The JOLF Man: Recent Episodes
Neil Plimmer
Here to share thoughts, ideas and experiences about children’s and family golf. Particularly focused on the 1st experiences.
JOLF’s purpose is to provide accessible opportunities for children and families in schools, the local community and at golf clubs to play golf independently, enjoy playing together and learn as they play.
2.5 hours after I posted the pod about watching a session where 9 children bowled to 1 adult who was batting and I had 12/15 children waiting in lines to play JOLF
Difficult not to be judgemental and critical when you see a session when 9 bowlers (the children) are waiting in line bowling one at a time at one batter (the adult) 😫😬😣😳
A week of playing on Astro, music studio floors, a field with long grass, concrete playground, a field with short cut grass and a very fast sloping putting green.
Hayden has been with me on work experience this week, was keen to get his thoughts from his experiences
A few thoughts after starting a series of JOLF PE sessions in a school this week. Don’t start with the end in mind, start with each child in mind!
Moving to Sussex 25 years ago today and yesterday completing a 50 mile race. A few thoughts
I realised this week, allowing children to play their way, letting them fail, struggle, make mistakes is HARD!!!
This drives me to distraction, makes me nervous, worries me, keeps me on my toes and is the thing that drives me to do my best
10 weeks of delivery in Woodlands Meed school, I have LOVED it. Just a few thoughts and feelings from the 10 weeks
A bit of a ramble and some commentary following on from a post I shared on social media this week. It has been great to reflect on the comments people have shared.
Lucky to share time with Jim Wallis and his students at Brighton Uni, just a few thoughts on our chat
Coaching on the range, a practice ground, golf course, indoor simulator, using technology, school halls/fields/classrooms/corridors - how might it influence the way we coach
A few thoughts and ideas around the adults roles and responsibilities in children’s experiences
Totally by chance I realised this morning that I launched the pod on the 5th Jan 2021, 117 episodes later here we are
Sharing some thoughts on how we present and introduce golf to children/adults who are experiencing it for the first time
Part of World Children’s Day (Monday 20th November 2023) I have been asked to make a promise, so here we go…
I have heard this said a lot the last couple of weeks. Always opens up a nice chats with adults
Reflecting on a week of being in the passenger seat with my daughter as she drives her new car for the first time.
Yesterday I returned to a school to deliver JOLF PE and an after school club that I first visited in 2011!!! And worked there until 2015 delivering a breakfast club and teacher training. Got me thinking about a number of things I experienced and learned then and still believe to be true today
(NOT an advert for TopTracer 😂) Little Plim has been getting into his golf and I have enjoyed going to the range
Taxi driver for Paul and attendee of the ADHD workshop he delivered for the Hampshire FA.
180 4,5,6 years played golf with us on our 6 hole Golf Parc supported by 14 amazing sports leaders at Birchwood Grove Primary School, Burgess Hill
Love catching up and chatting with Aaron. Plenty in this chat for everyone to take something from (apologies for the first 20 seconds!!! I was so keen and eager to press publish I forgot to edit our hellos/is it working ok!!!)
A number of experiences I have had in SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities) schools has got me thinking…
Following on from a lovely experience this morning where I delivered JOLF in an office space for employees of a friends company :)
A right random ramble, was going to wait until I had some order to my thoughts!!! Then I remembered - JUST START :)
Been a while since the last episode so thought it was time to get back sharing some thoughts, having a ramble and chats
If we, the adults, do not trust children how on earth should we expect them to trust us?
Fascinating experience playing alongside my son and another father and son yesterday. Got me thinking about my role as the adult, as a coach and as a parent!
Our final session of our GoSketch project. It didn’t all go as planned but that didn’t stop us, the students and the adults having an amazing experience
A lunchtime ramble, half way through one of our whole school play days. Watching the children this morning and taking to the teachers got me thinking about setting the “expectations” of behaviour rather than the “rules” of behaviour
In response to the first podcast of 2022 where I discussed in detail “Let them…” Here are a few thoughts on the rules that allows children to play independently.
Following on from a post on social media last week that had a terrific response I thought i would expand on what I had written
Timehop brought up another memory today as 5 years ago we left Cuckfield Golf Centre to set up Brighton Junior Golf. A huge learning curve on our JOLF journey
A rambling review and reflection on an experience from last week that afterwards felt like it went wrong, but did it???
Fascinating to see children figure out the problem when faced with a task that involves a left handed chipper. So much to learn from this for all of us involved in the experience
Lovely to catch up again with Aaron and discuss independent play. This follows an initial chat we had last week about how we provide opportunities for children and their families to play on the course independently
A fascinating experience watching a group of 6/7 year olds keep score during their JOLF PE session
I love Timehop and the memories that pop up. This one came up last week and reminded me of a golf experience that we delivered for young children at a soft play centre. It got me thinking then and that experience totally changed the way I think about the space and time of a child’s play experience.
The first face to face meeting of the Sussex Coaches Network for a LONG time. So good to see everyone. A few thoughts from our catch up
Listen in to a chat I had with Travis Howser that he recorded for his excellent “Raising Golfers” podcast. The plan was to talk about our review and reflections of the 2021 golf season but we went off in LOTS of DIFFERENT directions as we normally do!!!
A bit of ramble considering my learnings over 10 years of JOLF. This time around the mission of providing a “Fun, engaging & appropriate experience to each child, every time” and how that has developed over time.
As I ponder what I have learnt over the last 10 years of JOLF I instantly think of all the different people that I have crossed paths with and shared journeys.
Through October I will be sharing what we have learnt over 10 years of JOLF. This had to come first as it is thing we are so often asked/told!
A few thoughts on some experiences over the last week around sessions where children were calm as they played
Just a though that occurred to me as I discussed with a teacher why the children were so engaged during one of our sessions in schools
A fascinating experience yesterday where I had a boy assist and help me during my sessions at a school during a whole school play day. He was AWESOME 🤩 and got me thinking about how we have to provide children with opportunities to be brilliant and surprise us
Children are built to move and each child is on their own unique development journey. Yesterday I saw children from nursery to year 6 and it got me thinking 🤔
Back on the podcast thing ;) each day during our whole school play days I will record a ramble. Today, interesting to observe the children find solutions to the problem of long and thick grass in the school field!!!
This chat with Andrew gives a fascinating insight into not only his journey as a golf coach but also the journey of a golfer. We talk about the dots that need to be connected in hold clubs to allow more people to access golf and play.
Joining the dots is a term I have heard and used often and up until yesterday I am not certain that it meant anything to me!
This is a fascinating chat with Chris who owns 2 climbing centres and provides a fascinating insight into the customer journey and experience of children and families who attend his centres. We also dive deeper into the role of the adult in the child's first experience. www.clipclimbcambridge.co.uk www.climbquest.co.uk
Fascinating to catch up and chat with “The Junior Golf Guys” Tom and Phil. We could have chatted for hours so I suspect this will be a part 1 of many!
Maybe the best book we can ever read is the one we write ourself, a short ramble about journaling
A great catch up and chat with Megan who I met through her father, Glenn, who has set up a group on Facebook - Coach+ Coffee Club. We chatted a few weeks ago and I loved her perspective on sport and wanted to record her thoughts on her own experiences and how she would then go about providing positive experiences for children in her choose activity of volleyball. Some real gold in this chat 😊👍
I have been thinking a lot lately of what the spark was for me when I started playing golf and how that differs to what is offered to children today. What can we learn and keep from “The good Old days”?
Aaron was keen to come on and have a rant 😉 so here it is. We had a great chat exploring his experiences in sport as a child and how so often he was coached out of them. And how that is driving his approach to coaching and providing experience that children will love and want to continue doing forever! Check out Aaron’s website https://golf-not-golf-swing.com
Another person that I chat a LOT with! So it was great to get something recorded. Ben shares with us a reflective story of his journey with a young person who he has coached from when he was a 4/5 year old getting started to where he is now as an 18 year old player. Fascinating to listen in to what they did together and the moments/memories collected along the way.
Back after a short break and just a ramble around children having opportunities to have a go at lots of activities and developing the skill of “haveagoness” If there is such a thing?!?!
Fascinating to listen to Oli’s journey as a coach and also discuss thoughts and attitudes towards children developing into good people (and possibly players?!?) We discussed a lot about offering and supporting children’s choices knowing that as they play the game of golf more and develop those choices may naturally become more limited. Loads, as ever, of golden moments in this chat.
Aaron runs a very busy junior academy so it was great to catch up and chat about what experiences he offers to children and families. Some great insight here for coaches and parents around positive 1st experiences
As we look to golf opening up on March 29th I just wanted to get down some thoughts on why children should play golf.
Loved to get Karl’s perspective on children’s sport and experiences from a teachers viewpoint. So many things in here for coaches to appreciate from a teachers view, experience and expertise. And also for parents!
The life cycle of a junior golfer. Should junior golf membership be free? What are the barriers to children becoming members of a golf club? Are children starting playing golf too soon early and then giving up early? Is there an imbalance or playing on the golf corse and coaching?
I just love catching up with Jonathan and enjoy his viewpoint on coaching. So many lovely moments to consider in this chat. We finished with the thought that coaching is a human to human endeavour that makes it unique every time. This is the beauty and the challenge of coaching that we love ❤️
When children are in that state where they are so focussed/engaged and a bomb could go off around them and they wouldn’t notice!!! I often see (and describe it as) tongues out and having tiger eyes! Totally absorbed! What would we, the adults, do when we notice this?
Loved this catch up and chat with Chris who has a massive amount of experience in football with many different roles, scenarios and players. We talk about his philosophy and the experiences of coaches, players and parents. As ever, so many golden moments collected!
Getting some thoughts out of my head and putting a mark in the sand around the definitions and framework of play and development. Would be fascinated to get feedback and thoughts on this
Greg is my go to guy around PE, physical activity, children’s sport and movement. I just love our catch ups and chats and this one has so many golden moments that I will revisit again and again. A great listen for all coaches, teachers and parents. A definite “meaningful” experience 👍
Ahead of a “Clubhouse” chat about “A coaches role and responsibility in games based coaching” it got me thinking about the many hats that coaches wear!
So good to connect and chat with Richard from Discover Golf. A definite disrupter who is looking to “move the needle” of junior golf experiences. Do not always understand what he says (or look at things the same way) but always interested, intrigued and love the space he is coming from! LOTS of nuggets came out of this chat!
The day of love ❤️ got me thinking about what we can do to allow children to have meaningful experiences to fall in love with golf. Maybe so much more than golf???
Loved this deep dive with Rob into his “why”, mission statement and exploring what success is for him as a coach and the children that attend his program. Love the depth he is exploring around his coaching values and principles to create a lasting positive impact on the children he shares time with. Just fascinating 😊
Something that has been bouncing around in my mind for a little while, wanted to get it out and see where it landed! The question that sparked my thinking - has sport and coaching become over complicated? Have we (coaches/organisations) added layers of complication that to something that should be simple? Have we over complicated things, to create a problem, then offered solutions to the problems we have created?
Paul is Disability Manager at Albion in the Community (Brighton & Hove Albion FC) and we LOVE to chat 😉 We discuss his many different roles and coaching experiences and how this has impacted on his views of 1st experiences for EVERYONE. So many golden nuggets surfacing in this chat 👍
Do parents NEED educating? Who says? Who decided this? Where did it start? Why did it start? Just getting a few thoughts out...
Wayne is a parent of 13 year old Lewy who has been involved with JOLF since he first experienced golf aged 5. He provides amazing insight into his, Lewy’s and my journey as a coach over the years. Loads in there for everyone to reflect and learn from, I know I have!!!
So grateful to Karl Luckhurst from Blackthorns Primary Community Academy, Hayward’s Heath who shares his perspective as a Y5 class teacher and PE Lead on our whole school play day. A great listen for teachers who are looking to provide their pupils with a positive 1st experience of golf at their school. DISCLAIMER Karl does not work for JOLF and was not paid for this podcast 😉 he is just a very nice guy 👍
Loved this chat with Peter from Happy Hockey. We chat a LOT, so it was good to get an intro and explanation to the philosophy and principles of Happy Hockey. And look at how a sport like hockey attracts and retains new players. Also exploring the foundations of a club and community that gives people more than a sporting experience.
I am LOVING putting this podcast out each day (maybe even slightly obsessed!) Just wanted to get some thoughts out on one of the chats I have had this week. Turning moments into nuggets, nuggets into ball and balls into bars!!!
So much “stuff” came up in this chat with Pete! (As is becoming a common theme of all the chats!!) An intro to his new project “Train like a Tiger” and what we can learn from how he was introduced to golf. Plenty of practical examples of how children and adults can play golf and take ownership of their learning and progression. So many golden moments in this chat that I know will add up to some NUGGETS!
So great to connect and engage with people through the app “Clubhouse” just wanted to reflect and review the chat that happened last night. Is it self indulgence? Is it developing self awareness? Either way I LOVE chatting junior golf and everything that goes with it! The obsession continues ;)
Loved this chat with Holly from Mid Sussex Active. Enjoyed her perspective and insight into play, physical activity, physical education and sport in schools and especially for pre schoolers. Should we (adults) be less prescriptive to children of specific sports and be ultimately responsible for them loving and being physically active?
A ramble to begin the discussion around a framework of play/development for children and young people that helps adults (coaches and parents) understand the experiences that we present to children/young people and our role end responsibilities within those experiences. To be discussed in further detail in a “Clubhouse” chat on Wednesday 3rd Feb 9pm-10pm
It was lovely to catch up and chat with Kat, we have known each other for a longer time. From when she first started her journey to become a PGA Professional, which is a fascinating story. We also discuss the environment and experience that is ideal for new golfers. Great for coaches to understanding and apply and awesome for new golfers to appreciate what to look for in a new club and coach.
This is podcast 28 of 28 continuous days of The JOLF Man podcast. So I wanted to look back and review all of the months recordings and share a few of the “nuggets of gold” that have come out of the rambles and chats.
Loved this chat with Ali who is a director of South Coast Sports Coaching Ltd. It was great to get her views and thoughts on school/community PE, physical activity, play and sport. Particularly interested to discuss early years experiences for children. And some real “nuggets of gold” around being active and signposting children to sport’s.
Following on from the Tiger Woods documentary it got me thinking about obsession and how it is involved in the 1st experiences of children and also in getting good at stuff. This quote got me thinking - “The artist must create a spark before they can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of their own creation”
Loved this catch up and chat with Alison. I am always interested to see the theme and content of her sessions when she posts on social media. The planning and preparation that goes into them is superb. I wanted to explore further how she goes about planning and organising these off course play experiences. As ever, some gold in this chat for parents and coaches.
Following on from a tweet from “Coach Conversation” Nick Levett and Jenny Coady who posted a YouTube video of their top 10 coaching mistakes. A really good 30 minute clip that got me thinking!! So had a ramble about it!
I have known Matt for years and have always trusted his opinion and judgement of the good industry. He has managed numerous golf clubs, he is Managing Partner of Promote Golf and a shareholder of JOLF and so gives a fascinating view point of golf. In this chat we discuss junior golf from a club managers perspective. Starting with the common phrase “juniors are the future of the game/club” Are they??? Some really interesting points are raised and discussed.
Neil & Nevil talk about JOLF’s whole school plays days that provide children in primary schools with a positive 1st experience of golf. This will give PE coordinators and teachers in primary schools a better understanding of what happens before, during and after these days
“What is the right age for children to start playing golf?” Great to chat with Travis (who runs the Raising Golfers podcast) and we dive into when children should start playing golf. A conclusion we came to was that children are born ready, so we (the adults) have to BE ready! Loved this chat, like I always do with Travis and so many interesting points were raised.
A “rambling ponder” 😂😉)around the idea and suggestion that children learn while having fun, do they?
I have always respected Mark since we met at Birmingham Uni for our first experience of further education!!! I have always thought of him as a pondering, reflexive, questioning, critical, challenging thinker of a coach. And have always enjoyed it catch ups and chats. This one wasn’t what we planned to discuss but so much good stuff came up as we discussed playing pathways and opportunities that he has been part of in Hertfordshire
A question that consumes my thoughts and thinking A LOT 😉 There can never be a BEST way but I feel there are a number of things to be considered for all parents and coaches
Tom introduces us to Golf Cubs and also his fantastic lockdown “Keepy Uppy” challenge. Which then leads to a fascinating discussion around learning new skills and developing trick shots as part of a children’s (and adults) golfing experience & journey.
Gavin, along with Gavin Clark, was one of the coaches that originally reached out and engaged with JOLF in 2012. I have enjoyed chatting on regular occasions ever since. This is a lovely chat that talks about Gavin’s ideas around introducing people to golf. He shares an absolute beauty of a saying to tell new players that I sill be using again and again!
Just a few thoughts, and stories, around the fact that often children and families first experiences of golf are coaching and maybe they need to experience playing golf on a course first and then coaching could/should follow that???
A fascinating chat with Mike who is a rugby coach based in Sydney, Australia. We connected a number of years ago as part of a community of practice/mentoring program that has seen us remain connected. Have always loved our chats and interactions about coaching and this one was superb. A real deep dive into coaching and our respective journeys.
Something that I have regularly considered and chatted over with children, parents, teachers and coaches. As ever just thought I would have a ramble, share it, listen back and then talk it over with others. Let me know know what you reckon...
Gavin connected with us when we launched JOLF and was one of the original coaches to sign up and deliver JOLF. I have loved connecting with him over the years as we have talked about being a coach and coaching. We extend that in this chat and discuss many things including; having conversations with ourself, coaching our own children, coaching values & parenting values, empathy and being our authentic self.
Day 10 of my podcast and I have LOVED putting it together. I have enjoyed the interactions and conversations that have come from it. So a short message for any coach who wants to chat coaching and all things golf (sure other stuff will come up also!!!)
An extremely wide ranging chat where Rob and I throw our thoughts out and see what happens!! Parenting, basketball, coaching, following ones passions, observing play, being an expert just a a few of the things we covered!!!
A few thoughts after watching “The Test” on Amazon Prime. An amazing insight into the journey of the Australian cricket team and I picked up on the coach, Justin Langer.
Seth Godin’s blog 10th January 2021 “Natural Technique Doesn’t Exist” got me thinking about the definition of technique, when we need to really consider it to be important when children first start playing golf. A great blog to start a conversation in my head that I thought I would share!
We all love to chat and Roy and I chat a LOT, so we thought we would record it! Roy has a fascinating story of how he became a golf coach that he shares as well as some thoughts on “being an expert”
I am only on day 5 of this podcast but already it has gone above and beyond what I had expected to get from it! People listening and then getting in contact and then taking the time reach out, connect and chat. So valuable to our mental health and personal development
We all love to chat and when I set up the podcast it seemed only right that the first person I would chat to would be Nevil, the other half of JOLF. Great to take time out from the business of JOLF that consumes most of our chats to talk about where we are, where we have come from and where we are going.
A response to a message I had this morning from Rob Newson, a basketball coach based in Hong Kong. Sending me his thoughts following yesterday’s episode around expertise
What makes me an expert and/or qualified to do what I do? A question I often ask of myself and when putting this podcast together! Who would want to listen to what I have got to say?!?! I was going to share my journey as a coach and JOLF (and will do this in an upcoming episode) but this question for me thinking, so perfect to share on the podcast!