(July - September 2009)
This time the lesson was all about my grip and my set up.
Over time I had developed a anti slice grip that was way too strong, I also had a wierd hands forward (to the left) set up again as an anti slice strategy.
The lesson dealt with these issues and while the changes took a long time to gel they had the desired effect and I started to hit straight as often as I hit left which was an improvement.
By this time we were into summer and I found that I could not take my range game to the golf course. So instead of playing as much and in comps I just worked on my swing and in fact I played little golf which was probably a mistake.
I was obsessed with getting a nice swing rather than learning how to score at golf!
Another lesson and we concentrated on not getting too far inside the line on the take away, more changes to bed in. but by this time I was breaking 100 most times out 90 was set as my PB score in the summer.
Still no short game work! What an idiot I was!!!
One more lesson and onto one of the most important things in golf, hitting down on the ball. This lesson I really struggled to get it and my game went to pieces for a while. Shortly after this I played my one and only comp of the year my first medal and scored a woeful 103 with 8 penalties off the tee!
It was disappointing because I was better than that, but the card told another story 28.0 would remain as my handicap.
I went to work on hitting down on the ball again until in September at a range in Leeds I hit down on a mat too hard and popped a tendon in the back of my right hand.
I was buggered, I could not even hold a club let alone hit a ball, the worst thing was that I got to miss out on playing St Andrews old course and Carnoustie in November because of this injury combined with a bad back.
My year was over and I sulked back into my computer games for the winter.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Video and changes
(June 2009)
After that pivotal lesson I downloaded some swing analyser soft wear and started to take a video camera to the range.
I learned one thing from this that was also important in my swing development, almost all pro golfers start the down swing from the ground up, using the swing soft wear I was able to see this in frame by frame slow mo.
By contrast my down swing started with a lurch of my shoulders.
At impact most pro golfers have open hip and some even have open shoulders, my hips and shoulders were pretty square at impact.
My swing was a typical out to in high handicappers swing. I set out to change it.
Over three painful weeks I started making myself initiate the down swing by rotating my left hip back away from the ball. At first the disconnect between my hips and shoulders made me hit awful duffs. Eventually I got the beginnings of a synchronised hip then shoulder turn and for the first time my swing started coming form in to in and occasionally in to out.
Once again my yardage went up and my consistency got a touch better.
I count this as one of the most important changes in my swing, combined with my release I now became a drawer or a pull hooker of the ball and the right side was all but eliminated apart from the odd push shot.
At this stage I went back to the golf academy for another lesson.
After that pivotal lesson I downloaded some swing analyser soft wear and started to take a video camera to the range.
I learned one thing from this that was also important in my swing development, almost all pro golfers start the down swing from the ground up, using the swing soft wear I was able to see this in frame by frame slow mo.
By contrast my down swing started with a lurch of my shoulders.
At impact most pro golfers have open hip and some even have open shoulders, my hips and shoulders were pretty square at impact.
My swing was a typical out to in high handicappers swing. I set out to change it.
Over three painful weeks I started making myself initiate the down swing by rotating my left hip back away from the ball. At first the disconnect between my hips and shoulders made me hit awful duffs. Eventually I got the beginnings of a synchronised hip then shoulder turn and for the first time my swing started coming form in to in and occasionally in to out.
Once again my yardage went up and my consistency got a touch better.
I count this as one of the most important changes in my swing, combined with my release I now became a drawer or a pull hooker of the ball and the right side was all but eliminated apart from the odd push shot.
At this stage I went back to the golf academy for another lesson.
Lesson 5
(April 2009)
The golf academy that I attended was quite new, very good facilities I was immediately impressed. Full driving range with decent balls, outside grass area. two video studios for teaching, a dedicated short game area with a chipping green, a bunker green, a putting green and a complete short hole of 100 yards for pitching, USGA standard greens it is mint.
Add to that a par three short course of 6 holes and a full 18 hole course and if it was not 1 hr away I would be a member like a shot.
As it was I had booked a lesson with a Pro called Andy, I was warmed up when Andy came a first looked at my swing, I got unaccountably nervous but managed to hit a few away. I then told him my tale of inconsistent woe and what I wanted to achieve, he immediately identified a couple of areas to work on and we headed up to the video suite to tape the swing.
After a few hits on camera he sat me down and told me what he wanted to work on. The first thing did was praise the swing for looking much better than a 28 handicappers swing, (probably says that to all the hackers, but it made me feel better) then he said was these first changes are going to make you hit the left side of the course instead of the right side, so be patient as there are a few thing to fix before you can hit it as you want to.
He then proceeded to show me an horrific over swing leading to a collapse of the left arm and no width in the back swing, and an equally horrific flip of the wrists through impact.
Now this was the first time I ever had my swing analysed by a pro and he then showed me an ideal release and an ideal wrist hinge.
Suddenly I got what Pete the old pro had been trying to get me to do, it was so obvious, equally as obvious was the fact that I am a visual learner, I need to see what to do, not just feel what to do.
It was a moment of revelation.
As Andy showed me how to hinge and release the club back down stairs on the range the difference was amazing, for the first ever time, solid strikes one after the other, with right to left spin (the first time I had seen spin like that since my first range session more than a year ago).
I was giddy as a kipper, in a stroke my steep over the top hack was transformed into a 3/4 swing that actually hit the ball consistently, not only that it hit it a lot, lot further than I ever did before.
I could not thank Andy enough and went away a happy punter.
Magically this change stayed with me after the lesson as well. A corner had been turned and no thoughts of quitting remained.
The golf academy that I attended was quite new, very good facilities I was immediately impressed. Full driving range with decent balls, outside grass area. two video studios for teaching, a dedicated short game area with a chipping green, a bunker green, a putting green and a complete short hole of 100 yards for pitching, USGA standard greens it is mint.
Add to that a par three short course of 6 holes and a full 18 hole course and if it was not 1 hr away I would be a member like a shot.
As it was I had booked a lesson with a Pro called Andy, I was warmed up when Andy came a first looked at my swing, I got unaccountably nervous but managed to hit a few away. I then told him my tale of inconsistent woe and what I wanted to achieve, he immediately identified a couple of areas to work on and we headed up to the video suite to tape the swing.
After a few hits on camera he sat me down and told me what he wanted to work on. The first thing did was praise the swing for looking much better than a 28 handicappers swing, (probably says that to all the hackers, but it made me feel better) then he said was these first changes are going to make you hit the left side of the course instead of the right side, so be patient as there are a few thing to fix before you can hit it as you want to.
He then proceeded to show me an horrific over swing leading to a collapse of the left arm and no width in the back swing, and an equally horrific flip of the wrists through impact.
Now this was the first time I ever had my swing analysed by a pro and he then showed me an ideal release and an ideal wrist hinge.
Suddenly I got what Pete the old pro had been trying to get me to do, it was so obvious, equally as obvious was the fact that I am a visual learner, I need to see what to do, not just feel what to do.
It was a moment of revelation.
As Andy showed me how to hinge and release the club back down stairs on the range the difference was amazing, for the first ever time, solid strikes one after the other, with right to left spin (the first time I had seen spin like that since my first range session more than a year ago).
I was giddy as a kipper, in a stroke my steep over the top hack was transformed into a 3/4 swing that actually hit the ball consistently, not only that it hit it a lot, lot further than I ever did before.
I could not thank Andy enough and went away a happy punter.
Magically this change stayed with me after the lesson as well. A corner had been turned and no thoughts of quitting remained.
2009!
March 2009 finds me picking up the golf sticks again for the first time in months and I went to the range and hit it sweet as a nut. I was fully infused again with the game and looking forward to a great year when I broke 90 and started playing comps.
A week and some more range sessions later I was at Pete's door begging for a lesson. My slice was back with a vengeance.
The lesson consisted of trying to get me to hit from the inside, putting down two balls, one to hit and one well behind and inside the other which I was to route the club over on the way down. As per normal this worked like a charm when Pete was watching, but vanished after wards. This lesson was to have serious consequences for my swing and eventually lead to my nearly quitting golf but instead going to a new pro who saved me.
Shortly after the lesson I was introduced to a new member and we began knocking around together playing holes after work once or twice a week. Steven played off 9 and it's a surprise to me that he even entertained playing with a hacker like me. Watching me slice one into the cabbage after he hit the fairway mile away with a nice draw must have taken some patience.
This is when my game snapped. Obsessed with swinging from out to in I got ever more behind in my take away, leading to the inevitable over the top out to in swing. This got so steep and so destructive I could not even hit a PW without pulling the hell out of it. and making a vast hole in the earth.
I was on the verge of quitting.
Once again I turned to the internet..
But this time I struck gold.
I found a golf academy that did video lessons an hours drive away. I decided I needed to see what I was doing wrong so instead of going back to Pete, I booked a lesson with another pro at the golf academy.
A week and some more range sessions later I was at Pete's door begging for a lesson. My slice was back with a vengeance.
The lesson consisted of trying to get me to hit from the inside, putting down two balls, one to hit and one well behind and inside the other which I was to route the club over on the way down. As per normal this worked like a charm when Pete was watching, but vanished after wards. This lesson was to have serious consequences for my swing and eventually lead to my nearly quitting golf but instead going to a new pro who saved me.
Shortly after the lesson I was introduced to a new member and we began knocking around together playing holes after work once or twice a week. Steven played off 9 and it's a surprise to me that he even entertained playing with a hacker like me. Watching me slice one into the cabbage after he hit the fairway mile away with a nice draw must have taken some patience.
This is when my game snapped. Obsessed with swinging from out to in I got ever more behind in my take away, leading to the inevitable over the top out to in swing. This got so steep and so destructive I could not even hit a PW without pulling the hell out of it. and making a vast hole in the earth.
I was on the verge of quitting.
Once again I turned to the internet..
But this time I struck gold.
I found a golf academy that did video lessons an hours drive away. I decided I needed to see what I was doing wrong so instead of going back to Pete, I booked a lesson with another pro at the golf academy.
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