Get to Know Your Pro… Jim Sykes, PGA Assistant Professional at Deer Creek

Get to Know Your Pro…

This series of articles will allow you to gain an insight into the Landings Golf Professional Staff’s teaching styles, training preferences and tips.

JIM SYKES,  PGA Assistant Professional at Deer Creek

What is your favorite part of the game to practice:

My favorite area to practice is my mid-short irons (if you can make it from the fairway, you can help your putting stats).

What is the part of your game that needs the most attention:

The area of my game that needs the most practice is driving. While I may be able to hit it far, I'd like to gain more control.

What is the one way a student can practice better?

One way a student can practice better is by making it challenging and purposeful rather than going to the range and just hitting balls. Having to hit a variety of shots with the same club to different targets and different yardages can be very beneficial. It's not often that you get to hit a "stock" shot on the golf course.

List your top 3 teaching specialties or favorite skills to teach:

1. Short Game (Chipping, Pitching, Bunkers)

2. Long Game (Drivers)

3. Irons

What are your preferred training tools or technology?

I try and keep my training aids simple and easily accessible to everyone. I love using tees and an alignment stick.

What percentage are you teaching a new concept to a student and what percentage are you coaching that student? 

I like to teach 50% of the time and coach 50% of the time. A lot of people are able to understand the concept of the swing, so they just need positive reinforcement to gain confidence.

What are your goals as a teacher and coach?

My goals for teaching/coaching are to make it fun. Whether I'm teaching a young beginner golfer or an advanced golfer, I want them to be able to enjoy the game. Most importantly I want to help grow the game and make it accessible to everyone that wants to give it a try.

Get to Know Your Pro... Mike Morgan, PGA Head Professional at Oakridge

Get to Know Your Pro…

This series of articles will allow you to gain an insight into the Landings Golf Professional Staff’s teaching styles, training preferences and tips.

MIKE MORGAN,  PGA Head Professional at Oakridge

What is your favorite part of the game to practice:

My favorite part of the game to practice is shots from 25-75 yards. I have great memories of playing games with my friends trying to get up and down from difficult situations around the green. We would place balls behind trees, in divots, stick a flagstick 2 feet behind a bunker, etc.  My skills and love of the game grew because we made practice FUN and challenging. 

What is the part of your game that needs the most attention:

I need the most practice at staying in the moment. There have been numerous rounds where I get 2 or 3 under par and begin thinking about shooting 64 or 65. I need the most practice at thinking about the current shot, not about the reachable par 5 I have on the next hole. 

What is the one way a student can practice better?

To improve practice, one can play games, simulate course situations and add pressure to the shot. Otherwise, practice will instead just be a way to get exercise or enjoy the outdoors.

List your top 3 teaching specialties or favorite skills to teach:

My top 3 specialties/favorites are putting, bunkers/wedges and full swing, in that order.

What are your preferred training tools or technology?

My preferred training aids are the laser alignment aid for putting, tour sticks, impact bag and video (when appropriate).

What percentage are you teaching a new concept to a student and what percentage are you coaching that student? 

This depends on the player. If he or she is a beginner, then over 90% of a lesson might be spent teaching a new concept. A lesson with a  lower handicapper would be more like 10% of the time is spent on a new concept while 90% would be spent on coaching.

What are your goals as a teacher and coach?

My goals as a teacher/coach are to help the golfer reach their goals, improve their game and enjoy their time on the range and course.

Get to Know Your Pro... Mike McNutt, PGA Head Professional at Marshwood

Get to Know Your Pro…

This series of articles will allow you to gain an insight into the Landings Golf Professional Staff’s teaching styles, training preferences and tips.

MIKE McNUTT,  PGA Head Professional at Marshwood

What is your favorite part of the game to practice:

I like practicing pitching the most.

What is the part of your game that needs the most attention:

Most of my attention goes to my full swing irons.

What is the one way a student can practice better?

Practice in shorter time frames but more often, like three 20-minute sessions instead of one or two hour sessions. Smaller bits of repeated information is better for learning and skill acquisition.

List your top 3 teaching specialties or favorite skills to teach:

My 3 favorite areas to teach are pitching, putting and driving, in that order. The fastest way to improve your score is by working on short game and putting. One can hit the ball well or not-so-well, but in play… either way, less putts equals a lower score!

What are your preferred training tools or technology?

I like working with Ipad video feedback and a yellow noodle to help guide swing path.

What percentage are you teaching a new concept to a student and what percentage are you coaching that student? 

I teach 70% when introducing a new concept. On-course lessons are really fun because it’s easier to be more of a coach. Even the best players in the world have a coach. Some have both a teacher and also a practice coach!

What are your goals as a teacher and coach?

Easy, I want a player to hit more good shots than bad shots!

Get to Know Your Pro... Nicole Weller, PGA Head Teaching Professional at Deer Creek

Get to Know Your Pro…

This series of articles will allow you to gain an insight into the Landings Club's Golf Professional Staff’s teaching styles, training preferences and tips.

Nicole Weller, PGA Head Teaching Professional at Deer Creek

What is your favorite part of the game to practice:

I like practicing mid irons with a pre-shot routine, wedges and hybrids.

What is the part of your game that needs the most attention:

As my body and swing change over the years, I need to maintain flexibility in my left hip to stay in posture. A tight/sore left hip create a change in posture that results in toed-shots that draw and I like to fade the ball. The ability to create center contact with a slightly open clubface is my main goal. Second would be putting. I get some great results on the practice green but they don’t hold up as much as I’d like on the course… back to more practice!

What is the one way a student can practice better?

Stick to one goal that is measurable. Vary the percentages of blocked practice (repetitive practice) when developing a skill and then random practice for applying that skill on the range. Most golfers think they get an idea after blocked practice only to find that it doesn't hold up on the course because they haven’t transferred practice or practiced under pressure or play conditions. Read Easier Said than Done by Dr. Rick Jensen.

List your top 3 teaching specialties or favorite skills to teach:

My 3 favorite areas are working with the Mental Golf Profile (mental game), short game and on-course strategies. While I really love it all, I’m very partial to our Get Golf Ready programs introducing new people to the game and also teaching youngsters ages 2-6. 

What are your preferred training tools or technology?

I love working with any training tool that helps a student get it, whether visual, auditory or kinesthetic. I use many different systems because I never know what will work, plus it’s fun for me to keep learning as well!  Eyeline Golf Putting & Short Game (Ball of Steel, Mirror/Track, Landing Rings, Track Circles), Teach N Towel, Tour Tempo Bluetooth, video, Slapstick, US Kids Golf Speed Sticks and Tempo/Speed Radar, TAG Teach, ParKit Games, SNAG, Birdie Ball, Star Putter, 3-D feedback, AimPoint, Spray Paint…..

What percentage are you teaching a new concept to a student and what percentage are you coaching that student? 

Over the past few years, I find that I teach maybe 40% of the time and coach 60% of the time, hence more emphasis on my Coach & Train series, Practice with a Purpose and discussions on HOW to practice what one is developing. 

What are your goals as a teacher and coach?

I strive to educate golfers and enhance lives and golf experiences. I help a student attain a goal that is agreed on or discussed to make sure it’s realistic. I’m a Socratic teacher, helping the student become self-sufficient in observing, learning, evaluating and adjusting. My hope is that people will learn a lot about themselves through golf and find ways to better both their life experience and their game.

Get to Know Your Pro... Jason Griswold, PGA Professional managing TLC Tournaments and Handicapping/Chelsea Tee Time Systems

This series of articles will allow you to gain an insight into the Landings Golf Professional Staff’s teaching styles, training preferences and tips.

JASON GRISWOLD, PGA Professional managing TLC Tournaments and Handicapping/Chelsea Tee Time Systems

What is your favorite part of the game to practice?

My favorite part of the game to practice is chipping and pitching. I find when I do not play for a while I lose the feel around the greens. Nothing is more frustrating than when I come off the course and have a less than desired outcome, I look back and calculate that I added a bunch of strokes to my round around the greens. Getting “the feel” back with a practice session takes pressure off the rest of my game as I am confident I can get the ball up and down around the green, even when ball striking leaves something to be desired.

What is the part of your game that needs the most attention?

Putting. I have never been a great putter and I can lose confidence quickly. Like most, I have tried every putter and every way to putt. I now have an anchored belly putter style and it works when I practice, just my luck.

What is the one way a student can practice better?

Like many teachers preach, make every ball count or mean something. Play games against a spouse or a friend. Challenge yourself to make a certain shot or to hit a certain amount of balls onto a practice green or near a particular flagstick. Use your imagination. I recently heard a story about Ben Hogan never hitting more than 20 balls at one time without taking a break in between.

List your top 3 teaching specialties or favorite skills to teach:

My top 3 specialties are: course management, iron play and chipping/pitching.

What are your preferred training tools or technology?

I like using a flight monitor. It will give you spin rate, ball speed and distance. You see these devices getting smaller and more advanced rapidly. Pretty soon there will be “an app for that”. For putting, I like using the Eye-Line. The Eye-Line mirror gives you a visual of where you are over the ball and the rails and lines give you instant feedback on identifying the deficiencies in your stroke. I also like to get the player on video and let the student see what their swing looks like which gives the student the opportunity to critique their own swing. It is funny when a student who thinks “I don’t do that” is flabbergasted when they see what they actually do on the screen.

What percentage are you teaching a new concept to a student and what percentage are you coaching that student? 

85% of the time I am coaching a student. We can work a new concept on plane or path, etc. but when the student finally “gets it” and hits the shot or makes the move we are looking for, “we know it is in there” then I become a coach. This is a game of inches, the 6 inches between your ears. Confidence plays a large role in this game. I believe in the student and I strive to help them to see that belief within themselves.

What are your goals as a teacher and coach?

My goal as a teacher/coach is to get that player to meet the objectives that we set prior to the lesson. What are we trying to achieve? A majority of the time the student will take one step back and then eventually take two steps forward. I particularly enjoy the phone call or the conversation that comes after the lesson saying "everything that you taught me worked today and I shot x today." I certainly enjoy the hugs or high fives I get during and especially after the lesson.