I turned Professional in 1996 and did my PGA training at Woodbridge Golf Club in Suffolk. Once qualified, I soon found that coaching was my main passion, and joined Brett Vale Golf Club (Suffolk) in 2001 to become a full time coach. I have coached players of all standards including beginners, club golfers, international and county players and also fellow Professionals.
My style of coaching is very simple and versatile, believing that there are many ways to play golf, although some key ingredients are essential to achieving consistency.
Sports psychology is also a large part of my coaching and you will be sure to understand your all round game far better having had a lesson with me. One of the many things I’ve learnt is that regardless of the standard of golfer, the players problems all stem from the same issue – a confused or muddled mind. The majority of golfers are not coached, and in most cases are stuck at a level of golf and are struggling to move forward. Many golfers actually regress over time, and they play golf with a mind full of tips (e.g. keep your head down, keep your left arm straight etc etc) and these thoughts often change from swing to swing and game to game, and never have any lasting positive effect.
With magazines and the Internet full of information on the “secret” or “key” to improving, it is not hard to see why golfers struggle as each piece of conflicting information fills the head with advice finally guaranteeing just one thing – confusion.
So what’s the answer? Well that all depends on what you want from your golf. If it’s fresh air and good conversation with friends then I would suggest you are best to keep doing what you are doing! If it’s to improve even slightly though, then you need to begin to understand YOUR OWN method of how you play golf. Through understanding your mind will clear, and the head full of poor thinking will calm down giving you a far more enjoyable experience on the course. This is why the best golfers in the world have a coach who understands their own individual method, and why that method works well and why it goes wrong.
In the summer of 2011 I started coaching Channels Head Professional, Jason Levermore. Together we have enjoyed some great success with Jason making two cuts in the BMW PGA Championship and getting though to the final stage of European tour school amongst other achievements. Jason had arguably his best ever year in 2014, which was topped off with qualification for the GB&I PGA Cup team to be played in California.
I have always lived in the village of Capel St. Mary which is only a 10 minutes drive from Brett Vale Golf Club. I am delighted to be the professional of my “local club”.
If you would like to speak to me about your golf or to arrange a coaching session to see if you can clear out some of your old thinking and understand your own method better, please get in touch!