Posts Tagged ‘Golf Lesson Sussex’
Simple Changes – Huge Improvements
Today I had a client in for a lesson who had been struggling with his game for a couple of months. He had been putting off the lesson for a couple of reasons, one of which was the weather, I must admit it has not been to warm recently..
Within 5 minutes we had him hitting the ball so solid he said “I wish I had come to see you sooner. I have been struggling on for a few weeks now, trying to adjust things myself, but just could not put my finger on it”.
Let’s look at the improvements that we made.
THE PROBLEM
As we look at the photo above we can see that my client was over reaching for the golf ball (left photo). His hands were to far away from his legs and this was encouraging his weight to be to much on his toes at the address. The ball position was to far forward in his stance (right photo) causing him to hit the ground before the ball, heavy contact and very little distance. As he made his backswing the natural tendency was to lift his body up out of his posture. He did this to move his weight into the center’s of his feet to enable the body to turn in some kind of balance. With all this movement in the backswing the downswing resembled the same, with his body dropping down towards the ball in an aid to get back to his original set up position. The outcome of all of this was very weak strikes lacking distance.
THE IMPROVEMENTS
We worked on a posture drill to get him standing closer to the ball. This allowed for the arms to hang down freely from the shoulders and the weight was nicely balanced in the feet 50/50. We also moved the ball back a fraction in the stance so that the angle of attack would be a lot more consistent and this would improve the consistency in the strike. Now as he made his swing the body stayed in shape as he turned his body in the backswing and forward swing. There was no lifting and dropping of the body during the swing and the nett result – much better contact on the ball and full distance was regained in a matter of minutes.
From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy
PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
Great Improvements Made
Had a client of mine pop in for a lesson today and we made some tremendous upgrades to her swing. The key thing we focused on was improving her body turn/pivot.
As you can see in the above image (left picture) the swing before we made any changes. The hip turn was poor and as a result the swing had got long with a cupped left wrist which caused a very open clubface.
The main focus was incredibly simple; we focused on letting the right leg straighten a little in the backswing (right picture above). This in turn naturally shortened the golf swing as the core was more engaged. This also made it easier to get the left wrist in a much flatter position at the top of the backswing. Having the left wrist set better in the backswing ensured a square clubface which made it so much easier through impact which resulted in soft baby draws!!
The left picture above shows that the club was over plane in the downswing, this was a direct result all stemming from a poor body pivot which lead to a long swing with an open clubface. This makes it hard to control the accuracy of the golf shots and also lacks power and distance was being lost.
The right picture above shows the swing being on plane and in balance with a square clubface. Once again the swing thought was very simple, just let your right leg straighten a little in the backswing and hay presto we upgraded the left wrist position, clubface position and downswing plane which all lead to much greater accuracy and powerful iron shots.
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
HOW TO STOP THINNING YOUR WEDGES
HOW TO STOP THINNING YOUR WEDGES
It is so frustrating after you have hit a couple of reasonable shots on a par 4 or par 5 and are left with a nice 70 yard pitch into the green and then it happens, you skull it right across the back of the green!!
On minute you are looking to finish the hole off in a tour pro like fashion and the next minute you are searching for your ball in the long grass….
Lets stop this pain and watch the video as PGA Golf Coach Mark Wood explains the main common reasons as to why you might be thinning your wedge shots and how to fix it instantly.
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
Correct Distance to the Ball
Create Room to Swing
A great check point reference to see if you are the correct distance from the golf ball is to be able to have a hand span between your grip and the inside of the left thigh. You can do this whilst out playing on the golf course as it only takes a few seconds. Ensuring that you have created the necessary room for your arms to swing freely past your body during the hitting zone will get you hitting the ball much more solid from off the clubface.
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
Explosive Distance
Explosive Distance from the Tee
One way of creating energy in the golf swing is to increase the pressure point between your feet and ground in a backswing. Many golfers as they swing back pull the force up away from the ground and this creates a negative effect on creating power. Think of jumping up into the air if you kept your pressure of your feet very light on the ground and then jumped you will not get very high. If you increase your pressure down into the ground before you jumped you would jump much higher as it gives you more energy from a solid base.
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
In the Bleak Midwinter a joke to raise a cheer……
In the Bleak Midwinter a joke to raise a cheer……
Just thought you might appreciate a funny golf story to make you chuckle on a cold, bleak February day.
Does this story remind you of anyone you have played with…………..
While sitting at a table in the clubhouse after a game, Padraig remarked to a fellow club member’, I’m not going to play golf with Jim Lawler anymore. He cheats.’
‘Why do you say that?’ asked his friend.
‘Well, he found his lost ball two feet from the green’, replied Padraig indignantly.
‘That’s entirely possible’, commented his friend.
‘Not when I had his golf ball in my pocket’, retorted Padraig with finality.
Some Great Caddy Comments
- Golfer: Think I’m going to drown myself in the lake.
Caddy: Thinkyou can keep your head down that long? - Golfer: I’d move heaven and earth to break 100 on this course.
Caddy: Try heaven, you’ve already moved most of the earth. - Golfer: Do you think my game is improving?
Caddy: “Yes sir, you miss the ball much closer now. - Golfer: Do you think I can get there with a 5 iron?
Caddy: Eventually. - Golfer: You’ve got to be the worst caddy in the world.
Caddy: I don’t think so sir. That would be too much of a coincidence. - Golfer: Please stop checking your watch all the time. It’s too much of a distraction.
Caddy: It’s not a watch – it’s a compass. - Golfer: How do you like my game?
Caddy: Very good sir, but personally, I prefer golf. - Golfer: Do you think it’s a sin to play on Sunday?
Caddy: The way you play, sir, it’s a sin on any day. - Golfer: This is the worst course I’ve ever played on.
Caddy: This isn’t the golf course. We left that an hour ago. - Golfer: That can’t be my ball, it’s too old.
Caddy: It’s been a long time since we teed off, sir.
(Jokes and storys from www.guysports.com)
Why not come and cheer yourself up a bit more by booking a lesson with me and make sure you are not the butt of a funny story this year!!
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
Worlds Leading Expert on Curing a Shank
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent.
Golf Lesson Sussex – Find More Yards
Golf Lesson Sussex – Find More Yards
Hitting the ball longer and straighter is high on the list of every golfer and here I am going to give you some very simple things that you can do to help you achieve those extra yards.
Firstly we need a nice solid base to swing from so I would like you to widen your stance just a little bit.You are going to do this by dropping right foot back another six inches away from the target. This will set you more behind the ball and promote an aggressive move into impact.
Secondly I would like you to make a real nice deliberate backswing. Make that first six inches of the take away from the ball nice and smooth, this will ensure that you fully turn your shoulders in the backswing, a feeling of turning your left shoulder behind the ball is our main focus here.
Lastly I would like you to have the feeling of swinging through the ball and not at the ball. Get to a full finish with tour weight finished nicely on your left side.
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
Well Done Steven
Very nice feedback from one of my clients…..
Thanks for helping me with my game in 2014, I’ve improved a lot and really appreciate your coaching.
I managed to win 3 trophies this year at The Nevill, the most by anyone in Centenary year of the club and handicap official reduced from 20 to 14. Below is a picture of me at the trophy presentation.
I’m taking a few weeks break but will have a think about my goals for 2015 but keen to start another course of lessons to get my handicap even lower!
Steven
Well done to all my clients on there recent successes.
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
Watch the Ball
Watch the Ball
Keeping your head down can cost you distance
THE POWER MOVE: Let your eyes follow the ball. You’ll turn through better and generate more swing speed.
It astonishes me on how many times I hear golfers say “I know what happened there I lifted my head on that shot” after they have hit a bad shot……….
I ask them to have a look at the video of that particular swing and their eyes are glued down at the ground, where the ball was, long after it has gone. I then say to them “so you lifted your head on that shot”…. Their response is “well that is what my playing partners say when we are out playing”
I am always encouraging my students who fall into to this category to keep watching the ball, let your eyes follow the ball, do not keep looking down at the ground as this will restrict you from turning your body through impact and to the full finish, costing you POWER and YARDS!!!
A free flowing motion will create speed and therefore POWER, so keeping your head down for too long will lose you power and distance. Bad shots are caused by things that have gone wrong in either the backswing or downswing, not because you lifted your head…..
Next time your practising or playing remember to let your eyes follow the ball and enjoy the extra YARDS!!!
From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy
PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent
Sink More Putts
My Best Putting Tip
I have been coaching golf for over 20 years and I have read, watched, listened and attended many golf coaching seminars with the world’s leading coaches and this is by far the best tip to get you holing more putts.
If you find yourself missing these putts, their is a good chance that you are moving your head and body around far to much as you make your putting stroke. If you do this you will also affect where you strike the putt on the putter face, this can lead to poor lag putting.
A good idea would be to focus on a specific area of the ball, the logo, a dimple or even a pen marking that you have put on your ball. Focus on this area when you are making your putting stroke and listen for the ball to drop into the hole.
Keeping your eyes still will also dramatically increase your chance of hitting the putts out of the center of the putter, this will alone improve your distance control.
From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy
PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at
Mark Wood
PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach
The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent