This week I'm introducing a new section to the newsletter - Coach's Corner. I will be explaining changes I have made to pupil's golf swings and highlighting their improvements. Hopefully this will help you understand the golf swing technique better and help you improve your game.
This week Blake Stephens had his first lesson with me; he has never had a lesson before and has only been playing golf for three years. He has reduced his average score to 100 but is now having trouble improving any further. Does this sound familiar? Do you always shot the same score and struggle to break the 80, 90 or 100 barrier? If so, we would love to help.
Blake suffered from two serious problems. Firstly, as highlighted above, a 'flying right elbow'. As you can see from the first image above, Blake's elbow has separated away from his body. This causes the club to be pointing across the target line at the top of the back swing, resulting in a steep down swing and producing a left-to-right (slice) shot pattern.
Secondly, Blake suffered from a bent left arm. This will cause an overswing, as pictured below. This has two negative effects on the golf swing. Firstly, it reduces the arch/radius of the golf swing resulting in a reduction of power. Secondly, by increasing the amount of moving parts within the golf swing it reduces consistency.
Blake made huge improvements to his technique, as pictured above, in only 60 minutes. What improvements could you achieve? To book a lesson or discuss your golfing goals for 2015 please click here.
Please follow the link to my website for all our lesson prices and more - http://www.mikeovettgolf.co.uk/default.aspx.
Last week Phil Burt collected his new PING Karsten irons after his custom fit session on FlightScope. Phil had been using a set of Callaway X22 irons in graphite, which had not been customed fitted to suit his game.
The session started by Phil hitting several shots with his own 7-iron, averaging a distance of 124.4 yards. From the shots he hit, FlightScope recorded two very important factors that were having a detrimental effect on the distance he was hitting the ball: Phil launched the ball too high but without enough backspin.
After trying several heads from Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist and PING and numerous shaft options, we concluded that the PING Karsten was the best option. By optimising Phil's launch conditions we were able to increase his average 7-iron distance from 124.4 yards to 141.4 - a huge increase of 17 yards. This was achieved by decreasing his average launch angle for 24.1 degrees to 18.8 degree and increasing his average spin rate from 4888 to 5374.
Do you know if your launch conditions are optimised for maximum distance? To make sure you are not losing out, click here to book a custom fit session on FlightScope.
Congratulations to Rob Temple-Smithson who won the February Midweek Medal. Rob returned a fantastic score of nett 63 to win the competition by only shot, beating Paul Gumbrell into second place. Tim Osman completed the top three with a very good score of gross 73, nett 67. Well played to you all.
The competition standard scratch score remained unchanged at 68. After this brilliant round Rob had his handicap reduced by one shot from 13 to 12 (11.7). Paul also had his handicap reduced by one shot from 13 to 12 (12.2).
No 2's were recorded during the competition and the pot will roll-over to the next Midweek competition on Tuesday, 24 February - Stableford. A quadruple rollover!
Quiz Night - Don't miss out and join us for our first Quiz Night of the year on Friday, 6 March, Arrive 7.00pm to start 7.30pm. The Quiz will be hosted by our very own Tim Cattaneo. Only 4 team spaces are left, so sign up quick. It is £10pp for the night with Radek's spectacular Curry included. Entry fee to be paid to the office one week prior to the event. We look forward to you all joining us and testing your knowledge against your fellow golfer. 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes up for grabs.
Poker Night - This month we have our first Poker Night of the year on Friday, 27 March. Arrive 7.00pm to start 7.30pm. Texas Holden format in a friendly and relaxed format which is open to all, beginners to budding pros. Entry fee of £10pp which will include pizza and snacks to help you keep an edge against the other competitors. This will be a great night and I hope you will be able to be a part of the evening as we only have 12 spaces left.
Mark Gibson is a personal travel counsellor guru; Mark will be offering his services to you.
"At Travel Counsellors we believe travel should be personal. That's why you deserve your own travel expert who will take care of everything and will build something that fits you perfectly. Whether it's a short break or travel to a far flung destination or a Cruise we're here to help you".
As a special offer to you as a member of Hassocks Golf Club, Mark is offering a FREE airport lounge pass on all holidays over £500 per person. Mark will be in the Club house bar from 12.00pm until 2:30pm on alternate Mondays and Wednesdays during February. If you would like to have a chat with him about your travel plans over a coffee and a biscuit please feel free to come and meet him. If you are unable to meet Mark then you can call him on 01273 761060 or email at mark.gibson@travelcounsellors.com. If you are looking to book your next holiday Mark is the person to see!
