OUR JOURNEY SO FAR...
We're both hugely passionate about the game of golf that we have both played from a young age. Our mission is to bring more people into the game and make starting and improving at golf a lot easier. Having worked together at The Grove in Hertfordshire, England we saw the need to simplify the coaching experience.
we're already seeing huge strides being made by our own students and with more than 150 other professionals who are already benefitting from being CPG Certified who are utilising our training concepts and kits to help them to simplify their communication when coaching.
Having graduated as a PGA Professional in 2014 from The University of Birmingham John had the proud moment of finishing overall Top Male in The PGA Titleist Assistants of The Year Awards, along with finishing in 4th place in The PGA Rookie Assistant of The Year Awards for Year 1 of his studies and presented with being Top Year 1 & 3 Assistant of The Year for The East Region TGI Awards. In his most recent position John held the role as one of the Lead Golf Instructors, coaching golfers of all ages and abilities at The Grove before leaving in July 2018 to focus full time on developing partnerships as his strength and enjoyment is building relatiuonships and networking, which to date has grown the COLOUR PATH GOLF® Business.
With over 40 years of coaching experience and having worked with players from most of the major tours, Kevin brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the COLOUR PATH GOLF® concept. With a background in creating innovative learning content for players of all abilities while being most recently employed as The Senior Golf Instructor at The Grove before leaving in December 2018 to focus full time on developing the COLOUR PATH GOLF® range of products and online teaching programs.
Kevin was one of the first PGA Qualified Professionals in Europe to become a TPI Certified Master Golf Fitness Instructor as well as a Certified HeartMath Sports Practitioner.
WHY COLOUR PATH GOLF IS CHANGING THE WAY THE GAME IS BEING PLAYED
THE WHAT, WHY & HOW ABOUT COLOUR PATH GOLF
WHAT IS COLOUR PATH GOLF?
You may be asking yourself what is Colour Path Golf? The simple answer is that it is a learning concept based around an externally focused sequence of colour which simplifies the transference of information from the coach to the student. The truth is that the game of golf has typically been taught in a more internally focused technical way which has simply been proven in over 80 studies worldwide to be a less affective way of learning a new skill than a more externally focused visual learning environment.
With learning difficulties be prevalent in society having a simple solution for people to solve a historically difficult problem has been a game changer. Allowing everyone to have the potential to accelerate their learning experience and fast track their way to an enjoyable way to learn to play.
WHY COLOUR PATH GOLF WAS CREATED?
The reason why we created Colour Path Golf was primarily to help to create more potential for a 'Chronic Learning State Environment' to be experienced even when a student is practicing alone ore remotely. You may not be familiar with this term but put simply it means that the information that you are being exposed to has a greater chance of being maintained. Whereas a more common 'Acute Learning Environment' is the experience that most students are exposed to where they see some initial improvement but it is then not maintained.
By being able to build out simple layouts to reference the relationships between the various aspects of a swing students can replicate the learning environment that they were training in with their instructor even when learning alone.
HOW IS COLOUR PATH GOLF USED?
The concept of how to use Colour Path Golf is straight forward. We use four colours to reference specific relationships which always remain constant. Once the student has learned what each specific colours reference is used for the transfer of information comes very quickly.
HOW THE COLOUR YELLOW IS USED
within the Colour Path Golf learning concept we always reference the yellow pieces of the kit when we need to grab a students attention. This is why we always reference a 'Target Line' by placing down 2 yellow rulers one either side of the ball spaced out around 2 ruler lengths away from the ball to avoid the potential for any contact from the club or the ball. We also use yellow pieces of the kit when we want to grab a students 'Attention' so when we want a student to finish for instance with the sole of their shoe facing directly behind them we would place a yellow pad or disc on the ground behind them and ask them to finish so that the sole of their shoe is pointing directly at the pad or disc placed or propped up on the ground. We also often use a disc place out in front of the player and ask them to finish with their shirt buttons facing the disc to encourage a full finish. These simple externally focused cues are easy ways in which we can move a student from one position to another without them needing to technically think about how they are doing it!
HOW THE COLOUR BLUE IS USED
The colour blue for us is always used to reference any 'Cool, Calm, Low Pressured Elements and the Downswing Path on our swing path layouts'. One of our main uses for the colour blue is to use the blue ruler as a reference for the downswing path of the club head as it approaches the ball. This shows the angle of attack and when combined with the understanding of the exit path and club face relationships at impact helps you to understand how the ball will react in flight and typically what type of curvature will be seen. Blue pieces of the Training kit are also used to reference low pressured elements or slower areas of a swing speed in some of our specific layouts. A typical use of the reference of the colour blue would be to describe a smooth backswing and the feeling of the transition from the top of the swing into the downswing as being 'cool and calm.'
HOW THE COLOUR GREEN IS USED
We use the colour green to reference any areas of the swing where we want students to go to or where acceleration takes place. With this in mind we always use the green ruler to represent the exit path for the club head on our swing path layouts to show the direction in which the club head travels after it makes contact with the ball. Understanding the correct exit path for the club to track over is a key to allowing the player to control elements of the shot shape with which they are trying to play with. It is a fact that 95% of students are not able to build out the swing path relationship that they are trying to play with! This is what we refer to as 'The Most Powerful 5 Minutes In Golf Experience' which we believe is one of the main reasons why the Colour Path Golf learning concept has been so affective in helping students to change their ball flight and the way that they play.
HOW THE COLOUR RED IS USED
Red for us represents all elements of 'Speed, Power, Control and Areas of Danger.' With this in mind we always use red rulers to reference ball position and club face alignment at set up and at impact. We also use the red pieces of the kit to demonstrate where we see the greatest amount of speed within the swing as well as occasionally showing an area where we don't want to venture. One of our most affective drills uses the colour red as a visual ramp beyond the ball to help to increase both the launch angle and club head speed when driving which has produced amazing gains in distance for many players.
THE FOLLOWING IMAGES WILL SHOW YOU HOW WE BUILD OUT A SHOT SHAPE LAYOUT FOR A STRAIGHT SHOT REFERENCE
Here you see 2 yellow rulers placed one either side of the ball spread out 2 ruler lengths away from the ball and pointing directly towards your intended target line.
Her we have now introduced 2 red rulers to show the relationship of where the ball is positioned relevant to your body and also an indication reference for a square club face alignment at set up.
Here we have introduced a blue ruler to show the direction of travel of the club head as it approaches impactto influence the straight shot ball flight.
Here we see the green ruler placed down on the target side of the ball to represent the direction of travel of the club head after impact for a straight shot reference.
Finally we place down a red ruler to reference the correct alignment of the club face at impact. To influence a straight shot ball flight. Which in this instance means the club face is pointing directly at the target at impact.