On The Range .

Benny's Lesson 11th August:-

There is a saying, “If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're probably right!”

Benny now believes in himself.  In his last few rounds he is breaking a 100 and breaking 50 for 9 holes without a struggle. His self-image is now of a 90's golfer.

During the last 2 months we have worked hard and are now getting results. Your golf improvement is not about taking one golf lesson or reading and experimenting on golf tips, or even worse, looking for a magic cure in golf equipment.

Todays golf lesson was mainly a swing maintenance lesson. We wanted to take an overall look at Benny's technique. There were a few problems in Benny's back swing. The swing plane being a little flat and in his change of direction into the downswing, he was coming over the top and hitting the occasional shank.

Once again we worked on his short pitching (35-40 meters). Although its improving he is still a bit steep into the downswing, taking a bigger than desired divot, he also has a little bit too much body movement.

Benny did great and is getting a much improved ball flight and contact. 

Over the last few weeks I have been teaching Benny the punch shot and he is now implementing it with success on the golf course. Today I taught Benny clubface control thru the hands and what influence this has on his ball flight. The hands control the clubface and the clubface is the major influence on ball flight and direction. Too often golfers are too focused on big body parts without the correct hand and clubface control. The body does not know where to aim and how to react; it reacts to the ball flight.

This was exciting for Benny to be able to learn new things and to start having some control over his ball flight, by truly understanding the role of the hands and clubface.

Good work Benny!!

Benny Achieves a Personal Best !

On Course lesson August  4^th

A big day for Benny achieving his personal best 9 hole score of 43. It did not come without a struggle. This was our first 18 hole course lesson and Benny started with a solid bogey down the first par 4 and then had a total collapse over the next 6 holes, losing his routine and rhythm.  His decision making process was gone and most of  his body language was negative.

This is a situation many golfers get into on a golf course. This is a dangerous time when they start experimenting with their swing and often their fellow golfers, at this point, with all good intentions start offering their advice. The situation deteriorates and things go from bad to worse .

Now the hard work began, getting Benny back on track.  Bringing his attention to the fact  that he had lost his normal routine. His body language was negative and his thought processes, that we had been working on, were nonexistent.

“What should I do?” said Benny. My reply was to hang in there and get back to the things we had been working on and by the 9^th hole he made a solid bogey 5 on  a tough par 4. He followed this up with a par on the 10th hole. He then played the best 9 holes of his life, highlighted by a birdie 3 on  the 17^th hole. There was one brain lapse with a 4 putt, but apart from that it was high quality golf that Benny had never experienced before.

 The final score was 98, with a front nine of 55 and a back 9 of 43.

This was one of Benny's great learning days. Golf is not all a bed of roses. Don’t quit, but grind it out and you never know what can happen. 

Home Work        
   1. Benny is still pulling some of his putts and his tempo was out.
   2. He needs some more stroke mechanic work on his eye line putter trainer and to work on an even tempo thru his stroke.
   3. His bunker game and chipping have improved but is still not yet at the level it needs to be. 
    4. The wedge game is improving,but still room for improvement.

                        Great work Benny!  Stay tuned to the Benny Project .