Hi Folks,
I hope you are all getting to enjoy the beautiful Irish sunshine! The golf season is very much upon us and the inter club golf is in full swing. I always enjoy watching Royal Dublin GC and Corrstown GC compete in the Barton Cup, senior cup, Jimmy Bruen etc against neighboring clubs. It’s what club golf is all about and the passion and enthusiasm on show is not to be missed!
My own season has seen a very positive start as I look forward to a very busy few months ahead. My schedule this year will include tournaments on the Europro Tour, Challenge Tour and the Asian Tour (Later in the season).
I began my season by playing 2 Europro Tour events in the UK. The Europro is a very strong tour based in the UK. The tournaments are played over 3 rounds, generally from Wednesday to Friday. The prize money is top heavy which really pushes you to play aggressively and with a “No Fear” attitude!
I finished 18th and 11th in my first 2 outings out of a field of 170, which is positive and gives me a good base to push on from. Even after weeks of practice during the off-season, you don’t really know where your game is at until you compete in a tournament with a card in hand. Fair to say the rust is now brushed off and looking forward to the next few weeks out on tour.
My schedule for the next number of weeks will consist of more Europro events mixed with Challenge Tour- namely the NI Open, which takes place in Galgorm Castle- Ballymena in mid July.
Coaches Corner
John Kelly- Swing Coach-
John and myself are back to basics! We are currently working on trying to widen my stance, which will allow me to turn into my right leg more efficiently and create more power. It is the smallest of changes but feels like I’m now doing the splits at setup!! We are also working on my grip as my right hand has slipped too much under the grip into a strong position instead of resting on top covering my left thumb. These are simple bad habits that I have fallen in to through tournament play and practice etc. The basic fundamentals of Grip, Stance, Alignment, posture are so important for every golfer and should be checked on a regular basis.
John Murphy- Physio/ Trainer-
I enjoy gym work and training so much that I over do it sometimes and tire myself out. John Murphy has looked after me for a number of years now and makes sure I am fit and healthy and ready to play at my best. We conduct our session in Medfit, Blackrock, which is where John is based. During the off-season we worked on increasing my strength in an effort to try and create more power. Now that the season has started we move more towards Cardio based programs mainly on a stationary bike. This work will build up my general fitness and make it possible for me to travel and play a number of weeks in a row without getting burned out!
Marcus Shortall- Nurition-
Nutrition is an interesting area and golfers of all abilities can benefit from a few tips on what to eat on the course etc.
When I began working with Marcus he began by upping my water consumption on the course from 1litre to 2 litres. Quite a big change and took some practice!
On course food consisted of- 2 Chicken sandwiches/ 3 pieces of fruit, preferably small oranges/ medium bag of mixed nuts/ small bag of jellies or something sugary to get you through the last couple of holes!
Now everybody is different and its certainly not one size fits all but I would encourage you to experiment and see what suits your needs.
It took a little planning to get all this stuff prepared and ready especially if I was in a hotel environment but I could soon see the benefits of eating and drinking properly on the course.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of my blog. The coaches corner is a new addition and one, which I hope, everybody enjoys and can relate to.
That said I better get back onto the practice ground and practice my basics!
Cheers
Niall