Golf's premier forum of learning returned to the PGA Learning Center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., the week of Dec. 3-7, where 350 teaching professionals, including 20 international guests from 12 countries, gathered to share knowledge and advice "to add to their tool box."

Thirty presentations covering 24 hours of instruction took place at the 11th PGA Teaching & Coaching Summit, presented by Callaway Golf, and supported by Golf Pride Grips and SkyGolf.

This biennial gathering of many of the game's premier teaching minds had perhaps its widest range of subject matter presentations to date. The Summit was opened by motivational speaker Dr. Rick Rigsby of Dallas, Texas, who gave a powerful challenge to the attendees before giving way to PGA Director of Fitness David Donatucci and his associates from around the nation to explore the Day One theme of physical motion. The Summit also featured the first segment devoted entirely to "Performance Coaching Challenges," highlighted by PGA Distinguished Service Award winner Dennis Walters of Jupiter, Fla., and a triumvirate of PGA Teachers of the Year: Bill Forrest of Scottsdale, Ariz., Jim Hardy of Houston and Martin Hall of Palm City, Fla.

In addition, attendees had the pleasure of experiencing the remarkable Errie Ball, a 98-year-old PGA Professional from Stuart, Fla., who is the last surviving member of the original 1934 Masters field and who continues a regular teaching program today at Willoughby Golf Club in Stuart.

"The Summit achieved its goals of providing a venue for the PGA teaching professional to improve his or her ability and enhance their value with their clients," said Brad Sullivan, PGA senior director of member programs. "This was a gathering of the greatest instructional minds in the world to share their philosophies of how people learn and how they need to be coached. I believe the wide range of presenters, ranging from motivational speaker Dr. Rick Rigsby to our past and present Teachers of the Year, to the inspiring Dennis Walters and the remarkable 98-year-old Errie Ball, all contributed to make this perhaps one of the most memorable Summits in our history."

Laird Small of Pebble Beach, Calif., the 2003 PGA Teacher of the Year, and Suzy Whaley of Farmington, Conn., a two-time Connecticut Section Teacher of the Year and who in 2003 stunned the golf world by qualifying for a PGA Tour event, shared master of ceremonies honors throughout the Summit.

"I think I had a chance to do everything at this Summit," said Small. "I participated, introduced, talked to many professionals and listened to their presentations. In my mind, all presenters went beyond expectations, and we had a great week."

Whaley said that there was a defining moment for her personally, and it came after Rigsby made his opening address.

"It was so appropriate to have Dr. Rigsby open this Summit. It did impact me. I come to these Summits with expectations and I go home with more information that I know that I can use to make me a better teacher. This Summit, I believe, met expectations."

The Summit week opened Dec, 3 with a PGA Play Golf America Day, sponsored by Callaway Golf, and supported by Golf Pride Grips, Sky Golf and dozens of PGA Professionals who volunteered their time to provide free lessons and clinics to members of the public.

That was followed by the ninth consecutive PGA/USA TODAY Golf Tips Hotline, which ran 12 continuous hours on Thursday, Dec. 4, with 60 PGA Professionals handling calls from golf enthusiasts nationwide and 20 PGA Professionals answering visitors on the Web through PGA.com.

PGA Professional Dick Raber of Deerfield, Ill., said that he was pleased to have witnessed the presentations and enjoyed interacting with sponsors and new technology.

"Anybody who attends, if they are truly a professional, will always learn something that may change their life here," said Raber. "Those who think that they know it all are stale. You never know when you might come upon one word, one piece of information that you may pick up and elevate your teaching career."

Bernard Kennedy, a teaching professional at Sonnenalp Resort in Germany, just near the border of Switzerland, has attended every PGA Teaching & Coaching Summit since 1992.

"There is value for the professional to attend a Summit, where they can both draw on past experiences and have the invaluable opportunity to meet and share ideas with others during the breaks to judge what you can do better at your facility," said Kennedy. "I have always found something valuable at these Summits and I was very happy with the overall presentations this year."

Dr. Rick Rigsby presented the attendees with a special challenge: to be a better teacher, you have to be a better citizen.

"The game of golf is a great game," said Rigsby, "but it is far more impactful as a bridge to the hearts, souls and minds of your community."

In addition to travelling the country as a motivational speaker, Rigsby has been a professor for the past 14 years at Texas A&M University, where he also serves as chaplain for the Aggies football team.

"The greatest contribution to a society is that of a master teacher," continued Rigsby. "These teachers need to realize the power they have and the responsibility that comes with it. If you can impact someone's life in a positive way, it should not be just an opportunity; it should be your duty. Being a great teacher isn't about what you do, it's about who you are."

PGA Professional Dom DiJulia, who owns a golf school in New Hope, Pa., has attended the past five biennial Summits, and came away inspired by the overall messaging.

"I feel like we were challenged more directly to consider the very way we teach," said DiJulia. "It was great to have Dr. Rigsby lead things off on the first day, then go into presentations on how the body and then the brain work to assemble information from coaching, and then lead into how we can best take that information to our own operation."

MAJOR DAN ROONEY of Broken Arrow, Okla., an F-16 fighter pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard and a PGA Professional, closed the opening day's presentations. Rooney provided an update on the Folds of Honor Foundation that he founded and its largest fundraiser, Patriot Golf Day, which raised nearly $2 million this year for scholarships for the families of either wounded or deceased soldiers who served in overseas conflicts.

Rooney, who returned in early November after his third tour of duty in Iraq, urged instructors to tailor their business practices to get involved in the program as well as encouraging them to overcome the challenges presented to them in difficult times.

Rooney asked instructors to not "be afraid to add students with special physical needs" to their regular lesson list. You will find you have made a new friend for life," he said.

For the first time, the Summit devoted its first complete segment to "Performance Coaching Challenges," with PGA Professionals Judy Alvarez of Palm City, Fla., and Jim Estes of Olney, Md., leading a presentation on how teachers may best gain an understanding of disabled players' needs, expand their own business and, more importantly, take away an increased level of satisfaction by working with the disabled.

Alvarez and Estes were joined by 2008 PGA Distinguished Service Award winner Dennis Walters of Jupiter, Fla., who opened the program with an emotional address on how "golf truly saved my life."

Walters had his dreams of becoming a tour professional take a tragic turn on July 21, 1974, when the three-wheeled golf car he was driving slid out of control on a steep hill, sending him flying. What resulted for the then-24-year-old was a dislocated vertebra at the thoratic level 12, which pinched his spinal cord and left him a paraplegic.

In the six weeks after the accident, Walters was told by his doctor that he would never walk or play golf again.

"I did not even want to live without golf," Walters said.

And that's why Walters screamed that not only would he be back, but he'd hit golf balls off the doctor's lawn.

Just 6 1/2 months later, Walters returned to the Kessler Institute in New Jersey and gathered his doctor and patients in the parking lot. He then proceeded to drive a golf ball with ease.

Walters said that "Golf has given me more than I could ever repay. It's far better therapy than any pill I could take."

With a swivel chair built into the side of his golf car and a harness to keep his stability, Walters has performed more than 2,000 golf shows around the world.

He stressed to the attendees that the golf experience isn't just 18 holes.

"Maybe a disabled player can't play 18 holes," Walters said, "but they can chip, they can putt, they can hit balls on the range. Give everyone the experience of hitting the ball square in the center of the clubface."

Walters' example transferred to John Nicholas of Fairfax, Va., an engineering manager for AOL.com, who became a paraplegic in 1985 when as a senior at the University of Virginia he was "horsing around" with a group of friends and fell off an eight-foot wall into some bushes.

Nicholas first met Walters at the Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria, Va., which hosted the first-annual Paralyzed Veterans Administration Golf Tournament.

"You are not right mentally for a while after such an accident," said Nicholas, who is now the father of two eight-year-old twins. "I had suffered damage to the T-9 vertebrae, which limited my range of motion more than Dennis, who had damage to the T-12 vertebrae. When I watched Dennis hit the ball by the side of his golf cart, I wanted to go ahead and do it on my own."

As Walters closed his presentation, the same as he closed more than 2,700 shows nationwide, he said, "If there is something you really want to do -- no matter how impossible it may seem -- with enough hard work and perseverance, you can do it."

Alvarez and Estes have both found a niche in teaching golf to the disabled. The two explained that they actually ask more of the questions than the students do. But that doesn't mean they change how they teach.

"There's no need to reinvent your philosophy," said Alvarez, who works as a PGA of America National Military Golf Trainer on the Wounded Warrior Golf Project. "Keep it simple and learn to hit the shots yourself -- hit balls off of one leg, with your eyes closed, seated -- to get a feel for what your student is experiencing. Focus on their abilities instead of their disabilities. Don't make assumptions about what they can and can't do."

Alvarez also explained that Wounded Warriors -- severely wounded soldiers -- want help moving on. They're not looking for sympathy.

"Language is a powerful tool," she said. "Know what to say. They have a 'disability,' they're not, 'crippled.'"

Estes, the PGA Director of Instruction at Olney Golf Park in Olney, Md., achieved nationwide recognition in 2005 for his development of the Salute Military Golf Association and lives just 10 minutes from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"I work with a lot of AK (above the knee) and BK (below the knee) amputations," Estes said. "I try to identify how their body creates power by assessing their posture."

During the presentation, Estes and Alvarez worked with amputee students and explained that by giving positive feedback constantly, the students have confidence when they step in to hit the ball.

The oldest teacher, PGA Life Member Errie Ball of Stuart, Fla., was joined by Small on the final day of the Summit to present a perspective on "Golf Equipment Past to Present." Ball is the second oldest living and the second longest-serving PGA member.

Ball later visited the PGA Historical Center, and was surprised to see a photo of him teaching a woman amateur in the 1940s in Arizona.

"Wow! Yes, that was me then. And, look at her grip on that club," said Ball. "Now, that was what I was talking about."

Ball said today's golf equipment "has made the game a little easier. You can get the right shaft right away. If you don't like it, you can get it fixed in five minutes. In my day, it would take all day for a new shaft.

"If I have a pupil, I make sure that he puts his hands on the club correctly. If you have a poor grip, watch out! It will catch up to you. Address the ball correctly. And, I like to see them waggle the club. You can always spot a good player who has the waggle. I spot him right away."

Small asked Ball if he felt today's players were trying to be too perfect and perhaps overlooked the artistry of the game.

"I feel today that you are seeing players that are all swinging the same. It looks like they were taken out of the same box. The golf swing is not a perfect move and it's not something you are going to perfect.

"I've always been a firm believer in a strong left side. You keep your shoulder, the back of your left hand and the club together. It should go together in order that at the moment of impact you are square to the ball.

"I remember how important this is when I think about being asked to hit the first tee shot in the Fedex [Tour Championship] at East Lake [Golf Club] in Atlanta. I said, 'Oh, my God. I haven't hit a shot in front of a gallery in years. So, I remembered to keep a strong left side, pull the club through and I ended up hitting the ball down the middle without any practice."