In this interview with Charlie Rose Sean Foley talks about his philosophy and the practical reality of coaching the best players in the world.  His classroom attendees include Tiger, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, and Hunter Mahan among others.

As he says in the conversation he teaches young kids how to play the game…..he coaches the best players in the world.  At this point in their athletic careers there is little new to teach them.  But like the great coaches in any sport observing their tendencies and relating to them the flaws these tendencies perpetuate he can help them get to a place of self-recognition where they can manage their flaws and produce better results.

In watching this 35-minute conversation you have to let go of the notion that somehow it is a referendum on his tutelage of Tiger and appreciate the accumulated genius of a guy who has studied the teachings of greatest instructors going back 100 years.

You won’t find any technical prescription for success in golf for his top ranked players or yourself for that matter.  But you will get an understanding of why these guys gravitate to this man and his ability to diagnose the problems that beset them at the current stage in their personal golf cycle and advise them on what to focus to maximize their competitive results.

This is a thoughtful guy who does not come across with the bravado of a Butch Harmon.  But it is evident to me that it is his intellect and his bedside manner, as he refers to it, that allow great athletes to trust him to guide them to a path of higher performance in their games.

Turn off the cell phone and shut the door to the study….this is a fascinating conversation best appreciated without interruption.

(Click here to view the Sean Foley Interview with Charlie Rose)

Charlie Rose

Bloomberg.com

October, 2013