Erika Larkin, PGA

[00:00:02] What You Want, When You Want It, Where You Want It. This is The MESH. Hello everyone and welcome to The FORE Cast. We are your connection to the who's who in the game of golf. We hope to make you laugh, learn, win, and grow your golf IQ.

[00:00:22] I'm your host, Alan Burton, director of instruction for the Alan Burton Golf Academy at Lake Hickory Country Club in Hickory, North Carolina.

[00:00:29] I'd like to thank our listeners for tuning in. You can find us on TheMESH.tv and all your favorite podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, iHeart Radio, and Google Play, and many others.

[00:00:44] Be sure to check out all the other shows here on TheMESH.tv, all produced here in Western North Carolina. On today's episode, I'm really pleased to be joined by a good friend of mine, Erika Larkin. Erika is a sensation, to say the least.

[00:01:00] Instagram, Twitter, a lot of different places on social media you can find her instruction. And I tell you, I've been a fan of yours a long time.

[00:01:08] I know we met at an Aimpoint conference at Casique Golf Club if I'm not mistaken several years ago, maybe eight or nine years ago now, Erika. And I've been watching your career for a long time. So thanks for joining us and how are you this evening?

[00:01:23] I'm great. Thank you for having me. And I can't believe that it might be eight years ago. It doesn't seem possible. Yeah, time flies as they say when you're having fun. And I know you have fun.

[00:01:37] And for those of my listeners who are not familiar with you, I want to make sure that's not the case after they tune into this show because you are worth watching. I love your Instagram posts. They're so beautifully produced. They're so perfect in terms of the message.

[00:01:54] They're so precise, concise and easy to understand. And I know what you're doing is helping the game of golf in a big way. So talk to me about where all this has come about. Tell me, what was your inspiration to become a golfer, a golf instructor?

[00:02:10] And how did all this happen for you? Wow. Okay, so let's see if I go in the way back machine here.

[00:02:20] I started playing golf at an early age and my parents and I learned the game together and we really were fairly self-taught, which sounds crazy, but my parents weren't golfers. And we did a lot of self-learning from TV and magazines and just watching other people and filming ourselves.

[00:02:39] So it was a lot of exploratory learning just to start with and I think for that I was always a golf swing nerd. So it started early on. As I developed my own game and played in high school, eventually played in college.

[00:02:56] I played for James Madison University in Virginia here. That's what brought me from New York to the Mid-Atlantic. And I have called this home ever since I graduated James Madison. I got a job working in golf.

[00:03:09] I knew that I wanted to be in the industry. Didn't actually know I wanted to be a golf coach until I started teaching a little bit on the side of my golf job, which was marketing and sales related.

[00:03:21] And just loved it and all my golf nerding came back in handy when I started teaching. So I always was interested in golf swing. I always wanted to try to make my swing better.

[00:03:34] I was always asking questions and when I had access, when I was working at golf courses to any head pros that could help me, I was open-ears.

[00:03:42] And certainly was any time I could get my hands on any technology they had, I would mess with it and I would use the fitting carts and I would see what worked. And I was just always interested in certainly making myself better.

[00:03:56] And I think through all of that time and exploring, it certainly at least gave me a foundation to start helping other people because I had enough golf IQ about swing and equipment that I could start without honestly any formal training

[00:04:11] and coaching. So that kind of began my teaching life. I became a first assistant at a country club here in Virginia and spent five or six years there building my teaching business and obviously doing my PGA certification.

[00:04:25] And I eventually left there to move to a public facility that I was able to then build more of an academy out.

[00:04:34] So I had people working for me, we did golf schools and I just really grinded out a ton of volume from, you know, for those years that I was at that public facility.

[00:04:44] So I've certainly gotten to know the golf instruction business very well on the ground level, you know, growing programs and marketing myself from a just local standpoint and getting involved in local networking groups and advertising in the local paper and trying to do my own press releases.

[00:05:01] And so I think I have my marketing degree from college and then my just grassroots approach in building my teaching business.

[00:05:09] I just kind of figured it out as I went along and had a lot of good ideas that I wanted to share with my students about golf swing that were also pretty homegrown because I never went out and worked for, you know, another top 100 teacher that just showed me the way.

[00:05:26] I kind of just figured it out on my own.

[00:05:28] So I think through a lot of that experience, I had a lot of my own ideas that I was trying to test and see what worked and eventually came out with or came up with, I should say, a framework for my teaching philosophy that I eventually wrote in a book in 2017.

[00:05:48] And so I think at that point I kind of was settled into a teaching position and had written my, my thoughts down on paper and wanted to take some time to really self invest and market myself to grow beyond the regional, you know, presence that I had and try to get my message out there a little bit more.

[00:06:10] Honestly, it was around that time that I turned to social media to really explore the possibilities of using my platform and my teaching philosophy to, you know, make more content around the ideas and, and then also try to carve out my own niche on social because I felt like there was so much content being produced that how could I do things a little differently and,

[00:06:32] and obviously make it fun and creative.

[00:06:34] So all of those creative juices kind of started to flow and in 2018 I really hit the ground running and was consistently posting on a lot of these platforms and pretty quickly started seeing results and more followers and I'm pretty happy with the growth that I've had in the last few years with all the,

[00:06:52] with all the effort I've put in so definitely it's been a journey but I'm happy to be here at this point.

[00:06:58] Yeah, I mean you're still, you're still very young. You have a long career ahead of you but these last four or five maybe six years I've been watching your career and it's just exploded and I think what you can share with the listeners, not only the golfers out there but maybe some of these younger golf instructors,

[00:07:15] some of the best practices that you've used and obviously social media being a great platform, you've done a great job there and what I would want to say is,

[00:07:26] you know, you sound like the ultimate student of the game and, and as a result of that you know exactly what your students are doing in their own efforts to get better.

[00:07:37] So you have a great perspective for what they're trying to accomplish when they come to you for a lesson so that is obviously a comfortable environment for the student.

[00:07:46] They already know you've been there, you know, right? You've worked through some of these things that they're trying to figure out as well and that's kind of where I think we have a great position.

[00:07:56] Tell me a little bit about your average day. I mean are you working in the golf shop and normal duties there? Is it just instruction for you every day?

[00:08:05] It's just instruction so I tried to get in the gym three or four days a week to stay healthy and strong because you know people don't,

[00:08:17] I think recognize how physically and mentally demanding teaching is so I've been trying to really, you know, make the time through the golf season which I had not done for some years and

[00:08:29] you know, really stay healthy. So I try to get up in the morning early, get the gym out of the way because if it doesn't happen in the early morning it's not going to happen so

[00:08:37] after I get a little workout in I try to, you know, get everything set straight at home. I hit the golf course. I go up to Creighton Farms usually between 9, 10 in the morning

[00:08:49] and then, you know, get on that lesson tee and it depends on the day. Sometimes I'll start a little later and stay later. Some days I'll start early and finish a little earlier but

[00:09:00] I've been averaging anywhere from six to ten hours a day, you know, peak season on lesson at just actual teaching time and of course setting up, breaking down different events

[00:09:12] whether it be junior golf classes and camps or, you know, some adult classes that we typically would run with COVID right now. You know, we're not doing a whole lot of group stuff on the adult side

[00:09:23] but definitely tons of private lessons back to back and I take people through all the areas of their game so there are some days where I'm heavily just on the driving range

[00:09:32] but a typical day might, you might see me on the range for a couple hours and then maybe I'm on the golf course for a couple hours and I come back and you'll find me on the putting green teach a name point

[00:09:40] and then I run a junior clinic at five o'clock and it's just, I feel like I'm everywhere. And, you know, I'm on the go. I am currently waiting for the delivery of a learning center building to be completed here at the golf course

[00:09:57] and so that, yeah I'm very excited about that. It'll give me some shelter and a nice place to put a lot of equipment that I have that I, you know, always, I have to play just you probably know this and I've been there but being out in elements

[00:10:10] and just loading myself up on a golf cart every day. There's only so much equipment I'm going to set up. So, I've been pretty lean in my equipment especially this year because you know I'm not bringing up a ton of training aids that then have to be sanitized.

[00:10:25] I'm really working off of a different, a different vibe right now. I do some video but a lot of the video I capture I wait until the end of the lesson and I just email to the student. So it's kind of changed a little bit this year but typically I'd have a cart full of toys and you know try to pick and choose what it is for that student that we might need to work with for that time that we're together if it's a typical practice session so yeah that's a typical day.

[00:10:52] I'm teaching it out. I'm a director of instruction as my role at Creighton Farms. I'm able to teach members and non-members so I see all kinds of different levels of players. I mean I have you know high school state champs and then I have you know new golfers and then I have three-year-olds.

[00:11:11] It's everybody at any time. I think a really big mix of students. Yeah, I do not have a niche per se. Yeah well how many instructors work with you there underneath your direction currently?

[00:11:26] So I moved to this private club about five years ago and it's a smaller, smaller membership. We have 18 holes but only less than a couple hundred members and it's kind of meant to be a little bit smaller base facility so we are growing.

[00:11:42] There are quite a few families. Definitely we have a healthy growing junior golf program but I pretty much run I was going to say 80, 85 to 90% of most of the instruction demand there and the group stuff that we're going to be doing is

[00:11:56] what we do I basically pull the assistants from the shop to help me. We have an intern as well right now so between the head pro and our assistants and our intern, I mean they all rotate in to help me as whatever their schedule allows

[00:12:10] and I basically work with them to coordinate our efforts with the group stuff but you know they I only have so many hours in the week so if I get too busy I certainly refer business to them as well from some of the members that I just can't accommodate.

[00:12:25] So it works out very good and it's going to have to continue to evolve as a team of instructors. I think that down the road when this learning center gets built we probably will be expanding our team and taking a harder look at what club fitting looks like which has not been a big strength of ours at our facility up to this point.

[00:12:45] So you know there'll be room for more people to team up with and to collaborate with and I think what I'm excited most about too is having a place where I can plan better events because I've always wanted to do a lot more with bringing in guest instructors or specialty people, fitness or whatever you know and it's hard to plan five months out with someone and bring somebody in from out of town and then you know be worried about the weather.

[00:13:11] So I really would like to do a lot more of that moving forward once this learning center gets done so I've done a little bit of that but it's far and few between.

[00:13:21] Yeah well let's talk about your learning center I mean what type of you having a couple of bays or how many bays will you have and talk a little bit about that facility.

[00:13:29] So we're going to have three bays two large ones that will encompass a full track man set up and convert into simulators and the winner and then our third practice bay will be a little bit more scaled down but at least will provide a sheltered area for members to practice or warm up before lesson.

[00:13:49] So yeah we'll have three spaces and then a putting lab and you know restrooms and storage facility storage closets and I think a workbench for a club repair and fitting equipment so it will be totally outfitted we're looking to other technologies besides a track man I believe that that's going to take care of most of the phase one roll out of technology.

[00:14:10] And I've got a wish list in of a lot of other things I'd like to add but.

[00:14:15] You know some of some of it will come in steps and phases so the once the building is complete will layer in more technology I'm sure as the years go by but to start with it'll be heavy on that and lobbying for some other putting technology hopefully we'll be able to accommodate that so.

[00:14:34] Well you make sure you have an office space in there with a nice wardrobe closet because it's like you'll need that for all your Instagram. The wardrobe changes are important right. Oh my God.

[00:14:46] In your videos and ladies watch Erica on her Instagram feed for style examples of what you should look like on the golf course fantastic. Thank you.

[00:14:59] So you know with with all this being going on this covid thing I know in and trying to adapt are you doing much of an online presence do you teach through the Internet and if so how much what percentage of your lessons are usually utilizing the online approach versus coming to see you in person.

[00:15:20] Yes I offer different options for people to sign on to do online lessons with me I use coach now as an app that I post videos to for my students that I see in person and so basically if somebody wants to sign up for an evaluation or an analysis of their swing they post videos into.

[00:15:40] A safe training space private training space in that app and then we can converse all. Annotate the video and also film myself showing what kind of drills to practice and explain anything that I need to explain from their videos they posted so.

[00:15:56] You know I'll go back and forth one time with a person if they just want to quick look but a lot of times will do a monthly program or monthly unlimited so.

[00:16:04] I mean that student can post videos as much as they want and some people take more advantage of it than others.

[00:16:09] You know so I have some clients that will post once a week and I just respond as soon as I can other people will post a lot more practice videos as they are out.

[00:16:19] On the range and then I try to at least comment and you know make sure that that I'm staying in touch with them so.

[00:16:24] I have you know definitely at any given time especially since covid I would say I've definitely experienced a bump in online lessons and with all the social media it's a nice way for me to connect with people abroad that aren't able to get here.

[00:16:39] You know regionally so it's if anything it's allowed me an opportunity to grow that business people have been more responsive to just try it and as busy as I've been coming back to work I've had to push people off three feet.

[00:16:54] Four weeks to get in for a lesson so in the meantime I've been suggesting hey like you know I can't see it for a month but if you want to start with an online lesson at least I can give you a look if you think to start to work on.

[00:17:06] And then when I meet you we already have a baseline and I already have seen your swing once or twice and we can kind of get into it a little faster because a lot of times as you know a first lesson in person.

[00:17:16] You know if I have an hour or an hour and a half with somebody the first fifteen minutes is just getting to know them and asking questions and so before you even dive into making any kind of changes I mean it could be a half an hour goes by.

[00:17:29] Or sometimes not I mean sometimes it's quicker but it getting to know someone is really a big deal and if I can do that over the.

[00:17:39] Online before I even meet that person it definitely seems to expedite the process once they show up we can make a little bit more of that time together so.

[00:17:48] I think it's great and I think that a live lesson format is good too I've tried some face time lessons with people the tricky part is if the video is not coming through clearly or if you know they're trying to make swings while they're at the driving range and their camera is not in a good position because they're.

[00:18:04] They've got it on the floor or something you know it's just hard sometimes to do a good live lesson on video not to say it's impossible but if the students prepared and they have a good setup it certainly can work.

[00:18:18] It's just I think it's just as easy to trade to trade videos and comment that way and it's a little bit more of a. Controlled environment and everybody can kind of you know digest the information and work on it at their own pace so.

[00:18:34] Yeah I'm a fan and I think it's gonna continue to evolve I'm working on some stuff right now with the orange whip guys they're gonna be launching a new platform at the end of next month.

[00:18:45] And it'll be more online instruction but using the tools that they offer as well as having the fitness component with Brian Newman who's going to be also customizing.

[00:18:59] You know some workout plans and programs for people to supplement the swing changes so I think it's gonna be pretty cool that'll elevate my game in terms of online instruction.

[00:19:11] It'll take it up a notch especially if somebody knows they're also going to get legitimate exercises to work on if they already have the orange whip equipment at home and the power peel that.

[00:19:22] You know is out there then this is a way for them to have customized instruction to work with that stuff so it's gonna be pretty cool that's just gonna be a new project for me to get involved with this fall.

[00:19:33] And so something new I think a lot of the direction I've seen you know golf instruction going with with the internet and the strength of.

[00:19:44] Of YouTube and video and so forth is is putting some content out there that is generic enough that the end user can find the information they need and not directly tie you up as an instructor.

[00:19:58] In a one on one relationship I mean they're still getting your content they're getting your message they're getting Instagram does that to a degree at least puts it out there that you are a talented instructor and have the information that these consumers want.

[00:20:13] But they probably want it maybe in a little bit larger dose you know and certainly Instagram is limited as to what you can communicate there. But yeah something that's in between a live lesson they come to see you in person versus just being an Instagram tip.

[00:20:29] It's a great platform for getting them out there. You know I see these monthly programs where you can be a member and you can watch unlimited video from a library of content.

[00:20:43] A great way to go if you have the time and the wherewithal to produce great video content then you can make it available that way I see a lot of folks doing it that way. Yeah I'm an older guy I'm an old instructor I'm 58 this this summer.

[00:20:59] I'm not so sure that's going to be my platform because I chose the podcast platform. Mom said you always had this face for radio so rather than do I decided this would be my my step into the medium of podcasting but I love it.

[00:21:17] It's great it's a good first of all it's a great name forecast and you have a good and you have a good voice and you're asking good questions and you know it's awesome if you have interesting people to talk to I think that you know it's a nice format

[00:21:32] and podcast becomes so popular it's amazing.

[00:21:36] I enjoy listening to podcasts I enjoy listening to friends that have them and the information is always good so we're always learning and you do and I both are students of the game and we've learned from so many people and we want our students to learn.

[00:21:50] The end of the day I want my students to enjoy golf and get better and I don't have all the information and they don't want to hear it all for me if I did so you know we're just embellishing our message by reaching out to talk to them.

[00:22:02] I want to have talented instructors like yourself and hopefully my students will tune in and they'll hear something from someone else that resonates with them that maybe I've said in a different way and they hear it from somebody else you know what I think you did say that to me but it sounded so much smarter when Eric said it.

[00:22:22] So that's what we're hopeful for really is to help our game grow. This podcast is sponsored by Jackson creative a custom communication agency located in downtown Hickory North Carolina specializing in online content creation to learn more visit the Jackson creative dot com Jackson creative we tell your story.

[00:22:44] Are you much of a competitive player do you get to play tournaments or is that something that you've put aside due to all the other activities.

[00:22:50] Yeah it's so much going on in life. I wish I could say yes to that I had some some lofty goals this year to play 52 rounds of golf. I think I think I'm at five or something it's not good.

[00:23:04] COVID really put a damper on that because I lost my momentum I started out with a bang early in the year and I was hopeful that in March you know I was going to get on a roll and kind of get in a routine where I could make that a part of my weekly weekly

[00:23:18] plan you know I mean if I as a golf professional if I can't play at least nine to 18 holes at least once a week what am I doing so I do want to play more golf.

[00:23:28] I don't think I have a big competitive drive at this point in my life. I played college golf and I as a young assistant I played in some section of events and and certainly was work had time to work on my own game more.

[00:23:40] I don't have I don't have that time I don't take that time to work on my own game a whole lot. I'm certainly not afraid to go out and play socially and recreationally with anybody.

[00:23:51] I mean I feel confident enough to do that on any given day but it's different tournament golf is different you have to be tournament ready.

[00:23:58] I'm not playing enough tournament golf to feel like I'm prepared to really be competitive in my section so I you know if I could spend a Monday playing in tournament versus spending a Monday getting set up.

[00:24:10] I'm not going to be doing stuff done at home or or making content. I'm probably going to make content or do something at home with my family.

[00:24:19] I just it's more it's more fun for me right now I get more out of it I feel like I'm accomplishing something because to roll the dice and not not be totally secure in how I'm going to play and ultimately give up a whole day and an entry fee for what for what I don't

[00:24:37] have to do. I'm not enough to play I don't love competitive golf enough to want to spend my day doing that I have a lot of other things I want to do and I you know again I'd rather if it came down to play or teach I'd rather just teach.

[00:24:49] You know I do have fun playing with students I've made a point this spring that when I'm out in playing lessons especially with students that I've known for a long time like I bring my clubs and I tee it up with them first on students on the course when I'm taking them out you know it's really more about

[00:25:07] them first of all and it's about caddying for them and being right there for them and talking them through every shot and so as you can probably appreciate it's hard to concentrate on your own game if you're trying to do that for somebody else pretty intensely so I just

[00:25:21] I don't even bother half the time I just know that it's not a time and a place for that and you know there will be a time and a place for that but

[00:25:30] no it's not a big part of my life right now and I just I really would love to do more recreational playing I want to do more travel I think that

[00:25:39] down the road when my kids get a little older my kids are fourth grade seventh grade they have a million activities going on that I want to be there for so those extra hours when I get done at work I'm going home to deal with them and enjoy what is going on at home

[00:25:56] and so I'd love to stay after work and play nine but it's just not in the cards right now you know.

[00:26:02] You know totally understand me with your young family I mean is your husband a golfer I would assume he is and he plays about once or twice a week for you know recreation and also for business and he's very competent and we have a good time when we play together

[00:26:18] against each other I mean if he plays back and I play a normal you know set of T's normal white T's or something we pretty much can tee it up and play head to head and maybe I give him a couple strokes or something but it's pretty even

[00:26:32] pretty even so yeah we have a good time playing and I wish we had more time to play more and we've definitely gotten the kids out on the course over the years but neither one of them seems at this point super passionate about it so it's

[00:26:44] sometimes you know when we get a Sunday where I'm maybe off work and I'll say to the kids hey like you want to go play court play the course today or you want to go out we'll play nine holes we'll play a family scramble we'll go just hit balls at the range

[00:26:57] I don't get met with a lot of enthusiasm so you know we always default to some other family activities and unfortunately right now golf's not high on that list for them and I wish it was but they probably

[00:27:09] they'll have their own passions and I just want golf to be enough in their life where they have it as a skill and at some point if they lights a fire for them then awesome but I want to do is force it on them so

[00:27:23] well exactly you're wise in that in your parenting skills and as a golf coach to know that would be a bad thing to do and a lot of parents want to push the game of golf on their youngsters

[00:27:34] and they don't accept when their kids say you know it's just not that interesting to me and you know you really could leave a bad taste in their mouth the more you push it's best to not make it available to them

[00:27:45] and almost starve them of golf saying nope sorry you can't go play unless you unless you do this or this right and I think that's a really wise thing and so they'll come to it sooner or later and if they don't it's okay they'll choose their own direction

[00:28:00] yeah yeah and they certainly have a skill set I mean they both can hit the ball and they know the rules and they've played junior league they they've played enough that they they can go out and play golf if they wanted to whenever you know it's just a matter of whether they want to so

[00:28:15] so when you play with your husband are you prone to be a coach and try to help him or see try to coach you where do you see that

[00:28:23] I've coached him I've coached him over the years especially you know inside a hundred yards he has a pretty good long game and we've also rained him in he was a former hockey player played at a high played at a professional level he has a ton of power

[00:28:39] and as that goes right at the more power you have you don't necessarily have all the control in the world so you know there were a lot of natural abilities there and it was just more dialing in balance and footwork and stuff for him he has great great control and hand

[00:28:54] and ability to shape shots he already had that you know from just I think his own play in hockey and stick handling and all so so yeah I didn't have to teach him a whole lot in terms of ball striking but definitely a lot of finesse stuff around the greens

[00:29:09] he's he's picked up from me and certainly putting and yeah so it's been fun I only again when he asks then I coach otherwise I don't say anything I know when to shut up

[00:29:23] you throw the wager out there is a winter buys dinner and you leave the rest for some fun yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

[00:29:30] well do you do you think back to I'm thinking about this this thing aim point you know you and I go way back with the aim point process and back to the early years with the book and the chart that we used to teach out of do you remember the first time you saw the process

[00:29:48] and tell me how you thought about it what was your first experience with the aim point process

[00:29:53] so I was a member of I guess at the time it might have been called proponent group but it was a teacher's organization and so they had a summit down in Texas I think at the four seasons maybe Dallas Fort Worth or something and

[00:30:08] Mark Sweeney was there giving a demo to all these instructors about aim point and he had a massive putting green there and he was talking about anchor points and fall lines and he was predicting the break and he was rolling

[00:30:22] putts as he just as you know mark does and I was floored I was like this is unbelievable I've never seen anything like this where was this all my life and

[00:30:32] you know I immediately went over to him at the end of that seminar and said that I wanted to learn and obviously whatever certifications he had or could he come train me so I want to say that if that was in the fall of some maybe like

[00:30:45] could have been 2010 2009 maybe even somewhere in there that that that PGA show I connected with him again and we set up a time that for that next you know few months from after that to to come to Virginia and

[00:31:00] and train me so that was the beginning I learned the midpoint read and did a whole bunch of classes those first few years doing that and then when Express came out it was awesome there for a couple years I mean I've done it I did a

[00:31:16] ton of aim point classes at the facility that I was at I was running several a month and I would teach private lessons and I still do some of that it's a lot less I guess the frequency of the classes I run is less often but I still have interest in it

[00:31:34] and a lot of people it's amazing to me a lot of people still don't know it like I was I'm shot always shocked by that and then when I finally teach it to them maybe we have a package of six or 10 lessons and we'll take one of the lessons and run through it and they're always always so happy and amazed by it

[00:31:53] and I'm like right yeah it's been around for now you know 10 plus years like right where have you been

[00:32:02] right this is like somebody's got a 25 year old driver and they're happy with that and you say well hey have you heard about this new driver to give you about 25 more yards and it's like why didn't you know this golfer know this was around it's

[00:32:20] they're watching tour players do it and succeed with it and you just yeah I think it's an amazing thing I still I love sharing it people watching their face

[00:32:30] when they're they're picking better targets and making better better putts and making more and three putting less and all the things that they complain about and this helps

[00:32:40] yeah I never really I never get tired of teaching it like you know there's a certain format to the class and when I teach it in a private lesson I might you know not follow that exactly depending on the student but

[00:32:50] it's pretty standard delivery for me like I've got it so dialed in with how I teach it I mean it's like you know it comes it's easy to teach but it's I never get bored like showing it to somebody because I know that they're going to see results and

[00:33:06] yeah it's just fun it's just it's like a big once once everybody once their eyes light up and they realize they understand it and that they have this new tool set it's like it's like a game like how many puts can we make you know

[00:33:20] I like we gave them a lifelong Christmas gift when you teach it to somebody it's like really wow yeah yeah for sure yeah well that's awesome so with your your average day and you're teaching six to ten hours and you're going home are you

[00:33:38] are you that situation at home where you go home to a nice prepared meal your husband good in the kitchen or is that still left up to you when you get home ready for everybody I have I'm definitely spoiled in that he knows when I'm in the peak of my season like right now that

[00:33:54] I come home pretty hangry so he's really good about making dinner many many of the nights and if I know that he's not available to do that you know I plan accordingly and I certainly don't I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty in the kitchen it's just a matter of time

[00:34:10] so yeah and and so on the days that I have off or you know we have a family day together like on a Sunday obviously I'm helping out in the kitchen the other the other part of my spoilages that my grew up my dad is a chef a career chef so I always was very lucky with with people cooking for me

[00:34:28] cooking for me so yes I'm definitely spoiled well I don't think it's necessarily it would be bad for me to say that it's a woman's job to cook because I'm fortunate that I have a wife that can I do not because she's so good but it's not necessarily the woman's job I could make something if I had to but certainly blessed in that category myself

[00:34:52] yeah yeah yeah he does good yeah so listen I tell you what with with everything that's going on and and you busy as you are what what's next for Eric Alarkin I mean you talk about you're gonna do some stuff with with Jim over at the orange whip

[00:35:12] you're gonna work on that yeah is it is it in the winter time do you get to kind of cool down and do some travel or what do you like to do in the off season what's next for you as the season kind of winds down because you have a shorter season I'm assuming where you are then maybe further south

[00:35:28] a little bit does your weather get bad and snow and get icy and if so what do you what do you do I've been using an indoor studio not too far from my main country club and this year we'll see if the learning center is totally done then I'll have I'll have that as a nice option to just move into and get going with programs but typically a

[00:35:52] winter week would be you know maybe more like 20 hours a week instead of 40 or 50 or more you know so it definitely scales down but I also have been at the mercy of what availability I have at these different studio locations where I can rent time so I think that in the future if I have access to unlimited scheduling I'll probably work a pretty full week even through the winter

[00:36:16] but I do enjoy taking some extra time off through the holidays PGA show take an extra vacation here or there a long weekend with the family somewhere so we do try to take more time away in the winter and I you know have done a golf school here they're abroad I think that in my future as you ask like what's next for me I would I definitely got some collaborations

[00:36:40] in the in the queue and I'm looking forward to doing a little bit more on the road golf schools teaming up with some other instructors and some destinations so I think is the platform of social media grows and the demand is there in certain hotspot locations if I can find my way to California once a year if I find my way to maybe Chicago once a year or find people that you know I can team up within host schools with in these various locations

[00:37:08] I think that I'd love to work more of that into my schedule particularly particularly in the off season but you know through the year as well to continue to have a presence outside of this region and just you know have some fun doing it and depending on how things go I'd love to get to a point where it's a little bit less of the daily grind although I do really enjoy being on the lesson T I mean a little bit less of that and a little bit more

[00:37:38] special events certainly I want to capitalize on trying to sell more digital products right now I just have my book but I really want to with all the content I've been producing I think I finally you know have a pretty good flow of how I can how I can film and edit and and all of that so I have my mind around some different online products that

[00:38:01] I can pull together here probably within the next year and start to market those to the digital audiences that exist on YouTube and and on Instagram and so forth so I want to definitely be able to do more of that so I can I can monetize my online presence a little bit better and reach more people

[00:38:21] I mean at the end of the day it's about scaling yourself and you know if there's only so many hours in the week there's only so many students I'm going to see so that's why online lessons are fun because I can reach more people at different times of the day and I can also

[00:38:36] if I can travel I can reach more people and if I can reach more people by having products available that are in an organized fashion different curriculums and and specialty topics and things that people can follow along and practice and learn I think that that would be probably the next step for me so I'm working on some of that right now and I've got a laundry list of things I want to do in that arena in the next you know year or two so it just all takes time and that's why

[00:39:04] if I have this big to do list that I'm motivated about that when I'm not on the lesson team that's exactly where I feel like I want to be spending my time so I want to try in the off season to continue to carve out those you know days and blocks of time where I can spend producing creating content and producing more of these products that I'm talking about

[00:39:24] so yeah so with your book I was talking a little bit about that until our listeners how they can get a copy is it actually a hard book that you can purchase a soft back cover or is it online download

[00:39:39] it is a physical book there's also a Kindle conversion of it a Kindle version so if you go on Amazon you can purchase the book or download I also sell directly through my own website which is Eric Alarkin dot com and then I you know sign the book and send it out when I get orders so yeah either way

[00:40:00] is great and would love to have people if they're interested check it out I mean I have quite a few videos on YouTube explaining some of the concepts in the book but there's a lot more obviously in in the book and a lot more great visuals and we did a nice job with photography it really lays everything out very well so I prefer

[00:40:19] I mean the hard copy over the Kindle version just because I feel like the book lays out really well visually when you have the hard copy and it is a soft back book it's not hardcover but it's full it's full color so yeah it's I'm really happy with the way it came out and and I would love to do another

[00:40:38] book at some point but it likely you know it's so much more so now that people are downloading and reading more and more and more on their devices that I next time around would probably do the book just digital

[00:40:54] yeah or make it more digital friendly I should say sure yeah great and tell us the name of the books

[00:41:01] so my book is called a true swing and basically you know I grew up did a lot of self study and had one mentor turn me on to Ernest Jones from a very early age and not a lot of old school stuff so I grew up reading a lot of that and when I came around to actually teaching people to play golf

[00:41:23] I certainly referenced a lot of those old school simple thoughts and you know swing the way to the club and obviously feeling a lot of a lot of kinesthetic use that go along with that so that's kind of more my style but then again growing up teaching in the era that I did which was really the early

[00:41:43] two thousands you know so much technology came out and forget about video you know track man and certainly a lot of the biomechanics programs and gears and all this stuff that you know I've been able to have some access to and learn from other people about

[00:42:00] the body and certainly TPI and I mean all of it when you think about how much more we know now than they did in the 1930s trying to make sense of the difference between what they taught old school and some of the new school information and research that has come out about golf

[00:42:21] that's kind of where I am in my generation as a teacher as a young teacher so this book is really my take on trying to bridge the gap between old and new like I try to present everything in a very simple old school way but I also try to back up what it is that I'm teaching with the understanding from a new school perspective

[00:42:41] so yeah it's a good easy read and I basically take people step by step in trying to the kind of tagline of the book is unlocking your natural free swing and so like unlocking your body to understand that when you move that a lot of things can automatically happen

[00:43:01] so you move your body in a way you get your kind of core engine swinging and turning and rotating and you have good balance and you have good rhythm then your arms are going to swing and your club is going to move around you and

[00:43:13] good things are going to happen if you let them and try not to over control your movements and really trying to rid your golf swing of manipulation in the hands and the wrists

[00:43:27] so I'm a fan of really trying to have a free arm swing but one that is actually driven a little bit more by kind of core body movements and so I feel that you know that's the easiest way people can reduce a lot of compensating moves in their swing

[00:43:46] and they can find their own natural motion and one that feels good to them and hopefully one that they can repeat so

[00:43:56] well in addition it probably resists the tendency to get injured as a golfer you know I think a lot of times your golfers are injured from trying to put so much force on the club and try to hit so hard you know they're not creating energy in their most natural ways

[00:44:15] you're referred to it and I think that's kind of a you know a likelihood of creating potential injuries if they if they don't know how to move right right yeah well fantastic

[00:44:27] well listen tell our listeners how they can reach out to you and say hello or come see you and schedule an appointment all the different social media sites your platforms are putting all that good information out there tell us how they can connect and come see Erica Larkin

[00:44:43] thanks Alan so I can be certainly reached at ericallarkin.com that's E-R-I-K-A-L-A-R-K-N and on Instagram at EricallarkinGolf and certainly on Twitter same handle

[00:45:01] I also am on YouTube easily searchable under my name and would love to have anybody that's interested to visit me at Creighton Farms Golf Club which is in northern Virginia just about maybe 40 minutes west of Washington DC so if you're in the area

[00:45:17] driving through about 20 minutes from Dulles Airport and have definitely had some people that you know are flying in for business and other reasons come visit me so if you're interested in hooking up let me know

[00:45:29] and I will be happy to get you on the calendar you can certainly book lessons right on my website as well so awesome yeah thank you so much

[00:45:38] thank you evening with us and sharing your great skills as a golf coach and I hope everyone seeks you out and comes to say hello

[00:45:46] thank you and I'm with you in the beautiful area that you're in so listeners I want to thank Erica Larkin for being her guest tonight and reach out

[00:45:54] say hello tell her thanks for being on the show and if you have any questions I'm sure she's more than happy to connect and answer those questions for you

[00:46:01] this has been the forecast I'm your host Alan Burton thanks again for tuning in and we'll see you next time when we connect you to the HUSU in the game of golf and grow that golf IQ thanks again golfers have a great time in the fairway

[00:46:15] you've been listening to The Mesh an online media network of shows and programs ranging from business to arts sports to entertainment music to community all programs are available on the website as well as through iTunes and YouTube check us out online at TheMesh.tv

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