THE FIRST TEE COACH
TM
The First Tee is breaking new ground in junior golf. Its mission goes beyond the
commitment to introduce new players to the game. The First Tee has developed and
implemented programs to enhance the lives of its participants by expanding access to
the game, providing regular low cost opportunities to play, and teaching important skills
that help participants succeed in their daily lives. The ultimate success of The First Tee
programs, however, depends largely on how local facility leaders, golf professionals,
volunteers, and board members invest in youth. The wide range of people helping
participants at The First Tee facilities, then, must embrace our fundamental philosophy
to support youth development and enable them to succeed in life.
The First Tee Coach is a self –paced education program designed to help The
First Tee chapters create and implement programs consistent with this philosophy. The
program is designed for individuals from a variety of backgrounds and can be completed
by participating in a series of activities and educational
experiences to further embrace The First Tee philosophy. All
of these activities are directly related to The First Tee
programs. The following pages briefly describe The First Tee
Coach philosophy.
WHAT IS THE FIRST TEE COACH PHILOSOPHY?
The First Tee Coach (TFT Coach) philosophy was developed with input from
many members of The First Tee national community. The philosophy is based on four
principles:
1. Activity-Based
The First Tee Coach emphasizes doing versus telling. TFT Coach engages
participants in fun golf-related activities to learn new skills that will be utilized in golf and
can be transferred to their daily lives. Fun is a product of an environment that
encourages participation and enhances self-worth.
Create an environment that encourages participation and enhances selfworth and the participants will have fun!
 Doing Versus Telling. The First Tee is about having fun! To hear that golf is fun is
very different than actively participating in a fun experience. In order to promote
powerful learning, TFT Coach always has participants do an activity first and then
discuss/review the experience. This situation is different than many teaching
environments in which the coach talks or tells about a skill and then has the
participants do an activity. TFT Coach strives to create activities to engage
participants in situations that produce thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviors that
illustrate the key golf and life skills. TFT Coach ensures a proper balance between
doing and telling by structuring programs that are at least 80% doing.
Activity-Based (cont’d)
 Fun and Seamless. Participants are more likely to continue in The First Tee
program if they are having fun! The participants‟ experiences are mediated, in part,
by TFT Coach‟s overall view of the program and how well he/she prepares in
advance. The First Tee offers a unique experience because it integrates golf and
life skills. The participants come for The First Tee experience - not to play golf and
then be taught life skills. TFT Coach plans accordingly and creates environments
where participants learn both golf and life skills within the same fun and seamless
activities.
2. Mastery-Driven
The First Tee Coach creates an environment that encourages participants to
focus on their own experiences and to seek challenging tasks that develop new skills.
TFT Coach helps participants monitor their own progress, allowing them to focus
primarily on the process and, secondarily, on the outcome of the activities.
 Intention Equals Attention. It is always important to clarify the common intentions
before each First Tee session. TFT Coach helps participants determine what is
most important to accomplish (the intention),
and then makes that the focus of their
attention. For example, if TFT Coach intends
for the participants to learn how to hold the
club, then his/her attention and feedback
should be directed at the hold, not the
shoulder turn or ball flight. Likewise, if TFT
Coach intends for the participants to learn
about setting specific practice goals in golf,
then his/her attention and feedback should be
on the participants‟ ability to set specific goals and enact practice routines, not on
lowering their handicap by 5 strokes.
 Balance Process and Outcome. The First Tee Coach communicates that the
process of learning and improving is just as important as the desired outcome. The
First Tee participants are assessed and rewarded for improvements based on past
performance rather than solely relying on social or performance outcome
comparisons to measure success. For example, if participants want better grades
in school, what practices can they engage in to achieve better grades and how will
TFT Coach reward their progress? In addition, if participants want to reduce their 3putts, what putting skills and practice routines can they employ to help them
achieve this outcome?
3. Empower Youth
The First Tee Coach is youth centered and establishes positive relationships with
participants. They focus on developing the „whole‟ person by getting to know each
individual‟s goals, both in golf and in life. TFT Coach values youth involvement and
encourages participants to actively participate in the decision-making process.
Remember, kids don’t care what you know until they know that you care!
Empower Youth (cont’d)
 Youth Centered. The First Tee Coach focuses on the agenda of the participants
and strives to understand situations from their perspective when teaching golf and
life skills.
 Relationship Focused. The First Tee Coach
strives to build rapport and effective relationships
that meet the participants‟ needs. Quality adult and
peer relationships provide a foundation that enables
the participants to enjoy themselves and to enhance
their opportunity to develop golf and life skills.
4. Continuous Learning
The First Tee Coach utilizes a good-better-how model for self-monitoring,
providing feedback, and creating an environment that fosters long-term solutions rather
than short-term remediation of deficits. TFT Coach takes “the long view” - to give and
receive feedback while seeking teachable moments to reinforce and encourage learning.
 Good – Better - How. When participants are learning new skills, it is important for
them to attend to, store and then recall the thoughts, emotions, movements and/or
behaviors that helped them improve. This is more likely to occur if they can monitor
their own learning from a positive point of view. Good – better - how is a positive
self-reflection technique that can be modeled and reinforced by TFT Coach.
For example, after a performance, participants should first ask: What was good?
This helps the participants to recognize, store and then to recall the positive
aspects of the situation. Second, in order to focus on improvement, the participants
should ask: What could be better? Better instills a positive outlook and enables
participants to take action by focusing on improvements; whereas, focusing on
what went wrong promotes a negative outlook and can lead to frustration and loss
of interest. TFT Coaches understand their participants and their capacity to focus
on a few improvements at any one time (One or two is about all that most new
players or young children can manage). Finally, the participants, with the guidance
of TFT Coach, must determine how - the specific actions that are required to make
the improvements.
 Teachable Moments. The First Tee Coach uses a variety of situations to teach
and reinforce life skills. Teachable moments take advantage of spontaneous
situations that help participants learn, refine, and apply their skills. Teachable
moments occur while participants are playing golf or interacting with their peers
beyond the formal instructional setting; for
example, when becoming angry or frustrated on
the golf course, or dealing with a specific social
or family conflict. Teachable moments can
foster skill transfer beyond The First Tee by
helping participants employ new skills (like goalsetting, conflict resolution, or positive self-talk)
in typical interpersonal, social, and performance
improvement situations.
The First Tee Golf and Life Skills Experience
Mission Statement
The First Tee Golf and Life Skills Experience is designed to enhance the lives of
young people around the world by creating fun, golf-related opportunities to learn
valuable life skills that can be applied both on and off the golf course.
The First Tee Coach
Elements and Rationales
TM
Elements
The goal of every TFT Coach is to
promote positive youth development
through participation in fun, golf-related
activities; not grooming young people to
become professional golfers.
Person-centered not golf skill focused
Relationship not program-driven
Position power vs Personal power
Pays attention to the process not just
the outcome
Attention matches intention
Teachable moments and catching kids
doing things well
Long-term growth vs Short-term
remediation
Rationale
TFT Coaches emphasize the development of life skills that
assist young people in acquiring the personal and social
assets necessary to succeed in all phases of life.
TFT Coaches pay attention to participants‟ interests, age,
wants, and needs. Having fun is more important than having
the “proper” grip or stance for most participants.
Consistent with both counseling psychology and positive
youth development research, the quality of The First Tee
Coach (caring adult mentor) / participant relationship is more
important than any programmatic approach.
TFT site personnel have power and authority by virtue of their
position at the facility, but effective TFT Coaches gain
personal power (i.e., the ability to influence others) through
caring about each participant, treating them with respect,
valuing their input, and supporting their efforts.
TFT Coaches focus on the skills, strategies or processes that
participants need to have in order to reach their desired
outcomes. Whether it is a slower backswing or the use of a
deep breathing routine to maintain a proper level of relaxation,
TFT Coaches help individuals focus on what they need to do
to put themselves in the best position to reach their goals.
TFT Coaches look for opportunities to reinforce life skills
learned by taking advantage of examples that happen in nonteaching settings. Life skills only become mastered when
participants are able to use them automatically both on and off
the course.
TFT Coaches assist young people in developing and
internalizing skills and attitudes that enable them to make a
successful transition into productive adulthood.