CHAPTER SIX: THE LESSONS BEGIN!

Dan’s first lesson begins with him and I having a cup of coffee in the lounge of the clubhouse where he is a member. “I thought we were having a golf lesson today?” asks Dan as we walk to a table by the window. “We are; but first we need a little theory, then we’ll put it into practice.” I didn’t want Dan to be distracted by golf balls and golf clubs. I had a pencil and some paper, to draw simple pictures of the flights as I explained them to him.

For a ball to fly straight when the club-head meets the ball, both the club-head and the clubface have to be straight or ‘square’ at the target. This is extremely hard to achieve (even for the touring pros!), because the section of the golfswing and the amount of time elapsed when this occurs is very small. They do hit the ball fairly straight - but not dead straight. They learn how to ‘shape’ their shots to control the ball. It is much easier and more predictable than trying to hit the ball straight. More on this later.

Dan needed to learn about the two factors which control where the ball goes and their relationship to each other. I suggest that after you read through the next two chapters, take this book, your 5 or 6 iron, some balls and some tees to the practice fairway. Re-read both chapters and put into practice what Dan does

As we sipped our coffees I began to draw my pictures.

CLUBHEAD PATH

At the exact moment that the clubhead strikes the ball, there are only 3 directions in which it can be traveling in relation to the line to the target:

1. It can be traveling STRAIGHT (or square) to the target. In this case the ball will start its flight straight to the target, but may curve off-line after this.

2. It can be traveling to the RIGHT of the target. In this case the ball will start its flight to the right of the target, but may curve off-line after this.

3. It can be traveling to the LEFT of the target. In this case the ball will start its flight to the left of the target but may curve off-line after this.

So the important thing to remember here is that the club-head will determine in which direction the ball starts its flight. It has no effect on where the ball finishes. NOTE: The club-head can also be traveling up, down or parallel to the ground when it strikes the ball, but this has no effect on the ball’s direction. In a well struck iron shot the club-head should be traveling slightly downwards as it strikes the ball.

Dan had some trouble with this concept at first. He said “how can I tell which direction the club-head is traveling when it hits the ball – it’s moving too fast; I can’t see it”. I reassured him by saying no-one; not even the great Jack Nicklaus himself can see the club-head. But the ball cannot lie. By watching the ball we can tell what the club-head is doing.

“You have to learn to watch the first say, fifty metres of the ball’s flight, Dan. In the first fifty (or so) metres the ball doesn’t spin a lot, so it basically goes where the club-head was going when it struck the ball. As you become more experienced with analyzing the ball’s flight you will become very good at noticing this. It is an easily acquired skill” I explained.
“Sure; maybe for you” Dan said, with a sarcastic smirk.

After our coffee Dan and I walked to the practice fairway. As before; his lesson fee was my lunch. Today, he was going to learn only about how to analyze what his club-head was doing at impact by watching the ball leaving the clubface.

As we walked to the tee I looked at the very impressive set of clubs he was carrying and said “you won’t be needing those!” Dan laughed - but I wasn’t joking. During this lesson he did not hit a single golf shot! I don’t think he had ever had a lesson where he didn’t hit a ball – I think he felt a little cheated.

I had Dan take up a position directly behind the line of the shots I was going to hit. This would allow him to easily track the ball’s flight after I hit it. To make the line of the shot more obvious I placed a long wooden pole on the ground very close to the ball, but on the other side of the ball to where I was standing. I also made sure it was pointing towards a flag I was aiming at down the fairway.

After a few easy warm up swings I grabbed my 5 iron and smacked a ball. It started about 3 metres to the right of the flag, traveling straight to begin with, but towards the end of its flight it started to curve back to the left. The ball landed on the ground about 3 metres left of the flag. I had executed a near-perfect “draw”.

“What did you see, Dan?” I asked. “I saw a shot that I can never hit!” He said, shaking his head. I was feeling flattered. “But what was the clubhead doing?” I asked. “I don’t know” was his reply. Dan was watching the entire flight, not just the start. This is a very natural thing to do at first.

On the next shot I exaggerated swinging the clubhead very much to the right of the target as it struck the ball. This time the ball started about 10 metres to the right of the flag, and towards the end of its flight it curved slightly to the left, and landed about 5 metres right of the flag. This was a better example for Dan to analyze.

“Well, what happened that time, Dan?” Dan looked like he was thinking hard. He then looked at me and cautiously replied “the clubhead was traveling to the right?”

“Excellent! It has only taken you two hits to learn this” I said, shaking his hand. Dan looked very pleased with himself. But I had a few more tricky shots for him watch. I didn’t want this to go to his head too soon.

The next shot started about 3 metres left of the flag, traveled straight for about 100 metres and then curved severely to the right, landing about the same distance to the right as the previous shot.

“Well?” I asked. “”That’s easy – same as last one; to the right!” he beamed. “Sorry buddy, but it was to the left” was my answer. Dan was now looking a bit confused. I realized that he was still watching the entire flight of the ball, and made his decision based on where the ball landed. It was time to change the example a little.

I asked Dan to walk down and bring back the flag I had been aiming at. I stuck it in the ground some 30 metres in front of the spot where I was hitting from, and directly in line with the wooden pole on the ground. We resumed our positions and I began to hit some more shots. This time I asked Dan to watch which side of the flag the ball passed, ignoring where the ball landed.

The next shot, I exaggerated swinging the club to the left of the flag as I hit the ball. The ball started its flight about 3 metres left of the flag and traveled perfectly straight until it hit the ground some 20 metres left of the spot where the flag had been down the fairway.

“It went left!” yelled Dan. I just nodded. I hit another one, which started to the left of the flag again, but this time it curved gently back to the right and probably would have hit the flag had it still been in its original position down the fairway. “It went left again!” This time I just smiled, and so did Dan. He had got it!

I hit another half a dozen shots, deliberately starting the ball each side of the flag, while Dan called out “left!”, “right!” or “straight!” All of a sudden he asked “But why does the ball not always finish on the same side of the flag that it starts flying?”

It was time for Dan to have his second lesson. “Good question. I’ll answer that in the next lesson. Let’s have lunch - your shout!” I answered.