As winter temperatures have firmly arrived across Canada, and the cruel realization that golf season is indeed over, it’s tough to keep working on different parts of your swing that you may have tried to tweak during the season.

But at GolfTec, it’s aiming to give its clients an opportunity to keep practicing, and keep working on their games, so then once the snow melts, they’re ready to go.

GolfTec, which just recently eclipsed 5 million lessons given, has 12 locations across Canada, including Ottawa, where I visited. It also has 189 locations in the U.S.

Sean Joyce, a PGA of Canada Class ‘A’ member, runs the Ottawa facility.

Joyce, who says GolfTec is like the “BMW” of golf instruction, was happy to walk me through a typical first day at the facility.

GolfTec’s system is all about the golfer’s long-term goals, and that’s reflected in its pricing model where plans range from three months all the way up to 12 months.

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“An entire coaching package is involved in what GolfTec offers. It really is for the long-term improvement of the golf game,” said Joyce in an article in Flagstick Magazine earlier in 2014. (You can read the full story here).

Joyce told me about the ‘five factors’ that make GolfTec instruction different from its competitors.

• Fact-based diagnosis (this is basically what I was walked through during my visit; an overall swing evaluation)
• Sequential lessons (a ‘step-by-step’ approach to learning)
• Advanced retention tools (an online ‘player performance centre’ gives students access to everything taught during a lesson using online videos)
• Video-based practice (this was pretty cool. Although you’re hitting balls into a net, everything is recorded, and you get an immediate replay of each of your swings)
• Precision-fit clubs (the Ottawa location has Mizuno, TaylorMade and PING clubs available now, with more coming)

Although I was just introduced to GolfTec, it seems like a strong option for those looking for a complete package of instruction, and is committed to the ‘process’ of getting better.

The price point is higher than one-off lessons, but that’s doesn’t seem to be what GolfTec is about. If you take lessons from GolfTec, you’re definitely committing yourself to getting better over the long-term.

And, GolfTec will be there to help you both inside and outside of the hitting bay.

My Lesson Plan —