Meet Scott Robbins

We had the good fortune of connecting with Scott Robbins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Scott, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I had run successful coaching/teaching operations at/for various facilities since 1991. When I had the opportunity to branch out and continue my coaching under my own banner, I took the chance. I was able to negotiate and create a true win-win situation for the facilities I conducted my programming at. Not only does our programming benefit the facility by the fees I pay but also by exposing the facility for additional revenue through play by the parents and families of our youth participants as well as the incremental bonuses of food and beverage and merchandise sales.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been focused exclusively on teaching the great game of golf since 1991. Once I decided to make that my career path, I constantly looked at new trends, listening and learning how the great teachers teach, and how they helped me communicate the intricacies of the game to my students. A man I admired greatly early in my career once said at a PGA Business School that he read every instructional book he could. Not to adapt how they taught but how they explained the fundamentals of the game. I adapted that because his reasoning was sound. It gave us both another way to explain the same thing. Because you never know how the person you are teaching is going to hear the message.

From that start in 1991, I have expanded my operations, causing me to move from certain facilities to accommodate the growth and demand for my programming. My current locations are the cumulation of the journey. Practice facilities to develop and coach techniques and great access to golf courses to put techniques into action on the golf course. The journey has been difficult through changes at different locations causing a different understanding of what the ownership/Mangement desired or understood the nature of the teaching/coaching business for their facility. As programming grew at every location, challenges arose the more successful we became. Overcoming these challenges is two-fold – providing my clients with the instruction and coaching they need and being sure that the client goal does not interfere with the locations regular business model. It’s a delicate balance at times, but we have been able to navigate it successfully a high percentage of the time.

Speaking of challenges, when the economic challenges of 2008 arose in the country, my adult lesson business quickly began to shrink as people were either losing jobs or having their compensation cut by up to 40-50%. There was one constat though. As these adult clients needed to reduce the frequency of lessons for themselves, they all said to continue the lessons for their children as we were doing. At that point, understanding, as a father myself, that we do what we can for our children, I began focusing on Youth Player Development.

As I worked towards developing a model of efficient and impactful group coaching for youth, the Eagles Development Program was formed. As we continued to develop these players and my coaching emphasis was more towards developing youth into not only golfers, but competitors, we changed our name to the SRG (Scott Robbins Golf) Eagles Performance Academy.

Thia leads me to what I am most proud of, excited about and sets us apart. As youth come to me and enter our Academy, our goal is to evaluate the player not only on the skills they have but their drive and desire to excel. We then begin the process of developing the player skill sets, the playing adaptation of those skills, and then advancing those players who show the desire, to becoming their best. Through the years we have had players who have advanced and competed at the High School, Collegiate and Professional levels. Through our program, we strive to build the relationships with our players as well as between our players. Recently, I met up with a former player at his club fitting. While there, he looked at me and told me that in his job as an adult, the lessons of calm temperament, perseverance in his craft and hard work are used daily. And that some of his best friends are those he spent hours with practicing in our program and on the golf course. And I continue to hear it from others as they graduate college and embark on whatever career they chose to endeavor in.

What makes us different today from other coaching/teaching programs is that we understand how the brain works in motion. We understand and prove to our players that they’re swing isn’t what breaks down, it’s how they do or do not access their training. As they learn and embrace what we are teaching and coaching them to do, the acceleration of success is phenomenal. And once the buy in is there from the players, advancement happens rapidly. Swinf mechanics are important, no doubt. But once those are producing acceptable to exceptional shot making, the advancement is not in the technique.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Eating – first Pizzaria in Dallas – Campisi’s Egyptian Lounge. Bar-B-Que – Hutchins (either the McKinney original or Frisco location) Steak – Bob’s Chop House or Pappas Brothers (why not both?)

Drink (and/or games)- The Puttery; The Crescent; Pop Stroke

Sites and sounds – The Star – Dallas Cowboys Practice field and HQ as well as Jerry World (AT&T Stadium); Dalls World Aquarium: Dallas Arts District; Grandscape; Northpark Mall

People? – an arrangement of my favorite home town peeps!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First of all is my wife. She recognizes how hard the work is, the hours put in outside when coaching and inside when maintaining the communications, finances, and recruitment of the business.

My professional mentors early in my career were my first two PGA Head Professionals, Bob Putt at Horseshoe Bay Resort and David Price at Oak Hills CC in San Antonio. Both of them led by words and examples of professionalism, the importance of PGA membership and of getting involved with Chapter and Section affairs. Early in my career, my friendship developed with Dan Strimple, PGA member professional. We developed a governing body for assistant professionals in the Austin/San Antonio (Alamo) Chapter of the Southern Texas PGA as well as partnering to develop and conduct city wide golf clinics, weekly clinics at golf courses in rural cities near and around San Antonio. As officers of the assistants association we help found, we were asked to develop a program for a new PGA of America program called Clubs for Kids. That program was recognized and covered by PGA Magazine and the article was used for years as a template for a Clubs for Kids program around the country.

In 1991, Dan had purchased a driving range in Irving, Texas and asked and encouraged me to build a teaching program. That was the impetus of me deciding to focus my career on teaching, coaching and developing players. As I focused on that aspect of the golf business, I attended seminars and reached out to various great golf instructors to shadow them and learn their styles. Many became mentors (and some still are). Randy Smith at Royal Oaks in Dallas; Hank Haney, Brian Mahon and Tim Cusick at Hank Haney Golf.

As my business grew and I developed and attracted more competitive players, performance coaching became a more defined focus. Dr. David Cook is a great mentor and I still follow his works and teachings. My dear friend, Shawn Humphries (may he rest in peace) introduced me to NFL and Olympian training techniques that we continue to use in our group and individual training. My brother from another mother, Steven Yellin has been monumental in helping me understand human motion and brain functions, As a certified Master Instructor in Yellin’s Fluid Motion Factor, it has helped me understand how motion is generated and how to help players access their best skills more often.

Website: https://www.scottrobbinsgolf.com

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