Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com series where the game’s brightest minds share their tips to help you, well, shave strokes! Today, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Trent Wearner shares five things to consider when looking for a swing coach.
If you’re serious about improving your golf game, it’s essential that you enlist the help of a swing coach. Sure, you can get better just by grinding on your own, but if you want to take your game to the next level, working with an instructor is the way to go.
Going to a swing coach (especially as a beginner) can be intimidating at first, but worry not — instructors exist to help you get better. They dedicate their lives to helping people improve their golf games. The student-teacher relationship is judgment-free.
If you really want to get the most out of your lessons, though, it’s important you find the right coach. And when you’re searching for someone to work with, there are some key points you should keep in mind.
In the list below, Top 100 Teacher Trent Wearner shares five big things to consider when searching for a coach.
5 questions to ask when looking for a coach
The offseason is upon us, but that doesn’t mean you should store your clubs away for the winter. Instead, use this time as an opportunity for improvement. One of the easiest ways to improve is by getting lessons from a swing coach. But before you do so, there are several questions you should ask.
1. How much experience do they have?
Ask how long the coach you’re considering has been coaching full-time. I’d recommend the answer be at least seven years. You can also ask for a resume to see where the person has worked and who he or she has worked under. This may give you some insight as to what you’re about to hear from the coach.
2. Do they teach outdoors?
If a high percentage of your coaching only takes place indoors, then you’re taking yourself further away from where the game is played. In my opinion, you’re putting yourself in a hole that is harder to dig yourself out of. It should go without saying, the game is played outdoors, and you must ultimately learn it outdoors. I’ve had the fortune for over two decades to always be at a golf course facility that also has an indoor studio. I’ve seen people aim well indoors and swing very effectively indoors. But the moment we go outdoors, things are completely different. There’s certainly some value in getting lessons indoors, but ultimately you need to also be learning how to play outdoors. If you only take coaching indoors, you’re shortchanging yourself.
3. How do they communicate?
Just about every respected coach in the country has thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of dollars invested in technology, but you need to find someone who not only can speak your language but someone who can coach you to know how to diagnose your own swing and what to do when the technology is NOT there. When you’re out on the range or course practicing by yourself, you need to understand what is going awry. During a lesson filled with technology, the coach should eventually be quizzing you from the standpoint of if the technology wasn’t here, what would you do more of or less of in the next swing? This is critical to your ability to help yourself and do what all coaches are supposed to be doing, empowering you!
4. Are their students accomplished?
You want to locate a coach who has regular and consistent success with players of your ability level and someone who loves coaching people of your ability level. Any coach can get lucky and hang their hat on one student who has done well, but ideally you want to go see someone with a long track record of success. Reading reviews online could be one helpful way, but also be sure to ask around to see who most people recommend. Above all, look for someone who is honest and has your best interest in mind. If they’re more interested in making a sale of some huge lesson package, I’d find someone who is more interested in passion for your improvement.
5. What is their teaching philosophy?
While the student accomplishments may give you some insight into this, you should look for a philosophy that is flexible. After all, that’s the beauty of coaching. It’s an individual sport, and no two swings are alike. You need someone with loads of experience, which only accumulates after years of coaching, so that their style can be flexible. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach.
