Are you striving to be a better golf instructor? DIVERSIFY! On Sept 28th, I posted my first encounter with Jack Lumpkin and some of what I had learned from watching him and teaching with him. There is no better way to learn than being side-by-side with a master teacher. Seminars and certification classes are nice learning environments, but not the same as honing your craft in the field with a master teacher that is going to check your work. Hank Haney arrived at Pinehurst CC, along with me, in the spring of 1981. As I mentioned in that previous post, I was hired as Jack Lumpkins assistant and to help with the Golf Digest Schools. Hank was hired to direct the Pinehurst Golf Advantage Schools. He had trained and learned from the great John Jacobs and brought a whole different approach for teaching the masses. When I wasnt committed to a Golf Digest School, which was only 8 weeks a year, I was helping Hank in the Pinehurst schools. We taught thousands of lessons side-by-side. Schools were big in those days. You would have 20-40 students per school and sometimes, 2 schools a week. We would discuss how to set a program for each student that attended and would compare notes to check their progress. What a learning environment! Hank also introduced me to hotel clinics. Twice a week we would go over to the famed Pinehurst Hotel and do a talk in the lobby for the guests coming out of dinner. We would give a 15 minute presentation and then open it up for question and answer. If a guest could describe one of his or her poor shots on the course, Hank was a master at asking further questions to get a picture of the shot pattern. The hotel guests were shocked that he could predict other misses that they hit. With a clear picture, he could then offer a fix for them to try the next morning. It was not uncommon for us to have 50-60 people gathered and mesmerized with the faults and fixes. Every off season, Hank and I would go watch other great teachers. One year it was Bill Strausbaugh. In 1982, it was Jim Hardy. Hank had known Jim from his junior days at Exmoor CC in Chicago. When Jim called and said he had some new information, Hank and I packed the car and went out to the Palm Springs muni for 2 weeks. That information changed my life and Hanks too! Hank watched Jim give me a lesson (more on that later) and gave the same info to Mark OMeara in May of that year. I dont have to tell you, they hit the jackpot! It has been fun for me to watch Hank Haneys career. He certainly was a positive influence on mine and Sandys teaching, as well as many other professionals I know. I would love to hear from some of you that were lucky enough to benefit from Hanks journey.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:37:08 +0000
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