Gurr

GreeBo

Game totally gone to pot since the Jimmy Bruen qualifier in WoodBrook a few weeks ago. As likely to stripe it as shank it at the moment.

Think I've "developed" a sway, first ever lesson booked for Wed night with David Kearney, anyone ever get a lesson with him before?

BUACHAILL

GreeBo wrote: »

Game totally gone to pot since the Jimmy Bruen qualifier in WoodBrook a few weeks ago. As likely to stripe it as shank it at the moment.

Think I've "developed" a sway, first ever lesson booked for Wed night with David Kearney, anyone ever get a lesson with him before?

Nope never but know how your feeling, Some lateral movement as you swing is ok but a sway will never be consistant !! I had it not so long ago and can be head wrecking, im no coach but on the sway thing widen your stance a little makes it harder to sway and try keeping your head still helps hugely !!

For what its worth !!

GreeBo

Yeah Ive had some success with a wider stance and also a much narrow one, but like I said Im not consistently bad or good anyway, so hard to tell whats working.

I'm really only going for the lesson so I can clear my head and just have one solid thing to think about.

Most frustrating thing ever.

Mister Sifter

Try hitting 50 balls with your feet together. Great drill for preventing a sway.

f22

Greebo, if it's any help I've just come out of the worst slump since starting the game.

My issue was too much weight on the left side causing no end of problems. Switched more to my right side and hitting the ball really well again. No sway, no over the top and no shanks.

BUACHAILL

I think we as amateurs are stubborn and ignorant to think we dont need lessons, I used to be like that having never received a lesson and getting to 9 thinking I didnt need one, what rubbish !! Professionals get coached every day as they realise the importance of it ( fair enough its their living but even still ). As a kid playing soccer etc we practiced 3 times a week and played a game at the weekend, We had 2 coaches and we were always working on something, that remains the case at all levels of football in general so why do we not do it in golf ? people play once a week and give out about how bad they hit it, what you expect ???

Sorry off thread a little but you get where I am going with it. Get lessons and make them a regular thing so you are always focused on your game, improvements can only be made, I started doing it this year and have a 4 point check before I hit the ball and the difference has been unreal !!

GreeBo

Mister Sifter wrote: »

Try hitting 50 balls with your feet together. Great drill for preventing a sway.

Thanks. I'm doing a lot of that on the range at the moment, 3/4 swing with feet no more than a foot apart, works pretty well. It also seems to show up that Im lifting my left foot a bit on my backswing (as you cant do it with feet together and it feels weird keeping in on the ground)

Have a hit a few with my left foot firmly on the ground and it feels great, that solid left side they talk about I guess

I'm working on not shifting the weight no further than the insides of both feet, but Im trying too many things at the moment.:o

GreeBo

BUACHAILL wrote: »

I think we as amateurs are stubborn and ignorant to think we dont need lessons, I used to be like that having never received a lesson and getting to 9 thinking I didnt need one, what rubbish !! Professionals get coached every day as they realise the importance of it ( fair enough its their living but even still ). As a kid playing soccer etc we practiced 3 times a week and played a game at the weekend, We had 2 coaches and we were always working on something, that remains the case at all levels of football in general so why do we not do it in golf ? people play once a week and give out about how bad they hit it, what you expect ???

Sorry off thread a little but you get where I am going with it. Get lessons and make them a regular thing so you are always focused on your game, improvements can only be made, I started doing it this year and have a 4 point check before I hit the ball and the difference has been unreal !!

Im the exact same, got to 8 without ever taking a lesson, planned a few along the way, but always sorted myself out before actually booking it. Its been nearly a month now so biting the bullet! (also drifting back to 9 didnt help :mad:)

BUACHAILL

from what I have heard on David Kearney he is supposed to be very good I am sure you will be sorted in no time

shawpower

BUACHAILL wrote: »

I think we as amateurs are stubborn and ignorant to think we dont need lessons, I used to be like that having never received a lesson and getting to 9 thinking I didnt need one, what rubbish !! Professionals get coached every day as they realise the importance of it ( fair enough its their living but even still ). As a kid playing soccer etc we practiced 3 times a week and played a game at the weekend, We had 2 coaches and we were always working on something, that remains the case at all levels of football in general so why do we not do it in golf ? people play once a week and give out about how bad they hit it, what you expect ???

Sorry off thread a little but you get where I am going with it. Get lessons and make them a regular thing so you are always focused on your game, improvements can only be made, I started doing it this year and have a 4 point check before I hit the ball and the difference has been unreal !!

That's a fair point, but on the flipside I've never heard of any kids (or those still playing foot in adulthood) paying €30-€50 a pop for lessons from their coach.

I totally agree that regular lessons help, but I just can't afford them at the moment. I've gone from 16 at the start of last year to 10 just now, so I've been doing okay. But when I hit single figures, I plan to buy a new set of irons (probably custom fitted) and possibly get a batch of lessons to see where I need to improve to make the next jump.

BUACHAILL

yeah I accept the monetary aspect of it but I was more gearing towards the mentality that your expectations are always so much more than your effort and practice !!

On the money end of it as a kid there are lots of youth /juvenile programs in clubs for very little money per year to help this, its only as adults the private one to one lessons are expensive. I say expensive but in fact I dont think they are too bad at 30-40 quid per lesson if it solves a problem or aids you to a really solid round of golf, much rather spend my money that way than piss it down the jax going out on the lash !!

Jimdagym

BUACHAILL wrote: »

yeah I accept the monetary aspect of it but I was more gearing towards the mentality that your expectations are always so much more than your effort and practice !!

On the money end of it as a kid there are lots of youth /juvenile programs in clubs for very little money per year to help this, its only as adults the private one to one lessons are expensive. I say expensive but in fact I dont think they are too bad at 30-40 quid per lesson if it solves a problem or aids you to a really solid round of golf, much rather spend my money that way than piss it down the jax going out on the lash !!

I bit the bullet at the start of the season because I was tiddling at it for ages and wondering why I was not getting any better. 30 to 40 quid might seem expensive, but if you put it in context, its about the price of a round of golf, and I have improved more after each lesson than I ever did after a round of golf.

GreeBo

I'd much rather spend it on a lesson than booze etc also
But I do put a lot of effort into practice, play twice a week and another couple of hours practice at least once a week.

The lesson is €45 for 45 mins I think, he just started as the Pro in my club (Grange) so will be good to get a lesson of grass from my home pro.

Its on Wed so will update on him and me afterwards

Thx

Russman

+1 on the lesson.
Don't go too overboard with hitting balls with your feet together, too much of that and you can get very handsy through the ball.

FWIW I was swaying quite a bit last year and David Kinsella got me to feel like I was bracing against my left knee going back (I'm a lefty) and it definitely helped.

G1032

GreeBo wrote: »

Think I've "developed" a sway, first ever lesson booked for Wed night with David Kearney, anyone ever get a lesson with him before?

Excellent coach. Used to go to him when he was in Galway. Not big on major changes. Works very well with what you've got. Makes sure you get your set up correct and he makes sure you understand why he's made the changes he has. Highly recommend him

danthefan

I know how you feel OP, had to walk in after 6 holes today I was playing so badly (was on my own so wasn't an issue). The last time I played started off shaky but I pulled it together to play really well in the end. On the 6th tee I snap hooked twice off the tee, I have no idea why, and that was it for me.

Just thinking about my round - 1st hole, bogey, fine. 2nd, lost a tee shot, 3 putted. 3rd hole, nailed a drive then took 5 to get down from about 90m. 4th hole, took 4 to get down from the edge of the green. 5th hole, lost a teeshot. 6th hole, 2 snaphooks. Absolutely disastrous.

GreeBo

Thanks all.
The feeling Im trying to promote with my legs at the moment is similiar to the braced right knee, if I dont let my weight go to the outside of my foot on the way back my knee wont buckle.

True to form, I went out for 9 holes last night (at 9pm eek!).
After about 3 holes I had a slight Eureka moment in a bunker when I realised that I was flipping at the ball a bit. Made a conscious effort to hit it with my hands from the bunker and holed it. Kept going with that feeling for the remaining holes and was striking it pretty well. A good few of them on the thinner side of perfect, but still straight and 95% perfect.

Will still go for the lesson and looking forward to it after the comment above, but good to see that its still in there somewhere

danthefan

Where is this David Kearney chap based and how much is a lesson with him? His website doesn't seem to say...

GreeBo

danthefan wrote: »

Where is this David Kearney chap based and how much is a lesson with him? His website doesn't seem to say...

He has just started in Grange Golf Club in Rathfarnham, €45 for 45 mins I think, will post more after tonight.

Played 9 holes last night and was 1 under gross.
What a silly little game we play!

I'm concerned now that tonights lesson will wreak havoc!

BUACHAILL

GreeBo wrote: »

He has just started in Grange Golf Club in Rathfarnham, €45 for 45 mins I think, will post more after tonight.

Played 9 holes last night and was 1 under gross.
What a silly little game we play!

I'm concerned now that tonights lesson will wreak havoc!

good shooting, I am sure if you can shoot like that the lesson wont be too detailed maybe just pointers or set up tips to keep you consistant !! Let us know how your lesson goes

danthefan

GreeBo wrote: »

He has just started in Grange Golf Club in Rathfarnham, €45 for 45 mins I think, will post more after tonight.

Played 9 holes last night and was 1 under gross.
What a silly little game we play!

I'm concerned now that tonights lesson will wreak havoc!

That would be great, thank you!

GreeBo

Well that was interesting!
FYI Its €45 for 30 mins.

He ranked my swing out of 10 as follows:
Backswing : 7
Downswing: 8
Setup: 2

Anyone want to guess what we worked on?

Right hand was way too far over, forcing me to open/close the clubface through the ball. This gave me way too much variance depending on how my timing was working on any day. So we brought my right hand back (clockwise/stronger?) and brought my hands back towards centre, I had developed an excessive forward press.

Wasnt striking the ball great but they were much straighter with no sidespin at all really. Much more useful on the course.

As a funny aside after the lesson I played a few holes (that go around the practice ground) The first is a longish par 3 with the green about 20 yrds from the practice area he was working on. I smacked a 5 iron off the pin with my first shot to drop it at 2 feet. Instant results huh


/edit
He gave me a good tip to check my hand positions. Basically you should be able to lay a club across your wrists (when taking your grip) and that club should be parallel to your target line/feet. When I started the lesson they were about 60 degrees left of target (due to my higher right hand)

BUACHAILL

so how do you feel about it all ? you think he was correct in his observations ? you set to go back to him or you just going to work on what he has given you ?

GreeBo

I'm happy with the changes he made, small setup change really, very happy that the didnt start rebuilding my swing etc.

I played 9 holes and I was straighter, ball striking wasnt good a lot of the time, but even the bad ones were playable, something that doesnt usually happen.
He said himself that at my level its better for the ball to be straight and short than hit well and long

Well he is the resident pro in my club so if I was ever going to get another one I would go to him. Thats my first ever lesson so cant compare to anyone else, there was however a queue of people (2 before and 2 after) so he seems popular!

G1032

GreeBo wrote: »

I'm happy with the changes he made, small setup change really, very happy that the didnt start rebuilding my swing etc.

He won't do that. Always works with what you have.

GreeBo wrote: »

Well he is the resident pro in my club so if I was ever going to get another one I would go to him. Thats my first ever lesson so cant compare to anyone else, there was however a queue of people (2 before and 2 after) so he seems popular!

Not surprised. Used to be the same when he taught in Galway. Had to book a couple of weeks in advance. I found him to be a great coach.