Really good lesson today....

Smiffy

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Been a bit down with my game recently, hitting a lot of fat/thin shots and generally lacking distance (what little I had) with my irons especially.
Booked a course of 3 lessons with the assistant pro at Cooden, Sean Creasey.
I'd heard he was a pretty good teacher, and rather than change lots of different things and fill your head with too much, he concentrated on maybe one or two things at most.
I got there a little bit earlier to warm myself up, started by hitting a few PW shots and then moved down to 7 iron.
I hit a few "good" ones, but most of them were typical shots for me at the moment, weak ball flight and not much distance.
He arrived just before 10, introduced himself and asked me a little bit about my golfing background, and what problems I was experiencing at the moment with my game.
I mentioned the fact that I was swaying a lot, that I wasn't getting the distances I used to get, and that my divots were all pointing left of target where I felt I was coming over the top.
He got me to hit a few shots while he video'd me, and then we sat down to see the results.
Noticed straight away that my hands were way too low, too close to my body. This caused me to "hunch" over the ball too much, and the toe of the club was way in the air at address.
Also, I was taking the club away much to much on the outside, and I was having to move my hips back out of the way to enable my hands and arms to get to the top of the backswing.
This then had the effect of my casting from the top, and the angle of attack with my 7 iron coming right across the ball, hence my divots pointing almost 45 degrees sometimes to the left.
Jeez, I knew it was bad, but this just highlighted it.
He checked my alignment and was happy with that, feet, hips and shoulders all pointing at target, and he checked my grip too. He was happy with that despite me always having played with my right forefinger pointing down the shaft like a "trigger". He said that this fault could lead to sloppy hand,wrist action, and it would be best if I could get rid of it, but wasn't overly worried too much at this stage. The rest of the grip was fine.
He got me to simply move my hands away from my body more, which had the effect of straightening my spine. Felt quite drastic at first, but I soon got the hang of it. And he got me to feel the clubhead being taken away on the correct line. I had a couple of practice swings set up like that, it felt a bit weird but he video'd it again and showed me the before and after. Couldn't believe the transition in such a short space of time!
He then put a ball down and I gave it a bash. Bloody hell!! Exactly on target, and a superb flight, powerful, and a good 20 yards further than I'd been hitting it before he turned up.
I then hit about 10 or so more shots, I monkey one in amongst them, but all of them landed in a nice group about 150 yards down the range. He showed me the video of the one that I had mis-hit, (thinned it) but that was down to me swinging a bit too fast. Even that one was much, much better than my previous swing!
It's work in progress, but I promptly paid my money (he is offering a course of 3 lessons for £45.00) and I have got my next lesson booked for 7th January.
But it's really good that I saw such dramatic effects straight away, and I have now got something to work on at the range.
The practice facilities at Cooden are brilliant, much better than either Highwoods or Crowborough. Despite my previous hatred of mats and ranges, I can see me spending a lot of time up there.
I might even start a blog!!
:D
 

chrisd

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Lessons are the way to go mate!

I'm pleased for you that the enthusiasm is back for the game and enough to buy new clubs AND have lessons!
 

stevek1969

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Been a bit down with my game recently, hitting a lot of fat/thin shots and generally lacking distance (what little I had) with my irons especially.
Booked a course of 3 lessons with the assistant pro at Cooden, Sean Creasey.
I'd heard he was a pretty good teacher, and rather than change lots of different things and fill your head with too much, he concentrated on maybe one or two things at most.
I got there a little bit earlier to warm myself up, started by hitting a few PW shots and then moved down to 7 iron.
I hit a few "good" ones, but most of them were typical shots for me at the moment, weak ball flight and not much distance.
He arrived just before 10, introduced himself and asked me a little bit about my golfing background, and what problems I was experiencing at the moment with my game.
I mentioned the fact that I was swaying a lot, that I wasn't getting the distances I used to get, and that my divots were all pointing left of target where I felt I was coming over the top.
He got me to hit a few shots while he video'd me, and then we sat down to see the results.
Noticed straight away that my hands were way too low, too close to my body. This caused me to "hunch" over the ball too much, and the toe of the club was way in the air at address.
Also, I was taking the club away much to much on the outside, and I was having to move my hips back out of the way to enable my hands and arms to get to the top of the backswing.
This then had the effect of my casting from the top, and the angle of attack with my 7 iron coming right across the ball, hence my divots pointing almost 45 degrees sometimes to the left.
Jeez, I knew it was bad, but this just highlighted it.
He checked my alignment and was happy with that, feet, hips and shoulders all pointing at target, and he checked my grip too. He was happy with that despite me always having played with my right forefinger pointing down the shaft like a "trigger". He said that this fault could lead to sloppy hand,wrist action, and it would be best if I could get rid of it, but wasn't overly worried too much at this stage. The rest of the grip was fine.
He got me to simply move my hands away from my body more, which had the effect of straightening my spine. Felt quite drastic at first, but I soon got the hang of it. And he got me to feel the clubhead being taken away on the correct line. I had a couple of practice swings set up like that, it felt a bit weird but he video'd it again and showed me the before and after. Couldn't believe the transition in such a short space of time!
He then put a ball down and I gave it a bash. Bloody hell!! Exactly on target, and a superb flight, powerful, and a good 20 yards further than I'd been hitting it before he turned up.
I then hit about 10 or so more shots, I monkey one in amongst them, but all of them landed in a nice group about 150 yards down the range. He showed me the video of the one that I had mis-hit, (thinned it) but that was down to me swinging a bit too fast. Even that one was much, much better than my previous swing!
It's work in progress, but I promptly paid my money (he is offering a course of 3 lessons for £45.00) and I have got my next lesson booked for 7th January.
But it's really good that I saw such dramatic effects straight away, and I have now got something to work on at the range.
The practice facilities at Cooden are brilliant, much better than either Highwoods or Crowborough. Despite my previous hatred of mats and ranges, I can see me spending a lot of time up there.
I might even start a blog!!
:D

Good to hear your on the right track Smiffy and 3 lessons for £45 is a bargain. I took the bold step myself and booked a lesson at Drumoig Driving range with the lad there ,i was hitting a high shot to the right with no distance . he dint video it he stood behind me and to the side and notice my club path was all wrong. It was ok on the way back but cut across my body on the way thru, he got me to keep my head more still and come thru more following the line on the mat, it took a few to get it as old habits die hard but I'm striking it more solid and with a nice wee draw again. Ive book dan other 3 with him to get it sorted over the winter.
 

Smiffy

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3 lessons for £45 is a bargain.

A "Christmas special" apparently. Appreciate what a bargain it is, and he is a really, really nice bloke. Very friendly, and immediately put me at my ease, which is half the battle won.
Really looking forward to the next one, and will spend some time practicing what he showed me today.
 

CMAC

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good to hear a positive lesson with instant results.

I expect instant results also, none of this "it takes 2 months and 2000 balls to make a change" b*llox! do as your pro says and believe it and reap the rewards.

p.s I spent 4 hrs on Coodens range one day, tons of space, hitting off grass and good greens/bunkers for short game.:thup:
 

Jake O'Reilly

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Glad you had a positive coaching experience Smiffy, I've had lessons with Sean before while I was briefly a member at Cooden and he's a great coach. I think he's also recently qualified as an Advanced PGA Pro, or county coach, or something along those lines, so he knows his stuff.

Looking forward to reading tales of your storming stablefords and miraculous medals in the New Year :thup:
 

richart

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Glad you had a positive coaching experience Smiffy, I've had lessons with Sean before while I was briefly a member at Cooden and he's a great coach. I think he's also recently qualified as an Advanced PGA Pro, or county coach, or something along those lines, so he knows his stuff.

Looking forward to reading tales of your storming stablefords and miraculous medals in the New Year :thup:
I assume you left when you heard Smiffy was joining ?:whistle:

Sounds good Rob. Did he make you put the club behind the ball ?
 

richart

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Club was right behind the ball Rich. He was more than happy with the rest of my setup. It's work in progress but I'm determined to get there.
I imagine if you have moved your hands away from your body more, you don't need to aim out of the toe. Shame one of your mates didn't spot that for you.:whistle:
 

stevek1969

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A "Christmas special" apparently. Appreciate what a bargain it is, and he is a really, really nice bloke. Very friendly, and immediately put me at my ease, which is half the battle won.
Really looking forward to the next one, and will spend some time practicing what he showed me today.

Glad to hear it ,the lad i went to see was the same, he was running a bit late so he gave me a bucket of balls to warm up with, then asked if id any health issues so we could work round it. Then everything was simple to understand he even gave a card he written some drills on to help my practise which was good. Im also seeing a TPI instructor who has given me some exercises to help with my core, gluts and hamstring to help with better rotation.
 

chrisd

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Glad to hear it ,the lad i went to see was the same, he was running a bit late so he gave me a bucket of balls to warm up with, then asked if id any health issues so we could work round it. Then everything was simple to understand he even gave a card he written some drills on to help my practise which was good. Im also seeing a TPI instructor who has given me some exercises to help with my core, gluts and hamstring to help with better rotation.

No pro has ever asked about health issues and I really think that should be question 1 always!
 
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