Where should the beginner start? How should they start? I think there are many answers to these questions. What process does the teacher believe will get the beginner to get better the fastest?
For me, in the first lesson with someone that has never held a golf club before, I will ask if they have played any other stick and ball sport. If not, I ask what else do they do for fun. Do you play an instrument, draw, or work on crosswords? All of these questions are designed to give me an idea of how they like their information or how they might approach problems. I also always ask, “Are you the kind of person that likes to know why things work the way they work, or just tell me how to do it, or both?”
Skipping a couple steps like grip and other set-up things, let’s talk about swinging. How do you teach someone how to learn the swing? Do you start at impact? Do you start somewhere else?
I make the decision after I see them do what comes naturally. Usually, I try to teach them a combination of what impact should be like and how to learn how to feel the clubhead and clubface. Most beginners need to learn how to learn the golf swing. I strive for freedom, rotation and speed. If those things are going well, I move onto impact shape.
It is constantly in flux and can change based on the natural talents of the student. I need to let them be who they are and let their swing speak to that.
It’s amazing after taking only a couple swings ever, when you ask a beginner to reroute something, they can say that feels weird or unnatural. This, coming from a person that only knows natural. Use this tendency to its fullest because it is a strong sensation that will stay with them forever.
There is so much information that a beginner needs. If they do any of it naturally, let them know. Tell them, show them what they are doing. They will be the most maleable in the beginning and if you can start them off right, the future will go wherever their desire and talent can take them.
