Well, I waited much longer between lessons than I should have.  Part of the learning process (IMHO) with GolfTec is to use the positive reinforcement of the video lessons.  Again, seeing is believing.  So, I am going to try and schedule lessons every 2 weeks provided that I can put at least a couple days at the driving range (between lessons) trying to work on the obvious and many swing flaws I have...  :)

Since my last lesson more than a month ago my golf game has been sporadic to say the least.  My best round was a 44 and worst... well..

Lesson 3 with Jamie began with a brief warmup.  Then straight to the video.  Seeing my golf swing from several angles showed that I still have the over the top move as from lesson 1 and 2.  Apparently, this is going to be a long and difficult learning process between my brain and what my body feels is a good swing.  

The video showed some problems with my swing right at the start of the take away.  I am rolling my hands and hence the club face to a much too open position.  In addition, the movement of the opening of the club face is enabling me to  track my swing too far to the inside of a successful swing path.  Once at the top of my swing, i have tracked so far to the inside that an over the top move is a near certainty.   The video did not lie!  I still have work to do.  But, we may have narrowed the problem down.  

Remember how I stated the chipping problems I have been experiencing?  Well, it is very likely the problem noted above  is the culprit with my chipping too.   In fact, Jamie and I confirmed this by checking my chipping on the video.

The gameplan.  Go to the range!  I am going to start with small chips and focus on a less handsy takeaway.  After 30 minutes of chipping I am going to hit 50-100 balls with a full swing.  Again, less hands rotating the club face open.  Now, I am certain I can correct the hands issue pretty quickly.  But, I am going to have to accept that the downswing is going to take more time to correct.  Well, as they say, Rome was not built in a day!

See you on the range!  Or, right here in a couple weeks. 

I waited about 2 weeks after my first lesson before scheduling Lesson 2.  This gave me time to get a 9 hole round, and one 18 hole round of golf "in" before taking lesson #2.  Now, I can hear many of you groan that I did NOT get any range time to work on the new swing path and swing thoughts.  Shame on me, I was too selfish after a long winter that I wanted to play golf instead of hit balls. 

 Anyway, I was able to see and feel the difference wth my clubs.  Most notably my drives were longer and straighter.  That is always a positive sign.  Chipping and putting is another story!  There is no worse feeling in the world than nearly driving a par 4 and following that up with clank of a chip that never leaves the ground and goes 20 yards long.  I was lucky to get a par, with what should have been a easy birdie.  I have had problems with chipping since the end of last golf season.  Apparently, those golf demons did not die as the clubs gathered dust over a long cold winter.

So, the next day, I called GolfTec to schedule another lesson.  I was greeted by Jamie at GolfTec the day of lesson number 2 with a few questions.  We discussed the positives that had taken place and the negatives (my chipping).  We started lesson number 2 with some chipping and believe it or not for some reason I was the chipping master that day.  Jamie even had me chipping off concrete with a lob wedge!  I think even he was amazed.  But, I knew it would not last (more on this later).

So, back to working on the full swing!

Jamie watched me warm up and pointed out a few things.  I immediately started hitting the ball more solid than I have ever felt.  In fact, according to the GolfTec monitor my swing speed with a 7 Iron was over 85 MPH.  LOL, it was funny because jamie thought I had been warming up with a 6 iron and when he recorded my swing speed he said "Joe, that is great for a 6 iron" at which time I laughed and told him that it was a 7 iron.  There was a look of disbelief on his face.

So what was the magic move for me?  Well, as I have said I have a severe over the top move with a swing that is too upright.  Jamie had me try to have the club in a position that felt more layed off at the top of my backswing.  This enabled me to use my body more as leverage.  The video was perfect for me to see where my swing was at, and where it needed to be.  Now I will tell you that I am a recovering bodybuilder and I still have arms over 17" around.  The point is that most of my power has been coming from  my arms and NOT my body.  This new move felt very odd, but I could feel the new power.  It felt effortless.

The lesson was over after about 30 minutes.  We reviewed the video which showed my progress for the day.  I was given a few more swing thoughts and drills to improve perfomance and sent on my way.

The results?  Since lesson 2 I have been to the range twice and played two 18 hole rounds.  In short, I am still hitting my drives well and my irons are coming around too.  With less effort my distance is longer and shots are straighter.  BUT, I am finding that I can not keep the good swing in place for a whole round.  AND, the chipping demons are still there and they are embarassing!  I need to spend a couple hours (atleast) working on nothing but chipping.

I have to admit that my chipping problems are costing me about 6 shots a side.  My only choices are to hit more greens, or get the chipping problem corrected.

I will dedicate the time to try and correct this problem.  I wonder what GolfTec can do to fix this problem?

I will let you know!

The first lesson was for me to meet my new instructor Jamie.  I actually had met Jamie before as he was an assistant pro at a local course that I played often.  But, I was surprised to learn that he remembered me.  Either I played the course too much, or the people around the course talked about my sorry golf game :)

Lesson number 1 for 2008 involved hooking me up to a swing analysis machine and a video camera.  There was no way that my swing flaws could be hidden.  Still, it was very apparent that I am a very athletic guy.  We discussed all the sports I excelled at in my life.  Jamie told me that I was quite the athlete to be able to hit the ball with my swing!  Just kiddin, he really did not quite say that.  But, lets just say he was amazed that I could hit the ball somewhat consistantly. 

As I said, the proof was in the video.  My swing is much to upright and I have a severe over the top move.  I currently play to an 18 handicap, but I have been as low as a 12.  I would like to get back to a 12 before the end of this season.  But, as the video showed there ismuch work to do.

After viewing the video and using a few swing drills I again got hooked up to the machine with the camera running.  The new swing I ws trying to use felt very strange, but it was effective.  I started to hit the ball much more solid.

As this lesson ended Jamie gave me a few drills to work with and some swing thoughts to help keep me moving in a positive direction.  Also, GolfTec uses positive reinforcement of the lessons by making the video of your lesson avaiable to you on the internet.  I found this to be a great tool to use before going to the driving range or the course.

Overall, I after lesson 1 I felt that GolfTec would be a great tooltool to develop my golf game...

Stay Tuned!