Brad Pluth is the PGA director of instruction at Inside Edge Golf and Halla Greens in Chanhassen, Minn.

Brad Pluth on the importance of supervising group practice sessions on the range:
We’ve added supervised practice sessions to all private lessons as part of our teaching programs at Inside Edge Golf and Halla Greens. These sessions take place on the range and, rather than the one-on-one nature of lessons, we open them up to small groups of eight students or so. We divided the 45 minute sessions into three equal parts: putting, short game and full swing. Before the students practice each area of the game, we start with a couple minutes of discussion on what we would like to see them work on that day. While they are practicing, I take notes on what they did well and how they could have done better so that they are thinking of these things the next time. I think it’s important to supervise these practice sessions so that we can make sure they are working on the right things between lessons. This ensures they aren’t developing bad habits when working on their own.

Brad Pluth on the business impact of supervising group practice sessions on the range:
We promote the practice sessions and private lessons as a two-for-one charge of $100 for a combination of a lesson and practice session, and other instructors at our facility charge between $60-$75, including range balls. I also open the practice sessions up to students who don’t take private lessons. We charge $30 for one session, $99 for five and $175 for a month. In total, we have nearly 350 juniors and 200 adults who participate in the practice sessions. This is obviously a nice revenue stream, and it also ensures repeat business for lessons and traffic on the range.