Genius Hour Post 5

I continued to research different discussions and articles about growing the game of golf using technology, especially for younger generations. My prior research involved different teaching methods that would be most beneficial for teaching the game for the most part. And my prior discussion generally revolved around my experiences with golf teaching and technology when I was younger. In this post, I dig into some more information to continue my Genius Hour Project.

One article I came across included “Embrace technology or get left behind” in reference to future golf teaching strategies. A KPMG Golf Business Forum meeting was held at the birthplace of golf, St. Andrews, where the different uses for technology growing the game of golf and the excitement around it were discussed. One particular argument noted that golf was too slow reacting the the increased use of technology in other sports, and needed to catch up with the times to not get left behind. Most of what they mention involves computer chips and programming in the golf balls and other equipment, but obviously in my scenario this would not be economically feasible for a school.

The most encouraging information I discovered in my further research involved multiple apps that are available to anyone with a smart phone that provide an avenue for users to evaluate and analyze their own swing, while also providing them tips and instructions based on what they’re doing. One of these apps is from V1 Sports, who specializes in motion analysis and digital media technology. Their app allows you to record your swing and send it to analysts that will provide input to help you fix issues with your golf game. This simple technology use could provide great benefits to younger generations and their school sin learning how to play the game of golf.

Genius Hour Post 4

For my fourth Genius Hour post, I decided to interview one of my friends who also enjoys the game of golf, Wade Phillips. Wade and I grew up together playing all kinds of sports, including golf. He offers an interesting perspective to this project because he didn’t play golf in high school like I did, but during all the summers growing up, he would ask me to teach him how to play when he was in between baseball and football season.

Me teaching Wade the game of golf ties directly in to my Genius Hour project. He had his own set of clubs and access to a golf course, but did not have any access to a golf teacher like I did. So, we would go out to the course and I would instruct him on how to swing the club properly and perform the other various tasks in the difficult game of golf. In fact, from the summer going into sophomore year of high school, we were able to lower his average score by more than 15 strokes. This improvement in his game allowed him to enjoy more and we now play almost weekly together.

When I interviewed him about this project, he thought it was very intriguing and agreed with me that the game of golf needs to be expanded to younger kids growing up that are limited to just a few sports. He mentioned similar ideas that I have thought about before, but also mentioned the idea of providing instructional videos (similar to my SnapGuide) that could be readily accessible to anyone looking to learn about the game of golf. He noted that when he was a lot younger, he would have been very motivated to use simple instructions like this to get ahead in his game.

The most important thing he said was that he was fortunate enough to have me around to teach him how to play during high school. He thought that if I hadn’t been around to teach him how to play, he probably wouldn’t have any interest in the game whatsoever, so that made me feel pretty good. But everyone out there doesn’t have a friend they grew up with that played golf and knew a lot about it, which makes it all the more important that we need to discover new and creative ways to introduce the younger generation to the game when they don’t have the means or access to it.