Hello everyone,
This week I am dedicating the main newsletter content to my three male colleagues, so they can thrill (?!) you in equal measures!
Firstly let's start with an instructional from Andy!
This week I'd like to share with you some tips to help your game this winter from how to play certain shots that you'll face at this time of year, to how to look after yourself so you can perform at your best.
1. The dreaded mudball!
If you're on the fairway then lift, clean and place, crisis averted! However, if you've strayed into the semi rough and find a lump of mud on the side of your ball be prepared for an unpredictable ball flight!
In order to give yourself a better chance of hitting a straight shot, play the ball a little further back in your stance with your weight favouring your lead side, and feel as if you're hitting a little more down onto the ball as if playing a punch shot. This will help to keep the ball flight down and stop any high spinning shots that could destroy your good card.
Mudball - ball back in your stance and play it like a punch shot
2. Stay hydrated You might think this isn't as important at this time if year, but we can still suffer the effects of dehydration even in the winter. We all know that dehydration affects your concentration, but a lack of water can also inhibit your swing and cause potential injury. If your muscles aren't sufficiently hydrated they can become tight and weak, meaning when you go to really get after a drive you won't be firing on all cylinders or cause yourself a nasty injury.
To avoid this I would suggest at least 1 litre of water consumed slowly over 9 holes.
For even better hydration try supplementing your water by adding a pinch of Himalayan rock or Celtic sea salt. This helps to avoid muscle cramps from tired or fatigued bodies and can even reduce symptoms of allergic reactions. You could also try hydration tablets such as Nuun tablets. These are full of electrolytes without any sugar making them a good alternative to energy drinks for those of you looking to control your sugar intake.
3. Keep everything dryThis sounds obvious but I'm not just talking about your grips and gloves. Any water that gets between the clubface and ball at impact can have a significant effect on the flight of the ball. For instance if your clubface and ball are wet when hitting a drive, you might see the ball drop out of the sky sooner than expected due to less spin being imparted at impact, robbing you of a few extra yards. Make sure to dry your ball and clubface at every opportunity in the winter to avoid this.
4. Warm up This doesn't necessarily have to be 30 minutes spent on the range trying to loosen up that dodgy back, hip, knee, elbow (I could go on!). Taking just 5 minutes to warm up your body by doing some on the spot exercises such as squatting, jumping jacks or lunges could be just as beneficial. Make sure to get your pulse going so as to get the blood pumping around your muscles where it's needed. This will often be a much better way of 'loosening' up than just going to the range where you're tight and cold muscles will make it difficult for you to move correctly. Eventually you'll just make more compensations when swinging and not have a great ball striking day.
Thanks Andy, you have imparted words of great wisdom today!
Paul will now fill you in on his week and our
BLACK FRIDAY deals here at the Paul Mitchell Pro Shop:
This coming Black Friday, we have some huge reductions on all sorts of golfing paraphernalia and you can grab yourself some serious bargains.
-
Callaway,
PING and Titleist cart and stand bags are reduced by
up to 50%.
-
FootJoy D.N.A. and
HyperFlex are reduced from
£139 to just
£80 per pair.
- Ladies Nike shoes are half price.
-
Callaway XR drivers,
fairways,
rescues and
irons are reduced by
up to 40% to clear!
- I have one set of
Titleist 714 AP1 irons reduced from
£549 to just
£299 and 915 drivers, fairways and hybrids reduced by
up to half price!
I will be running the offers over the weekend, but will only honour Black Friday prices until close of business on Sunday.
Stock levels are limited so if you wish to take advantage or reserve goods then please give us a call or
click here to get in touch.
Thanks Paul - so where's the best place for Christmas shopping on Black Friday?!!!..............
Come to us and get the best advice, always honest, plenty of choices and price matching too!
Now I would like to pass over to Luke for the final instructional of the newsletter
Are You Choosing the Correct shot around the Green? Last month, I visited Woburn Golf Club with a few members to watch the British Masters. It was great to be able to see most of Europe's elite players battle it out over the magnificent Marquess course, and at the end of the day we were very lucky to be able to see a half hour short game masterclass by three time major champion Padraig Harrington, and three time winner this year on the European tour Andy Sullivan, which was hosted by the tournament sponsors Sky Sports.
What fascinated me most was when they were both asked how they would play a normal chip shot, their response was unless they have to throw the ball up in the air, they will try to get the ball running as quickly as possible on the green. To do this they will use a club with less loft which could be anything from a pitching wedge to a seven iron and try and land the ball on the edge of the green by making the shortest swing possible.
To help reinforce this point, Tim Barter, one of the Sky Sports commentators asked the crowd just like in picture one,
'for a million pounds if you had to land the ball in a circle which was either three feet, fifteen feet or thirty feet away from you, which on would you choose?' The crowds response was the nearest one because it is the easiest.
The second question was 'if you were standing on one side of the green and on the other side there was a hole with a circle around it (picture two), how would you get the ball to finish as close to hole as possible?'
Would you roll the ball across the ground or would you throw the ball up in the air and try to stop it with a lot of spin?
Finally, they talked about the technique they would use to play the shot. As you can see in picture three, they said to put the ball towards the back foot with your hands over top of the ball, this will help you make contact with the ball first and also use the bounce of the club to stop it getting stuck in the ground. They also said that it is vital to have you weight ever so slightly on your front foot throughout the swing and to not let the club head get in front of your hands, again this will help you hit the ball first instead of the ground and with a consistent strike.
If you have any questions or wanted to book a lesson then please
contact the Pro Shop.
I am running until the end of April next year 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 let me know.
I look forward to hearing how you get on,
LukeThanks Luke, more from the boys in the weeks to come!
So what about me? I am excited to be involved in the Junior Christmas scramble on 21st December, and our beautiful Junior Team Player shirts for 2016 have now arrived.
Our Academy decided to sponsor these this year, as we are very proud of our juniors and their continued support and hard work. Don't these shirts look awesome?
If it's good enough for Mr McIlroy, it's good enough for our B&C juniors! They deserve it, well done guys.
This Thursday evening, the boys packed the tri golf and xtreme golf kits into the boot of the car and headed to Almondsbury Scout Group for the evening. They coached for nearly three hours straight, with juniors ranging from Wolf Cubs right through to teenagers. There are also a number of special needs pupils within this group which made it even more rewarding for our staff. We have made a great link with the YKnot scout group and hope to extend our sessions into more scout groups and brownie groups from here.
I have also been planning the Paul Mitchell Golf Academy staff Christmas do - after last year's Karting fun, I had to go one better this year so I chose laser quest! Later in December we are all going to the Old Fire Station to shoot each other with lasers! I am sure it will be very good for the soul, if not challenging on the eyeballs.
On that note, wishing you a warm and wrapped up week, and enjoy the articles we have prepared below,
Caren, Paul, Andy &
Luke