By Jim Humphrey

OSHAWA – Students in the Durham College Professional Golf Management program will become better teaching professionals with the addition of the MotionCoach FLeX program. For the first time, instructors can issue a video with a swing fault as homework.

As part of regular course work students receive a swing video, perform an analysis, and return the work demonstrating if they understood the class lecture material. The program provides students with the opportunity to learn hands on. This opportunity allows students to learn faster with greater understanding because they are doing it themselves. “Students have a greater interest in working on the system using models because they can choose from a variety of models or incorporate their own swings into the program.

We can use this instead of lecturing, using models on overheads or presentations,” said Nadine Foreman, a Durham College Professional Golf Management Professor. By videotaping their own swings, students will work in groups to learn swing fundamentals.

They will also learn how to identify what is wrong with each other's swings and to then take it to the golf lab or driving range to improve their game. “With their own 'FLeX' version at home, they can keep monitoring their swings as long as they have a web cam or any type of video recorded which can be saved to computer for analysis,” said Foreman.

Although many of the PGM's use video analysis, the FLeX version of MotionCoach allows for the students to use the software at home, either analyzing their own swings or those of the models on the system. “This sets Durham apart because learning will take place outside of the school environment where they have a chance to learn what's applicable to each individual and assess where they need to improve their skills as a teacher,” adds Foreman. “Hands on learning with this type of equipment will result in better trained professionals coming out of the program who have a strong knowledge of computer video analysis software.”

This type of program leads to stronger skills that employers will see when they enter the work force. Most important students and instructor use the same software, with the same powerful level of functionality, so exchanging ideas and information is easy. MotionCoach’s advanced Internet integration supports and enables this connectivity via standard Internet protocols with no additional cost or service fees.

MotionCoach additionally includes support for popular Micro USB drives, CDs and LAN networks. James Alexander, MotionCoach Customer communication director, is pleased to bring the opportunity to the students in the PGM program at Durham College. “We are excited about this opportunity to combine our leading technology Golf solution with our, mostly European, Education licensing solution,” he said.

The comprehensive golf management program at Durham College trains managers to perform the functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling, within the context and constraints of environmental and social pressures and demands. This course examines the role of the manager and the skills and techniques needed to effectively and efficiently manage the resources of people, money, materials and time to achieve organizational objectives.

For information about the Professional Golf Management Program at Durham College please visit http://www.durhamcollege.ca.