CorporateJD
New
I've been reading this forum for a while but only recently joined to post. There is a lot of great info on this site. Over the past few years, I've probably played, on average, only about 5 times a year. My scores are pretty consistently in the low 90s, but I battle snap hooks and low ball trajectory. To compensate, I aim way right to play the draws and hooks. I've recently started playing more so I decided to buy NHA a few weeks ago. That had a lot of good info for me and the concept of going up the wall did help my backswing path. Nonetheless, I still continued to battle the hooks and I wasn't sure why, so I decided to get a private lesson with Brian.
I had a 2 hour session last Friday morning at English Turn. On my way to the lesson, I wondered what his recommendations would be. I thought that maybe he'd tell me to swing more outside-in, or maybe to try to carry the club at the top back towards the wall, or perhaps use some twistaway. Would he try to get me more towards the NHA pattern or the Soft Draw pattern? None of the above.
First, we worked on weakening my grip. Then we worked on the downswing. He said that my backswing path was ok, but at the start of the downswing, my tendency is to drop the club straight down, and often times, behind me, so that the butt of the club is pointing behind my right heel. Then, my hips go forward and the club gets stuck behind me, which causes a severe inside-out path to the ball and a quick hook to get the club on the ball.
His recommendation was surprising. He gave me 2 main things to work on: (1) to lay the club more at the top (so that the butt of the club points more left at the start of the downswing) and (2) swing way left. While the second part made sense, the first part really surprised me. Sounds counter-intuitive for a hooker to lay the club more, but he couldn't have been more correct. I struggled some during the session, but towards the end I started to get the idea and the ball was really getting a lot higher. I hit some slices (I haven't hit a slice in years so that pleased me), and as I got better at laying the club and swinging more left, I hit a lot of high fades and straight shots, especially with the driver. I went back to the range on Saturday to ingrain what I learned, and I hit a lot of great shots. Of course, not all of my shots were great, but I am hitting significantly better shots when I implement his suggestions properly. And hitting the driver sure is a lot more fun now.
It was interesting the Brian did not push me towards a "pattern". He said that my swing is really not NHA, or Soft Draw, or NSA. It's sort of a separate pattern altogether, but one that can work with some customization. And that is what he seems to be doing with my swing - customizing it to fit what I already do. I plan to go back to him at some point, as I'm sure there are many other things I can improve on once I get the hang of what I learned in the first lesson. But I am very happy with the results.
After getting a lesson from Brian, it is pretty interesting to go back and read threads on whether a golfer has to get worse before they better after working with an instructor. I've always heard that "you get worse before you get better". I don't agree with that. And I don't think Brian does either. During my session with Brian, I suppose that I wasn't hitting the ball as consistently (using his tips, which are very new to me) as I was with my hooker swing. But what good was it for me to consistently hit big draws and shap hooks? My good shots with Brian were much much better (and looked better to the eye) than even my best shots with my hooker swing.
I think a lesson with Brian (or probably any of his fellow instructors) is well worth it. If you are serious about improving your game, it is well worth it to invest some money into improving your swing. If you're going to spend a good chunk on money on green fees, why not put some of that towards improving your game? I haven't played a round since the lesson, but I'm sure that golf will be more enjoyable with an improved golf swing.
I had a 2 hour session last Friday morning at English Turn. On my way to the lesson, I wondered what his recommendations would be. I thought that maybe he'd tell me to swing more outside-in, or maybe to try to carry the club at the top back towards the wall, or perhaps use some twistaway. Would he try to get me more towards the NHA pattern or the Soft Draw pattern? None of the above.
First, we worked on weakening my grip. Then we worked on the downswing. He said that my backswing path was ok, but at the start of the downswing, my tendency is to drop the club straight down, and often times, behind me, so that the butt of the club is pointing behind my right heel. Then, my hips go forward and the club gets stuck behind me, which causes a severe inside-out path to the ball and a quick hook to get the club on the ball.
His recommendation was surprising. He gave me 2 main things to work on: (1) to lay the club more at the top (so that the butt of the club points more left at the start of the downswing) and (2) swing way left. While the second part made sense, the first part really surprised me. Sounds counter-intuitive for a hooker to lay the club more, but he couldn't have been more correct. I struggled some during the session, but towards the end I started to get the idea and the ball was really getting a lot higher. I hit some slices (I haven't hit a slice in years so that pleased me), and as I got better at laying the club and swinging more left, I hit a lot of high fades and straight shots, especially with the driver. I went back to the range on Saturday to ingrain what I learned, and I hit a lot of great shots. Of course, not all of my shots were great, but I am hitting significantly better shots when I implement his suggestions properly. And hitting the driver sure is a lot more fun now.
It was interesting the Brian did not push me towards a "pattern". He said that my swing is really not NHA, or Soft Draw, or NSA. It's sort of a separate pattern altogether, but one that can work with some customization. And that is what he seems to be doing with my swing - customizing it to fit what I already do. I plan to go back to him at some point, as I'm sure there are many other things I can improve on once I get the hang of what I learned in the first lesson. But I am very happy with the results.
After getting a lesson from Brian, it is pretty interesting to go back and read threads on whether a golfer has to get worse before they better after working with an instructor. I've always heard that "you get worse before you get better". I don't agree with that. And I don't think Brian does either. During my session with Brian, I suppose that I wasn't hitting the ball as consistently (using his tips, which are very new to me) as I was with my hooker swing. But what good was it for me to consistently hit big draws and shap hooks? My good shots with Brian were much much better (and looked better to the eye) than even my best shots with my hooker swing.
I think a lesson with Brian (or probably any of his fellow instructors) is well worth it. If you are serious about improving your game, it is well worth it to invest some money into improving your swing. If you're going to spend a good chunk on money on green fees, why not put some of that towards improving your game? I haven't played a round since the lesson, but I'm sure that golf will be more enjoyable with an improved golf swing.
