Hello and welcome to this week's newsletter.
Well what a start to the competition season it was last Saturday, as the course was closed for 2 hours due to snow.
As you will see from the picture it was hard work pushing the trolleys round the course.
I'm pleased to say that the comp did eventually get back underway and the scoring was actually pretty good.
Chris Davey came in with a nett 68 to win the overall competition, and Olly Tuck shot best gross with a 74 in windy and cold conditions.
The ladies medal on Tuesday also involved snowy conditions and was won by Linda Minton with a nett 75.
Hopefully next month with The Masters on the telly and the sun out it will feel a bit more like the competitive season.
Simon Noakes came to me last week as he was struggling with his ball striking and tended to hit the ball too low. This also caused an issue with gapping and distances in his bag, as a number of clubs went a similar distance.
Simon does a lot well in his swing, the set-up is good, the back swing is very good with a nice full turn and square club face. It's the move from the top which causes the problem where an exaggerated pressure shift to the left side and early shoulder turn causes a steep angle of attack and the club to work on an out to in path across the ball. In turn this causes mis-hits and a low launch, often with not enough spin on it to maximise height and distance hence the problem gapping clubs.
To change this I got Simon to get the feeling of staying behind the ball more, the sensation was like almost hitting off his back foot. This allowed him to keep his back to the target more, and improved his path and angle of attack into the shot which improved his strikes.
Click here to view Simon's swing in action
If you're interested in working on your swing like Simon before the season starts, make sure you get in touch and arrange a lesson or fitting here at Saffron Walden.
PGA Pro Sarah's update from her season opener
The start of the WPGA season kicked off this week with the opening event at The Berkshire Golf Club. The WPGA Vivian Saunders Foursomes was played on Monday and I'm delighted to say it went really well. The hard work on my swing with Rob's help throughout the winter has paid off as me and my partner Katie Rule from Mullion (Cornwall) came first!!
My mum made a great caddy and although only 2'C (very cold!) for the whole round, the bright sunshine was gorgeous! Despite leaving a few putts out there we managed to improve on last year's third place and come out top of the pack.
I'm looking forward to Thetford Pro Am next week and the first WPGA One Series event in May.
Don't forget to have a look at my website & Blue Golf for more tournament information.
Visit
http://sarahsmithpga.wix.com/pgagolfprofessional.
Golf FitnessI have been working with Sarah for about 4 months now, wanting to improve her fitness and strength for golf. She had some shoulder issues stopping her from performing at her best, and after I assessed Sarah I noticed there was a lot of scar tissue from previous injuries and some strength imbalances.
We focused on sports therapy for the first few months, getting her shoulders working as they should, we did this through massage and golf specific biomechanic exercises. I am very happy with the improvements, and we are now able to focus on her strength and power training, using big compound exercises that strengthen the whole body as one.
The TRX and body strength exercises are two of the main exercises we feature Sarah's programme around. We have taken notes of measurable changes such as swing speed from her golf, which at the start before training was 73.2mph with a 7 iron, and after 4 months has now increased to 75.7mph.
After 4 months of hard work I am proud of her winning the first tournament of the season & we can only go onwards and upwards from here!
Ben Capper Head Coach & PT, Spartans Gym
