A few instructors were lamenting that development three weeks ago when they decided to do something about it. As Gavin Greville Wood, a London-based coach with the Leadbetter Golf Academy put it, “It’s a dire situation. We were just trying to find ways to engage coaches and get them off the couch, to reach out to their clients and customers.”

A little idea became something massive. On Tuesday, May 5, at 9 a.m. ET, more than 500 golf instructors from around the world will use their own Instagram accounts to provide a putting lesson. In turn, golfers who participate are asked to make a donation to the charity of the instructor’s choice—with all of them designating an organization that is involved in COVID-19 aid or relief. They’re calling it the “World’s Biggest Golf Lesson.”

Among the instructors scheduled to participate: David Leadbetter, Suzy Whaley, Chris Como, Simon Dyson and Catriona Matthew. Other teachers can be found by searching instructors being followed on the World’s Biggest Golf Lesson Instagram account.

“It’s been a fantastic victory for teamwork and collaboration,” Greville Wood said over the phone on Monday. “This is what we wanted out of this—to help people.”

British golfers, and those who cherish the courses of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, are anxiously awaiting word from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about a path forward in golf. Johnson reportedly will make an announcement on Sunday, with the expectation being that golf will resume with heavy restrictions.

Greville Wood noted that his native Isle of Man opened its courses for play on Monday, requiring golfers to walk and play as singles.

“Kind of typical of my nation,” he quipped.

The post ‘World’s Biggest Golf Lesson’ bringing more than 500 coaches together at a time when instructors are hurting for business appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The school’s revolutionary approach of integrating education with industry has now flowed beyond the classroom and some of Dubai’s most powerful boardrooms to the lush fairways of JA The Resort Golf Club following the launch of FirstPoint School’s (FPS) Golf Centre of Excellence.

FPS has partnered with the world-renowned Leadbetter Golf Academy at JA The Resort Golf Course to offer a pathway to the professional game via scholarships to globally recognised universities and professional coaching academies. Jay Tostevin, FPS’s Secondary School Vice Principal, says promising young golfers can expect a bespoke curriculum that will lead to qualifications, both academically and vocationally, without impacting on the golfer’s training and coaching development.

“Our vision is to create a golfing academy that becomes a central hub for the development of elite golfers within Dubai and the UAE,” says Tostevin.

“We want to promote participation, excellence, enjoyment and understanding of the game, providing a quality education that will stimulate both golf game development and high academic achievement.

“We have teamed up with The Leadbetter Golf Academy as we share the same values that [world renowned instructor] David Leadbetter wants to instill in young people through playing the game. They have 40 centres across the globe and have a proven track record of progressing talent to the top.”

In the first year, FPS is working with golfers from seven to 15 years old and will eventually expand the Golf Centre of Excellence experience to those as young as four and up to age 18. The programme offered is personalised, meaning a teen already playing at MENA Tour level can remain with their existing coach while still benefiting from the Leadbetter Academy facilities and the school’s pioneering academic offering.

“Some of our talented young golfers are already coached by a range of people which we would not change, we are not exclusive,” Tostevin explained. “We want to work with all parties but with The Leadbetter Academy we have the coaches and facilities to provide the students that we begin to develop from grassroots, a pathway into the higher level coaching and potentially to the Leadbetter Academy in Florida.”

Initially, the FPS Golf Centre of Excellence will be delivered as part of the school’s PE curriculum and through after school clubs. Students will compete in intra school competitions while FPS hope to set up a school level league to provide intermediate competition pathways.

“Long term we will have dedicated coaching on-site, allowing our students to train on-site, whilst studying a national curriculum that develops the skills and knowledge through specific golf-related content. There is a multitude of science, mathematics and English objectives that can be taught through the game of golf,” Tostevin said. 

“For example the physics involved in the golf swing, or the numbers you can analyse in swing paths, ball spin rates, stoke percentages… it is exciting to think what could be created.  Students will be able to gain their GCSE’s and A-Levels whilst still playing at the level they need to.”

GEMS FirstPoint School is delivering its golf programme in tandem with The Leadbetter Golf Academy team at JA The Resort Golf Course

Working in partnership with local and globally recognised companies to provide an integrated and individualised curriculum for every student, FPS has become the lead school for Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority’s (KHDA) Rahhal programme.

RELATED: Why this school expects to create Dubai’s next generation of leaders

What does that look like in practice during a typical day at FPS? How about classes where your child builds an F1 car, explores the solar system from within a space shuttle or constructs a robotic arm? While some students learn in a traditional classroom setting, others will be brainstorming in a corporate office in another part of Dubai, explains FPS principal and CEO Matthew Tompkins.

“Education needs to adapt and evolve to meet the demands of modern industry and prepare young people properly for employment in the Fourth Industrial Revolution that we are now in,” Tompkins says.

“In our younger years, this involves guest speakers and day visits to different industries. As the students get older, the time in industry increases and the experts contribute to develop employability skills while also supporting learning in classes like business studies, economics and PE.

“In the sixth form, students have access to a one-day-a-week project-based internship with a company, where they work as a team to find solutions to issues posed by the company.”

Students in the FPS Golf Centre of Excellence will be provided with opportunities to undertake mini internships within the golf industry such as hospitality, course management and coaching.

Jay Tostevin takes up the cause when FPS is quizzed on how golf can set up future students for “high academic achievement”.

“Golf as a sport impacts positively on academic achievement,” Tostevin said. “In fact, there are over 250 associations between physical activity and academic achievement, academic behaviour, and cognitive skills and attitudes.”

FPS has already partnered with a number of businesses including SIEMENS, Emirates NBD, Price Waterhouse Cooper, Emirates Airline and Facebook. Expect the links with the Middle East golf industry to increase as well.

“Our partnership with SIEMENS is just the start of our links with industry here in the UAE,” Tostevin said. “Our aim is to develop these links so that these companies can collaborate to provide enhanced opportunities for young people. I’m thinking our swing studio could be powered using Siemens technology. 

“The beauty of golf is that the handicap system allows anyone to play with anyone.  The beauty of the Middle East is that 95 per cent of the time the weather is superb. Put these together and we have a plethora of opportunities to organise golfing events where all our stakeholders can come together to socialise as well as forge new business opportunities.”

To find out more about GEMS FirstPoint School and the courses offered, click here

RELATED: How this Dubai school is addressing the challenge of the future workplace

The post VIDEO: Golf now on the curriculum at Dubai school changing the face of education    appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Before he goes into detail of what he sees in Woods’ swing—and what he would suggest to further improve Tiger’s ball-striking, particularly consistency with the driver—Leadbetter says Woods has done a “remarkable job” calming down the things in his swing that contributed to wild tee shots and, perhaps, issues that led to surgeries on his back.

J.D. Cuban

J.D. Cuban

This is the starting point of where Leadbetter suggests Woods make an adjustment. “This look you see here in these two frames goes back to the big, wide backswings of Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman,” David Leadbetter says. “The old theory for power used to be to extend the club back as far and as wide as possible with little wrist set. The more modern swing has less width, an earlier set of the wrists and a big coil with the torso. My feeling is that this wide takeaway you see here with Tiger is contributing to timing issues and indirectly placing more stress on his lower back.”

J.D. Cuban

J.D. Cuban

You’ll notice in these two frames that Woods doesn’t hinge the club upward until this late point in the backswing. “It’s a very late wrist set, and in my opinion, it’s where his timing issues start because his body stops turning noticeably sooner than his arms and club reach the top,” Leadbetter says.

J.D. Cuban

J.D. Cuban

Take a look at these two frames (above), they’re the most telling of what he would change, Leadbetter says. “In the first photo, Tiger’s upper body is fully complete with its coil. But look in the next frame how much farther his arms and club have run on. They’re no longer moving in sync with his body turn. They’re continuing the swing. What that means is that they will have to somehow catch up to his body on the downswing. Being a great athlete, Tiger can obviously do this. But this is where the inconsistency can really occur for anybody. If the lower body gets a little too quick and too far ahead, then the arms and club will be late, and there’s too much reliance on the hands and timing to square the face at impact. That lack of sync was the reason why Tiger used to complain a lot about being ‘stuck.’ ”

“I will say, however, that compared to a few years ago, his sync is way better now. I just think Tiger will have much more control—of his driver in particular—if his arms and body finish the backswing at roughly the same time. This is true for any player. What I’d like to see is less width starting back and an earlier wrist set. He doesn’t need all that extension for power. In fact, improving his synchronization would still help him maintain power while boosting accuracy.”

J.D. Cuban

J.D. Cuban

These two photos of Tiger in the downswing look really good, Leadbetter says. “But if he was off a degree or so, it would make a big difference in impact,” he says. “This syncing of the arms and body is one of the most important and misunderstood aspects of the golf swing. When the arms run on at the top independently, the body has to wait for them to catch up on the downswing. This is where the timing aspect comes in. Swinging the club at the speed Tiger does (120 miles per hour), it doesn’t take much for the club to come into impact a little open. That results in his trademark miss to the right, or with overcompensation, a miss to the left—especially under pressure in tournament play.”

J.D. Cuban

The way you can tell his syncing has improved is by looking at the level of his shoulders through impact, Leadbetter says. “In the past, his right shoulder would appear much lower here and tilted as he hung back to try to save the shot,” he says. “And that swing put more pressure on his lower back. But you can see here how his shoulders are rotating on a much more level plane. He doesn’t have that ‘stuck-and-under’ look of the past.”

J.D. Cuban

J.D. Cuban

J.D. Cuban

Another thing to note is that there is far less of a dip in Woods’ body from address to impact, Leadbetter says. “He’s still getting a lot of power from his lower body. In fact, his legs look fantastic as he changes direction. The knees separate, but there’s not as much squat. It’s got the look of Sam Snead’s swing.”

J.D. Cuban

All of this contributes to a textbook impact position, Leadbetter says. “He might have been a touch late syncing his swing on the way down, but this is the impact position of a person in great control of the club. I really like the straight line formed by the shaft and his left arm. It looks like he can shape the shot any way he wants from here.”

J.D. Cuban

Leadbetter’s parting shot on Woods’ swing has to do with-fittingly-the way he finishes the swing. For a number of years, Woods’ finish had a “manufactured” look, like a gymnast that lands on the mat off balance but then straightens up for the judges. Now his finish looks more natural. “It’s got the look of the classic, well balanced follow-through,” Leadbetter says. “This shows you he’s not far off from a technical standpoint.”

“Tiger is close to swinging at his very best. And my feeling is that if he synced up his swing better going back, which would require less timing coming down, you would see a big improvement in his driving consistency. But overall this is a very impressive golf swing. It’s a great sign for Tiger’s future.”

 

The post The small adjustment that could help Tiger Woods win another major appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.