Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a three-part series highlighting the commitment and time restraints many coaches face with their mid- to high-handicap students. Mike Maggs, the owner and director at CaliGolf Instruction in Carlsbad, California, believes that anyone with the proper guidance can reach their golfing goals. In this article, Mike explains that improvement can be reached in as little as an hour by cutting out “noise” and focusing on finding a student’s balance.
I’ve been teaching this game for nearly two decades. I started my journey at the Jim McLean Golf School at PGA West, where I thought I’d learned everything there was to know about the swing.
But as the years went by, and as I transitioned from an assistant to a head instructor and eventually founded CaliGolf Instruction in Carlsbad, California, I realized that the “real” education didn’t come from a textbook. It came from observing the struggle of the average golfer.
There is a strange paradox happening in golf right now. We have more technology than ever before. We have launch monitors, high-speed video, and an endless stream of “perfect” swing tips on YouTube and Instagram. Most of that information is technically correct. Yet, the average handicap hasn’t improved — it has actually gone up.
Why? Because golfers are drowning in information but starving for a clear path forward to improvement.
So, if I only have one hour with a new student, the goal shouldn’t be to teach them a new “tip.” It should be to discover their signature balanced move.
The ‘Signature Move’ Trap
When I conduct a new student assessment, I almost always notice the same thing: every student does their own “signature move” with every club in their bag. Whether it’s a wedge or a driver, their body is locked into a specific neural pathway.
Most instructors look at these patterns — like the classic “over-the-top” move — and try to fix the arms or the plane. But after years of using video analysis technology like Onform, I’ve had a massive epiphany: swing errors are not the problem. They are the solution your brain has created to keep you from falling over.
Golf is a fight-or-flight experience for every golfer. Your mind is an optimization machine. If you are out of balance at the moment of release, your brain will trigger an involuntary “spasm,” or a lunging motion to save you from falling. That “over-the-top” move? That’s just your body trying to find the target because it doesn’t feel stable.
Cutting Out the Noise and Finding Balance
If I have only one hour with a student, I am obsessed with finding their balance at the moment of release. Most golfers assume the game is supposed to feel heavy, awkward and difficult.
They’ve never actually felt the “ride the bike” moment where everything clicks into sequence. In that magic spot, the club drops in, the club-head shallows out, the shaft leans forward at impact and the ball just… goes.
To get a student there in sixty minutes, we have to bypass the “competing noise” of every tip they’ve ever heard. We stop worrying about “keeping the head down” — perhaps the worst piece of advice in golf instruction.
We instead focus on simple human movements. I see so many golfers in their 50s and 60s who think they’ve lost mobility. They try to rotate while standing on top of their back leg and get stuck. By simply centering their weight, they suddenly regain a 90-degree turn they thought was gone forever.
Using Video as a ‘Feeling’ Verification Tool
One of the biggest hurdles in coaching is that people will argue with you until they see themselves. I’ve used various video tools over the years, but for the last eight months, I’ve relied heavily on Onform to bridge the gap between what a student feels and what they are actually doing.
In a one-hour session, video isn’t just for looking at proper form. It’s for verification.
When I can show a student a side-by-side of their current “signature move” versus a new sequenced and balanced release motion, the confusion vanishes and we get the “wow, is that me?” moment. They stop thinking about their elbow or their grip and start looking at the pattern.
You can never truly remember your swing. You can only re-recognize the feeling when it happens. My goal is to get the student to relate the visual on the screen to an internal sensation. Are they feeling the pressure in their feet? Are they feeling their glutes engaging?
Once they connect the “pro-looking” position on the screen to a specific physical feeling, they are hooked. They realize that a better swing isn’t about working harder, it’s about moving smarter.
“You can never truly remember your swing. You can only re-recognize the feeling when it happens.”
The Roadmap for the One-Hour Session
If a student walks into my academy and we were limited to just one hour to coach them for their entire golfing life, here is how we spend that short 60 minutes to ensure they leave a better golfer:
1. The Micro-Assessment
We start with a quick assessment of their natural movement. I want to see their grip and stance, but more importantly, I want to see their “underlying movement.” If they already have a specific way of moving, I don’t want to fight it — I want to key off of it.
2. Rotational Drills (The ‘Shooter McGavin’)
If the sequence is off, we go back to basics. We do simple rotational drills — often without the club — to feel the hips and the core working in unison. We have to get them out of the habit of standing on their back leg.
3. Feeling the Club Head, Not the Handle
The average golfer tries to manhandle the club. I want them to feel the weight of the club head. We work on letting the weight of the club create the power through leverage and coil, rather than raw muscle.
4. The Trust Exercise
The hardest part of the hour is the “trust fall.” The average golfer is terrified that if they change their pattern, they will get worse. Think of it like baseball. They have a “batting average” they are comfortable with, even if it’s low. My job is to show them — through video and ball flight — that the sequenced motion is not only more effective but actually easier on the body.
Transitioning from ‘Heavy’ Golf to ‘Light’ Golf
The ultimate epiphany I want my students to have is that golf is a series of incredibly simple human movements that have just fallen out of order. When you are in sequence, the club feels light. The strike feels effortless.
“The ultimate epiphany I want my students to have is that golf is a series of incredibly simple human movements that have just fallen out of order.”
Whether I’m working with a mid-handicapper who has been stuck for a decade or a golfer looking to refine their game, the mission is the same: move the mind-space from “where did the ball go?” to “how did that feel?”
Once they find that magic spot of balance at the moment of release, they don’t just have a better swing — they have a blueprint for the rest of their golfing life.
They can apply that same sense of balance to every part of their game. They stop chasing tips and start chasing a sensation.
Mike is owner and Director of Instruction for CaliGolf Instruction in Carlsbad, California. A disciple of Jim McLean’s, Mike previously served as an instructor at the PGA West Golf Academy and Jim McLean Golf School. He believes that students need to understand themselves and their swing, commit completely to the solution, and enjoy the process of getting better.