Saturday's Lesson and Clubfitting
As I was heading up to Sea Island, Georgia Saturday morning, I got excited to be able to work on my game again. Mike Shannon helped me by setting a tee behind and one in front of my ball. I'm suppose to take the putter inside now more than I was before without hitting the back tee. After that, I'm required to take the putter out and through to the target without touching the forward tee. My setup and ball position had gotten a little out of whack since last year, so Mike moved my ball position a bit back to two putterheads from my left instep. He also made sure that my feet are located two and one-half putter lengths away from the ball. Mike also wants me to continue using the metronome for tempo because my stroke is getting rather quick on the transition. My backswing putting motion is too short and does not match up perfectly with my through swing. Therefore, the metronome is a great tool for curing all rhythm ills.
Mike also worked with me on my chipping. I'm trying to get used to the new USGA conforming grooves established in the Rules of Golf. Mike showed me two different types of shots to hit with the new v-groove wedges. My arsenal now contains a shot that will roll out more and a shot that will check up. In order to hit the shot that will turn over more, Mike taught me to turn the clubface over and release the clubhead. Mike also gave me a tip on checking the ball up by holding the finish without releasing the club. He stressed to me that my hands always need to stay ahead of the clubface by finishing my chip and pitch shots low and left with my hands.
Craig Allen helped me tremendously by meticulously helping me to hit my wedges first on a plexi-board. He put impact tape under each club to check whether or not I was hitting the center of the sole. My wedges are now bent two degrees flat, and he checked my MP-67 irons as well. The Mizuno four iron through wedge are all now bent three degrees flat respectively. Some of the irons, especially the five iron, were off lie wise. Craig is great at club-fitting, and I'm a lot more confident in my clubs now more than ever. It's great to know that when I miss hit a shot it's not because of my equipment.
