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Dear all,
We had 11 girls out today who were eager to get on to our Lesson #2-Have Fun while learning, and create a basic understanding of how to use the club and body to control direction and to understand directional issues that come up-How many times do you hear new golfers ask” Why is the ball going right?” If they know what makes the ball go right and go left, they can Coach themselves to find straight. Knowledge in this game gives you power and you become less frustrated if you understand how the club and your body influence the shots.
We began with a contest as it always breaks the ice and gets the girls enjoying the game. We set up two stations, both had targets placed in front of the girls with hula hoops in the air. The object was to have each girls run up, as this was timed, grab a golf ball, and chip through or under the hoop to the circles. Points were 2 points for going through the hoop, one point for outer ring, 3 points for next ring, 5 points for small ring and 10 points for a chip in. The purpose is two-fold: The Hula Hoop gives them a target to focus on rather than the golf ball, the speed gives them less time to over think the shot. The speed can also be too fast and cause missed shots. The Middle Ground is what we strive for in each shot-The teams were:
Katy Georgia
Ali Laney
Addie Sonia
Claire Chloe
Annika Sophie
Peer Marie Debbie
We timed 3 rounds and our Team Georgia was our winners with some amazing chipping by all members! As the girls got used to the timing, many of them made it through the hoop and into the circles.
Our first activity involved chipping and the natural grip: Dan had them all stand facing him, bend their knees, and let their hands fall naturally. They noticed that their hands face each other and that is how they should be when gripping the club. If the bottom hand falls underneath, the club head can change. Next, without any instruction, Dan asked them to hit 5 balls to the right of the yellow flag, and 5 balls to the left. We asked them how they achieved this task-aim, hold club differently, body turn, or club manipulation. Dan discussed 3 possibilities that are the primary directional control-Interfering, Allowing, and Forcing. All girls were able to understand these basic principles and could easily hit left and right (Interfering and forcing) Dan asked them to now hit straight and see if they could feel what they did if the shot was left or right. Ali and Addie found straight fairly easily, .as did Georgia and Laney who have been with us for some time. Claire, who has been playing Softball, found her swing rather quickly and found straight when she made a nice body rotation. Sophie has come alive this golf season and is finding out how easy golf really is! Sonia found that when she fines balance, she finds power!
We moved to the range and worked on the same idea but with bigger swings. We placed ones in front of their stations which were their directional sticks-Their first challenge was to hit 5 shots left and right without manipulating the club face( Under and over) by changing body and arm motion. Dan discussed what over and under is, and what on plane is. We asked them to hit 10 more shots purposely trying to “miss” by hitting over or under. At first many of them struggled with over but once they felt what over felt like it became easy-Peer Marie was an expert at both as she really understands or feels what she needs to do with her body while swinging, Annika started finding straight more often while she practiced both, Chloe came alive and started hitting some beautiful shots with full turns,. Katy really began hitting some great shots and could tell me when she missed what she experienced, Sophie once again told me how easy it feels now when she swings and understands what is happening when she misses, but I have to say the best shots of the day over and under with unbelievable trajectory were Addie Vanden Bossche-Her power and accuracy are fun to watch-Watch for her name in the newspaper for Moorpark High School-Go Addie!
We finished with a contest and I gave prizes to the top 6-1st and 2nd place got to pick any prize and 3rd-6th got any prize but I-Tune Cards which are a premium prize! The objective was to chip 3 balls to the circles-Highest score is our winner-Chloe Kudler was dialed in as she really wanted to go to the prize bag-She stepped up first and set the bar high at 5 points! 2nd Place was a tie between Claire and Addie-We did a chip off to determine 2nd place and Addie chipped inside the circle-Both girls had 4 points. 3rd-6th place with 3 points were Ali, Annika, and Laney!
See you next week! 11:00-12:30!
Dan, Mary, and Debbie
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