Virginia Golfer November/December 2024 November/December 2024 | Page 36

Instruction

Context-Driven Coaching

Finding ( and Being ) Your Best Coach

by ROB FAILES , PGA - Player Development Leader at Birdwood Golf at Boar ’ s Head Resort and ERIC LAYTON , PGA - Director of Golf Instruction at The Country Club of Virginia

Think of your golf game as a company you get to own and operate . Starting up , several key questions arise in order to provide context for all ensuing business ventures :

• Why are you in business ?
• Where is the business currently and where would you like it to be ?
• What resources are available to allocate toward achieving your vision ?
• How are you going to invest and establish behaviors in alignment with the company ’ s mission and values ?
While seemingly obvious and commonplace when starting a business , you ’ d be surprised how few golfers apply such questions to their golf games . The Golf Intervention Podcast was born for this exact reason .
Too often , we ’ d see golfers undermine their own progress by not using the answers to such questions as a lens through which to consume and filter ideas and information . Such golfers would often search social media platforms for generic quick tips and fixes from well-known ( and well-meaning ) coaches , with little to no context behind the search . The result would be confusion , frustration and a trap-loop of thinking the forever fix is always just one swipe away , while never actually shifting behaviors .
Our hope is that The Golf Intervention helps golfers ( and coaches ) build their own best lens through which they can filter and bring clarity to the seemingly endless sea of information . In golf specifically , those key contextual questions are as follows :
• Why do you play ?
• Where is your game currently and where would you like to be ?
• What resources ( time , money , attention , etc .) do you have to allocate toward getting there ? Based on the answers above , the final question then becomes : How are you going
to invest said resources and establish behaviors accordingly ?
Here are a few key concepts we discuss on the show in terms of how to answer the “ how ” question .
UNDERSTAND THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO IMPROVE IN FOUR CATEGORIES : Score , Shot , Skill and Swing ( as well as the cost / benefit of pursuing each option ).
Score Develop more productive and relevant performance , or Score , goals and training environments . While not directly controllable , performance outcomes can provide a valuable roadmap to guide shot processes . When putting , for example , the goal of stopping as close to the hole as possible ( lagging ) requires different distance and direction intentions relative to the goal of
ROB FAILES
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