ARE YOU CLEAR WHAT YOU ARE PRACTICING

I believe regular players should have a game development plan. It is important that you know what you are trying to achieve and how to get there. Lots of golfers are looking for the dreaded quick fix approach and they try different swings daily on the range, this will only lead to inconsistency, with little improvement and lots of frustration!

You have to work a long time with your coach to build on good solid fundamentals to succeed and improve, not swapping and changing. Once the strengths and weaknesses are recognised then you can draw up an action plan and you will be heading in the right direction. Golfers learn in different ways and at different speeds, continuity practice is important for steady progress as it is all to easy to fall back into those old habits!

Start you training early, don't wait for the day before you play, you will not have enough time to get used to the new swing changes. Once you can do this it will build up confidence and self belief.

WORK SMART AND THE RESULTS WILL TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES


Happy golfing

TESTIMONIAL

"By chance, I met Carla at the local driving range in my first few weeks of playing the wonderful game of golf. She quickly showed her style of communication and coaching skills by having a very relaxed chat about my current level of play, issues I  had and what I would like to achieve.
When I arrived for my first lesson I was very nervous because of being watched by a stranger. Within 5 minutes Carla had calmed me down and I felt totally relaxed. When we got into the coaching of this lesson Carla used a range of techniques, gadgets and gizmos which all helped me achieve the core fundamentals of my golf swing.
I have currently been playing golf for 6 years and have gone from shooting scores anywhere from 85 to 95 to recently shooting between 75 to 80 regularly. My game is so much more stable in general than it used to be which means I am more consistent on the golf course especially under pressure in competitions.
The most important ability Carla has given me is I can now coach myself around the course from all her experience and I am aware of my swing mechanics, as well as knowing I have been given the correct 'tools' to hit the ball exactly where I want it to go most of the time.
From time to time when things slip a little with my swing, I need a little recap or a tweak here and there I will contact Carla for a lesson and she has put me back on track within 10 minutes!
I can thoroughly recommend  Carla as a PGA Teaching Professional, I have been coached by her for 6 years and I am still improving she also has expertise in clubfitting which goes hand in glove with the golf swing.The coach who you have lessons with is the person who should be fitting your clubs as they know all your swing characteristics. I couldn't have done it without her!"
PHIL 10 HANDICAP

CARLA'S COWBOYS/GIRLS GOLF SOCIETY - FAREWELL TO JOHN BISS

One of the founding members of our Society, and Secretary, was John Biss. Sadly, John died very suddenly in October this year. Just after his death I wrote a few words as a tribute to him, to be used at his funeral and in the annual Society Newsletter. See below: 

Memories of John

Big Bad Biss was his Cowboy name but he was far from bad. John was a proud member of Carla’s Cowboys Golf Society. In fact it was his idea to start the Society back in 2000.

When Margo sent John for golf lessons to Carla in 1997 he soon got hooked on the game. Carla ran a Gents morning every Wednesday with tuition and 9 holes of golf afterwards.  We had quite a regular gathering, always lots of fun.

John suggested forming a golf society and we were all for it. John became our very faithful and loyal secretary. From that day onwards John organised a game every Wednesday without fail. He was a superb man and an excellent organiser. He loved his golf with his dear friends in his society.

His mission statement was “if you are serious about golf, don’t join the society”. That’s how it was every Wednesday for 14 years, pure fun with a little good golf in between. The 19^th hole was always John’s favourite when he would tell his stories and tales of his travels over a large glass of red wine, tucking into his steak pie.

John was the core of our society. We will truly miss him, not just on the course but off as well. He was a dear, dear friend, a great sport and a great golfing buddy. 

Fit for Golf at Fifty

As a professional golfer, I am of course biased when I say that golf is a marvelous sport for all ages and abilities, it is also a game that offers many benefits.

Nowadays, people expect to lead a healthy, active lifestyle in their retirement years. This is reflected in the increasing number of older people enjoying membership of gyms, leisure centres and participating in a wide variety of sports. People approaching retirement often decide to take up a new activity and many choose golf. After cycling, swimming and football, golf is the 4th most popular sport in the UK, with over 4 million adults taking part.

So what are the benefits? For senior players, golf is great for physical health and fitness. Like any form of regular exercise it improves circulation, breathing and can help to reduce high blood pressure. It also promotes flexibility, balance and stability as the golf swing requires movement of all muscle groups and joints.

As well as the obvious fitness benefits of the game, walking in the fresh air in the beautiful setting of a golf course helps us to switch off from everyday worries or tensions. It promotes general feelings of well-being and is a great stress reliever - as long as you don't hit too many bad shots!

Golf is also a very social game and is a great way to meet new friends and companions, especially for older single or widowed people. The famous comedian Jack Benny once quipped "Give me golf clubs, fresh air and a beautiful partner and you can keep the golf clubs and the fresh air!"

For the last twelve years I have run a golf society for, mainly, retired men and women. Over this time I have seen many long lasting friendships established. Members really look forward to their weekly game at different courses. There is much fun and laughter to be had every time we play, especially at the 19th hole over a drink and a bite to eat. For some people the golf can almost become secondary to the social benefits of joining a society or club.

So how do you start to play? Your local driving range really is a good place to learn the basics of the game. Do start with lessons from a PGA professional who will safely instruct you in the correct techniques of the swing and give advice on suitable equipment for your needs. Well meaning friends and spouses issuing their own theories about the swing and how it should be executed have put many a beginner off the game!

Good Professional coaching is all about communication and building confidence. It's all about adapting a way for people of all ages, shapes and sizes, with different levels of physical ability, to be able to play comfortably and enjoy the game. What does the player need? Just a willingness to learn and a sense of humour! I have coached many retired men and women from novices to experts, from 50 to 90 years old. Who said that golf, like measles, should be caught young?

I can promise you that it's never too late to start the game, learn new skills, meet new challenges, keep active and enjoy the benefits.

Carla's Cowboys/girls Golf Society

This is our Christmas competition on Wednesday 8th Dec 2010, we played a Texas Scramble.
Our player of the year was Jimmy Baron.

 

 

"Stay awake, James, it's the best hat competition."

"We'd be better using these putters to ski with..."

"You'd never know they just missed a birdie."

Carla's Cowboys Christmas Round-up

        

Well, what a winter it was, the worst for 30 years. Most golfer’s clubs didn’t come out of the cupboard for 4 months. A few of the lads managed their yearly Spanish trip and I managed a couple of weeks away in Turkey which was well worth a visit and good value compared to Spain, France and Portugal where it’s getting very expensive.

I would like to welcome our new cowboys and girls to the society, Brian ‘the hell I will’ Dix, John and Julie ‘O ‘ belt it’ and it’s nice to see ‘hit it hard’ Helen back in the clan also.

Our first visit this year was Bramall Park Golf Club, we arrived on quite a wintry day, it was freezing but we all ventured out. The course was wet through, every hole had puddles on the fairways which made it ultra long and every hole played at least one shot over par. Bogey golf was very satisfying to say to least. My partners were Nick and ‘let it loose’ Lesley. Always an adventure with Nick as you get such an array of different shots! Lesley played steadily as usual, she just had a senior moment on the 7^th hole and Nick had to remind her ‘there’s the green and there’s the tee’. We also had a minor injury on the day as Mal slipped on some bark and nearly shredded his fingers off, it didn’t stop him holing a nice long putt though to take the money for a 2! Who cares if you win Ronnie he cheered. We had a lot of fun on such a bleak day. The winner was Bronco Brooks with 28 points, he was really chuffed with himself. Well done Dave!

18 of us rode into Haydock Park Golf Club, another great turn out. The usual bacon butty and a cuppa. Only this time there was a little accident, a golf ball went through J.O’s back window liked a bullet from the golf course. Could only happen to our gang, you should have seen the cars in the car park that day and it had to hit John’s. To all our surprise, the guy who hit it even took his golf ball out of the car!

It was a lovely day after all that and everybody seemed to enjoy the course, Mal was not impressed with the amount of bunkers, J.C. had his flat cap on and bragged that he had it since he was 12 years old. He also had to be on his best behaviour playing with Helen who often gave him ‘the look’. Then we had J.B. who fell into a bunker and had to retire from play. The deputy Walter scrambled off too, ‘I’m knackered’ he said. So there were lots of surprises on the day. We all had a well earned drink outside on the patio and congratulated one of our cowgirls, ‘Hit it Hard Helen’ with a marvellous score of 41 points.

Hilly Prestwich G.C. in May, none of us had been there before and I don’t think many of us would go again. It was like Brokeback Mountain! Nick felt like a mountain goat, J.C knew he had a heart cos it was pumping so hard! Summing up his golf game ‘this is a bloody nightmare’ he said puffing on a fag! As we started the round we lost two of the cowgirls as they got themselves locked in the loo, so it was all systems go right from the start. We were ducking golf balls as the holes crossed over each other most of the way round and lots of blind shots over hills. J.C. and Steve sent Bill off running to show them where the hole was, thought they would pick the fitter of the three, not the youngest! Sadly J.C. thought Bill was calling him a cow, but he was saying thou. After all the oohs and aahs there were some great scores and a few handicaps decreased and increased. Our winner was Bronco Brooks with 44 points!

Fantastic summer conditions in June at Shaw Hill, perfect for golf. Mind you, I played with Steve, I think  golf was what he was trying to play. He finished around 4ft tall he took that many divots, hope the green staff were not watching. His hook was getting so bad he was nearly putting with his pitching wedge. It won’t be long before he has a full set of one club! Nice to have the longest drive with your pitching wedge! Jimmy was our other partner who played really well and was a pleasure to play with, He was 2^nd after Bronco Brooks who had another great score of 40 points, I don’t know why he was so embarrassed when he received his prize, just keep doing it Dave! Everything pays off in the end.

The event in July was at Henlle Park Golf club near Oswestry. I was on holiday in Devon for this one, under lovely blue skies playing the oldest golf course in England, Royal north Devon. It was like stepping back in time too, hardly anything changed, the sheep were still there and the horses! I also played Tiverton where the greatest lady golfer of all time played, she was President there up to 1993 when she sadly died. Joyce Wethered, British ladies champion for 5 consecutive years from 1921 and the English Ladies Champion 3 times. Bobby Jones thought she was the most natural player he had ever seen. So it was great to see all that golfing history, I must have felt her spirit as I only dropped 3 shots that day!

Anyway, back to the cowboys all fresh after the British Open which Luis Oustheizen won and made it look so easy at St. Andrews with his little concentration red dot on his glove. I assume some of you have tried this for your own concentration! CONCENTRATION, WHAT’S THAT? I hear you cry. I think fast talking Bill needed it to miss J.C.’s eye. His shot completely smashed John’s glasses! It was enough to shake everyone up a bit. Anyway all’s well that ends well, good job we had the Doc on board. Mrs. C thought that he had been fighting again, have you really been to golf today dear? Thankfully we haven’t lost a cowboy yet but we have been close to it a couple of times this year. The winner of the day was Cool John O Connell with 37 points.

Off to Lymm in August and a lovely calm day we had. I played with Maverick Mal and Julie O belt it! We were all playing great guns on the front 9. As soon as we made the turn something suddenly hit us, fatigue I think it’s called, and we seemed to be dragging each other round. Mal was up to his usual tricks, hitting fences and bouncing off marker posts. I hit a tree and lost the ball, Julie lost one in the rough. We got so scared that Mal and Julie were neck and neck for winning Ronnie! As it turned out they were both safe. Our friend Jesse James joined us for the day with his Callaway crap balls! Gave us all a lecture on truffles! Bob was our snappy dresser for the day in his St. Andrews trousers and we all congratulated our winner J.C. on the patio. He  had a great score of 39 points and was made up!

A dismal wet morning at Pryors Hayes but big bad Biss promised us it would brighten up. Do you know what, it did! It turned out to be a really pleasant day. My partners were ‘the hell I will’ Brian and ‘hit it hard’ Helen. They smashed their way around pretty nicely, a few mutters here and there only when they got stuck in the thick wet rough and trying to get out with all there might! I have to say it really was quite punishing.

The last group finally rode in on the buggy J.C and J.B who you’d thought had run a marathon puffing their cheeks out like Puffin’ Billy! Well, when this was observed as we all sat round having a drink, the giggles were hard to stop and J.B didn’t know a thing about it. You had to be there, it was nearly hysteria! After we all settled down we congratulated our winner Cool John O’Connell with 38 points. Julie O got some stick too for the longest drive, which was enormous. This didn’t go down too well from the ladies tee! I’m not sure some of these cowboys would have hit it so far, you show ‘em girl!

Last game of the year at Sutton Hall, which you all know so well. I was absent for this one as I was at the golf trade show in Harrogate attending seminars and looking at all the new bits and bobs that are out for next year.

It was a great day for the Cowgirls, they all finished at the top. Julie O ‘belt it’ won with 34 points. ‘Hit it hard’ Helen came 2^nd and ‘let it loose’ Lesley scooped up the 2’s. The only thing the boys were left playing for was Ronnie! It was a real sweat at the end but ‘O.K’ J.C. holds him till next year.

We also have a new member joining our outlaws next year ‘Silver’ Sangster. He is inclined to take pictures of the lie of the ball with his phone so we don’t miss any of the evidence! We welcome him into the Cowboys.

I do wish you all good golf, health and happiness for 2011. I would also like to thank ‘big bad’ John Biss for all his effort and organising all our golf throughout the year. Also, for arranging the Wednesday roll up every week.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, Love from Carla. xx