THE CHALLENGE IS....

As human beings we are inherent problems solvers.
As coaches we are asked to instruct the golfer on the best way to solve these problems.

I believe self learning and the interpretation of results is always the best method of problem solving.
I give my pupils challenges. These challenges promote self learning and always have results that need interpreting.
These results or feedback may be positive or negative. But the pupil will have learnt something.


These challenges I set, help the pupil learn what will happen to the ball flight if changes in the swing are made. These changes to ball flight are vital. I truly believe as a golf coach, that if the ball flight has not changed for the better I have wasted my pupils time and money.

In this video I took a new pupil who has suffered from a lack of ball flight control and distance for many months. Once we finished our 9 holes we went to the practice ground to help him improve his technique. His previous lessons had been technical and position based.

My direction for instruction was the opposite.

I offered the golfer a challenge, which he accepted. The challenge was. Hit the ball but the club head in the back swing must travel above the alignment stick and in the forward swing must travel under the alignment stick.
Those were the rules of the challenge.

Please watch THE CHALLENGE






From start to finish the changes seen here took 10 minutes.
He is now considerably closer to swinging the club on a more efficient plane for golf.
More importantly the ball flight changed and he realised that something must have changed in his swing for the ball flight to have been altered

We are good at problem solving, I promise you. We do not have to think about positions in the golf swing, let our instincts and natural problem solving ability help us.

Hope this helps
Andy

Laura Davies

Is Laura Davies Britain's greatest female sportsperson?

Or should she also be classed as one of Britain's greatest sports persons full stop?

I can think of very few British sports people who have had such amazing career.

After seeing and reading about her latest victory at the Open de españa, at the age of 46, it got me thinking about here place in Britain's list of sports greats.

Lets look at her career ( according to the Ladies European tour www.ladieseuropeantour.info )

4 major's
ladies European tour wins 41
LPGA wins 20
Plus 14 other wins on various tours
11 times Solheim cup player
7 time LET order of merit winner
1st non American to top the LPGA order of merit

To date Sir Nick Faldo is Britain's greatest golfer.

6 Majors
40 professional wins
11 Ryder cups and the highest point winner in the history of the match.
World number one for 98 weeks

I have no doubt that Sir Faldo will always be considered as one of Britain's greatest sports persons, But I feel looking at the records of both players Laura Davies should also be in the category of greats.

In an era where other leading sports people are lauded for their accomplishments, Laura Davies seems to be forgotten. Presumably its the lack of exposure that ladies golf has in Britain. Plus she may not be seen as the poster child for ladies golf. But this lady continues to play amazing winning golf at the age of 46.

I hope she continues to play high class golf for many years to come. Maybe one day the British press and public will realise what a true champion she has always been. I would be very interested to know how many if any current lady golfers see her as a role model.

If you have any comments please post them up.

Area's for discussion.

Who is Britains greatest female sports person?
Who is Britains greatest sports person?


I look forward to your comments

Andy

Golf warm up and mobility programme

A perfect all body warm up or mobility programme. In under 8 minutes you can have your body better prepared for your round of golf.
If you feel any pain during any of these exercises please stop straight away.

If you find any of these exercises difficult please visit www.mytpi.com and search for your nearest qualified golf fitness professional.

1 - Reverse toe touch x5
2 - Arms in front deep squat x5
3 - Arms overhead deep squat x5
4 - Club assisted pelvic tilts ( cats & dogs ) x5
5 - Narrow stance lunge with rotation x5 each direction
6 - Assisted hip twisters x5 each direction
7 - Standing helicopter turns x5 each direction
8 - Helicopter turns in posture x5 each direction
9 - Assisted stork turns x10 each leg
10 - Walking knees to chest x10
11 - Ulnar and radial deviation x5 each right hand and left
12 - Standing shoulder rotation x5
13 - In posture shoulder rotation x5

Warm up before you play golf or practice for improved results

Andy

Catching raindrops

September is here and in some parts of the world this also means the weather may turn, from summer sun to Autumn winds and rain. In the UK it rains a fair bit throughout the year.

So does catching raindrops interest you?

Catching raindrops does not interest too many people, But what if I told catching raindrops could could improve your ball striking and ball fight.

Interested now?
If you are a golfer who is inconsistant with their ball striking and has a ball flight that begins right of the target and finishes further right this is just for you.

Understanding the correct motion of the left forearm and left hand in my opinion is pivotal to good golf.


Lets learn the correct left forearm, left hand and club face movement through impact.
Its a movement based around rotation.

Hold your left arm/hand out in front of you at approx waist level. Imagine shaking hands with someone with your left hand.

Now rotate your left arm from the elbow so your palm is facing the sky. A position where you could catch raindrops.



Now take your left hand grip on a short iron. Once again hold the left arm and now club out in front of you at waist level. If your left hand is well positioned on the handle your palm will face away from the target. The leading edge of the club head should be vertical.

Now begin to rotate from the elbow, again the palm should again point to the sky as if you could catch raindrops, and the club face should point to the ground. Try and keep the relationship between the back of the left hand and left forearm the same. i.e there should be no significant hinging . In reality the back of the left hand and the left forearm should be very nearly aligned together. The rotation movement should be forearm and hand rotating together in unison.

Now your ready for gentle swings.Hold the club in your left hand and at waist level, so the shaft is parallel to the ground. Your spine should be vertical for this exercise. I do not want any forward bend from the hips yet. Gently rotate your shoulders to the right, as if you were making a slow baseball swing. Then stop, you will now rotate your body back towards the target. I would like you to start this rotation with your hips first, then that will pull your torso and and upper body round.
As your upper body begins to unwind start catching raindrops. Remember that it's a rotation of your left forearm and left hand so your palm faces the sky.

Once you have practiced this simple motion a few times and you feel that you have built up a feeling for it, we can progress. Bend forward from the hips until the club head reaches approx shin height.. I would like you to try and retain that relationship of the shaft being at approx 90 degree's to your spine. Then repeat the moving portion of the exercise i.e rotating to the right and un winding to the left. Remember catch those raindrops.


Now you are ready for some small swings. Place both hands on the club and bend forward from your hips until the sole of the club rests on the ground, a gentle flex of your knees should complete your posture position. I want you to hit some shots only swinging the club to about waist high. You should try and feel the same sensations you gained from the one handed exercises, Catching raindrops. In my opinion through impact the left forearm and back of left wirst should remain in the aligned position as I talked about earlier. If this position is maintained the right wrist should be in position of extension. Right wrist extension is shown in the photo below.



If you are able to maintain the 2 positions, catching raindrops and right wrist extension through impact you are well on your way to improving your ball striking.

It will also help if you read my 'Destination impact' blog to pick up a great exercise to help practice impact.


Best of luck with this exercise and post up any comments

Andy

Destination Impact

In a previous blog 'Golf and language' I spoke about the importance of understanding your impact position, I want to re visit this topic.

First of all think about this idea. If you were planning a trip in your car would you not want to have an idea of what your destination is? Having the destination now allows you to prepare for that journey by finding the easiest most efficient way of getting there. If you dont have a destination whats the point of starting the journey?

Your golf swing has a destination it's called impact, your golfswing also has a journey, thats the backswing and forward swing. Anything after impact is the follow through.

A good impact position should always be your main focus for improvement. If your impact is good the feel of the strike and the desired ball flight will highlight this for you. It will also tell you that what proceded impact was also good.
Next time at the practice area try and work on your quality of impact first.
If you go to the practice ground and you work on your swing and it has no effect on your impact and then ball flight, I will be honest and say you have wasted your practice session.
Getting worse before you get better after a lesson is the worse phrase in golf tuition today.
Rehearse your desired impact postion. Take your address position and then without swinging the club re-position yourself to impact.

Are they the same? If you believe your address and impact position are the same you have been poorly informed or it is something you have never thought about.
Remember don't start the jouney unless you know your destination.

A great practice drill I use regularley during my coaching sessions is the 2 ball drill.

Set up 2 balls on the ground with enough space for a high lofted club to swing through,then take 10 swings. You score a point for every swing made where you miss the balls and strike the ground target side of them.( target side in the photo's is to the left of the yellow golf balls)



Then procede to place a 3rd ball in between the other 2. Take 10 swings, a point is scored when the 2 outside balls are missed and a divot is taken, once again target side of them.



They are the only rules to game. Miss the balls and take a divot target side of them. This is a simple but very effective game which helps you find the centre of the clubface more often and also teaches you about where the low point in your golfswing is.

Enjoy the game and learn from it.

Increasing your clubhead speed

Try this exercise at home or on the range to help you increase your club head speed. Plus it will also highlight to you where the speed is in your golf swing. In the downswing the club head should be continually accelerating through to impact. The collision between club head and ball will then slow it down dramatically. But the feeling you want to achieve is one of swishing the shaft as fast as possible.

Have fun and swish away

Andy

Improve your swing plane

This is an exercise that I have had great success with, and one which my pupils have found easy to grasp the concept of.

For me having my pupils make slow deliberate swings to feel change is really important.

This exercise allows the pupil to feel when their club is on plane or not. If the club feels too heavy the shaft is generally too flat or under plane. If the club feels too light the shaft is too upright or above plane.

I also increase the pupils awareness by asking them to do this exercise with their eyes closed. I then ask them to tell me whether the shaft is too flat, too upright or on plane.

Hope you enjoy the video please post any questions you may have.
Golfingly Andy