I Lost 20 Yards And My Golf Game Fell Apart – But A Pro Setup Tweak Immediately Reversed The Decline

I’ve had more golf lessons than I would care to count in my life. In fairness, they have all, in their own way, helped me get my handicap down to single figures, but staying there can be tricky.

Like many amateur golfers, I recognise that the winter period is a great time to grab your game by the scruff of the neck and push hard for progress.

While some turn to gym exercises that produce rapid improvements in the golf swing, and others go hard at boosting their clubhead speed, I decided to put my golfing fate in the hands of an experienced Top 50 Coach.

I am pleased to report that a golf lesson I received from PGA professional Ian Clark was exactly what I needed, and I would go as far as saying it had the biggest impact on my game of any lesson so far...

For a bit of context, I currently play off 7.8, and 2025 was a fairly strong year for my game… until it wasn’t.

From October 2025 until January 2026 my game completely fell apart. There were topped drives, sliced iron shots, fat wedges and all manner of gruesome swing faults.

You name it, I did it. It was not only the consistency of strike that was concerning, however, but more the fact that when I did find seemingly close to the middle of the face, I had also lost about 20 yards of carry with every club in the bag.

In an attempt to self diagnose my issue, I turned to Trackman to get an idea of what was going on. Long story short, I was coming way over the top with a wide open clubface, resulting in what could only be described as a 'wipey fade'.

At that stage I made the decision to visit Ian Clark at World Of Golf, and I am so pleased that I did.

Ian Clark

Ian has over 20 years of experience and he has now opened his own academy at the World of Golf facility in London. The Advanced Fellow of the PGA has made it a lifetime vocation to learn from the best instructors, and has studied personally under the likes of Jim Flick, Mike Bender, Lynn Blake, Jim McLean, Chuck Cook and Martin Hall.

Data And Analysis In Golf Lessons

It’s fair to say that Ian’s studio is somewhat of an Aladdin’s cave for golf tech, which for me, someone who likes to see the data behind decisions, was an instant plus.

One of Ian’s mottos is “why guess when you can measure”, and that’s backed up by his expertise in a bevy of tech, including Trackman launch monitor, K-Vest 3D body motion analysis, SAM balance lab, SAM putt lab and Sports Box.

Diving straight in, Ian got me to hit a few 6-irons, and within three to four shots, he quickly figured out exactly what was wrong.

Thanks to the camera setup in the studio, Ian was able to quickly get my swing up on screen and using Sports Box, which created a full render of my body movement, we were able to assess exactly what each part of my body was doing at different junctures in the swing – with data points to match.

Now, myself and Ian had a lengthy discussion about what exactly it was that needed to change, but for the sake of this article I am going to try and boil it down to its simplest version.

Identifying The Problem

At setup every good golfer has the centre point of their chest lined up behind the centre line of their belt buckle, so for right-handers your sternum should be further back in your stance than your belt buckle and this should remain the same throughout the swing.

As a result of my chest being aligned further forward in my stance, ahead of my belt buckle, I did what is known as a reverse pivot.

This is where my body sways forward, preventing proper rotation and forcing an over the top swing, resulting in something between a slice and a fade.

As a result of my setup, it also meant I was very limited in how far I was able to rotate my hips and chest.

If you watch the likes of Rory McIlroy or Jon Rahm swing a golf club, at the top of their backswing their chest and belt buckle are pointing almost straight behind them.

In contrast mine were still very much pointing towards the ball, meaning my arms were having to do most of the work and I wasn’t able to use my big muscles to create speed.

So with the issue identified, how was Ian going to fix it?

Fixing The Problem

Well, the answer was actually quite simple. When addressing the ball, Ian got me to shift my hips left (for a right hander) and feel like I was dropping my chest and shoulders further back behind the ball.

Initially this felt very strange and I felt like I was almost going to fall backwards, however using Sports Box I saw that my body was now in a much better position to be able to rotate.

The second part of the solution was to feel that when I turned, I was pushing my right bum cheek down towards my left ankle, emphasising that turning motion in the lower body as I rotate my hips.

With a new motion and setup in place, Ian set me a target.

At the start of the session I was rotating my upper body 36 degrees and my lower body 17 degrees, by the end of the session I had to try and get those figures to 80 degrees and 40 degrees respectively.

Now it’s fair to say that this new swing took some getting used to, and the initial swings were a little ropey. However, once I got my head around the new feels, the results were clear to see.

With my body now in the correct position to move, and my upper and lower body now rotating properly, I not only managed to hit Ian’s rotation targets, but I also saw a massive jump in clubhead speed, ball speed, and a clear levelling out of my swing direction from 16 degrees out to in, to closer to 4 degrees, which was a massive improvement that gained me close to 20 yards of distance.

What Has Happened Since My Lesson?

Since my lesson I have persisted with two drills that Ian suggested, in order to reinforce the new setup and the swing sensation, and the difference I have noticed has been immense.

Practicing without a plan is one of the seven things you should never do at the driving range, so I felt empowered and confident heading into my sessions with a clear understanding of what I was working on.

Not only am I able to generate more speed, but my swing direction has levelled out dramatically, resulting in a much more neutral ball flight. I still hit the ball left to right, but it’s a much more controlled and penetrating shape.

Due to the weather in England being absolutely awful, I’ve only managed to get out on the course once. I must admit I was nervous; however, after one of the best ball striking lessons, I had my greatest round in about three months, and everything seems to be making sense again.

A Golf Lesson Can Help You To Improve

If I had tried to solve this issue on my own, god knows where I would be. Thanks to Ian and his expertise, the golf issues that were keeping me up at night appear to be on their way to completely solved.

Ian’s ability to identify my issues and solve them in mere moments was incredible, and thanks to the data and analytics to back up his advice, it really felt like I was in safe hands.

On top of that, the clear and concise way he was able to communicate both the issue and the fix meant we were able to get an incredible amount done in just one hour.

I will be going back to see Ian in the future to continue my work, and I would highly recommend anyone who feels like they are stuck, to do the same.

Ian’s experience, combined with his technical expertise, allow him to easily identify faults and fix them incredibly quickly. If he can fix my problems, I have no doubt he can fix yours, too.