What Makes a Good Instructor?
 

Can we add to the list of Great Instructor Characteristics the ability to help students enjoy their golf? This goes beyond 'hitting better shots' and 'shooting lower scores.' In fact, it is a much tougher proposition than is generally appreciated, for both low and high handicappers alike.

For proof of the problem, look no further than the people you know -- some of whom play and practice golf to the point of obsession -- who not only fail to enjoy their game, but who actually succeed in making themselves miserable. The same phenomenon can be seen in the many public figures who have achieved both fame and fortune, but who are unable to enjoy their accomplishments and thus remain Losers in the Game of Life.

I'll have more to say on this later. Meanwhile, how do you feel about this? Just what is the instructor's responsibility for the student's enjoyment of the game?

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#52
 

Thanks for the kind words, DD. And since you like the personal anecdotes -- and since I love to supply them! -- let me post this little tidbit (even though this may not be the 'proper' forum for it).

About 10 a.m. last Saturday morning, I walked onto the practice tee at the Atlanta Country Club and, as usual, headed toward the far end of the tee. Even though it's a walk of only about 50 yards, the turf is always much better there :oops:simply because most people stop at the first available station. I set up at the end of the tee and started my routine as usual: Always with one of my four wedges and always with the Basic Motion Curriculum (12-5).

First, a few Basic Motion Strokes (12-5-1) without a ball: 'See' the Straight Plane Line. Set the Flying Wedges. Left Wrist Flat, Level and Vertical. Right Wrist Bent, Level and Vertical. The Hands now are basically done: They are merely Clamps that control Alignments -- not produce Power -- and those alignments have now been set. Check the Plane of the Right Forearm. This is the precise up-and-down direction my Stroke must take. Now take the Hands up that Plane to the Top. Load the #3 Lag Pressure Point and Drive it through to Both Arms Straight. Take a little turf. Continuous Motion. Two feet back. Two feet through. Back and Through. Take a little turf. Watch the Clubhead Blur. Trace the Plane Line. Feel the Lag Load at the Top. Drive the Lag through to Both Arms Straight. Take a little turf. Now with Ball. Same Motion. Load the Lag. Drive it through. Take turf. Now another Ball: See the Line; Set the Wedges; Load; Drive. Take turf.

Then the Acquired Motion. See The Line. Feel the Wedges. Left Wrist Flat. Right Wrist Bent. Right Forearm on Plane and pointing to the Line well in front of the Ball. Take the Hands Up the Plane of the Right Forearm to Hip-High (Right Forearm level to the ground). Two Accumulators only (#1 and #3). Load the Lag. Hit the Ball with the #3 Pressure Point as you Drive Downplane through the Ball. All the way down. No Steering. No Quitting. All the way Down Plane...through Both Arms Straight...to the Finish.

A few minutes into my routine, I heard a polite "Hello." Larry Nelson had just emerged from the trees at 'my' end of the tee -- directly on the line of his home off the 18th fairway at Atlanta Country Club -- with a half dozen clubs in his hand. Too much trouble to carry even the 'light' bag. He had just deposited $340,000 for his first place win at the Kinko's-FedEx Classic on the Champions Tour.

"Hi Larry," says I, "Congrats on last week!"

"Thanks," says he, almost embarrassed at the mention.

"What time is your talk Monday? 1:15?" I was scheduled to play early (7:45 a.m.!) in the first wave of a morning-afternoon Christian outing, and he was the keynote speaker.

"I'm not sure. Lunch is at 12:30, so that sounds about right."

He then got down to his work. He started with the Sand Wedge, gripping way down, his Right Forefinger almost touching the steel. His Right Wrist was Bent. His Left Wrist was Flat. The upper end of the Clubshaft pointed up his Left Forearm.

His first shot was Acquired Motion. Right Forearm level to the ground on the Backstroke. Right Forearm level to the ground at the Finish. He Drove Down and Through. Took a little turf. The Ball went no more than twenty yards. He hit another. Twenty yards. And another. Twenty yards. Twenty minutes and about fifty balls later, his Right Forefinger was still at the steel. His Motion was still Acquired. And the Ball still had yet to be hit more than thirty yards.

This was a man who had just finished at the top of Senior Golf. This was the third longest driver on the Champions Tour. This was -- and is -- arguably one of the greatest Ball Strikers who has ever played The Game. One of only three men to win three 'majors' in the decade of the '80s. A man who went undefeated in his first two Ryder Cups. A man Seve Ballesteros called "the most feared match play competitor in the world."

And he's been hitting balls for twenty minutes, and they aren't going beyond the first tier of the tee!

Flat Left Wrist. Bent Right Wrist.

Acquired Motion: Right Forearm level to the ground.

Up On Plane. Down On Plane.

Twenty yards.

Twenty minutes.

Any questions?

:oops:

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#55
 

Patrick,

Thanks for posting Wayne's great quote. It's the key to sustained progress toward realistic and attainable goals.

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#63
 

You're 'doin' it right,' DD! I admire your discipline and willingness to stick to 'The Plan' in spite of the near-term assault on your ego and pocketbook. There are not many golfers who will ante up today's prices for a super-sized bucket of balls, and then 'waste' half of them with little chips and pitches. Particularly when everybody else is 'Out to Launch.' :oops:

Stay with it. Remember:

Computer programs are slowly and painstakingly written. That process is often accompanied by considerable frustration on the part of the programmers and no doubt, more than an occasional outburst of 'longshoreman's lingo.' But finally comes the day when the many lines of code deliver their promised result at lightning speed and without error.

Trust in the science behind your procedures. Continue to carefully and precisely lay one brick against another. Enjoy and be proud of your work:

You are laying the foundation for a lifetime of better golf.

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#66
 

I would add a fifth characteristic: Ability to demonstrate.

Now, I invite each reader to add any additional characteristics they deem important. Once we have a complete list, maybe somebody (Patrick?!) could put up a Poll giving each characteristic a Priority Ranking so we can get a real feel for the "Characteristics Of The Great Instructor."

Credit where credit is due . . . and other stuff GM#68
 

Homer Kelley had great respect and admiration for the golf teaching professional, whether TGM Authorized or not. He believed that most were "wonderful athletes" who were capable of doing the "most marvelous things" with a golf club, even if they were unable to explain accurately why they were good as they were. He also admired their devotion to students and the countless drills and techniques they invented to get their points across. That is why he put only two drills in the book:

"I want you guys to have a free hand."


His goal was to get accurate information into the hands of teaching professionals everywhere, so that it could be disseminated to the golf students of the world. He knew his text was inaccessible to all but the most ardent, but he refused to compromise by making it more 'simple.' In fact, he said:

"The only acceptable simplification of my book is the Authorized Instructor. You know what needs to be done, and I have every confidence in your ability to simplify it as necessary for the individual student."


I do not propose to speak for Chuck on this issue. However, when he references the way Homer 'wanted it taught,' I offer the following three points:

First, Homer wanted his AIs to teach the correct facts. These are not 'hidden facts' as recorded on private tapes for the "privileged few," but simply the facts as detailed in the book itself.

"I spent forty years of my life researching and validating the correct information. I see no reason why any other person should ever have to do it again. Where there are conflicts regarding the facts as presented and the teaching of others, the AI should begin with the position that the book is correct until proven otherwise."

[Here, regretfully, there is a break in the post.]

Credit where credit is due . . . and other stuff GM#72
 

In 1986, the 'older guy' was 40. Now he is even older. And greener. :oops:

What Makes a Good Instructor? GM#74
 

Agreed.

And just as important...don't neglect Playing(3-B). Too many 'practicers' are unable to make the 'Longest Walk in Golf:"

From the Practice Tee...To the First Tee!

Teaching a Kid GM#76
 

Do they throw 'right handed' as well? If they do, then that's a plus: They've never 'learned' to flatten their Left Wrist (as all Lefties do when they throw).

As your young Left Handers learn to strike a Golf Ball, that should make it much easier to keep the Left Wrist Bent during Impact.

Credit where credit is due . . . and other stuff GM#79
 

Brian,

I am 100 percent in favor of an annual TGM Summit. Any ideas as to an ideal format, e.g., time of year, site, length of conference, format, organizing committee members, speaker and content selection, main platform presentations versus breakout sessions, cost, sponsorship opportunities, etc.?

Credit where credit is due . . .and other stuff GM#81
 

Bill Skelley? :oops:

Credit where credit is due . . . and other stuff GM#88
 

Partially quoting Dirty Harry:

"Do you feel lucky, ....?"

Credit where credit is due . . .and other stuff GM#95
 

My Quote above, "Do you feel lucky?" was made in good humor -- hopefully everybody could see that without a :) being attached -- and simply to point out that anyone who would prove Homer Kelley wrong has their work cut out for them.

Homer would be the last person to discourage a challenge to his work. In fact, he always encouraged his students to bring to his attention any 'errors and omissions' they came up with. All he asked was that one leave personal opinion at the door and be prepared to do as he had already done: namely, support his or her position with scientific proof. As many readers of this Forum know, Dr. Gary Wiren, then head of education for the PGA, sometime in the 1970s had Homer's work scrutinized for factual errors by engineering academics. None were found.

Personally, I feel that any such debate could only serve to clarify the concepts involved and strengthen the knowledge of all who participate. That said, in any match-up, I'll take Homer and give lots of points! :)

"The race goes not always to the swift;
Nor the battle to the strong.
But...
That's the way to bet!"

-- Jimmy Breslin

Credit where credit is due . . . and other stuff GM#97
 

Brian,

I have no idea why you have begun this one-man character assault on Bill Skelley. Nor do I know why you have challenged me to “answer.” But, since he is not here to defend himself and since my silence might lead Forum readers to a wrong conclusion, I am responding to your post.

For the record, I, for one, am not appalled at your indictment; namely, “…Bill profiting from Homer’s work without giving Homer credit.” Bill Skelley was not an Authorized Instructor nor did he ever seek to become one. While he was clearly trained -- by me -- in the science and procedures of TGM, he delivered his instruction in conventional terms (such as pivot, plane and wristcock). To my knowledge, in his seminars and on the tee, he never used TGM terminology, e.g., such staples as 'Power Accumulator,' 'Hinge Action' or even 'Plane Line.' Nor were there any efforts to identify the 24 Components (much less their Variations), Hitting versus Swinging, the Stroke Patterns or the science of Chapter 2.

The fact is that Bill taught a very effective, but conventional golf swing. If you pressed him, he would explain centrifugal force. But in teaching these concepts he was not plagarizing the work of Homer Kelley, whose first edition of TGM appeared in 1969. The truth is that Bill taught principles that were already considered fundamental when Ernest Jones wrote his first book in 1920 and 'old hat' by the time his definitive Swing The Clubhead rolled off the presses in 1952.

In his teaching, Bill explained the principles of the flail and the flat left wrist, and those principles can be found in 2-K and 4-D-1 of TGM. So what? I first read about the 'farmer's flail' in Phil Galvano's book in 1963, six years before Homer's first edition. And that same year, I was taught by George Preisinger on his lesson tee at the Marietta Country Club to keep my left wrist flat and roll my left forearm through the ball. We didn't know that six years later those items would be labeled respectively the First Imperative and Power Accumulator #3. [We did know it stopped my shank! :oops:] In 1968, still a year before the first edition of TGM, I was reminded of those lessons by both Grant Bennett and Melvin Hemphill, then two of South Carolina's finest teaching professionals.

So, Bill taught the Classic Golf Swing that had been 'sliced and diced' from here to Sunday long before Bobby Jones won his Grand Slam in 1930. In fact, other than TGM itself, the most accurate -- and still the most 'readable' -- descriptions I’ve encountered of the Left Shoulder Stroke Center, the proper use of the Right Arm and Elbow, and the differing but coordinating Planes of Motion of the Clubhead and the Right Shoulder – were written and wonderfully illustrated in 1927 by Bob MacDonald in his classic book entitled simply Golf.

Interestingly, Bill's work was more of a revival of the Classic Golf Swing rather than a revelation of a 'new' golf swing. By the 1970s, the Classic Swing had fallen into disrepute. 'Modern' Teachers had replaced it with 'Model' Methods built not on science or even proven performance. Instead, they relied on suspect 'logic' and 'seems as if' to justify their claims of superiority. Bill Skelley was an effective teacher because he taught a 'Classic Golf Swing' that worked, not a 'Modern Model Method' that 'theory' said should work...but didn't.

That said, and lending your indictment more credence than it deserves, I wondered if Bill's written word might have varied from his spoken word. To find the answer, I went to my library and pulled from the shelf his student manual, the Bill Skelley School of Golf Instructional Manual. Again, we find the ubiquitous references to the Flat Left Wrist, the Rotating Left Forearm, the Grip – Bill used the standard labels of Neutral, Strong and Weak – and pages of conventional instruction regarding the Turn, Ball Position and Alignment.

Along the way, I did find one reference to ‘low point’ and another to impact being ‘down, out and forward.’ Also, he advised using the right forefinger to sense Clubhead feel -- but then again, so did Tommy Armour in his 1950 classic How To Play Your Best Golf All The Time and Ben Hogan in his 1957 Five Lessons.

Oh, and on page 12, I also found this:

“To quote the late, great Homer Kelley, author of that highly scientific text, The Golfing Machine, the ‘hands are the command post.’”


So, where's the beef? I think the real questions are:

1. Why are you coming after Bill?
2. Why now, after so many years?
3. And why on this Forum only (and not your own)?

What possible purpose could this discussion serve? I leave it to the readers to draw their own conclusions.

And regarding debating what Homer 'really meant,' either in his book or on private recordings, I bring more disconcerting news:

Homer Kelley had this annoying habit of saying exactly what he intended to say. There was no 'trick' terminology and there were no hidden agendas. He simply wanted golfers everywhere to have the correct information.

For twenty years, Bill Skelley delivered the correct information to thousands of men, women and children across the United States. He built his business from scratch without the aid of any of golf's publishing powerhouses or PGA TOUR Kingmakers. He taught; he entertained; and he represented the golf teaching profession with dignity and professionalism. He was, and is, a gentleman.

The problem is not Bill Skelley, Brian. The problem is...

There are so few like him.

Teacher and Student BM#231
 

The teacher can change nothing. He can only 'inform and explain,'
i.e., be a catalyst for change. It is the student who must
'absorb and apply.' When that happens, he should get full credit.

Coach BM#288
 

Bravo, Ringer! This is a significant post. It adds a 'third' dimension -- guidance
-- to the straightforward 'inform and explain.'