PIN HIGH CLINICS WITH PIERRE JACOB

AIM OF THE CLINIC :
- Preparing and obtaining the GVB
- Improving your technical acknowledges
- Personal adaptation to these technical drills
- Set up of a more confident swing, to avoid future physical problems

DAY 1 : Monday June 6th

AROUND THE GREEN :

- Working on chipping with 9 iron.

The aim is to feel that the way to hit the ball is the same whatever be the club. The angle of the club face makes the ball fly. The swing must be the same as with a putter. That means the width of the swing is the same on the right-hand side of the ball and on the left-hand side of it. Don't be afraid of doing some practice shots. You will feel the swing much better.

Distance is given more by the width of the swing than by the speed. To send the ball further, you just widen the swing without changing the speed of your shot. The more important is to find the right speed, that means the one you control the best. We can say that the low part of the swing gives the directio and the high part gives the distance.

Direction of the ball is controlled by the hands. Try to find if you do it better with the palm of the right hand or with the back of the left one.

- In the rough

The most important to consider is what we call "the 3 points". When you hit a ball, three "moments" happen. You touch the ball, you touch the ground and you have the lowest part of the circle. Those three moments happen at the same time just on the carpet on the driving range. That means that to make the ball fly from the rough, you must consider how deep in the grass the lowest part of the circle will be. That will help you to find and aim the point of entrance in the ground (on the right-hand side of the ball) . Don't forget that using the knees during the impact helps to make the ball fly, but using the shoulders at that moment makes the ball fly low.

You can help the lowest part of the circle to be lower by spreading the stance in the deep grass.

BUNKER :

The shot looks like the previous one in the deep grass. To play better in the bunker, you have to feel that there is no difference between deep grass and sand.

Posture :

* Hitting line in the middle of the stance

* Weight on the left by burying the left foot

* Club open so that the perpendicular to the club face is aiming over the wall

Swing :

* The backswing is wide to have enough power to go through the sand and make the ball fly

* The club must enter the sand behind the ball

* You have to finish the swing to help the ball to fly

The fact is that you have to consider that if you send the amount of sand surrounding the ball on the green, the ball will get out of the bunker with this amount of sand.

LONG SHOTS ON THE DRIVING-RANGE :

Backswing :The hands are beside the head in front of the neck, and the shaft of the club is in the same position as it was on the aiming posture.

Downswing : The hands begin the downswing to send the club and the body back to the aiming posture.

Hitting area : The feeling to find is an association between the right hand and the right knee. That is going to help the upper body to be more steady.

You have to feel that your right hand is doing the job.

AFTERNOON :

ON THE COURSE WITH NELL, JOOP AND ELS (sorry for if I made some mistakes writing you first names) :

What I want to make you understand that you don't need to hit wonderfull shots to score the way you want. You especially need to avoid to miss two balls in a row, for example.

To do so, you must be more "strategic" than "technical". That means that you should start with a 7 iron or a 5 iron, but not absolutely with a wood.

Advice of the day :

* Do some practice swings before playing

* Test the grass (don't do practice shots without hitting the ground)

* Beware your aiming posture

* Put the ball higher on the tee to swing easier

* Swing shorter whenyou are close to the green. Just try to send the ball on the green.

* Don't think about the distance to reach, think about the impact area.

DAY 2 : Tuesday June 7th

PUTTING :

For the moment, the aim is to take an average of two putts per green. To be able to do so, you must respect a few elementary rules :

* Eyes upon the ball

* Legs stiff and steady

* No wrists use

* Slow swing (distance is given by the width of the swing)

Aiming is easier if you align the name of the ball towards the target (the hole or the slope)

Our advice of the day is about the way to change the distance made by the ball.

Two ways :

* According to the stance. That means you swing between or wider than your feet to make more or less distance

* Changing the stance so that you spread more or less to swing more or less wide.

How to change the height of the ball with the same club ?

Use of the shot : You are behind a tree, and you must make the ball fly under the branches to reach the green. You would like to take the 7 iron to make the ball roll but the problem will be that the ball will go too far if you do so. The solution is to take the PW, which is supposed to make the ball fly high, and make it fly lower.

How to do that : The position of the ball must change. For a high ball, the ball is facing the middle of the stance. For a low ball, the ball must face the right foot. The consequence of this will be that your hands will be "before" the ball. You just have to hit the ball with your wrists stiff, to keep the angle of the club closed. Beware the posture ! you have to first take the posture with the club in the middle of the stance (ball on the right), and then put the club back behind the ball to keep the club face towards the target. If you just move to the left for the ball to face your right foot, the club face will be open and the ball will fly to the right.

About the shots in the slopes :The main difficulty is the position. You have to take the position according to the different slopes.

WARM UP :

What is important in the warm up is to prepare your swing. That means you have to prepare some particular parts of your body to do the swing.

- Shoulders (to help your arms to swing easier)

- Neck (for the steadiness of the upper body)

- Spine

- Legs

LONG SHOTS ON THE DRIVING RANGE :

"ORDER OF THE THINGS" :

THE BACKSWING : We are going to build the backswing according to the impact zone, and the way we want the club to hit the ball. That means through the ball instead of downwards. The set up is the following way : PUTTER STARTING / SET UP OF THE CLUB PATH / RAISE OF THE HANDS.

Putter starting : We star the backswing the way we start the the putter shot, that means without wrists, not to load too fast. the fact to load the wrist makes the strike too much vertical (so you're going to hit the ground). That is better for short clubs.

Set up of the club path : After that putter start, we load the wrist to put the club parallel to the ground and towards the target. The club is so on the same line as the line followed by the hands during the "take away".

Raise of the hands : At this moment, you just have to raise the hands according to the shot you wish to involve the shoulders rotation. You don't have to think about turning your shoulders, it is a consequence.

AFTERNOON ON THE COURSE :

We saw that today was much better than yesterday because you began to trust yourself. Your swing is improving because of the details we've been working on since yesterday.

Anyway, the most important is to keep on trying to feel that every shot is the same. You hit every ball the same way. Just the width and the speed of the swing change.

DAY 3 : Wednesday June 8th

We worked on the "chipping-putting shot", safe shot around the green. Don't forget that the way you hit the ball on a short shot is the same as a long shot. Follow the "flying line" (exercise with two clubs parrallel to the target).

ABOUT THE WAY TO HAVE AN EASIER BACKSWING :

We saw yesterday that the order of the things during the backswing was very important to hit the ball better. The problem is that most of the time, the beginning of the backswing is done with the shoulders, making the upper body move too fast.

You know that your head must stay very steady. The whole body is allowed to move (as I showed you on the driving range), but NOT THE HEAD which is the center of the circle. Remember the exercise with the sun in your back.

To avoid moving your head at the beginning of the backswing, you must begin it with your knees. The fact to turn your knees helps to be more steady. If you turn your knees first, the whole body follows and you just have to lift your hands to the top of the backswing.

EXERCISE SHORT SWINGS TO FEEL THE IMPORTANCE OF THE KNEES WHILE HITTING THE BALL :

As you were using your knees on the backswing, you're supposed to use them on the downswing to help the club to swing. If you use your shoulders more than your knees, the ball will fly lower, because the lowest part of the circle will be "over" the ball intead of "under". But now, you need power to send the ball far. The power is given by three parts of the body : right forearm (dfor right-handed), right knee and right index finger. You must use them on the right order. At the middle of the downswing, you must first spread your right arm, then move your right knee towards the left one and use the power of your index finger while hitting the ball, at the very last moment. You have to feel that you're able to send the ball very far with just a little swing.

DAY 4 : Thursday June 9th

LONG GAME ON THE DRIVING RANGE :

A few days ago, we spoke about the "Order of the Things". Concerning the top of the backswing, I can give you a last advice.

The "important things" at that point of the swing are : left arm parrallel to the ground and the shaft making an angle of 90° with the left forearm.

AFTER THE BALL :

We'll find on the other side the same path as during the backswing. You're so going to hit the ball the "putter way", the wrist being unloaded during the downswing instead of during the strike because of the lack of power. The club will come back parrallel to the ground (as you did in the backswing), and you're then going to raise the hands to the "technical finish" (the right knee follows). The "Physical Finish" will follow, according to the speed of the swing. You don't have to do the physical finish. It is the technical finish (perfect symetry between the backswing and the follow through) which is important and on purpose. It will be so possible to increase the speed of the strike without increasing the width of the swing.

The "important things" at that point of the swing are : right arm parrallel to the ground and the shaft making an angle of 90° with the right forearm.

Remember that the distance from the ball is given by 3 ways :

- Distance of your feet to the ball

- Distance of your head to the ground (you can be more or less bent)

- Distance of your knees to the ball. We saw that the fact to move your knees too much during the backswing changes your distance and so your posture. It will be so very difficult to find the ball on the downswing. So try not to move too much the right knee at the beginning, and turn around the left knee as you hit the ball and finish the swing.

THE WAY THE SHAFT SWINGS :

You have to imagine that the shaft is showing the "flying line" during the backswing and the follow through (just after the ball). At the middle of the backswing, the grip is showing the ball, as it was on the aiming posture.

WOOD ON A TEE :

- The main difference is in the distance from the ball. As the swing will be wider and faster down, the strike will happen "higher" than usual, that means a few centimeters over the ground. If the club lies just behind the ball, you will hit the ball in the heel of the club. So you're going to miss the ball. You have to set up with the club "beside" the ball. Just lifting the hands up, you see that the club face is perfectly against the ball. So you can find it easier during the downswing.

- The rythm of the swing must be always the same. The fact to miss the ball comes more from an uncontrol of the impact zone than from a wrong swing. So don't try when you miss to analyse the way you moved your body. Try to think about the way your hands were during the impact zone. Correct by ajusting the height or the accuracy of the club path.

- The posture is your own. It depends on the size, the elasticity of the body, the weight and many other things.

- The notion of "throwing" or "hitting" give the height of the tee. The hitter will put the ball lower and less on the left-hand side, and the thrower will putt the tee higher and more on the left.

DAY 5 : Friday June 3rd

Last advices on short game : On chipping, remember that if you have a tendancy to hit the ground before the ball, it is because you use your right hand (for right-handed) too much. If your main mistake is to top the ball, you use your left hand too much. You can so correct the mistake by giving more power to the other hand.

In the rough, bad lie : If the ball lies in the deep rough, but without grass under it, the way to hit it is particular. You have to put the ball facing your right foot, so that you're going to hit it at the same time you hit the ground. When the club will reach the lowest part of the swing, it will be too late, the ball will be already gone.

On long game, today is a relaxing day. We've been working a lot this week and I think that you all improved your acknowledges and your swing. Now you need to gain confidence in yourself by playing more and more.

To finish our clinic, the best way is to have an individual report on what you're supposed to work in the future. So I hope these pictures will help you to do so.

	We tried to work on the follow through and as you can see on the second picture, your arms are bending while hitting the ball.I think it comes from the fact that you sometimes "go with the ball". That means that your head doesn't stay in the middle of the stance, it goes too fast upon the left foot. Keep your head steady and straighten your arms towards the target.
	As you can see on the middle picture, the club is a little "behind" you. Another mistake is in the fact that your head doesn't stay on the same level during the swing. You are very low at the top of the backswing and much high, if we can say, at the finish. Try to turn around your head, it is the center of the circle.
	Big improvement this week. I wanted you to feel that you are able to play and appreciate this game. Work on the width of the swing. You see that you move more than you swing. Your legs should be more steady on the backswing but it is good to move them to the left while hitting the ball.
	Backswing is good. You turn your shoulders and the club is in the right position. Your legs are steady. On the follow through, you can see that your head moved to the right, instead of staying in the middle of the stance. That prevents you from straightening your arms towards the target.
	You see that the position of your legs is the same on both picture. The problem comes from the follow through. I think that your head should follow the swing, helping you to straighten your arms. Turn your knees faster to help your arms to swing.
	Better and better during the week. We started from nothing and now you can see that the swing is almost perfect. Maybe the stance is too wide. A smaller stance could help you to move your knee faster through the ball. Your arms are straightening better. Keep your head steady. Congratulations !
	You now know what you have to work on. We said on the course : "shoulders - hands - fast down - finish". That is what you see on the second picture. You look like stopping on the ball. Let your body turn through the ball and finish the swing. But remember that you can't have a wide follow through if you don't have a wide backswing.
	On the course, we spoke about two mistakes. First you have to correct the fact that you sometimes "dive" towards the ball. That means that your head is lower at the top of the backswing than it was at the beginning. Second thing is the width of your follow through, as you can see on the middle picture. The difference between the first and the second picture is in the loading of your wrists. That would give you more power.

I want to tell you that I enjoyed a lot to work with all of you and I hope to see you again in another PinHigh location

TOT ZIENST !