Becoming A Golfer: Episode 2 - Fine-Tuning The Fundamentals
Watch how beginner golfer Lauren got on in her second lesson with PGA Pro Kristian Baker...
Watch how beginner golfer Lauren got on in her second lesson with PGA Pro Kristian Baker...
Becoming A Golfer: Episode 2 - Fine-Tuning The Fundamentals
After the success of her first lesson, Lauren was back at Sunningdale Heath to see PGA Pro Kristian Baker for lesson number two.
Lauren previously made a major change to her grip in episode 1 and after practising both on the range and on the course it was starting to look a lot better this time around.
It wasn't quite perfect yet, however, so some more tweaking was required along with a few other fundamentals to get Lauren hitting the golf ball more consistently.
To get her grip where it should be, Kristian added markings to the glove to ensure she was holding the club in her fingers and with a bit more strength to avoid and open clubface and the dreaded slice.
Lauren and Kristian worked specifically on her posture and backswing in the stunning Ultimate Golf Studio, using five-time Ladies European Tour winner Anne van Dam, known for having one of the best golf swings in the game, as a base.
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Kristian wanted Lauren's backswing to be more rounded, with more width and ultimately shorter as she was prone to over-swinging it.
The series is all about helping Lauren's journey from a complete beginner to a fully-fledged golfer so the lesson also included putting and chipping tips.
Lauren's putting posture was a focus, getting her standing slightly further away and having her left eye over the ball.
Her putting stroke was excellent, as was her chipping action, which again just needed tweaking slightly in terms of setup and posture, as well as tempo and length of swing.
"We've played a couple of times since my last lesson and it's definitely improved," Lauren said.
"It helps not scoring because you don't put any pressure on yourself and it's really fun.
"Been down the driving range twice a week, just practising.
"The hardest part was definitely changing my grip, that's been the biggest change to my swing as well.
"I'm still getting used to it and we've tweaked it again today so hopefully I'll get the hang of that soon."
"We've taken the view that we want to create a golfer, not just someone who can hit a golf ball," Kristian said.
"What's been great is a combination of practising and playing in between her lessons but definitely a massive improvement compared to the first lesson in her consistency and distance that the ball was going
"And definitely even at the end of today some really good improvement for sure.
"Homework - so we've got the grip, the posture and then trying to feel and shorter, wider backswing and then for chipping, mainly around the tempo and the feeling of what a good strike should feel like.
"For putting, only about setup because her stroke was excellent."
You can also follow Lauren’s journey on Instagram @laurenbngolf
Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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