Providing instant feedback to help your students ingrain a reliable and course-ready swing, even when you’re not by their side
Mike Bender, the 2009 PGA Teacher of the Year, has a reputation for being a constant thinker and creative teacher with a sharp eye. Consistently ranked as a Golf Magazine Top-100 Instructor over the last decade, Bender’s vast experience allowed him to develop the BenderStik – a portable, easy-to-use training aid focused on establishing a consistent golf swing.
Whether you’re seeking to help your students eliminate head movement, hip sway or the dreaded “chicken-wing,” the BenderStik can help by providing immediate feedback.
In addition, it functions as tool to help with the take away, down swing, shoulder turn and hip rotation. As Bender states: “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.” Let’s take a closer look at how some of Bender’s PGA Professional peers are utilizing the popular training aid.
Fixing a variety of flaws through professional diagnosis and repeated practice
David Roesch, PGA Teaching Professional, Storm’s Driving Range, Brookfield, Wisconsin
David Roesch, a PGA teaching professional at Storm’s Driving Range in Brookfield, Wisconsin, appreciates the multiple usages of the BenderStik. “What I love about the BenderStik is how versatile the training aid is. Not only does it work for all ages, genders and heights, but it also gives you the ability to work on several key components like: set up, swing plane, head movement and alignment,” says Roesch. “On top of that, the BenderStik is extremely portable as professionals and amateurs can easily travel with it in their bag. Once a user is ready to teach or practice, all the BenderStik requires is a stand or to be inserted in the ground.”
As stated on Bender’s website, very few people have the ability to pick up a golf club for the first time and swing it correctly and efficiently. In order to make changes and improvements to a golf swing, teachers must disrupt the student’s familiar movements. Once that’s accomplished, you can send them off to practice using your guidance. The BenderStik makes continuous teaching easier.
“The BenderStik can be manipulated or adjusted to help correct a variety of swing flaws. That’s why it’s so important for the instructor to introduce the aid to the student, so they’re working on the proper motions to improve their swing,” says Roesch. “You don’t want to send your students out to the range with the BenderStik without showing them how to properly set the aid to best benefit their individual needs. From there, they can use it to practice the correct motion on their own. Encouraging them to use the BenderStik during solo practice sessions can really help them develop a more rooted and dependable golf swing.”
Practicing with feedback
Tim Fleming, PGA Head Professional, Oklahoma City (Oklahoma) Golf & Country Club
Tim Fleming, the PGA head professional at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, calls the BenderStik an “ingenious product in regards to feedback.”
“I can adjust the BenderStik any which way, in any position to help any golfer – right or left handed. Instantly we have safe and immediate feedback,” says Fleming. “From a coach’s standpoint, the BenderStik is extremely durable, flexible, long lasting and information is produced instantaneously.”
Perfect Practice
When Mike Bender created the BenderStik, he envisioned a training aid that would allow him to be by his students’ side, even when he wasn’t physically there. For instructors, it offers a way for your students continue practicing the motions and principles you communicate to them long after they’ve left the lessons tee. Students who have the strongest commitment to practice will see the greatest results from this versatile aid. To reiterate one of Bender’s favorites sayings: “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.”
