Golf Coach 101

By Chris Sims - Abilene Cooper HS Girls Golf Coach

Golf is a sport that most resembles life - it’s just you and the golf course. Your opponents do not affect your swings, chips, or putts. There are obstacles along the way, but if you have learned all the “shots,” the round will be easier and more enjoyable. Coaching golf in high school (and now middle school as well), I have learned that players require more than instruction on the swing and strategy. They require a “life coach.”

With 48 years experience in golf, from playing junior tours, high school, college, professional, and now coaching for 11 years, I see the game from a different perspective. Within a few weeks, any student can learn to make contact with the golf ball and cause it to move in the general direction. The trick is teaching them to accept the outcome, whether good or bad. Professional golfers, on any tour, rarely hit a shot they deem perfect. In reality, they only hit 4 or 5 great shots per round. They make money each week playing a game because their misses are better than most. High school golfers may hit a few shots they like, but rarely strike the ball perfectly, but their misses are usually off the map. When I learned to teach my players about “good enough,” they instantly improved their scores because their mentality changed. Golf is said to be 10% physical and 90% mental. Arnold Palmer famously said, “Golf is predominantly played in the 6 inches between the ears.” If a game is mostly mental, life must be much more of a mental experience. I now see coaching golf as a way to teach players to analyze a situation instead of just reacting to them. Life is going to throw situations at you and you must be able to see them for what they are, but you must also figure out how to navigate them in the best way possible.

After a tournament round, my players know I’m going to ask them first about their decision making before I ask about their score. This allows me to gauge their mental game and where we need focus. I have yet to have a player tell me they thought through their round perfectly- making good decisions on every shot and keeping their mindset “in the moment.” They always return to the scene of the crime; a shot they didn’t think through or a decision that led to a poor outcome. They may or may noy have hit the ball well on the shot in question, but it probably didn’t affect the outcome. It was their decision-making that caused strife. In life, if we don’t learn to assess the situation BEFORE making a decision and acting, the outcome is rarely what we hoped for.

I love this game of golf- I get to use the sport to teach life. Coaching is not only Xs and Os in the sport; it’s more about caring for the athlete and guiding them through the course until they can play without finding the penalty areas or bunkers. When a golfer graduates, I pray their life is filled with wonderful playing partners, great shots and low scores.

Read the entire December 2024 Issue of Texas Coach here: https://issuu.com/thscacoaches/docs/dec24upload?fr=xKAE9_zU1NQ