It is US Masters week very soon and it is my favourite tournament of the year, the golf course is stunning, the weather is great ,its the first major of the year, and it usually has an exciting finish.

What more could you want?

Well when I think back over all the Masters tournaments I have seen, for a european, seeing Seve striding the fairways, playing sublime golf in a matador style, hitting iron shots, drives echoing through the trees, putts holed, recovery shots, it was fantastic to see, here was a golfer that was not afraid to win, believed he could win, and he was just so good that he could win anywhere!

Seve led the way for the europeans making a huge impact at Augusta and beyond.

Here is my recollection of a great day at Wentworth in the early eighties.

Back in the 1980s Seve Ballesteros was the most exciting player on the planet, and your best chance of seeing him in the UK was at the OPEN or at the World Matchplay tournament in October held at Wentworth.

i had been going to the World matchplay for over thirty years and seen Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Tom Weiskopf, Gary Player, Tony Jacklin, Tiger Woods,Ernie Els, the list goes on and on.

But Seve was different to them all, not just in the way he played the course, there was a magic a charisma about him, you just had to watch him play golf to understand., you never new what was going to happen next, and even the impossible seemed possible back then.

I was there on a practice day so you could get much closer to the players, and on this occasion I had brought my video camera, and low and behold here was the master just arriving on the the east course eighteenth hole to start his warm up and practice.

There were only a handful of people there at the start and I thought here is a great opportunity, so I just asked Seve if he would mind if I filmed him practicing!

He said it was OK in his spanish accent and I was their like a bullet, right down the line, I was there with a friend and there are some classic comments on the video , such as,” it makes a different sound to the others”, “look at how square his divots are”, “pure”,” it makes me want to clap” “all I need to do is watch this video all night and tomorrow I will play great ”

This is what effect Seve had on us , I was frightened to take my camera of him for a second, because I knew this was very special, you might see the camera move left slightly as I was getting distracted , but a nano second of thought told me STOP you are kidding THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE!

I was so right.

I hope you take a look at the gracefull, flowing swing, his great rhythm, balance, power, a real genius of golf, he was an inspiration to many professional golfers who are playing right now and SEVE will rightly go down down as one of the greatest players in history.

Hard to believe it was one year ago on Monday 7th May 2011 that Severiano Ballesteros passed away.

My tribute to Seve is to show again my video that I took of Seve at Wentworth practicing, it was a great experience to watch the master at work.

Here is my post on Seve and my video.

It is US Masters week very soon and it is my favourite tournament of the year, the golf course is stunning, the weather is great ,its the first major of the year, and it usually has an exciting finish.

What more could you want?

Well when I think back over all the Masters tournaments I have seen, for a european, seeing Seve striding the fairways, playing sublime golf in a matador style, hitting iron shots, drives echoing through the trees, putts holed, recovery shots, it was fantastic to see, here was a golfer that was not afraid to win, believed he could win, and he was just so good that he could win anywhere!

Seve led the way for the europeans making a huge impact at Augusta and beyond.

Here is my recollection of a great day at Wentworth in the early eighties.

Back in the 1980s Seve Ballesteros was the most exciting player on the planet, and your best chance of seeing him in the UK was at the OPEN or at the World Matchplay tournament in October held at Wentworth.

i had been going to the World matchplay for over thirty years and seen Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Tom Weiskopf, Gary Player, Tony Jacklin, Tiger Woods,Ernie Els, the list goes on and on.

But Seve was different to them all, not just in the way he played the course, there was a magic a charisma about him, you just had to watch him play golf to understand., you never new what was going to happen next, and even the impossible seemed possible back then.

I was there on a practice day so you could get much closer to the players, and on this occasion I had brought my video camera, and low and behold here was the master just arriving on the the east course eighteenth hole to start his warm up and practice.

There were only a handful of people there at the start and I thought here is a great opportunity, so I just asked Seve if he would mind if I filmed him practicing!

He said it was OK in his spanish accent and I was their like a bullet, right down the line, I was there with a friend and there are some classic comments on the video , such as,” it makes a different sound to the others”, “look at how square his divots are”, “pure”,” it makes me want to clap” “all I need to do is watch this video all night and tomorrow I will play great ”

This is what effect Seve had on us , I was frightened to take my camera of him for a second, because I knew this was very special, you might see the camera move left slightly as I was getting distracted , but a nano second of thought told me STOP you are kidding THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE!

I was so right.

I hope you take a look at the gracefull, flowing swing, his great rhythm, balance, power, a real genius of golf, he was an inspiration to many professional golfers who are playing right now and SEVE will rightly go down down as one of the greatest players in history.

How many times have I heard this, a student wants to improve their golf swing but is frightened of making any changes.

Well it is quite normal to dislike change in our lives anyway, but if you are not succeding in what you do in your life, you had better start looking to change some things.

It is the same in golf.

What I would be very careful of is making wholesale changes to your golf swing all at once, in a desire to get things right.

 Even if the student has several areas that need improvement, I make sure I know which areas to work on first, and I do not want my students to be overloaded and weighed down with lots of technique, that will only stall our progress.  

I need to plan what to change , when to change, and feed these changes into their golf swing over a period of time.

Can a student do this on their own?

Are you kidding, NO WAY.

You will need help from an expert, a PGA professional who has been recommended to you, or go online and look in your area and see what golf professionals are out there, check out their website, get a feel for their enthusiasm, what  training have they done, their experience. Give them a call, tell them what you want from them.

They will be happy to help you.

When a student comes to me , I always ask them two things.

1. What are you doing at the moment to improve your golf?

2. What is the most important thing to you about your golf?

This gives me exactly what I need to know, what they are doing now, and what really matters to them in their golf game.  

When working with a new student who wants to really improve I  make sure I really understand their swing, their pattern of movement, how this effects their ball flight, and what corrections need to be implemented.

They need to be made aware that they need time to implement some changes and they may feel a bit awkward, this is perfectly normal.

How can you change something in your swing and have it still feeling the same!

The real key here to improvement is only working on a couple of things at once, sticking with them, being patient, making sure the student REALLY understands that, and that you are a team and working to a  plan.

For example.

It could be posture, maybe the student cannot turn because their posture will not allow it, or maybe they have a misconception about how to move in their swing, which is creating the problem.

So I look at the core issue that is making this golfer inconsistent and work from there.

This approach of being a team and working to a plan will create the right learning environment for the student and the coach.

It breeds confidence because the student knows exactly what to do, and why it effects the flight of the ball.

When your student has clear precise targets to aim at it really helps their focus, they are not distracted by their golfing buddies offering tips on every swing, they know their swing, they know how to improve it.

The results will be rewarding. 

Recreational golfers are not improving  because they do not understand what they have to do to change or modify their technique, and also they do not appreciate how much quality repetition is involved in changing an old habit into a reliable new one.

Sticking at changing a old habit to a new one  is very hard, you need huge discipline , it involves several thousand correct repetitions of the one specific move you are working on, and that takes several weeks of intense effort, it is the same as getting fit by going to the gym, you must do it regularly to reap the rewards.

Here is an example, if you can do one hundred correct repetitions every day for one week= 700

Repeat for four weeks = 2,800 reps you will start to really own that movement, not having to think it through. It can take between 3-5 thousand repetitions to OWN the new move 

So you can see that when you go to the range and hit 100 balls with the intention  of improving your swing  the results will be poor, because you are not creating the new pathway in your swing, you might be “thinking the new move” but you cannot make a swing change and hit balls swinging at full speed and do it correctly. 

You cannot change a motor skill that quickly, you have to learn new pathways and build up a new pattern, which takes time, dedication and focus.

I give my students a blueprint of what they need to do technically and give them the required amount of repetitions so they can achieve their goal. Do the new movement at a very slow pace, feel and see that it is correct every time.

Success  Regime

1. Slow motion moves only.
2. Every practice session do at least 100 reps.
3. Continue this routine every day for 4 weeks. 

You have the information, why not start right now  and really IMPROVE?

Make 2010 your year !

Golf research is improving all the time, which means that the  knowledge gained by coaches who also want to improve is filtering through to people like you, golfers who want to improve.  Let me explain that this is not for golfers who are happy walking eighteen holes every weekend and are inconsistent, frustrated and not improving!  If this is you , please STOP reading this NOW!

I say to my clients, you are successful at what you do, what if you were at work and you had a strategy for your business and it kept failing, would you keep repeating it over and over hoping that one day things will improve ?  Of course not, you would be sacked, fired or go bankrupt !    YOU WOULD MAKE CHANGES.

So why do golfers keep making the same mistakes over and over and over?  Please let me know!

Your SWING MAP improvement guide will help you get focused on what you really need to do.

Which is to learn what is important to your golf swing, what makes it really work, not what looks pretty, or is the latest fad or trend in the golf industry, do not waste your precious time and energies on something that will not get you the results you want. 

Let me say that there is no one method that will suit every golfer on this planet, trust me if there was I would be telling you!

We are all unique individuals, some are tall, short, thin, fat, stiff, flexible, balanced, unbalanced, coordinated, uncoordinated, some have great body awareness and control, some do not.

So here are crucial key points you need to get right. You can all do this, which means you can all change and improve.

1. Good Posture.
   What is good posture? You need balance, good angles and good alignments. straight back, not curved, chest out, arms hanging relaxed. Very few people I see come to me with good posture.                             
2. Correct Pivot.
   How your body moves back and through and in the correct sequence.You must understand that how you start your swing, and how the downswing starts and in what sequence.  It is the key move, the most important thing in your swing. Hardly anyone gets this right, hence the struggle begins.
3. The Hands.
   They must be trained to behave and work correctly, most golfers overuse them to make up for pivot deficiencies.
   Simply put, they hinge up and down, they turn and roll, keeping the left wrist flat and right wrist bent.
   Again most golfers have no idea of what they should do with their hands during the swing.
4. Be On Plane
   Understand what it is and how to find your swing plane. Most golfers have heard of this but do not stick to the basic rules.

Most golfers do not improve because of lack of knowledge, once they grasp the key components they make swift progress, they get more confident, they play better, they enjoy the game.

So in the main they do not know what to practice, they haven’t the awareness of what they are doing, they try to swing too hard, there is no blueprint to guide them through and keep them on course.

This sounds really worrying, golfers do want to improve don’t they?

My aim is to help you sort out these issues and get you all playing better golf and having more FUN !

What I do in my coaching is first of all give my students , if they are beginners, is a blueprint of the key things they need to do, keep it simple, not too much information, it is so easy to overload with information, it can become  paralysis through analysis if the coach gives out too much info, especially if the coach is not as experienced and is trying too hard.

Less is more, it will pay off.

If I have a golfer who has played for many years and cannot make long term commitment to rebuilding their swing, guess what I don’t. Be realistic they cannot swing like Tiger Woods, so lets use what they have and work in such a way that we fix the key components and with these changes they will play better. You do not have to have a great looking swing to play better and lower your scores, you must understand what makes your swing work and then it’s maintainance, through correct understanding of your swing you can practice much more constructively.

You are not just hitting balls trying to find a swing, YOU KNOW YOUR SWING !

David Bown PGA AA Golf Professional

Authorised Golfing Machine Instructor

contact david@bowngolf.com

07973746872

To view my website. www.bowngolf.com

Lee is now ranked number 3 in the world, and he has got to that ranking by performing at a very high level consistently.

I was watching him practice at the BMW championship at Wentworth, and you can see the  hi -speed video I took.

Here is a player who has got a lot of confidence in his ability at the moment,  his all round game is very high, his driving is his strength, his putting has really improved and so has his short game.

What can you learn from Lee?

He is very precise with his set up and alignment,  has great rythm and balance and has worked very hard on his weaknesses which were his pitching, chipping and sand shots. Now these areas of his game are much improved, his consistency in his scoring has greatly improved as well, so when he hits the errant shot he can get up and down and  keep his score together, which breeds more confidence. 

Watching all these top players at Wentworth , it is such a small margin that divides the winners, the losers, the players that make the cut, and the ones that don’t, they all strike the ball so well on the range, it is how they play the game on the course that makes the difference . How do they cope with a bad swing, a bad bounce, wrong club selection, bad luck, the conditions of the course,  can they continue to play their game under pressure, how is their confidence, do they believe they can win, believe they can make that crucial putt, can they take the chance when it comes, have they got the inner strength to keep going. do they really believe in themselves?

My key points to improve  are.

1. Find a good Instructor
2. Video your swing and know your swing.
3. Know your weaknesses.
4. Have a plan to work on them.
5. Work on your mind game.

This is the start of giving you the information you need to really improve your golf .

I will be talking about the things you need to understand and more importantly to execute, which will enable you to lower your scores consistently.

Also you can tell me what you want to know!

I have been a PGA professional since 1975 and in the coaching industry for over thirty years and it still amazes me that people are not getting better !

With all that digital video has to offer, the internet, the books that are written by the best players in the world telling you how to play, how they think or feel they do it, the coverage on tv and seeing the best players play the game.

Why are golfers handicaps not getting any lower ?

Any Ideas?

I have a few here we go.

1. Most golfers do not  know what to practice.
2. They just  want to hit it as hard as they can.
3. They have no awareness of where the club is in relation to their body.
4. They have no plan of action or blueprint.
5. They do not practice enough.
6. What they feel they are doing bears no relationship to what is really happening in their swing.

Here is Simon Khan playing a 3 metal at Walton Heath in the U.S. Open qualifier.

His shot went straight onto the green at a short par four of 275 yds, he two putted for a birdie.

Key points for you to see are how he starts the centre of his body moving, his core and chest, his arms go along for the ride , everything has moved in unison, his right side, his hip and chest all turn away very smoothly.

This is a great angle to see his transition from upswing into his start down.

You can clearly see like all top players his lower half starts moving back towards the target first, transferring his weight onto his left leg, this gives him a great platform and stability, so he can swing down in the correct sequence to create his maximum power.

His wrists respond to this move, the club is being pulled or dragged downwards on plane into impact . He has not used his wrists from the top , he has retained their energy and used the correct sequence of motion in his downswing, which is feet pushing into the ground, to give stability for his hips and thighs to do their work, which in turn starts to unwind the core and the chest , which pulls the arms downwards, so the arms and wrists can transfer their energy into the club at the right time.    

His swing is  smooth and unhurried, no wasted motion and very efficient and deceptively powerful, everything is working in the correct sequence, that is why it looks so smooth.

What can you learn.

1. Start your move of trunk arms and club away from the ball in unison.
2. Let your right hip and shoulder turn, keeping your right leg in its flex.
3. Unwind in the correct sequence into the downswing, learn to use your powerhouse , your body, not your arms and wrists. 

This Hi -speed video of Bradley was taken at the Open qualifier at Sunningdale on Monday 7th June, he is hitting his first tee shot of the afternoon round on the Old course, on his way to a 65, and it was a perfect shot , straight and long, in the middle of the fairway.

This is a really good angle to see  his sequence of movement throughout his swing. Which as you can see is superb.

His posture is balanced and the angle of his spine and knee flex are perfect, he is balanced, athletic, he is grounded and  ready to move into his swing.You need a strong base, and be well planted if you are going to generate power in your swing, and Bradley does this so well.

He starts  his movement superbly,  his chest, arms and club are perfectly synchronised as he move into his backswing, he is just coiling up his chest and his hips are responding to the turn. He has  a great backswing wind up, is well balanced and has more weight on his right side .

Watch his transition closely, you can really see how his hips move first on the downswing, and his upper body is still coiled, he is not starting down with his arms or wrists, they are trailing behind.

The club is lagging behind, as his body moves left and starts to unwind, incredible energy is being stored by correct sequencing of his body . A major key in accuracy and power.

He has power, rhythm, great balance, athleticism, a superb golf swing, I wonder why he is not in contention more, it may be putting and short game that is just holding him back or maybe the mental side, but the swing does look very good. A very good model for you to see, very sound technique with great power.