14
July 2020
TEE TIMES
www.teetimespaper.com
Rob Akins knew early on he wanted to teach By Gregg Dewalt Tee Times Editor Playing golf is hard; teaching golf is even harder. But seeing a student’s results from the teaching aspect is so rewarding. That’s part of the gospel according to Golf Digest Top 25 teacher Rob Akins, whose academy at Spring Creek Ranch in Collierville, Tennessee is one of the tops in the state. Akins, who lists former PGA Champion David Toms among those who have sought out his tutelage, should know, too. He’s been teaching the game ever since he was a teenager in Louisiana. “It’s hugely hard to teach somebody how to play golf and how to swing versus just swinging,” Akins, who is No. 3 on the Golf Digest list of Top 10 teachers, said recently. “It’s always a challenge. As long as you can make a person hit a ball better than they did before, every hour you get rewarded with that. They turn around and are amazed, and that’s really what keeps a teacher going. Being there for that critical element when things come together and seeing them achieve something they never thought they could achieve, it makes it all worthwhile.” Akins, who has been featured in Golf Digest and on the Golf Channel for his instruction, was interested in teaching almost from the time he began playing. He started playing when he was about seven years old. It became his focal point
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when he was 11. Shortly thereafter, he began his path to teaching the game. “I got an opportunity to do a junior golf school in Louisiana and it grew to where we had 125 kids,” he said. “I did that for five years. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was reading all I could. That got me started teaching.” Like most kids, Akins dreamed of making it to the PGA Tour. But that got pushed aside when he realized how much the instruction side of the business appealed to him. “I knew early on that I enjoyed the teaching part, so I switched over when I got married when I was 21,” he said. “So, the rest, I guess, is history.”
Akins has a list of those who have influenced his teaching, starting with Harvey Penick. “As far as teachers, Harvey Penick. I found out about him when I was about 11. He had a lot of influence,” Akins said. “There was an African American man I spent a lot of time with as a child. His name was Nathan Vaughan. He didn’t talk to me about the golf swing, but he talked to me about how to play the game. Probably the biggest influence is a fellow by the name of Tom Ness. He lives in Atlanta and was my mentor about 20 years ago. He was with the Golf Digest schools and Bob Toski. Tom did a whole lot about teaching me how to get better.” Others have influenced Akins as well. When he had players on Tour, he became friends with some of the greatest teachers in the world. “I am so blessed to have had so many
1.) Joe Hallett, Vanderbilt Legends C., Franklin 2.) Matt Killen, Troubadour G. & Field C., College Grove 3.) Rob Akins, Rob Akins Golf Academy at Spring Creek Ranch, Collierville 4.) Brian Lackey, G.C. of Tennessee, Kingston Springs 5.) Nancy Quarcelino, Gaylord Springs G. Links, Nashville 6.) Virgil Herring, Ensworth Golf Center, Nashville 7.) Henrik Simonsen, The Honors C., Ooltewah 8.) Matt Walter, Vanderbilt Legends C., Franklin 9.) Ben Pellicani, Westhaven G.C., Franklin 10.) Walt Chapman, Fairways and Greens, Knoxville 11.) Brad Redding, Target Golf Practice and Training Facility, Knoxville 12.) Jake Reeves, Fox Den C.C., Knoxville 13.) Gaylon Cude, Golf House Tennessee Learning Center, Franklin 14.) Jex Wilson, Old Fort G.C., Murfreesboro
people share their knowledge with me,” he said. “They were able to pass down a lot of things to me.” Akins and his craft continue to evolve. He said he has surpassed 70,000 hours of individual golf instruction for his career. “Some people say it takes 10,000 hours to be good at something,” he said. “For me, I didn’t start having a lot of success until I had about 25,000 hours. Gradually, at about 50,000 hours I realized how ignorant I was at 25,000 hours. I continue to learn and grow and hope I continue that the rest of my life and be able to become a better teacher.” Swing theories and methodology are a dime a dozen these days. Everybody, it seems, has a way for players to add distance, make more putts and knock strokes off their game. Akins admits methodology is constantly changing for teachers. For him, three things are imperative in the swing: the clubface, the swing plane and the lag or drag. “The first two things control direction, and the third thing is what smashes the ball,” he said. “Your grip controls the clubface, and then how you build your body and moves your arm controls the plane. Once you get those two things down and learn how to hit it straight, you can learn how to compress the ball harder. “I kind of stick to those three things – they are the only three things the ball cares about,” Akins continued. “Not that those wouldn’t be in (Ben) Hogan’s book, but it is much more precise than what is in it. That allows people to have different styles of swings and fit into that model.” Akins agrees that in these days when technology is king and launch monitors and Trackman are pervasive among teachers as tools of the trade, it’s easy to get information overload.
Rob Akins Even though he thinks he was the first pro in Memphis to have Trackman, he doesn’t rely on it. He explains why. “I have used it,” he said. “It’s great to show somebody that they can hit it farther and sometimes it’s great to show somebody how their dispersion has gotten tighter. But Trackman gives you a millisecond of information at impact, but it doesn’t tell you what the story was. It may tell you that you were out-to-in and your clubface was 4 degrees open, but it doesn’t tell you that your grip is weak and you had a bad takeaway. I don’t think Trackman has really furthered golf instruction a lot because people who are trying to fix impact without knowing the
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How to pick the right teacher
By Rob Akins As a young man trying to learn how to teach golf, there was an enormous amount of stuff I had to wade through to find out what was really effective. There are so many different opinions and so much stuff, if you are looking for a teacher, I’d say try to find someone who has really helped their students win junior tournaments or club championships. Obviously, the Tour players I worked with were already great. I didn’t make them great. They were already on the PGA Tour when I started teaching them. If you can find somebody who has taken some kids from the very beginning and became college golfers or state champions, that’s a good insight that that person has spent some time learning how to teach people.”
