Lessons from the Lesson Tee

I was in the studio pretty much the entire afternoon today, which was good since it was a couple degrees above 0C and blowing sideways. It wouldn't have been much fun to stand outside while practicing.

My goal for every lesson is to improve upon the current technique and above all help the student learn how to practice. The student should always come away from the studio knowing what he/she needs to do and different ways to do it.

Lesson #1 - My player with a 11 handicap hit pretty much every shot to the right and with very little solid contact. Looking at his swing, he moved a good foot to the right and never really returned back to the ball. This is a classic "Feel vs Real" situation. I told him that we need to feel Left, Left and Left (he is a right-handed player). This would be a great situation to use the Stack & Tilt swing style (but I am not officially certified in SnT). Anyway, with a little clubface education and some feet together drills, he started to understand the feeling. I also held his head (at first) to get him moving into right direction. After a while, he got it and knows what and why.

Lesson #2 - Check the lie angles of your clubs. Did you know that your clubs could bend over the course of a season. Don't assume they are correct. I changed probably 6 irons that where, in some cases, 1 degree too upright. Check your clubs!

Lesson #3 - If your swing is flatter into impact (meaning the clubhead travels more from inside to out, then you need to activate your body more through impact. Here, my student (who is a very good player), told me that he is hitting BIG SWEEPING DRAWS with the occasional "BLOCK" which really gets him into trouble. His feeling is to keep his hands in tight as he rotates his body hard left. His thought is that he is standing in a Hula Hoop (which is a laying on the ground. His hands need to follow the shape of the hoop and never swing on the outside of the hoop.

Lesson #4 - Always go back to fundamentals. My player was returning to the game. When he quit a few years back, he had a 13 handicap. This tells me that he knows HOW to swing the club, but his fundamentals where a bit off. His ball position was too far forward to be able and strike downward with his irons and his balance was off. He tended to fall forward toward the ball. After I guided him toward the correct feeling for a release, I then stood behind him and proceeded to push him (gently, of course) forward towards the ball. His job was to not fall forward. He had to engage his muscles and rotate left instead. It was a new feeling and one he could definitely develop with the help of a buddy.

I always try and make time (10 minutes or so) at the end of each lesson to teach HOW to practice. Today we focused on 1 bucket of balls (20 balls) divided into groups of 4. With 5 balls in each group, the goal is to (a) Only ONE thought per group (b) slow down the tempo or hit pitch-style shots to get the feeling (c) test with ONE full swing in each group. (d) no judgements...only objective information.

"So long" from the Studio and the Lesson Tee....

Regards,
Steven