30 June 2023|Golfing with gratitude
Having dropped lots of hints ahead of my recent birthday, that were obviously too subtle so I doubled up ahead of Father's Day, my family gifted me a lesson at the St Andrews Academy. I've been chatting on and off with Mike Lander there since I did a couple of club fittings with him. I was taken by his enthusiasm and straightforward style. My daughters also had a lesson with him during their SALJGA sessions.
I've been reluctant to have any further instruction during the season as the last of my recent block knocked me back quite significantly, leaving me with 100 different thoughts running through my head on every shot. Is my setup correct, am I aiming correctly, am I transferring my weight properly, oh shit I've just slashed it into the trees! That's probably quite unfair, but I think most of my regular partners would agree that I went backwards for a while. I've been improving again lately though as I've focused more on tempo and tried to put the swing thoughts out of my head.
So why on earth have I gone for another lesson? Well, I felt my game has rather plateaued and GolfDataLab combined with ShotScope watch data suggested areas for improvement were approach shots and par 3 strategy. From playing, I have been getting increasingly frustrated with being good off the tee but then missing the green with my next shot (my scrambling stats are good though!). It's been a two-way miss, but usually over-drawing and missing left. From working through The Practice Manual by Adam Young, I suspected it was a club face control issue but couldn't determine why as I thought I was following my previous instruction. I wanted a fresh pair of eyes, hence deciding to see Mike.
Will review it in due course - it’s not an easy read
At the outset of the lesson, we talked about why I was there and the data I've gathered over the season to date. How can we improve my 100-175 yard accuracy? First up was a discussion on expectation management and what actually constitutes a good result from those distances. That really backed up Jon Sherman's Four Foundations book and reassured me that I'm on a better path with my expectation management these days.
Then we got into the lesson proper and he had me hitting a pitching wedge to a notional target on the range. It was quickly obvious that I didn't have the club face under control and I was too "handsy" to try and compensate for a couple of swing flaws. The club was getting ahead of my hands and I was throwing my right elbow which contributed to turning the clubface over even more. The technology used at the Academy is excellent and it was great to see my swing from different angles and understand better where the issues are.
Then the work started. They are relatively small changes, but tricky to implement. We wanted to work on a combination of "feels" and technicals. We used a "tour striker" ball to work on keeping my arms closer together so I don't "lose" my right elbow behind me in the swing. Then an exercise where I place my right hand behind my left elbow and make a swing. A slight change to my setup so I stand a little further away and hinge better to increase the space for my hands/arms to move in. Finally, we shortened the arm swing and worked on my hip rotation - imagine a Tommy Fleetwood style motion almost holding off the finish to stop me from rolling my right arm and closing the face. The before and after videos demonstrated a considerable difference given what felt like small changes. The ball flight now had more of a neutral path with a pronounced reduction in draw.
For a change, it's been a relatively easy alteration to take onto the course. I've played four rounds since the lesson and generally been much happier with my irons. It's far from perfect but I can see what I need to work on when practicing. I'm combining it with some of the stuff from Adam's book about improving concentration and focus too. It definitely takes concentration and what feels like a slower backswing, but the good strikes are much better and I have definitely been straighter. An Amazon "tour striker" replica has been purchased and will be used for practice sessions.
Thoughts about the academy
I've had lessons from a few different places, but there are some things about the St Andrews Academy that really set it apart from the others I've used.
Technology: it all just seemed better integrated. Multiple camera angles and quick feedback.
CoachNow App: this is really the biggest differentiator. Getting a video review of the lesson plus my trackman stuff sent to me was fantastic. I don't need to remember what to do, it's all there for me in the app. Two 5 minute summary videos: one repeating the feels I'm looking for and the other talking over the trackman view. There's also a chat function where I've been able to ask Mike other questions and report back on progress.
Training aids: the training aids Mike used during the lesson really helped establish the feelings I was looking for.
Mike: he took time ahead of the lesson to talk about my game, what I'm hoping to get out of the lesson and what we are going to focus on. His explanations and instruction throughout the lesson were clear and easy to follow. The follow-up videos and ongoing support are great.
Conclusion
Fortunately, there were no really fundamental faults that need to be fixed and the changes we are working on are delivering a noticeable improvement on the course. I'll keep working on all the feels we talked about and introduce the tour striker into my practice. Hopefully the early momentum continues. Here's to hitting more greens!
A strange-looking device, but it’s effective!
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