New golf project to be made available to PGA professionals

A Golf Foundation coaching project that includes breathing techniques and delivered successful results for participants aged 11 to 16 is to be made available to PGA professionals.

‘Unleash Your Drive’is a golf coaching programme that involved the charity measuring the impact on its participants. “The results have been life changing,” said Golf Foundation chief executive Brendon Pyle.

“Several groups of 11 to 16 year olds were evaluated at the beginning and end of the new programme, which teaches techniques such as breathing and visualisation alongside traditional golf skills,” he said.

“In just 10 weeks, youngsters showed an average 20 per cent increase in their mental resilience. They report that being mentally tougher helped them perform better, feel happier and address stressful situations.

“Most significantly, all of the youngsters used the techniques they had learnt during their golf coaching in everyday life; at home, at school and in exams.  One youngster summed up the experience perfectly when he told us that he was ‘better at golf and life’.”

The programme was devised in collaboration with Yeast Ltd and a group of PGA professionals.

“One particularly impactful story came from a child who was regularly excluded from school for losing his temper,” added Pyle.

“During the programme he learnt breathing and visualisation techniques that allowed him to ‘control his fizz’ and subsequently he avoided exclusion for the entire length of programme.

“We are now making the programme available to PGA professionals. We are holding a series of five regional one-day training workshops, which will form part of the PGA’s CPD programme, and will be presented by the team from Yeast who designed the programme. Some of the PGA coaches involved in the pilot study will also be sharing their experiences during the course.

“Children are under an increasing amount of pressure from all angles, which is why we are incredibly proud of the results of this research project. We have already had a great response from across the sports world and are looking forward to hearing the reaction of the sports minister when we meet her in the coming weeks.

Brendon Pyle

“This project opens up the exciting possibility of us taking this work beyond golf. The children involved are the biggest advocates of the programme, which tells us everything we need to know, and you can hear from them first hand by watching the short film we made with them on www.golf-foundation.org.”