Meet Paul Thompson, our Golf Professional

An article on our Fellow PGA Professional at Powerscourt Golf Club, Paul Thompson recently appeared in an article in Golf 2015, a PGA publication. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Background to my work as a Professional.

I have been the Club Professional at Powerscourt Golf Club since 1996. I moved to Ireland in 1991 from Yorkshire where I am originally from. Powerscourt is a privately owned 36 hole club situated in the 1000 acre Powerscourt Estate (It has gardens rated the 3^rd best in the world by National Geographic) There is also a 5 star hotel situated in the estate.

My club Professional’s work is largely in coaching golf. It involves many different types of coaching from hotel guests to corporate groups and of course there are all the different golf club members’ needs in this area.

Outside of my work in Powerscourt I am involved with both the male (Golfing Union of Ireland -GUI) and female (Irish Ladies Golf Union – ILGU) broadly speaking we have different types of squads relevant to standard mostly. From this broad panel base coaching comes team coaching and individual coaching, also as a coach I will be involved in some setting up and structuring of these programmes and of course some administration.

WHAT ARE THE PARTICULAR CHALLENGES OF COACHING THIS SEGMENT OF GOLFERS?

There are a number of challenges and obstacles with sports coaching in this segment.

Gender differences, exactly the same principles and needs do not apply to both groups. Age body development can prove challenging at times for both coach and student. There are also injuries to be considered here although there is a less physical nature of golf to other sports repetitive strain injuries can occur in bad foundations. Peer pressure can have very negative effects and also parental support will definitely be an influence on the coaching process. It’s very easy to get wrapped up in “training to win” to early on, as a coach you naturally want your students to do well but you have to keep an eye on the long term as well.

Being “player centred” is the most important aspect as a coach and maintaining this can be a challenge.

WHAT WOULD A TYPICAL SESSION INVOLVE WITH YOUR TALENT DEVELOPMENT SQUADS?

We would do quite a lot of practise on the course itself (or course situations), however we will always have particular skills to focus on, therefore we will set game scenarios or challenges that highlight this. I find this is a great way to see certain things happen that may not appear on a range and then we can step in on a one to one or group basis and work on some solutions. Physical development invariably plays a role in sessions even though it may only be for a short period of time it is important to promote good physiology that plays a part in movement skills, less technical limitations and injury prevention.

HOW USEFUL/IMPORTANT ARE ALL OTHER FACTORS (FITNESS, SPORTS SCIENCE, MENTAL) WITH THIS TYPE OF GOLFER?

These factors have always been important to the developing golfer it’s just that now because of advanced technology, thinking, and influence from golfers who have been successful they have become more prominent. The danger is that they can easily be taken out of context from one another. They need to work in synergy and because of this the coach needs to be aware of the individuals needs and if other coaches are involved for example strength and conditioning coach, then coordination between the player and both coaches is vital.

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS AS A COACH WITH THIS CATAGORY

“Begin at the end in mind”. It’s like asking directions without knowing the destination. This does not mean the destination is winning. It’s about setting objectives within the process. You constantly keep going through this in your coaching practise.

WHAT IS THE SECRET TO BEING A GOOD COACH?

I would say first of all that I think there are no secrets to this; there is lots of information about mentoring and coaching out there, especially from bodies like the PGA who have great educational programmes to help with this sort of thing. A large amount of this is organised common sense.

It seems cliché to say they must be good listeners and communicators and have a good knowledge base of the subject matter but these are some of the corner stones to good coaching. Being player centred is also central to the process.

I would say that one the vital elements are that you must be passionate about coaching, this enthusiasm and interest will always shine through and help inspire and motivate others. Also I think to the job well you have to look at it through the eyes of a coach and not through the eyes as a player. This does not mean the coach won’t benefit from a playing background but coaching sometimes needs to be approached from a slightly different viewpoint.