It’s been a while, but here comes a new episode of the podcast – in truth, it was recorded almost a year ago, but the wisdom included is definitely timeless.

Learning from world-class junior coaches

My guest – Oliver C. Morton (@ChangeTheGame54, The Leading Edge Golf Company).

A good junior coach is someone who really cares about developing an individual, not just a golfer

Oliver is a junior and performance golf coach based at Archerfield Performance Centre.

In the past, he run a successful junior academy at another club in Scotland and spent a year working as GenNXT Golf Academy Director in Scottsdale, Arizona, working with Henry Brunton, Pia Nilsson, Lynn Marriott & Rick Jensen.

Widely educated and with a wide range of experiences under his belt, using all that with a proper dash of passion to develop junior golfers.

Some of the areas we cover in this interview:

• Oliver’s background and how he chose golf over other sports
• The meaning of a holistic approach to coaching
• Oliver’s history in coaching and junior coaching
• How his junior coaching evolved from TPI, movement/physical-focused to a games-based & skills-focused
• What his sessions and academy structure look like and why
• Why children should have input in the design and content of sessions
• What he learned from his time in the USA
• Marketing strategies
• Communicating with parents and resources to share with parents
• What makes a good junior coach

With a lot of experience both as a coach and through the Foundation, Paul has a good idea on what might and what might not work in junior coaching.

Listen to the episode

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Paul Aitkens is back – this time not representing the Golf Foundation, but talking about his participation coaching business Enrichment Golf and growing junior membership at golf clubs.

Junior Golf membership – the how, who, when and where

My guest – Paul Aitkens (@PaulTheGolfPro, @EnrichmentGolf).

I want to provide people with not necessarily the groundbreaking information or stuff that people on tour are working on. I simply want to provide people with the skills and the ability to enjoy the game and to see what social benefits there are to golf.

Paul is the founder of Enrichment Golf and a Regional Development Officer for the Golf Foundation.

His specialty – beginner junior, beginner adult and special needs golf coaching – a model Participation Coach.

A few things we cover in this dense convo:

• Paul’s coaching background and coaching priorities
• Enrichment Golf
• Cashing in on the social side of golf
• Junior session structure, flexible groupings and using WhatsApp as a communication tool
• Marketing and selling junior memberships
• Pricing junior memberships
• Referring students to other coaches

With a lot of experience both as a coach and through the Foundation, Paul has a good idea on what might and what might not work in junior coaching.

Listen to the episode

Listen to the episode below or in your favourite podcast app (I recommend Overcast).

If you are reading this in an email, access the player and all the links on the website.

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The next guest is another full-time junior coach – how did he get to having over 200 kids at his weekly junior sessions?

Attracting and retaining children in the Little Golfers programme

My guest – Andy Little (@AndyLGolfPro, LittleGolfers.net).

I wanted the kids to feel like they were part of something… Realising it or not, we are role models to these kids. They look up to us, and we can influence them a lot on their golf journey… If they look like me because they are wearing those trousers and their polo shirt, it just gives them that extra connection to the sport which obviously ultimately is going to keep them in the sport for longer

Andy Little is the founder of Little Golfers, a highly successful junior programme operating in Surrey (England). Andy spent the last 10 years teaching exclusively kids – in schools, in group sessions and in individual lessons.

In this interview we cover:

• Little Golfers’ beginnings
• Coaching in schools and in the club – how his programme is structured
• Achieving high retention rates
• An example Little Golfers session and the gear Andy’s using
• What makes LG successful, what makes a good junior coach and what to learn to become one
• Renting equipment to other coaches
• Marketing, branded gear
• Parents and communication

Listen to the episode

Listen to the episode below or in your favourite podcast app (I recommend Overcast).

If you are reading this in an email, access the player and all the links on the website.

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A bit of a different episode – this time, the focus is not on a coach, but an organisation that supports coaches. Many, many topics covered. This episode will be of particular interest to golf coaches based in Great Britain – but still should be very useful to coaches, coach educators and golf developers worldwide.

How to bring, teach and retain children in golf

My guest – Paul Aitkens, Regional Development Officer at the Golf Foundation (@PaulTheGolfPro, @GolfRootsHQ, Golf-Foundation.org).

Some pros don’t see children back at the golf club after school promotion… are the sessions that they’d run, are they actually enganging, fun, enjoyable, meeting that young person’s needs? Was the follow-up marketing any good?

The Golf Foundation is an organisation with a sole aim to develop junior golf in Great Britain. They do A LOT to allow more children to experience and fall in love with the game, both on a national level as well as locally through the work of the Regional Development Officers such as Paul Aitkens.

We discuss a number of topics related to the Foundation and effective junior coaching in general:

• What’s Golf Foundation and what are Regional Development Officers’ jobs
• How to develop junior pathways (in three stages: start, learn, stay)
• Services, products, programmes and solutions that GF provides for coaches (as well as specific tips and thoughts), such as:
  • Box of Tricks
  • Junior Action Plan
  • TriGolf and StreetGolf equipment
  • Funding for coaches
  • Junior Golf Passport
  • Workshops
  • Girls Golf Rocks
• Ideas on how to grow a junior programme and retain children in the golf club
• Effective school coaching
• Playing, social and skill development opportunities that coaches can provide for kids
• Effective marketing and the importance of key decision makers
• What makes a successful junior coach

Listen to the episode

Listen to the episode below or in your favourite podcast app (I recommend Overcast).

If you are reading this in an email, access the player and all the links on the website.

Listen to the interview on YouTube:

Get inspired to have an impact on the game and young people’s lives with today’s guest!

The future of golf is in your hands

My guest – Rick Grayson (@RickGraysonGolf, www.rickgraysongolf.com).

You could take an adult and ask them who their eighth grade English teacher was, and there is a good chance they wouldn’t remember. But if you ask them who is the person that introduced them to golf, they’ll remember that to the rest of their lives. We are impacting a person’s life forever through the gift of golf.

Rick has over 35 years of experience in growing the game of golf at the grass-roots level.

He is the author of the book Inspire Junior Golf: The Future of The Game is in Your Hands (get in touch with Rick on Twitter, Facebook or through email to buy it).

Things we talk about:

• Rick’s background and how he got into teaching juniors
• Raising money and building a 4-hole inclusive, junior-centred golf course
• Redesigning a Par-3 golf course with junior players in mind
• Rick’s Junior Golf Foundation
• Golf in the Schools program – getting golf as part of PE curriculum
• Girls’ golf program
• Events for juniors and tracking results of grass roots activities
• Long term participation in golf
• Facilities and equipment
• Rick’s book – Inspire Junior Golf

Listen to the episode

Listen to the episode below or in your favourite podcast app (I recommend Overcast).

If you are reading this in an email, access the player and all the links on the website.

Listen to the interview on YouTube

 

Having spoken to one of the business partners as the very first episode of the Participation Coaching Podcast (Neil Plimmer), here is a follow-up and an update with a new guest!

Lessons learned from a new junior coaching business

My guest – Nevil Perryman-Best (@NevilPB).

Don’t fool for people saying “you can’t make money from junior golf” and that “it’s our way of giving back”. It’s a myth.

Nevil Perryman-Best is the co-founder of Brighton Junior Golf (alongside Neil Plimmer) and the Director of Sales & Consultancy at Junior Golf Alliance (see my review of their e-learning courses).

Things we talk about:

• Nevil’s background and development as a junior golf coach
• Creating a learning-conducive environments and managing behaviour
• Engaging parents and providing playing experiences for families
• The business of junior golf coaching – scaling, pricing, doing it full-time
• Lessons learned from starting from scratch in a new area
• School coaching as a product
• Development of the Junior Golf Alliance

And much more!

Listen to the episode

Listen to the episode below or in your favourite podcast app (I recommend Overcast).

If you are reading this in an email, access the player and all the links on the website.

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Here comes a delightful podcast episode full of interesting stories from one of the most well-known junior coaches in America.

Creating long-term junior programming and sold-out summer activities

My guest – James Hong (@JamesHongGolf, Harbor Links Golf Course).

As [kids] progress through the system, they start to become more interested, more involved (…) and they want to be there.

James Hong is a junior coach superstar. He’s the Director of Instruction at Harbor Links (Port Washington, New York), running wildly successful junior programs throughout the school year and during summer alongside a team of 4 coaches. James has created an environment where every junior is catered for, from a complete beginner wanting to check out golf during summer, up to elite juniors working towards getting a college scholarship.

James is very active on social media, always willing to share his views, tips, drills, activities and games with all coaches. This interview is no different and James drops many knowledge bombs through the myriad of stories he’s sharing.

Here are some things we discuss:

• James’ background as a sports coach, elite athlete and a golf coach
• Structure of programs at Harbor Links, including:
  • The Futures Club
  • Par
  • Birdie
  • Eagle
  • Elite
  • 6-9 Summer Camps
  • 10-16 Summer Camps
  • Advanced Summer programs
• How progression through the various programs work
• Results of the offerings
• Private and group instruction
• Communication and use of language with children and adults
• Marketing and communication strategies

Enjoy the interview!

Listen to the episode

Listen to the episode below or in your favourite podcast app (I recommend Overcast).

If you are reading this in an email, access the player and all the links on the website.

Listen to the interview on YouTube

I’d be surprised if you haven’t heard of Operation 36. Over 200 facilities joined their network, bringing a lot of awareness to the shortened golf courses concept. VERY excited to be sharing an interview with Op36 co-founders!

Junior player development program based around shooting 36

My guests – Matt Reagan (@MattReaganGolf) and Ryan Dailey (@RyanDaileyGolf), co-founders of Operation 36 (@Op36).

“Fun is seeing accomplishment and seeing improvements, even if it’s at the smallest level. (…) Until you get [juniors] on the golf course, they really don’t get involved in the game”

Operation 36 is a network of golf facilities, offering training and a Player Development Platform (web and mobile apps, curriculum, tracking software, resources and much more) based around the Operation 36 Playing Format – beating the goal of shooting 36 on 9 holes (starting from 25 yards away from the hole, progressively moving back up to full length tees).

Having experimented with many different junior coaching formats throughout the years, Ryan and Matt are now able to tell the facilities, fellow coaches as well as juniors and their parents “what we do works, and we’re able to prove it by showing you the results we’re measuring”. Kids are playing more rounds and playing better (losing strokes) while staying in the program for a long time.

Here is what we discuss:

• What is Operation 36
• Why they focus on playing the game
• How their junior coaching philosophy developed
• Op36’s impact (8000+ golfers)
• Building environments that facilitate the process of creating lifelong golfers
• Most important metrics to keep for the business, for the student and for the parents
• Various issues around getting kids on the course and formats they might play
• What is “fun” and what looks “fun”
• Gamification, accountability and professionalism
• Example Op36 junior academy structure
• Getting buy-in
• Operation 36’s value for coaches, what the network includes and how to get involved

If you want to learn more about Operation 36, make sure to go to their website: coach.operation36.golf, where you can sign up and get on a call to discuss the program.

Listen to the episode

Listen to the episode below or in your favourite podcast app (I recommend Overcast).

If you are reading this in an email, access the player and all the links on the website.

Listen to the interview on YouTube

A bit of a follow-up to the first episode in the junior series. An interview with a PGA professional that became the head of a successful junior programme, and, through constant improvements and development, took it even further.

Continous development of a junior programme

My guest – Thomas Devine (@ThomasDevinePGA).

Fun is an overly used term in golf coaching, but for me it’s a good acronym – Fundamentally Understanding Needs.

Thomas is FUEL Golf Junior Programme Director and a PGA Teaching Professional at Oulton Hall in England. Taking over from Phil Akers, previous guest of the podcast, Tom kept on developing the FUEL Golf programme, expanded it to another 5 facilities in the QHotels group, created a junior skills handbook, a parent’s handbook and much more.

Throughout the conversation, an interesting theme emerged – of change and continuous development. Thomas provides numerous examples of things he used to believe in regards to his junior coaching (or the way his programme is structured), but no longer does.

In this conversation we discuss:

• Tom’s beginnings as a junior coach
• His take on the Person first, Athlete second, Golfer third philosophy
• Moving away from physical skills-centred coaching
• Moving away from “just let them play” idea
• Moving away from age-divided groups and FUEL’s unique take on groupings (hint: flexibility)
• The programme’s 7-tier skills-based grading system
• An example coaching session
• Providing playing opportunities for juniors
• Managing parents’ expectations through communication
• Effective marketing strategies (and why that isn’t necessarily school coaching)

Listen to the episode

Listen to the episode below or in your favourite podcast app (I recommend Overcast).

If you are reading this in an email, access the player and all the links on the website.

Following a previous episode with Kate Tempesta, let’s continue the topic of coaching the very youngest golfers. How early does your program start?

Matching your offer to the environment you’re in

My guest – Nicole Weller (@Stick2Sports, website).

I wrote Stick to Sports: Let’s Play Golf because I watched adults try to teach kids in an adult manner. The kids aren’t developed that way yet to understand it.

Nicole Weller is the Head Teaching Professional at The Landings Club (Savannah, Georgia, US). She is also the author of a children’s golf book Stick to Sports: Let’s Play Golf and flashcard memory game Match Play Golf (more information on both).

Nicole is also a co-founder of a unique golf coach certification Little Golf T.R.A.I.N. that focuses on effective early-learning environment for children ages 2-5, providing coaches with education and turn-key resources to run sessions with this age group.

Here is a selection of things we discuss in the interview:

• Nicole’s background as a golfer and a coach
• How environment affect programs and their structure
• Coaching juniors at a private club
• Nicole’s ways of coaching juniors of different ages (2 y.o. and up)
• Using toys, gear and technology in junior coaching
• Her children’s golf book – who it is for and what it includes
• Teaching adult concepts to juniors (e.g. emotional resilience)
• Little Golf T.R.A.I.N. – how it came to be and what it includes
• Parents’ place in her coaching process

Little Golf T.R.A.I.N. is organising a live Training Workshop during PGA Show Week on Tuesday, January 23 2018- check out the website for details.

Also, good news for European Coaches – there is a Little Golf TRAIN Certification seminar coming up in Italy (Milan) on 4-5/03/2018. Check out the details.

Listen to the episode

Listen to the episode below or in your favourite podcast app (I recommend Overcast).

If you are reading this in an email, access the player and all the links on the website.

Listen to the interview on YouTube

Onto the second interview in the junior series. This time focusing on the very youngest golfers! Engaging 3-8 year olds through age-appropriate coaching My guest – Kate Tempesta (@PLAYgolfNYC, Kate Tempesta’s Urban Golf Academy). Kate is one of the few golf coaches that focus on the youngest golfers, working mainly with 3-8 year olds. It is not […]