Well hello there my friends,
It's been another long and tiring week, chained to the pro shop desk............not!! The Spanish adventure continues on, Ole! This week we visited so many places it's untrue, but I will just mention a few!
The first thing to note is what your head professional gets up to when he is not coaching - he's an adrenaline junkie! If you can find a particularly scary ride (these rides are in Terra Mitica), he's on it. On the other hand, I cringe watching and the most daring ride for me at this particular theme park is the 5D cinema!
This week we also went up into the Sierra Cortina mountains, as the view from up there is truly awesome. We visited the valley of Guadalest and went to the castell. We popped into the motorcycle museum, also in the valley, and saw lots of almost perfect vintage motorbikes, unusual cars and Vespas. I am a bit of a rock chick, brought up around motorbikes (my Dad's an avid collector and rider of motorcycles and in my childhood, I saw more Moto Guzzi, Gilera and Triumph than most people have eaten hot dinners!) and I really enjoyed seeing different vehicles. Next door to the museum is also a quaint roadside Pot Shop (not dodgy substances I hasten to add!!) where the most exquisitely painted bottles, tapas dishes and tapas ingredients can be bought. Yummy yummy!
At Cam's insistence (will anyone believe that?!), we also made a special trip to visit the Valor Chocolate factory - oh this was a treat! The tour was guided and we were able to see the chocolate being made, packaged and boxed ready for transportation to its final destination. The smell was quite simply delicious, and it didn't hurt that the tour ended with a free chocolate tasting experience! Needless to say, I needed to buy some more Valor products to test at home to ensure they weren't poisonous or anything.........
We also attended the La Nucia Italian job remote control car racing weekend, where serious car addicts, petrolheads and model car enthusiasts came together to race these speedy little R/C cars. Loads of Spanish people attended and it was a pleasure to watch. Next year I want to do la tomatina and lob a beef tomato or four at people!
I am also fascinated by Funeral art - some countries have the most gorgeous cemeteries, and one fine morning I took myself off to the Cementerio Municipal to have a look. Some of these tombs are stunning, and I love the Spanish people's faith in the afterlife and the gifts they receive by their gravesides. It was a most poignant and humbling walk in a place of utter peace and I felt both uplifted and grateful to have walked through it.
Our aim for this week is to visit more historical sites and fun things. Oh I do get ever so bored sat on the beach doing absolutely nothing, I'm so impatient and irritable when plonked on the hot sand!
So I am here writing a golf newsletter and I haven't yet made mention of the noble sport! Sorry guys, let's get back to the task in hand. I would like thank Jane Watts for keeping me in the loop with the girls' county GLCGA newsletter. Paul's lovely pupil Ebz Lewis continues to do so well - she is now County Junior Champion and recently came sixth in the English Girls' Champs.
To read more about Ebonie and the county girls' successes, click here to read the newsletter.
Well done Ebz - great job!
I would now like to start with a fanfare as its a PAUL MITCHELL INSTRUCTIONAL!! This is a rare breed, a lesser spotted pictorial lesson WITH PICCIES. Sooooooo without further ado, I give you Mr Paul Graham Mitchell!
Make a Splash
You often see players attempting to play a shot from a water hazard, but here's a way to make it play much easier than it really looks.
Firstly decide whether it's playable. If the ball is more than 2 or 3 inches below the surface of the water then my advice would be to take your medicine and go for the penalty drop.
If you give it the green light then firstly don't touch any part of the hazard and be prepared to get dirty and wet!
The set up is important to guarantee the correct contact with the water.
Using your most lofted club, position the ball backwards of centre in your stance which in turn will position your hands well ahead of the club head. Choke down the grip a fraction.
Similarly to a bunker shot, you will need to cock your wrists sharply on the backswing and hit down vertically just like a chopping axe type action. The vital key to this shot is where you hit the water. You must try to hit one to two inches behind the ball and don't worry about following through too much. The downward attack of the club will probably get the club stuck into the mud but by hitting a fraction behind the ball, it will pop up high just like a bunker shot.
Next time you have an opportunity to play this shot, give it a try. But beware, Persil will be required.
Click here to get in touch to let us know how you get on. Or tweet us your pictures to @PaulMitchGolf.
Thanks Paul, knew you'd do a good 'un!
We move on with another set of handy tips from our assistant Luke, over to you!
Three Tips That Will Improve Your Green side Bunker Shots
A bunker shot is described by many coaches as a 'splash shot' because the club should hit the sand first and slide underneath the ball (but not make contact with it) which will get the ball in the air and stop when it lands on the green.
When I am teaching bunker shots, I always emphasise three key points that always help people get the ball out and which I have seen many top playing professionals apply:-
1. Open the club face - before you hit the shot, open the club face just like in picture one, this will increase the loft of the club and will give you a better chance of throwing the ball up in the air and landing the ball softly on the green.
2. Ball Position - as you can see in picture two, I placed the ball in between the middle of stance and front foot. This will help you to hit the sand first and as I mentioned earlier, help the club glide through the sand and underneath the ball.
3. Hit the sand two inches behind the ball - as demonstrated in picture three. By doing this, again it will help to hit the sand first and get the club driving through the sand which will help to get the ball out of the bunker.
I hope you have found this useful and if you like to find out more information or book a lesson then please do not hesitate to contact me in the Pro Shop, or click here to get in touch.
Luke
Wow what a lot of great ideas from our pro shoppers - should be great fun putting these into practice (ugh what's practice?!).
As I write, the new winter stock is arriving in store. I am really excited to unpack the boxes and see the new apparel (yeah I know it's winter, but we can all huddle in together and get through it!). It's always exciting getting ready for Santa (sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, lo siento!) and this year, from October, we have some absolutely gorgeous gift box sets celebrating our golf clubs 125th anniversary. There are crested sweaters, hats, towels, shirts and all gift boxed up ready to be given as gifts.
Many of you will be aware that the 125th anniversary year of B&C will feature a special crest, appearing for the anniversary year only. These boxed items with the special crest will only be available to purchase from the end of this year until the end of next year, which make them limited edition items. I know Christmas is ages away, but these are the bee's knees for presents for all occasions. Look out for these products in the next four weeks.
Finally I can't remember if I told you, I don't think I did, but our academy has sponsored a football team kit ha ha! Clifton football team, who play at the college, are now featuring our logo on their shirts this year and I can't wait to watch them play. I would also very much like to sponsor some of the B&C junior team wear for 2016. As our academy is very involved in making the junior section at the club successful, and more importantly, happy, it would be fitting to be able to help them to look as supercool as they all are. When I return from Spain, I will take my plans to the boss and see what happens!
Before I move on, I would just like to ask that you bring your baskets back from the driving range please guys - I recently bought another 25 to try to ensure we don't run out (as I know some people have kept some of them which is naughty), but it seems some just don't think to return them to their usual place. Whilst I am away, the boys can't just run out and get them because they are often on their own in the shop, so please, please, please return your baskets to the range ball machine when you've finished. This is the scene which greeted the boys after the medal - the range was untidy and baskets just dumped, which isn't nice for anyone.
Next week sees me getting ready to up sticks and make my way home - I missed yas! Back on 8th, so look out for the three sunburnt idiots in the sombreros!
Off for a BBQ in the garden now in 34 degree heat - not sure if me or the kebabs will sizzle more! (she can't even stop posting pics of cooking when she's on flippin' holiday).
Ciao for now!
Caren, Paul, Andy, Luke, Nick & Cam
