Featured in Today's Golfer Magazine - November 2007
Day two
After a hearty breakfast we’re back on the range by 8.30am, using our free passes to draw buckets of balls from the gurgling green dispenser. Phill sets out the day’s aims, seeming to anticipate our questions from yesterday.
He reassures us that it is normal to feel we have taken a step back in order to improve.
“Don’t hit balls mindlessly,” warns Phill. “I want quality, not quantity.” One by one we go to the video centre as Phill checks progress. Today I am given new areas to improve – my knee flex and hip action. I’m also given a Leadbetter SwingSetter to help me get the correct wrist hinge. Phill is full of encouragement; he mixes description, theory, video and demonstration. We may ache but we are never bored.
A short break for coffee, then Phill leads us to the chipping and bunker area. He stresses smoothness, rhythm and the need to find a swingpath under the ball. As usual, he has a trick to help: perching a ball on a tee peg, directing us to break the tee without touching the ball.
We chip from positions around the bunker. Looking round, I notice the steady progression from thinned shots flying past the greens to balls popping up and gently dropping. Just as we begin to tire of chipping, Phill announces a visit to the Sedlescombe course, to play a Texas scramble over three holes. Some of the group are so hooked they stay out to complete the full 18. Tired, but happy with my improvement, a pint of John Smith’s calls me to the bar instead.
