Resourceful pros drive 25-percent uptick in app-based lesson demand
NOVI, Michigan (July 21, 2020) – With golf participation surging across North America during coronavirus quarantining, there is little surprise that many golfers are finding ways to take lessons on their terms any time their schedules permit.
V1 Sports (V1)reported a record number of digital lessons were given using the V1 Pro (for teaching pros) and V1 Golf (for golfers) mobile apps during the month of June. Last month’s digital lesson delivery on V1 Pro and V1 Golf was nearly 25 percent higher than V1’s five-year average for lessons given in June.
V1, producer of the industry-leading golf video swing analysis platform for teaching pros and golfers, is committed to helping avid golfers facilitate interactive lessons with pros during these unprecedented times. V1, who saw users surpass the four-million mark in online lessons earlier this year, recently made significant upgrades to its V1 Pro software and mobile platforms; including a sleek, efficient user interface, dynamic integration of V1 Pressure Mat data and the ability to record real-time tips and drills videos with audio using their live cameras and microphone.
“It’s always amazing to see V1 technology help build a tighter golf community. Many people are taking live lessons and enjoying rounds outdoors, meanwhile there’s still a huge segment of golfers who have discovered the ease and benefit of taking remote online lessons with their favorite teaching pro,” says V1 Sports CEO Bryan Finnerty. “We’ve also seen a huge number of pros grow their online businesses by giving lessons remotely through the V1 Pro platform.”
V1’s system of interactive remote golf lessons is powered by easy-to-use tools for video swing capture and sharing as well as functions that help pros create detailed video lessons with voice-over instruction and visual feedback through telestration. From home, golfers can film and send their swings to the teaching pro of their choice and receive lessons and drills using the popular V1 Golf mobile app.
Golf Digest Best Young Teacher and PGA TOUR coach Jake Thurm has been hosting webinars and training sessions, encouraging instructors to ride the wave of remote lesson demand, stressing that alternatives to live lessons can prove an even more lucrative use of time than in-person sessions.
“If you saw quarantining as an opportunity and bought into growing your online lesson platform, you discovered, like I did, that an hour of your time can be better spent and more profitable doing remote lessons. My rates are $200 an hour in person and $100 for a remote lesson. I can author a remote lesson and send it to the student in less than 10 minutes and give the same insight and diagnosis that I would in an hour lesson. The difference is I can now do 6 to 10 lessons per hour from my home or teaching studio,” he says.
Myrtle Beach, SC-based Tom Saguto has picked up more than 50,000 new subscribers to his Youtube channel since February and attributes his ability to scale his online academy’s growth to the ease of use of V1 Pro and V1 Marketplace. “Golfers can just go online and choose the lesson plan that works for them and get signed up. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I’m teaching online golf schools with students from all over the world and things are running smoothly,” Saguto says.
Through V1 Pro, instructors can utilize the built-in access to contact their database of students and engage with them personally. “Any pro on V1 Pro has the ability to turn remote lessons from a static menu item to a revenue-driving part of their business and I think a lot of teachers have realized that this platform is here to stay and fits with modern golfers’ lifestyles. Remote lessons eliminate so many of the scheduling conflicts and waiting times between lessons. It’s a powerful shift in the business model,” Thurm says.