El Rompido, Spain, October 2011

What a trip to the airport I had with Vivien Ward. It was an early start, I picked up Viv around 3.30am and we were on the way to the M11 when I hit a badger!  Fortunately it was ok I am pleased to say as it ran up the bank!! We then just about got to the motorway only to find it was closed!!! So off we went up the A10 but the world and his wife was doing the same...Pleased to say we got there in time and rushed through.

Landed in Faro to a very pleasant +24 and it just got better and better as the week went on!!

Our first day of coaching started with some short game, working on keeping the left wrist straight and forward of the ball, to stop the flicking action a lot of people do... with good success I may add! We then hit the range were I talked about the importance of staying centered at the address position and trying to keep that feeling through the swing. We worked the whole week on improving their impact position, with drills. A bite of lunch and we were off to play the North course, with the sky a brilliant blue colour the group worked on alignment and good contact!

Day 2 again we started with short game, again keeping the hands forward and then we worked on distance control with the 7 iron chip and run, then a short pitch shot with the pitching wedge. We then went on to the range where we worked on again good contact with the irons and then fairway woods. A great session as they all began to understand the importance of being centred and moving forward to a full end of swing position. A bit of lunch and we were off to play the South course. I got my clubs out too. It was great to play with the group and to talk them through how I saw the shots, so a good day was had by all.

Day 3 we started with putting. I showed them some good drills and some good putting habits. We talked about the importance of staying still and NOT watching the ball as they hit it! We then did some long game. We worked on Driving, making sure the ball position was right and working on a good routine and then when on the course trying to stick to it. We played the North course again and o boy it was hot around +29. I talked to them about how important it is to eat and drink as much as they could, I say about every 3 holes but when it’s that hot more!!

We then had a day off, most of the group went out to the little town on the train from the hotel, had a bit of lunch and chilled by the pool, it was a lovely day to sit and read...

Day 4 we started with bunkers, we talked about the 3 different club face positions you can use if the ball is in a normal lie, really fluffy lie and a nasty buried lie. It is great to see them all get the ball up and out from the buried lie, they always look a bit surprised... just great to see! We then worked on the long game on the range, after seeing their video’s it make things a little clearer on what we needed to work on, again another good session in the Spanish sunshine. A bit of lunch and we were off again on the South course, working on some stats, how many fairways did they hit, how many greens in regulation (to their handicap) and how many putts... more work with great feedback.

As we came to our last day, all too soon the group were up for the competition, but before that it was “how the pro’s prepare to play” again a good session covering all the things we did through the week, chipping, pitching, putting, bunkers, irons, woods and choosing the right club.

We then hit the North course, we played a stableford competition and a secret pairs too, the winner on the day was Derek with 38 points, what a great game and the secret pair were Vivien and Fiona with 53 point!

What a great week with nice people all working and improving. They all know what to work on over the winter and I now look forward to hearing all about their progress!

Thank you all for making my great job easy!!!