v My Teaching Philosophy

I believe in simple, yet effective instruction.  As a longtime student myself of the game, I value knowing what is important and what isn't.  Since studying under highly experienced instructors such as Jim McLean, Chris Toulson and Carl Welty, I have applied myself to research what is happening right now on Tour with the top players.  From my research and from my colleagues, I have eliminated vast amounts of false information in my teaching.

I also believe that there are no short cuts.  This game is anything but easy so I tell all of my students that if they want to get better, they need to commit to the process and have a game plan.

With every student, I asses their individual characteristics.   There are so many different people with varying levels of strength, athletic experience, goals, physical capabilities that I weigh together all of those things before making an assessment.  A beginner is not going to need the same lesson as a tour player or even a low handicapper.  So in every lesson, I put care into  getting to know the player and what will fit their needs. 

I maintain that in order to teach the game, you must be an expert at playing it.  However, playing it well does not automatically make you an expert in teaching it.   For this reason I have spent countless hours traveling wherever need be to search out some of the big names in golf instruction - even those whose philosophies I may not wholeheartedly agree with - for the sake of learning learning more. 

Two of my mantras:

Be open to new possibilities

No matter how much you may think you know, never stop learning. 

What you practice, you get good at.

-Lynn Marriott & Pia Nilsson

With Lynn Marriottand Pia Nilsson after their seminar on coaching the mental game.

Pictured with Bob Ford after he gave a presentation at one of our Monday meetings at the golf school at Doral.