In the third episode of Game.Improved, Nick Dougherty offers a lesson to 18-handicapper Andy Edom
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00:00 - Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly,
00:02 and welcome to the final episode in our three-part series
00:05 in which we're gonna try to help some amateur golfers
00:08 shoot lower scores.
00:10 In this episode, we have Andy Edom,
00:12 who plays off a handicap of 18,
00:14 and he's gonna get the chance to play some golf here
00:16 at Wentworth with Nick Doherty,
00:17 and then head to the range for a one-on-one lesson.
00:21 Hopefully, there should be some advice,
00:22 both on how to play,
00:24 how to build a strategy for the golf course,
00:25 but also some tips on how to practice
00:28 and how to swing it a little bit better
00:29 that will help Andy, but also might help you too.
00:32 Right, let's get started.
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00:36 Okay, so Andy, thanks for joining us here at Wentworth.
00:50 What's your handicap, and just give us a sense
00:52 for where your golf is at right now.
00:54 - My handicap's 18.
00:55 It's a little bit variable,
00:57 'cause I don't get out that often and play that often,
00:59 so I tend to feel that I manage the ball around the course
01:02 more than anything else.
01:03 - Okay, so then what are the strengths,
01:07 what are the weaknesses in your golf game?
01:08 - Definitely strengths would be wedges and short irons.
01:13 Generally speaking, the longer the club,
01:15 the more wayward I can get.
01:16 - Right, and when we're talking wayward,
01:18 are we talking right or left?
01:19 - A little bit of both, to be true.
01:21 - Right, okay, so what are you looking then?
01:22 So you've got access to Nick,
01:24 what are you looking for in terms of advice
01:26 to help you play?
01:27 - Just to basically straighten me out a little bit,
01:29 help me hit the ball a little bit straighter.
01:31 I know I can feel there's certain parts of my swing
01:33 that aren't right, it's just the order
01:36 in which to correct that.
01:37 - Yeah, okay.
01:39 Well, I think you're with the right person today.
01:41 Right, let's head out onto the golf course and meet Nick.
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02:33 - And then let me just see that.
02:35 - So now just feel that path of the other line.
02:40 - Make me work this way
02:43 and see how much more turn through the ball I am.
02:45 On way, so actually you've really got to feel
02:49 like you're gonna drive forward this way
02:53 and then you have to find a way to get until you--
02:55 - Okay, Nick, so let's talk about Andy's golf game.
02:58 So first time you've seen him play today,
02:59 we played three holes here on the West course.
03:02 What does Andy do well?
03:03 What does he need to work on, do you think?
03:05 - Well, he's diligent with how he goes about his game.
03:08 I can relate to Andy in terms of,
03:10 he's an overthinker with his game 'cause he tries so hard.
03:13 Yeah, and I think that's, it's an admirable quality.
03:16 It's a noble pursuit,
03:17 but one that's thwarted unfortunately with this game
03:19 because the more we get invested sometimes consciously
03:22 with it, the more we get in our own way.
03:23 And I think Andy had a little bit of that going on.
03:25 You could see there was, to me,
03:26 the nature of how he stood to the ball.
03:29 It was not overcoached, but overthought.
03:32 You know what I mean?
03:33 It was just like he's ticking boxes in his mind.
03:35 And I know what that feels like
03:37 'cause that's what I've done.
03:38 And ironically, it took away a little bit of the flow
03:41 of him just getting out of his way and playing golf.
03:44 So I think for me, a little bit with Andy is,
03:46 and it's a challenge I think sometimes with coaching is,
03:49 help someone get better without making them turn inwards
03:52 in terms of their thoughts.
03:54 'Cause the last thing I need to do
03:55 is to give Andy 10 different things to go and think about.
03:57 And the problem for Andy was,
03:59 with what we talked about with his swing,
04:01 it was an, one of them was a pre-swing thing,
04:05 but the sensation I wanted to feel was in the swing.
04:07 They're always tougher.
04:09 'Cause it's happening as we're doing it.
04:11 You know?
04:12 So I think for him, there's a very simple fix
04:15 that was really important, which was aim straight.
04:19 - Right, okay.
04:19 - You know?
04:20 But for him, that was shoulders.
04:22 So he sets up beautifully every time.
04:24 And then right before he pulls the trigger,
04:26 he decides to make it more difficult for himself
04:28 and gives it one of these with the shoulders.
04:30 - So closing the shoulders, what does that do?
04:31 - Well, it completely shifts the way
04:33 that the club wants to move for starters.
04:34 So from that very moment then,
04:36 Andy's swing is always working this way.
04:38 And ironically, we tend to build compensations in our swing
04:43 to make whatever we've got going on work.
04:45 To him, he's not shut though.
04:47 In his head, he's dead square.
04:48 He's not though.
04:49 He's way right with his shoulders.
04:51 Because then when I went on,
04:52 went and worked with him on the range and squared him up,
04:54 of course he feels wide open.
04:55 - Feels weird.
04:56 - Yeah.
04:57 Even though he stood like that naturally,
04:59 and it was only right before he pulled the trigger,
05:01 he gives it the bump with the shoulders like that.
05:03 So he felt fine to do that first.
05:04 And then he thought, no, come on,
05:06 we need to get these shut off.
05:07 So again, it's that classic feel versus real thing
05:10 in the golf swing.
05:11 And we all again have to deal with this
05:13 where what we feel very often isn't what is real out there.
05:17 And so just him seeing me going across his shoulders there
05:21 with the alignment stick and saying, right,
05:23 come and step away and see what it is.
05:24 So he can immediately come and check on me.
05:26 You need that feedback
05:28 because I'm asking him to buy into something
05:30 that everything inside him intuitively saying,
05:32 that is not right, man.
05:34 You got me stood like this now.
05:35 How the hell am I going to propel the ball down there
05:37 when you've got me stood this way?
05:39 He needs to buy, you need the buy-in first of all.
05:41 Like this is definitely what's happening, mate.
05:43 - So then how do you then make those adjustments
05:46 without becoming too technical?
05:47 Without them talking about--
05:48 - It's hard.
05:49 - All of those things that can get you quite confused.
05:51 - I think you first of all explain
05:53 that the journey is not one of pure joy and ecstasy
05:56 in terms of, and I think that's one thing.
05:58 So I can relate to Andy in terms of,
05:59 I've played four times this year.
06:01 So even when I go out there today, there's a real mixed bag.
06:04 Making peace with the fact that
06:06 there's going to be inconsistency
06:08 is one of the greatest freedoms in our game.
06:10 That actually allows me to play way better golf
06:12 because when I hit a bad shot,
06:14 I don't do what I used to when I was a tournament professional
06:16 and delve in there.
06:17 Why did you, what do, oh, this was, oh, this needs a bit.
06:20 And of course, it's little things like this
06:22 which no one notices.
06:23 It's very often we over-complicate in that issue.
06:26 So one of the things obviously that happened
06:28 with the movement was that his path was very much inside out
06:31 and it was reflected in, obviously,
06:33 you see some early extension in there,
06:35 club drifting from inside out as well,
06:37 and you see the release pattern as well,
06:38 sort of this way over his shoulder.
06:40 - What leading to pushes and hooks?
06:42 - Yeah, so if the face matches up to that direction
06:44 that he's swinging it, it's a block to the right.
06:46 And of course, if the face is actually square,
06:47 it's the hook, which is going to make him want to swing
06:49 even more to the right-hand side,
06:51 which of course we know is, welcome to golf.
06:53 So in essence, we have to get a feeling for,
06:57 let's be square, that's going to feel rubbish.
06:59 Make peace with that feels rubbish today,
07:01 not forever, just today.
07:03 And know it takes huge discipline.
07:04 Go on the range, do the reps, ignore where it's going.
07:08 You have no right to care where that's going
07:10 'cause one, you're not really focused on it
07:11 'cause you're not playing golf, you're playing pretty swings.
07:13 But we're practicing pretty swings.
07:14 That's what we're doing at the moment with this.
07:16 And you're just going to go drilling.
07:17 That's what it feels like.
07:18 That's what it feels like.
07:19 That's what it feels like.
07:20 And you can break that up with then going, right,
07:22 I'm going to hit a normal shot.
07:23 I'm going to play to this flag
07:24 and go through my normal routine.
07:25 Because what we want to do is do the stuff
07:28 that requires us to step outside of the way.
07:30 'Cause if I get used to practice a swing,
07:32 but then also say, yeah,
07:33 but I need you to hit it close as well.
07:36 Not going to work so well.
07:37 But as far as I say to you, all you have to do,
07:39 and we did this with him,
07:40 I wanted to try and feel hitting these nice little low fades
07:43 because it was forcing him to want to have to move better
07:46 with his lower half, which again,
07:47 was something we talked about synchronization.
07:49 Trying to feel, so it's a nice simple drill
07:51 as you take it halfway back, you step forward,
07:53 which gets you used to feel.
07:55 And of course you don't get halfway back.
07:56 People tend to get up here when they actually do it,
07:59 which is like the golf swing.
07:59 'Cause in essence, with every good player,
08:02 it starts with a move as this is finishing off
08:04 into that left side.
08:05 Don't want him thinking about that.
08:08 And then from there, from having that better feeling
08:10 of being into that left side a little earlier,
08:12 rather than he was more back here and this way,
08:15 I was almost feeling like we were moving a little earlier
08:18 into that left side.
08:18 You'll want it to try and feel that nice little feeling
08:21 of hitting a low cut.
08:22 And I like things like that because if I say to you,
08:24 how would you hit a low cut?
08:25 We've all got a feeling of, I'd be like that.
08:28 I'd just hit it that way.
08:30 And so it provides a feeling rather than a, right,
08:33 so we need to get the club there.
08:34 And then in this position, then you want to feel like a,
08:36 you know, I think that stuff makes it way too complicated.
08:39 So we hit some horror show shots, which is good
08:42 'cause it shows me he's really tapping into that.
08:44 So for me, it's sort of, let's get in amongst the weeds,
08:48 get really ugly.
08:49 - Spend a bit of time doing that on the range.
08:50 - Get really comfortable being uncomfortable.
08:53 And then we go, right, done.
08:55 We get in, we do the work, then we leave
08:56 and we go and play the game.
08:58 - So then Nick, let me ask you,
08:59 somebody of Andy's level in the game,
09:02 what strategy advice would you offer?
09:04 - Having a plan for what you're going to be all about
09:06 in the golf course is more important.
09:07 I think for players of the handicap, when you're at 18,
09:10 you're in that beautiful zone where some days you can,
09:13 it can be a game changer of a day,
09:15 but you always have the chance to go in
09:17 and have one of those shocker days as well.
09:19 So I think making it nice and simple,
09:21 have a plan with your coach is really good.
09:24 So Andy's a great example of this.
09:25 Have a plan for how you're going to make the improvements,
09:27 but when you go out, go out to play well.
09:29 There's so many things at 18 handicap
09:31 you can dabble with and play with and try this and try that.
09:35 My experience is most of the time we get worse.
09:37 Too much going around our head
09:39 and then we end up going,
09:40 oh God, I'm thinking about too much.
09:41 How many times have you heard,
09:42 oh, I'm thinking about too much.
09:43 Well, don't.
09:44 Have your plan, stick to your plan.
09:46 And strategy, you save so many shots around,
09:48 take a joy from thinking like a top level pro.
09:52 You might not be able to hit Rory's shot,
09:53 but you can think like him.
09:56 So that means like when you go in there
09:57 with your three wood in this stuff,
09:59 is Rory going in there with his root?
10:01 'Cause if he ain't, you shouldn't.
10:02 And I think that's one of the things we can say
10:04 is that you won't necessarily always be able
10:06 to hit the shot you want to,
10:07 but we can make the right decision about it.
10:09 And knowing where your strengths are as well,
10:12 picking, being more responsible in what we pick,
10:14 having a good strategy that takes some of the risk away.
10:17 And for an amateur golfer at 18 handicap,
10:19 that could be like, let's not hit the hero shot
10:21 because that's screaming an eight if it doesn't come off.
10:23 Let's play it smart.
10:24 Let's make a nice five.
10:26 And it takes discipline that,
10:27 because of course we all want to hit the shot
10:29 that allows us to, you know,
10:30 the shot that makes us feel a million dollars.
10:32 But if it's in a comp,
10:33 you having a lot of remakes, whack away.
10:35 If you're in a comp and you're serious
10:37 about wanting to improve your handicap, do that.
10:39 Do the right thing and start making the right decisions
10:41 because it's what the top players will do.
10:43 - Yeah. So there you have it.
10:44 If you want to get better at golf and who doesn't,
10:47 then you've got to commit to it.
10:48 You don't have to be technical,
10:49 but you do have to commit to what you're trying to do.
10:51 Hopefully that helps.
10:52 Okay. So there you have it.
10:53 That's our look at Andy's game
10:55 and Nick's tips to help him improve.
10:58 Obviously with Andy,
10:58 he needs to make some technical improvements,
11:01 but what's great about the advice that Nick is offering
11:04 is that yes, it's clear to see those technical improvements
11:07 that need to be made,
11:08 but the advice needs to be as simple and practical
11:10 and usable as possible.
11:12 Hopefully that's what Andy got from it.
11:14 If you're in a similar category with your golf game,
11:16 then using some of that advice to help you as well
11:19 should really make a big difference.
11:21 But that's it for now for Wentworth.
11:22 Thanks very much for watching.
11:23 We'll see you next time.
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