golf coaches? Although you make a small amount of money directly from the high school, the external revenue through lessons, coaching, tee times, and otherwise for a golf facility can be significant. Find high school golf coaching jobs

High school coaches need help – There are a lot of great high school golf coaches who love the game and the kids they coach. In our 2019 Annual NHSGA High School Golf Coaches Survey, we asked ~1400 coaches what was their biggest struggle as a high school golf coach. The most common responses from coaches was that they do not have golf course access, course access was limited, or course access was not affordable. I know course access can be difficult to grant as a PGA Professional, but the reality is most golf course are very under-utilized and allowing high school kids range access or even access for tee times at slower times (2-5 pm) when the course is slower could really help out high school coaches and their teams.

There are a ton of high school golfers– According to the NFHS, there are over 224,000 kids who play high school golf. When I am speaking to PGA Professionals, I often hear a lot about the elite junior players and kids that are amazing golfers. What about the 20 high school kids from the local high school team? Better yet, what about the 20 kids on varsity and 20 kids on junior varsity.  If we really want to make a change in our game, we need to focus on the masses and not just the elite. I wish more high school’s offered both varsity and junior varsity golf. In my high school 30 kids tried out for the team, but the coach was only able to keep 12 kids since we could only get 3 tee times at the local course. As a result, as an industry, we just lost 18 “potential golfers” who are now going to run cross country or play another sport. It is important for golf professionals to embrace high school players at all levels.

New members & club revenue– High school kids need a place to practice while in high school, while in college and even after college. Entry-level junior memberships are a great way to start. Furthermore, if a high school kid wants to go to the golf course every day, the boy or girl’s family may consider joining the club since the golf course is a safe and secure environment for kids. Parents and kids who go to the course often will spend more money in the restaurant, pro-shop, and other amenities like the pool.

I hope my arguments above were convincing enough about the importance of high school golf. I know not every PGA Professional will care about high school golf or embrace the high school sport, but if this article convinces even one professional to coach high school golf or get more involved with the local high school community, I am doing my job and that makes me smile.    

March 27, 2019

Best on course practice drills for a high school…

Reading Time: 2 minutesGolf is a sport that takes practice, practice, and more practice. However, staying at the driving range and putting green day after day can be frustrating and boring for your high school golfers. Try some of these on course drills to spruce up your practices and get your players more engaged with their golf game.

1) The 3-club challenge: This is a classic golf challenge/drill that really works. I do prefer a modified version though, which actually allows for 4 clubs (4th must be putter) because I don’t see any real value in putting with another club. This drill will teach your players how to hit a wide variety of shots (irons off the tee, knockdowns, bump and runs, etc.) due to the limited club selection. It will also teach them course management and that sometimes the “typical” shot is not always the best shot. Some of your players might even score better then they do with a full set!

2) Play it forward: A great way to force your players to hit a wide variety of shots both off the tee and to the green. Play the first 4 holes from the longest tees, forcing players to hit driver and long irons. Then, the next 5 holes are played from the next set of tees up and so forth. The last 5 holes are played from either the most forward tees or the beginning of the fairway.

3) Build your own modified par-3 course: Before practice begins, head out to the course and set up 9 holes as a par 3 course. Move the tees into different spots and distances (maybe a 200 straight shot to an easy pin location followed by a 50-yard pitch shot over a bunker to a tucked pin). The shot variety will mirror that of an 18 hole round but will take less than half the time to play.

Try out one of these ideas during your next practice. Your players will not only learn a lot about their own game but will also have a lot more fun than bashing balls at the range. Do you have other ideas for practice drills? Let us know at chris@highschoolgolf.org.