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David Leadbetter leads a clinic at LGA Leeds in 2015.

David Leadbetter leads a clinic at LGA Leeds in 2015.

Biography

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Chris Parker was born in England in February 1978, he grew up in the West Midlands and began playing golf at the age of 8 influenced by his father who is an avid golfer. It was quickly identified that Chris had a natural talent for the game and progressed quickly competing in many amateur and junior tournaments at club and county level, before attending University of Central England. After having a successful University career it was only natural for Chris to pursue a career in golf, turning professional in 1998. In 2002 Chris graduated from the PGA of Great Britain gaining Distinction in Coaching. It was during this time period that Chris was drawn to the teaching and philosophy of David Leadbetter were he began his Leadbetter Certification. In 2003, Chris began working for The Leadbetter Golf Academy in Germany. Moving in 2011 to The Leadbetter Academy in Munich as Senior Instructor and Head of Training were he coached some of the best amateur golfers in the Munich area and accompanied LPGA tour players such as Sandra Gal at European Tour level.

During his time in Germany Chris has presented golf clinics with his fellow members of the LGA team for the British and German PGA, presented at the Malmo, Hamburg, Cologne, and Munich golf exhibitions and wrote several articles covering all different aspects of the game on behalf of the leading German golf magazines.

In 2013 Chris moved back to the UK where he will be found Directing The Leadbetter Academy on behalf of David Leadbetter at Leeds Golf Centre The Home of Modern Golf.

Most winters, Chris finds the time to travel to The Leadbetter Headquarters at Champions Gate Florida, and has had the opportunity to work with David Leadbetter teaching many European and PGA Tour players such as Fredrick Jacobson, Bernd Wiesberger and Gary Boyd, Champions Tour players such as Andy Bean, Mark McNulty, LPGA players such as Na Yeon Choi, Suzanne Pettersen, Sandra Gal, Jennifer Song and many more.

Through the opportunity to work with David and other leading instructors Chris feels that he is continually learning which can only advance his skills and ultimately help those who he teaches. This is what gives Chris the drive to further educate and develop himself to becoming the best possible golf instructor.


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Friday, 23 June 2017

Facts about impact


New Ball Flight Laws
 This is probably one of the simplest articles I am going to write, but I believe one of the most important for golfers of all levels.  It also might be a little shocking, because in recent times the facts about impact that most coaches have been teaching over the last 20 years, and the general thinking from most golfers, has been proven to be wrong.   If I were to tell you that approximately 80% of players who slice the ball have a square clubface at impact, your first reaction is probably to think that’s impossible; the clubface must be open. Before you read the rest of the article, try and understand just how important this is.  Impact is the only thing that determines where the balls goes: the shape of the ball, the height of the shot, the distance; it is everything.  Impact is golf, and to develop your golf you MUST know how impact works – at least with the basic laws.  It would be like a race car designer making a new car but not really understanding the basic laws of what makes a car go fast, or how to be stable in a corner, or a weight loss trainer not understanding the basic laws of how the body loses or gains weight.  If you want to develop your golf, it is vital you know the impact laws.
The Old Law – Wrong
The old laws, which are incorrect, say that it is the path of the swing which determines the starting direction of the ball.  For example, if the path is Out – To – In (Left of the target line) the ball will start to the left side of the target, or if the path was In – To – Out (Right of the target line), the ball would start the right side, or lastly if the path was square to the target line, the ball will start on target.  It was then thought that the clubface position is what creates shape, and determines the finishing position of the shot.  To give you a couple of examples:
1)      If the swing path is 10 degrees left of the target, and the club face is square to target, the ball would start 10 degrees left and fade back to finish on the target.
2)      If the path is 8 degrees right of target, and the clubface is 4 degrees open, the ball would start 8 degrees to the right and draw back to finish 4 degrees right of target.









The New Laws – Right
Technology is now available that collects all sorts of swing data: path, clubface position, speed, ball spin, shape, centeredness of impact on face, etc., and this technology tells us the true impact laws with no guess work involved.  This technology has told us that the ball will not start in the direction of the path but actually approx. 70% towards the direction of the clubface.  In my opinion, so that the laws remain simple and understandable, you can think that the ball starts in the direction of the clubface.  Shockingly, this means that the new laws are the opposite of the old laws; the clubface determines the starting direction of the shot, and the path determines the spin and shape of the shot.  So if use the same two examples as the old laws, with the new laws you can see the problem this might have been causing players:
1)      If the swing path is 10 degrees left of the target, and the club face is square to target, the ball would start on target (in the direction of the clubface) and slice to finish to the right of target.  Perhaps now you can see why 80% of slicers have their clubface square at impact.
2)      If the path is 8 degrees right of target, and the clubface is 4 degrees open, the ball would start slight right of the target (around 4 degrees) and draw to finish around the target area.




An important point to note is that the difference between clubface and path will determine how much the ball will slice or hook.  In the first example, there is a 10 degrees difference between clubface and path, which will create a lot of slice, but in the second example there is only 4 degrees difference between clubface and path, meaning there will be only a small amount of hook, or draw.
So how does this help you?
If you understand these basic laws correctly, you can start to analyse your own shot and make improvements in your technique, but more importantly, you will not analyse your shot incorrectly, misunderstanding what is happening at impact, sending your development in the wrong direction.  Below are a few examples of common misunderstanding that I see daily.
1)      Slice – Let use the example above of a ball starting straight, and slicing to the right.  Nearly every time I see this on the range, the players will be trying to release their hands faster at impact, closing the clubface, because they think the clubface is open.  But we now know that with most players, the clubface is not the problem with this shot; it is the swing path.  This player needs to forget the clubface and learn to swing more to the right.  To do this, I have suggested 4 keys to helping you develop a path more to the right.
l  -  Align your body more to the right side; most slicers will aim too much to the left, not helping develop a path to the right.
l  -  Place your hands a little in front of the ball at address.
l  -  Learn to move your weight to your left foot in the downswing, and stay there at impact.
l  -  Feel the end of the club swinging to the right and up through impact.
 2)      Pull Hook – Often, I see players practicing and hitting what they think to be a pull hook because they see the ball starting left and hooking.  They think they must be swinging out–to–in, with a closed clubface.  In their practice, they start trying to swing more in–to-out, keeping the clubface open.  This is a mistake, and the cause is not understanding basic impact laws.  What is really happening in this shot is the swing path will be in–to–out, with the clubface square to the target or a little closed.  This results in the ball starting straight and then quickly hooking to the left, because the ball comes off the clubface very quickly.  By the time the player looks up and sees the ball, it is already left of the target, making them think it started to the left.  Maybe you can see now how important the basic impact laws are.  This player does not need to swing more in–to–out; in fact, this is making the problem worse.  This player needs to swing more to the left, keeping the clubface the same; the exact opposite of what he would have done.  Here are 4 keys points to get you swinging to the left.
l  -  Make sure you are not aligned to the right in address; a little left of target will help you.
l  -  Keep the ball to the left side in address.
l  -  In the downswing, turn your shoulders so they are a little open to the target at impact.
l  -  Feel the end of the club swinging left through impact, and after impact.
 Draw: Align your body more to the right side





Fade: Align more to the left of target


Draw: Position your hands a little in front of the ball





Fade: Ball position left side


Both: Move your weight to your left foot in the downswing and stay there through impact.





Draw: Feel the end of the club swinging
to the right and up through impact.

Fade: Feel the end of the club swinging left through impact and after.