Coach Guide

Last updated: May 2026

Features will expand — this guide will be updated accordingly.

1. Getting Started

Setting Up Your Team

When you first log in as a head coach, your team is already created. To get players into the system:

  1. Go to Settings (tap your avatar in the top corner of any page).
  2. Under Team, find your Player Code — a short alphanumeric code like 7CHT88.
  3. Share that code with your players. When they sign up and select Join a Team, they enter this code to join your roster.

Your Player Code is also surfaced on the Team tab when no players have joined yet — tap Copy to copy it directly from there.

Players appear in your Team Leaderboard once they have joined and logged at least one round.

During sign-up, passwords require a minimum of 8 characters, at least one uppercase letter, and at least one number.

Inviting an Assistant Coach

BirdieLab supports assistant coaches who share full coaching access to your team. Your team has a separate Staff Code — distinct from the Player Code — that grants assistant coach access.

  1. Go to SettingsTeam and find your Staff Code.
  2. Tap Copy and share it with your assistant coach.
  3. Your assistant coach signs up at app.birdielab.net, selects Join a Team, and enters the Staff Code instead of the Player Code.
  4. They are automatically added as an assistant coach on your team.

Assistant coaches have the same view of player data, alerts, and coaching tools as the head coach. The Player Code and Staff Code are different — make sure you share the right one.

To remove an assistant coach, go to SettingsCoaching Staff, tap the remove icon next to their name, and confirm.

2. Installing BirdieLab on Your Phone

BirdieLab is a Progressive Web App (PWA). You access it through your browser, but installing it as an app icon on your home screen gives you the best experience — full-screen layout, no browser bar, and push notification support.

iOS (iPhone / iPad) — Safari

  1. Open app.birdielab.net in Safari (must be Safari — other browsers on iOS do not support installation).
  2. Tap the Share button (the box with an upward arrow) at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Scroll down and tap "Add to Home Screen".
  4. Confirm the name (BirdieLab) and tap "Add" in the top-right corner.
  5. The BirdieLab icon now appears on your home screen. Always open it from there.
iOS 16.4+ required for push notifications. If you are on an older version, BirdieLab will still work but you will not receive push notifications.

Android — Chrome

  1. Open app.birdielab.net in Chrome.
  2. Tap the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner.
  3. Tap "Add to Home screen" or "Install app".
  4. Tap "Add" / "Install" to confirm.
  5. The BirdieLab icon now appears on your home screen. Always open it from the icon.

4. Board — Coach Hub

When you are logged in as a coach, the Board tab opens the Coach Hub rather than the standard player performance view.

The Coach Hub is a grid of quick-access tiles — your central launchpad for every major coaching function:

TileGoes to
TeamTeam leaderboard (same as the Team tab)
AlertsIntelligent coaching alerts
Strokes GainedFull team Strokes Gained leaderboard
QualifiersQualifier management
LineupsLineup management
RosterYour full player roster
RecruitingCollege recruiting pipeline
Practice PlansCreate and manage practice plans
CoursesCourse catalog for your team

Tap any tile to navigate directly to that feature. The Coach Hub is designed so you can reach any tool in a single tap from your home screen.

5. Team — Team Leaderboard & Feed

The Team tab is your main view into team performance. It combines the team leaderboard with a live team feed, and houses shortcuts to every coaching tool.

Leaderboard

  • Players are sorted by scoring average (lowest / best first).
  • Use the filter pills at the top to narrow to All, Practice, Qualifier, or Tournament rounds only.
  • Each row shows a player's rank, name, handicap index (if set), rounds logged, average score to par, best round, and last-5 average.
  • Tap any player row to open their full Player Profile.

From the Team header you can also reach: Alerts, Strokes Gained, Recruiting, Qualifiers, and Lineups. An export button lets you export roster data or standings.

Team Feed

Below the leaderboard, a Team Feed section shows recent updates posted to the team. New (unread) updates are marked with a colored dot. Tap Post to compose a new announcement. Tap View all to open the full feed history.

Players see the same feed on their Team tab and receive a push notification when a new post is published (if notifications are enabled). The 3 most recent posts also appear on the player's Performance Board.

6. Intelligent Coach Alerts

The system automatically scans your roster and surfaces patterns that may need your attention. Tap Alerts in the Team header (or the Alerts tile in the Coach Hub) to view them.

TypeWhat it means
Putting upA player's putts per round has risen significantly over their last 3 rounds vs. the 3 before that
Scoring upA player's scoring average has worsened over their last 3 rounds
GIR droppingA player's GIR% has dropped meaningfully over their last 6 rounds
InactivityA player has not logged a round in 14 or more days
No sessionsA player has not logged a practice session recently
Comp/practice gapA player has logged tournament rounds but no recent practice sessions

Alerts are grouped by severity — High priority (red), Worth a look (amber), and FYI (blue). Tap any alert card to navigate directly to that player's profile.

7. Strokes Gained Analytics

Tap Strokes Gained in the Team header (or the Strokes Gained tile in the Coach Hub) to open the team Strokes Gained leaderboard.

  • View the full roster ranked by any SG category using the tabs: SG: Putt, SG: App, SG: OTT, SG: Total.
  • Tap a player row to go to their profile.
  • Trend arrows (↑/↓) appear when a player has 6 or more qualifying rounds in the last 90 days.

Data requirements:

  • 3+ qualifying rounds in the last 90 days for a value to appear.
  • 6+ qualifying rounds in the last 90 days for trend arrows.
  • Fewer rounds than the threshold shows a dash.

All Strokes Gained values use the last 90 days of data.

8. Player Profiles

Tap any player in the Leaderboard to open their profile. Here you can see scoring average, best round, trend over last 5 rounds, round-type breakdown, shot stats, Strokes Gained, active Targets, Recommended Focus, Player Notes, Mental Performance summary, and the player's last 20 rounds.

Setting Targets

Scroll to the Targets section and tap Add Target. Choose a metric and enter a goal value. The player will see their progress on their own Performance Board.

Available metrics: Scoring Average, Last-5 Average, Putts per Round, GIR %, Fairways %.

Adding Player Notes

Scroll to Player Notes and tap Add Note. Notes are coach-only to write; players can read them on their Performance Board under "Coach Notes."

Viewing Player Scorecards

Scroll to the Rounds section to see the player's last 20 rounds. Tap any round to open the full scorecard. When viewing as a coach, the edit and delete controls are hidden — you are in read-only mode. Only the player who logged the round can modify it.

Per-hole stat chips appear below each hole row when the player logged per-hole data: FW✓ / FW✗ (fairway), GIR✓ / GIR✗ (green in regulation), and putt count.

Recommended Focus

The Recommended Focus card appears on every player profile with at least 3 qualifying rounds in the last 90 days. It analyses Strokes Gained, scoring trends, recent practice history, and at-risk targets to surface 2–3 prioritised practice areas.

Push as Practice Plan: Tap the green button at the bottom of the card to instantly create a pre-filled Practice Plan from the recommendation.

Parent Access

The Parent button in the player profile header generates a private, shareable link for a parent or guardian. The link opens a read-only performance summary — no login required.

  1. Tap Parent in the player profile header.
  2. Tap Generate Link.
  3. Tap Copy Link and send it via text or email.
VisibleNot visible
Player name and team nameAny other player's data
Rounds loggedTeam standings
Practice sessions (last 30 days)Coach notes
Scoring average with trendTargets
Last 5 rounds score listMental check-in data
Detailed scorecards

To revoke access: tap Parent → tap Revoke link. A new link can be generated at any time.

Generating a Progress Report

Tap the Report button in the player profile header.

  1. Set a date range (From / To).
  2. Add an optional coach note.
  3. Tap Generate Report.
  4. Tap Copy Link to share it.

Report links are public (no login required) and remain valid indefinitely. Share with parents, athletic directors, or college recruiters.

9. Qualifiers

A qualifier is a defined window of time in which rounds count toward a specific tournament selection.

Creating a Qualifier

  1. From the Team tab, tap Qualifiers in the header.
  2. Tap New (top right).
  3. Enter the qualifier name, optional tournament name, start date, and end date.
  4. Tap Create Qualifier.

Multiple qualifiers can overlap — each is completely independent.

How Players Qualify

Players log rounds in the Rounds tab and select Qualifier as the round type. When multiple qualifiers are open, the player sees a picker and must choose which qualifier the round counts toward.

Viewing Qualifier Standings

Tap any qualifier to see live standings. Players are ranked by average score to par across all rounds tagged to that qualifier. Players with no qualifying rounds appear at the bottom.

Building a Lineup from Qualifier Results

Once a qualifier is active or ended, a Build Lineup button appears at the bottom of the standings page. Tapping it creates a new lineup pre-populated in qualifier rank order.

10. Lineups

Creating a Lineup

  1. From the Team tab, tap Lineups in the header.
  2. Tap New Lineup.
  3. Enter the event name, date, and any notes.

Lineups are most commonly created via Build Lineup on a qualifier standings page.

Editing a Lineup

  • Tap Add Player to add someone to the lineup.
  • Use the ↑ / ↓ arrows to reorder.
  • Tap to remove a player.
  • Tap Save in the sticky bar at the bottom.

Sharing a Lineup

Once final, tap Share in the top-right corner. Players will see a card on their Performance Board showing their position number. Tap Shared again to unpublish.

11. Recruiting Pipeline

The Recruiting module is a lightweight CRM built directly into BirdieLab. Tap Recruiting in the Team header (or the Recruiting tile in the Coach Hub) to open it.

Pipeline Overview

The board shows all prospects in one view with a stat bar at the top showing counts by stage. Tap a stage card to filter the list.

Pipeline stages: Watching → Contacted → Visited → Offered → Committed → Signed

Prospects marked Declined are tracked separately and excluded from the active count.

Adding a Prospect

Tap + Add (top right).

SectionFields
IdentityFull name (required), grad year, handicap index, high school, hometown, GHIN #
ContactEmail, phone
AcademicGPA

Set the Priority (High / Medium / Low) and initial Status before saving.

Prospect Detail Page

  • Advance the pipeline — tap any stage in the pipeline rail to move the prospect forward; tap Declined to mark as declined, or restore from declined back to Watching.
  • Change priority — tap High, Medium, or Low.
  • Edit prospect info — tap the pencil icon in the header.
  • Log activity — scroll to the Activity section and tap + Add Note.

Activity Log Types

TypeUse for
CallPhone conversation
EmailEmail exchange
VisitCampus or event visit
OfferWhen an offer is extended
GeneralAny other note

Filtering and Sorting

Use the status tab strip to filter by stage, and grad year pills to filter by graduation year. Within any filter, prospects are sorted by priority (High first), then alphabetically.

12. Roster

The Roster page gives you a full view of every player in your program, organized by status. Access it from the Roster tile in the Coach Hub.

StatusWho appears here
ActiveCurrent members of your team
AlumniPlayers who have graduated
InactivePlayers removed from the active roster

Each player card shows their name, handicap index, and number of rounds logged. Tap the arrow to open their full player profile.

Changing a Player's Status

Tap Move on an active player's card to graduate them (Alumni) or remove them (Inactive). Tap Restore on an alumni or inactive card to return them to active status.

Historical rounds and stats are always preserved regardless of roster status.

13. Rounds — My Rounds

The Rounds tab has two sub-tabs: Rounds (your round history) and Matches (Head-to-Head match play).

Logging a Round

Tap Log Round in the Rounds header.

Step 1 — Setup

  • Saved courses — courses your team has added appear here with auto-fill of par and yardages.
  • Course search — search the Golf Course API by name to find and auto-fill any course.
  • Manual entry — type any course name if it isn't in the catalog or search results.
  • Date — defaults to today; change it to log a past round.
  • Round type — Practice, Qualifier, or Tournament.
  • Holes played — 18 holes (default) or 9 holes.
  • Logging mode — During round (hole by hole) or After round (all scores at once).

Step 2 — Scoring

During round: A large display shows the current hole. Use and + to set your score. Record per-hole stats (Fairway, GIR, Putts) and tap forward/back to navigate holes. Tap Finish Round on the last hole.

After round: A scrollable scorecard shows all holes. Each row has FW✓/✗, GIR✓/✗, and a putts stepper. The Round Stats panel auto-computes totals from hole entries — no double-entry. Tap Save Round when done.

If a game plan exists for the selected course, a Plan button appears in the scorecard header.

Viewing Past Rounds

Tap any round in your history to open the full detail view: hole-by-hole scores, per-hole stat chips, score breakdown, shot stats, hole notes, and mental check-in data.

Head-to-Head Matches

Tap the Matches sub-tab to manage match-play rounds. Tap New Match to set up a match with an opponent, course, and date.

14. Practice — Drill Sessions

The Practice tab opens the Drill Sessions screen. Log your own sessions here and manage team practice content.

Practice Plans

Tap the Plans pill in the Practice header (or the Practice Plans tile in the Coach Hub).

Creating a Practice Plan:

  1. Tap New Plan and give it a name.
  2. Add sections — each has a name, time allocation (minutes), and optional coaching note.
  3. Reorder sections with the drag handle; remove with .
  4. Tap Save Plan.

Assigning a Practice Plan: Open any saved plan and tap Assign. Select one or more players and tap Confirm.

Drills

Tap the Drills pill in the Practice header.

Creating a Drill:

  1. Tap New Drill.
  2. Enter a name, category (Putting, Short Game, Approach, Off the Tee, Mental, Fitness, or Other), and description.
  3. Optionally add a target metric (e.g., "Make 8 of 10 from 6 feet").
  4. Tap Save Drill.

Assigning Drills: Open any drill and tap Assign. Select players and tap Confirm.

15. Team Updates / Feed

Team announcements are embedded in the Team Feed section at the bottom of the Team tab.

  • Tap Post in the Team Feed header to compose a new announcement.
  • Tap View all to see the full feed history.
  • Unread updates are marked with a colored dot.
  • To delete an announcement, open it and scroll to the bottom for the delete option.

Players receive a push notification when a new announcement is posted (if notifications are enabled). The 3 most recent posts are also previewed on the player's Performance Board.

16. Settings

Accessible by tapping your avatar (profile photo or initials) in the top corner of any page. Settings shows your profile, team codes, team logo, and handicap index.

Team Codes

Under the Team section you will find two codes:

CodeShare with
Player CodePlayers joining your roster
Staff CodeAssistant coaches joining your staff

Tap Copy next to either code to copy it to your clipboard.

Coaching Staff

The Coaching Staff section (visible to head coaches only) lists all current assistant coaches on your team. To remove an assistant coach, tap the trash icon next to their name and confirm. Removed coaches immediately lose access to your team data.

Subscription

The Subscription section is visible to the head coach only — assistant coaches are always free and do not have a billing section.

StatusWhat it means
Pro Trial30-day free trial — no charge until the trial ends
Pro — MonthlyActive subscription at $79/month
Pro — AnnualActive subscription at $749/year (saves $199 vs. monthly)
Trial ExpiredTrial has ended; upgrade to continue using coaching features

Tap Manage Billing (active subscribers) or the upgrade buttons (trial/no plan) to access the billing portal or start a checkout session.

Course Catalog

Under Settings → Courses, manage the courses your team uses most often. Search for a course and save it — it then appears in the Saved courses list every time anyone on your team starts a new round. Saved courses auto-fill per-hole par, yardage, and stroke index. You can also add game plans to a course — strategy notes for each hole.

Push Notifications

Push notifications require the app to be installed on your home screen and iOS 16.4+ (or any modern Android).

  1. Open Settings (tap your avatar).
  2. Scroll to Notifications.
  3. Tap Enable.
  4. When your device asks for permission, tap Allow.

If the button shows Blocked, go to your device's Settings app → Notifications → BirdieLab and re-enable it there.

Security

Scroll to Security to change your password. You must enter your current password first. New password: minimum 8 characters, at least one uppercase letter, at least one number.

Pull-to-Refresh

On pages that show live data (Performance Board, Team Leaderboard, Team Feed, Roster), pull down from the top of the screen to refresh. A green spinner appears while the refresh is in progress.

17. Tips

Player Code and Staff Code are different. Your Player Code is for players joining your roster. Your Staff Code is for assistant coaches. Sharing the wrong code gives someone the wrong role — double-check before sending.
Qualifier rounds only count when explicitly tagged. If a player forgets to select "Qualifier" as the round type or doesn't link it to the right qualifier, the round won't appear in standings.
Lineups are private until shared. Players cannot see a lineup until you tap Share.
Targets are player-specific. Each target is set per player — there is no team-wide target.
Progress report links are permanent. Once generated, a report link stays valid. Generate a new report to update the data.
Parent links are revocable at any time. Revoke the link at end of season, if a player transfers, or any time you need to cut off access.
Recruiting data is org-private. Only coaches in your organization can see your pipeline — never visible to players or other programs.
Strokes Gained trend arrows require 6+ rounds. Players with fewer than 6 qualifying rounds in the last 90 days will show a value (if 3+) but no trend arrow.
Recommended Focus requires 3+ qualifying rounds. The card only appears once a player has enough data. Push as Practice Plan works at any data quality level.
Per-hole stats are optional but powerful. Logging fairway/GIR/putts at the hole level auto-computes round stats and builds Strokes Gained values faster.
Team Feed is in the Team tab. Scroll below the leaderboard to see and post announcements.
Push notifications require the home screen app. Notifications only work when BirdieLab is installed as an icon — not from a browser tab.
Roster status doesn't delete history. Moving a player to Alumni or Inactive preserves all their rounds and stats.
Questions? Email support@birdielab.net