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Welcome, I'm Rick Kent, master teaching professional, and I provide help with all types of lessons, including video lessons, playing lessons, and even trick shot exhibitions.
I've given lessons to not only beginners and juniors, but also players of all types of ability including scratch players, Touring Professionals, several LPGA players and PGA Professionals. Visit my bio and resume for more information. So give me a call to improve your golf game at (810) 845-5326.
Latest News:
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Rick with his teaching aides and other equipment.
The Best Fitting System in the Country.
The Henry-Griffitts Fitting System.
Rick with all his Teaching Aides
and Trick Shot Clubs.
Mr. Player's eyes
follow the ball and the club going left. Remember,
nobody looks up, they stand up.
Rick's assistant, Bunker, is getting big
and may be smarter than Rick is.
| | January 06, 2010 - Happy New Years to everyone! The weather here is cold like the rest of the country but no snow thank God. The golf season is here now in south Florida and looking forward to a busy winter at Hobe Sound G.C. If you are in the area please give me a call at (810) 845-5326, I would love to hear from you. Does you're golf game need some help? I am sure I can help get you on the right track. You can check my lesson rates for the winter months on my home page. Wishing you all a great 2010 and hope to see you all soon!
| November 23, 2009 - Hello there from Hobe Sound Fl. The weather is great and things here should get busy soon. I received an email from a young man in Texas who has taken some lessons from me. I just would like to say this is why I enjoy teaching and I hope you all enjoy having golf lessons with me.
Turner did this for his English Class. Thanks Turner for the kind words!
Mr. Hebert
English 2- A2
11 November 2009
Rick Kent: Teacher in the Game of Golf and Life
I was confused, too hard on my self, and unable to distinguish what is most important in my life. I threw clubs on the golf course and took out my anger and emotions on other people. I would define this as not having my priorities straight. I have been working with my golf teacher, Rick Kent, for about 5 or 6 years. Although I work with him one to two weeks out of the year, the lessons he gives are more to me than just becoming a better golfer. He applies lessons learned in golf to lessons in life.
Rick Kent does not like to be called Mr. Kent. He does not like the word “yeah” as he prefers the word “yes." He goes by the correct golf terminology, not slang or incorrect words such as calling a flag stick a "pin" or a bunker a "sand trap". Rick is a tall, husky, strong man with gray hair that has an intriguing style to most people who look at him. I would describe him as looking like a “legit golf teacher." He has the worn and tired look of many years of work while he also portrays a wise and intelligent instructor. He dresses like a golfer: always wearing pants and a dry-fit shirt. There has never been a time when I have looked at Rick and thought to myself I was in for a boring day. His personality and style brings excitement to the game for me and many other players of all levels.
Rick’s personality and outlook on life makes him someone that is hard to dislike. He cares about his students and the game of golf much more than his own needs. He will live like you are supposed to: doing what makes you happy, not what makes you the wealthiest. There is no teacher like him; he takes away his own personal time to put together a video C.D. of my swing, have a talk or lesson with me, or to just play golf with me. I value this caring attitude out of a teacher because if they are not as interested in improving as you are, what is one going to really accomplish? After caddying a short time for Jack Nicklaus, Rick collected thousands of videos of professional golfers to give players a comparative view of what they are not doing, that the best players in the world do. He said in one my lessons as we were comparing my swing to Eldrick (as Rick does not like to call him Tiger, considering it is not his first name) Woods, “If he does it and he is the best player in the world, I guess we should do it too.” I enjoy the video system very much as both he and I believe the best way to learn is to see and feel the swing, rather than hear about it. Rick devotes his life to his equipment and using it to make golfers better and enjoy the game more. Along with his positive outlook on life and resourcefulness my favorite characteristics of Rick are his patience and down-to-earth personality. I understand I get overly mad at myself and put too much value on a golf shot, and he is patient enough to continue to work with my crappy attitude, and is knowledgeable enough to understand the thoughts I am feeling. He is teaching me how to get my priorities straight. I have learned form Rick that fixing my attitude and outlook toward the game allows me to become a better golfer and human.
The times I have spent with Rick and the stories he has told me have taught me what having your priorities straight is all about. There was one summer we spent a few days together in which we worked hard, working on my swing. But on the final day we just went and played nine holes and talked. I felt like I was talking to the smartest person in Grand Blanc, Michigan, city of my grandparents and where he teaches. He also gave me possibly the most unreal experience of my golf life. I was in Florida, his winter location, working with him and while I was waiting, I chipped a little and ended up making three in a row. A short, elderly, man in great shape looked over and said, “Nice going, kid.” This obviously brought to a smile to my face as on the golf course, I am a people pleaser. It turned out the man was Gary Player, one of the greatest golfers of all time and a student of Rick Kent. Rick introduced me to him and I was able to have a lengthy conversation with both of them about keeping up my health and my golf swing. A few of the lessons I have taken out of our talks are “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail,” “Anger and Vengeance eat away at the body, as they do the soul. Lay them down and move on,” and “The past is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present, which is why it is a gift.”
But, my favorite lesson he has ever given me is one he is always repeating, reminding me, and living. It is his lesson on a golfer’s priorities. His laundry list in order of greatest importance to least is, “Religion, family, school/career, friends, my health, golf, and other hobbies or activities.” But, the special thing about Rick is that he walks the walk. He truly finds the needs of others and his career to be more important than himself. Rick sadly went through a tough time early September of this year when his apartment was broken into and all of his video equipment, his videos, his teaching aids, and everything in his work was stolen from him. But, it did not knock down Rick Kent. Rick posted on his website, “When I arrived back in Grand Blanc, I returned to my apartment to find that it had been broken in to. I guess it is just another bump in the road -- although a rather large one. Somebody has helped themselves to my trick shot clubs, my back up clubs and all of my digital cameras and computer equipment… I've told many of my students over the years, even though I have a college degree, golf is all I know. I will still be giving some lessons before I head south, even though I have lost many tools of my trade. One thing they can not steal from me is the knowledge I've learned over the last 30 years” (). Rick dusts himself off and goes on educating people like me who have not learned how golf relates so much to life. My favorite quote of his is, “Your self-esteem and self-worth should not be measured as a function of your car, house, dress size, golf score, or bank account.” I hope to learn this lesson because I want to live a life like Rick: one of happiness no matter what curves or bumps might be thrown at you.
The life lessons I have learned from Rick and the ones I will learn along the road will eventually apply four elements used in golf and life: Respect, honesty, integrity, and courtesy. After Rick lost all of his equipment, I was unsure I would ever have another lesson with the fabulous Rick Kent. But, seeing him giving lessons a few days after the incident has truly taught me the main lesson he has been getting at. I now realize that there is nothing that truly matters except achieving eternal life in heaven with my Lord. It was not that I did not understand that statement before, but I have consistently made my happiness, my wealth, my golf game, and the way people view me just as important. Rick lives a life in which even the taking away of thirty years of hard work does not even touch his spirit and mentality. I believe that man will golf and teach until he absolutely cannot do it anymore because it gives him happiness, something I hope to achieve in the same way Rick has. After thinking about all the ways Rick has made me better in the game of life, I would give this advice, “A life in which one’s priorities are not straight is going to send them into a mental spiral downward, and they will never achieve complete contentment with their life. Realize the truly important things in life and cherish them.”
| September 19, 2009 - My summer is completed here, especially after my last two weeks of trying to retrieve my stolen property. I have recovered some of my digital teaching equipment, along with my laptop, some of my trick shot clubs, my backup set of Henry-Griffitts woods and irons, and most of my teaching aides. My plans are to head south, through the Carolinas, and back to Hobe Sound, Florida. I am looking forward to seeing all the members at Hobe Sound Golf Club. I hope you have a good fall and winter here in Michigan. Like I've said before, if you're coming to Florida and you're on the east side of the state, please give me a call -- I would look forward to hearing from you. I can always be reached at (810) 845-5326.
| September 04, 2009 - I hope you all have a good holiday weekend. My plans are to head back to Hobe Sound, Florida on September 19th or 20th. Lessons this year have been awfully slow, but it is what it is. If you're ever in Florida, and you're going to be in the Hobe Sound/Jupiter Island area, please give me a call -- lessons in Florida are fun too. My only wish is soon, the economy, Genesee County and Michigan, pick up. This week I have run in to a bit a bad luck; I was at Spring Meadows Golf Club for the day on Wednesday, giving a 9-hole playing lesson, and visiting with Jeff, the General Manager and Head Professional. When I arrived back in Grand Blanc, I returned to my apartment to find that it had been broken in to. I guess its just another bump in the road -- although a rather large one. Somebody has helped themselves to my trick shot clubs, my back up clubs and all of my digital cameras and computer equipment. There were many more items missing, which were of little consequence to other people. I've told many of my students over the years, even though I have a college degree, golf is all I know. I will still be giving some lessons before I head south, even though I have lost many tools of my trade. One thing they can not steal from me is the knowledge I've learned over the last 30 years -- I hope to see you before I leave on the practice fairway. Give me a call at (810) 845-5326 to schedule a lesson. I have enjoyed teaching here in Grand Blanc this summer, and as always, I've enjoyed working with my return students and the new ones I've befriended. May your fall in Michigan be a great time with family and friends, on the links. Your keys are all in your fundamentals (grip, aim and setup). If we all do that, we'll be hitting more fairways and greens.
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