My recent blog post "Are You Coachable?" which can be found below contained some content from a published article by Matt Wilson and Corey Lundberg entitled "Coachability: Traits and Tactics of Super Learning Students." In my original article, I failed to site Matt and Corey's article which can be found at www.curiouscoaches.com. I apologized to Matt and Corey for that omission. They are excellent coaches who have worked hard to provide useful information to the coaching community.

In golf, where fractions separate the best from the rest, junior golfers can’t afford to get off track and let days and weeks go by without making progress. Heeding the ongoing advice of an experienced coach can literally make the difference on whether a young golfer reaches his goals or not.

Now that we understand the importance of trusting your coach and following his or her guidance, let’s determine how coachable you are. There are several traits that coachable athletes share. Among the most important are the following:

• They are motivated by the challenge of mastering a skill rather than by the goal of beating someone else or achieving some external reward.
  
• They persist through challenges. They are not discouraged by the fact that golfers lose much more than they win, and they understand that even practice can become a grind.
  
• They are disciplined and stay on task. They accept the fact that to become a skilled golfer, it requires thousands of repetitions and the work is often tedious.
  
• They are conscientious and careful when they train and practice because they know little mistakes add up over time, especially in a sport that demands precision.
  
• Finally, and perhaps most importantly, they are self-compassionate. They understand that by its very nature, golf can be brutal and to maintain effort over a long period of time, they must avoid self-criticism and maintain a positive outlook.

In addition to possessing the personal traits above, coachable athletes use tactics that increase the likelihood that their hard work will pay off. Here are some of the most significant ones:

• They organize their work and lay out a detailed plan for each day of training and practice.
  
• They reflect on their lessons, practice, and play and this reflection often manifests itself in journaling.
  
• They set goals and measure their progress against those goals.
  
• They track their stats regardless of their performance.
  
• They communicate frequently with their coach to ensure that their coach has all the information needed to be effective.

To summarize, being coachable might be the most important quality that a golfer can possess. It doesn’t come naturally and most of us have to work hard to be good at it. From a coach’s standpoint, it’s an absolute pleasure and gift whenever I get to work with an athlete that is truly coachable. If you’re ready to start being more coachable, I suggest that on your next lesson, you walk up to your coach and make the following statement: “Please tell me exactly what I need to do to reach my goals.” Your coach might be surprised but I can guarantee you that you’ll be on your way to a better golf game.​