Golf tips: Good practice with a purpose

A student of mine who practices 3-4 times a week for a few hours at a time described his practice to me the other day. What he informed me was no better than what I would expect from a most people. Lots of hitting golf balls, unstructured, unplanned and no measurement for success. The description of the practice routine was recovered somewhat by the fact that the pupil in question had realised that it wasn't good enough and had little effect on reducing his scores on the course. 

Anyway, we sat down and came up with a revised action plan for practice and here is what we came up with.

Example of a 1/2 day practice plan:

45 mins driving range

Starting with short irons working up to last few with driver & other longer clubs

Work back down to finish with wedges

30 mins putting

20 mins drills & technique

10 mins games & tests

1 hour golf course

Assess ball striking/divot shape, direction/shot shape & trajectory control

Short game awareness

Course management

30 mins driving range

Mid irons (mechanics/drills)

Work through set

Work at any weaknesses from the course

50 mins short game

Chipping/pitching/bunkers

Test/games (par 18)

Guess what the result was? A reduction in handicap is the answer. Over a two month period the result of planned practice was a reduction from an 11.2 exact handicap to 9.6 and on the brink of single figure handicap golf. The main reason for that is down to the practice having a purpose, is measurable and targets the scoring areas of the game. Yes we need to work on the swing but we all know by now that the majority of the game is played from inside 80 yards. A high percentage of the practice time should therefore be focusing on this aspect of the game and be tested with games such as Par 18.

The moral here is practice the right thing, have a purpose and you will be going a long way towards giving yourself the chance to shoot lower scores. Mix it up a bit day by day, sometimes more golf course time others all short game and some with intensive sessions working on driving and the longer clubs, but always have a purpose.

Enjoy

Dan Gale

PGA Professional/TPI Certified

Dan is a fully qualified member of the PGA & certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website at www.dangalegolf.com

Michael Farrier-Twist Feb 22nd 2012

Working on impact and through swing. Maintaining posture and controlling left foot roll through the ball allows for a stronger impact position as weight shifts onto right side. Also working here on preventing early extension from the top of the backswing moving into the downswing.

To get your swing analysed come visit for a lesson or feel free to send me your own videos and I will get back to you with an action plan to hit longer straighter shots.

Dan Gale
PGA Professional/TPI Certified

Dan is a fully qualified member of the PGA & Certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website on www.dangalegolf.com

Callaway Razr Fit & full 2012 Callaway product range is here, Fun times

Callaway Golf has introduced its exciting range of products for the 2012 season and The James Andrews School of Golf based at Sedlescombe Golf Club in East Sussex has them all for you to try and buy.

Offering a full range of demonstration clubs and various custom options thanks to the exceptional Opti-Fit custom fitting cart you are sure to find the correct club and set up to suit your game.

There literally is something for everyone in the range this year. Callaway have stuck to the philosophy of making the game easier and fun for all but have also introduced some great looking clubs for the better player including their first adjustable driver, I've hit it, it goes!! Many of the clubs have been successful on tour already this year most notably in the hands of Phil Mickleson,

Full range of 2012 Callaway equipment now in store

 

Callaway Razr Fit. A great entry into the
adjustable driver market

Razr X Black Irons
Great looking clubs for the mid handicapper

Come and see us soon in the Pro Shop and have a go with this exciting range of clubs. If you want to give us a call to book a FREE custom fitting then ring us on 01424 871700.

Cheers

Dan Gale

PGA Professional

TPI Certified

Dan is a fully qualified member of the PGA & Certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website at www.dangalegolf.com

Free custom fitting - The James Andrews School of Golf

Make the most of a free custom fitting at

The James Andrews School of Golf

During your stay at The James Andrews School of Golf take the opportunity to have a free equipment assessment and custom fit during your stay with our Club Fitting Specialist.

Making sure you have correctly fitted clubs will ensure that you are getting the maximum performance from your game as well as helping to prevent the possibility of injury. Taking this simple step to avoid any unnecessary problems is the final piece of the jigsaw alongside the swing tuition that you have received from our James Andrews School of Golf Instructors.

At the Golfschool we use the latest equipment from the top manufacturers in golf to ensure that you have a full range of fitting options to find the perfect set up to suit your physical and technical requirements. Any questions you may have from the importance of bounce on your wedges to the influence of an extra hybrid in the bag will be happily answered to assist you in shooting lower numbers out on the course.

Appointments with our Club Fitting Specialist are available 7 days a week and can be booked in the Professional Shop for anytime during your stay. If you would like to prebook an appointment then please call the Professional Shop on 01424 871700 or email proshop@sedlescombegolfclub.co.uk

“I cannot begin to tell you how important it is to get your clubs custom fitted. It is something all the Professionals do & will undoubtedly save you several shots a round.” Lee Westwood

Dan Gale

PGA Professional/TPI Certifed

Professional Shop Manager

Dan is a fully qualifed member of the PGA & certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website at http://www.dangalegolf.com/

Golf tips: Eliminate a miss for wider targets

Hitting a straight shot in golf is the hardest one to achieve. At the crucial point of impact the relationship between clubface and path must be spot on, any difference will result in curvature on the golf ball during flight. This is part of the reason that tour pro's set up to shape the ball one way or the other. It is safer to allow for something to happen to that ball, it also means they can visualise shots and how they need to be shaped in order to tackle doglegs and tight pin positions.

Now, what happens when you head out onto the golf course? Are you hitting a consistent shot or are you heading out onto the course hitting it everywhere but straight, not having a clue whether to aim left or right to allow for your misses? Well it might be about time that you looked at understanding the consistencies you do have in your game and eliminating one of your misses, left or right. The diagrams below explain why.....

Having to aim dead centre on a 40 yard wide fairway due to lack of directional control
means there is only a 20 yard miss on either side for a hook, slice, pull or push

Example (left to right ball flight): if you know you very rarely go left then you can always aim down that side.
If you hit it straight you hit left centre, fade you hit centre fairway & over cook it you may cling on to right half 

Even if you are looking at fixing your slice, if that slice is consistent it may be playable still. You certainly would benefit from reducing its size however a consistent shape is a good thing. Colin Montgomerie played for years at the top of European golf with a consistent fade and to this day plays the same shape. Martin Kaymer played the same shape and looked on course for world dominance in 2010. Yet a decision to change in order to shift the ball in other ways to suit one course, Augusta National, lead to him falling dramatically off of leaderboards worldwide.

My tip is to take a good look at your consistent shape and not necessarily ignore it but sometimes accept you have a natural and comfortable preference. If that's the case then you don't need to fight it as much, play with it and hit more fairways and greens.

Good luck

Dan Gale

Dan is a fully qualified member of the PGA & Certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website at www.dangalegolf.com

Golf tips: Alignment: More uses for alignment rod

Using alignment rods is a great way to not only improve your aim on the golf course but also to improve swing mechanics and encourage certain changes in regard to swing path and angle of attack, two of the key impact factors in golf.

A few examples of using alignment rods to improve technique, club path, ball flight control and strike are shown in the pictures below. A small investment but a very useful aid for players of all levels.

Placed in ground against back leg to reduce sway

Two to reduce sway but encourage weight shift on downswing

Placed on ground for alignment and swing path assistance

More alignment assistance & bucket for path

My favourite, rod in the ground for shot shaping. move ball left to right and right to left onto your target.
Great for ball flight control and understanding how impact factors are influenced.

Grab yourself some rods and add them to your practice bag. 

Discover that potential.

Dan Gale

PGA Professional 

TPI Certified Instructor

Dan is a fully qualified member of the PGA & certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website at www.dangalegolf.com

Golf tuition: Video analysis, pro's & cons

Video analysis is commonplace in the golf coaching world offering golfers of all levels the opportunity to receive visual feedback to aid the technical aspects of their development. The benefits of offering this feedback to a student is for them to be able to create a mental picture of the changes they are attempting to carry out. Having that visual image enables you to send the signals from your brain to the muscles to create new movements and improve technique. 

The main benefit for the coach is that it gets a lot of points across very quickly. If the famous saying is 'a picture paints a thousands words' then god knows how many words a video paints. As a coach I am constantly told how seeing the swing on video makes everything even clearer in a players head, making it a great tool for me when attempting to make change. This is down to the fact that people learn best both physically or kinesthetically. Seeing the swings and understanding the movements allows the player to visualise the change they are attempting to make or the position they are trying to achieve and attempt to turn the visualisation into movements.

I had an interesting conversation on Twitter the other day which for first time made me wonder more about the downside of video analysis. The problem is does the use of video analysis lead to too many people seeking a pretty swing? Does it prevent people from fully benefiting from the process of self discovery, a skill used throughout life? Does it make us over reliant on technology in order to control our game?

I think where a movement needs to be analysed and a fault identified then video is a great tool. The answers are there in front of you which you may need confirmed from the first impressions of the naked eye. I think however the balancing act comes when you need to make sure you are able to maintain a pupils ability to go through self discovery and learn their own swing and realise their own movements. I would never want a player to become dependent on video analysis. Golf is about ball striking and flight consistency, and ultimately hitting consistent shots to complete a round of golf in the fewest shots possible. Look on the European or PGA Tour and you know you will see no two swings the same, so is there even a right way anyway? That's another question for another time.

A great description was given to me by a fellow Twitter Professional who specialises in the mental side of the game. He described how video was useful so long as it was used to develop players as we are developing 'picture feelers' rather than 'mechanical thinkers'. A great way of describing the difference between using video as an aid to develop skills whilst still maintaining an emphasis on feel, creativity and ultimately self discovery rather than predetermined one dimensional robots. 

I hope this raises a few questions for other Pro's and your coaching or how you view video analysis. For me a useful tool as long as used in the golfers best interests.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave your views on video analysis for golf.

Dan Gale
PGA Professional
TPI Certified Instructor

Dan is a fully qualified member of the PGA & Certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website at www.dangalegolf.com 

New year, new you - Learn to play golf

So Christmas and New Year have past us by for another year and I, along with the influx of post Christmas weight gainers, are hitting the gym hard trying to get their bodies back into shape. The problem is the same old thing is going to happen. These people will get bored after a month or two and Mr Banatyne and other wealthy entrepreneurs will watch there bank accounts grow as your investment is wasted for the rest of the year. So why not use this time to learn to play golf. Learn a sport that is good for you and a lot more enjoyable and contains just as much and more self fulfillment as you improve. The benefits from golf stretch far beyond just going for a walk........

Health benefits

Studies have found that walking nine hole of golf can burn around 720 calories for every round of golf played is walking whilst carrying your golf bag. Numbers differ depending on use of trolley's as well and can obviously drop hugely if a buggy is used. Findings have also discovered that golf has a positive effect on reducing your levels of bad cholesterol whilst maintaining good levels of your good cholesterol. The benefits to this include lowering the risk of things such as heart disease. The swinging action of a golf club will also help with flexibility and mobility quality for you body as well as helping with some minor muscle strengthening at toning.

Mental benefits

The fact that golf is a game which is played outdoors has a great effect on clearing the mind and reducing stress levels. This is particularly good after a long day in the office or on site where it is nice to unwind in the calm, tranquil surroundings of the golf course. As the physical demands are also lower, than say jogging on a treadmill, the rewards come from improving your golf game with each visit. The health and fitness benefits come as a by product meaning you are less likely to hit that wall in fitness where things get boring and you eventually lose interest.

Fun & sociable

Golf is a great game for your social life. More and more people are participating in the game making it the ultimate social outing. Meeting people of a similar level to you is easy and makes the weekly outing to the golf course even more enjoyable.

Cost

The cost of gyms memberships generally costs between £25 and £70 per month. This fee is normally worthwhile for first month or so then gradually becomes worse and worse for value. Heading down to your local driving range will probably cost around £3 for a bucket of balls and they will lend you a golf club to play with. This is enough for you to begin your participation and then see from there how you go.

Make the step to a healthier, happier you in 2012.

Enjoy the game.

Dan Gale
PGA Professional
TPI Certified Instructor

Dan is a fully qualified member of the PGA & Certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website at www.dangalegolf.com 

Winning

"Its not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference"        Bryant, Bear.

Think about it

Dan Gale
PGA Professional
TPI Certified Instructor

Dan is fully qualified member of the PGA & Certified TPI Instructor

Check out his website at www.dangalegolf.com

What makes a top player, a great player......

What do top players do, the great ones, the ones who win the events.......... they hit fairways when playing safe, hit the green every time with a wedge, always get up  &down from fringe and make 3 footers with ease.

Get great at the easy shots!

I went 449 holes without a three putt in 2011

Colton Alleyne-Davis Dec 2011

Face on swing looking good, work the lag Colton, work the lag

Colton Alleyne-Davis Dec 2011

Much better plane and clubface position Colton

Brad Harris Dec 2011

Brad working on backswing plane

Working on a bit of one plane backswing, left arm matching shoulder plane at the top