The newspaper article on this page states that I believe in "structured practice". I have earned my nickname ... the Ayatollah of the Golf Tee (and a few others) because I work my students pretty hard and because I do teach in a structured manner. As an example, sometimes my students worry about being uncomfortable when learning new things. I am also very concerned for a learner's comfort ... my concern begins right after they have mastered a much more important "C" word ... correct!
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I am not a golf pro in the sense that I'm still a very good player or a merchandiser or a manager of a golf operation. I am an educator who is trained in human sports performance science ... biomechanics, kinesiology, motor learning and sports psychology. As a player, I am just like most of you. I learned the game from books and by "digging it out of the dirt" like Hogan. My body was built for football, not golf. The only advantage I might have over any other golfer is the ability to understand the game from a scientific perspective. When I read a magazine article, book or watch television golf instruction, I am able to separate the good from the bad. I do not mean to be critical, but there is a whole lot of "junk instruction" taught by some brand name instructors!
The San Antonio Express News article states that I was a disciple of coach Dave Williams, the legendary Houston Cougar coach. Coach Williams was more than a famous person I got to know. He was a personal hero and role model I tried to emulate. We shared several things. Coach Williams was a WWII Navy veteran, I was a Vietnam era (and other parts of this disturbed world) Green Beret. The leadership lessons we each learned during our military duty served us well in our chosen careers. Coach was a technically educated engineer and mathematician. I am technically educated in sports science. Coach Williams was a dedicated servant to his family, the University of Houston, his players and his community. Coach was a deeply devoted Christian, while I'm doing my best to just stay out of you know where ... while trying to do a few good works.
Today, I'm proud to know that I'm one of only a handful of people who know how Coach Williams managed to lead sixteen teams to NCAA championships. Some very ignorant people have been heard to say that Coach didn't know very much about the golf swing and didn't do much coaching ... that all he did was recruit talent. While it may be true that Coach didn't teach swing mechanics to this players, he left that to some selected Houston area teachers, it's kind of stupid to think he didn't know the golf swing. To recruit all that talent, he had to know something about what he was looking for. His "secrets" have formed the basis for everything I teach! I would hope to serve his memory by adding something the game! Oh, just to set the record straight, Coach Williams did know more about the golf swing than any golf pro I have ever talked to!
After my brief but very successful experience at the UTSA, I returned to graduate school to complete a M.Ed. at the University of Houston. While in graduate school I put a small ad in the Houston Chronicle. When 75 people paid $250 each for my golf school, I suddenly had a real problem ... I was in business. The moral of this story is "If you go tiger hunting, be careful because you might just catch one!" Three years later more than 4,000 people had gone through my school. At one time, I was teaching more hours of golf to more people than anyone in the State of Texas. One of the best things about teaching golf to others is the enormous number of things you learn from your students. I have found that, contrary to popular opinion, teaching others improves my playing skills.
I'm not now and I never have been a great player. I am a teacher who understands golf from the perspective of a everyday player, as well as from a skilled player's point of view. Today, I hardly play at all. My pleasure with the game comes from teaching and "just messing around" on the practice tee. Like most of my customers, I have limited time and talent for the a fully developed game. I was not born into a family that put a silver club in my hands. I did not have access to country club instruction or playing privileges in my teen age years. My body was built for football, not golf. From this background, I became a pretty good self made golfer. Dedicated effort applied over twenty plus years is the reason for my skills. The same can be said for my teaching skills The only advantage I might have over any other player is my technical training as a teacher, my technical training in sports science and taking the time to learn. Follow this path and you can also become a great teacher! All you have to do is quit your job, ruin you family life, be happy being on the edge economic disaster all the time and bake your body in the Texas sun.
Great playing skills are not a requirement for being a great teacher. This said, teaching skills are not directly related to playing skills. The truth is, many great players don't have a clue about how to teach someone else. There's a simple reason for this ... it's been so long since they skanked a shot, they can't relate to what a poorly skilled player thinks or feels. A teacher must be a credible player in the sense that s/he must be able to communicate correct information, demonstrate correct performance then efficiently analyze and correct learner errors. Oh, you also need to be able to tie all the pieces together into a nice, integrated package.