Bernie Najar, PGADirector of Instruction,Caves Valley Golf Club,Owings Mills, Maryland2004 and 2014 Middle Atlantic PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year
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echnology offers ideal mesh points with golf coaching, and that includes one that may seem counterintuitive. PGA of America Master Professional Bernie Najar combats the social awkwardness and anxiety many juniors experience with group instruction.
“Whether you realize it or not, if you’re playing golf you’re playing on a team – whether that means playing on a PGA Jr. League or high school team, or just being able to play your best in a foursome at a tournament,” says Najar, the Director of Instruction at Maryland’s Caves Valley Golf Club and a two-time Middle Atlantic PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year. “In our junior player development program group lessons and practices, you see their intensity and anxiety creep up when other people are watching, which is pretty natural in golf. But a lot of them get really self-conscious, and that limits their ability to execute shots.
“We need to teach them a process that allows them to execute their skill with an elevated heart rate, with their mind racing. If you can get them to understand that doing things that are uncomfortable – things that get you out of your comfort zone in a good way – are part of the training, they’re going to get better.”
The takeaway to Najar – who works with tour players and long drive champion Kyle Berkshire, as well as juniors and club players – is to make practicing golf as close to playing the game as possible. Group instruction creates that dynamic nicely, and golf coaches can find other ways to help make students comfortable with the uncomfortable moments that inevitably crop up during a round of golf.
“You think about a traditional one-on-one golf lesson, and you’re doing it, in most cases, in an almost fake situation: You’re hitting off a mat, with everything lined up square to a target,” Najar says. “You’re almost never going to get that shot in the real world. People like learning new things, but they like understanding things, too, which is why we need to be storytellers. ‘Things like here’s why the club reacts this way when it hits the turf, and here’s why it’s important to have a stable lower body and mobile upper body.’”
Challenging your students with situations that may be uncomfortable is important, and Najar suggests coaches apply the same approach to themselves. At the end of each season, he looks at students who have plateaued, or stopped taking lessons, and embraces the idea that he may need to break outside of his own comfort zone to better reach more golfers.
“As someone who’s never satisfied with my own performance, I always look back on the prior year to see what I’m missing, what deficiencies I might have – I also like to acknowledge what’s working well, but it’s easier to learn from things that aren’t working,” Najar explains. “That keeps me looking for ways to vary my programs. The mesh point is finding those pressure points where their game breaks down, then being able to show them how to address the elephant in the room. That might be through equipment, fitness, nutrition. That’s why we’re here as PGA of America Golf Professionals, to find the opportunity to get better at this game holistically.”
To that end, Najar has created player development programs for adults at Caves Valley that mirror his group lessons for juniors, as well as offering specialized programs from short game schools to clinics to build speed. Group sessions provide a chance for Najar and his staff to see more players in less time, and for those students to experience practicing in front of other golfers.
In addition to helping players get comfortable in stressful situations, Najar has also worked to make sure he’s comfortable with more educated golfers coming to him for help.
“Adults, even new golfers, are coming into golf instruction a lot more informed about how lessons should work because of information that they’ve seen online,” Najar says. “They’ll ask you about what kind of Trackman numbers they should have, and if you don’t have a good answer about spin loft they might think they’re in the wrong spot.
“It’s like walking into a car dealership and the salesperson can’t answer your questions. You have to know who’s going to be in front of you and be ready with answers to their questions and programs that are going to get them excited.”
