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Haven't posted here in a while. I've had one more lesson since. Mid-Irons are going quite well (he agreed after watching me hit some) so concentrated more on the Driver and short irons. Short irons - I was striking them pretty well but had been blocking some right a fair bit. He asked me to try and keep my right foot planted during the downswing - said my right leg was moving a bit early and I was getting ahead of the ball. Driver - I've just been struggling to feel in any way comfortable. I'm hitting them relatively straight but not great strikes and knocking down about one in five. He worked on me pushing the hands through the shot rather than 'flipping' them at impact (I think it is similar to the straight left wrist in the 5SK). It's not a problem with my irons but my 'old' way for driver was teeing the ball was very high and hitting it on the up, so that might have ended up with my becoming a bit 'flippy' with the big stick. He warned against getting too obsessed with the Driver - said not to hit more than 5/6 shots in a row before switching back to irons. I suppose that means the driver progress might be a bit of a slow burner! I've got out on the course twice since that lesson. First round was really disappointing, seemed to be a big step back. Driving was poor but I was more peed off at the fact I wasn't striking irons well - catching a lot of them fat and just completely lost my tempo. Seemed like a big step back. Went to the range the next day and it was poor again, was feeling pretty disheartened and probably was guilty of just hitting balls without much thought too. I went once more during the week and just tried concentrating on the initial changes - deep hands, striking down on the ball - and gradually I started to hit it better again. Second round was yesterday and was much better, probably my best round since the lessons. Wasn't perfect by a long way - driving and putting were erratic - but I struck my irons really well for the most part, and very straight. Concentrating on keeping my right foot planted on downswing was working for me with the wedges, hit a few very close from 80-100 yards. Overall I hit five or six approach shots that were (for me) high quality. Unfortunately I couldn't convert any of them for birdie but I don't mind about that for now. On the back 9 I even started hitting my driver quite well. My match with my playing partner finished all square and I did tighten up a bit on the last couple of holes :-P but until then I was very happy with how I played. I have one more lesson in the batch of five I bought so I will probably take that in a couple of weeks.

Haven't played outside Ireland but of those the best I've played are: Ballybunion (Old) Lahinch Enniscrone Baltray

Well played my first 18 since lessons started and results were, well, mixed. Didn't help that I got there late, and didn't do a proper warm up as a result. Completely chunked my first shot which barely made it off the tee. I was a bit thrown (and embarrased!) by that and ended up scratching the first two holes. Hit a decent drive on the third which settled me down a bit and played next 4 holes in one over. After that it was steady enough but not spectacular. Scratched four holes overall, got 30 points off 16 - pretty poor for me really but I was happy enough with it after the first two holes, plus it was quite windy. Coming in I hit most of my irons well and a few very well, nice high draws and on the last I hit a sweet 7 iron up the hill to the green, a shot I always find tricky. Driving was a bit hit and miss but most were straight at least. I got a bit hooky with my hybrid which messed up a few holes for me, so I might leave that in the bag next time out and just concentrate on irons. So overall it went pretty much as expected - didn't score well but definitely enough encouragement to go on. I can't wait to get out again though don't think it'll be this weekend, so another range visit might be in order.

Thanks clutchshot. Had lesson #3 tonight. Went very well I felt. I hit a few that were either blocking or drawing. Some of the draws were a bit low and 'hooky' rather than a proper draw flight. One swing he noticed that I very slightly lost control of the club at the top of the swing which is something that has been a problem for me over the years. Since working on getting my hands deep, I've felt my right thumb was moving off the grip slightly at the top of the backswing. I had had a very strong left hand grip, which he explained was not giving my right hand enough room to grip the club (my right hand was also 'strong', crossing over the left). Also, it meant I closed the clubface a lot, encouraging the lower ball flight. He just moved my left hand to a more neutral position (basically with my left thumb straight down the front of the grip and just let my right hand take the room that was now available for it. To me, this made the clubface look really open at address, but he assured me that was the proper neutral position, that I had had it very closed before. I hit a few balls that went with a very nice trajectory (this was a 7-iron), some straight and some with a slight draw. I was still blocking some but not nearly as far as I had been. He was really encouraging about how well I was hitting it. He made another slight adjustment, making my right hand slightly weaker. We spoke a bit about the grip - like what I've seen on this site, the pro said he has seen all kinds of grips work well. He said he only tries to change it if he feels its hindering progress, which for me I think it was. That grip was for a very different set up and swing so to me it makes sense that I might have to make an adjustment there. For most of the lesson he was still emphasising the 'swing' parts of what I've been working on - hands deep, striking down, but with the more neutral grip it seemed to 'fit' much better. I hit balls for another 30 minutes after the lesson. Overall I was striking them very sweetly, though some were slight blocks. I even got a couple of admiring comments from two guys the next bay up who asked what I played off! I'm supposed to play 18 tomorrow which will be my first round since the lessons started. The pro just asked that I try not to worry too much if I'm getting occasional blocks, just to try and concentrate on keeping on with the swing changes so we'll see how it goes. Not expecting to score very well but if I can hit even a few like I hit them tonight at the range I'll be happy. I've written a very long post about very little really - just a small grip change and more repetition of the previous lessons, but I feel like I'm making progress. The instructor was very encouraging about how I've implemented the changes, and it definitely feels a more stable swing than I've ever had. As I said before, I'm sure I'll get a bit snatchy out on the course tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. L

Interesting thread. I notice a lot of people saying to try ones out and see which ones you 'like'. Without hijacking the thread, I wonder what specifically tends to influence people in terms of 'liking' one club over another. Sound/Feel on impact Look of clubhead from address position Grip Feedback from seller Any others? Is it just what ones you tend to hit sweetly in the few practice hits in the shop? Personally I remember being at a bit of a loss as to what to go on when I bought my last irons about a decade ago. In the end I plumped for a set my friend had that I had hit a few decent shots with, but that was more out of uncertainty than anything else. Cheers L

Have been to the range a few times this week since lesson #2. It's been a bit of a struggle really. Thinking consciously about getting my hands back deep is a pretty big change for me and my A4 is a lot further 'back' than it would have been before. As a result (I think) I'm struggling to get my hands back to impact position consistently. I'm getting a higher ball flight but most are blocked badly out to the right. Not a slice at least I suppose. One positive is my driver - concentrating on hands deep has really helped stop those wild slices. Yesterday I hit some really sweet low straight drives but even the ones I wasn't catching right weren't really slicing. I've another lesson on Wednesday so hoping for some feedback on my block 'miss'. Hoping to play 9 holes after work on Thursday. That'll be my first game in a couple of months so not expecting too much to be honest, I'm sure I'll get a bit snatchy when I hit the course. Sorry, still no video!

Same here. Particularly with the driver I have a tendency to get too steep which was causing me major problems. He thought it may be because the driver is so light, people just have a tendency to pick it up more on the backswing. When trying to get my hands nice and deep with the irons one slight problem I'm having is it tends to encourage me to do a more sweeping action in my downswing, which was something I was trying to get away from. Finding it a bit tricky to combine deep hands and more of a 'striking down' action. Probably just a matter of practice for me and getting used to the new 'top-of-swing' position.

Sounds like Luke Donald would have a decent chance there if he's in form.

Had my second lesson last night. It was a bit disappointing in so far as at the start I didn't feel like I hit it as well as I have been. I did say that to the pro but in fairness he can only go on what he sees. In some ways maybe it's good that he was there to see the ugly shots :-P I hit my 6-iron first - as I had been saying I thought they were staying low and the ones I hit last night were doing that, with a small fade. He watched me hit 10 or so shots. He said he saw a problem with my backswing that he hadn't seen in the first lesson. I was bringing the club back too steeply, bending my left arm and not getting a proper shoulder turn which was the reason for the low fade. He spent a while explaining how I need to take the club back on the inside and get my hands behind me ("in the pocket") rather than up. This will help encourage an 'in to out' swing path He put a club on the ground to my right hand side, just behind my heels and said to concentrate on bringing my hands behind that line. This gave me a much better shoulder turn and I seemed to keep my left arm straighter as a result. He said it may have been his fault for going straight to downswing in lesson #1 but he had wanted to leave well enough alone unless he saw a flaw, which he did this time. I think I may have gone a bit 'vertical' in my action since the first lesson by over-concentrating on hitting 'down' on the ball when practicing. This didn't have immediate dividends but eventually I hit a few very nicely - much better rise than I've been able to get with the 6-iron. He watched me hit the driver too and said that was definitely the reason for the slice with that - bringing it up rather than back on the backswing. Maybe him asking to keep my left foot rooted on the backswing made me 'cheat' in a different way to avoid a proper shoulder turn. He said it's natural that one change may create a new flaw. That's probably truer for someone like me who doesn't have a great understanding of what not to do! The results were mixed at best but I did manage to hit some drives that were fades rather than slices. He apologised for repeating himself but said I wasn't quite getting my hands behind me. It's funny, often when I did a practice backswing he said it was excellent, but when I went to hit the ball I reverted to a steeper action. After he left I hit 20 more balls with the driver and actually hit a few really well and with no fade at all. Overall I felt it was a step backwards given last lesson he thought he could 'skip' my backswing. At the same time I feel I have a much better understanding of what I 'should' be doing. He explained it clearly enough that I can practice the positions and try and make sure I'm getting the path right. I've probably made a meal of explaining a very simple change but it's a lot to take in for someone like me who has never really thought about how they swing the club.

This is what my instructor told me a few weeks back - just stance and ball position should change, swing should be the same.

I would think "needed whenever you want to improve" would be your choice then - sounds like you're happy with where your game is so that doesn't apply for you personally.

Managed to get out to the range yesterday before lesson tomorrow. Easily my best session since first lesson. Probably 70-75% of shots were well struck which was a big step forward. Not all of those were perfect by any means but a much higher ratio of shots I'd be happy with on the course, and quite a few that were sweeter than I've ever struck iron shots before. Probably not coincidentally I found I was getting 'through' the ball much better - finding the balance between hitting 'down' on the ball but getting my weight through the shot and finishing in a nice balanced position. I wasn't consciously thinking of those things but it just seemed to happen as I get more used to the striking action off a centred or right foot ball placement. As usual I just hit 6-iron up to PW, with 6-8 irons in a centred ball position and 9-PW off my right foot. 6-irons still tending to come out very low - I'm not sure if it's a shot I could confidently hit over a hazard. I feel like I'm hitting the pretty well but the ball flight is staying low. 7 and 8-irons start low but rise very nicely. Most had a nice draw too, though I was hitting into a pretty strong right-to-left wind so I'm not 100% sure how much was down to that. 9-iron and PW off my right foot were going nicely too, particularly off 3/4 length swings - I chunked a few when I went for the full swing. The ones I hit well were much further than before - while I'm decent with these clubs I've always been very short with them - 100 yard max for my PW. I'm not 100% sure how far they were going as the range didn't have great markers at those lengths but they were definitely further than I used to hit them, and much 'purer' strikes. The poor shots were much fewer but still there. A small number where I didn't stay down on the shot (much less than previous sessions). Mainly the poor ones were 'chunked' - really fat, felt like maybe I moved my head down during the downswing. Whenever I hit one I tried to concentrate on keeping my head still during downswing and that seemed to help. That's pretty amateurish analysis I know, will be interested to see if instructor sees anything tomorrow. Three things I'll mention about how I'm hitting them will be - occasional pushes , occasional fat/chunked shots , and the low 6-iron ball flight. Overall I'm more than happy at the progress I've made with the irons. I'm sure I'll plateau at some stage but so far it's been a steady upward curve which makes me look forward to the next practice. And the fact that the good shots I'm hitting are sweeter than I've ever hit irons before is really exciting. I've left the driver in the car for the last few practices so hopefully I'll get some pointers on that tomorrow too. If I can get that going anyway decent I'll definitely hit the course soon. Onephenom - I'll try and post a video soon, my phone has a pretty crappy picture as you can see above but I should be able to take a better clip one of the next sessions.

Another practice session today. Far from perfect, and still a lot of loose shots but I would say it was my best practice since the initial lesson. Again, stuck mostly to mid irons. A few good and bad on today and generally since the lesson: Centre ball position feeling like natural position rather than forced Pretty steady (if slow) improvement in terms of number of 'pure' or nearly pure strikes Also improvement today on accuracy - apart from one or two, the poor shots were all pushes which feels like a natural 'miss' with given the changed ball position Much lower ball flight which I don't mind too much but I do think my average ball flight is probably a lower than it should be Still losing concentration on striking down at time Feel I've made decent if not earth-shattering progress over the last week and a half, looking forward to next lesson. Towards end of practice today I tried a few shots with PW with ball position off right foot as instructed - didn't feel nearly as strange today as when I had tried it before and hit a few very sweetly and much further than I would normally hit my wedge. Also tried the driver but again I was slicing so stopped pretty quickly - hopefully I can get some more guidance on that in lesson 2. Next post will probably be after lesson 2 next week.

I think I'd go for Faldo coming back to beat Norman in '96. I didn't (and don't) particularly like Faldo or dislike Norman but it was compulsive viewing in a car crash sort of way. Any chance for Norman ended on sixteen but from around the turn it was all horribly inevitable. Faldo was super impressive. There's a small thing that sticks in my mind relatively early in the round - on 7 or 8 I think - where Faldo had already reduced the lead a by a couple of shots. Anyway, he missed a birdie putt and swung the putter around him in annoyance - he hit himself on the back of the head with the putter handle and had a jokey reaction of wobbling his legs and rubbing the back of his head. I've seen that clip replayed since but I remember at the time thinking it was great psychology from Faldo - to make it look like this was an enjoyable Sunday stroll for him when he knew Norman was really feeling it. The shot of the round for me was on 12 - Norman had just fallen back to level with Faldo. Faldo with the honour - and he hits a textbook shot left of the pin. Norman goes in the water. Brilliant matchplay, brilliant drama.