Changes Happening

I had a lesson last night with a guy called Paul Harrison. He's one of the top guys at N1 golf and is the Director of Coaching. http://www.n1golf.com/n1golftuition/pros-pharrison.asp

He did some remedial work on my game at the start of the year when my regular teaching pro was out through surgery and got me turning much better rather than sliding my hips back and through. The results were starting to come until the snow and wet weather came and the course was shut. Despite my win in the Jubilee Cup I have felt for a few weeks that there was "something" missing.

I've spoken about the lesson I had at Sand Martins (thanks to the wife working there) and how the pro Steve Cox explained that I was getting the club trapped too far on the inside. I mentioned this to Paul and he watched me hit a few. Why is it you are hitting them great when you are loosening up and as soon as the teacher stands there, especially with a camera, it all goes to pot? We had a look at the video and whilst I was still not quite there in terms of getting the club out in front, it was obvious that the biggest problem was a lateral slide of the hips and a dip into impact as I tried to drive towards the target. In essence, the left side was collapsing and all the power generated, starting with a good address and through to a solid coil, was being lost on the way through the ball.

We did a few drills and focused very much on the left leg staying solid through impact and the hips turning up and away through impact as opposed to travelling laterally. All that was happening was the right foot would slide through like Greg Norman's use to (but without his skill to match the club to the ball). Paul wanted me to strike the ball and then turn straight onto the right toe and totally eradicate the slide.

I have to say it was fine while he watched and the after video was actually the best the swing has looked in a long, long time. However once the lesson finished a combination of a hectic day in work, fatigue and memory loss meant I was struggling to bed the change in. Therefore it was with heavy heart and a large amount of trepidation I headed back to Maidenhead Golf Centre tonight. One of the problems was that my tempo got very quick again which is also contributing to the slide. I had my Tour Tempo (http://shop.tourtempo.eu/en/information) tunes on the Ipod and I started off really well with my wedges and short irons. I was turning and hitting against a much more stable platform. It did take some work once I moved up to 6 and 4 irons and woods off the tee were a step too far but for a first session I was very pleased. When it was good, boy was it good and the solidness gives much better distance without having to lunge and chuck the kitchen sink at it..

It's obviously early doors as they say, and the next step is to take it to the hallowed turf of the Royal Ascot practice ground and get a feel for how it stands up under more realistic conditions. I'll get my excuses in early and say I'm not too hopeful of a good score on Saturday at Pyrford or under the pressure of a monthly medal on Sunday but I can finally see some positivity.