PIN HIGH CLINICS IN ETIOLLES JULY 4th TO JULY 8th

 

AIM OF THE CLINIC :
- Improving your technical acknowledges or learn what to do in the future
- Personal adaptation to these technical drills because the bodies are not the same
- Set up of a more confident swing, to avoid future physical problems 

 

DAY 1 : Monday July 4th
 
            MORNING :
 
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.
            
             Distance :
            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 :
            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) .
    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.
        
        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. Always think about wishing to send the ball further than it looks like. It will help you to have a wide and fast swing

 

LONG SHOTS ON THE DRIVING-RANGE :

PRESENTATION OF THE METHOD :
To hit a golf ball properly, you need to respect a few fundamental rules :
- The hitting posture is the same as the starting posture
- The swing is as symetrical as possible (The finishing posture is a consequence of the speed, not an obligation)
- The path of the club is the same during the backswing and the downswing

What is going to be important is the fact that you have to find the points you have to pass by, instead of the physical way you have to move .

Grip : You need to hold the club the right way, even if I don't think this is the main condition to success. The "weak" hand hold the club in the fingers (not in the palm) and must be what we call "strong" (like a back-hand in tennis). The strong hand holds the club naturally.

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.
 
 

AFTERNOON :

 
        ON THE COURSE :
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 July 5th

 

 PUTTING :
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.
The advice of the day was about the way to find the right "br(e)ak(e) point". You first have to look around the hole to know where the ball will come from to enter the hole. To pass by this point, you have to reach another point, more into the slope. That last point is the "br(e)ak(e) point".
        Put a coin down on the green to aim this point and forget the hole. Anyway, the target is almost never the hole itself. Most of the greens are too much sloppy for that.

AROUND THE GREEN :

 Chipping with 9 iron or 7 iron :

    - The swing must look like a clock. We saw that you can imagine three widths for the swing :

                                        * 7 to 5
                                        * 8 to 4
                                        * 9 to 3
Posture :
            There is a difference between the posture of the long shots and the one on the short game. As you stand far from the ball on long shots and very close on putting, you have to adapt your posture (especially the distance from the ball) to the short game.
                                        * Hold the club shorter
                                        * Get closer to the ball
                                        * take a smaller stance
 
The width of the swing depends on the speed you hit the ball. If the swing is slow, it is better to swing 9 to 3. If the swing is faster, 7 to 5 will be enough.
    - The choice of the club depends on the trajectory you want to give to the ball. If you prefer to make the ball roll, 7 is better. If you prefer it to fly, 9 or even SW will be allright (PW too).
    - Remeber to deal with the slopes, as you do with putting.
          
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 :

AIMING PROPERLY : To be sure that you aim in the right direction, you have to feel that your body is aiming to the left of the target (for right-handed players). You so stand parallely to the flying line.

 

"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.

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. 

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  July 6th

    

ON THE DRIVING RANGE :

THE SIX PARTS OF THE SWING :
    Set Up :    * Bent forward
                     * Arms hanging
                     * Knees a little bent and weight on the toes
 
    Take Away :  * Club parrallel to the ground and the flight line
                          * Wrists almost loaded
 
    Backswing :  * Hands up
                          * Shoulders following
                          * Weight on the right foot
                          * 90° between club shaft and left arm
 
    Hitting :     * Club goes back to the ball
                        * Body goes back to aiming position
                        * Weight is back in the middle of the stance
 
   Follow Through : * Club parrallel to the ground in the direction of the target
                                 * Weight on the left leg
                                 * Right knee beside the left one
                                 * Right foot up on his toe
                                 * Arms straight
 
    Finish :     * Club falls on the shoulders
                     * Body turns toward the target

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.
 
    We saw that the weight transfer is necessary to give power to the strike. You have to feel that the weight tranfer begins just at the moment you begin to swing your hands down back to the ball. That is going to help your body to turn while hitting.
Exercise :
        - Take the position as if you want to hit the ball
        - Once you have found the right posture and distance, put your feet together (left one towards the right one), club in front of you
        - Swing the club back as a full swing
        - At the top of the swing, put your left foot back at its previous place (aiming posture)
        - Hit the ball
 
    After a few hesitating shots, you're going to feel what is the weight transfer.

 

Day 4 : Thursday July 7th

CHIPPING AROUND THE GREEN :
        Always the same as every day. The aim is to find the right rythm, the right speed and the right contact with the ground. The fact to send the ball close to the hole is not very important. What is important in your first balls of the day is the way you hit the ball.
 
               About the posture :
                        - Legs steady
                        - No wrists
                        - Plan of the swing very "vertical" (because you don't need to turn your shoulders)
AROUND THE GREEN :
            Chipping  from a longer distance:
    
Posture :
            There is a difference between the posture of the long shots and the one on the short game. As you stand far from the ball on long shots and very close on putting, you have to adapt your posture (especially the distance from the ball) to the short game.
                                        * Hold the club shorter
                                        * Get closer to the ball
                                        * take a smaller stance
 
The width of the swing depends on the speed you hit the ball. If the swing is slow, it is better to swing 9 to 3. If the swing is faster, 7 to 5 will be enough.
    - The choice of the club depends on the trajectory you want to give to the ball. If you prefer to make the ball roll, 7 is better. If you prefer it to fly, 9 or even SW will be allright (PW too). 

You increase the distance made by the ball by increasing the follow through (towards the target) more than the backswing.Try to work your aiming with putting two clubs on the ground in the direction of where you want to send the ball. You have to follow the line of the club shafts. 7 iron is the best club to play, because you don't need to make the ball fly. Beware the slopes because they change the angle of the club.

- Beware the slopes

 

LONG GAME : Warm up exercises

 
- Take two club at the same time in your hands and try to swing with this "new heavy club". It will teach you how to relax during the swing.
- Take a club in each hand and try to swing so that the clubs never touch each other. This is to help you to feel that both arms are working together on the same timing
 
"SHOW THE LINE" :*
Remember the way I explained the way the club has to swing. I told you that you had to have the feeling of showing the flying line with the end of the shaft of the club. Firts on the backswing, you show the line, and then the club becomes parallel to this line, then show the line with the other end of the club (top of the backswing). On the downswing, same thing. The club must first show the line, then being back to parallel, then show the line again and finish parallel to the line, aiming towards the target.
PUTTING EXERCISES :
- Put thre or four balls on the same line towards the target, from 50 cm to 2 meters from the hole. The aim is the hole the four balls in a row. If you miss one of the ball before arriving to the last one, you have to be back to the first ball and do it again.
- Put four or five ball around the hole, one putter shaft far from the hole, and try the same rules as previously.

 

DAY 5 : Friday July 8th
 
    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. We spoke nevertheless about the alighnment. If your body is not aiming properly towards the target, you will have a tendancy to "correct" this alignment and the consequence will be a bad trajectory.
    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.
         You can see on the first picture that your problem of alignment is solved. That was the main reason why the ball had a tendancy to fly left. Beware on the second picture to spread the backswing like a circle, with your hands beside you instead of behind you. As we said at the end of the clinic, feel like sending the ball in the clouds, and show the target at the end (N°5). That's not what you do on the last picture
     Big improvement this week, because you were too stiff at the beginning of the week. On the first picture, the backswing is quiet good. Maybe your hand could be more "beside your head". Beware on the second picture, where you can see that you're moving up while hitting the ball. This comes from a transfer problem. Your feet are stuck on the ground, move them. The finish (on the third picture) could be better if the right foot was up.

Same mistake, you have a very good position on the ball (that's why I took the picture), but your hands gop too much behind you, instead of beside you. Position N°5 is good you foot moved to ransfer the weight and you show the target. Just beware of moving your head to much while hitting.

  

 On the first picture, alignment is perfect. This is what you wanted to check. Backswing is good too (weight on the left, arm straight). On the third picture, you can see that your weight transfer is not existing. You have to feel that you are throwing something (the ball, the club, your hands, etc) towards the target.

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 !

 

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