road2ruin
Q-School Graduate
So, as a surprise (belated) birthday present from the wife and folks I headed off to Camberly this morning for a 2hr first lesson and analysis session. Wasn't sure what to expect however I'm a sucker for gadgets and tech in golf so thought that this would be right up my street.
Met Matt who was my pro for the session and he gave me a bucket of balls to warm up. Had a general chat about my game, what I thought my strengths/weaknesses were and what I wanted to achieve. We then jumped on Trackman when he took some videos and did an analysis of what was going on with my present golf swing.
Having talked about what my issues were he did some quick inputting into the giant robot and I was off and running. It felt like a real workout with different muscles being used and really gave an insight into the different positions I should be aiming for in a swing. One of the main issues I have during lessons is with 'feel'. My pro says he wants me to feel this or that and I struggle as I think muscle memory from previous sport (cricket) overrides what I'm meant to be doing.
Anyway, with the robot you have no choice but to go with it and after 12 or so reps I'm handed my 7 iron and asked to go back into the simulator. Odd feeling at first, everything feels very light and have to do a couple of practice swings first however immediately noticed a change in club path. With just the first set of reps my club path was consistently in to out and I'd picked up 15 or so yards. My usual 7 iron is 155, I was hitting 167 carry all the way up to 183 when I flushed it. Now I'm not saying that I now do the latter at will however it did show that there is the potential there is I can just get everything working at the same time.
It was then a mix of reps on the machine followed by sessions on the simulator and I really did notice the changes. The biggest 'feelings' taken from the machine were how compact my swing should feel I.e. Left arm tight across the chest on the way up and then how low the hands feel on the way through on the downswing. Ha big had reps and back on the sim I could feel how much my strike had improved and the numbers were pretty positive.
My main fault at the end was definitely cricket related and one I have always struggled with and that's release. I have a tendency to hold the face open and 'drive' the ball over mid off so allowing myself to relax my arms, release tension and release is still very much a work in progress. That is the one part the robot can't fix, that's all me but it has given me renewed impetus this season as my swing really isn't that bad and if I can improve that last little bit there might be a golfer in me yet!!
The question as to whether it's worth on going lessons really depends on how you respond to 'real world' lessons. For me I can see me going back every 2-3 months and having a refresh. They store your swing on USB so if/when you go back for follow ups it gets loaded up and you're off and running.
They're hoping to expand and have more of these robots countrywide with the next being installed in the new Greenwich Peninsula driving range new the O2. Personally I wish them every success and think a lot of golfers would benefit from a session.
Met Matt who was my pro for the session and he gave me a bucket of balls to warm up. Had a general chat about my game, what I thought my strengths/weaknesses were and what I wanted to achieve. We then jumped on Trackman when he took some videos and did an analysis of what was going on with my present golf swing.
Having talked about what my issues were he did some quick inputting into the giant robot and I was off and running. It felt like a real workout with different muscles being used and really gave an insight into the different positions I should be aiming for in a swing. One of the main issues I have during lessons is with 'feel'. My pro says he wants me to feel this or that and I struggle as I think muscle memory from previous sport (cricket) overrides what I'm meant to be doing.
Anyway, with the robot you have no choice but to go with it and after 12 or so reps I'm handed my 7 iron and asked to go back into the simulator. Odd feeling at first, everything feels very light and have to do a couple of practice swings first however immediately noticed a change in club path. With just the first set of reps my club path was consistently in to out and I'd picked up 15 or so yards. My usual 7 iron is 155, I was hitting 167 carry all the way up to 183 when I flushed it. Now I'm not saying that I now do the latter at will however it did show that there is the potential there is I can just get everything working at the same time.
It was then a mix of reps on the machine followed by sessions on the simulator and I really did notice the changes. The biggest 'feelings' taken from the machine were how compact my swing should feel I.e. Left arm tight across the chest on the way up and then how low the hands feel on the way through on the downswing. Ha big had reps and back on the sim I could feel how much my strike had improved and the numbers were pretty positive.
My main fault at the end was definitely cricket related and one I have always struggled with and that's release. I have a tendency to hold the face open and 'drive' the ball over mid off so allowing myself to relax my arms, release tension and release is still very much a work in progress. That is the one part the robot can't fix, that's all me but it has given me renewed impetus this season as my swing really isn't that bad and if I can improve that last little bit there might be a golfer in me yet!!
The question as to whether it's worth on going lessons really depends on how you respond to 'real world' lessons. For me I can see me going back every 2-3 months and having a refresh. They store your swing on USB so if/when you go back for follow ups it gets loaded up and you're off and running.
They're hoping to expand and have more of these robots countrywide with the next being installed in the new Greenwich Peninsula driving range new the O2. Personally I wish them every success and think a lot of golfers would benefit from a session.
