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October 5, 2021

How to be an effective high school golf coach

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The future possibilities for high school golf coaches is very inspiring to reflect on. The influence you as a coach, can have on the player’s future has great potential. You will watch them practice and most of all observe them play & compete. Some of you might support technical coaching, but not all of you. We know all of you can learn to coach the human skills of the game, and all of you can learn how to best support a competitive player towards excellence and well-being. And with that encourage the parents to go along in that training.

Golfers, in general, are underperforming even with the technical advancements of today, and many get very frustrated playing the game. What is missing to get golfers to play better and enjoy it more? In our opinion, golf has two sets of fundamentals – technical fundamentals and human fundamentals.

Technical Skills x Human Skills = How You Perform

You are not a robot playing golf, you are a human being. As a human being, you are variable from day to day and even during the day. Your body, mind, and emotions are dynamic. The state of the body, mind, and emotions influences your technique to a great extent. If your body is tight and sore, it might make your rotation limited. If your mind worries about the future, it might make your tempo too quick. If you are getting frustrated because the pace of play is slow, it might make your grip pressure too tight.

A deficiency in training and practice of the Human Skills shows up as the golfer with a solid looking technique, or even a great ball-striker, but one that can’t score. It’s also the golfers with orthodox swings who seem to get the ball in the hole very efficiently.

We often call the Human Skills of the game the “hidden” fundamentals. They are hidden because they are within one’s mental, emotional, and physical state… the interior of the human experience. And they are hidden because they can’t be seen as clearly and obviously as one’s technique.

For example, you can’t see a golfer’s self-talk on a screen… but a player’s self-talk will most definitely influence and manifest a change in their technique. You can’t see if a player is not trusting a decision, but it sure shows up in the technique. It might be a putting stroke that decelerates or a swing out of sequence.

Human Skills always affect your performance state – the inner state of your body, mind, and emotions. They are hidden because they get wrapped up in words that are general and elusive, like “trust it” or “stay with the process”. Most golf teachers don’t give enough recognition and explicit coaching to Human Skills. 90% of articles on how to improve at golf are about technical skills which are good and necessary… but not the whole story.

It’s time for Human Skills to get their due. It’s time for the Human Skills to come out of the closet! Any golfer, from a tour player to a new golfer, will improve when the “hidden” fundamentals – the Human Skills – get developed along with the technical skills.

Here is your first practice session and best done on the golf course:

PLAY BOX – BE Focused!

Every shot requires you to be focused/present/athletic until the end of the motion. No more thinking. The shorter time you need, the easier it is under pressure.

DO: Play 3 holes and hold your finish for 3 seconds to make sure you are staying present until the end of the swing or stroke.

THINK BOX – BE Decisive!

Every shot requires you to make a decision in a confident way and to trust your decision about the club, shot and your Play Box. Also, to get present and engaged before stepping into the shot.

DO: Play 3 holes and say your decision about the shot in a confident manner before stepping into the shot or putt, to make sure you have made a clear decision.

MEMORY BOX – BE Confident!

For every shot you want to manage what your brain stores as a memory. Be neutral/objective to shots and processes you did not like. Be positive/happy to shots and processes that are great/good/good enough. Emotions make memories stick in the brain.

DO: Play 3 holes and feel emotionally happy for every shot that is good or good enough, and no commentary on shots you don’t like.

More about Lynn Marriott & Pia Nilsson, the founders of Vision 54

Our main goal at VISION54 is to help golfers not only swing better, be more fit, manage your mind or putt better, but to make sure you as a player can transfer these skills and perform better on the course when it matters. We believe that you have a unique strategy for playing great golf and we want you to take great care in discovering what works best for you – MY54. By doing this, you will gain clarity about your unique strategy for playing great golf, and therefore will achieve it more often.

** You can contact Lynn & Pia at InTouch@VISION54.com or visiting this link https://www.vision54.com/remote-coaching – high school golf coaches receive special discounts, use the code: SC54-C100 for SuperCoach54 & use the code: SU54-C50 for Support54


Posted By: Chris Noble

2022 Annual High School Golf Coaches Conference

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