7 Ways To Tell If Your Golf Coach Is Right For You

Tiger and Haney, Korda and Whelan, Faldo and Leadbetter. Golf coaches of players that achieve success rise to stardom in their own right and often become household names. As a coach myself I believe their fame is well deserved, I can only imagine the pressures related to making one wrong tweak to the best golf swings in the world. 

Yet what of the mere mortals who are not competing for a living but would like to lower their handicap, stop coming over the top, or just hit that ball a bit further like their friends. 

They must turn to the real heroes of the golf industry, the humble PGA pro, who can be found at your local golf venue today! Day in and day out they help every level of golfer with every type of issue that can possibly arise from trying to get that small ball in the hole. Finding the right coach for you and your game though…therein lies the rub.

The vast majority of golf coaches are in the industry for the right reasons, they love people, they love golf, and they love helping people to improve. Some however, will not be so good, and no profession is above freedom from critique. 

So much of finding the right coach is about finding someone who suits your learning style. I often compare this search to finding the right hairdresser. Let me help you avoid investing too much time or money on the wrong coach and highlight some of the traits and attributes to look for that suggest you are in a partnership that can help you achieve your goals.

They Greet You Properly

So simple and so important. Being greeted properly will set the tone for your lesson and shows that the coach values you as a client and your time. Don’t get me wrong, as a pro at a driving range I can often find myself with quick turn arounds between lessons, but I will always greet whoever I am teaching with a warm welcome and a smile. If my client is running late, I will get them a tea or coffee to catch their breath and ease into things before starting. 

If you enter your lesson and are made to feel you are rushed or an interruption to that pro’s day, that is a clear sign that they would rather be elsewhere and are not invested in your lesson with them.

They Listen

If your coach doesn’t listen to what you want to achieve or how you are progressing, they won’t be able to relate to you, tailor the lesson, develop trust and most importantly build a meaningful coach/player partnership. 

Yes, coaches are knowledgeable and often experts in certain coaching techniques, but if they are dismissive of what your goals are, or conduct themselves in a way that exudes an ‘I know best attitude’ it’s a one-way track to bad feeling. 

They Compromise

Compromise is essential for developing any great partnership. Making changes to a swing and technique is hard and takes perseverance and time. Years of trial and error as a coach has taught me that compromise is key when coaching any individual. The swings on tour couldn’t demonstrate any more how players have worked with their coaches to find their own individual swings.

So, if you have quirks in your swing that you want to keep and work with, tell your coach. A good coach will give you the opportunity and space to try new things but will listen to your feedback if you think you will be able adopt the suggested swing changes. Knowing you will be listened to will make you more trusting to try new things, it’s a win for both parties. 

They Challenge You

It can’t all be gently, gently and if you find yourself with a coach who never challenges you to try new things you need to find a new coach! Improvement and grit is found when we up the anti and challenge ourselves. 

The sign of a truly great coach though is that they will know when to challenge you and when to take things slightly easier and consolidate, like comedy, timing is everything. 

Golf is a sport of being able to adapt and perform when under pressure, so you have to regularly be challenged to hone those skills. A coach worth their salt will know how to create an environment that will foster creativity and better prepare you for the tough situations you will inevitably find yourself in. 

They Are Realistic

Nothing makes golfers more miserable than believing they are much better than they are and the bigger the gap between how they think they should play and the reality, the unhappier they are. 

Being able to manage expectations is an art form when it comes to handling golfing egos. It takes immense tact and skill to gently tell players that, “No they will not be able to hit it pure and straight every time on two practice sessions a month.” 

“Oh you struggle with bunkers? Well how often do you practice them…oh never” Well I’m no Miss Marple, but I think I can solve this mystery! 

Being realistic with players is not about dashing hopes and dreams, it’s about setting small achievable goals to build motivation and confidence brick by brick. 

Take my terrible at bunkers player as an example. First of all I dispelled the belief they weren’t good at bunkers, because no one is good at things they haven’t practiced. We then set the goal of improving bunker play and being more confident. 

It is the next phase though, that is the most important part of reaching any goals set; it’s the system implemented to work towards the goal. To get better at bunkers I broke down the skill into a 45 minute training session they could practice: 

The final step was to be realistic and specific about when they could get the practice time in and how they could ensure it happened. They chose their days and times and guess who got better at bunkers…

They Are Patient

Have I mentioned how hard golf is yet? I tend to do this at some point in every piece I write about coaching. Golf is ridiculously hard, and yet we all keep showing up obsessed as we are. 

Coaches regularly see players mishit or miss the golf ball completely and get frustrated. But as we now know, in order to improve you have to be challenged and try new and difficult things which will involve a lot of misses. A good coach will understand that the misses are all part of the learning process. So, if you ever see any hint of an eye roll or huffs and puffs, do not give that coach your hard earned money. 

You Look Forward To Seeing Them

This is one of the most significant for me. It’s not about being friends with your coach, a professional relationship is important to ensure you always make the most of your time together. However, if you see that lesson in your diary and are filled with dread rather than excitement, cancel that lesson! 

Yes, you should find it challenging and a good golfing workout, but it should be something to look forward to. Playing golf is where you choose to spend your precious leisure time and therefore should be fun! Life is far too short to spend with people who don’t lift you up. So be choosy and particular with who you work with to get better at the game you love. 

Hopefully this list has given you some points to consider when thinking about your current coach, or if you are looking for a new one. My parting thought is, it’s definitely worth the time and effort of finding the right one for you. Golf can feel like a lonesome pursuit at times, but no one else will share the highs and lows of this crazy game like a trusted coach.