Experts' Content Knowledge of Fundamentals

This study examined the content knowledge of expert sport instructors in order to understand the nature of fundamentals in sport instruction. Data were collected through a questionnaire of expert golf teachers (n=50) from GOLF Magazine's Top 100 Teachers list. These expert golf instructors were asked to identify what they believed were the five fundamentals of golf. Researchers found disagreement within the population. Two groups were then identified – the Element Instructors and Compound Instructors - based upon similar responses. Element Instructors were characterized by agreement within their group that grip, posture, and alignment were the fundamental skills of golf. Compound Instructors had no set of agreed-upon fundamentals. Researchers found no discernible rationales for this division-based on collected data. These results suggest that at least two “schools of thought” regarding content fundamentals exist and could indicate disagreement among expert golf instructors as a whole.