Thread: 2nd lesson

My first lesson was in 1984
My second was today!!!

Not much has changed... my left hand grip is still bad... (that's right hand grip for you righties).

After looking at a video of my swing 2 years ago I made some big changes..probably too big and went the other way.

I'm booked in for more lessons so I hope I improve once I get used to all the adjustments that need to be made.

Stand more upright.
Loosen up a bit.
Fix that grip.
Stop falling over forward too easily... get more steady (vertical).

Got a lot of notes from him to go over...

Too scared to try and make big changes of course as I'm playing on Friday...
I'll go with the new information and try and put it into play and not worry about the score too much.　Who knows it may work.



I may record my progress here as a little blog...

Slept on it.

Hit about 80 balls chipping in the garden today with a better grip and it felt better than I thought it was going to.

Then took the driver to the park with some plastic balls and hit about 10... couldn't tell if I was hitting it OK with those things...

So, took an old ball across the road to the cycling path on the Edo river (Chiba side)... cleared some long grass... tee'd up a little higher than usual...
because my stance is taller and didn't want to top it...

Went over everything the guy told me... had a swing... and watched the ball fly across the river into Saitama and onto the golf course. straight for a change.


Playing tomorrow... hope I hit a few nice tee shots...

Glad to hear that you are working on your swing and think that it will be interesting to see the progress. Hit 'em long and straight tomorrow Mak.

Originally Posted by alongdriver

Glad to hear that you are working on your swing and think that it will be interesting to see the progress. Hit 'em long and straight tomorrow Mak.

Thanks AD!


Played OK but the changes were drastic so the aim was a bit off.
A par 4 hole I've parred 3 times in a row...I got a 10. I don't even know how that happened. (it's about the only hole I can par... ).

Less slices but a few more balls pulled straight just OB.
Well not a few... a lot.
Still have a psychological pond magnet on all my 'new' balls.
Will have to use old balls near water...
So my overall score didn't improve at all... yet I was putting ave 1.7 so once I got on the green I was doing well. Had a lot of rain to blame as well plus nine holes on a course I hadn't been on before.

Looking forward to my next game!!!

Just went to the range to try and get used to the new grip and stance...and get a rhythm going. Still pulling a lot of them...but they are going straight enough.
Lining up the ball a few millimeters off center makes a huge difference... either way. I still tend to slice if I line it up in the middle... hit it almost perfectly if I line it up a couple of mm on the inside... but will pull a few of those off the heel.

The good news is I'm already seeing an extra 20 or 30 yards in distance with my driver. (back to where I was a year ago with my persimmons ).

My 3rd lesson will be on the 9th and looking forward to it. I'm sure I have still not got the new stance right and he will point that out...

I seem to be pulling a muscle in my back with the new stance... maybe I'm not used to it or I'm doing something wrong again... I may need some yoga to loosen up more.

Had my 2nd lesson today at the range...

Blog rant!

Maybe in the coming months I can still look back on this rant and see other things I was doing wrong but wasn't aware of at the time.... so will just ramble on while today's lesson is fresh in my mind.

First was a quick putting session.
Thought I'd show him...as I 'think' I'm a damn good putter.
He asked me to do a few 2m putts while he watched... perfect distance but about 2 or 3cm off target to the left. Still good enough to almost fall in the hole!!!

He then got me to freeze at address and went over a few things.
I was apparently standing too far away from the ball...
He got me to line the ball up directly beneath my right eye (I'm a lefty) and we did a bit of ball dropping from my eye...onto a ball below.
My eyes were about 10cm back from the target line before...

Then a bit of left hand only tapping of the ball at different distances...
Then he let me putt again... every putt thereafter was near perfect...
I believe he has helped me improve my perfect putting!!

Next back outside and he let me hit my approach wedge for a while.
Trying to keep in mind what he told me last time I thought I was doing OK.

Nup... Still too stiff and too much strength in my grip. And not getting distance in my shots.
Took me aside and did a lot of work on my hips.
After 8 years of racing bicycles my flexibility is close to zero...
He was basically grabbing my hips and shaking them with my back swing and downswing and trying to loosen me up. Thought my spine was going to fall to bits. May need to do some yoga I think.
Did some other exercise pitching balls and holding my backswing on a high bench while I just simulated starting my swing with my front hip. I could see how unco-ordinated I have become over the years.

I still use my arms too much and not enough of my lower body.
He had me leading the downswing with my hip but it hurt like hell. (back muscles).

I have enough to work on now till my next lesson on the 30th.

At the end he had another look at my driver swing and I'm hitting about 30 yards further already since he saw me last time and was happy to see that.
Instead of dropping at the 200 yard mark they were slamming into the 250 yard sign half way up the net. I was able to do that last year with my persimmons but lost a lot of distance with adjustments trying to keep my new driver straight.... But now I'm getting the hang of it.

Still a few hooks and slices. I'm quite happy with the quick progress here.
Still have to put the reigns on with some swings to stop me trying to belt it...

He has suggested I get a heavier shaft and a bit stiffer, as the one I have is way too light and whippy for me.

Time to look for a new

I've got a driver that shouldn't be too whippy for you. It is an 8.5* SMT Spectrum on a 2X Fujikura TW84. If you can whip that one...
Weight = 340g
Swing Weight = E-1

Seriously though, that sounds quite intense, but if it works then it's all good.

Originally Posted by alongdriver

I've got a driver that shouldn't be too whippy for you. It is an 8.5* SMT Spectrum on a 2X Fujikura TW84. If you can whip that one...
Weight = 340g
Swing Weight = E-1

Seriously though, that sounds quite intense, but if it works then it's all good.

Will be looking for lefty ones similar to that I guess.

Will move this to the blog section possibly soon.

Had the 3rd lesson today:

4 of us...in the class. Usually only 2 per session, 4 is the max.

First we were taken upstairs for a putting session.
2 pairs putting to each other on a fairly fast uneven artificial grass balcony.
The grass so old it was a bit like moss...wet as well.
Did a few triangle putts to three ball targets... and could see that putting to targets to my left was harder to line up than targets to my right. ( I'm a lefty).
Therefore I have to take extra care...

When I saw that I had trouble lining up those kinds of putts, I found a good way of lining up the ball and target with my shaft and line all parallel with my eyes.â„¢ He didn't actually teach that, I just happened to figure it out myself. May post a pic and diagram later...â„¢

Back to the range:
Short lecture and demo by the instructor: Trying to drum it into our heads not to use any force but to let the club head do the work...
All four of us still grip a bit too tight...although I believe it just looks like I'm holding it tight. I honestly feel that if I was holding it any looser I'd be dropping it.
He then put us on a bit of a pressure test to each hit one driver shot with the others intently watching. I drew 4th off the tee.
First poor girl sliced it and it went about 40 yards.
Second man hit his about 120 yards.
Next elderly guy maybe 140 yards...
(they were all pretty much beginners... as I am ).
I was up last...
Keeping in mind that I didn't have to hit it very far to win this longest drive contest, I just took it easy. Slow back swing...woosh... hit the back net about 20 yards up at 200yards with a very slight slice... very very slight Where it hit the wall was dead straight however it started out to my right before lining up with my target area.

That was the only drive of our lesson.

The instructor noticed my slight slice was still there and he then decided to work on that...

How?
Wth the 9 iron.
Just had me chipping as gentle as possible and working up the distance gradually until he saw why I was slicing so much.

He told me my right wrist was too stiff at impact and follow through. Then we started again with tiny chips and a soft as possible grip and letting my right wrist hinge more... The slice disappeared instantly.

However it changed the timing of my swing and now will have to work on that again... pulling them a bit but they are going straight. The full swings that do go straight were landing straight. No drift to the left.

4th lesson today.

One more putting session: Only 2 of us today. 30 minutes:
Working on distance and set up. Nothing new, just drilling into our heads the basics again. Pointing out my weak points. Using my back hand only for about 20 minutes.

ie. back hand not loose enough...and trying to punch the ball rather than relying on a simple how far to take my back swing and let the club do the rest.

Then to the range:

Approach wedge and a back swing/take back lesson and drilling.
My back swing tends to come up too vertical too early so he had me working on back swing /wrist cock and stop and then letting the club loosely fall to the ball.

All my problems still seem to stem from trying to take control of the club and gripping or working too much with some strength.

The teachers problems are in trying to make me hit like a girl.

I'm getting there...

Hard to take what I've learned with short irons and applying the same principles with the driver...

Driver still erratic but nailing some monsters down the middle.