What the short game of golf can teach you about becoming a better coach

While traveling for work this week, I sat next to two gentlemen talking about the game of golf for 3+ hours. And although I’ve only played attempted golf once, I found their conversation fascinating and hugely relevant to all of us.

Their conversation centered around improving their short game.

For those of you (and me up until this week) unfamiliar with the short game, it’s defined as the game of golf that takes place within 100 yards of the hole. It includes putting, chipping, pitching, and bunker play.

On average, amateur players will take ~70% of their shots from 100 yards and closer (short game).

So when it comes to practice, it would make sense to reflect this percentage split — spending 70% of your time developing your short game and 30% developing your long game.

But that’s not what most golfers do. Instead, they head to the driving range. Why? Because it’s flashy and fun.

I think the same is true for how coaches and trainers approach their professional development. They spend a disproportionate amount of time on their long game.

How am I defining the long and short game for coaches & trainers?

• The long game: Licensure, certifications, technical continuing education, specialty workshops

• The short game: Communication skills

To be a functional golfer, you need to be able to drive the ball down the center of the fairway. But you don’t need to be able to drive the ball 400 yards. The average driving distance for amateur golfers is 216 yards across all handicaps and age groups.

The same is true for coaches and trainers. At a minimum, you need the proper licensure, certifications, and knowledge necessary to excel at the basic functions of your role. But you don’t need to have every license, certification, and specialty course.

Listen to Dave Pelz, a well-known golf coach, talk about the value of time spent developing your short game:

“…I can work with you — starting today — I can work with you 15 hours a day, every day, for the rest of your life, and you will not drive it like Rory McIlroy. You can’t get from where you are to where he is. He’s an incredible athlete, he’s worked for many years, he’s ahead of most of us. So no matter how much I teach these people, they’re not going to drive it like Rory. […] I’ve gotta work with what you can do. And what you can do is hit these shots as good as Rory McIlroy.”

What’s his point?

There’s immediate and accessible value in dedicating time to developing your short game. The same can’t be said for your long game.

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Consider your “game” as a coach or trainer. You need your licensure, certifications, or technical knowledge to get you down the middle of the fairway — which might mean getting asked to interview for a job, having a client or athlete show interest in working with you, or being considered for a promotion. But it’s your communication skills that are going to sink the putt.

And if you get that job, convince that client or athlete to work with you, or secure the promotion, it’s your communication skills that will determine your level of success.

You could have every letter behind your name, but if you don’t have the skills to translate that information in a way that’s meaningful to the people in front of you, it’s not functional. From a professional standpoint, it’s useless — just like a 400-yard drive is useless to a golfer who has a weak short game.

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Your communication skills define at least 70% of your success in your role. And yet, you’re likely not spending that amount of time developing them.

If you did choose to spend more time on your short game, what might that look like?

• Defining the specific communication skills you need to be world-class at what you do.

• Requesting formal feedback on your communication skills from your boss, colleagues, and clients/athletes and then determining where change may be necessary.

• Deliberately observing how other coaches communicate and then integrating what you like into your own day-to-day.

• Video or audio recording yourself in normal interactions to later watch back with the intention of seeing or hearing areas for improvement.

• Speaking to other coaches or trainers about their communication style and approach with the intention of learning a new strategy or technique.

• Actively reflecting on communication scenarios from your past to consider how using a different communication approach may have changed the outcome.

• Hiring a communication skills coach to assess your skills and help you develop an improvement plan.

• Attending a class or workshop dedicated to communication skills.

• Submitting a proposal to speak at an industry event as a way to assess your depth of knowledge or level of comfort with your chosen topic.

• Reading or listening to articles, books, and podcasts about communication skills with the intention of acquiring and applying.

The short game might not be flashy, but it defines the game. How much time are you dedicating to developing yours?

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