2nd lesson with Bobmac, a revelation

Curls

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Wrote up my first lesson here

http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?81607-What-a-difference-a-lesson-makes-if-the-teacher-is-good!&referrerid=9698

and have been to the range countless times since working on changes. Here’s the thing, while those were not balls wasted I was trying to do several things and began to supplement Bobs advice with some of my own, and what I thought I was doing and what I was doing were, as is so often the case, very different things. What I had improved was my ball striking, as in my contact with wedges/ irons. My angle of attack is much better than before the 1st lesson. But I had artificially over-steepened my swing plane (and decided myself that it was a good idea to stand taller and closer to the ball, which it wasn’t), creating an exaggerated cutting across the ball motion. So Bob went about tweaking the plane back to somewhere workable and the half shots I was hitting were starting to feel great.

He then went on to explain to me what my swing is, warts and all, and I came away with a better understanding of what I do than I’ve ever had. It really was a revelation. So many things that I do made sense, things I thought were odd or errors or didn’t really think about at all, but they it all fell into place. He left the decision up to me about where I go from here, and it’s either a long painful road of fixing a difficult flaw to fix - or playing with it and understanding what it is and how it can be managed. It's not like it's so destructive I can't play with it. This might sound to some of you like heresy, but I made the call to play this season with my improved contact, newly found love of half shots, and improving my short game. I’m relatively new to the game so happy to just see a little improvement and enjoy my golf this year. If at the end of the season I figure I won’t be happy unless I fix that flaw and go another level up, then I’ll embark on that journey when the summer is over. I’ve no mind to ruin my enjoyment of the season with technical stuff.

When Bob left (again, not after an hour!) I hit 20 of the best wedge/iron shots I’ve probably ever hit. Picking flags and firing at them. Safe to say I’m really happy with the improvements made and cannot wait until the season kicks off. I'm thinking lessons in March working on bunker play/short game/putting, but barring a collapse in confidence I doubt I’ll be looking at the swing again for a while, just need to put more work in on getting it to natural without too much input from the noggin.

What can I say, another fantastic lesson, so glad I dropped him a line, great guy and great coach. Get the white tees out already. :fore:
 

dewsweeper

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Great positive post,
Nice when things start to become the norm, should be a good season for you,
Must contact Bobmac to see if he can cure seriously stiff lower back.
 

GB72

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Bob is a cracking teacher. Helped me no end. As I have not played for 3 months I may need another visit before I head out again
 

Three

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I doubt I’ll be looking at the swing again for a while,:

DOH, it was all going so well until you wrote that.

The best thing you can do now that you have found a great coach is commit to a package of a few lessons and use them regularly over the forthcoming season.

Do that and not only will you be able to learn new stuff, but you will also have the safety net of a refresher or two when, not if, things take the inevitable unexplained backwards step for a week or two that affects us all.

In my experience and opinion, stopping now is not the best way forward. Invest a bit of cash now and reap the benefits over the next few months.
 

Curls

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Glad you enjoyed it, I did too

Thanks Bob!

DOH, it was all going so well until you wrote that.

The best thing you can do now that you have found a great coach is commit to a package of a few lessons and use them regularly over the forthcoming season.

Do that and not only will you be able to learn new stuff, but you will also have the safety net of a refresher or two when, not if, things take the inevitable unexplained backwards step for a week or two that affects us all.

In my experience and opinion, stopping now is not the best way forward. Invest a bit of cash now and reap the benefits over the next few months.

Three I get what you mean, in my statement "but barring a collapse in confidence I doubt I’ll be looking at the swing again for a while" I guess what I was trying to say is at the moment things are rosey and I I knew very well I might be asking for help again in the summer, but there's no point thinking negatively and I'm a firm believer that if you don't believe in yourself then you're stuffed from the begnning. However I get that you're talking about a t tune-up more than an overhaul, which sounds like good sense cos while I'm not developing anything else new in the course of the season a refresher would do no harm at all. Nice one.
 

UlyssesSky

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However I get that you're talking about a t tune-up more than an overhaul, which sounds like good sense cos while I'm not developing anything else new in the course of the season a refresher would do no harm at all. Nice one.

+1 for a regular tune-up (or even just check-up) session in the course of the season. Last year I only went to get a lesson when I felt like I had a problem in any part of my game, which was a huge mistake. By the time you notice a problem (i.e. a pattern of bad shots over a longer period of time), the wrong moves are likely already grooved in and it takes some work and time to get rid of them.
So this year I'll go see my pro for a quick 25 mins session about once a month, just to make sure there aren't any bad moves creeping their way into my swing.
 
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