Time for a Change

This season has been mixed at best for me, results and scores not what I wanted. My old technique left me open to a straight push and a hook. Plus the distance I was getting was average. Things needed to change, so in October I decided to spend the next few months rebuilding my swing. This series of blogs will discuss the process and my thoughts and results during it. I’m aware it won’t be easy but know that you don’t achieve anything without hard work.

I started my project by locating another Pro who I could work with. I needed someone whose ideas I understood and agreed with and whose current players swung the club in a way that I desired. After conversations with many Pros at tournaments I decided to work with Matt Belsham a coach who works with guys such a Rob Rock and several other European tour guys. People often ask why I don’t work on my swing by myself. Well the problem with that is that I am always my biggest critic, and when looking at my own swing I see all the elements I want to change but tend to flit from change to change. All pros I speak to agree that changing your swing alone doesn't work. You never teach yourself like you do others. You would give a pupil 2 or 3 changes to apply each lesson, when you work on your own you tend to see so many things wrong that you never commit to a single move for long enough. I need to agree on what I'm going to work on and stick at it until it changes. Working with another Pro ensures I commit to the swing change one piece at a time. 

Step one of the change was to get my setup into a new position, I need to steepen my shoulder plane so  had to get more tilted over the ball at address, reducing my knee flex, and looking down at the ball more. Plus had to remove the excessive lumbar curve in my setup. Also wanted to improve knee and hip movement so turned my feet out more and narrowed my stance. As with all changes this feels very odd my posture is more relaxed with my stomach muscles able to work better but feels to me lazy and hunched. Feet feel like I’m a duck and legs feel super straight.

One check on the camera confirms that despite feeling so bad it’s actually correct, this is a very common feeling for anyone changing the swing. I have every confidence that I’m moving in the right direction but know that results may suffer whilst my brain is working hard to turn these moves from conscious to subconscious.

Will update soon on the second phase of my changes.