Golf Instruction in NYC

When teaching a golf lesson and analyzing a students swing I am primarily looking for two things. What is the club doing? How is the body moving? After setup & grip, this is what I’m looking for as an elite instructor. I want the student to completely understand how these two components affect each other and how we’re going to get them moving in tandem.

After filming the players swing we are going to go through a series of important questions

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•      How is the club swinging now (shaft & face)?

•      How is your body moving now?

•      How should they be moving?

•      How are we going to make that change?

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*As someone who uses the Jim McLean method of golf instruction I am constantly relaying these concepts in 8 different swing position. (Jim McLean’s 8 Step Swing)

The 25% Theory – These are equally divided into four quadrants (created by Jim McLean)

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• Long Game

• Short Game

• Management Game

• Mental Game

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​What does the student want? Ultimately, they are paying for the lesson. We may have to make shifts in the chart based on his or her wants & desires.

What I am looking for during a lesson? These aren’t always in a particular order but they are pretty close!

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1. I want the player to be making center contact. If I see the club going drastically through the toe or heel I’m going to make changes. This can come from many different things, poor setup; the club is swinging on a poor plane, or poor body motion. I want the golf club swinging right through the middle of the golf ball. Toe & heel strikes are no fun, they must be fixed.

2.      Proper attack angle – Oftentimes fixing item #1 (center contact) will improve attack angle.

I’m constantly asking myself the following questions.

• What is the body doing? Where are the center of mass and the center of pressure at impact?

•  Is the club swinging too shallow or too steep (will impact attack angle) *Jim Hardy shallowers & steepeners.

•  How is the body moving? Pressure shift and rotational forces

•  What are the wrists doing? Throughout the swing and most importantly at impact.

*All of these will impact attack angle greatly

3.      Distance control – This is going hand in hand with my first two points. I love to relay this information to the student using Trackman. Club selection is also very important here.

4.      Face control

•  What is the clubface doing during the golf swing? Is it   returning square at impact? If not, where is it opening or closing.

How quickly is the face rotating? Is the student a dragger or a thrower?

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•       If the face is returning slightly open or closed at impact  is it a matchup with the player’s path?

•       How are the wrists / forearms impacting face control

•      Does the player have a poor grip?

5. Ball Curve – This is a combination of face & path.

•  What is the players swing direction? Are they cutting across the ball or too much from the inside?

•  Are they too shallow or too steep?

• Are poor body motions negatively impacting the              players swing direction? 98% of the time yes.

•  Is the player going to have a great matchup they can          repeat over & over?

• · How is the angle of attack impacting curvature?

•   How is ball position impacting swing direction?

6.  Distance/Length – Normally, this is the last thing I work on    with a student. However, if they are lacking the distance necessary to reach their scoring goals we can use speed training techniques.

7.    Most importantly is the student improving?