After 20+ years of learning from others and working on my presentation, I can honestly say that none of my information is original. What is original is the style I’ve developed and the strategy I employ to help students improve rapidly.

• I try to be very straightforward as I communicate the scope of the project.

• I work to make each student feel a sense of partnership; that my commitment to their improvement is just as strong as their own, and that my sense of urgency to achieve their goals is greater than anyone else.

Initially, I will address full swing and short game fundamentals including posture, grip, stance, and ball position. I consider the same setup fundamentals whether I am working with a beginning golfer or professional.

• Our first objective is to create repetitive, solid contact. This creates confidence.

• I prefer to fix the club face first in order to establish solid contact. When a player has a square club face at impact the feeling of solid contact sells itself.

Having spent over twenty years teaching alongside and observing many of the game’s best instructors I’ve learned three critical concepts:

• From mentors Jack & Jay Lumpkin and Eddie Merrins, I gained an understanding of the role of the body pivot in controlling the golf club through the swing. There is a distinct sequence of moving parts in any athletic motion and it is controlled by the bigger muscles of the torso, hips, and legs.

• From mentors Jim Flick, Martin Hall, and Mike Malaska I would learn more about the role played by the hands and arms in swinging the club; and different thoughts related to the sequence of motion. They were passionate about the small muscles of the hands, wrists, and arms creating a swinging motion which activated the turn of the body. As a result, I discovered an excellent alternative to help students locked up with tension in the hands, wrists, and arms.

• My first preference is to teach students an awareness for the club face with their hands, wrists, and forearms while training their body to move the club in an athletic sequence. The motion of a golf swing is very similar to throwing a football, hitting a baseball, playing a forehand in tennis, or skipping a rock across a lake.

Finally, I emphasize the coaching role with each student. I can appreciate from my own playing experience how challenging the journey to becoming a good player can be, and I try very hard to become a student’s biggest fan. My past, both as a young Tour player and later as a college golf coach, afforded me the opportunity to learn and appreciate the difference between teaching and coaching. Helping someone understand how to take what they have learned on the practice tee and apply it on the golf course is essential. Instructors have a responsibility to help people play the game better; and coaching them through the process is every bit as important as teaching them to swing properly.