Instruction
Is golf instruction different for better golfers?
I have been fortunate during my many decades as a golf instructor to have worked with some very good golfers: collegiate golfers, state open champions, mini-tour players and even a few players who have competed on the golf’s grandest stage, the PGA Tour.
[quote_box_center]It must be different teaching golfers who have won tournaments at the highest level… way different than teaching average golfers, right?[/quote_box_center]
I’m often asked that question, and my is always, “No, it’s not.” There really is no difference, other than the respective skills sets of better players. That’s because the way the best teachers approach their students doesn’t hinge on their skills, but rather their personality and learning style.
There’s really only three things I’m focused on as a golf instructor:
- The club face has to be relatively square.
- The attack angle has to be sufficiently steep or shallow, depending on the club and the shot.
- The club path needs to correspond to the club face angle.
There are million different ways teachers can help golfers achieve those things, but those three things are all there is in golf.
I read so many comments that suggest certain tips are for the pros, and others are for beginners. For those of you who believe that, try coming with me to the lesson tee where you’ll see me teach students with handicaps that can range from +4 to 24. With each of them, you’ll find me working to correct the club face angle, the club path and the angle of attack. How I do it is of no consequence as long as the student understands what I’m asking them to do.
Last week, I taught a club champion and a 28-handicap golfer in back-to-back lessons. Both suffered from what I call a “hang back,” which occurs when the weight stays too much on the rear foot into impact and creates a shallow attack angle. Yes, the two golfers had different degrees of the problem, and there was a vast difference in how much the two golfers “hung back” and how shallow they were at impact. Their problems were essentially the same, however, and to help them I had to move the bottom of their swing arcs forward while getting more of their weight over the ball with some degree of forward tilt to the shaft at impact.
As I stated earlier, the method or style of delivery of the correction to these students will vary greatly, not by skill level, but by learning style and personalty. That’s because the actual information, while potentially complicated and detailed, is ultimately finite. It is quantifiable.
My job as a golf instructor is to take all the information I have learned in my 50 years as a golfer and 32 years as a golf instructor and deliver it as simply as possible in a way golfers will understand. To paraphrase a famous quote, every golf instructor should “strive to know golf in its complexity, and teach it in its simplicity.”
If I’m giving a lesson to an engineer at 9 a.m. and an artist at 10 a.m., I better change my approach to best deliver the requisite info. It doesn’t matter if one of my students is a scratch and the other is a 10 handicap. I have to solve their problem the same way I solve all golfers’ problems by asking myself:
- What is the ball doing?
- What is the club doing to the ball?
- What is the golfer doing to the club?
I would never suggest a change in setup or swing to a student based on a theory, a method, a system or, worst of all, because something “doesn’t look right.” My instruction is empirical and practical, whether I’m working with a pro or a beginner. Clearly, better athletes and more skilled golfers may be able to execute swing changes more easily, but that does not change the information itself.
Technical information is somehow perceived as a “higher level” of teaching. In this, the 3-D radar era, we are surely more capable of verifying what we see and how we may go about correcting it. Don’t think for even for a minute, however, that a highly skilled golfer is getting a better lesson or a more dedicated one than the newbie. And believe me, they suffer from the same problems.
Where’s Dennis now? Usually I give lessons at my academy in Naples, Fla., but for the next six weeks I’m teaching at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Penn. To book a lesson, contact me on my Facebook page or through my website.
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
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Andrew Cooper
Sep 23, 2015 at 7:21 am
Great stuff Dennis. Ultimately it’s just applying the club to the ball to achieve a desired result- the best players are very good at that, lesser players less so. The pros aren’t super human or have “the secret”-simply a lot of work mixed with athletic ability/sense. There’s no great mystery to it. The ultimate judge of the swing is the flight of the ball.
christian
Sep 23, 2015 at 5:25 am
I’d say the average PGA tour pro doesn’t need to be taught how to grip a club, correct posture, how to stay balanced, how to move your weight during the swing, how to turn…Plus a number of other things a beginner needs to be taught. So I’d say there must be a pretty damn HUGE difference in teaching a beginner and a tour/Major winner. With a pro I would guess it’s mostly fine tuning details, with a beginner it starts with “here is how to hold a club”. Yeah, no real difference at all, clearly
Gary Gutful
Sep 23, 2015 at 1:24 pm
He is talking about the process that he goes through and how that process remains the same irrespective of handicap. That process might lead to a change in grip, posture etc in some players while in others it might not. #Process
Dennis Clark
Sep 24, 2015 at 6:34 pm
Have you taught many pros or amateurs?
jdub
Sep 18, 2015 at 8:07 pm
I think the best time for a student to take lessons is the second they decide to start playing golf. All the things mentioned above are great and those 3 keys that Dennis mentioned are absolutely vital to swinging the club correctly. BUT in my opinion if every golfer got a few basic lessons early on these things would be so much easier to teach. I think a lot of problems that poor golfers face start with the basic fundamentals of the golf swing such as grip, posture, setup, stance which move into backswing and downswing which finish with impact. All three keys Denis mentioned happen during the downswing or at impact and beyond.
How many players do you see that simply cannot and will not ever be able to get into good positions on the way down, at impact and do so with consistency and repeatability simply because they are in such poor positions are setup with a bad grip.
If all brand new golfers were taught a neutral grip and a solid athletic posture as well as how to align themselves and the club face these 3 keys Dennis mentions would be much, much easier. So many golfers spend years doing all these basic things incorrectly and have beaten bad habits into their natural move that it takes so long for them to get comfortable doing things correctly.
Teaching a brand new golfer a neutral grip is simple because there is no expectation that early so they have nothing to revert back to just to hit decent shots and the same thing can be said for posture, stance, setup and alignment.
Instructors– think about how much easier your job would be if all golfers were taught these basics before they spent 2 years at a driving range by themselves with poor fundamentals. Dennis, think how much easier controlling someones face, path, the relationship between the two AND the angle of attack if their natural alignment was actually solid and they had a neutral grip. Those things become so hard to teach that 24 handicap when he’s spent 10 years slicing the ball so he naturally reverts back to aiming left or producing a grip thats so strong you can’t even see his right thumb.
Lessons are for for beginners!!!
Dennis Clark
Sep 24, 2015 at 6:36 pm
Very true. Hitting balls for most people is exercise. It is not practicing golf. They are simply grooving bad habits
Pete
Sep 18, 2015 at 5:09 pm
Good read!
I heard the same from an ET players’ coach. The pros practice and fight the same problems as we high or low handicappers do.
What I think would make a huge difference, is that golf teaching shouldn’t be so golf spesific. Some people have been playing racket games, hockey or baseball since childhood. They know how to swing a club sometimes even better than the golf instructor. The same fundamentals apply in throwing. Actually the motion in tennis serve is exactly the same as in golf swing. The direction, where the club is going is the only difference in the big picture.
Steve
Sep 18, 2015 at 4:49 pm
Ugg
Dennis Clark
Sep 18, 2015 at 1:16 pm
Steve, Thx for your interest in my work. I appreciate the following. The point I am making here is this: Shallow is shallow, steep is steep etc…The problems are no different, just the degree varies greatly with the skill level. For example, IMO, Tiger does not turn through the golf ball like he once did causing him to get under and stuck. I had a fella this morning with the SAME problem, but of course had to go about the correction quite differently. Of course I’ll never get the level of Turn through of an professional, but I do need to go in that SAME direction. Thx again DC
juststeve
Sep 18, 2015 at 10:37 am
Dennis:
I follow your posts with great interest and usually agree with what you write. This time however I think you have shanked it. There is no question that all golfers, from the best to the worst need to strike the ball with a proper angle of attack, a path toward the target and a club face square to path. That’s a matter of physics and geometry. How to achieve that impact is what the student wants from the teacher. To try to get a 12 handicap middle age fellow who sits behind the desk all day to swing the club like Tiger in his prime is folly. They are different in almost all relevant respects, and need to be taught different things. That at least is my opinion.
Steve
devilsadvocate
Sep 18, 2015 at 12:27 pm
Spoken like someone who doesn’t teach golf for a living…. Not that there is anything wrong with that other than ignorance . I’m sure u are a good guy and all but if your reading comprehension is up to par i believe you shanked your comment…. Fore!
alexdub
Sep 18, 2015 at 4:16 pm
x2 devilsadvocate… Steve shanked it.
The article said the exact opposite of what you commented. I believe Dennis is saying that there are universal principles that overlap all golfers, but they must be applied in a unique way to each individual golfer.
juststeve
Sep 18, 2015 at 5:21 pm
If that is what Dennis was saying then we are in complete agreement.
Dennis Clark
Sep 18, 2015 at 6:30 pm
Spot on that’s exactly what Dennis is saying.
other paul
Sep 18, 2015 at 11:09 pm
Hey Steve, I am a middle age guy trying to do tigers swing from his prime. Or at least some thing between woods, bubba, and sadlowski. And it isn’t that hard. Once you know the body movements. Swing speed has gone up from 97 to 114 (measured last night).
other paul
Sep 17, 2015 at 8:31 pm
My last golf lesson involves the instructor telling me my face was shut at impact. He gave me the video and let me figure it out. I tinkered all summer and eventually figured out that my upper body was staying to closed at impact. When I opened my body more the face opened as well. Voila. Straight shots. Thank the Lord. I fought with that for a while. Now I have a push draw. And love it.
Gary Gutful
Sep 23, 2015 at 1:30 pm
Lazy sod of an instructor. Did you ask for your money back?
Alex
Sep 17, 2015 at 4:15 pm
Cool article Dennis.
Great idea of checking on the student’s personality for better teaching. I’ve played golf since I was a kid and I like teachers who don’t go with a lot of theory when correcting the swing. I like “feeling” and positions. But some guys I know want to know almost the physics of the swing while taking their lesson. I guess a good teacher should cater for both types of students.