Butch Harmon...why did his students leave?

[jdowning111]

This has always made me scratch my head but why did almost everyone who worked with Butch Harmon eventually leave him? Its golf, I get it and we are always looking to get better but he is unanimously considered the best in the business yet Tiger, Norman, etc all moved on from working with him......Thoughts?

[bogeypro]

Most likely chasing the latest swing fads.... Butch sticks the tried and true basics.

[cbbaron]

Im just guessing as I personally know Phils coach btw used to work with Butch. All relationships get stale and sometimes a new set of eyes is very beneficial not to say it works but people are always looking the latest and greatest

[mizuno player]

Butch is also slowing down. Maybe he doesn't want to travel as much?

Brooks just went to him.

[jdowning111]

Butch pretty much retired from instructing tour players last year if I recall correctly and also retired from commentating with Sky Sports

[3whacker]

Here is my take on the Butch Harmon subject, Butch is a great guy, very accessible in Las Vegas used to see him often at the Costco down the street from Rio Secco, but I think some of these pros honestly dont want to share him with other students/clients. IMHO some of the Tour pros are like high maintenance biatches and they want their swing guru waiting at their beck and call after their round. Some guys can command that kind of attention like TW, but not sure many other can. Butch also announced he was going to give up going on the road. The relationship between the swing coach and the Tour player is more fragile than most marriages, between peer pressure and having rabbit ears someone will cheat on the relationship

[dcfas]

Butch may be one of the best ever coaches of golf in our time. I think he also has a reputation as a straight shooter, no bs. That being said I have seen a video of him joking that one pro “couldn’t spell the word bow if you gave him the b and the w.” This was a public speech and he was clear on what pro he was talking about. I can only guess he can be a tough guy to work with, though I am sure it is worth it.

[BigD]

LOL. I heard the same thing. I think it was a interview with Butch before a tournament or during. He was talking about DJ. Rough comment but he did soften it somewhat by saying that he had so much raw talent. Pro Tour golf is hard. Sometimes guys get in a slump and want different eyes and someone that communicates issues differently. Coaches might agree on the issues but say it differently where it clicks with the player.

[jdowning111]

DJ..uh i hit the ball really far and if I have a bad day of golf well I get to go home to Wayne's daughter.....

 

[bladehunter]

He’s pretty much retired. They didn’t leave. He stopped seeing them daily.

[tacklingdummy]

Butch said that recently in an article that he was going to stop traveling. It must be a grind to travel to dozens of tournaments a year with so many students. It is understandable he just wants players to go to him. He can probably do a lot of teaching remotely with video.

[CasualLie]

There's a lot of truth too this as well as true he can be a little too outspoken, and offend. Still, he has had a long and successful career, so it is about cutting the travel, working less, and enjoying some me time.

[fly787]

He is older now and probably ready for some downtime. He has had a hell of a run. Hope he enjoys whatever he decides to do.

[Golfjack]

In addition to retiring (duh), people also switch coaches no matter who the coach is. There is the rare coach that stays with a player (or vice versa) but mostly they end up switching. Even Lydia Ko who reached world number 1 with her long time coach switched (not that it helped her game).

His son is taking over, and I'm sure a lot of tour guys will see that as a chance to try something else. Might or might not work out for them.

[SBH9458]

Time marches on. Good on him in what he does next, which I hope for him (as I do others) is a long enjoyable retirement.

[naval2006]

I think this is natural in golf, which is built around a long time career. Teachers and pupils change for loads of reasons. Even guys who have been successful stop taking lessons with great teachers. Who remembers Jimmy Ballard but old timers? He was the king of Tour golf teaching in the 80s. Most of his winning players left him in the end. I guess it's as if you feel stuck at some point in your golf career and for reasons like trying somebody new, convinience or travelling issues you just change. It must be more about the pupil than the student I guess.

[GoGoErky]

I think he is still helping/working with players but they have to come to Vegas and maybe even pay his rate. Danielle Kang started with him a couple years ago and I’ve seen her post about working with him recently. Helps she’s a vegas local.

[jonsnow]

Based on stories I've read, Butch is a downright diplomat compared to his Dad, Claude Sr.

[3jacker]

That bow comment is hardly harsh. It's just true.

It's not like the subject of the joke would be insulted or know what it meant. DJ is fantastic for golf and sports in general, gives all special people hope of dominating a fully-capable person's sport.

[strug'-a-ling]

I haven't seen him since he was working with Natalie Gulbis.

Actually, I haven't seen Nat lately either.

Love to play but don't watch much anymore.

Maybe I should catch up a little.

The Golf Channel is right there in the box, being ignored, but I used to watch and might give it a peak.

[RichieHunt]

I took lessons from Butch in the late 90's. And had talked to him on numerous other occasions as well as see him interact with fans at tournaments.

 

He is a very genuine and pleasant person to deal with and is very kind to the fans. Anybody who has heard stuff about him having a personality that would be viewed in a negative light either caught him on a bad day or is believing bs rumors.

 

I don't agree with everything Butch has talked about on the swing nor do I think he's the best teacher ever or the best teacher in the world. But personality wise he's a prince and about as genuine as they come.

 

If you look at Butch's history over the years, he didn't have a lot of success with slower speed players. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Sometimes things don't work out. But, I can see why lower club speed players left him because they weren't having the success that the faster club speed players were having under Butch.

 

Sometimes guys just leave because they get bored with the same message coming from the same person. They may not be playing bad per say, but they need to be rejuvenated. The trick is to find somebody with the right message that can rejuvenate you instead of falling prey to the teacher that relies on delivery instead of substance.

 

Norman was getting into his twilight years and probably wasn't as hungry anymore. We will probably never truly know why Tiger split from Butch.

 

 

 

RH

[mosesgolf]

Butch is getting up there in age. Probably does't want to deal with all the travel and grind of being a full time coach. I read somewhere he was't taking new students a few years ago. He didn't want to take on Ricky Fowler but Phil put in a strong word. Ricky did play better after Butch. Didn't Ricky place top 5 in 3of 4 majors a few years ago? Most of Butch's students seem to do really well in the beginning of their collaboration.

[Krt22]

Forecaddie: Famed coach Butch Harmon retiring from Tour life

 

[Body_Visions]

Lucky he had one person.

 

Leadbetter took two very good players to number one in the world, yet all of WRX sees him as a failure, and make fun of him. Those two were always going to be very good, but certainly not number one in the world.

 

Who did Harmon ever take there?

 

10 better teachers on our Instruction Forum at any given time

 

[hammersia]

Controversial opinion- Faldo would have made it without Leadbetter. There’s odd footage of his swing late seventies / early eighties, nothing wrong with it, actually more athletic than he became later on.

[Body_Visions]

Agree that I might have worded that a little strong. I think he would have been very good, but not sure he would have had the career he did.

[Titleist_PT23]

No one's swing (except early 2000s Tiger) is perfect. The great players can all manage some type of flaws and win.

I think the swing coach is as much about just doing something new, being 100% focused for as long as you can be vs the new swing itself is sooooo much better (does Adam Scott win off the charts?).

Most guys just get tired of the same thing over and over or the relationship between coach and player (or egomaniac vs egomaniac) sours after enough time.

[hammersia]

I don’t really think there’s any mystery here, Butch is 76 years old, he sees people in Vegas, I thought he was a very good presenter, it’s not surprising he doesn’t want to trek around the globe too much now.

[cleatis]

that and fat pockets will do that to you.

[c7015]

same reason people switch putters , may not fix the problem but why not try

 

that and if your putter retires or says it can only play 1 of every 4 rounds