Golfs Experience TriangleI have adopted the generic principles of the LEP Triangle to develop golfs experience triangle. I would now like to explain its simple principles in detail on this page ... In this modern world of change, the new inventions of today are becoming the antiques of tomorrow. Because of this harsh environment we are becoming creatures ruled by performance goals and time limits. Learning and, to a greater extent, enjoyment are values that are being ignored or neglected because of this. On the previous page I argued that to attain peak performance, there has to be an equal balance of all of the following values:
The game of golf happens to be the perfect scenario for clarifying what all this means. If you are sitting comfortably I'll begin. At the start of every lesson that I give, I always ask my students what they would like to be coached on. The most common requests I get, in no particular order, are to work on the following:
During these lessons, I also ask my students why they took up the game of golf. The most common replies I get, again in no particular order, are the following:
Taking another look at these two lists you will probably find something close to your own particular preferences. Looking closely at the first list you will notice that they are all related to performance. And if you look at the second list, they fall into the learning and enjoyment catagories. So you all took up the game for enjoyment or learning, which seems pretty smart to me. But within a short time these were no longer important and you shifted all your attention to the performance categories. Perhaps until now you did not realise that you had followed this common tendency but what makes it worse is that most golf coaches have done the same. It's not their fault, they have been caught up on the same runaway train.
That train is heading to a place called 'Performance Junction' and only makes brief stops at the junctions that specialise in learning and enjoyment.
Having already discussed that performance levels tend to peak when equivalent levels of enjoyment and learning are put in place, I would suggest that the modern traveller stop at the other two junctions more often. So it would make sense to take a look at the My personal favourite is when my students ask to be coached on peace and freedom values. Let me tell you, they leave that session with a smile on their faces and a totally new attitude to why and how they play the game.
After much discussion it was unanimously agreed that concentration was at the top of the pile. In fact almost half of the thousand or so pros assembled had chosen this value. They were then asked to raise their hands if they actually taught or could teach this skill. There was a deafening silence in the hall and plenty of shoulder shrugging but very few hands went up. This room was full of swing gurus who did not have the first idea how to teach what they hailed as the most important skill. The subject was then pretty much ignored and 99% of these pros left thinking that their knowledge of swing mechanics was much more important in aiding performance.
In truth its the only place where the majority of us feel safe and in control. You see we have studied every minute section of the swing in super slow motion, with freeze frame and cleverly drawn lines etc and if we are no longer free to baffle you with this and mainly this then what are we supposed to do. You come to us for a lesson, we are allowed to boss you about a little, stand in judgement of any move you make, more often than not we patronise you with "now you've got it" and the like, we then take your money, and look forward to doing it all over again next time. Do you know we sometimes think that you are wasting your time but say nothing because a buck's a buck.
It's definately not your fault or in truth even ours. The vast majority of us (golf pros) are using what we know best to try to improve your swing but most of us unfortunately do not know of or understand the formulas of the LEP Triangle.
I feel priveledged to have been introduced to the way coaching is meant to be performed. It took me a long time to convince myself that this was the way to go and I now spend every lesson trying to get closer to the best way to carry it out. I fully understand and have explained why my fellow pro is not yet following this route but it will happen and hopefully for the game it is not too far in the future.
To finish, I am often asked if I can recommend a coach with these skills to my far off readers. The best advice I can give them is to phone around and then just ask the pro if he/she can coach basic concentration skills. Warning The pro will try to sidetrack and discuss instead his proficiency in teaching any of the performance criteria from the first list. I often confront my colleagues with these two lists and let me tell you, they don't like it. I hope someday soon the principles of the LEP triangle will become an essential part of the curriculum for all coaches, especially in the golf industry where excessive attention to performance is getting out of control. Thanks for listening.
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I recently attended the European Golf Show in Munich where a large gathering of PGA professionals were asked to put their heads together and come up with what was the most important quality to have as a golfer.
