MLCGA

IMG_1373, originally uploaded by SM PGA.

Lulu & Jane won the three hole challenge this week with some excellent play despite the difficult shots required. Holing out in one under par in total, we tested the players’ ability to visualise the correct landing area and get up and down in two.

Mark demonstrated his ideas from the most difficult spots and we were able to discuss shot selection and skills involved from sloping lies.

Best of luck to everyone in the County Championships to come!

Maintaining the simplest swing plane and allowing the club to swing freely is somewhat challenging to the traditional approach. However a number of Tour players including Ryder Cup player Darren Clarke, have been impressed by the accomplishments of PGA Instructor Stan Utley [a Tour Winner himself] and have found enormous success allowing the clubface to rotate and the hands to release the club even on delicate shots around the green.

We tried a number of simple drills to check that the club swings ‘on-plane’ back and through, and experimented by holding the club handle beyond the end cap keeping just two fingers of the gloved hand on the handle! Everyone was really surprised at the success pitching with such a loose grip and keen to try out this feeling out on the course.

Even more challenging was a demonstration of a drill from PGA Instructor Fred Shoemaker [read Extraordinary Golf] wherby we experiment with the results literally letting go of the club handle as we hit the ball! Expect some danger if trying this at home, by the way. I actually lost Lulu’s 7 iron demonstrating typical mistakes here and had to fetch a ladder to find it on the roof of our greenkeeper’s shed!!! Oops!

Following some video work last time Mark and I held a workshop to illustrate the simplest and most effective swing plane based on the design and lie angle of the equipment we use. With several drills and plenty of question and answer opportunities we were able to explain some of the fundamentals used by elite players.

We left everyone with some key points and drills to take home and look forward to applying the same fundamentals to more delicate shots next week…

Not such a warm welcome today with a frosty start, but an introduction to Mark Beveridge who will be working with me and inspiring new idea for 2007. Mark is an ex Scottish International and a PGA Pro who has caddied on Tour and who has a wide base of Teaching Experience including time spent with Scott Cranfield Academies. Mark’s enthusiasm for teaching and coaching will become more evident over time.

What we did today was ask everyone to complete a few questions and indicate the type of key thoughts they use and some of the essential elements to their game. We’ll take a closer look at some of these elements next time. We also asked everyone to indicate what sort of clubface angle or shaft angle was typical for them at key points during the swing.

Mark and I considered that with a clubface angle in reasonable control at the top, then delivered ‘on plane’ we had a good chance for success. Then with some assessment of the amount of pressure being created on the ball, our controlled results should be delivered powerfully down the target line.

With a simple video analysis of each player we assessed each players answers against their real swing – the ‘leaderboard’ showed those players with the highest match of their ideas to their video analysis and with their shots to target. Tied in the lead were Bronwyn, Lorely, and Sian with 4/4.

The session hoped to get players thinking about their fundamentals and highlighted some mis-matches between players’ thoughts /visions of their movements and their actual technique. One or two went home having seen excellent technique on camera, with increased confidence and better focus on their technique for practise.

In ‘model’ terms we tend to seek a clubface angle parallel to the lead-arm at the top, followed by a clubshaft on an angle ‘in the slot’ as shown in the following image. With the arms and wrists working as levers we tend to optimise the amount of pressure on the back of the ball with the following images…[coming soon]