Posts Tagged ‘Golf Lessons Sussex’

Putt around the Clock

This is another drill that is used worldwide amongst the elite touring professionals and one of my favourites’.  You need 18 tee pegs and at least 6 balls, I always recommend that you practise short game and putting with the balls that you play with on the course so you know exactly how that ball feels and reacts on certain shots etc.

1. Start by placing the first ring of tee pegs 2 feet away from the hole going around in a clockwise fashion. Then place a ring of tee pegs 3 feet away in the same fashion followed by another ring of tee pegs 4 feet away from the hole (see picture above).
2. Then place one ball by each tee peg 2 feet away from the hole.
3. The drill then starts where you need to hole each ball from the first set of tee pegs before you move back to the 3ft set of tee pegs. Once you have holed from the 3ft set of tees move back to the 4ft set of tee pegs and hole all of the putts.
4. Try and do this drill at least 3 times from all the pegs without missing any putts, if you miss then start over from the first set of pegs 2ft away.

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex
Best Putting Tips from the UK’s No1 Golf Coach where it counts – Results!

Line It Up!

This is one of the best putting tips used by the best players in the world.
Using the logo of the ball is a very effective way of helping you hole more putts. Far too many golfers faced with a short makable putt  set over the putt thinking about the negatives of missing the putt. To often you hear them say ” I just new I was going to miss that”, as they curse with anger.

Why not just focus on the positives on holing the putts instead?.

Here’s a great putting tip used by many of the top Professionals worldwide, and it works! It did for Martin Kaymer at the Ryder Cup last Year…

So after reading the putt start using the logo of the ball, or better still putt a line on the ball with a Sharpie pen and line up the logo/line down the intended start line of your putt, for example a straight putt would have you line the logo into the centre of the hole. A left lip putt would have you line the logo up towards the left lip.

You will be amazed that just by doing this you will start to focus more on getting the putter face square to the logo and then to hit the logo so it rolls over end on end.

You will be making a lot more of those knee knocking putts than you thought possible and this will most certainly grow your confidence and success.

Remember to commit to doing this on every length of putt, even the 40 footers!!

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex
Best Putting Tips from the UK’s No1 Golf Coach where it counts – Results!

DISTANCE CONTROL
THE TWO TEE PEG DRILL

One thing I am always asked as an instructor is how I can improve my distance control “I always leave my putts way short” is the common complaint. When you address the putt try hard to keep your hands, wrists and forearms relaxed as tension takes away the entire feel from the putter head. You need to be able to “feel the stroke” to really improve your distance control. With this drill place two tee pegs 18 inches apart and place two balls on each peg so you can see them more easily from long range distances. The idea is to then go to some various distances of say 18ft, 20ft, 25ft and so on and hit 3 putts from each location; the aim is to finish each ball between the two tee pegs.

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex
Best Putting Tips from the UK’s No1 Golf Coach where it counts – Results!

How to form the right Grip

The Grip is very important in the in the set up and golf swing as it is the only direct contact we have with the club. It gives us clubface control as well as leverage in the golf swing otherwise known as ‘lag’ which will help create more power.

When placing the left hand onto the golf club make sure you have the grip sat down across the fingers so the fleshy pad sits on top of the grip. Always hold the club down an inch from the top of the handle as well.
Close your hand onto the grip making sure you keep a short left thumb as extending your left thumb down the grip will cause the left wrist to lock and can cause injury to the hand or wrist. It will also reduce the power within your swing and will also force the grip up into the palm of the left hand. Keep the ‘V’ of the left hand pointing up between your collar bone and right shoulder.

Linking the hands becomes a choice for you. You can either Overlap, interlook, intermesh or baseball (this is suited for juniors of a young age and ladies).

Overlapping Grip

Baseball Grip

Interlocking Grip

Intermesh Grip

Placing your right hand onto the grip should be performed in the following way. Place the lifeline of your right hand onto the side of your left thumb and then close the right hand over onto the grip.

The inner part of the right forearm should be parallel to the target line and the ‘V’ of the right hand also pointing up in the same direction as the left hand ‘V’.

Keep the grip pressure light as a too tight a grip will rob you of clubhead speed and power.

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex

PUTTING LESSON WITH TOMI PUTT LAB

I had a client come to me for a putting lesson this week and he was getting really fed up because each week he had been out playing his partner from tee to green but once on the putting green it was a different story.

He was losing each week due to poor putting and as usual his playing partners were full of advice, “you’re aiming too far to the right with the putter head”, “you keeping looking up”, you’re decelerating”. The list went on!!

My client mainly missed putts to the right of the hole and hated short left to right putts.

So we used the Tomi Putting Analysis system that I use along with high speed video camera technology to find out just exactly what was going on during the putting stroke. The indoor putting green that we used was set up for a dead straight 8 foot putt.

Here are the pictures of my clients putting stroke before any changes were made.

The putter face was square to the line of putt as you can see from the numbers above, so that was not an issue.

The putter was returning to the ball at impact with a face pointing to the right of the target. In fact 4.6 and 3.4 degrees to the right of the hole and the path of the putter was 2.2 and 8.2 degrees to the right of the target line. Now we can see why he was missing his putts to the right; putter face open and path to the right = miss putts right

The putter head was opening up too much during the back stroke 10 and 9 degrees of rotation, which is a lot for an 8ft putt.

So after we viewed the Tomi Data and the high speed video analysis of his putting stroke we needed to change just one thing with my client and that was to reduce the amount that the putter face opened during the back stroke. Below are the results.

Putt head rotation reduced to just 4, 4, 4, 2, 2 opening in the back stroke.

Path of putter through impact improved to 1.2, 1.2, 1.0, -0.4, -0.4.
The putter head alignment at impact improved dramatically to just 0.6 open.

Now with the face of the putter opening just by 4, 4,4,2,2 degrees we had instantly improved his path of his putter during his putting stroke to and we also improved his putter face alignment at impact. This lead to twenty 8 foot putts holed in a row. All we did was to get him to weaken his left hand grip slightly by gripping it more in the palm and not in the fingers.

So next time you start missing a few putts, bear in mind what a session on the TOMI PUTT ANALYSIS software could do for you.

PS. My client played golf today and shot his best ever score of 76 and took just 31 putts instead of his average of 41..

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex

The “Tee Peg” Drill

This drill is a very popular amongst the top professionals to improve the path and ball striking purity. You can do this drill using any club, but start with a 6 iron.

1. Place a row of four tee pegs just outside the toe end of the club about an inch apart. Then place one tee peg just outside the heel of the club and running up parallel to the shaft.
2. Tee a ball up in between the front two tee pegs, see below picture. 

Hit some shots with a full swing but half the pace of your normal swing so you can get a feel of the club going through the gap, not hitting the outside tee pegs. Once your confidence and swing path improves you can then get your swing back up to the normal tempo and rhythm.

Keep your arms and hands as relaxed as possible as tension is a big “feel” killer in a golf swing.

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex

Lose the Tension for more Distance

Tension is a huge energy sapper in a golf swing, so when you set up to the ball make sure that your grip pressure is relaxed. The best way of doing this is to think about your forearms, if you keep these relaxed it is impossible to have tight tense wrists and a tight grip. Keep your chin held up and your neck muscles relaxed as this will also contribute in making a good athletic body turn which in turn leads to power. Remember your arms are the levers in a golf swing so keeping these relaxed adds to increased speed and power.

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex

THE FAIRWAY BUNKER SHOT

Escape the sand and play these shots like the pro’s…

Fairway bunker shots can be very intimidating for many golfers, but if you learn and practise the right techniques you will soon enjoy these shots. To start with, when playing out of fairway bunkers, it is important to take one to two clubs more than normal and make sure you have enough loft on the chosen club to clear the lip of the bunker. Set up normally with your feet slightly wriggled into the sand for stability and the ball positioned more toward the middle of your stance. Next step, which is very important, grip down slightly on the club for greater control. By also lifting your chin up a little from your chest gives you the feeling of standing “tall” and increases the chance of hitting the ball first, which if you are going to be successful at this shot, it’s a must. Making a swing at 70 percent of your normal speed will give you a great chance of hitting a clean, solid shot.

So, Hitting a shot from a fairway bunker poses no great problem if the ball has a good lie.

On long fairway bunker shots, Rescue (Hybrid) clubs or middle irons as well as 5 and 7 woods can be used with great confidence in this situation. Don’t try to overpower this shot. Restrict your golf swing a little via your body turn and swing easy and in balance.

With a bad lie in the bunker you need to re think and play more of a percentage shot, choose the club you are confident with, from say a 7 iron upwards. Take note of any other trouble and look to get the ball back into the fairway. Observe the course. Aim for a safe part of the fairway and just get your ball back into play.

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex

How to Hit the Pro Style Draw

Many golfers all over the world would love to consistently hit a sweet, little DRAW. In my experience the major reason that most golfers fail with this particular shot is because they have a lack of understanding for how this shot is created. There has been a lot written and filmed on how to hit a draw, for example, your clubface has to be facing the target at address and at impact. That is completely incorrect, yes you will hit a right to left ball flight but the ball will always finish to the left of target. Quite often golfers are under the impression that the swing path governs the balls initial direction and the face puts the spin on the ball. This is unfortunately wrong information and will not produce the results of that sweet little draw you are after. We now have scientific evidence, from devices such as Trackman, Flightscope and other ball flight, swing path and clubface radars which track what is actually going on in the golf swing and gives us the DNA of what created that particular ball flight. This is hard plan facts, no guessing just pure scientific facts on what produces a draw. I am going to share with you how to hit the draw and what creates the right to left spin.

THE NEW WAY OF HITTING A DRAW

The first thing that we need to understand is the relationship of the clubface to the target line and the clubface relationship to the swing path.

The initial start direction of your shots is highly governed by the clubface at impact, basically to a large degree the ball will start where the clubface is pointing at impact. The swing path is what creates the curvature on the ball flight. Swing path tilts the spin axis of the ball.

So with this in mind we know that the clubface has to be open to the target line at address and impact but closed to the swing path. If we have the clubface 2 degrees open to the target line at address and impact the swing path needs to be 4 degrees right of the target line. The swing path is farther right than the clubface is aiming creating the “open to the target line but closed to the swing path” position. 

This is what is going to create the ball to start right of target and then drawing back onto the target during its flight (right to left ball flight).

THE SET UP POSITION

How you set up and position the body at the address is very important as it key in hitting the draw.

• Your right foot needs to be a couple of inches back at the address and make sure you align your hips and shoulders on the same lines as the feet, this creates a closed stance to the target line.
• The body alignment will create the swing path that we need, the in to out swing path which will produce the draw ball flight.
• The backswing will feel flatter than normal which is great as it will make it a lot easier in creating the in to out swing path.
• Make sure you swing along your body alignment and try not to re-route the club to the outside in the downswing.
• The forearms should feel quite in the downswing and through impact as we need to remember the clubface needs to be closed to the swing path and open to the target line to produce that sweet little draw.
• The ball should start to the right of your intended target and then curve back onto the target during the ball flight.

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex

HOW TO HIT THE PRO STYLE FADE

Many golfers all over the world would love to consistently hit a sweet, little fade. In my experience the major reason that most golfers fail with this particular shot is because they have a lack of understanding for how this shot is created. There has been a lot written and filmed on how to hit a fade, for example, your clubface has to be facing the target at address and at impact. That is completely incorrect, yes you will hit a left to right ball flight but the ball will always finish to the right of target. Quite often golfers are under the impression that the swing path governs the balls initial direction and the face puts the spin on the ball. This is unfortunately wrong information and will not produce the results of that sweet little fade we are after. We now have scientific evidence, from devices such as Trackman, Flightscope and other ball flight, swing path and clubface radars which track what is actually going on in the golf swing and gives us the DNA of what created that particular ball flight. This is hard plan facts, no guessing just pure scientific facts on what produces a fade. I am going to share with you how to hit the fade and what creates the left to right spin.

THE NEW WAY OF HITTING A FADE

The first thing that we need to understand is the relationship of the clubface to the target line and the clubface relationship to the swing path.

The initial start direction of your shots is highly governed by the clubface at impact, basically to a large degree the ball will start where the clubface is pointing at impact. The swing path is what creates the curvature on the ball flight. Swing path tilts the spin axis of the ball.

So with this in mind we know that the clubface has to be closed to the target line at address and impact but open to the swing path. If we have the clubface 2 degrees closed to the target line at address and impact the swing path needs to be 4 degrees left of the target line. The swing path is farther left than the clubface is aiming creating the “closed to the target line but open to the swing path” position.

This is what is going to create the ball to start left of target and then fading back onto the target during its flight (left to right ball flight).

THE SET UP POSITION

How you set up and position the body at the address is very important as it key in hitting the fade.

• Your left foot needs to be a couple of inches back at the address and make sure you align your hips and shoulders on the same lines as the feet, this creates an open stance to the target line.
• The body alignment will create the swing path that we need, the out to in swing path which will produce the fade ball flight.
• The backswing will feel more upright than normal which is great as it will make it a lot easier in creating the out to in swing path.
• Make sure you swing along your body alignment and try not to re-route the club to the inside in the downswing.
• The forearms should feel quite in the downswing and through impact as we need to remember the clubface needs to be open to the swing path and closed to the target line to produce that sweet little fade.
• The ball should start to the left of your intended target and then curve back onto the target during the ball flight.

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex