Why Golf Coach Education Hasn't Kept Pace

If we're serious about developing better coaches, we also need to rethink how we educate them. Here's something I've been thinking about.

Most further education for golf coaches follows the same format. You attend for a day or two, you listen to presentations, you collect your education points, then you go back to work.

But what happens next?

Who's checking whether you've applied what you learned? Who's assessing whether your coaching has actually improved? Who's supporting you six months later when you're trying to implement those ideas?

In most professions, education isn't measured by attendance. It's measured by learning and ultimately by outcomes.

The other challenge is that further education is often delivered in isolation.

》 One seminar on biomechanics.
》 One webinar on putting.
》 One day on junior coaching.

Each one may be excellent, but very few coaches are given a structured pathway that helps them develop across every area the modern profession demands.

》 Technical coaching.
》 Communication.
》 Business.
》 Technology.
》 Marketing.
》 Data.
》 Leadership.
》 Artificial intelligence.

The modern coach doesn't need another collection of disconnected education points, they need a connected learning journey, one that builds knowledge over time, one that encourages implementation, reflection and accountability. One that recognises that becoming a great coach isn't something that happens over a weekend. It's a continuous process.

I also think our industry should ask a bigger question. When coach education is designed, are we bringing together the best expertise from coaching, education, technology, business and performance science? Or are we relying too heavily on doing things the way they've always been done?

If the profession is evolving every year, our approach to educating coaches should evolve with it.

That's a conversation worth having.