Newsletter – May 2013
Upcoming clinics: I will be giving free 5 minute lessons to the junior golfers on Saturday, May 11 from 10:00 a.m. to Noon in conjunction with our First Tee of Clearwater Fun and Junior Camp sign up day.
I will be doing the first Co-Ed Get Golf Ready 4-day Boot Camp on May 16 – 19. This is ideal for new or newly committed golfers, ladies or men. There will be 4 hours of clinic instruction: Thur., May 16 and Fri., May 17 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sat., May 18 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and we finish on Sun., May 19 on the golf course at the Chi Chi Rodriguez Golf Club from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Total cost is $99 with everything included and is limited to 8 golfers. Four days to have a game for a lifetime!
I will also do the Ladies-Only Golf Clinic on four consecutive Thursday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on May 23, 30, June 6 and June 13. The total cost is only $40. Limit of 9 participants.
Finally I will have a Two-Day Golf School for serious golfers who want to improve their technique and learn ways to practice to move to the next level. This will be on Friday, May 31 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Space is very limited to 3 golfers and cost is only $89 total.
Space is limited for all clinics so call (727) 692-4679 or email, jh@johnhayesgolf.com to sign up for any of these clinics.
Now I would like you to try a practice drill to help you: 1) get the correct direction for your swing, 2) make the swing forward rather than downward and 3) get you to be club-oriented rather than ball-oriented. As Manuel de la Torre has often said, “You are either ball-oriented or you are not.” You do NOT want to be ball-oriented during the full swing; you want to be club-oriented. If you produce the correct motion with the club and start with good fundamentals then the ball will go just fine. This is a mental trick and one that takes practice and effort on your part. Many golfers struggle to get the ball to do what they want and have no awareness of what they are doing with the golf club.
Here is the practice drill – take a tee, small piece of grass or a little twig and place it on the grass a few inches in front of the ball on the target line. Set your purpose to swing the club, from the end of the backswing, and brush the grass where the little tee is in front of the ball. Right from the top, swing your club directly to the grass in front of the ball and send the little tee on its way. You should try for 0% ball concern during this swing even though the ball along with the little tee is sent forward. When I set up this drill the golfer will often ask, “Do you want me to hit the ball?” The best response I can give is that the ball will be struck by the club but I don’t want you to try to hit the ball. Swing forward to brush the grass where the little tee is in front of the ball.