Tony Allen, the 2023 Southern Texas PGA Section Harvey Penick Teacher of the Year, is the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Meadowbrook Farms Golf Club in Katy, Texas.
Tony Allen on the importance of focusing on five coaching fundamentals from the start:
Having developed my teaching and coaching philosophies over the years, I believe there are five fundamentals that professionals consistently employ, which are often overlooked in the everyday golfer’s (whether beginner, intermediate, or advanced) player development process. They are: grip, stance, posture, alignment and spine angle. If a golfer has these elements soundly in his or her setup, the swing is not only easier to produce, but it’s more consistent. I have students who have pursued game improvement coaching elsewhere, and these components of the setup are rarely addressed. I was once told not to alter a golfer’s grip in the first lesson, because they won’t return. Unfortunately, that’s terribly incorrect. If I don’t fix their grip from the start (and 99 percent of them need it), the face control will be out of whack. In addition, the first thing I ordinarily see when a right-handed golfer addresses a ball is his or her spine angle or head leaning towards the left. In their mind, they’re trying to balance their weight evenly. Their spine alignment is three inches in front of the golf ball…and it’s worse with a driver in their hand, causing an outside-to-in swing-path and a sliced golf shot. So, getting their grip and spine angle in order, along with their arms at address, will significantly increase the success rate of hitting the ball down the target line. Also, when discussing posture, asking students to simply “bend their knees” can be misleading, as they’ll often produce a squatting position that hinders their athleticism and the strength, power and mobility that you want them to impart in the golf swing. The legs, hips and core should be engaged, with the upper body relaxed and free to rotate.
Tony Allen on the business impact of focusing on five coaching fundamentals from the start:
Within a lesson, I will assume the positions that I’m trying to get my students to understand and achieve. I’ll also help manipulate their hips and back to get them where I want them to be, and will then help them repeat that position without my manipulation. However, it’s vital to address the five fundamental issues before a golfer even swings the club, as he or she will be at an advantage when they start taking those initial golf swings on the lesson tee. This philosophy and proactive approach that I employed early in my coaching career have proven successful for me and my students. Asking questions of them helps fortify their understanding of your lesson material and confirms to you that they get the “why” as much as they do the “what” and “how.” When you produce positive results with a golfer who’s pursued instruction elsewhere, you’ll have a student for life.
If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email tagolfswing@gmail.com.
