My take on golf lessons, and why people do have them

Before I start to teach a new pupil I always ask them lots of questions so I can fully understand the experiences they’ve had before with golf lessons (if any), how comfortable they feel taking them and what they’re looking to gain from my coaching.

I’ve had lots of interesting replies and wanted to sum up the most common here.

Firstly, I’ve found the biggest barrier to taking golf lessons is that people fear making a fool of themselves in front of a professional. Some people lack the confidence to come and give it a go, get nervous about just booking a lesson, and find the whole experience quite daunting.

Secondly, whilst some people have enjoyed excellent experiences of golf lessons in the past, many have not and all the negatives they’ve taken away with them have put them off from taking further tuition for years.

For example, a guy I taught recently was telling me about his first ever golf lesson. Let’s put this guy into perspective – he holds a very high position in a large company and he represented GB in Taekwondo for over 20 years, so he’s no stranger to giving or receiving instruction! His first experience of golf tuition wasn’t good, he had booked a series of 6 lessons and turned up for his first one full of enthusiasm. However, he got totally let down. He was made to feel useless and foolish, he was spoken ‘down to’ and the pro doing the teaching hit twice as many shots as he did during the lesson. Once the lesson had finished he told the pro in no uncertain terms what he thought of him and demanded his money back (which not many people would do by the way – so good for him)! After that he was reluctant to book anymore lessons and ended up watching the Golf Channel for his tuition. Not ideal in my book, but at least he was getting some guidance I suppose.

Thankfully this is an extreme example, but I do hear about lots of negative experiences which result in golfers steering clear of further lessons.

I firmly believe that there needs to be a strong relationship between player and coach, and if that first lesson together is one of enjoyment then there is no reason why it shouldn’t last for years.

Personally, I always make my pupils feel welcome, let them hit a few shots to relax and warm up and talk about the journey we’re going to embark on together. I always take a short video of their swing and then watch it back with them whilst clearly explaining what’s good and what’s not so good, and talking about how we could work on making things better.

This is all at a pace the pupil finds comfortable, not one I do! We all know how hard making changes to a golf swing can be, so why would I add any negativity or pressure to doing so? I’m there to help, advise and, yes, achieve results – but in a way that each individual responds to and is happy with.

So just to finish, if you’ve had a bad experience of golf lessons in the past please don’t be afraid to try a different coach. We all have our own way of doing things and some are better than others. Always ask for testimonials and look at the pro’s website to give you a feel about the person. Talk to the pro and see if you’re going to hit it off, and most importantly – never give up on asking for help and trying to improve.

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

07595 157452

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Winter Tips to help with your game

here are a few simple tips which will help this winter 

• Clean your grips with hot water, hand soap, scrubbing brush and then towel dry. 
• Play with the same ball all of the time, so you know how it feels and what it does when it lands on the green.
• Always have food and water in you golf bag.
• To keep your grips dry when you take a spare club with you, put a tee peg in the ground and rest your grip on it.
• Oil the wheels on your trolley as this will help prolong the life of your trolley battery.
• Check the spikes on your shoes, once they get too low they really do impede your swing and balance.
• Always keep spare gloves in your bag in case you get one wet or rip one.
• Keep a spare top in your bag, once you get cold it really restricts your swing.
• Grooves are really important – so keep them dirt free.
• Before you putt make sure your putter face is clean and dry, getting grit on your putter face sends the ball off line.
• Keep a spare packet of hand warmers in your bag, you never know when you’ll need them.
• Get the R&A rules app on your phone, you never know when it might come in handy
• You can down load a free golf GPS on your phone, you can’t use it in tournaments but you can socially.
• If you use laser gadgets keep a spare battery in your bag
• And finally, if you really want to improve this year – book some lessons with your local professional!
• Be tension free at set up and thoughtout the swing, this will lead to more distance and consistent shots 

Happy golfing! 

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional 

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

07595157452

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Why join my 12 month Programme ?

I would just like to explain why my 12 month Guaranteed Improvement Programme (GIP) is working, and helping players of all standards to play better golf.

I’ve been running the GIP for 2 years now and I can’t tell you how much I’ve learnt about teaching and making my pupils better at playing golf.

It’s a little bit like doing mini case studies, whilst I’ve been helping my clients I’ve also had the chance to see what happens to golfers when they are taught something new, let me explain.

First I video their swings and we chat through the things we are about to change and why. We then apply the changes and I encourage them to go away and practice.

Now quite commonly golfers book a course of say 5 lessons and we work though any required changes in their game, they then go away and within the space of 4 to 6 weeks of playing their swing reverts back to what I call their default movement and nothing has changed. However, the GIP is different.

The programme guarantees up to 4 hours tuition each month, which allows time to really fix golf swings permanently. It seems to take about 6 months before the old swing faults disappear and the new ones become the norm, which has been quite a surprise to me. One of the main reasons for this is a lack of practice, and don’t think playing 5 rounds a week is practice. A typical professional on tour would be hitting balls for at least 4 hours a day. I’m not suggesting that amateur golfers should start doing this because I know full well that they haven’t got the time nor would they enjoy doing it , but if you expect your swing to change without working on it, then you’ll be sadly mistaken.

The regular coaching my GIP clients receive every month on their whole golf game means they are all now beginning to reap the rewards. I’ve had one guy shoot his lowest round ever which was level par 72 (his previous best was 76), another has constantly started to shoot 3 or 4 better than his handicap week in week out, others have won tournaments they never thought possible, and without exception they are all enjoying their golf more and loving being on the programme.

Before I finish I just want you to have a think about this. To play your best golf you probably require Professional help, so here’s a tip – analyse your whole game, not just the bits that you’re good at. The things to look at are

. Rules and how to apply them
. The equipment you use
. Course management, this would take into account playing the right shots at the right time
. Driving
. Fairway woods
. Long irons
. Rescue clubs
. Mid irons
. Short irons
. Pitching
. Chipping
. Bunker shots including fairway bunkers shots
. Long putting
. Short putts
. What food and drink you take in during your round
. Your mental attitude on and off the course
. Your physical fitness and is there anything you could and should be doing

So you can see, taking all of the above into consideration it would take much more than a couple of golf lessons to improve your whole game and achieve your goals.

If this blog has made you think about the things you could be doing to become a better golfer then why not have a chat with your local PGA professional and see how you could work together? Or better still, contact me for more details about the GIP. I’m based near Coventry and I’m always happy have a coffee and a chat

Don’t wait – act today!

Happy Golfing 

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club

07595 157452

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Should your left heel come off the ground in the backswing? (Opposite if your left handed)

Hello, thanks for taking time to read this blog,

I'm just sat in my car watching golfers at Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club teeing off, I'm struck by how many golfers move their bodies in an inefficient way, they don't seem to grasp how much easier the swing is when you move your body correctly, golf is no different to any other throwing sport, for instance you wouldn't see any Javlin thrower leaning backward when releasing a Javlin, discuss throwers wind up their body by transferring their weight from the right to the left if they are right handed. 

So in its simplest form your weight should move to the right in the back swing and to the left in the follow through, at POSITIVE IMPACT GOLF we call this 

I've put a short video on YouTube that demonstrates the weight shift ( link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGoz5CJ-Mnw&sns=em ) 

The start of it shows me holding the club at hip height , watch what's happening to me heel on the takeaway and then on the follow through. 

A recent study by TPI has said that it's a must not a should that the left heel comes off the ground in the backswing, it helps prevent injury, takes away any restriction, allows a greater shoulder turn and feels so much easier once you apply it. 

I probably practise this movement about 100 a day, and now it feels totally natural, remember you could be doing this whilst you wait for the kettle to boil so you don't really have any excuses not to do it, and I promise you it will seriously help your swing. 

I have been told that 15 out of the last 17 major winners have done this, I will check this to make sure it's true but if it is I wouldn't be at all surprised. 

So give it a go and let me know how you get on. 

Happy Golfing 

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional 

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club 

07595 157452

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Natural swing v technical swing

Hello, thanks for taking time to read my Blog 

Question:- using a few words how would you describe a really nice golf swing? 

Question:- And what words would you use to describe a really bad golf swing? 

"Before you read on just spend a couple of minutes having a good think about these two questions". 

I like you,  have seen thousands of golf swings, some of them very pleasing on the eye and others make you want to look away, some golfers make it look easy and others make it look really difficult. 

When you were describing the two swings which one reminded you of you? 

When describing the really nice swing I would imagine you used words like " EASY, EFFORTLESS, NATURAL, FLOWING, RHYMICAL, BALANCED ETC ETC 

I bet you didn't use phrases like " that is a nice series of positions" , "that swing is on plane" , " the angle of attack was down 5 degrees" , I love the torque in the backswing" , " posture was maintained perfectly through impact". Am I right? 

I have another question for you - if a good swing is all of the words above then why is the golf swing taught as a series of Positions pieced together? does the golf swing have to be technical?

Why does modern teaching insist on making the golf swing more complicated and more and more unnatural ? 

Positive Impact Coaching is far more in tune with a persons natural swing, it is without restriction and allows a persons Talent to shine through.

How do we do that you ask? Firstly we get our clients to become mindful and tune into different  senses, we ask them to hit balls with their eyes closed, we get them to move their feet in a certain way to become aware of weight shift and balance, we encourage them to break the traditions of old, like , keep your head down, left arm straight & keep your left foot solid on the ground throughout the swing. 

We encourage golfers to hit shots without effort to see what happens, reduce tension in their set up and swing, quite simply we allow their natural ability to shine through. 

If reading this it's made you nod your head a few times then I feel I've made my point. 

If Golf equipment has improved so much over the past 40 years, teaching devices have given factual evidence of what happens to your club and ball through impact, body mapping measures precisely what you do when you hit golf balls then why have the handicaps of golfers not fallen in line with all this technology? 

Why? Because modern teaching and technology is too complicated!! 

If you agree with what I've said and would like to bring out your natural swing but don't know how,  please contact me and I'll happily chat through things with you.

Don't be afraid to share this if you've found it helpful.

Julian Mellor

PGA professional

Positive Impact Golf Coach

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk.    

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

07595 157452

How to clean your Golf Grips

Hello, a quick question, is having clean grips important? 

Yes is the short answer, but for more than one reason, it's not easy to hold onto a shiney grip as it requires you to hold the club tightly which is really bad , by tightening your grip it contracts your muscles thus shortening them, It also creates tension which stops your body moving freely, this ultimately leads to bad swings and poor golf.

So if you don't know how to clean them carry on reading. 

Firstly you will need the following 

Hot water

Bucket 

Wire scouring pad

Soap

Towel 

Elbow grease 

Start by dipping your grip into the water, rub soap all over the grip and scrub the grip using the wire scouring pad until it starts to squeak.

 Keep dipping the grip in hot water and you'll be surprised how much black comes of it, repeat this a couple of times until your happy that your grip is clean. 

To finish dry the grip using your towel and leave near a rdiator to dry out completely 

Compare it to a grip that you haven't cleaned and prepare to be amazed. 

This should be repeated as soon as you feel your grips start to lose their tackiness. 

Hope this helps

Happy Golfing 

Julian Mellor

PGA Professional 

Positive Impact Golf Coach 

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Email julianmellorpga@icloud.com

Why are one off Golf Lessons bad for your game

Hello, thanks for taking time to read my blog. 

So the question is, why is having a one off lesson bad for your golf game? 

It's a simple yet complex question, so I'm going to have a go at explaining it for you. 

Ok, your due to play in a match next week but your hitting it terrible, what do you do? I know I'll book a lesson with a PGA professional he/she will fix the problem, you pop along for your 10.30 appointment which lasts 1/2hr , your teacher asks you to hit a few balls and spots what's happening right away, it's not something that can be fixed before you play next week but nether less the teacher is expected to explain the faults and reccomend the fixes, knowing full well that it will take time for you to practise the new movements. You then go away; not fully understanding what your trying to do and turn up on the tee in two minds, number (1) do I trust my new swing? Or number (2) do what I've always done because I know what to expect? You're then trapped in two minds, neither of them going to help you in that moment. 

You complete your round not fully understanding what's just happened, not trusting the new method and believing it's best to stick to what you know, saying its a waste of time having lessons because they don't work, am I RIGHT? You feel you've wasted your money and happily tell your friends that the Pro has ruined your game. 

As standard practise we coaches at POSITIVE IMPACT GOLF take time to talk to our clients, we need to know what's happening with their game, how often they get to play and practise, what their beliefs are in the golf swing, we want our clients to get better at golf and have more fun on the course not make things worse.

We would reccomend that they seek the help of another coach if they wanted a quick lesson, we don't want to ruin their enjoyment of the game. It's nothing to do with trying to take more money off people it's because we know that they don't work.

So what would happen if you came to me for coaching? 

Firstly I'd want to get to know you, by asking some simple questions I'd begin to understand what it is you want from me and more importantly where you'd like your golf game to be, this may take 1/2hr on its own. Only then would we venture to the practise area to have a look what the problem may be, now it could be anything from driving to fairway woods from iron play to pitching, chipping, uneven lies or putting, without questions how would I know what the problem is?

The last thing I'd want to do is let you leave without fully understanding what you've been asked to do and more importantly why I've asked you to do it. Within 2 to 3 sessions together I'm certain you're technique will start to improve.

This lady came to me frustrated with her game, she lacked distance and consistency. This was causing her to stop enjoying the game and seriously think about stopping playing. 

   (This was the first time I'd ever seen her swing the club.) 

After just 3 sessions together we not only got her to swing freely but understood how to achieve it consistently and effortlessly. 

We couldn't have achieved this in 1/2 hr but within 2 hours working together we did. 

So I urge you to have a think before you book that one off lesson, are you not worth investing time and money on? 

I hope this has provoked you to have a think and I wish you all the golfing successes in the future

If this has raised any questions please feel free to contact me, and remember if you live too far away to come and see me we can always do online coaching. 

Julian Mellor 

PGA Professional

Positive Impact Golf Coach 

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com

Why positive impact golf?

It's been a while since I wrote a blog but I felt it time I did.

So what's new? What's the last 7 months looked like for Julian Mellor

Well let me tell you, it's been absolutely awesome. why you ask? Because of Positive Impact Golf. 

Let me share my story with you if I may!!

It all started when I sent out a tweet and had a reply from a dear friend of mine Pete the butcher, he asked to meet up ASAP as he had something he wanted to tell me. Firstly I got a telling off in a nice way then he progressed to tell me about a great friend of his Brian Sparks and how he is now coaching all over the world, and the fact that he's that busy he needs more coaches like myself, he made me promise to meet up with Brian and discuss what's happening to him. 

Well we met up at a fantastic course called the Centurion and we chatted for hours and hours. He was telling me about a video he put on YouTube (easiest swing in golf) and the amount of interest it has created, he's had well over 200 thousand views, he also gave me a copy of a book he's written called Positive Impact Golf and went on to explain how many countries it's sold in,over 32 at last count. 

I asked what was his secret and how come he had become so popular, simple was his reply , I've made the golf swing easy again!! I've broken so called modern teaching and allowed people to swing freely, I was Intrigued and asked if he would explain it to me. 

So my journey began, never before had I seen anyone make the golf swing look so easy and yet the ball fizzed off so straight and true, no loss of distance and he did it time and time again. 

It was then my turn, all my professional golfing life I had worked on positions , if "A" wasn't right there is no way "B" could be right , I had pieced my swing together to what I thought was a good swing yet my mind was full of thoughts, never being able to play my shots freely, always thinking each and every swing had to be perfect!! well how wrong could I have been??!! 

Once I started to fully understand the methodology I couldn't believe how far away from a natural swing I was, no wonder I could never trust it under pressure, no wonder I found golf difficult, and once I had adopted the method there was no way I would ever go back to swinging in positions.

So I started to coach the Positive Impact Golf way and to say I've been blown away by the results my clients have been achieving is an understatement , never before have I had so many , calls, texts and emails from golfers shooting their best rounds and winning competitions. 

The strange thing is, if I taught this was in my PGA exam I would fail, how wrong is that!!  because we don't preach perfect and we don't restrict movement we would be seen to be not doing it right. 

If you read the press you'd hear doom and gloom especially in America, courses closing , golf on the decline but the reality is Golf teaching has become too technical and unachievable and it's made golf hard when it needn't be, social and occasional golfers have been switched off. People don't want to play golf by numbers , they want to stand on the tee, apply their most natural swing and watch as their ball sails down the fairway, and that my friends is why Positive Impact Golf is here to stay and why we who coach it, will bring back the enjoyment of the game . 

If this has Intrigued you please make contact and let's chat about it in more detail, thanks for taking time to read this

Happy golfing 

Julian mellor 

PGA Professional 

Positive impact golf coach 

Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club

www.julianmellorgolfschool.co.uk

Julianmellorpga@icloud.com