Lessons Observed “Gems” Summer of 2014

Trillium Sellers (Rose) Director of Instruction at Woodmont Country Club Worked at Jim McLean Golf School in Doral with Mr. Fritz Post Grad at Columbia in Motor Learning

Always review at the end of the lesson! – Write notes Ask the student how to word what his/her swing thoughts are… makes it easier for them to remember when you’re not around

Self Discovery – “Let’s experiment with it” – “Sometimes you just have to give them the pieces and let them solve it.”

“Does that make sense?” “Are you understanding that?” Trill always asked those questions to make sure that her and the student were always on the same page

Keep the student’s interests in mind. What you want to do with the student’s swing may not always be what the student has in mind.

With beginners it is very helpful to have them hit off low tees. It’s a big confidence booster.

Excitement – Be excited when the student successfully accomplishes something. Make sure they know how great of an achievement they’ve made. – Be enthusiastic, even with the small things

When the student is thinking really hard (cognitive stage) Trillium tries to keep very quite and let the student formulate it in his or her head. – However, once the student somewhat comprehends it, she continually gives swing thoughts right before they hit the ball

Beginner student – Keep the golf terms to a minimum. – Keep things simple – Explain things as if they’ve never heard it before

Panic? – Don’t panic when you teach the student something new and he or she does not hit the ball well right away; simply explain it in a different way. – Don’t get stressed, just feed them the correct information and be confident that the student will begin to improve

Sequence when learning a new move (Jim McLean – 8 Step Swing) – Practice swings, no ball – Practice swings, tee – Only when ABSOLUTELY ready, add a ball

Fact Only 30% of tour interlock. 70% overlap.

“On a scale of 1-10 how was that shot?” – You can better understand the student’s expectations

Try to say SOMETHING after every swing – The student almost always asks what they did wrong on the last shot… be prepared with an answer.

Try to write your schedule down on a piece of paper at the beginning of the day in case the internet goes down.

Always be prepared to demonstrate – Trill always had another one of the student’s clubs in her hand and continually gave demonstrations

Teachers should know a lot about club performance and fitting. I was amazed at how many clubs Trill helped her students buy.

You have to be careful with what you say to the student when analyzing their swing on video because they are going to think about every little thing that you point out When Trillium points out a flaw she always tries to point out any good/great things that she sees in the student’s swing too

“If you chase two rabbits, you’ll catch none.” – Only work on one thing at a time

Learn the sounds of the different contacts – Heel, toe, low, high The best teachers can teach with their back to the student

It’s okay to talk about things other than golf as long as the student initiates it

When a student hits a shot well, say “what did you do differently there. What were your swing thoughts?”

You need to get comfortable explaining things in front of a camera

It seems as though in every lesson Trillium mentions something that they will work on in the next lesson. It keeps the customers coming back and it makes them excited for the next lesson.

A lot of student don’t want to change things because it’s uncomfortable to them. – Trillium simply tells them that whatever you do a lot of eventually becomes comfortable.

Passion We don’t teach golf, we teach people