Lesson Three

Simon Davies, Golf Coach Simon Davies PGA Assistant Professional [email protected] Hi Tom, It wasn’t ideal conditions we had to work in on Sunday, however you still managed to impress me and I am seeing some definite improvements in what was only our third session. You are beginning to develop feel and understand why you are hitting good shots and the occasional bad one. This is very impressive and encouraging as we have only had three sessions! To recap to main points from Sunday’s session;

Set, Look, Hit Drill – three pitching positions • • • • • • • • • • •

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“7-5” Position Turn the upper body and set the arms at 7 o’clock with the club head opposite the hands. Hold this position, look and make sure that; The shaft is parallel to the ground The club face is square – the toe of the club should be pointing up at the sky Look back at the ball and hit Make sure you release the club and hold the position “9-3” position Turn the upper body and set the arms at 9 o’clock to form the “L” position. Hold this position, look and make sure that; The arms are at 9 o’clock (a change in position which change the distance of shot) The club face is square The shaft is going through your right shoulder Look back at the ball and hit Again make sure you release so that your arms are pointing at 3 o’clock and hold the position

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“11-1” position Turn the upper body and set the arms at 11 o’clock, just short of a full swing. Hold this position, look and make sure that; The arms are at 11 o’clock The hands are opposite the right shoulder Look back at the ball and hit As this is the longest pitch, really focus on turning the body through impact smoothly as this will maintain control Hold your finish and keep balanced

Conduct the “set, look, hit” drill with three balls, hitting one ball for each position, just as we did in the lesson. Do the drill for each of your three wedges, which will then give you nine distances Change wedge once you achieved an average distance for each position Before playing, this is a great warm up drill to loosen the muscles and engage the brain as the drill progressively builds the golf swing. One point to watch out for was your alignment. Ensure that you are set up square to the target with your body, a few times your body was aiming right of target! Use your pre-shot routine when practising and this should correct your alignment inconsistencies. Keep up the hard work! Simon