Scotland world leaders in coaching - 16th Feb 2004

Scotland has become the first national golfing body in the world to create a complete coaching programme from entry level to elite.

The new curriculum can support a child as young as nine picking up a golf club for the very first time through to becoming an international player teeing up to represent his or her country.

New Zealand born Murray Macklin, regarded as a leading authority on the game, has been working alongside the Scottish Golf Union national coaches for the last two years to develop a series of new coaching resources into a national coaching curriculum. The resources, funded by sportscotland, will not only be used to identify and support the country’s most promising youngsters, but will also help to grow the game at grass roots level. The new coaching curriculum is the first of it’s kind in the golfing world.

A PGA professional for over thirty years, Macklin has praised the Scottish game for striving to implement a structure which provides the opportunity for all youngsters to access the game and develop their golfing skills.

He has the ideal credentials for the job having devised the highly successful junior coaching resources for the New Zealand Golf Association. These resources have resulted in the number of junior members tripling from 5,000 to 15,000.

He has no doubt that Scotland’s programme, which draws on the experience of the New Zealand system, will be a success.

“With the coaching resources that have been developed, Scottish youngsters will have the support to develop their golfing skills to the highest standard anywhere in the world,” Macklin said.

The curriculum consists of five coaching levels – Level One being the entry level, which focuses on attracting youngsters to the game, and Level Five the national high performance programme designed for Scotland’s national teams.

These resources map out a national coaching curriculum to provide consistent coaching delivery throughout Scotland.

“In Scotland, Level 1 and Level 5 of the structure are already in operation, but it was essential that we completed this structure, filling in the gaps and formulating a clear framework for development,” he added. “No country, including New Zealand, has yet developed this complete structure.”

“These resources provide a pathway that allows a young Scot to take up golf at nine years of age through the national junior golf strategy, branded as clubgolf, as a fun game and activity, and over time to graduate through to level five as a member of the Scottish national golf team.”

The national junior golf strategy, branded clubgolf, was launched last year and is backed by the Scottish Executive. It aims to encourage more youngsters to play the game by opening up opportunities in golf and making it more accessible through schools and golf clubs. A modified golf schools programme will shortly be piloted in primary schools across Scotland with a new volunteer coaching programme also set up to ensure follow on opportunities in clubs. These volunteers will deliver the Level one and two coaching programmes.

Level three of the programme will ensure the children introduced through the clubgolf programme can continue to develop their golfing skills with their club professional. Talented youngsters will access more comprehensive coaching opportunities at Level three if selected for one of the 16 SGU Area programmes and/or the Level four coaching programmes delivered within six regions of Scotland. These levels are more advanced with a clear focus on developing a player’s competitive game and link to the Level five coaching of national squads.

Although most of the material has been completed, it is projected that all five levels will be fully implemented by 2007, and the full benefits of the new curriculum should be seen by 2014 – when Scotland will host the world’s golfing stars in the Ryder Cup.

Scottish Golf Union Limited Chief Executive Officer Hamish Grey said: ”We are grateful to sportscotland for their financial backing which has helped us develop these resources.

“The curriculum is the first of it’s kind in the golfing world, and will help us deliver a number of our core objectives, including growing the game and creating pathways to performance. We are now in discussions with a range of interested parties regarding the implementation of the programme.”

Macklin added: “Golf development here is moving in one very positive direction. Of course devising and implementing such a hugely significant programme does take time, but when the full programme rolls out I have no doubt that many people will be influenced and enhanced by it.

“The success of level’s one and two will be measured simply by how many take up the game, whilst the success of level three will be assessed by how many are retained in the game.

“In reality, this is where most players will progress to and hopefully become good golf club members.
“The success of levels four and five will simply be about winning. It will be measured by the achievements of Scottish players in competition – whether that be as individuals or part of a team.”

“Scotland’s team of elite coaches are carrying out an amazing job. They have all the ingredients to develop the best golfers in the world, with terrific resources available in terms of courses and facilities and sports science support at the Institute of Sport and universities.”

Macklin is due to return to New Zealand later this month but will be back in Scotland in the summer when he will be training coaches to use the resources he has written for the first time.

All news for Orkney | Local News Homepage