Playing for Keeps: Putting Skill Improvement on the Board
According to Joe Assell, GolfTEC CEO and cofounder, “the methods we developed in the first teaching bay in Denver continue to produce results — when dedicated golfers take them seriously.”
2008 was a banner year for client success in the hands of GolfTEC Certified Personal Coaches around the country. With the recent addition of g-PUTT technology to track putter arc plus refinements to g-SWING motion analysis have come even more accelerated results.
At the mid- to low-handicap level, greater emphasis on g-TRACK Game Tracking is paying off as well. Continues Assell, “the player-Coach connection is strengthened as on-course performance gets more attention. Watching trends even over a partial season allows greater, more specific instructional focus.”
While the list grows each day at over 135 locations, a few highlights reinforce the benefits of GolfTEC’s coaching around specific strokes or game components — including course management in a tournament setting. In some cases, these players have exceeded accomplishments of years past, playing well beyond plateaus in skill and score.
- Bill Nachefski: Qualified for the Nature Valley Amateur Championship – TPC Sawgrass
- Tommy Mellon Jr.: Named to America’s Most Improved Golfers list in Golf Digest magazine
- Darin Ferguson: Named to America’s Most Improved Golfers list in Golf Digest magazine
- James Grant: Named to America’s Most Improved Golfers list in Golf Digest magazine
- Leigha Kristoff: Named to America’s Most Improved Golfers list in Golf Digest magazine
- Daniel Gill: Named to America’s Most Improved Golfers list in Golf Digest magazine
- Bill Caveness: Qualified for the US Senior Open (2008), instructed by Jeff Schmiedbauer in Plano
- Andrew Bisbee: Winner of Nature Valley Golf Amateur event at TPC Boston, instructed by Howie Barrow in Needham (2008)
- Sherri Wilson: Winner of the Golf Channel Amateur Tour event at Blackledge Country Club in Hebron, CT. (2008)
- Jane Rah: Ranked high in Golfweek/Titlest Junior national rankings
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
At least three factors contribute to these results, and separate personal pride from public results.
A. PLAYER-COACH RELATIONSHIP characterized by an overall understanding of the player’s strengths and areas of development – and a shared commitment to charting specific connections between skill changes and on-course results
B. SYSTEMATIC TEACHING APPROACH with a heavy emphasis on motion data capture, visual reinforcement and WebLesson review versus a traditional, real-time driving-range methodology that focuses on coach perceptions (feelings) rather than reliable data (facts)
C. UNDERSTANDING OF PLATEAUS that occur in any player’s development, along with the will to work through them to emerge at a higher level instead of merely stabilizing their handicap.
After instructing nearly 150,000 golfers, GolfTEC has become its own source of performance data and best practices. But, concludes Assell, “I can’t wait to see what we’ll all learn together in 2009.”
