Top Coach for Sports Communication

One of the most confusing terms in golf instruction is “shoulder turn”.
Personally, I believe that instructors that talk about shoulder turn to describe the amount of turn during the backswing are hurting their students.

To explain why I feel this way, I will ask you to try a little experiment.

Reach both arms in front of your body and take your right hand and grab your left wrist. Now, without turning your chest, pull your left arm across your chest with your right hand until your left arm is pointing to your right.

Notice how far your left shoulder moved. If your shoulders do this during your backswing and you think you are turning, this is the root of your backswing maladies.

For the club face to come back to the ball square and centered, the geometry and relationship of the arms and upper body cannot change during the swing. Doing this experiment, you see that what might look like a backswing to many golfers, but is actually a major change in the arms/body geometry which can result in a whole slew of wild shots depending on what else the golfer tries to compensate.

Now try a new experiment. Cross your arms across your chest and turn your upper body until your chest faces away from the target (make a backswing). You’ll notice that your arms and chest moved together. This is the same movement you should be making during your backswing.

What’s the difference between the two turns?

During the first turn, the arms pulled parts of the upper body until the arms looked as if they were in place. The stomach and hips didn’t turn.

During the second turn, you had to turn your mid-section to make the turn, also turning the hips as needed. Those are the very same muscle you should always use to make your normal backswing turn.

This one change in your swing will create more distance with less effort. It is not the end all of the golf swing, because there is more to controlling your movement, but it is one of the most common mistakes I see that many instructors miss during their lessons. Now you can improve your backswing and become more consistent.

Instead of thinking about turning your shoulders, think about turning your chest.

This may not completely correct your shot pattern, but it may get it more under control and give you more distance as well.

Even accomplished golfers sometimes make this mistake but on a much smaller scale. It is one of the most common timing errors in the golf swing.

Golf is not a team sport. In fact, by its very nature golfing is an individual challenge against the golf course, the elements, and oneself. Nonetheless, team golf is one of the greatest experiences to watch or be a part of. If you ask many PGA Tour professionals about their favorite experiences, many will refer to competing at the Ryder Cup. There must be something to it, something to that feeling of pulling through for others and contributing to a team victory. Golf will always be unique in that no one else, not even a golf coach, can step up and hit that shot for you. Team golf is the ultimate combination of self reliance and team spirit, and every young golfer is encouraged to try playing on a school golf team.

High school golf in America is really the first opportunity for young golfers to experience the team golf game. Most junior golf tournaments are medal or match play and golfers simply put their score up against a field. High school golf introduces many new facets to the game, the first of which is that each school puts the top four scores from six golfers against those of another school. School pride and spirit comes into the picture, and local rivalries can be intense. Another factor is the drive to become the number one player for the school golf team. Most teams are driven by average scores, while others have a challenge system where a hot player can challenge and overtake the number one designation. Another interesting facet of high school golf is playing for a golf coach. The golf coach may simply be an organizer or motivator, but in some cases the golf coach is a skillful swing instructor.

The next step for skilled high school golfers is college golf. Now we are talking about some serious competition. Not only are school spirit and rivalries on the line, but now we are bringing serious money into the picture. They do not compete for money, but you better believe they play for scholarships and position on the team. As the cost of college soars upward so has the competition for athletic scholarships. College golf is normally a year round commitment, requiring travel and tournament play on most weekends and many holidays. If you have a junior golfer with some talent, start talking to their golf coaches early about potential junior tournaments and other ways to get noticed by college golf coaches. The college golfing experience will be fantastic for everyone. The student athlete gets to travel and play for the school while the parents get some help paying enormous college costs.

Amateur golfers can still take advantage of the team golf experience. The tournaments you should look for are known as four ball. This format puts two golfers against another two golfers in a match play environment. The USGA offers a men, women, senior, and mid am (thirty and older amateur players) four ball tournaments. Local PGA sections and courses may offer other versions of this event. Try team golf out, it can be great fun and provide camaraderie to a largely individual sport!

As a coach, you have the potential to significantly shape not only your players self-esteem but also how they view the world.

In many cases, the player coach relationship is stronger than almost any other adult-child relationship.

As a sports coach, you teach the only class that carries any meaning for some kids.

Coaches also have the privilege of leading one of the few activities where very often, both the adult and child are equally invested. Most kids don’t care too much about what they learned in math, no matter how important the topic is to their math teacher. Sports is one of the few venues that is different; 9 times out of 10, the outcome of that game means just as much, if not more, to the player as it does to the coach.

Despite being aware of their potential impact, many coaches struggle to develop strong relationships with their players. They try to fit themselves into roles like “disciplinarian”, or “buddy” , or others. Often they’re only hurting the situation, if their response distracts from the Big Picture:

If you really want to make an impact in your player’s lives, the best place to start is by dropping any preconceived ideas about what a “coach” is if those ideas cause you to act in a way that is not responsive to your team.

I’ll try to condense that idea down to something more manageable: Here’s the best I can do:

Stop following made-up rules about how a coach should act if they distract you from being a Teacher.

* Your first focus should always be on teaching basketball in a way that helps your team maximize on its potential. That is a coach’s primary job.

* The positive impact that you can make as a coach comes through the game of basketball, not the other way around. If you aren’t concerned with teaching the game well and only focus on being a positive role model, eventually people are going to start to question your motives.

Again, the coach’s primary role is “teacher”. Any other “rules” about who a “coach” is are only getting in the way influence you to act as anything other than a teacher.

What is teaching? I define it as changing behavior. If you aren’t getting the changes in behavior that you should be getting from your team (in terms of basketball development or behavior), then you need to evaluate and adjust.

* How can a coach change behavior? A wise woman once told me that the coach’s role in the learning/growth process can be defined in these terms: “Align” and “Confront”. She was right.

* Some coaches go by a rule that sounds something like: “I need to be a ‘disciplinarian.’ All kids need is structure and tough love”.

Well, kids do need structure, but if you’re inflexible, or a poor communicator, or if you come off in a way that makes all of your players feel as though you don’t care about them as people… don’t expect to have a positive or lasting impact in their lives. How can you expect them to trust or respect you, if you never extend them the same?

You might feel that you have their respect because they do what ever you tell them to do. Try to consider that they might be doing whatever you say out of fear, or maybe it’s just because they love basketball so much that they’re willing to put up with you. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they trust you, respect you.

* Other coaches go by this rule: “I need to be encouraging and give nothing but positive reinforcement. Kids just need someone to believe in them unconditionally and they will blossom”. Well, it is true that kids need positive reinforcement; but they also need to be taught and to grow. And they need to respect you. For every 5 kids over the age of 10 that you can show me that needs nothing more than a ‘nurturer’, I’ll show you 5 more who will make it their personal hobby to disrespect you if they think that you’re afraid to set them straight every once in awhile. If those 10 kids are all on your team, you wont be able to get any of them to respond to you.

They resist at times because that is what kids do. They resist.

Most kids will resist at some point just to test you – to see if you’re willing to confront them when necessary. If you don’t confront them – you fail the test – and you fail to win their respect.

This is a difficult hole to dig yourself out of, so be aware. As a coach, you need to understand that they are going to test you, and you should be prepared to respond appropriately.

But kids do want to be taught, and to improve. They rely on their coach to be a major part of that process. How can you expect a player to grow if you aren’t ever willing to confront them? You are’t giving them the information they need to grow.

If your team gives a horrible effort in a game, they need a lot more than encouragement. They need to be told that they gave a horrible effort in that game, and that they should hold themselves to an expectation of always working to reach their potential.

Not only do they need to hear this, eventually your players will lose respect for you if you don’t say it.

If you have done your job of teaching the game well, and if you have been flexible enough in your approach to align with them at the appropriate times, you’ll usually be surprised to find that your team’s most significant growth points occur when (or shortly after) you confront them.

* Other coaches strongly believe that: ‘Good coaches never swear,’ and that any coach who does swear will damage the player-coach relationship. One has nothing to do with the other. It’s probably not a good idea to swear, but I have known coaches whose mouths would put some sailors to shame. Still, they have incredibly strong relationships with their players, and with the players’ parents. That approach would probably get me fired from most schools, but somehow it works for them. Why does it work for them? Because they see the big picture, and don’t let anything get in the way of them following the most important rule…

Be a teacher. Teach your players the game, and teach them your expectations for behavior.

Understand that in order to teach, you must “align” and “confront” depending on the situation: one approach without the other won’t get the results you’re looking for.

Do this consistently and you will develop strong, lasting relationships with your players that are built on trust and respect.