President’s Message: Knowing the Difference
In establishing the new USGTF’s coaching division, the World Golf Coaches Alliance, I have to say that my knowledge of genuinely helping golfers has increased exponentially. That’s because we’ve had specialists in all the various fields of coaching golf come to the production studio at our office to share with us their specific knowledge through the creation of instructional videos.
This includes subjects like golf psychology and sports psychology in general, training for mental toughness, nutrition, biomechanics, coaching at the high school level, coaching at the collegiate level, coaching at the professional level, and coaching at the national team level. And of course, being privy to all of this great information has to eventually rub off…even on an old broken-down teaching pro!
Here is a little history in establishing the WGCA: The first thing we had to do was to define what a golf coach was. Now, you might think that this would be easy, but we had to put some thought into it. Nothing on the Internet, no major golf organizations, or even individuals who had taught for years seemed truly able to clearly define the term “golf
coach.” As an example, Tiger’s coach Sean Foley, who was recently interviewed by Charlie Rose on national television, was asked specifically what the difference was between a golf teacher and a golf coach. Foley replied, “I teach kids and I coach adults.” Now, I’m sure Sean is certainly a bright individual, but in this case, he missed a great opportunity to give
a clear definition of his particular trade. Greg Norman, recently interviewed on Golf Channel, was asked exactly the same question. His reply was that “there is a big difference between a golf teacher and a golf coach. A teacher gives you the specifics and a coach helps you round everything out.” So, if we define a golf coach as “someone who helps you round everything out,” it still leaves some major uncertainty as to the true meaning of the term. And, these definitions come from a very prominent golf coach and a very prominent player. So naturally, the question continues to surface. Not long ago at the Mizuno headquarters in Tokyo, I was asked this same question by CEO and president Mr. Akito Mizuno.
Fortunately, because we had already established a clear definition, the timing was right for my reply: “A golf teacher helps golfers with the mechanics of the swing, and a golf coach helps those who compete at golf.” I went on to say that both the teacher and the coach do have certain things in common, mostly a good understanding of the mechanics and the fact that both are great ambassadors for the game, but it is the element of competition that separates the two. A golf coach needs to know more about all of the subjects mentioned earlier in the creation of our online videos, whereas in the training of a golf teacher, these elements are not necessarily relevant. Mr. Mizuno stated that this was a question he has
posed frequently, and not until now has he truly understood the difference.
We chose the name World Golf Coaches Alliance because of our existing infrastructure worldwide and our two trademarked slogans that further define our mission: “Helping Those Who Compete at Golf” and “Every Competitive Golfer Deserves a Certified Coach.” And of course, the essential reason that we established a coaches division was that, as the game continues to evolve worldwide, more people are aspiring to play competitive golf. There is now more money to win and more tournaments than ever before played globally and as a golf teaching organization, we would be remiss if we did not provide specific training in this particular field.
Interestingly, irrespective of the evolution of the game, the PGAs of America and Great Britain provide no specific training or certification at all in the field of golf coaching. True to our tradition, however, no organization provides more up-to-date information on teaching and coaching than the USGTF and the newly formed World Golf Coaches Alliance. And, all the articles that we now create for golf coaches, as well as the online training that we provide, are innovative and revolutionary to the profession.
As we celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, it’s important that we continue our innovative ways. Twenty-five years ago, we changed the world of golf instruction by making it a separate entity unto itself, and today we continue to break new ground. Whatever the future holds in golf instruction and coaching, you can be sure the USGTF and its members will be doing their part to make this a better game for all.
