Brad Clayton is a PGA of
America Master
Teaching Professional with over 24 years of teaching experience; a
seasoned professional who has dedicated his life to improving his golf
skills and those of his students.
Brad teaches golf in Raleigh,
North Carolina out of The Club At Twelve Oaks, in Beaufort
South Carolina out of Sanctuary Golf Club, his home
town of Oxford, North Carolina out of The Golf Zone, and also in Burlington,
North Carolina out of Indian Valley Golf Club. He strives each day to improve
himself as a teacher, through constant reading, writing, video viewing,
swing analyzing, seminars, and peer interaction, realizing long ago that
one can not ever know it all and there is always something new to learn.
He takes the results his students achieve personally, feeling their
highs and lows and has a genuine interest in their success.
Brad's unique approach to
improving his students' golf scores is basic yet elegant. He uses a set
of sequential one-hour weekly lessons to teach his students. The
students are not overwhelmed with too much information in any one lesson. Practicing the
skills is the student's responsibility. You learn that you get out
of the instruction what you put into the practice over time. It's
all about putting the pieces of the puzzle together and migrating to
a more efficient swing and game.
In May of 2000, Brad lost his
right hand in an accident. As a result, he now knows more about how
to adapt the basic fundamentals of the game of golf. He also
stresses the importance of the mental side of the game and how a
positive outlook can improve not only your golf game but your life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdipOLz2JDo
Brad has been working on a
book about
his golf method for several years, due for publication in the fall
of 2011.
His book will contain an element that will be very helpful in
understanding instruction through text. Get ready, it will be
a fun and interesting book.
Brad Clayton is classified as a PGA of America
Master Teaching Professional. He teaches in Beaufort South Carolina
at The Sanctuary Golf Club, The Golf Zone Learning Center in Oxford,
North Carolina, Indian Valley Golf Course in Burlington, NC, and out
of The Club At Twelve Oaks in Raleigh, North Carolina. With over twenty four years of
teaching experience, he has
instructed in Germany, Austria, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina,
and Virginia.
His playing career led him to compete with moderate
success throughout the United States, Europe, and in Canada. After the
birth of his first child, Nickolas, and later his second, Winona, he
decided that being on the road was not quite what it once was. As a
result, he decided to dedicate his time to his family, helping others
improve their golf games, and to the pursuit of becoming the most
efficient teacher possible.
Brad strives each day to improve himself as a teacher, through
constant reading, writing, video viewing, swing analyzing, seminars, and
peer interaction, realizing long ago that one can not ever know it all
and there is always something new to learn. He takes the results his
students achieve personally, feeling their highs and lows and has a
genuine interest in their success.
Throughout Brad's career, he has had the great fortune of learning
directly from some of the games great golf professionals: Al Nelson,
Naples Florida; Wimpy Caldwell, deceased; Ed Ibarguen, Durham, North
Carolina; Volker Knornsheld, Tegernsee, Germany; David Leadbetter,
Orlando Florida; Bill Lytton, Pinehurst, North Carolina; Bill
Strausbaugh, deceased, and Dick Tiddy, deceased. There have been many
others, professional and amateur alike, who have influenced him
throughout the years. To name them all would almost be impossible, but
he is forever grateful for the time with each person.
Brad has
four components he goes by to help students become the best they can
be. They are: swing mechanics, the mental side of the game
{including course management}, physical abilities and limitations,
and the equipment used. When any of the four components is lacking,
a person can not reach his/her optimal performance level.
Brads' swing model and philosophy revolve around the simplicity of basic
fundamentals and adapting them to each individual student's physical
abilities and mental desires. Learning to efficiently and consistently
set up to the ball, understanding how the word balance applies in many
ways to a golf swing and the game, understanding cause and effect, and
understanding why the ball does what it does are the basis of Brads'
model and philosophy. Hitting solid, straight, and long golf shots is
not as difficult as most people make it. He says, "Once a person
understands a few simple ideas they are amazed at what they are capable
of."
Hence two of his favorite quotes:
"The average golfer's problem is not so much a lack of ability as it is
a lack of knowledge about what he should be doing." - Ben Hogan
And
"If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always
got." - Verne Hill
