WHENEVER I am in need of inspiration on the golf course (which is most of the time) I turn to a picture in my mind’s eye of Mark O’Meara.
When I’ve just topped my five iron five yards or taken a divot the size of a frying pan with my 100mph swing I think of the veteran American on his way to the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale.
The vision of his beautifully arced and easily paced swing on the fairways has always stayed with me.
So when the going gets tough I think of O’Meara to relax and slow me down. It doesn’t always work but it has been the inspiration behind some of my better shots.
With my new set-up and stance now in place it’s time to work on that swing but while I’m on the driving range I can forget about O’Meara for now.
I’ve been told to keep my left arm straight on the backswing and the follow through and I’m quietly pleased with my first effort until Richard plays back the video. My arms are clearly bent and Richard just happens to have some footage of Ernie Els to compare me with . . . it’s obvious I’ve got a lot of practising to do.
For the next two weeks I have to concentrate on swinging from hip to hip, keeping the left arm straight and not worrying about making contact on the ball.
Can I do that? No chance. As soon as I put a ball in front of me I’m trying to batter it all over the place and that handicap target seems a long way in the distance.
But help is at hand and I sign up for a supervised practise session and with a few tweaks here and there from the pro I think I’m getting the hang of it.

RICHARD’S AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The first thing I noted about Chris was his tendency to top the ball. This is because he is not hitting the ground in front of the ball during his swing . . . we’ll put a stop to that.
But it is going to take plenty of practise and a few steps backwards before we move forward.
Most people in learning naturally regress by some amount so our agreed plan of action is to overdo every element of the swing to allow for the natural regression.
We are trying to create a constant straight-arm position at hip high on the backswing to hip high on the downward swing.
This, for the moment, will be achieved by keeping both arms as straight as physically possible to create a consistent arc to the swing.
Once we have mastered this the only body variable causing Chris’s topped shots is his spinal angle/body lift . . . and that’s our next lesson.