In 2011 I spent the winter in Australia and while living in Melbourne I took some lessons with Dennis Mcdade at the Bann Lynch golf academy. Dennis worked as part of the coaching team at the Victoria Institute of sport program for eleven years with graduates including Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, Jarrod Lyle and Marc Leishman. He was also an Advisory Board member of the TPI program and had previously been rated Australian Teacher of the year.
I wanted to learn how these players were development from practice routines, daily schedules, gym routines, psychology and golf technique. I wanted to learn from a coach that had developed a number of these great players from the beginning. Find below a couple of the points from my notes that I wanted to share with you from my sessions with Dennis.
1. It is Important to not swing in a 'contrived' mannor. I understood this as he didnt want me to not force the body or club into positions. With video cameras and Trackman it is becoming easier to be able to spot areas for improvement. In order to make change sucessfully however the club must flow through a series of positions and cant be forced.
2. ''Dont make technical changes too quickly'' At times drastic change is not a bad thing but it should be used with caution. He especially emphasised this concerning elite players and liked to see small gradual improvement. In a world where everyone wants to see quick results the players that I have known personally to achieve the most as players have made steady gradual improvement month after month year after year.
Thanks for reading
Matt
