TaylorMade Fitting Day

After weeks of build up the second coming of the TaylorMade Fitting Day had finally arrived with 13 appointments booked taking the tally for the 3 fitting days to over 30 appointments, so a big thank you to everyone that participated in the events.

With enough equipment onsite to sink a battle ship, I was quietly confident every appointment would get the opportunity to test something new that would give them additional performance. I hear a lot of Stud Bar chatter when it comes to the improvement in technology and the general conversations are equipment can't keep on improving year on year.  I have to agree to a point, but the data I keep seeing on the GC2 tells me otherwise.  I believe fitting is the key, spending time and knowing an individual's game is imperative when trying to find the correct grip, shaft length and flex etc.  Then constant improvement is easy to come by.

Here are some the changes/improvements we made on Friday that lead to significant performance gains.

First up Dave Ballard who was looking for greater consistency off of the tee.  This was achieved by increasing the amount of backspin on the ball.  The change to his equipment was 2 extra degrees in loft, and a softer & lighter shaft.  Dave's spin rate went from 1300 RPM to over 2500 RPM's, leading to  an overall dispersion change of 16 yards (more fairways hit).

Mark Powell also saw a big improvement on his current set of irons when he tried out the RSi2, so much so that the GC2 had worked out he was carrying his 7 iron 192 yards!  Mark ended up getting fitted for x100 extra shafts which was a surprise for Mark as he thought he would need a more flexible shaft.  A more flexible shaft? A big strong lad like Mark could probably swing a scaffolding pole and still hit the green!  Mark came into the shop the following day and said 'the whole process was incredible, I was turning up thinking I may need to get regular shafts but the extra stiff shafts provide more stability through the swing'.

For those of you that missed out on the Demo Days, don't panic, with our own CG2 Launch Monitor I'm able to fit all year round. Please make all appointments in the ProShop.

Darnley Challenge Cup

After the warm and sunny weekend last week, the good old British weather had returned to a normal cold and windy day just in time for The Darnley Challenge Cup.  There were a lot of frowns on a lot of player's faces, although plenty seemed to cheer up when they discovered it was a stableford competition, one confident member even said 'ah yes pick ups!' One of those players was Ross Peters who returned a colossal 45 points holding off Henry Phillips’, still brilliant, score of 39 points to become The Darnley Challenge Cup champion, I can’t imagine Ross having to do as many ‘pick ups’ as he first thought with that score!

Ross has been having lessons with myself recently and it looks as though my fountain of knowledge has paid off for him.  Looks like another win for the lesson & custom fitting trade!

Once again the course was playing tough as a whole with only 11 of the 129 entrants scoring to their handicap or better, the hardest hole of the day was the 18th which played a staggering 1.78 shots over par, not giving any birdies away and only yielding 7 pars.  On the other hand, the 2nd hole was playing the easiest at a mere 0.53 over par and rewarding 11 players with 2's, giving their Pro Shop accounts a healthy injection of funds!

Jerri's Glove Review

Following on from Rob's recent product reviews I thought I would have look at some of the ladies gloves.  The first on the hit list was the TaylorMade TM Ribbon, which is made from soft cabretta leather.  A key feature of this glove is the stretch mesh fingers that give you additional flex when wrapping your hand around the club, also the styling is better than most of its competitors.

Next I tried the FootJoy StaCooler, which is half mesh and half leather.  This gives maximum flexibility and breathability, also the sun can shine through allowing both hands to tan.   Once again the back of the hand is a meshed material for breathability to ensure it does what it says on the tin, stay cooler.

Finally, I looked at the FootJoy CabrettaSof, which as the name suggests is made from cabretta leather, making it feel very soft on the skin and out of the 3 gloves I tried this one provided the best fit.......like a glove!

Rob's Coaching Assessment

On Thursday I had my final assessment for my Level 2 Coaching at The Olympic Driving Range.  A nervous encounter as up until the time I started at Rochester & Cobham Park my actual coaching experience was a tad sparse.  Part 1 of the exam involved a 20 minute lesson on long game given to another of the PGA Assistants.  I had to analyse his ball flight, then make technical corrections where necessary, with the overall goal of improving his weaker shots. A tough task but one I passed with flying colours, big smiles!

In Part 2 I had to explain and demonstrate how to hit a bunker shot.  Fortunately the bunker clinic I held a couple of weeks ago for Fred Self and Chris Hassell gave me lots of confidence and made the task a lot easier to complete.   I explained technically how to aim, grip, stand and swing the club to execute the shot correctly.  I then finished off with a delicate little splash shot that landed adjacent to the flag.

The exam couldn't have gone any better, so I was more than pleased when I was told that I had passed both sections.  It's been a tough second year, so qualifying as a PGA level 2 coach brings a big smile to my face  I'm so happy to be a PGA Qualified Level 2 coach.

Obviously I am still just starting out on my coaching career, but I am excited to build on what I have learnt so far and improve more of the members golf games.