Gentabout
Medal Winner
Sorry for the long post but please bear with.
I have been having lessons over the last year or so and have learnt a lot but was struggling to take a lot of it to the course. I could stand on the range and hit 9 out of 10 shots perfectly and pick up new things very easily but when I stood over the ball on the course it became 4 out of 10 on short game and maybe 7 out of 10 on long, I was finding that I could par one hole and then 9 the next and this was destroying my confidence further. I discussed this with the pro I had been having lessons with and he just suggested practice but it wasn't working for me as I could groove the ball well enough on the range but not on the course and with time always an issue practicing on the course when out with friends didn't really work. So my thoughts turned to getting some on course work so that a pro could maybe see where I was going wrong. My Pro does on course lessons but only during the week and at about £120 a time.
So the reason for the post is to pass on my experience from last night when I went and had an 9 hole on course lesson at Leeds Castle with their Pro Steve Purves. It was complelty different from the lessons I've had before and I have hopefully managed to solve so many small problems that I didn't know I had and didn't show themselves on the range that will save me strokes on every round.
1. I had a different width of stance with my irons (to narrow) to my woods. I don't think this showed up in previous lessons as you tend to focus on one aspect and not swap around, this made me unstable and was probably causing some of my mis hits. (going to save at least 4 strokes a round:clap
2. Ive now got a thought process and a different stroke for chipping that I've never been shown. My normal chipping is unpredictable as I develop most of my power at the bottom of my swing and have been struggling to control distance and I've ended up somewhere between a chip and a flop with a wedge. The first thing he suggested was a 9 iron and a putting stroke, AWESOME! why had no one shown me this before, so much safer and much more controllable and a bad connection or miss hit still leaves a playable ball where as before I could end up in a much worse place than I started even with a minor mishit. (Easily saving 6 strokes a round :clap
3. Putting, this had been very bad lately and was getting worse with each round with me averaging 3 puts per green even after having some 1 puts. I managed to take 7 on a par 3 last week after leaving a birdie chance of the tee with the ball 4 foot from the hole. I had discussed this with my existing Pro and we had spent a short amount of time on it but he felt my stroke and aim were fine - just practice. Turns out I've been trying to control distance with speed and power rather than stroke, if I wanted it to go 10 foot I hit it at one speed but if I needed 20 I hit it harder and faster but with the same stroke!. This probably wouldn't have shown up on anywhere but a proper green as with my existing Pro I just hit a dozen balls in the training room all from the same place (12 foot) and they all made target. Im now controlling distance with swing distance, take the club back further to go further but all at the same sort of speed where as before my swing distance was the same regardless of distance. Why had no one told me this before!. (hopefully get me down to a 2 put average saving 18 strokes a round :clap
4. Irons in to greens. My swing has improved a lot over the last 6 months and therefor distance has come with that, 7 iron used to be around 150 but is now nearer 170 with gapping of about 10 yards between. I went to play a couple of shots in to greens were Steve questioned my club choice and explained why. situation 1, elevated green ahead reading 150 yards to the middle, pin to the front, he suggested my 8 as the ball was on a down slope and that would take 5 yards approx of my length and with the hill I might lose another 10. I left myself a 5 foot putt from pin high. I had planned to take my 7 just to make sure to get up the hill. No one had told me that a down hill lie might reduce distance, also because I get the ball up high with my swing I don't need to over club as much as someone with a low ball flight when it comes to hills. Also true of down hill shots, I had been coming down to many clubs through fear of overshooting the green. (should save some chips each round, therefor maybe 5 strokes per round :clap
5. Driving. Leave well along especially after one of his comments that he didn't think he could reach where I just put it. (No strokes gained :angry: :thup
All these smallish issues were not showing up in my normal lessons and the guys I play with know about as much as me so couldn't help either as they didn't know what I was doing wrong especially as some times I was very good. I don't blame any of my poor skills on them but I so wish I had sought out a lesson on the course sooner.
The cost of this Awesome lesson that will change my game £60. We were on the course for about 2 and a half hours in total and on a lovely course with stunning views of a castle.
Please if you are like me and are struggling seek out a lesson on the course I think it will be an eye opener!
I have been having lessons over the last year or so and have learnt a lot but was struggling to take a lot of it to the course. I could stand on the range and hit 9 out of 10 shots perfectly and pick up new things very easily but when I stood over the ball on the course it became 4 out of 10 on short game and maybe 7 out of 10 on long, I was finding that I could par one hole and then 9 the next and this was destroying my confidence further. I discussed this with the pro I had been having lessons with and he just suggested practice but it wasn't working for me as I could groove the ball well enough on the range but not on the course and with time always an issue practicing on the course when out with friends didn't really work. So my thoughts turned to getting some on course work so that a pro could maybe see where I was going wrong. My Pro does on course lessons but only during the week and at about £120 a time.
So the reason for the post is to pass on my experience from last night when I went and had an 9 hole on course lesson at Leeds Castle with their Pro Steve Purves. It was complelty different from the lessons I've had before and I have hopefully managed to solve so many small problems that I didn't know I had and didn't show themselves on the range that will save me strokes on every round.
1. I had a different width of stance with my irons (to narrow) to my woods. I don't think this showed up in previous lessons as you tend to focus on one aspect and not swap around, this made me unstable and was probably causing some of my mis hits. (going to save at least 4 strokes a round:clap
2. Ive now got a thought process and a different stroke for chipping that I've never been shown. My normal chipping is unpredictable as I develop most of my power at the bottom of my swing and have been struggling to control distance and I've ended up somewhere between a chip and a flop with a wedge. The first thing he suggested was a 9 iron and a putting stroke, AWESOME! why had no one shown me this before, so much safer and much more controllable and a bad connection or miss hit still leaves a playable ball where as before I could end up in a much worse place than I started even with a minor mishit. (Easily saving 6 strokes a round :clap
3. Putting, this had been very bad lately and was getting worse with each round with me averaging 3 puts per green even after having some 1 puts. I managed to take 7 on a par 3 last week after leaving a birdie chance of the tee with the ball 4 foot from the hole. I had discussed this with my existing Pro and we had spent a short amount of time on it but he felt my stroke and aim were fine - just practice. Turns out I've been trying to control distance with speed and power rather than stroke, if I wanted it to go 10 foot I hit it at one speed but if I needed 20 I hit it harder and faster but with the same stroke!. This probably wouldn't have shown up on anywhere but a proper green as with my existing Pro I just hit a dozen balls in the training room all from the same place (12 foot) and they all made target. Im now controlling distance with swing distance, take the club back further to go further but all at the same sort of speed where as before my swing distance was the same regardless of distance. Why had no one told me this before!. (hopefully get me down to a 2 put average saving 18 strokes a round :clap
4. Irons in to greens. My swing has improved a lot over the last 6 months and therefor distance has come with that, 7 iron used to be around 150 but is now nearer 170 with gapping of about 10 yards between. I went to play a couple of shots in to greens were Steve questioned my club choice and explained why. situation 1, elevated green ahead reading 150 yards to the middle, pin to the front, he suggested my 8 as the ball was on a down slope and that would take 5 yards approx of my length and with the hill I might lose another 10. I left myself a 5 foot putt from pin high. I had planned to take my 7 just to make sure to get up the hill. No one had told me that a down hill lie might reduce distance, also because I get the ball up high with my swing I don't need to over club as much as someone with a low ball flight when it comes to hills. Also true of down hill shots, I had been coming down to many clubs through fear of overshooting the green. (should save some chips each round, therefor maybe 5 strokes per round :clap
5. Driving. Leave well along especially after one of his comments that he didn't think he could reach where I just put it. (No strokes gained :angry: :thup
All these smallish issues were not showing up in my normal lessons and the guys I play with know about as much as me so couldn't help either as they didn't know what I was doing wrong especially as some times I was very good. I don't blame any of my poor skills on them but I so wish I had sought out a lesson on the course sooner.
The cost of this Awesome lesson that will change my game £60. We were on the course for about 2 and a half hours in total and on a lovely course with stunning views of a castle.
Please if you are like me and are struggling seek out a lesson on the course I think it will be an eye opener!
