In this video, Radio x DJ and BBC football reporter Rich Wolfenden steps up for a golf lesson. He gets some handy tips and drills from Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Trey Niven
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00:00Hey guys, Trey here, Golf Monthly Top 50 UK Coach.
00:04We're at Hadleywood today.
00:05Just been playing a few holes out at Hadleywood with Rich Wolfenden from BBC Sport.
00:11He plays off 30 handicap, so I'm going to give him a little bit of a lesson and see
00:16if there's any advice I can give him to make his golf a bit better.
00:19If you're around that ability, stick around, watch the video, there's some really top tips
00:23in this video.
00:24So, Rich, watching you on the course out there today, I think you do a lot of things really
00:29good considering like how much you play and how you describe like your golf game as well
00:35to me earlier, but I think like your mid-irons and you'll probably agree could do with a little
00:41bit of work.
00:42Yeah, connecting with it, I'm okay connecting with it, getting a clean swing on it, but it
00:49never goes where I want it to, it'll go off to the right, it'll go off to the left.
00:54Right.
00:55So, I think what's really important in this for you is to work on your setup initially,
01:01like how you stand to the ball, how you hold the grip, where things point.
01:06And then after that, I think that's going to have a little bit of influence on how you
01:09move the golf club.
01:11So setup, I think from a starting point of looking for consistency, got to make sure the
01:16setup is consistent in itself.
01:17Okay.
01:18So you just take your setup.
01:19What I usually do.
01:20Well, so that's, yeah, you do what you usually do if we were going out to play now.
01:23Yeah.
01:24So let's say I've hit a brilliant drive, I'd probably line up the club first.
01:29Okay.
01:30And then just sort my feet out with a seven iron.
01:33I'd have it equidistant between my feet and then it'll probably be some sort of setup
01:39like that if I'm aiming for that 150.
01:41Okay.
01:42And just hit this from here.
01:43Yeah.
01:49And that wasn't the worst one of it.
01:50That was okay.
01:51Pretty good.
01:52That was all right.
01:53I don't think you need any coaching now.
01:55Nice contact with the floor as well.
01:57I think sometimes you will absolutely find the timing from that, but sometimes like we
02:02saw on the course at times that you haven't got the contact and it's a little bit, like
02:06you said, inconsistent.
02:08So I've spotted something straight away there, the ball position.
02:11Right.
02:12The seven iron way too far forwards.
02:14Oh really?
02:15Like nearly underneath like left armpit there.
02:17Right.
02:18So again, if the ball position gets too far forwards for you guys listening at home and
02:23I'm trying to make that ball contact and then the ground, the more I move it in this
02:28direction, the more I've actually physically got to move my body to get over the ball.
02:33And something that I picked up on video from filming on the course is that sometimes you
02:37hang back as well.
02:38So if you've got a ball that's over there and our body hangs back, we've got a lot of
02:42work to do at the bottom of the swing, hence some of the heavy strikes as well.
02:46Right.
02:47Okay.
02:48So just get yourself set up again for me.
02:49Yeah.
02:50Just as you naturally would if I hadn't said anything.
02:52Yeah.
02:53So I'll probably be about there.
02:54Perfect.
02:55And I want this ball to sit right underneath your sternum here.
02:58Okay.
02:59That's it.
03:00So that one there is actually pretty good.
03:01Okay.
03:02Yeah.
03:03Great.
03:04And I've seen one last thing on the course and practicing then.
03:06You see how your lead arm there and your lead wrist is kind of bowed this way, forwards.
03:12Right.
03:13Yeah.
03:14So I want that to sit right down and underneath your chest.
03:17So if you just stand a little bit further away.
03:19Further away.
03:20Back.
03:21Yeah.
03:22And then we're just going to press that club down so it sits there.
03:23Yeah.
03:24Okay.
03:25And there you can see this lead wrist and this lead arm.
03:26Right.
03:27Is pretty straight there.
03:28Okay.
03:29Yeah.
03:30Yeah.
03:31I feel like I'm really leaning over it quite a lot.
03:32Yeah.
03:33Okay.
03:34So hold that there.
03:35Great.
03:36So you're aiming a little bit right of that 150.
03:39So just bring everything around to your left if you can.
03:42So aim a little bit more in this direction.
03:45Okay.
03:46Yeah.
03:47That's great.
03:48Okay.
03:49And as you've done that, really important.
03:50Just got to check where that ball position is.
03:52That's really good there.
03:53Yeah.
03:54Great.
03:55And what you're looking for, you're looking for feet, knees, hips, and then shoulders all
04:01to be in a line.
04:02So you can see Rich has done a pretty good example of that there.
04:06Right.
04:07So keep them hands really low.
04:10Yeah.
04:11Okay.
04:12Great.
04:13And just try another shot from there for me.
04:14Yeah.
04:15And just see how that feels.
04:18Oh.
04:19Okay.
04:20Not bad.
04:21A little bit heavy.
04:22Yeah.
04:23Yeah.
04:24Dead straight.
04:25It did go straight.
04:26Which is what we're here to work on.
04:27Let's try another.
04:28The wrists are straight.
04:29The forearm.
04:30Great shot.
04:31That's at the 150.
04:32Hit it.
04:33Hit it.
04:34Oh.
04:35That was pretty good.
04:36It was accurate.
04:37It was accurate.
04:38I'll give you that.
04:39That was pretty good.
04:40So I'll give you credit on that one.
04:55You can see set up there when we look at the video.
04:58I'll film that last swing.
04:59Yeah.
05:00Dead square to where we wanted to aim.
05:02Yeah.
05:03Hands were sat nice and low.
05:04So you're in a place at the start of your swing where there's less to go wrong.
05:08Right.
05:09Essentially.
05:10I've seen one last thing and I don't want to give you too much.
05:12Yeah.
05:13I want to give you maybe two points maximum.
05:15Right.
05:16To work on because this game can be a bit of a minefield at times.
05:19Yeah.
05:20With the swing thoughts.
05:21But if you just look as your club swings back here.
05:23Yeah.
05:24So it's over my shoulder.
05:25Yeah.
05:26It's over the shoulder.
05:27As you come down there.
05:29You can just see.
05:32Right here.
05:33You can see how the loft of that golf club.
05:36So we talk about the club face or the grooves.
05:39Yeah.
05:40Point backwards towards the camera here.
05:42Right.
05:43Again, this is a little bit of de-lofting.
05:46So you take loft off the club.
05:48Right.
05:49If you go loft on a golf club and you want to try and hit the thing golf ball in the air.
05:53Yeah.
05:54We're consciously wanting to lean back and add loft kind of through the ball.
05:59Right.
06:00So I want you to, as you start to swing back maybe halfway.
06:04Yeah.
06:05Just to feel this lead wrist.
06:06Okay.
06:07Is just doing a little bit of hinging like this.
06:09Okay.
06:10If you look at yours, it goes back this way.
06:12Right, right, right.
06:13You set up before.
06:14Yeah.
06:15So I want that lead wrist to feel like it's got a little bit of hinge or cup in the back
06:19of that left wrist.
06:20Okay.
06:21Keeping it firm.
06:22Yeah.
06:23So try that again.
06:24Just take your set up.
06:25Same set up points.
06:26Making sure we square to the target.
06:28Yeah.
06:29Good.
06:30Sit them hands nice and low.
06:31Yeah.
06:32So then I bring it to.
06:34Hold that there.
06:35That'd be the position.
06:36It's spot on there.
06:37Where you have it here.
06:38You can see this logo on the glove or the wrist has got a bit of a kink in it.
06:42This is where it was before.
06:43Ah, it was more.
06:44There.
06:45Ah, okay.
06:46So you're taking loft off.
06:47Okay.
06:48Keeps them on there.
06:49Cool.
06:50That's it.
06:51Just try that again then.
06:52Little backswing.
06:53Yeah.
06:54Good try.
06:55Alright.
06:56Should I hit it?
06:59That's it?
07:00Yeah.
07:01Good.
07:02Just remember that same bit further back from the ball.
07:04Good.
07:05And make sure them hands are nice and low to begin with.
07:07Yeah.
07:08Like thumb at the tip of the rubber part.
07:09Yeah.
07:10So hands back up.
07:11Yeah.
07:12Back up, back up.
07:13Yeah.
07:14Good.
07:15And then just press the whole pad shaft down.
07:16Ah, yeah, yeah.
07:17That was it.
07:18That's it.
07:19Good.
07:20Nice, relaxed hands and then hit.
07:21Ooh.
07:22Good try.
07:23It's alright.
07:24Let's have another one.
07:25Whoa.
07:26Great strike.
07:27Yeah.
07:28I think I was thinking too much about my wrist action.
07:31Great strike.
07:32Okay.
07:33Just take that set up again.
07:34Yeah.
07:35Okay.
07:36And just hit one more.
07:37Come on.
07:38Best one of the day.
07:39Remember that ball position under the chest.
07:40Yeah.
07:41Good.
07:42Yeah.
07:43Good.
07:44Good.
07:45Yeah.
07:46Good.
07:47Uh, flattered it but it went straight.
07:48If you take one thing out of that shot.
07:50Yeah.
07:51So this is something that you can go away with now.
07:52Yeah.
07:53Because I know that's going to take maybe a few balls to get used to that.
08:10Yeah.
08:11Think about where you finished that golf shot.
08:13So as you hit the ball, you hit the ground and both feet were both flat on the floor like
08:18Yeah.
08:19Yeah.
08:20So what does that tell me about my weight?
08:21It's all top half.
08:22It stayed back to your back leg.
08:23Yeah.
08:24So I think for people listening at home, what you can take away and you can take away from
08:28this Rich is that the finish of the swing tells the story for kind of what you've done
08:33prior to that.
08:34Yeah.
08:35So think about if I'm in this finish position, haven't moved through enough.
08:39If I'm in this finish position, I've transferred efficiently through it.
08:44Yeah.
08:45So I think that wasn't a bad swing at all.
08:48You just didn't have that finish position.
08:51Yeah.
08:52Yeah.
08:53Forget that.
08:54But you know, it's multiple things in your head that you need to work on, but you know,
08:57certainly felt that the positioning in my stance.
09:00Yeah.
09:01So bit by bit, you've got set up.
09:02Yeah.
09:03Halfway back.
09:04Yeah.
09:05Finishing the swing.
09:06Yeah.
09:07Work through it in that process.
09:08Homework.
09:09Well done.
09:10Yeah.
09:11So in summary there for Rich, really important to just check that the setup and everything
09:15is in place.
09:16Again, a player that's craving consistency, but hasn't quite found the consistency in
09:21the setup.
09:22So just making sure the symbol things, ball position, grip, hands, body alignment, all
09:27playing a huge part in his consistency and creating the same shot, creating the same contact.
09:33Moved on to a little bit of talking about how the arms and the wrist now need to work with
09:38the change grip.
09:39And then after that, it was a little bit more on to, okay, where we finish in the golf shot
09:44because finishing the shot can tell a lot of the story of kind of the tail of the swing.
09:49So make sure you're in a good finished position, weight moving forwards, nice and stable,
09:54lower body, nice and stable, in balance.
09:58And often if you can get into that finished position, it can breed some very good golf shots.
10:02So really good work from Rich there.