Dear Members, Clients and Friends,

Wow this is a cold winter! In fact, there was a layer of ice on my car's windscreen this morning, not sure when last I saw that! As alluded to in my previous newsletters, they will now start containing less of what I say and more of what my clients have to say about my modern way of coaching post-lockdown.

To bring you up to speed again - about halfway through the lockdown I embarked on a mentorship programme out of California which is busy revolutionizing golf coaching worldwide, and I can certainly see why, as it has definitely already made me a much happier coach - but that is not the most important part - the most important part is whether the members and clients are happier, and I think the following is just the tip of the iceberg in this regard, with so much more still to follow - it is so exciting that I would have difficulty describing how happy it is making me!

Please don't let the words modern and revolutionary frighten you - it is still coaching, with the only difference that it firstly guarantees better results, and secondly it helps you to relax more on the course so that you can enjoy the experience more - is golf not supposed to be a fun experience in the first place!?

"Thanks for today. Was really good. Combination of technique and on-course management is really worthwhile." - Martin Lesch

"Thanks Erich, vanoggend was nou baie lekker. Dit was n career best 9 vir my, kan nou uiteindelik resultate begin sien van laaste paar maande se werk. Sien volgende Dinsdag." - Niel Morrison

My 100-Shot Challenge - Results, results, results!
Instead of receiving accreditation by just attending some classes here and there with this great programme, I am held accountable and actually have to show the results that will be proof that I am learning enough by doing it myself! To this end, I have to complete an initial 100-shot challenge - I must prove that I have taken 100 shots off my students / players! I can hear you asking how many it has been after only just over a month post-lockdown? Well I am very pleased to report that I am already closing in on 30 shots from just four students, and that's only from those that I know of so far!

I also hear you asking how it is measured!? Well that's an easy question - when my student and myself set out his / her goals on a written improvement plan after their on-course assessment, we determine a 5-shot range at which the player has mostly been scoring over approximately their last 10 scores. Once the student starts moving out of that zone downwards with their scores, we can very easily measure, not only from the score itself, but more importantly also the exact reasons for the improvement, which acts as feedback for more improvement to come about via a clear, written, purposeful practice plan. The player also learns how to set up this practice plan themselves using the data from their last round.

This purposeful practice plan is designed with the clear purpose of helping the student improve in their next round of golf! This way, the player also learns to pinpoint the exact reasons for a "non-improved" round, hereby eliminating the up-and-down scores we see so often without knowing why it is happening! This is the essence of The Scoring Method which is an incredibly well-designed and simplified improvement system. In a nutshell and as mentioned earlier, it reduces tension on the course and makes a player (at any level I must add) much more aware of what they do not have to do in order to score better! The result? Players out there with much less frustration and much more enjoyment and satisfaction! Have I told you that I love my job!?

Well there I went again saying a bit much, but it was too tempting! I leave you with my official acceptance of the challenge as well as a beautiful scene from yesterday morning's on-course session. Look out for many more great results coming your way! Any feedback, comments or questions are always welcome by clicking here.