Friday, 24 May 2013

Darren Steels PGA Professional - Lesson 3 Mel's update


Hi Folks,

 

                Here I am  again on my third month of tuition with Darren Steels. I Must say the work in the gym is starting to pay off as I feel a lot more supple.   


Doing the stats is also helping to pin point weak areas in my game. Looking at the stats Darren thought it was time for a putting lesson. First thing he noticed was how I was standing to putt the ball. Just like the set up for my iron's I was standing with my legs parallel to the ball but my top half was twisted and open towards the hole. This made the putt slice slightly  as I hit the ball. Standing correctly and using a sweeping movement to hit the ball gave a  more accurate shot towards the hole. We also discussed how to read the green before putting the ball. I will use this advice in my practice sessions.
 
To help to get the correct upward strike on the ball we used a lob wedge to putt with as a practice drill. If I struck the ball correctly it rolled true across the green.

 
 Each month he checks my swing to make sure no bad habits are returning. I told him usually it was my second shot ( on a par 4/5 hole ) which was letting me down as I either miss hit the shot or was not accurate enough to get to the green or within a pitching wedge away. He looked in my golf bag and ask me what club I normally took for my second shot. This was either a rescue wood ( 21 degrees ) or a five wood ( 19 degrees ).I have also started to use a four iron which I find more accurate than the rescue. He said the rescue and the four iron were about the same club as regards distance so he advised me to use the four iron if I was on the fairway and the rescue if I was in semi rough. But mainly I have to practice more with the five wood as that would give me more distance. He watched me hit a few shots with the five wood and said I was coming down too steep on the ball  not sweeping  it like you should. To correct this he put the ball on a small tee and asked me to hit the ball again. He told me to use the same movement  that I use when hitting  my driver. This seemed to work well and I started to  hit the ball better. I will now try this in my practice sessions. .

So plenty of things to keep me occupied for the next month.

cheers

Mel               

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