So I just got back from Florida where I took a 4 hour golf lesson with Mike Bender, who was recently named the 2009 National PGA Teacher of the Year.  It was really a great experience.  Mike is a very accomplished instructor with several tour players and upcoming players being students he works with.

What impressed me most about Mike was that he is a very humble guy and during our discussions, on topics we did not see eye to eye, he never came across as a know-it-all and was always willing to listen, and be open to learning, which I think is a wonderful quality for any golf instructor.

So after I warmed up Mike took some video and we went in and took a look.  I explained to Mike what I saw in my own golf swing and how I was trying to work through the elements of it which I felt were holding me back from improving. What happened next was very interesting – Mike made a diagnosis and a prescription for my golf swing that I would not have come up with on my own if I lived another 100 years! It was so counterintuitive, as golf can often be. What I saw as the cause of the problem, Mike saw as more the effect, which could possibly be why I hadn’t had much success with my approach. But the changes he suggested, as is often the case, required two things to change. If I only changed one, my problem would actually get worse.

We then headed over to the range and Mike put in his MEGSA Perfect Practice Equipment, which is described as “The theory behind the MEGSA system is rooted in physics and the science of motor skill training. MEGSA-which stands for Most Efficient Golf Swing Attainable-is the closest thing to a perfect practice station. The equipment can be set up to counteract any swing fault. Once it is set up, you can hit balls from inside the unit. This guarantees that the golfer will receive proper feedback as to whether or not the prescribed swing changes are occuring”.

Before I started to write my book I took many lessons from fellow professionals, some who were top 100 on varying lists, authors of books, along with visiting several academies of some household name professionals.  These experiences, I felt, were all a part of my learning journey, both as a golfer and as a golf coach. Once I started to write my book I stopped taking lessons from other pros. It’s not so much that I felt I knew everything (because nobody ever does), but rather I needed to stay focused on what I was doing and I found reading (or hearing) other theories was not helping me stay the course I needed to be on to finish my book. So in a sense I shut down.

It’s been about 7 years since I took a lesson, but that’s about to change.  Next week I’m flying to Florida for two days to take a three-hour lesson. So who did I choose to see? Mike Bender. Bender was just named 2009 PAG Teacher of Year. But that’s not the reason why I chose to see Bender. I had heard of him, but didn’t really know anything about Bender, but listened to him speak when I attended last year’s PGA Coaching Summit in Port St Lucie. I really liked his presentation and what he had to say.

So what is my purpose for going for the lesson? Well, of course it’s to get myself back on my learning journey, but more specifically I’m going there to hopefully learn about three different things. The first is to work on some of the things I’ve been struggling with as a player. Sometimes it can be very challenging to “teach” yourself and I find I become much too critical of my technique, so I want another set of eyes to take a look. Second, of course somewhere in that lesson I will learn some things that I will be able to apply to my teachings which will help my students. Last I hope to be able get some insights from Bender on how to better promote myself – he’s on the top lists that matter, has multiple academies, one of them being in Korea where he is teaching some of the highly skilled players in that country.

I’m looking forward to the experience and I hope to have some things to share when I come back.