I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know Golf Coach Paul Mindel over the past ten or so years since joining North Hills Country Club in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, and especially over the last two as he’s done an incredible job building excitement around the game with our 5-year-old son, Charlie, through his leadership of the Club’s Junior Program.
I say “Coach” because Paul is much more than just a “Golf Instructor.” In his own words:
“A coach is looking out for the client’s best interest not only in terms of golf, but trying to help in any way possible. Many of the positive comments I receive from clients deal with more than just their golf game. Maybe I can help build their confidence or self-esteem, help them control their emotions or better think of golf as a way to get outside and as a form of exercise.”
Paul is always looking to innovate with new methods, better technology and different ways of teaching and sharing his love for our great game, and it’s in that vein that we at WiscoGolfAddict are really excited to work with him to help bring his industry-leading ways of stewarding a lifelong passion for learning and development with our readers.
We’re starting a whole new section of the site: Coaching & Instruction. Through unique video and engaging content, we’ll highlight the topics that will help you lower your scores and enjoy the game better, too.
Short-game and putting lessons, tips for developing better practice habits, honing a mental approach for competitive rounds and even how to work with your own son or daughter to help them develop with a love for the game that will match your own will all be discussed. I know that’s what I want for my kids – whether they become accomplished players someday or are destined to be high-single-digit handicaps like their old man who accepts he’ll never be a scratch player but is happy to enjoy every second I can spend out on the course, I want them to love the game and for us to be able to enjoy it together for decades to come.
Why Paul Mindel?
Paul has an incredible passion for ongoing learning, and I couldn’t possibly cover all of his qualifications in this short a post so I’ll highlight a few things that hit on the type of expert he is…
As a coach, he sees it as his responsibility to continuously develop and always provide clients with better lessons. On October 3, 2022, for example, he began a 3-month one-on-one course with one of the country’s most well-known sports psychologists. It’s an investment, for sure, but one he’s making to educate himself better on how to help his players both play better golf and enjoy the game more.
Since 2011, he’s earned three levels of certification from the Titleist Performance Institute (mytpi.com) in San Diego – the world’s leader in golfer development for juniors to world-class PGA Tour level players – and has held a 25-plus year partnership with TaylorMade that’s led to countless successful fitting sessions.
With clients from 4 to 96, and from outright beginners to athletes who have competed on the national stage, Paul has many students who have worked and developed with him for over 20 years.
He is proud of the way he thinks outside the box to help his clients lower their scores. Too many instructors focus on the full swing, but with Paul lessons will range from putting lessons to short-game sessions and everything in between, and he has helped lead many young junior players into competing in high school and college, always with the goal of promoting a love for golf that will grow throughout life.
While the majority of what we’ll be releasing will be shorter, 3- to 5-minute clips, we thought it would be helpful to start with a longer lesson that should be valuable for players of all abilities: The all-too-important short game.
For beginners and high-handicappers, it’s one of the areas where the most strokes can be shed the fastest. For lower handicaps, it’s where you can refine what’s good and maybe add a few shots to your arsenal with the hopes of leaving yourself shorter birdie and par attempts.
Chapters:
- 0:00 – Club selection
- 2:09 – Wedge terminology
- 3:57 – Setup
- 5:26 – Get ready to swing
- 9:22 – Executing chips from the fringe
- 13:04 – Thera-Band training for the Winter months
- 16:39 – Chipping from the rough
- 19:31 – Executing chips from the rough
- 22:05 – Introduction to bunker shots
- 24:50 – Conquer your fear of the sand
- 27:33 – Sand practice tips
- 29:23 – Shot creativity
- 30:52 – Recap
Like what you see? Be sure to Like and Subscribe to the WiscoGolfAddict YouTube Channel, and if you’re interested in scheduling time with Paul to help improve your own golf game then simply fill out the contact form below and he will get in touch with you: