What Makes A Good Coach?

It’s a question I’ve been curious about lately and so I started to ask my students what they actually remembered from their favourite coaches. Was it the wins, the medals, the banners, the technical knowledge or was it something more. And to my surprise, every answer led back to one consistent theme… it was about connection.

The memories were about how the coach cared enough to know them on a deeper level, more than just knowing them as an student. It was about how their favourite coach was kind, honest and fair. It was about the life lessons they learned and the relationship they built. It was about spending more time with their coaches then their own family and how they became family. It wasn’t about winning the hardware.

Over the past couple of decades, the coaching world has evolved into big business where winning is the definition of a successful coach. Long gone are the days where a kid figures their way to good golf by digging it out from the dirt. Social media, technology, online lessons, LTPD, speed training, TPI are all creating new pathways to get people better at golf faster but have we gone so far that we are forgetting the most important thing? What these kids really want is to feel connected to their coach.