TRACKMAN COACH OF THE MONTH | BY CHRISTIAN HAHN | APRIL 2018
Being nominated as TrackMan Coach of the Month in April 2018, I was interviewed by Christian Hahn from TrackMan Denmark.
Name: Philipp Rodiek
Age: 45
Coaching at: Maerkischer Golfclub Potsdam
TrackMan User since:
3 years
TM Instructor Level 1 & 2
When and why did you start playing golf?
Next year I will reach two big anniversaries:
40 years of golf and
25 years as a professional.
I like almost every kind of playing games and also every type of sports.
Why did golf always have my highest attention? There is just no better place than a golfcourse – nowhere!!! On the golfcourse and in the golfclub I know who I am and what I can, its the place where everything fits for me!
What was your HCP when you turned Pro?
My Handicap was actually not so impressive as an amateur, but I gained a lot of progress becoming a pro. A few seasons playing as a professional my scoring avarage went down to regulary playing between 68-74 in tournaments.
When I play today, I don‘t hit the shots as crisply as I used to, so some birdies are missing. But playing wisely and strategically enough and knowing about my tendencies I still can manage to keep low numbers to score just a little over par.
Which is your favorite golf course?
I really like parkland courses with narrow drivingzones, layup teeshots and small greens.
In Germany I prefer Hamburg Falkenstein! In my local Berlin area of course it‘s the Golfclub Wannsee.
But nothing gets over my old homecourse where I learned to play as a kid: the Golfclub Kassel-Wilelmshöhe is the most beautiful spot on earth…maybe in this evaluation there is a little bit of old romatic emotions ?
If you ask me for my favorite golf club?!
The Maerkischer Golfclub Potsdam would definitely be the club, where I would like to be a member if it wouldn’t already be my workplace. Here you can find a wonderful mixture of different golfers, who enjoy the game and the time they spend together on our course.
Do you have a favorite coach you follow and why?
I am permanently interested in getting better in teaching golf and coaching players.
I like to learn. I frequently attend seminars, workshops and conferences. I am happy to hold a big spectrum of different certifications.
I try to develop steadily to become the best coach for my students by visiting a lot of great coaches and teachers of the world.
Who is your favorite player and why?
Bernard Langer!! Not only because of national patriotism – I am really impressed by him and honour his achievements! His has been a worldclass player over decades, with great workethics, an outstanding fair sportsman and very generous by passing on his experiences to next generation of german players.
I am a big fan of Danielle Kang and Jessica Korda – you ask why??? …smoking hot and super cute, and both have got great golfswings!
What is your best golf related achievement?
There is no day on the driving range without a little highlight:
It starts with the beginners first shot over 100m carry.
A high-five during the lesson for hitting a nice draw after slicing all over the place for a lifetime.
Recieving a textmessage from a student because of a great round with a new handicap.
Being personally and thankfully named by the new clubchampion as his coach.
And last but not least a great garden party with the Team MGC because we made the perfect season in the DGL.
It is wonderful to be a part of golfers successstories and their happy moments.
As a golf coach, what is the most common mistake among players you see?
Ok, now it’s getting serious!
Two topics I‘d like to mention and I am sure, if these two points would change, all players would become much better golfers:
Players do not know their game!
They do not know their shotlength, they do not know the gapping of their clubs, they do not know their dispersion and they do not know their typical misshits.
By knowing their game, players would definitely make better decisions what to train and how to set up the right strategy on the course.
Know-How!
The knowledge about why which shots are happening. Cause and effect. Impactfactors and ballflightlaws. Players could help themselves so much faster, if they would understand why their misshits happen and what parameters they have to work on to change their ballflight.
What are your greatest professional strengths?
I think I have a good toolbox!
I also create a good variablility with these tools.
There is not a fixed answer that is working for everyone. Plenty of ideas, different drills and various mindpictures are the key to find individual and personal solutions for each type of player.
I develop motivational tools with empathy and my passion.
I love people and I love the game of golf, so it‘s easy for me to motivate students and getting their trust in what we try to reach. Goalsetting is so important to get better!
What has changed since you started working with a TrackMan?
My teaching has always been only ballflight orientated!
The ballflight and shotpattern tells me what is happening at impact.
The impact parameters show me how the club moves through the ball.
The clubmovement gives me the task what to change or to stabilize regarding the hand action, the arm path, the body movement or the posture and set-up.
TrackMan works like I work and like I want to work.
Even if my teaching hasn’t really changed in its main structure, the TrackMans TPS Software supports every single step of my lessons with the clear and understandable design how information and data are displayed to me and to the student.
Integrating TrackMan technologies in my teaching, my ballflightanalysis and impactinterpretation has become so much easier, precise and easily comprehensive for my players.
What?
The first pictures on the screen the students will see is always the ballflight and the dispersion image.
Why?
Then I take him on the journey of the impact and data screens.
How?
After understanding what happens at impact I load up the video-sequences to search for the reasons in their movement patterns.
And then we start to work, always doublechecking if the corrections change the impactparameters we want to influence or stabilize.
What did change with TrackMan?
No guessing anymore!
My credibility rises for the students!
Seeing the data and seeing the changing of data because of some swing fixes is so convincing for a player, that he keeps on trying to adapt new movement patterns.
It is much easier to explain difficult technical relationships and to make players understand ballflight phenomenons.
It’s wonderful seeing people like to practice on their own because they got the right information.
My lessons got rid of the annoying „feel versus real“ discussion, because students learn to feel because of the instant feedback of TrackMan.
Which is your favourite TrackMan feature, and why?
I don‘t want to miss any of the features TrackMan offers!
One of the features I really like is the fact that it is possible to individualize the user surface of the TrackMan Software TPS.
The posibility to fit the look of the screen to the players individual needs and to select only the data, that the player should concentrate on, is a very important point for me.
TrackMan is a high quality hardware and TPS is great and constantly evolving software…
But besides the pure product, TrackMans best feature is definitely their research and education program:
TMU (TrackMan University) is such a great knowledge base to help players playing and practicing more intelligently.
TrackMan Workshops for Professionals are held frequently free of charge for TMU members to help me as a coach to always be on top of the latest research and information list.
The best feature of TrackMan is their Know-How and their 24/7 service. Thanks to David Cardew, who is really helpful and service orientated and who has got a ton of knowledge he always is generously sharing with me!
How and where can golfers get in touch with you?
You will find me on the course, the range, the short-game areas or on one of the putting greens at Maerkischer Golfclub Potsdam near Berlin in Germany.
If you can’t come around you can get in touch with me via Facebook or Email: news@philipprodiek.de
Do you have any suggestions, how TrackMan can do better or differently?
I think TM R&Ds make a great job in frequently searching for new inventions.
TM seems to have a high visionary thinking how their products could influence to world of golf and the playing and training habits of the golfers.
I appreciate that the supportteam of TrackMan always have got an open ear for the needs of us as golfteachers and coaches.
