Greetings from Suzanne Wednesday, 18 January 2012

A Fresh Start
A fresh start, a fresh new understanding of your game. If you have not booked your FREE Assessment Lesson with me, please do so, time is running out! Some of your correspondence has asked for clarification on issues like;
• club-face positions
• Shaft positions and plane
• Spine angle
• Ball flights

Over the next couple of weeks I will go over some ‘Absolutes’ in the swing. Does not matter what you do to get to these positions or motions, if you achieve these absolutes in the swing, you are on the right track to consistent, efficient, crisp ball contact and flight.

This Weeks Four Absolutes
1. Turn: When you complete the backswing, the knee of your trail leg should be still and bent. Try to keep it slightly pointing inward so you feel ‘braced’ at the top of your swing. This will prevent any sway in the hips and sliding with the pelvis. Another fact of an efficient turn will be your shoulder blades will protrude at the top of the swing.
2. Shift: As you initiate down-swing your arms should feel like they are coming down your chest, not across. Your weight at this same point should be shifting to your front leg (closest to target).
3. Extend: Both arms should be fully extended after impact.
4. Turn: A the finish, your target side should form a straight line. Your chest should be pointing beyond the target, (turned more than just ‘at’ the target) and your shoulder blades should be protruding again.

See you on my Lesson T!

Regards,
Suzanne

ADDED DISTANCE AND ACCURACY: IN YOUR HANDS

Most golfers start their downswing with a ‘rotating’ movement that immediately puts their hands outside the line. From there it is very difficult to ‘release’ the hands fully through the impact area with the club face making contact with golf ball square to the target line.

Most are content to fight this; trying to adjust their hands through impact, but it results in a glancing blow with less weight transferred through impact as the hands can’t release through contact and nor can the weight move correctly from back-foot to front-foot.

If you are prepared to let us, we can work with any golfer who has a tendency to lose the ball to the right (for right-handers) and get them to a) release through the ball from the inside squaring the face at impact and b) transfer their weight properly through the swing for maximum power. If we can achieve just those two things then there is a raft of benefits to you:
It is a much more repeatable swing than one that requires you to ‘feel’ where your hands are during the swing and make adjustment,
It is going to deliver a more accurate ball flight,
A more powerful club head speed at impact and therefore a lot more distance,
the clubhead delivered square to the target line improving accuracy and adding yet more distance,
We’d like to deliver those benefits to more of our golfers. We’d like to see more of you in our coaching programmes working on your technique. The result is better golf. The result is more enjoyable golf. Challenge us to improve your swing.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE?

It doesn’t matter how skilled you are, a golf course will – at some point – combine with Mother Nature to get the better of you; leaving you “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” with some serious decisions to make.

When this scenario arises it’s up to you to decide whether you take your punishment (in which case you need to know the rules), or accept a little risk in exchange for a little reward; leaving you closer to target for your next shot.

Whatever decision you make it will carry some risk, so make your choice and be confident. To do this you should always know the basics, know your limits and – in most cases – have a ‘go to’ shot that you can rely on. If you’re lacking a certain shot then it’s definitely going to cost you.

I’m interested to know what decision you’d be likely to make in such a scenario. Are you the adventurous type or would you take less risk and make sure your next shot is in play? What would you do?