He is the fourth generation of golf professionals in his family. A unique case in Spain and Europe. Before him, his great-grandfather, his grandfather and his mother were dedicated to teaching golf in our country.
Since 2007 he is the director of the Rio Real Golf Academy (Marbella) and one of the few Spanish professionals -four in total- with the TPI (Titleist Performace Institute) certificate at all levels (I, II, and III), being one of the first certified nationally and performing the 3D Biomechanical Analysis in the United States in 2009. This places Sergio de Céspedes at the highest level as a teacher of this sport discipline.
How does the Rio Real academy differ from others, we ask him. “I would say,” says Sergio, “that in the quality of the teaching, in the planning of it, in the personalization of the classes…”
“And what tools do we use for this, well, the most advanced technology available: a biomechanics system with optical sensors for swing and putt analysis that few academies have. We also use the innovative Sam PuttLab to study this club, which is the latest worldwide.”
“Our system,” he continues, “is based on visual analysis of ball flight and swing dimensions to examine up to 50 reference points in order to achieve the Customized Efficient Swing.”
“But these are just working tools, and without proper teacher training they are of little use. For the last six years I have been lucky enough to be part of the National Professionals Committee and to be the national coach of the junior teams of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation, which means I have to keep up to date with the latest teaching techniques and have to constantly train and recycle myself”.
-Do you think that new technologies are a determining factor in teaching golf?
-I insist. They are one more tool that you have to know how to use. It is not fundamental, but when well used, they are very useful. I always give an example: a person goes to the doctor with wrist pain, and there may be a very good and experienced doctor who, with his tact and clinical eye, makes a good diagnosis and prescribes a cure. But I think it will always be a better option to do an X-ray, an MRI, even, to confirm if there is a break or not, at what point, to know exactly what is happening and to apply the precise treatment.
That is what we do in our academy, we diagnose the student’s problems with the technology we have and that way it is clear what is happening, what remedy should be applied, what corrections should be made if necessary, etc… Then it is a matter of how it is applied and who applies it.
-He started playing at a very young age…
-Yes, when I was 10 years old, although in my house there was always a golf atmosphere, because my mother, Begoña de Céspedes, was a golf professional, the only one in Spain at that time. Her father, my grandfather Ernesto, had been a professional at the Puerta de Hierro Club in Madrid, then in Morocco and finished his career at the Parador de Málaga, where he had been brought by the Count of Nájera. My great-grandfather Ernesto had also been a golf professional at the beginning of the 20th century. We are, therefore, four generations dedicated to teaching golf in Spain.
-Is it the longest family saga you know of?
-I’ve done some research in Spain and outside our country and I haven’t found anything that surpasses us: three generations at the most.
-What does this mean to you: responsibility, pride…?
-It is an honor to be part of this saga and to be able to continue spreading the old values of golf, which in some respects are being lost: sacrifice, perseverance, love for this sport…. I would like my daughters, who also play, to be the fifth generation of golf professionals, something unique in the world. But without forcing or pressuring them to do so, of course. As they did with me.
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