In my ongoing pursuit to drop my handicap I’ve been utilising all of the awesome teaching facilities that we have here at Peter Field Golf Shop. If you’ve not read my previous blog about my first session with Lewis, then check it out here to read about the start of my journey on tech.
I’m going to have to change the name of this series, but “Tech Lessons: An 18.8 Handicapper’s Perspective” isn’t that catchy of a title. It isn’t monumental but it’s progress in the right direction, in large part owing to the improved consistency in my swing that I’ve found in the last month or so. Since my previous session with Lewis my main focus has been on improving my weight transfer, particularly focussing on getting more weight into my right foot in my backswing. The work we’ve put in has paid off handsomely so far, I’ve never struck my irons so consistently and a good chunk of my shots are easily under control, even on mishits. But there is still more work to be done!
“I’ve never struck my irons so consistently”
The eventual aim here is based around neutralising my club path, with me being a consistent slicer of the ball, and that’s what we worked on further in our second session. When Lewis got me hitting balls at the start of the lesson, we took a look at where my swing is now and the first notable point was that I am still quite cramped at impact, this is a result of me not using my lower half as effectively as I could be. While I do turn well in my swing and clear my hips, I do it too late in the sequence, and therefore I’m not producing as much speed as I could be whilst using a club path that moves left of target, creating a fade/slice.
The main movement we focussed on in our session was getting my hands higher in my takeaway, the feeling I’ve been trying to create is that I was stretching for the light behind me in the teaching bay. From here this allowed me to use the ground much more efficiently as from a higher position at the top I can drop onto my lead foot and create turn and power from there. In addition, it allowed me to be less cramped at impact (see above) as I wasn’t leaning over forwards as much anymore.
The end product to all of this was a better club path and more speed. By the end of the session, I had actually got my club speed up from 86 mph to 94 mph, all due to my interaction with the ground and creating more stretch at the top.
“By the end of the session, I had actually got my club speed up from 86 mph to 94 mph”
The key to all of this was use of the pressure plates in addition to the cameras and launch monitor. This allowed us to keep tabs on the way that I was transitioning my weight in the backswing and downswing to make sure that I did use the ground as well as possible. We could also see the end product (path and speed) in black and white to validate the work that we are doing and show me that when I make the right movements, with Lewis’ guidance, the gains can be significant.
If any of this has spoken to you and you were unsure before as to whether tech lessons are worth it,
I can’t recommend it enough. I’ve never had such and understanding of where my misses come from and how to get my swing to a place where I’m consistently hitting better shots.
If your appetite has been whetted and you’re keen to see what all the fuss is about, then you can book lessons here, or phone the shop on 01603 740979.
