My Oldest and Favorite Teaching Aid
During my school holidays as a kid, I used to work in the St. Andrew Golf Company in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. They made some of the finest persimmon woods and forged irons in the world. From an early age, I was shown how to assemble, adjust, and repair clubs of all types and sizes.
When I started teaching, one of my teaching aids was a club I had assembled from that factory. That teaching aid is now 39 years old from origin. You can all copy it (some of you may already use one), and no patent is required. Cost – approximately £5-£10 to make. Cut down any iron to a length of approximately 24”, apply a grip to suit – ladies, gents, or juniors – noting that extra tape is required, tapered to suit the club used as the shaft is now narrower.
Now, we can swing at home, swing at the office, swing as the kettle boils, swing when you can’t get to the range, swing when the kids are out playing, swing while the joint roasts, swing while your husband/wife is at the golf course, and almost at any time you have that free moment to swing.
During my early teaching years, whilst some of my group were warming up, I would often hear one of the group say, “I have forgotten how to hold the club.” This highlights how difficult the work of a teaching professional can be. If our student has never seen or held a club since their last lesson, no matter how good we are, we may be back at square one, even repeating the last lesson! I believe this to be the cardinal sin. We should be able to recap, reassure, reaffirm, use some repetition, but never a repeat lesson.
The small club solves all this. For example, all my beginners’ packages include the small club in the price. No excuses, as it can fit in any room in the house, unobtrusively (mind the kids), fits in your suitcase, take it to the office, anywhere you can swing without breaking the chandeliers, without damaging the imitation Claret Jug on the sideboard (until the real one comes along). Success, unless you live in a doll’s house; it can be used anywhere.
Drills
Hold the club in the target hand, hinge the wrist, then hold the club at chin height (club pointing upwards), target arm should still be long. If not, target hand is in the wrong position. Place non-target hand on at chin height, and now we can see what a good hold (grip) looks like. Notice the wrist hinge (leverage).
Assume the address position, swing halfway back until the hands are at pocket-height with the shaft of the club parallel to the ground (no hinge), hold this position, then swivel your head. Now, check the angle of the clubhead, check that the clubhead is outside the hands, target arm is long, etc.
Now swing halfway back where target arm will be parallel to the ground and the wrist hinge is complete, then swivel your head. Now, check the angle of the back of the target hand, clubface angle, shaft angle, etc.
As teaching professionals, you will have many drills that you can use for all parts of the swing with the small club. I have explained the many benefits of the small club. It is lighter, more manageable, and, by swiveling the head, the body shape does not change halfway back as it possibly could, and does, with a longer club.
By introducing this teaching aid to your students, they will see many benefits and you will see improved progress, and, most important, the student will see their improvements. Remember, it is not what we teach, but how we teach it.
