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

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