Stage 2.5 - Mid Season Assessment at Mill Ride Golf Club

On Saturday 23rd July, the Golfbreaks.com and Tour Fit for Golf winners met with Simon Holmes for a mid session review of their golf swing progress in advance of the next testing session in early August at Saint Omer in France.

Nick and Chris arrived ready to go at 9.00am at Mill Ride golf club in Ascot, a venue that Simon Holmes uses a lot for coaching and assessing amateur golfers. The key part of this session was for Simon to look at how the two winners are progressing following on from their 2nd assessment at The London Club and ensure they are working on these key areas in advance of their next full assessment at St Omer in August.

Both winners went through their new tried and tested warm up routine which was created and defined to suit their individual needs in May at the launch of their six month programme. They then set about hitting their first batch of golf balls, diligently thinking through all of the new elements and amends to their swings that have been made.

It wasn’t long before Simon was picking up on some of the common faults in key areas of their swings that resulted in them falling back into some old habits, so these needed to be addressed in this session.

Nick was first to get the assessment and with Simon filming his swing it wasn’t long before the faults had been identified and some new drills and techniques had been established to eradicate these problems and help him get back on track with his improved swing pattern.

Simplicity is the key and working on drills and techniques broken down into simple steps will provide the best results, all great feedback for Nick to improve his game.

Chris, hampered slightly from hamstring injury was hitting a mix of gliding shots and low skimmers that was quickly identified by Simon. A simple drill of changing position with the left foot directly in front of the right was set-up for Chris to undertake for the session to improve some key areas of his game.

Overall, the session went well and provide invaluable for Nick and Chris. Both amateurs commented on how useful these sessions are, years of swing patterns suddenly being amended is difficult for anyone to take in, but with expert guidance on hand at all times, both players are confident that their games and handicaps will only improve.

The session concluded with Simon reinforcing the message that no amateurs will be able to work on multiple facets of their game, but a real focus on one or two key areas of their swing will reap the necessary awards.

Roll on St Omer and then next full assessment….. Let’s hope they have worked on and improved their key areas ready for their next big test.