high school golf coaching

Question
I have been made the High School golf coach at a very small high school.  I played in high school, and I am a fairly decent golfer.  I have been a teacher for years, and have coached basketball so I know the basics of coaching and working with kids.  My question is this:  I need some suggestions about how to run practices, what drills can I use?  I obviously don't want to just play nine holes every day.  We have access to a driving range only one day a week, the other days are on the course.  What specific routines should I put in place?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer
Bill,

Congratulations on your new position. It will be so rewarding for you to see them grow as individuals as well as improve in golf.

The first thing I would do is to have the players do a self evaluation of their games. Have them rate themselves on a 1 - 10 basis on the different aspects of the game such as woods, iron play, pitching, course management etc.... This will let you have their perspective on their games.

If you have five days to practice, I would have them play 3 days and practice some after they play, time permitting. The other two days have them split the practice time between the range, hitting full shots and the short game area. As you know most golfers do not practice the short game as much as they should. Invite a PGA Professional come to the first non playing practices and offer some tips on technique, especially in the short game. You want the players practicing the right things. Their improvement will come that much sooner.

As far as drills are concerned, let me begin with putting. Have the players make 10 3 footers in a row before they can move further from the hole. For distance control, set tees in the green at various distances, 20 30 and 40 feet and have them lag their putts to those distances. This will help them to avoid three putts. Have contests for putting, chipping, pitching and bunker play. They will be very competitive in these contests. Perhaps award a sleeve of balls to the winner each week. This will make them focus when they practice knowing there is an upcoming contest. Quality practice means improvement.

Hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions. I'm here to help.

Michael Hoffman
PGA Professional