Breaking 100: Busy June
Paul Matthews gives an insight into the improvements to his long game in recent weeks
June was a hectic month for me. Due to work commitments, a long overdue holiday and a scheduled lesson having to be cancelled, I've had less time to practice than I would have liked.
All this combined meant I'd had a five week break between coaching sessions with Paul Ashwell.
When Paul and I finally met up I was feeling a little frustrated with my progress (or perceived lack thereof). I felt that I was striking my irons better and with more consistency than ever but this wasn't translating in to lower scores.
After hitting a few shots, Paul assured me that my swing was showing a huge improvement from our first meeting - for now my scores have to take a back seat while I focus solely on technique.
The subject of my latest lesson was the driver. Paul was happy with my swing but a slight grip adjustment was now required; the position of my right hand was causing the occasional hook to creep in.
This grip change is proving a little challenging to cement but the improvement in results were plain to see during my lesson.
Something else that came out of the session was that I may benefit from a driver with more loft. During my initial fitting at PING's fitting centre in Gainsborough, I had struggled with a slice. This meant lots of spin when hitting the driver.
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I an effort to keep spin to a minimum and give me the best chance of finding fairway from the tee, I was given a 9.5° K15 fitted with a Tour Regular shaft. After discussing my progress with PING they have kindly agreed to revisit the driver fitting.
It will be interesting to see how my progress translates when comparing stats on PING's nFlight launch monitor.
Paul Ashwell has been fantastic at managing my expectations and showing me how to improve my game. I now have a series of coaching sessions booked in over the next few weeks. I've also been to visit Annette Stroud of Fitness4Golfers who has designed a program to improve my posture and stability.
The day at Wentworth with Tom Lewis was superb and next week we have our day at Gainsborough with Lee Westwood. The opportunities that this challenge is presenting are truly exceptional.