Hi everyone,

 

Once again the weather stopped play in the February Stableford, and so there is little to report from the club competition point of view. This has been rescheduled for the 20th February, so booking online is the order of the day!

The girls did good in their 3 ball bowmaker last week. The winning team consisted of the most glorious Margaret Cox, Claire Fairman and Veronica Shorttle. In second place came Ladies' Captain Paula Crabtree, Rose Hargreaves and Lisbeth Jensen. Well done to you all!

Coming up next is the Ladies' Scotch Foursomes Stableford on the 16th, the Gentlemen's dinner on 19th, the February Stableford on 20th and the Ladies' Semi Texas Scramble on 23rd.

Let's keep everything crossed for a brightening of the weather - at the moment all it seems to do is rain!


 

This week the lads took the high tee, tri golf and xtreme equipment and trotted off to a new school we have never coached in before. The PE teacher at New Siblands school near Thornbury, a special school newly built and purpose designed, contacted me with a view to us providing some golf coaching at their premises. I can't say no to doing something so wonderful for these awesome kids. On 4th February, Andy and Luke took a bold step and went into the school to coach 18 children of varying special needs. The reception they received was great, and they are returning to the school on 18th February to coach another group of children.

   

Funnily enough, I also took a call from the deputy head at Baytree School this week, another local authority specialist provision looking for some golf coaching. We provided a taster session for some profoundly disabled children there last year, and have been asked back to work with a new group of pupils. What do you think I said.......? Well of course it was going to be a yes! We will be working with Baytree on completion of our Belgrave School sessions at the end of May. I don't think we have ever been so busy with our inclusion work, and I am thrilled that so many schools want and choose us specifically, to coach their children. This makes me a very happy person indeed!

This week I have also chosen the staff uniform for Spring/Summer 2016 and it is once again a Nike team kit for us in the Academy. And yes, you guessed it, it's going to be pink! It's funny, I was in a meeting about staff pensions a few days ago (and meant to be concentrating on earnings levels - oops!) when I looked up at the TV in the lounge and saw Rory wearing a most gorgeous pink Nike shirt in Dubai, and the players were wearing pink in support of breast cancer charities. Well that was it, I knew what I had to do! The shirts, and some black trousers, have been ordered and will be here ready for the improvement in weather conditions this Spring. Can't wait!

Click here to view our coaching outfits for 2016.

I have also been working on the staff pension scheme (when I'm not choosing uniform for the boys!) and all is ready for our staging date - bring it on!

Now I would like to pass you over to Paul for his report on some exciting new clubs due into stock this week.


 

We had a visit from PING's James Turnbull last week to show us the new line up of PING hardware. They are due to be launched this week. Very exciting! The new G series are the best clubs PING have ever made and not only do they perform better, they look even sexier.

You may have experienced the power and playability of last year's G30 fairways and hybrids, well now.......drum roll........ the new G driver has Dragon Fly technology. 

The new design can be easily seen whilst looking down at the crown of the club head. Basically PING engineers have distributed 8 grams of weight away from the crown to better position the centre of gravity and increase moment of inertia. In lay-man's terms, this increases distance, forgiveness and consistency. 


It will be a massive hit in the Pro Shop for sure as the numbers 'G' are producing on the FlightScope radar, we haven't seen before. It's really long.

Click here to find out more about the G Driver


G fairway woods now have a thinner crown design to help launch the ball higher and are available in different head designs. As well as a standard head option, PING now have an SF TEC option alongside the award winning SF TEC driver. PING SF TEC drivers and fairways have a small weight applied to the inside cavity of the head that reduces slice spin on the ball. Anyone who wants to reduce their slice then these clubs are absolutely perfect for you.

Click here to find out more about the G Fairway Woods.


PING have also introduced the revolutionary CROSSOVER hybrids which have the control and spin of a long iron but have the ball speed and launch of a hybrid. Available in 18, 21 and 24 degree lofts the CROSSOVER produces a performance which is better than anything else I have ever seen.

Click here to find out more about the revolutionary Crossover irons.


The new PING G series irons have a 32% thinner face resulting in 4 times more face bending and an average of 5 yards additional carry on the golf ball. This is PING's longest and forgiving iron ever.

Click here to find out more about the brand new G irons.


As an Authorised PING Fitting Centre, Andy, Luke and I are available to comprehensively custom fit using a vast amount of demonstration clubs and our FlightScope Launch Monitor. 

Fittings cost £40.00 for one hour and this fee is refunded if a purchase is made. The fitting process usually takes an hour for woods or irons and up to two hours for a full set of clubs. 

Please book in advance to guarantee availability. Click here to get in touch if you are interested in arranging your fitting session.


Thanks Paul!

Now over to an instructional from Luke to keep you on top of your game!


 

Are You the Correct Distance from the Ball?

One question that I am frequently asked when teaching is 'how far away should I stand from the ball?'

How I found this answer came at a Continual Personal Development (CPD) course that was run by European Tour putting coach Phil Kenyon, who was demonstrating the Harold Swash putting theory. When analysing my putting stroke, he noticed that the swing path was 'out to in' which caused me to pull my putts to the left. Phil discovered that this was being created by me standing too far away from the ball, and this was proved this by using Boditrack technology, (a portable mat that helps track the movement in an individual's feet when swinging, which we now have in the Pro Shop) that by standing further away from the ball, my weight was in my toes and my heels came off the ground before I even started my backswing. To help solve the problem, Phil showed the group that if I stood nearer the ball, my weight moved into the middle of my feet and I was able to keep my balance much better, as well as create a more consistent stroke.

A drill to help you stand the correct distance from the ball, is to start in an upright position with a straight back and the club at waist height just like in picture one. When ready, bend from the hips until the club touches the ground and is behind the ball (picture two). The next stage is to close your eyes and feel where the weight is in your feet. If it is towards your toes, you are too far away from the ball and need to move nearer until the weight is in the middle, and if the weight feels towards your heels, then you are too close and need to move further away from the ball.

  

I hope you find this useful, and if you have any questions or wanted to book a lesson then please contact me in the Pro Shop. 

I am running until the end of April an unlimited thirty minute lesson deal which costs £59 for one month, £109 for two months and £149 for three months. If you would like to know more information then please let me know. 

I look forward to hearing how you get on, 

Luke


Brill job - happy days!

Finally I would like to thank Sanjay Vyas and Ali - they know why, and I appreciate everything they've done.

So on that note, see you all next week 
Caren, Paul, Luke and Andy