Get ahead of the game: TEACHING REVIEW Lesson 3
Before our Game Golfer heads off to Kralingen golf course in Rotterdam for his third golf lesson with PGA Holland teaching professional, Mariëtte de Groot as part of ‘Golfing Inspirations’ special winter training series, we thought we would catch up with our newly-retired, 28-handicap golfer to check his progress. As the trees turn bare, the days become shorter and storms rage, is he still just as inspired? Or are the recent days of heavy gardening taking their toll?
Q&A
So how’s it going with our Game Golfer?
“Well, I’ve practised three times since my last lesson …”
Sounds good. And?
“The first time was just for half an hour on the range at the Capelle G&CC hitting half a bucket of balls. I then played two holes. Of all the shots I played, I’d say that about one-third went well of which half were excellent. A few days later I practised again, this time hitting 30 balls just with my 7-iron. Despite doing all my warming-up exercises, it got worse. One-third went along the ground; one-third went off to the right; and the rest were all air-borne and straight, but with no distance! I went home feeling very disillusioned.”
I can imagine. Perhaps the newly-developed gardening muscles are at war with your golfing muscles? Maybe your ‘swing doctor’ Mariëtte can sort you out.
“I hope so!”
Mission impossible?
Sounds like our Game Golfer needs a few more trips to the driving range and also some good weather to get him out on the course playing a few holes in order to “free his swing”. Perhaps he is too busy in his head at the moment with too many swing thoughts, especially the figure 8. His golf pro is just back from an inspiring 5-day training trip in Portugal with a group of golfers, so let’s see what advice she has for him.
LESSON 3 17 November 2015 at 12.00 hrs
Back to basics
Gone are those gloriously sunny days of early Autumn. It’s that other sort of typical Autumn day today: stormy with a lot of rain. Yet our Game Golfer is not deterred. He trundles off to the golf course at Kralingen with the attitude: The weather doesn’t matter. “Even een frisse neus halen!” Now that’s a lovely Dutch expression which literally translated means: “Just going to get a fresh nose”! In other words, to get a bit of fresh air.
Ironing out problems on the range first
Today, Mariëtte was planning to check out his short game as part of PGA Holland and the Dutch Golf Federation’s ‘Golf Academy 9-step plan’, but as he is not happy with his irons on the driving range, she decides to give his swing some more attention instead. After a quick summary of the first two lessons, they get to work on the basics looking to rebuild the fundamentals of his swing.
The upper body is still too active. His coach’s tip is for him to “lead more with the hips”, the rest will follow. With towels laid out on the practice mat again, they work on his swing arc. The exercise here is not to touch the towel with the club-head during the swing. Our Game Golfer is still creating “the wrong figure-8” (backswing too much on the inside; downswing too much on the outside).
After warming-up and taking on-board the earlier tips again, the first balls are ready for launching. Result? Alas, they are all rather unattractive, low squirts, off to the right, along the ground. Mariëtte holds his head in position again. This is a huge problem our game golfer has to overcome – his head is moving off the ball with his over-active upper body movement.
Is there still hope for our game golfer?
Q&A
Did the fresh air do wonders for your swing today?
“No, I’m feeling a little disillusioned. I’m beginning to doubt whether my coach can sort me out. Maybe I was just born without a swing …”
You mean that you’re not a natural talent?
“Definitely not! Talent doesn’t come into it. I’m a disaster, darling!”
(Thankfully our Game Golfer manages to raise a hint of a smile by coining a phrase from the mega successful BBC TV programme, ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.)
“Seriously, it was very disappointing today. For some reason, I just found it difficult. I kept pulling the club down into my body again during the follow-through. We had to go right back to basics. Quite simply, I couldn’t hit my hat!”
What next? Do you have homework?
“Yes, I need to go and practise two basic exercises. The first one is with my feet together, hitting the ball with a half-swing, just letting the clubhead ‘fall’ in the backswing and then really follow-through. As it begins to work, then gradually widen the stance and eventually resume a full swing with a normal stance.
“The second exercise is to address the ball normally, then, before swinging, to move the ball one clubhead (about 10cms) forward. This tip will help me hit ‘through the ball’. One of my main faults is that I hit the ground much too far behind the ball, resulting in a divot before I’ve even hit the ball. Then I tend to quit on the shot and not follow-through enough.”
Ryder Cup fighting spirit
After 25 years of playing golf and a handful of group lessons at the start, no-one ever said it was going to be easy to improve his swing. As our Game Golfer admits after his third lesson: “I don’t think I’ll ever learn it. Perhaps I’m now thinking too much. It all seems clear enough, I just can’t manage to do it. But I’m not one to give up!” Now, that’s what we like to hear. That’s the sort of fighting spirit that wins Walker Cup and Ryder Cup matches. And, who knows, in the future even a club trophy again for our Game Golfer. At the end of the day, it’s not how, but how many.
Follow our Game Golfer
You can continue to follow our Game Golfer’s winter training progress by regularly checking : “Golfing Inspirations/Reviews/Special Features” where we’ll be posting updates. Click here for next lesson … Click here for previous lesson.
© Photography by Golfing Inspirations.
Some useful Dutch golf websites:
Nederlandse Golf Federatie: www.ngf.nl
PGA Holland: www.pgaholland.nl
PGA Holland Golf Professional, Mariëtte de Groot: www.degolfprofessional.nl