The following content is an actual lesson plan that I created after a lesson with a current student. As you can see, I take video and still analysis of all parts our lessons and give a thorough breakdown on each area to work on. With each lesson, I create a new lesson plan and send it to my students via email.
The most important fundamental! I start with everyone’s grip to help set students on a path to good golf. I provide personal coaching on the grip as well as other resources and training tools to reinforce my points. I want students to understand what a good grip is and why it’s important. I also send students pictures of their grip before/after that they can use to help to work on and make the appropriate changes.
Here is an example of recent work I did on a students grip:
Most people have misconceptions on alignment. During a lesson I will explain what good alignment is and how to practice it. I then follow up with pictures as well as other resources to help students make the change to better alignment. The goal is to build a habit of good alignment. At every professional and high level amateur golf event you will see players practicing with alignment tools. These are highly accomplished players that continue to practice and reinforce good alignment. I encourage all of students to practice in this fashion.
Here’s a before/after example of a lesson on alignment:grip:
When we “begin with the end in mind” the concept is to commit your movements to a good balanced finish position facing the target. This simple method helps all golfers achieve results as golf truly is a game of misses. During a lesson I explain this and point to the great Ben Hogan who was quoted as saying he only hit two perfect shots in a round. The best way I know to get the most out of your mishits is to have a good grip and good alignment to your target then just practice finishing the swing posing in balance facing the target.
Here’s an example of how I trained a student on this fundamental. I provided follow up before/after pictures which enhanced the learning process. If “a picture tells a thousand words” I suggest even non golfers can easily see the golfer on the right is much better.
Perhaps the most important part of the game yet least practiced is putting. I like to spend time working on basic fundamentals for good putting and help students understand how to practice. As with the full swing and all shots for that matter, finishing properly is a key to consistency and results. I use many different tools and practice drills when coaching students as well as video analysis. I then provide students before/after pictures to help them improve.
Below is an example of a student who was very reactionary when putting, quickly coming up out of the stroke after hitting a putt. We worked on building a habit of a solid finish position allowing only the head to turn to see results after striking a putt. Using pictures help students clearly see the difference and make it easier to put the work in to building good fundamental habits.
BTW- This student just broke 80 for the first time shooting 77 on a championship course!
