St John's Newsletter P1_STM75945 August 2018 Newsletter | Page 5

NOTE FROM TEACHING PROFESSIONAL A U G U ST 2 0 1 8 News from the Lesson Tee August is Short Game month here at St. Johns Country Club for the Women’s Clinics. Most importantly this will only require your 9 Iron, Sand Wedge, and Putter for the month and we can leave the rest of the set aside. It is becoming increasingly difficult to watch professional tournaments and not see several drives near 400 yards, with the likes of Rory McIlroy driving the ball 409 yards in the British Open. There have even been several studies trying to equate scoring to driving distance and the reality is, it is only a slight shift in percentages. For the average player, seventy percent of our strokes come from 100 yards and in, (compared to the maximum fourteen times we hit the driver), this proves to be the most significant opportunity for improvement. This month, we will focus on all of the short game fundamentals including; proper contact, distance control, tempo, trajectory, and club selection. A portion of our clinics will also focus on shot specific drills (functional practice) and building a short game we can take to the course. The beginning of August concludes the first full month teaching with Trackman and the results have been phenomenal. Loo king back over the past few weeks, the most noticeable difference from a teaching perspective is the ability to utilize the Trackman data and translate the information into swing thoughts and “feels” for the student. Once we identify a pattern in the numbers, it becomes much more effective to plot the change from the old to the new and begin to create a more efficient swing. As useful as Trackman has been for the full swing, we have also been able to dramatically improve several short games by looking at key numbers like Dynamic Loft and Spin Rate. I encourage anyone curious about their ball striking or golf swing in general to email me at [email protected] and we can discuss the adjustments that could be made. I would also like to congratulate all of my students on playing well and bringing home The 210 Cup, keep up the good work and let’s do it again in 2019! John Mousley PGA 5