28 February to March 2010

My group and I arrived in Spain on 28th February in good weather which was great!! At home it really hasn’t been so good, so it was nice to see some sunshine. Some of the group went down to the port for lunch, some looked at the course and others went for a run!

Our first day started with some short game tuition. We worked on making good contact as without that you can not get consistent distance control and I feel it’s a great way to start the school. The poor weather at home has meant that no-one has had much chance for practice, so we made the most of the great bright sunshine and round about +19! What a great back drop to practice in with the sun shining on the snow topped mountains in the distance.

I then did a video of everyone. I really do think this is important, as it’s great to see just what people do. After a bit of lunch we hit the Gary Player designed golf course. As a start we played a Texas Scramble which is a good way for everyone to get to know each other and to hit lots of shots. The top score of the day went to, George, Maddi and Rae, well done guys.

Day 2 started off with short pitching. This is another shot which is so important and which not many people play the right way. By that I mean that a lot of people flick their hands to try and lift the ball up in the air. We worked on some good drills and of course spent time working on improving this shot. We then did some long game tuition by concentrating on good set up and of course alignment. Many people can sort of do this on the range, but find it so much harder on the course. By understanding how to line up more accurately I am so sure your game will improve. Again after lunch we hit the course, playing a stableford competition. I personally don’t mind everyone marking a card, but I do impress on them all that it’s more important to work on the changes we have made. Sometimes those changes don’t have an immediate effect and it can be discouraging if your efforts aren’t reflected immediately in your score. However, I am sure they will be and concentrating on the score card can make you neglect the changes needed.

After the day off when some went on a bike ride, others practiced, some played, others went to the gym, and of course others shopped!

We started day 3 with putting. I gave the group lots of drill to do and a stats sheets to help them keep track of what they were doing and what improvements to work on next.

This was followed by more long game work. We went over all we had been working on, and then we concentrated on using the Driver... I have never met anyone who wants to hit it shorter, so let’s get more power!

Day 4 a great warm day and we had a clinic on bunkers, and a mix of short and long pitching. This was a good session where the group had plenty of time to work on their contact and distance control. We then did more long game work. Once again I had the group work on lining up and also we did some drills and talked about the importance of the punch shot... under trees and keeping the ball low. After a bit of lunch we hit the course and I gave the group some hand outs showing stats and how to use them. This will really show them just where they lose shots, stats are so important!

the group