The image above is a “Skill Periodization” map describing the polar ends of the learning spectrum. On one side is MECHANICS, which deals with detailed swing changes. On the other end of the spectrum is PERFORMANCE, which relates to how we play and deal with the challenges of golf on the golf course.
TThe landscape of golf instruction, for many aspiring players, can often feel like a confusing blend of folklore, fragmented tips, and the pursuit of an elusive, singular "perfect swing." My philosophy, honed through doctoral research in motor learning and years of coaching players at all levels, challenges this. It’s built on a core belief: Lasting golf improvement comes from understanding how the brain actually learns complex movement, and then systematically applying those principles to build a swing that is both biomechanically efficient for the individual and robust enough to perform under pressure.
It has been my life's work, from my doctoral research at the intersection of attentional focus and golf learning to my daily practice coaching players of all abilities, to bridge the critical gap between established learning science and common golf teaching practices. My mission is to translate the science of learning into clear, actionable, and scientifically validated strategies that empower you to achieve lasting, meaningful improvement.
I do not teach one rigid method; I teach golfers. My success as your coach is dependent on my ability to connect with you, understand your unique needs, and explore avenues for long-term game improvement, typically through a personalized coaching plan. I am committed to guiding you towards tangible, positive results.
The Learning Process: Empowering You to Coach Yourself
When I first start working with you, my primary objective is to understand how you think about golf and how your body currently moves. I firmly believe I'm succeeding when I teach you skills that allow you to make progress on your own and become your own best diagnostician. You might hear me say, "Your golf ball is your most important coach," which means a golfer must learn to read their ball flight. If the ball curves left, you need to know why. If it starts right and flies straight, you need to know why. If you miss it entirely, you need to know why. How can you change your thoughts, cues, and swing to make the ball do what you want? That is the art and science of golf!
This journey starts by mastering what I call the "Impact Imperatives":
Master Impact First – The Skill of Opposites (The Foundation): Before any deep mechanical overhaul, you must understand and gain control over what directly creates your ball flight: club path, face angle (relative to path), and centeredness of contact. As the legendary John Jacobs taught, the ball only knows what the club tells it. My philosophy prioritizes teaching these impact variables first as a learnable skill set, explored through our Impact Opposites Framework. This involves learning to intentionally manipulate extremes – hitting hooks and slices, thins and fats, heel and toe shots on command. This practical application of differential learning principles, as advocated by researchers like Wolfgang Schöllhorn, is key. By exploring movement boundaries, you accelerate skill acquisition and gain a feel for the "center" by experiencing the edges. This is fundamentally different from just trying to "fix" a slice with a complex mechanical thought. We first teach you how to skillfully change where and how the club meets the ball. This awareness then becomes an invaluable tool throughout your entire improvement journey.
Ball Flight Mastery (The Next Layer of Control): Once you're making solid contact consistently (hitting it solidly 70-80% of the time), we dive deeper into ball flight control. If you've sliced your whole life, we'll teach you to hook it, often within a single lesson. Using motor learning "shortcuts," many golfers can change lifelong patterns in under 30 minutes. Refining this means working the ball both ways on command. Launch monitors like Trackman or Foresight are incredibly useful here. Mastering ball flight is critical because:
It allows you to neutralize unwanted biases on the course. If the ball wants to curve more than you like, you'll know how to adjust.
It allows you to shape shots strategically – hitting fades or draws to fit fairways, escape trouble, or attack tricky pins.
It simply makes golf more fun and engaging! You'll start to see and understand the game on a whole new level. (I know many kids under 10 who can shape shots at will – it’s a learnable skill!)
Over time, reading your ball flight and making corrections will become your department.
Biomechanics – Engineering Your Most Efficient Motion (My Department, Your Engine): Biomechanics refers to how the order, force, and direction of body part movements create your golf swing. This is where my expertise as your coach truly comes to the fore, especially when making changes to your ingrained patterns. The benefit of better biomechanics is improved contact consistency and often, increased power.
Prioritizing Mechanics in Rebuilding, Managing Impact Biases Strategically: Once impact awareness is developed, if deeper mechanical changes are warranted (as guided by my 7-Step Swing Change™ system), a crucial shift in focus occurs. During these intensive "Mechanics Stage" drills, mechanics become king. To allow your brain to focus, we often strategically remove the ball in the earliest stages, or introduce foam balls as a key tool to keep you from focusing excessively on outcome when first integrating new mechanics. You must be prepared to hit "terrible shots" initially; this is often a sign real change is happening. Your primary focus remains on executing the intended movement. However, if a consistent, gross impact bias emerges (even in middle and late-stage mechanical work when real balls are used), I will guide you to briefly re-engage your Impact Opposites skill set – not to perfect ball flight, but to nudge the impact back towards a functional window without losing primary focus on the core mechanical change. This is a nuanced dance.
The Science of Skill Acquisition: My approach to teaching biomechanics is deeply rooted in motor learning science:
The Skill Periodization Map: This framework guides our practice, intelligently managing Cognitive Load (CL) (your mental effort on mechanics) and Contextual Interference (CI) (the variability and challenge of practice). We'll know when to be an "Engineer" (High CL, Low CI – building mechanics) and when to be an "Artist" (Low CL, High CI – performing).
Desirable Difficulties & The Illusion of Competence: We'll embrace challenging practice (High CI). As cognitive psychologist Robert Bjork showed, this leads to more durable skills than easy, repetitive practice that can create an "illusion of competence."
Cognitive Load Theory & The Challenge Point Framework: We structure learning to maximize your brain's processing power for new patterns, aligning with Cognitive Load Theory and the Challenge Point Framework (as proposed by Timothy Lee and Mark Guadagnoli) to ensure practice is optimally challenging.
Individuality Within Sound Principles: There is no single "perfect" swing. We'll work to discover your most efficient motion within functional "corridors" of effectiveness (a concept from Jim McLean), respecting your unique physical attributes.
Systematic Progression & Objective Feedback: The 7-Step Swing Change™ breaks down the swing systematically. Objective feedback is non-negotiable. While my Parallax by RYP app is engineered for AI-driven feedback, any consistent video analysis is invaluable for aligning your "feel" with "real."
For advanced players, making meaningful biomechanical changes can take time, as your body has ingrained patterns. My job is to help you make those changes more efficiently while still preparing you for "playing golf."
Contact (Your Department, Fueled by My Guidance): You must be able to hit the ball solidly. Good swing mechanics make this easier, but even the best-looking swing is useless if you hit behind the ball! Building a repeatable motor pattern is key – meaning, you must practice. I will teach you how to practice most effectively for solid contact, but ultimately, putting in the work to develop this fundamental motor skill is your responsibility. No teacher can make you hit it solidly without your dedicated effort.
Train for Transfer by Embracing Variability and Challenge: A great "range swing" often crumbles because it was built in a sterile environment. True skill development demands systematically increasing Contextual Interference (CI) in practice. This means deliberately engineering practice to include variability (clubs, targets, lies), complexity (decisions, strategy), and simulated pressure. We must constantly introduce "desirable difficulties" – destabilizing challenges – to broaden your skill set and prepare you for the ultimate test: the golf course. This "Performance Practice Architecture" is essential for making your mechanics robust and transferable.
What Separates Good Teachers from Great Teachers?
I believe greatness in teaching hinges on five key areas of mastery:
Diagnosis: Quickly and accurately interpreting patterns of body/club movement and shot outcomes, often requiring thousands of hours of deliberate observation.
Mechanics & Planning: Synthesizing diagnostic data into a student-centered improvement plan based on physics, biomechanics, and the student's unique abilities and goals. The plan must predict and guide progress.
Communication: Engaging students effectively using a diverse toolbox of verbal, visual, and kinesthetic approaches, and applying feedback skillfully and appropriately for each individual.
Motivational Psychology/Coaching Climate: Creating a supportive, mastery-oriented environment where students feel challenged to grow beyond their initial expectations and are free to learn from mistakes. My success in leading a college golf team from obscurity to national ranking (9th) was built on this priority.
Self-Motivation to Improve/Thirst for Knowledge: A relentless commitment to learning about swing mechanics, motor learning, psychology, biomechanics, club fitting, and related fields. We are still in the infancy of understanding how best to learn golf; the great teachers of the next generation will be at the forefront of integrating emerging motor learning research.
The Ultimate tool for changing your golf swing (the 7 step swing change)
Research
Luke completed his Ph.D. at the UMN in motor learning at the UMN in 2021.