Golf Professionals

Every golfer has a different level of expectation for their golf game. Some are high, some, not as high. Part of my responsibility as a Golf Professional is to help my students understand the difference between what they want and need in their golf game and finding a path to achieve both.

It’s not my goal to get you to play like the professionals on TV, or even make you better than your friends or family or coworkers; my priority is to help get you to a point where you can enjoy the game and build from there. I don’t believe in taking 2 steps back in order to take a step forward. Let’s have fun now, let’s get better now.

I gave my first lesson on the same day I played my first round of golf. I was 10 years old. My brother and I taught each other every time we played golf together. We weren’t discussing the benefits of a shallow swing plane that generates a positive azimuth and the effect it has on spin rates or dynamic loft. We weren’t even dissecting the limitations a golfer experiences with Upper Crossed Syndrome and how the anterior muscles inhibit proper rotational sequencing.

All we did was eat hot dogs and encourage each other.

Sure, we’d notice a thing here and there about the swing in hopes to correct it, but the core of our “teaching” was through encouragement. Encouragement comes in many forms: praise, ridicule, success, failure, compassion, kindness, collaboration, cooperation, etc. Ours was simple: We joked, we competed, we cheated, and we celebrated. Those were the best lessons because it always made us come back. It made us want to be better, improve, in our own game and in our ability to help each other.

We knew how to talk to each other and we knew how to listen to each other and that is the foundation of my teaching: Communication.

Getting my students to hit a good golf shot is the easy part. Getting my students to understand why they hit a good golf shot is the fun part. I learn just as much from my students that my students learn from me. I learn how you learn and with that knowledge I am able to provide you the right type and amount of information you need in a lesson. I keep instruction simple and I keep the lessons casual. Hitting a good golf shot is great, right? How about hitting that same shot with a group of people watching? Even better. By eliminating any doubt, fear, or intimidation from your inner golfing psychosis I can help you thoroughly enjoy the game.

Sometimes the game seems easy, most of the time it’s hard, but it should always give you a reason to come back, to be better, to relax more, to focus more, to celebrate more.

To find the enjoyment in the challenge.

And eat a hot dog.

To book a lesson with Matt, please call 630.653.5800 or stop in at the Arrowhead Golf Club Pro Shop, 26W151 Butterfield Road, Wheaton.