Daniel Shelden

Please indicate past awards won/recognitions:
GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional, Golf Digest Best in State

Other awards won:
2020 Illinois PGA Youth Development Award

Total number of individual lessons given per year:
Male: 200
Female: 100
Junior: 600

Total number of individual clinics given per year:
40

Please indicate any Growth of the Game initiatives your facility/academy has launched over the past year (please give specifics on such programs):
As the PGA Director of Instruction at Ruth Lake, developing and promoting junior golf is my biggest responsibility. The primary focus of the Ruth Lake junior golf program is to develop a lifelong love for the game of golf in an environment that is motivating, inspiring and fun. The game of golf, like the game of life, is a constant journey of improvement. Our goal, using a variety of holistic teaching methods, focuses on the development of golf and character. We pride ourselves on providing a fun and safe learning environment along with elite level instruction to students of all ages and skill levels. We focus on proper fundamentals, technique, etiquette, sportsmanship and most importantly, fun. I want to present our junior golfers with the opportunity to learn and enjoy the game of golf by providing them with positive experiences.

Over the course of my sixteen years teaching golf, I have worked with students with all types of learning differences such as students with autism spectrum disorder, students with hearing impairments, students with orthopedic impairments, students with speech and language impairments and students with specific learning disabilities. Because I work with all types of learning differences, I feel it is important to make sure I use a multisensory approach to teaching golf. My job as a PGA Professional is to give all students the opportunity to learn and enjoy the great game of golf so they can participate with friends, family, and others.

In addition to the many private lessons and running a large junior golf program, I will also conduct ladies’ clinics throughout the season. These clinics are spread out across the course of the season, and I will do sessions both on the range and golf course. The lessons on the golf course are a great way to help reduce any fear or stress by showing these women how the game is played. The ladies’ program at Ruth Lake Country club is very strong and supportive of our teaching program.

The goal of growing the game is to connect on a one-on-one level with each student and to help them appreciate why it is worth taking the time to learn to play. Golf has played a huge role in my life, and I cannot think of anything else I would rather do for a living. The game of golf has given me so much that I will make sure I take every opportunity to give back by donating free one on one lessons and volunteering my time. Everyone deserves an opportunity to fine tune their golf game so they can feel successful when they get out to play the greatest game on Earth.

Please share any programming you have made to keep your customers & students engaged:
While there is no magic formula, there is one simple strategy most instructors swear by that generally works: Make golf fun. If you keep the game fun, you make it enjoyable. My #1 objective as a PGA Professional is to make sure new golfers are engaged and have fun. To educate and get juniors involved in golf is the goal but keeping it fun is the primary focus.

We incorporate fun and creativity into our teaching/coaching by using games that we created and had success with in the past. The main objective of our junior golf program is to make it fun and enjoyable for all participants, while ensuring that every child develops the talent and skills necessary to keep improving. Whether we use traditional golf practice settings or FUNdamental settings, we are trying to develop golfing skills that help each junior golfer improve.

Teaching and coaching junior golfers requires the instructor to marry technique with skill development. Technique is the ability to perform a physical task while a skill is the ability to deploy it in the competitive environment. Skill is something that requires context to develop, and you need problems to be solved. In a practice with no game-like activities or direction to force decision making, there may be technical development, but there is very little skill development. And without skill development there is no transfer. Based off that research, we build learning environments that represent competition as much as possible.