The Ultimate Golf Teaching Aid

There aren’t many golfers who don’t aspire to be better.  In fact, are there any?  Of course, some make more of an effort than others to improve – and, perversely, the very best make the greatest effort to get better (I guess that’s why they are the best).

Improvement in golf can take many forms – a tweak to your putting to make more of those nervy short putts; a series of lessons to prepare you for a new season; a routine that finally rids you of that infernal slice; pursuit of a lower handicap, or even a full scale overhaul of your game – however formal or not, we’re all setting ourselves new goals for our game, whatever level we play at.

What does differ, though, are the routes we take to achieving those goals.  On the one hand, we’ve all seen (and perhaps been the recipient of) the amateur golfer giving a fellow player swing tips on the range – a case of the blind leading the blind if ever there was one.  At the other end, I am sure plenty of us have experienced a thrashing at the hands of a friend and their reworked, PGA-Pro-Approved swing.  Who’d have guessed it?  They are suddenly much better than they used to be! Quite a humbling experience, I can tell you.

It goes without saying that opting for the latter of the two options is the best way forward for – I’d contend – everyone.  It’s blindingly obviously a qualified teaching pro is going to do more for you than a well-intentioned mate half-recalling his 1992 David Leadbetter video collection. But It never ceases to amaze me how many people continue to accept advice from a handicap golfer.

What many will also find surprising, however, is the variety on offer even within the PGA pro ranks. There are a plethora of coaching methods, techniques and tools being used.  As an example, there are the legendary teachers, such as the late Bob Torrance, who trust an experienced eye and feel for the player’s ability, over the use of video technology and launch monitors. For Bob Torrance, his ‘old school’ way unquestionably produced success, but there are few with that experience and eye, which is where modern day coaching styles prove their formidable worth.  Technology provides unequivocal evidence and data – there’s no guesswork or debate, it’s staring you in the face.

I recently had the opportunity to experience exactly that, courtesy of a golf lesson with Matt Tyler, a PGA professional golfer based at Sweetwoods Park GC in Kent. I’m sure Matt isn’t alone in making use of the latest tech to teach his students, but Matt is something of a master with the GC2 Monitor, which tracks and measures exactly what the club head is doing through impact. (For the technophobes out there, this is the same piece of equipment they use in the ‘Shot Centre’ on Sky Sports.)

Matt combines the use of the GC2 Monitor with video analysis, which I think all golfers will concur has dramatically improved the quality of coaching in recent years.  In the days before video coaching, you had to rely on your instructor’s eye and take their word for it – video has allowed us all to see very clearly (too clearly!) the errors and, eventually, the improvements.

Essentially, the GC2 technology that Matt uses takes this same principle one step further. It has the ability to measure precisely where the club face meets the ball, on what part of the ball, at what accuracy & speed, and provides detailed numbers and diagrams on angles, positioning, power, and ball flight. This feedback enables Matt to diagnose any problems accurately to his students, and then show the tangible results of improvements that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.

It’s a relief to know that you don’t need to be scared of the technology or concerned that you’re being taught to play like a robot, as that really isn’t the case. After all, it’s not the player’s job to operate the equipment or understand the data it spews out. The equipment’s purpose is to help Matt identify a few problems, strengths and (with any luck) opportunities for improvement. It takes away any doubt or guess work. From the player’s perspective, it’s remarkably simple – you’re still being given a very straightforward lesson, but with the reassuring evidence that what you’re working on is right for you and that you’re making progress.  Visual feedback is so powerful.

Of course, preferred teaching styles will always be subjective – where some players favour traditional analysis and correction (the Bob Torrance way), some prefer a particular philosophy and grooving a swing accordingly (e.g. Stack and Tilt), and others will choose the route of technology.  Every golfer seeking tuition has to find an approach and a coach that is right for them, but I tend to think that a framework such as Matt’s is an example of where golf coaching is heading – embracing the myriad benefits of technology as we do in other areas of our lives. And it’s an area that is bound to move forwards quickly as new technology continues to come to the market.  If only our swings kept evolving at the same rate!

Matt Tyler is the Club Professional at Sweetwoods Golf Club in Kent, and can be contacted on 01342 850729 or emailed at matt.tyler@sweetwoodspark.com.