Do Coaches Talk to Much?

As a golf coach who is always interested in developing my understanding of the swing and coaching techniques I am always researching and developing new ways to do the things that I do during a golf coaching session. This curiosity is what led me to undertake my post graduate university studies and is what drives me to continue to learn and develop as a coach.
One thing that I have always believed as a coach is communication is extremely important part of the coaching process. There is no point having lots of knowledge about the golf swing and coaching if you can’t get that information across to your student. How we communicate in a golf lesson can make a lesson great or awful.

One of my faults as a coach when I first started giving lessons was giving too much information during a lesson. I would feel like I had to talk for the entire time to give my student “value for money”. This led to a lot of students becoming overwhelmed during my lessons and leaving more confused.

After spending time watching other coaches give lessons and reading more about communication I started to realise that a golfer can’t take on very much new information at any one time. I started to reduce the amount of new changes I gave to a student and I started to see their ball flight improve during the lesson. I would give two or three points only per lesson and I had a lot happier customers.

Over the years, I have spent a lot of time on the Ted website watching some amazing videos. If you haven’t checked out this site, I would encourage you to take a look by clicking here. On this site, I came across the video below. Take a few minutes and watch it.

Accountability

I posted in my last entry about starting my PhD and I have posted on my Facebook page and Twitter account about this same topic. The idea I had behind this was the fact that the more places I told people about my goal, they more likely I was to be accountable to myself in achieving this goal. It also got me thinking about accountability and how I could use it in my coaching and how my students could use it in their practice and their game.

As a coach, I have always prided myself on being accountable for my actions, doing what I said I was going to do and helping my students improve their skills in the best manner possible. That being said, there have been times that I have not followed through on promises and I am always trying to improve my skills in this area. As a coach, you should have systems in place that allow you to connect with your students regularly so show your commitment to them and to help them achieve success.

It is also important that your students are accountable for their own improvement and that they understand their role in their golf game. I have had students in the past that have blamed me completely for their lack of progress and not taken any responsibility for their own practice and improvement. Obviously, it is a team effort and both player and coach play a role in achieving the best possible outcomes.

So this leads to the question; how do we become more accountable?

From a coaching perspective, I think it is quite a simple task to be accountable to your students. The following points outline some strategies you can use as a coach.

• Be available: Be available to talk with your students to reinforce the message you are trying to get across. The more often they hear you communicate the things you want them to do the more chance you have of having them do it.
• Have systems: Setting up communication systems that send out emails, SMS's etc are a great way to show your students that you are there for them and want them to come back and improve.
• Give 100%: I know this sounds obvious but it is important that you give each of your students the best possible lesson every time they step onto your coaching tee. "Going through the motions" during a lesson is unprofessional and will not help your students improve

These are just a few simple ideas for coaches and I would love to hear your ideas in the comments.

For golfers to be accountable they need to be aware of their role in the improvement process from the start. I think it is important that they are aware that they need to practice the skills taught during the lesson and provide feedback to the coach on what is working and what is not working in their game. If you make these points clear early in the coaching relationship you will have a better chance of success.

Here are a few ideas for golfers to help them be more accountable.

• Keep a practice log: Recording how much and what type of practice you complete each week is a great way to monitor your training and make yourself more accountable. If you need to send your report to your coach or report on it during your next lesson you are much more likely to complete some proper practice between coaching sessions. You can find an example of a practice log I use with my students by clicking here.
• Follow instructions: If your coach asks you to practice a drill a certain number of times a day or hit a certain number of balls before your next lesson, make sure you do it! Coaches prescribe practice for a reason and that reason is to help you improve.
• Report in: Chat with your coach. Give them a call or send them an email letting them know how your training is going. I love hearing from my students and it helps keep us both motivated to improve.

These are just a few simple ideas and I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments below.

Until next time,

Brent