Hi Golfers,
We shouldn't complain because the weather has been absolutely glorious in terms of sunshine; however it has been cold and the course has been playing rather hard. Remember we have plenty of great winter products that not only keep you warm but don't restrict your swing.
As we mentioned last week boxes of product are turning up every day. The ONE product I was looking forward to most was the new Cobra ONE Length irons.
We had the custom fit components delivered last week and you can see what my first thoughts on them were by clicking here
Since then we have also had some proper demo clubs including a full set of ONE length irons 5 iron-Gap wedge arrive. So if this does interest you, you not only can try them on the driving range but also take them out for a round to try them in a live environment. Declan was the biggest sceptic about these irons and even he has started to convert and has enjoyed trying them out!
Another great product from the Cobra This year is the new F7+ Driver with built in Arcoss golf drive tracker. This tracks your drives so you can see what you do well and what can be improved. Check out the Arccos system here
Just before Christmas I was looking for a volunteer to go through the new on course assessment I have introduced.
Stevenage Golf Club Member David Hatmil put himself forward and was drawn out as my volunteer. David had kindly written about what we got up to on the course last week. Over to you David:
David Hatmil's On Course Assessment:
As most of you will have heard, I was chosen to be the first recipient of Matt's inaugural On Course Assessment Programme. For those of you not in the know, the objectives of the programme are as follows: -
"Firstly we will determine your current game, handicap, how much time you can commit to practice and how often you will get to play. Then we will go on the golf course for 9 holes and I will be watching your game and taking stats and notes, such as amount of fairways hit and if you miss them, on which side. How many greens hit and, if missed, where? Was it short left, right, or long? How many shots from 100 yards do you play? How many putts are you having in total and per green?
The idea is to really build up a picture of what parts of your game could really do with an improvement, but more importantly, which parts will show the quickest and best results for you. Then after the 9 holes we will have a coffee and debrief and I will show you my findings of which you can have your input and then we can formulate a plan on improvement based on our findings"
We chose Wednesday 18th January - mainly because we had a feeling the weather was going to be fine, and so it was, with blue skies and bright sunshine. The plan was simple, I would play 9 holes in my normal way (front nine) and Matt would follow, compiling stats and short videos. No pressure there then. Initially a little daunting, but very quickly the round became relaxed as we walked and chatted whilst I played. Crucially, there was no teaching throughout the round and I was left to play the holes as I chose. Matt asked me on each occasion which club I was using and, worryingly (for me), measured out every single shot in yardage terms. Suffice to say, my half round contained the usual mixture of great, good and poor shots, not necessarily in that order or frequency. However, Matt was able to collect a wealth of stats which was to prove invaluable.
Having completed a very enjoyable nine holes, the next stage was the debrief. After packing away my gear, I went into the clubhouse half expecting to be asked "Have you thought of taking up badminton as an alternative?" Instead, I was greeted with a nice cup of coffee, a free golf hat and we engaged in a 30 minute debrief session which was both thorough and informative. As mentioned, Matt had compiled an astonishing amount of data and had taken a number of short videos, which I was not really aware of whilst playing. We went through the round - hole by hole - and Matt gave me his synopsis which included swing technique, club and shot choice, course management, and of course, the short game. I would say that I have come away from the session with one major change to work on and a number of ideas, thoughts and hints to help me make improvements to my game.
The On Course Assessment is really the beginning of my journey and Matt is going to notate his stats and send them to me along with the videos. The next stage will be to put together an Improvement Plan which, as Matt stated, will be based entirely on my availability to devote time to practice as well as playing my normal rounds of golf. I would strongly recommend the Assessment for any of you who have a desire to improve your golf and are in a position to devote quality time to achieving that aim. I found Matt to be professional, sociable, knowledgeable and extremely adept at zooming in on the key learning points. I am looking forward to continuing my journey with him and to becoming a better golfer.
David Hatmil
We got a lot of interesting stats from the assessment. David has some decent time to dedicate to his game, which from a coaching point of view is fantastic.
A couple of questions from me before we went out on the course were:
What do you believe are your strengths and weaknesses?
David believed his strengths were: putting, in particular distance control and knowing how far each club goes.
His weakness were: chipping, although getting better, as well as the distance he could hit the ball.
I won't publish the stats here as that is for David and if he wants to share with you just ask. But the key areas was: David lacked some distance due to some technique. We were taking to many shots to get to the hole and putting a lot of pressure on the short game. David holed some really nice putts when we were out and that was what he believed was a strength, however the stats from the day and previous rounds that David supplied was that he was averaging over 34 putts around. Not a stat that you would associate with a good putter.
It wasn't that David is a bad putter, his technique is good but because his shot in to the green was averaging approx. 60 yards he wasn't hitting it close enough.
So hit it further, and hit it closer from 40-60 yards as well as a couple of questionable decisions involving trees, which added at least 3 shots onto the 9 holes.
David has now taken up the January Sale coaching offer and we have a platform to start improving.
If you are interested in the 9 hole assessment for ONLY £35 please get in touch.
YMG Junior Golf
We have now started to take names for the next junior cadet program. The date is TBC but if you are interested in getting your budding junior on the program get in touch now.
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