I had a lesson today and...

[Tashyboy]

I couldn't even work out what he meant to do let alone do it. I got lost at the bit where he had his hands crossed over - last person I saw playing golf like that was off about 26! I'm just not a technical golf swing person I guess. Just swing my swing and some days it works better than others.

I think and I could be wrong. But the last lesson I had, we did a bit/drill where the club face controlled the ball spin. Leaving the face open made the ball fade. Hitting with the club face square hit the ball straight. Hitting the ball by crossing the hands over caused it to draw. This lessson was not about smashing it down the range but hitting it 50 ish yards and seeing what the club face did to the ball.

 

[Orikoru]

I think and I could be wrong. But the last lesson I had, we did a bit/drill where the club face controlled the ball spin. Leaving the face open made the ball fade. Hitting with the club face square hit the ball straight. Hitting the ball by crossing the hands over caused it to draw. This lessson was not about smashing it down the range but hitting it 50 ish yards and seeing what the club face did to the ball.

Everyone knows that's what the clubface does though don't they? The hard part is not knowing you need a square club face but doing it.

 

[bobmac]

Everyone knows that's what the clubface does though don't they? The hard part is not knowing you need a square club face but doing it.

That's where a neutral grip helps.
But it's not the whole picture...the swingpath has to be good too but that can be helped by changing the aim

 

[road2ruin]

My golf has taken a back seat to family and work over the last 9 years however I'm now at a point where I am playing more regular golf but the standard is 'variable'. I decided to have a lesson yesterday and went along with a load of preconceived ideas about what my faults were to save time so the pro could advise on those. Anyway, turns out that my self analysis was pretty much all incorrect and it was other parts of my swing that were completely off! After an hour with him I had almost eliminated the left had side of the fairway (I've always played a fade but have developed a 2 way miss that was proving incredibly destructive) and I had gained 10 yards in distance with the changes we'd made. I also gained 5mph with my driver as I was able to swing faster without being worried about the massive, high slice with a few tweaks. Obviously the proof will be in the pudding when I actually play on course but I am in a lot more of a positive frame of mind about my game.

 

[Mel Smooth]

The youth and myself both had our 6 weekly or so 1/2 hour lessons this morning with Lee Shepherd at Cleckheaton.

Pretty happy with the fundamentals of both of our swings, the young 'en has an occasional block right shot which occasionally pops into his game - it probably cost him 6 or 7 shots at Hillside on Monday where you just can't afford to miss the fairways. Been given a drill to work on keeping the hands lower as he comes into impact position which should help keep the club face squared up and his path in a better range - it was 8 degree's right on some swings , down to an average of maybe 3 or 4 degrees after a few swings - still not perfect but much better, and he had 1 at 1.2 degrees - which yielded a solid drive.

For me it was something similar, keeping the club face less open through the downswing - with a 7 iron, it doesn't cause me any problems but again with the driver I'm losing them right - this was much improved after a little 'feel' change. Hit a few 7 irons 174 yards - when I had my first lesson with Lee about 5 months back, I was struggling to get over 140 - so definite improvements there.

So, after a prolonged period have regular lessons helped? Well my Index was around 19.1 back in April when the lessons came into effect, it's down to 16.7 now. I've won just the one medal at my club (not played as much as I would like - especially in competitions) - but I might have also won entry into another event on the back of that round.

The youth, well he was off 22.5 as we rolled into May and the season kicked off - he's now down to 14.4 - even his round at Hillside, which he was pretty disappointed in, dropped him by 0.1.

I'll scale back my lessons now as a house renovation means practice time will be limited and I won't be able to ingrain changes into my swing too easily - but Jamie will carry on every 5 or 6 weeks. Think it would be fair to set him a target of single figures for this time next year.

 

[Barking_Mad]

The youth and myself both had our 6 weekly or so 1/2 hour lessons this morning with Lee Shepherd at Cleckheaton.

Pretty happy with the fundamentals of both of our swings, the young 'en has an occasional block right shot which occasionally pops into his game - it probably cost him 6 or 7 shots at Hillside on Monday where you just can't afford to miss the fairways. Been given a drill to work on keeping the hands lower as he comes into impact position which should help keep the club face squared up and his path in a better range - it was 8 degree's right on some swings , down to an average of maybe 3 or 4 degrees after a few swings - still not perfect but much better, and he had 1 at 1.2 degrees - which yielded a solid drive.

For my it was something similar, keeping the club face less open through the downswing - with a 7 iron, it doesn't cause me any problems but again with the driver I'm losing them right - this was much improved after a little 'feel' change. Hit a few 7 irons 174 yards - when I had my first leesson with Lee about 5 months back, I was struggling to get over 140 - so definite improvements there.

So, after a prolonged period have regular lessons helped? Well my Index was around 19.1 back in April when the lessons came into effect, it's down to 16.7 now. I've won just the one medal at my club (not played as much as I would like - especially in competitions) - but I might have also won entry into another event on the back of that round.

The youth, well he was off 22.5 as we rolled into May and the season kicked off - he's now down to 14.4 - even his round at Hillside, which he was pretty disappointed in, dropped him by 0.1.

I'll scale back my lessons now as a house renovation means practice time will be limited and I won't be able to ingrain changes into my swing too easily - but Jamie will carry on every 5 or 6 weeks. Think it would be fair to set him a target of single figures for this time next year.

I have a lesson with him (then a round of golf) afterwards on the 7th September after a birthday gift. Is he OK? Never played Cleckheaton before either.

 

[Mel Smooth]

I have a lesson with him (then a round of golf) afterwards on the 7th September after a birthday gift. Is he OK? Never played Cleckheaton before either.

I've actually never played the course, but I hear it's decent, we tend to lose a few members from Willow Valley to Cleck - and it always looks great from what I've seen of it.

Personally I really like Lee, he tends to focus on one aspect to improve upon, rather than making multiple changes at once - the virtual golf centre he uses is full of tech, so you'll get lots of data on spin, clubhead speed, path etc.

I'd have no hesitation in recommending him if anybody was looking for tuition in our area to be fair.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Good lesson tonight, concentrating on my nemesis, the hybrid. Anyway, I've cracked it, post over..........

My hits tend to be straight but bottom groovie. No loft, no good unless you are playing in a drought or on a links course. Apparently I am bringing the club around and behind. The fix is to feel as though the club is going out 45 degrees, the reality is it is going straight back. Ruffle the grass just behind the ball, try to get my right hip through on the follow through.

Very effective lesson. Not all good but definite improvement and I now also have an idea of how to resolve this. Who would have thought that trying to self fix would just cause more problems? Okay, everyone .

Sobering moment of the night. Just as I arrived a bloke, late 20's, athletic build, was finishing off a chipping session. He wandered over to the hitting area, dropped a ball, elegantly swung and sent it high and long. He turned, walked away, practice over. The whole motion was a thing of beauty, no thrashing in any way. It was lovely to see but also depressing knowing I'll never hit a ball like that.

 

[HeftyHacker]

Good lesson tonight, concentrating on my nemesis, the hybrid. Anyway, I've cracked it, post over..........

My hits tend to be straight but bottom groovie. No loft, no good unless you are playing in a drought or on a links course. Apparently I am bringing the club around and behind. The fix is to feel as though the club is going out 45 degrees, the reality is it is going straight back. Ruffle the grass just behind the ball, try to get my right hip through on the follow through.

Very effective lesson. Not all good but definite improvement and I now also have an idea of how to resolve this. Who would have thought that trying to self fix would just cause more problems? Okay, everyone .

Sobering moment of the night. Just as I arrived a bloke, late 20's, athletic build, was finishing off a chipping session. He wandered over to the hitting area, dropped a ball, elegantly swung and sent it high and long. He turned, walked away, practice over. The whole motion was a thing of beauty, no thrashing in any way. It was lovely to see but also depressing knowing I'll never hit a ball like that.

That pretty much word for word describes my hybrid lesson I had the other week haha.

The guy at the end sounds like my pals brother. He teaches tennis but has recently started playing more golf and his swing is a thing of beauty - it looks so fluid and effortless and hits it an absolute mile.

Then I watch footage of my swing and it's a horrible jerky thing!

 

[chico]

Another lesson Yesterday, this time having a look at my driving. Was gripping too tight and not freeing my arms enough. Couple of tweaks and the results are excellent. Getting the ball out there long and straight.

 

[HampshireHog]

After 2 months of abysmal golf, bit the bullet and had a lesson.

Only required adjustments to grip, stance, take away and left wrist other than that all good

 

[Barking_Mad]

I've actually never played the course, but I hear it's decent, we tend to lose a few members from Willow Valley to Cleck - and it always looks great from what I've seen of it.

Personally I really like Lee, he tends to focus on one aspect to improve upon, rather than making multiple changes at once - the virtual golf centre he uses is full of tech, so you'll get lots of data on spin, clubhead speed, path etc.

I'd have no hesitation in recommending him if anybody was looking for tuition in our area to be fair.

Lesson was with Jack who was very good.

Course is well worth it. Not long, even from the back tees, but strategic and fairways cut so the first cut was fairly penal. Tight in places, some odd tee boxes, one is on a hillock that rises up in the middle of the previous fairway meaning you have to hit over people.

The par 3s are fantastic, probably the best I've played outside Sand Moor. Well worth a round.

 

[Dingy]

I went for a lesson yesterday, been playing a lot recently and scoring really well (consistently 5 under handicap) though not necessarily playing my best golf. Anyway I've suddenly started striking my irons very poorly and knew it had to be something silly . 10 minutes later all fixed and striking the ball great again.

 

[Orikoru]

I did something this afternoon that some of you may remember I never normally do... I had a lesson. Handicap went up last year for the first time so I thought I'd bite the bullet. Just with the pro at my club, who I get on with well. I didn't really want any huge changes as I don't practise that much - what I've ended up with feels like quite a big change, but let's hope I can pick it up relatively quickly.

Any of you that have seen me hit a ball will know that I stand a bit too far away from the ball, reaching it for it slightly. He explained that this causes my arms to be disconnected from my body, losing power and strike. He told me stand a little bit nearer the ball, more upright - at this point I thought I'd fail to get the ball off the ground as that's what happened when I tried it before. But, he also explained what to do to ensure that didn't happen - swinging back across my chest more rather than out and up with the arms, enabled me to get a little bit more shoulder turn into the bargain. I also needed to keep the club low to the ground as I pull it back. To my surprise I hit some pretty good ones after a few goes at this - definitely seemed to carry further than my previous efforts as well.

A lot of times I left the face open or left the club behind a bit though, so the second part of it is to release the club on the way through, using the left wrist. We made a tiny grip change to help with this, ironically making the left had a tad stronger (I always thought I was pretty strong to begin with) and changing my silly reverse overlap to a normal overlap - getting more left hand on the grip and less right hand involved.

When I get it right the strike was really good, but it's such a weird feeling that I'll have to get used to. It feels completely different. I think I'm going to be missing right a lot while I get used to releasing the club more to straighten the face up, but he said I got the set-up and backswing part really quickly, so fingers crossed!

 

[SteveW86]

I did something this afternoon that some of you may remember I never normally do... I had a lesson. Handicap went up last year for the first time so I thought I'd bite the bullet. Just with the pro at my club, who I get on with well. I didn't really want any huge changes as I don't practise that much - what I've ended up with feels like quite a big change, but let's hope I can pick it up relatively quickly.

Any of you that have seen me hit a ball will know that I stand a bit too far away from the ball, reaching it for it slightly. He explained that this causes my arms to be disconnected from my body, losing power and strike. He told me stand a little bit nearer the ball, more upright - at this point I thought I'd fail to get the ball off the ground as that's what happened when I tried it before. But, he also explained what to do to ensure that didn't happen - swinging back across my chest more rather than out and up with the arms, enabled me to get a little bit more shoulder turn into the bargain. I also needed to keep the club low to the ground as I pull it back. To my surprise I hit some pretty good ones after a few goes at this - definitely seemed to carry further than my previous efforts as well.

A lot of times I left the face open or left the club behind a bit though, so the second part of it is to release the club on the way through, using the left wrist. We made a tiny grip change to help with this, ironically making the left had a tad stronger (I always thought I was pretty strong to begin with) and changing my silly reverse overlap to a normal overlap - getting more left hand on the grip and less right hand involved.

When I get it right the strike was really good, but it's such a weird feeling that I'll have to get used to. It feels completely different. I think I'm going to be missing right a lot while I get used to releasing the club more to straighten the face up, but he said I got the set-up and backswing part really quickly, so fingers crossed!

Laying the ground work for a H4H push, or to dethrone the "Pieman" from his club champ status?

 

[Orikoru]

Laying the ground work for a H4H push, or to dethrone the "Pieman" from his club champ status?

Not sure.. lets see if I shoot 75 or 105 this weekend first.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Not technically a lesson but working on a change I saw on a youtube video with Pete Cowen and Danny Maude about the right shoulder and right hand. It is something I've been looking at for a bit and it had been working until the last few weeks where the old OTT downswing was creeping back. On Trackman at the range last night working on a simple move from the video and right back on track except the driver where I think there is a lack of trust and an urge to hit at it and so oving laterally towards the target. Numbers were really strong with the other clubs especially into a wind and a move I feel is simplifying everything and I can keep working on

 

[Neilds]

I had the first of a series of 4 lessons on Monday with one of the club pros. He has seen my swing before so he said he already had an idea of what I did wrong. After watching a few swings he said his thoughts were confirmed - I swing mostly with my arms with little hip rotation. A few tweaks later I was hitting the ball nicely, albeit little left. This will be sorted at a later lesson when I can get the same miss consistently. Had a range session on Wednesday to practise and still all good, now looking forward to trying it for real on the course tomorrow.

 

[chrisd]

Not sure.. lets see if I shoot 75 or 105 this weekend first.

75??

Only playing 9 ???

 

[Dando]

after several weeks of hitting my driver all over the globe i had a lesson last night at Chelsfield lakes to try and work out what the issue was.

basically my alignment was off and i had a habit of allowing my hips to stop rotating meaning my arms took over. also the ball position was too central.

after a few drills and some changes i was hitting the ball a lot better.

i just need to keep practising the new set up