sawtooth
Tour Winner
I had my first lesson for absolutely ages on Sunday. 3 things came up that needed attention.
1. Arm setup at address and a slight grip alteration
2. Posture change
3. Club face angle at address
He asked me about my handicap and what I wanted from the lesson and I told him that my ball striking is normally fine but that I needed to get better accuracy. I pointed to a great example on our 16th on Sunday , I had about 155yds to the flag and struck the 8I well but it was a leaky fade and missed the green by about 10-15yds. The day before I hit an iron into the middle of the green. So annoying.
So he asked me to take 7i and to hit some shots and sure enough the strikes were good and honest but some were a little left , some were straight and some were right. More often than not I push shots right.
He noticed within a few minutes something that surprised me and demonstrated what the clubhead does when you have a strong, medium, or neutral grip. As it turns out my right hand grip is a bit too weak. But he was more concerned with my arms. He got me to stand up straight and let me arms hang down in front of each thigh but the left hand (glove hand) the back of the hand was showing face up and the other arm was opposite, Palm facing. Then from there he literally asked me to turn the hands only and take grip on the club. Apparently my arms weren't set correctly and he demonstrated by taking my left arm up and across my chest, the right arm folding out of the way and getting into a better position at the top. I had some compensation movements in my swing that helped to square the club face but they weren't repeatable or reliable enough and would let me down from time to time.
Also my posture was too bent over the ball so he got me to stand up a bit taller and a little closer to the ball.
Lastly he said that my club face was open at address , when I toed it in it looked weird but he assured me that it was square.
I hit some shots and almost immediately it felt a bit more effortless. I managed to hit some nice straighter iron shots with a touch of draw. Some bad ones as well of course but its to be expected as the club feels like now that I am picking it up a little quicker and getting the right arm to fold sooner. My grip on the club is a little different too although deep down I was happy with the grip the way it was. I worked hard to make sure it was as textbook neutral as it could be so disappointing that I have to tweak it a little.
I hit more balls and although the striking was great and it felt less effort for me the accuracy will take time to master. He observed that I don't get through the ball quite well enough so it appeared to him that my weight was hanging back a bit instead of rotating properly through the shot all the way.
Next lesson in future is to work on that. He hit some balls doing an impression of me then showed how a bit more rotation ( and compression of the ball) improved accuracy. Otherwise my hands /arms would come through ahead of my body and all sorts of things can happen with the club face. I guess he means that I'm not connected as much as I should be.
All in all it was a good lesson and I look forward to grooving in his swing changes.
1. Arm setup at address and a slight grip alteration
2. Posture change
3. Club face angle at address
He asked me about my handicap and what I wanted from the lesson and I told him that my ball striking is normally fine but that I needed to get better accuracy. I pointed to a great example on our 16th on Sunday , I had about 155yds to the flag and struck the 8I well but it was a leaky fade and missed the green by about 10-15yds. The day before I hit an iron into the middle of the green. So annoying.
So he asked me to take 7i and to hit some shots and sure enough the strikes were good and honest but some were a little left , some were straight and some were right. More often than not I push shots right.
He noticed within a few minutes something that surprised me and demonstrated what the clubhead does when you have a strong, medium, or neutral grip. As it turns out my right hand grip is a bit too weak. But he was more concerned with my arms. He got me to stand up straight and let me arms hang down in front of each thigh but the left hand (glove hand) the back of the hand was showing face up and the other arm was opposite, Palm facing. Then from there he literally asked me to turn the hands only and take grip on the club. Apparently my arms weren't set correctly and he demonstrated by taking my left arm up and across my chest, the right arm folding out of the way and getting into a better position at the top. I had some compensation movements in my swing that helped to square the club face but they weren't repeatable or reliable enough and would let me down from time to time.
Also my posture was too bent over the ball so he got me to stand up a bit taller and a little closer to the ball.
Lastly he said that my club face was open at address , when I toed it in it looked weird but he assured me that it was square.
I hit some shots and almost immediately it felt a bit more effortless. I managed to hit some nice straighter iron shots with a touch of draw. Some bad ones as well of course but its to be expected as the club feels like now that I am picking it up a little quicker and getting the right arm to fold sooner. My grip on the club is a little different too although deep down I was happy with the grip the way it was. I worked hard to make sure it was as textbook neutral as it could be so disappointing that I have to tweak it a little.
I hit more balls and although the striking was great and it felt less effort for me the accuracy will take time to master. He observed that I don't get through the ball quite well enough so it appeared to him that my weight was hanging back a bit instead of rotating properly through the shot all the way.
Next lesson in future is to work on that. He hit some balls doing an impression of me then showed how a bit more rotation ( and compression of the ball) improved accuracy. Otherwise my hands /arms would come through ahead of my body and all sorts of things can happen with the club face. I guess he means that I'm not connected as much as I should be.
All in all it was a good lesson and I look forward to grooving in his swing changes.
