Had short session with Henning. We first talked about swing plane where I had the wrong idea of bending forward and doing the ruler exercise. This should be done from the golf posture. My mistake was that on the take away i was too much on the outside and too steep on the top meaning that I would have to cross the plane and thereby having to correct at some point. instead of keeping a simple plane.
We talked about chipping. Two variants. The classical and the more straight chip. The difference being that the classical Mickelson chip has more forward press thus having a lower trejectaory. The Luke Donald type of chip has a higher trejectory. One can also use the ball position more to the front to increase it.
I hit a few pitches with my 52. Henning asked me to hit them with the 58 (up to which ponit I had little confidence). he said two wise things -
Freue dich auf jeden schlaeger and du kannst jetzt jeden schlag
Ich soll nur aufpassen das ich auf the lippe beisse beim spieln
It clicked on the range today. I noticed that apart from not playing with a glove which felt great, I...
shifted my weight to my left side, rolled on the outside of my left foot and was on the toe of my right foot on the follow through.
I told Henning that the follow through helps my complete swing. He analysed it and said it was too much over my head.
The follow through should be more behind
Furthermore my right foot was not completely off the ground. Greg interestingly noted it was as if I am trying to hold back.
My right foot should be basically on the tiptoe at the end of the follow through and my weight should should be on the outside of my left foot
Then we worked on balance. Henning noted that apart from lifting my right hip, my weight on my feet was too much on the balls of my feet and I opened my left foot. It shows that I am pivoting on the ball of my left foot, instead of playing against a strong left side. This also explains why I was falling to the side or the front.
I should try to grip the ground with the whole sole of my feet giving the feeling of an athletic base. a five million dollar house on a cheap base is not what we want.
We also talked about balance and using the balancing board to improve it
Hit a few balls. Hit them mostly thin. Henning took a video and we noticed the following;
My posture improved. I do not have an arched lower back although my shoulders could be a bit more back and my chest out.
I made my old mistake of straightening my right leg on takeaway and bending it on the down swing...this can lead to many inconsistant shots.
Furthermore my take away was very much to the outside...so we got working on my swing plane.
Henning took a ruler and showed me ideal swing plane. Taking the ruler with both hands backwards and then the follow through.One can do it with a towel, club or stick. The toe of the club can look vertical to the sky but it can be too much to the outside or inside.
The swing plane is defined by the shaft angle to the ground.
In the video my takeaway was too much to the outside and on the top of the back swing it was about 20 to 30 degrees to steep. Henning held a ruler on the camera parallel to the shaft and showed the ideal swing plane should be the extension of the line of the ruler.
The three things to work on
Shoulders back and chest out
Ruler exercise
Keep legs as pivot
Henning took a video a my swing. We saw quite a few points that I have to work on
1. My knees were too bent. I should straighten them more out, have less angle
2. On the takeaway my club face was around 10 deg shut - should be vertical
3 I had an arched back (ducksass) at the bottom of my back and a hunched back at the top of my spine -
I should bend foward from the hips and chest should be out - better spine angle
4 On inpact my leg weight was correctly foward but my upper body weight was backwards - it should be to the front.
5 Interestingly Henning noticed my veins in my arms and neck - should swing muuuch more relaxed and not so hard
As Luke Donald says - work on your posture every day
Tried a few punch shots and Henning asked me what I was doing to keep the ball low. I automatically was putting my hands in front.
Henning asked me to work on my swing while focusing on keeping my hands in front of the club face during impact phase of the swing.Usually people try to lift up the ball with the club. I was finally getting much more length and my divots were clearly noticeable.
Henning analyed a lady s swing. She had no hip turn to start the down swing. She seemed as if she was swinging from her address position.
Henning also analysed an Austrian couple. His follow through was fine with his left hand but his right side was too short and this had the effect that he pulled his left hand back and thus had bent arms in the follow through instead of extending them.
We also discussed if the teed up ball has more or less backspin. It does not because the ball travels up the club face more when it is on shortly mown grass.
On the chipping green we played five shots through the tree. Henning asked me to play a punch shot. Low and straight and a shot useful in the wind. Henning asked us what do we have to do to play the ball low. Put the ball more back in the stance and have a lower follow through up to the shake hand height.
We went on the range and I hit a few punch shots with the driver. Ball back in stance and low hand shake follow through. Just like in the takeaway where the blade should show vertical the follow through should be
1 to the target 2. blade vertical... if the follow through is to the left of the target this would promote a slice, if it is to high it would result in a chicken wing or trying to scoop the ball. The hands on the club should be ready to shake hands when it is ready with the follow through of the punch shot.
This shot is useful into the wind like using it on the 5th with wind in the face and one can hit a lot punch shot with the driver...be creative on other holes as well.
Henning also said to work on the right hand on the down swing and contact with the ball. Being a left hander I neglected this aspect. He said pressure should be felt on the trigger finger of the right hand and not on the top thumb.
Also interestingly, the punch promotes a downward strike. This downward strike has the effect that the ball goes upwards. This shows that golf is a game of opposites. Usually golfers try ro lift the ball up in the air with an opposite effect.
Asked Hennning to have a look at my chipping. He recorded me on camera. My takeaway was much to long...as long as a normal pitch...(for a short chip of 10m)my hands were correct in front of the ball.
He liked my one piece takeaway but again the video showed that I had too much angle in my knee. I should just relax in a normal athletic stance
Most of the lesson was on putting
We started by putting 10 balls to a pin 6m away. Henning noticed that 3 balls were fine the rest were short. the should be 18 inches behind the hole.
We putted along a board to get a feel for the stroke and this board helped us avoid any outside to inside movement.
We than moved to the two ball exercise. My inside ball was much longer than the outside ball...
We than spoke about posture and shoulders. The stroke should be a shoulder rock movement while my head should be down and thus a putter can rest on my head neck and back. If one is too upright your shoulders cannot rock freely.
The ball should be positioned to the front under the left eye (drop a ball from there and it should hit the ball) and thus promote topspin and a better roll.
We than did two exercises... piling where ten balls have to be played in line of the first ball and the second exercise was stringing were the next put should be just a bit longer than the first.
Henning noticed that my takeaway was much to long. It should be a short takeaway and a long follow through depending on the distance. A long takeaway promotes room for error especially being hesitant on the downswing.
He said that I should grip lower and thus create a more rocking of the shoulder movement. Most tour pros have shorter putters nowadays
On the routine Henning said that after 12s the information process is lost. One should take a long look at the hole.
Henning got a blakboard and asked us to hit off it. He also asked us where the divot mark should be. It should a balls length behind the ball. We all played a ball. And once again I hit 6inches behind the ball. The third time after cement session and divot session I actually hit behind the ball again. Should teach me a lesson to shift weight to front and have a steeper angle of attack.
I asked Henning about thinning my pitches. Have to keep weight on the front, just like in football volley shot.
Henning also spoke about the back foot at firts rolling and then on the yip toes. We then placed 4 balls in a line and checked the divots. Henning also noticed that I should work on my right knee angle.
Played today. Focused on my legs and knee angle and had this thought 20percent less and dial it back. Played great.
He took a video of us. My head was too long down. probably trying to hard and aggressive to hit the ball. should be like Sorenstam looking to the front and thus shifting my weight to the front.
Henning told me that he observed me while I was practising pitching... I thinned nearly every shot. Why? It could be a lot of different reasons.weight on the back, deceleration of club, too much wrist action. When he saw how I was pitching my hands were too much in front , thereby I shut the face of the club (from 52gap wedge would turn to 42 9iron). So we started to work on correcting these mistakes
First my takeaway was too wristy meaning I hinged my wrist straight away while starting the takeaway. It should be a one piece takeaway where I turn the club with my shoulder and where the wrist hinge happens only towards the end of the upswing.
My hands and club (shaft) should be in line or behind the ball so that I can use the loft of the club and the bounce.
My weight should be on the front foot although the hands are more important as he showed while pitching on the right leg.
And one should accelerate through the ball.
1.Keep a calm tempo during round especially while putting
2. Visualise the shot
3. Continue being aggressive and continue to try to make birdies. its human nature to try and protect it
I told Henning I did not like the way I was driving the golf ball. i got my old distance back but I did not like the swing. I thought it was all arms strength. I hit a few drives. He asked me to do my maximum shoulder turn. All it was was nearly 90deg. He turned my shoulders more until my sweatshirt really stretched and I was really feeling the pull. This is a shoulder turn. I thought what... I was afraid to hit it with such a shoulder turn... being afraid of not hitting the ball at all. I hit two balls with my maximum turn and they just took off over driving range fence and rising. Henning also put mud on ball to see where I hit the ball.
First this promotes a more inside swing just like kicking a football on the right outside with anticlockwise spin and one has to approach the shot on the inside... like Ronaldo doing a freekick.
Second like the rubber band slowly extenting and then letting it go. I was a bit quick going up...slow it down just a bit with maximum shoulder turn.
Third.... have to ask henning next time... forgot
Started with a few pitches into a landing area made by 4 clubs. I hit a few good ones but caught a few thin. Why? Henning pitched a few. The answer was clear. He had clear divot marks. I had none.
I should strike the ball with a steeper descending blow - first ball than turf.
I should visualize the chip or the pitch just like a putt with landing area and roll.
Henning said a storey of the two German Golf instructors to be - 1 and 3 hcp. They both thinned their pitches. One was able to fix and attack ball steeper while the other continued thinning.
He asked what is more important steeper angle of attack or shift of weight. He made marks with his club on cement. result was that THE combination of the two is important. Played a few 6 irons and it was a great feeling to play golf with divots,
Told Henning I was having problems with distance while I was concentrating on my legs. we did an exercise were I had to slap his hands while I had the back of my left hand on my right elbow and had to slap his hand with my right palm. I did it a few times and I did it without turning my shoulder. I instinctively slapped his hand without turning my shoulder. There was no power. We laughed and when I slapped his hand with a shoulder turn ouch!!
We worked on pitching. I pitched a few balls. They all went low left and this with a 9iron. Henning noticed my club face was slightly closed and my divots were all to the left. I straightened my club face and over corrected my swing path from inside to outside. Balls were flying much higher and my divots were much straighter.
The position of the ball in the stance determines the height of the shot. More in front gives you a higher shot.
Chipping is a more hand action while pitching you have to use your body.
Henning played a few balls without using his body and shoulder turn just arms and his divots were all sideways and pointing in all directions.
Played balls with a good shoulder turn and I got the distance and height of my 6 iron I wanted.
Henning got some impact tape. I hit a few balls and most balls were hit 1cm off centre. The ball flight was a slight draw. I did the 3 ball exercise with the ball I should hit in the centre. I hit the inside ball a few times. This is an exercise I should to to improve impact
In connection with the above we tried to analyse why my impact is off centre by 1cm. My down swing is a mirror image of the upswing. It should not be. With my hips turning first on the down swing there should be an angle in the shaft and not parallel to the ground like in the upswing
Finally, something I will be working on. My legs should have an athletics stance. My hips were moving upwards which has quite an influence on my impact. Henning asked me about a baseball swing. It should be the same.
Just a good turn and look what is behind you and (Henning said imagine a red hot lance) the flex in the leg should not change.
In the follow through my right knee should touch my left knee.
Great fun. Worked with a high speed camera. Hit rescue three from 220yds. Ball drifted right. On camera one could see that my hips were passive at contact and only moved towards target at the end of the swing.
Its similar to the throwing events (which I have been teaching for ages but I only realized that it is the same principle as in the golf swing). In order to get more power you have to move up from the toes to the knees, hip, abs shoulder and unwind gradually... sounds complex ...Pet Cowan describes it in this video
Putting
Henning noticed that I opened up my shoulder to see the putt instead of staying still and listening the ball drop.
Chipping
After I hit a few chip shots and Henning easily noticed that I loeffeld the ball. As they say chip with dead hands. To check just watch the angle of your hand in the follow through. Back of the hand should be straight and not hinged ( which would show a loeffeln). I was also a bit too quick to play the chip
Bunker play
We worked on bunker play. I have been thinning many bunker shots. Why? My divots were much too shallow, although my point of entry was fine.
So get lower by putting feet deeper in sand.
Ball in front of stance (easiest golf shot because you do not have to hit the ball)
The shot is like a pitch shot with a good hinge
And take a deep divot (especially in my case)
The power you put into it is about 3 times the distance you would want to hit it.
Open the club face according to distance to pin that is close or use a 52 from further on. a great binker shot has a lovely thudding sound.
Great fun... there is so much to learn...
Into the breeze swing with eaze...
Luke Donald swing at 87mph and hits it 250m. All the hard work of his technique training
Played a lot during holidays. Got a more nuetral left hand grip. My thumb should be covered and inside my right palm. Changing grip was tougher than changing my syance
I was slicing all week. Strongly. Henning asked me to draw the ball. just close my stance. And the balls were flying straight. What did I do. I started turning my forearm over subconsciously. First time I could ever control a driver. Pick a reachable target and let it go.
Follow through is very important. If I do not I start blocking it like a cricket player.
Worked on my chipping. i noticed that when I move my hands slightly foward I chip better and after some time I find my rythym.
Finally Henning talked about M.A, Jimenez.and the fuck it effect.
We worked on chipping first. I was thinning everything.
My takeaway was much too long for such a short chip. My angle of attack was much too shallow. Henning put a leaf in front of ball and asked me to play ball and then leaf in order to get steeper angle of attack. My hands should be in front of ball. I was trying to lift ball with both hands and body (combination of two)
Points to work on in chipping:
1. shorter back swing
2. steeper angle (leaf)
Video tiger chipping
We worked on my driving. I pull hooked everything at the week end. Henning asked me my shape of my drives. Usually pretty straight with a slice toward the end. The reason was my wrist cock. It should be straight and not at an angle. An outward angle causes a slice and an inward angle causes a hook.
Picture of wrist cock angle
Finally we worked on my grip. It was the toughest change so far.
My left hand should be much weaker. My thumb should be pressed more up. My right hand should be more closed with my thumb tuck into my right palm. Henning asked me to pull hook with this grip. It was impossible.
I hit few balls with a 7iron and Henning noticed they drifted to the right.
He noticed I opened my left foot and my stance was slightly open
We worked on my takeaway in the first few inches. It was was to the outside. My takeaway crossed a shaft that was lying on the floor in the first few inches.
We worked on my stance that was slightly open of the target with the result that the balls flew to the right of the target. ( 1deg over 100m results in 7m)
we also worked on my right elbow that should be played loose.
Points to work on:
1. I should play into a strong left side or else lot of yardage is lost (not open up my left foot)
2. My right elbow should be loose at address in a natural position
3 My stance is always slightly open (be a bit more German). Work with clubs on floor, parallel to target
4. My takeaway in the first few inches was to the outside. It should be parallel like pushing a golf ball backwards
