tugglesf239
Journeyman Pro
Been meaning to post this all week, but have not had the time.
Still here goes..
Massive post alert
Booked myself on as part of the black friday deals they were advertising last Friday, for a bag assesment, SAM putting lesson and a swing lesson.
First impressions when you walk through the door is WOW!. The place looks the absolute business and is a far cry from your usual golf type centres, of a vending machine and a cup of bovril.
Really classy look and feel about the place.
first session was with Nick for the bag assesment. Was really looking forward to this as i have recently gone X flex through the bag after splurging cash on eBay and was concerned that i had done this because im a macho knumbskull and not because i actually needed them.
Anyway i get in front of track man and ill b honest i was not swinging well at all. Getting VERY inside on the take away and hit a few socket rockets. I also felt pretty nervous if i am being honest, like first tee nerves on every shot. I was concerned that Nick had done fittings for some serious golfers and the testimonials on his website from Tom Watson, Langer and a few other of his ilk......very impressive stuff, but made me acutely aware that i am a complete hacker in comparison.
I should not have worried however as Nick was a real gent, he got me to relax and settle in very quickly.
Was hitting my 7 iron on track man and my numbers were a real mish mash of positive and negatives. Club head speed was around 88-89 mph on a good hit but my AOA was about 12 degrees from below, meaning i was really flipping the club head and sending the ball to silly heights.
The most shocking stat of all was carry distance....
Now (forum distance alert sorry) i normally (on a good day) carry a 7 around 165 - 175. On a nice day and with a really good swing i have put a 7 iron into greens at 180. I am not mentioning this to big myself up, in fact the opposite...
The carry distance measured via track man, hitting a Prov1 was........140 yards. on some occasions it was less coming in at 135
It was shocking and these were not numbers i was expecting to see. It was quite a humbling experience for sure.
Smash factor was equally atrocious at about 1.12 for a 7 iron....
Any way regardless of my poor showing Nick was not negative in the slightest, in fact he was very, very complimentary about my swing and the good numbers i was capable. He recognised straight away my inside take away but was the first to admit that he was not the man to fix it, telling me that Phil Archer would get to the bottom of it during the lesson.
He then asked about the clubs and what my thoughts were. My main concerns were the lie angles, flex and length of shafts. Nick was quick to offer some really good advice.
Basically he suggested that if money was no object and my aim was to get a lower HC in as short as space as possible, he would probably recommend some slightly more forgiving bats, slightly softer shafts and a loft and lie angle change.7
However he quickly offered that money does not grow on trees for new kita and that he clubs were more than suitable, just perhaps not optimal.
There was no hard sell to change clubs or shaft configuration. In fact the total opposite, especially as my swing needed some real TLC on the day and was liable to change....
I then had a play around with my current driver and hit a few bombs but mostly crap like my irons. I had a play with the new Cally Epic in a similar spec to my current and was flabbergasted at just how ugly it was. Results did not differ compared to my X2hot either.
Session finished i handed over my set for lie angle adjustments and a shortening of the shaft by 1/4 inch. Bonus was that Nick would try and preserve my current grips to save me a few quid.
Next up was the SAM lesson with Lee Sullivan. Really enjoyed this as i have previously never had a putting lesson and rely very much on feel. I am also very streaky with putting, very inconsistent.
This was very beneficial and Lee certanly changed my stance to get me bending forward properly and above the ball using a mirror. Cant remember the exact data but the before and after showed a big improvement on consistency of strike and face angle was much better. I was rolling them in for fun by the end of the lesson.
Next up was the lesson with Phil Archer, using a borrowed Cobra CB 7 iron as mine where still in the shop.
Initial results were exactly the same as the assessment. Lots of speed, lots of flippiness, to much height, and a few shermans through in just to make me blush even more
Straight from the off Phil identified my issue which was the inside takeaway. This was music to my ears as i have had other pros tell me that being inside was not the end of the world and that they did not want to totally deconstruct my swing the stop it happening.
Its always annoyed me to be honest as i know how destructive it can be on a bad day.
Phil was having none of that though and set out straight away to banish it.
Lets just say that after a few drills (which felt horrible at first) and a few dozen balls, i was hitting much cleaner. He had me swinging much softer in order to ingrain the feeling and it really worked.
The end results were 150 carry, smash factor of 1.33 and very straight shots. Best part was that this was with my soft practice swing of around 75mph.
The session was fantastic. Phil knows his stuff but he got his message across in a very enthusiastic way. Ill be going back next month for a follow up for sure.
All sessions complete i was then handed my newly bent clubs and told there was no charge on top as it was all part of the service.
Ill wind this massive post down now by saying that Tour X is SUPERB in every facet. I felt treated like a tour pro and can see me being back there in no time at all for more lessons and then a bag fitting once my good swing has bedded in
I have to add that i played this week and have hit the range 3 times to keep up the practice. I played a stormer and feel confident down the range to open my swing speed up.
Without going into to much detail
FLIPPING WOW im getting good at this daft game
10/10 every day of the week for Tour X and all the guys (and Girl) that run the place
Still here goes..
Massive post alert
Booked myself on as part of the black friday deals they were advertising last Friday, for a bag assesment, SAM putting lesson and a swing lesson.
First impressions when you walk through the door is WOW!. The place looks the absolute business and is a far cry from your usual golf type centres, of a vending machine and a cup of bovril.
Really classy look and feel about the place.
first session was with Nick for the bag assesment. Was really looking forward to this as i have recently gone X flex through the bag after splurging cash on eBay and was concerned that i had done this because im a macho knumbskull and not because i actually needed them.
Anyway i get in front of track man and ill b honest i was not swinging well at all. Getting VERY inside on the take away and hit a few socket rockets. I also felt pretty nervous if i am being honest, like first tee nerves on every shot. I was concerned that Nick had done fittings for some serious golfers and the testimonials on his website from Tom Watson, Langer and a few other of his ilk......very impressive stuff, but made me acutely aware that i am a complete hacker in comparison.
I should not have worried however as Nick was a real gent, he got me to relax and settle in very quickly.
Was hitting my 7 iron on track man and my numbers were a real mish mash of positive and negatives. Club head speed was around 88-89 mph on a good hit but my AOA was about 12 degrees from below, meaning i was really flipping the club head and sending the ball to silly heights.
The most shocking stat of all was carry distance....
Now (forum distance alert sorry) i normally (on a good day) carry a 7 around 165 - 175. On a nice day and with a really good swing i have put a 7 iron into greens at 180. I am not mentioning this to big myself up, in fact the opposite...
The carry distance measured via track man, hitting a Prov1 was........140 yards. on some occasions it was less coming in at 135
It was shocking and these were not numbers i was expecting to see. It was quite a humbling experience for sure.
Smash factor was equally atrocious at about 1.12 for a 7 iron....
Any way regardless of my poor showing Nick was not negative in the slightest, in fact he was very, very complimentary about my swing and the good numbers i was capable. He recognised straight away my inside take away but was the first to admit that he was not the man to fix it, telling me that Phil Archer would get to the bottom of it during the lesson.
He then asked about the clubs and what my thoughts were. My main concerns were the lie angles, flex and length of shafts. Nick was quick to offer some really good advice.
Basically he suggested that if money was no object and my aim was to get a lower HC in as short as space as possible, he would probably recommend some slightly more forgiving bats, slightly softer shafts and a loft and lie angle change.7
However he quickly offered that money does not grow on trees for new kita and that he clubs were more than suitable, just perhaps not optimal.
There was no hard sell to change clubs or shaft configuration. In fact the total opposite, especially as my swing needed some real TLC on the day and was liable to change....
I then had a play around with my current driver and hit a few bombs but mostly crap like my irons. I had a play with the new Cally Epic in a similar spec to my current and was flabbergasted at just how ugly it was
. Results did not differ compared to my X2hot either.Session finished i handed over my set for lie angle adjustments and a shortening of the shaft by 1/4 inch. Bonus was that Nick would try and preserve my current grips to save me a few quid.
Next up was the SAM lesson with Lee Sullivan. Really enjoyed this as i have previously never had a putting lesson and rely very much on feel. I am also very streaky with putting, very inconsistent.
This was very beneficial and Lee certanly changed my stance to get me bending forward properly and above the ball using a mirror. Cant remember the exact data but the before and after showed a big improvement on consistency of strike and face angle was much better. I was rolling them in for fun by the end of the lesson.
Next up was the lesson with Phil Archer, using a borrowed Cobra CB 7 iron as mine where still in the shop.
Initial results were exactly the same as the assessment. Lots of speed, lots of flippiness, to much height, and a few shermans through in just to make me blush even more
Straight from the off Phil identified my issue which was the inside takeaway. This was music to my ears as i have had other pros tell me that being inside was not the end of the world and that they did not want to totally deconstruct my swing the stop it happening.
Its always annoyed me to be honest as i know how destructive it can be on a bad day.
Phil was having none of that though and set out straight away to banish it.
Lets just say that after a few drills (which felt horrible at first) and a few dozen balls, i was hitting much cleaner. He had me swinging much softer in order to ingrain the feeling and it really worked.
The end results were 150 carry, smash factor of 1.33 and very straight shots. Best part was that this was with my soft practice swing of around 75mph.
The session was fantastic. Phil knows his stuff but he got his message across in a very enthusiastic way. Ill be going back next month for a follow up for sure.
All sessions complete i was then handed my newly bent clubs and told there was no charge on top as it was all part of the service.
Ill wind this massive post down now by saying that Tour X is SUPERB in every facet. I felt treated like a tour pro and can see me being back there in no time at all for more lessons and then a bag fitting once my good swing has bedded in
I have to add that i played this week and have hit the range 3 times to keep up the practice. I played a stormer and feel confident down the range to open my swing speed up.
Without going into to much detail
FLIPPING WOW im getting good at this daft game
10/10 every day of the week for Tour X and all the guys (and Girl) that run the place
