Communication in a Golf Lesson

As a golf coach, it is my job to assess your golf game and, in conjunction with you, suggest changes that will help improve your skills. The challenge is to communicate this is a manner that you, the student, can understand and apply when you play golf. I feel that communication skills, understanding a students learning style and the like are skills that are undervalued in a golf coach. I have always thought that a good coach is a coach who can explain the golf swing in a simple and easy to understand manner while a great coach is a coach who can explain the golf swing in a simple and easy to understand manner, ten different ways. By having ten different ways of teaching the same thing you have a better chance of being understood by your student. As a coach, I have had lessons where the student just doesn't seem to be able to apply what I am telling them. This is where having another way to explain the correction/change is invaluable to both me as the coach and my student.

Obviously, as humans, we are all different. One person likes chocolate ice cream while another only likes strawberry. As learners we are also all different. Some players may like to see their swing on video, another player may like to hit lots of balls with feedback from the coach so they can feel a change while another player may like to hear their coach explain the change verbally so they can understand what needs to be done. One player may like to have a sense of the whole swing while another may like to break it down into smaller segments. The challenge as a coach is to determine which method to use with each individual student.

There are a few different tools around that you can use to determine a players (or your own) preferred method of learning. One that I use a lot is the LSA-Golf which is produced by a company called the Creative Learning Company. You can find an example of this profile on my website and it offers a detailed evaluation of a persons preferences as well as a number of suggestions for best dealing with your preferences.

A great book that I use to give me a basic understanding of a student is called The Dominance Factor written by Dr Carla Hannaford. This book suggests that our brain, ear, eye, hand and foot dominance's can influence how we process information. For example, a person who is right brain and right eye dominant may have trouble processing visual information in stressful situations (golf lesson?) due to the fact that their dominant eye is controlled by the less dominant side of their brain (right side of your brain controls the left side of your body and vice versa). Another example is a left brain dominant and left ear dominant person may struggle to process auditory instructions in stressful situations. The book sets out a series of profiles and lists "helps" that may assist a student understand presented information better.

There are also some general traits you can identify in students or yourself to help determine their or your preferences. Visual learners tend to be good at spelling, bad at names, like colours, need time to think things over and need quiet study time. Auditory learners tend to read out loud to themselves, like to speak in class, slower reader, good at languages, like music, has trouble staying quiet and like to work in groups. Kinesthetic learners tend to be good at sport, have trouble staying still, messy writers, needs breaks when studying and is fidgety.

Right and left brain dominant people also show different characteristics. Right brain dominant people tend to be more intuitive and simultaneous in how they process information. They are generally free with their feelings, respond well to demonstrated instructions, they are fluid and spontaneous respond well to open ended questions. Left brain dominant people are much more rational and sequential in processing information. They prefer verbal instruction that is planned and structured. They generally prefer talking and writing and tend to control their feelings more so than a right brain dominant person. They also tend to focus on differences rather than similarities in things so you should be careful when comparing them to a better player on video.

Obviously I could go into a lot of detail regarding learning styles and how information should be presented to suit the different styles but the point of this blog post is to open your eyes to the fact that everyone is different and you should be aware of these differences. If you are a coach, make sure you have a number of strategies to explain each of your key fundamentals and if you are a student, make sure you tell your coach if you don't understand what they are teaching you so they have a chance to repackage it to suit your learning style better.

Until Next Time,

Brent