Teaching Methods and Philosophy   
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Coach and Pupil

Student to Teacher Ratio ... Minimum class size is 6, Maximum is 12 for two instructors which seems to indicate a 3-6:1 ratio.  This would be wrong math because of our Coach and Pupil Method of Instruction which effectively yields a 1:1 student to teacher ratio!  At all times you will be either mentally or physically engaged in the learning process!  You will be paired with a different partner at the beginning of each class session.  You will not do ANYTHING in our Academy unless someone is watching and coaching your performance.   While one of you hits balls or executes a learning activity, your partner for the day coaches ... then it's "turnabout is fair play" whenever you switch positions.  So ... be gentle and constructive with your coaching.  In case you're wondering, we don't just turn you over to another chop who doesn't know and can't do the golf thing any better than you.  WE coach you and your coach. 

Your coach is limited to commenting on the specific checkpoints of performance for the one, current, active objective we are learning ... you can only learn one thing at a time and it's real easy to get off track.  We teach your EXACTLY what to look for and how to execute!  If your coach "sees" another error, s/he brings it to our attention and we decide what to do about the mistake.  Timing is everything in golf.  Often, we will delay the correction of a swing problem because we know the next fundamental will automatically fix the smaller problem.  Here's some good news ... there are NO weird, unknown golf diseases ... everything you can do wrong is already well known and we have the cure!

By rotating partners, you will be exposed to a wider variety of pre-swing and swing problems.  While you may not have your training partner's problem, today, somewhere in the future you probably will make the same mistake and know what to do about it.  Our mission is to give  you command and control of your game by teaching you how to teach yourself.  We want to work ourselves out of a job.  We can do this because our target market is huge!

There are many FALSE OPINIONS about group instruction!  The first is that intermediate and better skilled players cannot benefit from being in a group with less skilled players.  This dead solid wrong!  The simple fact is, better players realize great benefit from seeing a wide variety of mistakes being corrected.  Good players make the same mistakes as bad players!  The difference is in the size and frequency of the error.  There is plenty of room for improvement for even skilled players.

Keep Your Cotton Picking Hands Off My Range Balls!

We DO NOT pound range balls until your hands bleed!  You will get plenty of physical activity, but it won't be hitting balls all the time.  No mas is frequently heard!  Your money pays for golf instruction ...  but we rent the balls.  You are not allowed to hit one of our precious balls until you have earned the privilege.  Our objective is for every single shot to be a learning experience.  To accomplish this, you must EARN every ball you hit!  Go to any practice range and watch ... most golfers don't learn because the make the same mistake over and over and over again ... they are teaching themselves to fail!  Mistakes are both good and necessary for learning.  Every mistake is an opportunity to learn when you apply your full attention and intention and get accurate feedback!

To earn a ball, you typically must correctly work through several, by-the-numbers steps.  First, you perform the drill (under the eyes of your coach).  If you do it wrong, then you get the opportunity to do it over!  Second, you correctly execute the movement to the desired position in slow motion, with your eyes closed!  The goal is to accurately feel the motion and position of critical body parts relative to other body parts ... this develop your sense of kinethesis ... feel!  On occasion, we will ask to you to continuously repeat the motion, back and forth to further enhance the feel for "right".  Next we do a practice swing at 3/4 speed, looking at the ball, emphasizing the rhythm and balance of "slow and go".  Finally, you make a full, normal speed practice swing ... under the eyes of your coach who has the authority to say "do it over, your ______ was in the wrong position".  If you've been keeping count, that's between 4 and 20 practice swings for every one ball you hit.  At the end of a 2-1/2 hour session, you're ready to go home and there is still a pile of balls waiting to be hit.  These balls now belong to you! Enjoy!

Drills are often counterproductive.  Each and every one of the drills we use has a specific purpose and is effective in accomplishing the learning objective.  There are two main reasons to use a drill.  First, a good quality drill will restrict or emphasize a specific body position and the movement needed to assume that position.  When moving into the desired position the drill should prevent you from making a mistake.  When in the correct position, a drill should enhance the "feel" you have for certain, specific checkpoints of correct performance.  Please notice the emphasis in the word CORRECT!  Second, drills make learning permanent ... that's our 60/21 program.

Eliminate, Isolate and Concentrate

Learning does not occur without you paying attention.  Attention is more than the common courtesy of listening.  Sports learning requires a very deep focus on a single, specific point of instruction!  Golf is a mentally distracting game.  It only takes a blink of the eye to lose your focus and ability to learn.  To address this problem we use our eliminate, isolate and concentrate learning method.  We eliminate the fear of failure, isolate a specific performance objective and then carefully focus your attention.  To accomplish this lofty feat, we sometimes have to take away your toys for awhile!  First we eliminate the things that can distract you.  In the early stages of learning the number one distraction is having a target ... yes, golf is a target game and you do have to focus on where, not how on the course, but NOT on the practice tee!  The attention goal might be to focus on the fundamentals leading to the performance objective of "make solid contact".  Another distraction is the ball.  No ball, no bad shot ... so you might as well pay attention to what you are doing!  This translates into drills and practice swings.  If you're real hard core, we may go a step further and even trade your club for a short piece of broomstick!

The Three "C's" ... Composure, Concentration and Confidence

Learning does not occur when you are out of control.  When you are playing, there are times and circumstances that would try the patience of Job.  Losing your composure is a direct ticket to losing your concentration.  Practice can be frustrating for a serious learner, but you must get or keep your composure if you want to benefit from the effort.  Concentration is another requirement for learning and the purpose of learning is to gain confidence.  Confidence, as we all know, is an elusive thing.  It helps to know that what your are doing is the right thing to do.  Further, it helps your confidence to know your are doing the things you must do ... correctly.  Finally, your confidence grows even more when you know you are following a proven path to success.  We have a variety of ways to teach confidence!

If the student fails to learn, the teacher failed to teach ...  

This simply means learning did not occur.  The blame might fall on the teacher for not being skilled or prepared to teach or, often it falls on the learner who is not prepared or makes a less and full effort to learn.  Sports learning cannot be directly measured.  It can only be inferred from skills performance. 

About Learning

    We have reduced the teaching of mechanical fundamentals down to the simplicity of controlling four critical parts of your body.  Many of our students continue to seek tip for "a secret move".  We practically beg these learners to stop.  There are no secrets and the golf swing is a relatively simple back and forth movement ... if you focus your attention on the right stuff!  "Isn't there any more?" or "Is that all there is?" are common questions we must handle all the time.  Structured practice,  directed at repeating the correct things is the only ticket to better performance.  There are no shortcuts, gimmicks, tips, Band-Aids and there are no secret moves.  There is only correct, dedicated effort!

    The good news is that there is an easier way to learn and to play.  The bad news is that you must conform your mind to the process.    Here's your choice ... obey the rules or suffer the consequences!  Sounds kind of like a religion thang (Texan for thing)!    In golf, there is a time to think (pre-swing) and a time to do which requires you to get "creatively stupid".  Pros and better players have mastered the fundamentals, which in turn has given them the privilege of just looking at the ball and hitting it with an expectation of success!  The problem is, you DO have to earn this privilege through ... once again, dedicated practice.  You cannot EVER get to the level of being creatively stupid until you have mastered the pre-swing fundamentals that CONTROL in-swing fundamentals.  The scientific word for mastery is "overlearning".  In lay terms, this word means that you have practiced the correct stuff, in the correct way until you can do it without coaching thinking about how.  
    Believe this because it is true ... 90% of all in-swing errors are caused by pre-swing SLOP!  The first real problem is to get learners to believe that the simple stuff controls the complex stuff.  The second real problem is that few golfers have the discipline to master the fundamentals to the point that they can play without thinking.
    Some students have confused the simplicity of our teaching methods with a lack of knowledge.  They want more ... but there isn't all that much to know and to learn in order to become fundamentally sound!  Knowledge is not the problem, we have read hundreds of golf books, read every tip in every magazine and watched every video.  Today, we must read an entire book just to fine one little nugget of information that should be passed on to our clients.  We exhausted the traditional body of golf knowledge years ago.  Nothing new has come along that is worth knowing.  Everything we read or see is simply a repackaged version of older information.  Considering how badly most people play the game, we were quick to look for a better way of teaching the game!   
    We know what to teach and how to teach it!  What we teach are the fundamental concepts that must be mastered.  We teach in a scientifically valid manner that produces fast results that last!  It's difficult why some learners think complex is better than simple (but complete).
    Our society teaches us to "try" harder if we want to succeed.  You can try to move a mountain with a shovel ... and you will fail.  You can try harder and harder and even kill yourself with your effort ... and you will fail.  Trying is important, but it must be focused effort, not blind, undirected effort.  The problem problem most learners face is neither a lack of  knowledge or effort.  Many golfers have a good general knowledge of what to do and most work hard enough to get the job done.  Mother Nature has already provided every thing you need except the discipline to do things the easy, natural way and the dedication to correctly practice.  
    All learners go through three phases of learning:  the cognitive, associative and autonomous or psychomotor.  Additionally, golf is correctly taught using the Whole, Part, Whole method of instruction.  These phases  and this method form a hierarchy that cannot be bypassed if consistently skilled performance is your goal.  Beginners are in the cognitive phase.  This phase is characterized by a need to think about everything.  There is a necessary, high degree of feedback  from an outside agents like a golf pro or a video.  This phase should be taught with a focus on the most elementary fundamentals of the whole swing movement.  These fundamentals include: good posture (stance), looking at the ball, turning the shoulders and controlling the elbows.  Learning, not mastery, but general learning of these fundamental should produce a solid, relatively consistent swing motion.  As a result of correctly applying these basic fundamentals a beginning player should be able to accomplish three things:  1. get the ball airborne     2. make relatively solid contact     3.  move the ball in the general direction of the target.  Some players never leave this phase!
    Intermediate skilled players are generally functioning in the associative phase.  This phase of learning uses the Part method of instruction.  Beginning, whole swing fundamental are broken down into specific checkpoints of performance for specific positions in the swing motion.  This phase is characterized by the refinement of pre-swing fundamentals and the pairing of conscious thoughts with kinesthetic "ques".  The following statement is typical of what a player in the associative phase would say to himself ... "If I do this, then I can feel my _____ doing ____ which CAUSES _____ to happen!"  The associative phase is characterized by increasing swing skill, but not necessarily by improved scoring.  Errors are reduced in size and in frequency.  Most golfers stay in this stage for almost all of their golf life.  Most golfers in the associative stage are always looking for the "magic move".  Once again, there are no magic moves!  There is only trust in simple fundamentals and better and better execution of the same fundamentals you learned as a beginner.  New learning in this phase is related to individualizing fundamentals to your specific needs (fat, skinny, tall, short, flexible, stiff, strong, less strong), swing accuracy and timing the swing.  Swing accuracy is possible only when beginning fundamentals have been improved and overlearned.  
    To leave the associative stage and enter the autonomous stage, you must be able to execute and coordinate specific movements and checkpoints/positions to the level of skill where trust and confidence dominate your mind.  You have to know you are doing thing right and you must trust yourself to.  That's part one of the problem!  Part two is all the specific positions and movements must be put back together in a smoothly coordinated back and through movement.  When all this is accomplished, you are ready to "play" rather than "work".  All professional golfers play in autonomous state when they are playing up to their skill level.  This means they are not thinking about HOW, but WHERE! 
    Even tour pros fall back into the associative phase when their games are off track.  Playing at your highest level of skill is a matter of controlling your mind. The three "C's" of golf psychology are: composure, confidence and concentration.  The killer question is ... how do you control your mind when you have doubts.  The simple answer is ... you don't!  The trick is to eliminate and to isolate  so you can concentrate.  Elimination is the process of removing fear of failure.  This is pretty hard to do when you know you haven't mastered the skills needed to product.  Isolation means to find the specific kinesthetic que required to produce the results you want to produce.  Finally concentration is the ability to clear the mind and focus on that one specific que to the exclusion of everything else.  
    How do you accomplish all this?  The tried a true way is to use a pre-swing routine.  A pre-swing routine is to a golfer what a hammer is to a carpenter.  A hammer with a broken handle might drive a nail, but it won't do it effectively.  Like your mechanical skills, a pre-swing routine must actually work if it is going to be effective.   We suggest you jump to our Master Pre-Swing Routine online presentation to learn about a routine that has proven itself in the arena of NCAA Division I competition.

The CraftSmith Difference

    Our golf instruction is different from almost all other instruction.  We emphasize the use of the so called "big muscle" swing as opposed the the "hands" style favored in the days of hickory shafts.  Unlike other instruction, we put our own unique flavor to this large concept.  We have worked to find the most fundamental cause and effect relationships and to then carefully develop precise ways to communicate that information to a learner.  Most importantly, we approach the game from what science has taught us about learning and performance.  This means we obey the laws of motor learning science.  This, in turn, means using the appropriate method for the skill level/phase of learning of the client.  We use and teach the use of drills in order to develop knowledge of correct points of performance and create a "feel" for those same points.  Our motto is "Drill them till they drop".  We keep score using the Nestea Plunge scorecard!  NOT really, that was just a joke!

    Some of what we teach will not agree with what you have learned in the past.  For example, "The swing is made from the ground up" is an old saw that is one of the worst things ever taught in golf.  Applying this teaching to your swing will create several potential "timing" problems.  While it is true that at the deepest level of physics, the feet are on the ground and all energy passes through this connection, it is not the most efficient way to execute or learn to swing from the point of view of bio-mechanics and kinesiology.  Other popular, but dead wrong instructions include: keep your head down (very different than looking at the ball), sit on a barstool and lift your left heel.  These dinosaurs are dying, but that continue linger on.

    The legendary teachers of the game, from whom today's teachers got their ideas had no knowledge of sports science.  Because of this deficit, teaching has suffered.  Add on the problem of golf being a traditional game that respects its history, things are slow to change.  Very few of today's teachers are any better prepared to teach from a scientific perspective than were yesterday's teachers.  Generally, academic types don't have the skill or the interest to become "golf pros" so valuable information passes slowly from centers of research to the golf tee.

    One of the things we teach is that the golf swing is not a swing at all, but a "sling".  
In a nutshell, this means the rotation of the shoulders CAUSES a slinging motion in the arms, hands and clubs.  For more information on this go to our online presentation titled Mastery Concepts.  You can click on this hyperlink or you can view it later by going to our FREE Lessons page.

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