February, 2016 | Wayne DeFrancesco

Online Students: Byron Miles Part 3

If you’ve watched Byron’s swing progress from the first online lesson he took I think you will be impressed with the progress he has made. From setting up leaning drastically to the left and then staying on the left side in the backswing he has centered himself nicely and is even right loading a bit. For a tall lanky guy Byron has a quick and compact looking swing, part of which is due to his tendency to keep his right arm close to his side in the backswing.

Playing for Money: Kevin Johnson

By Wayne | Videos: Playing For Money

Kevin is a former Tour player (exempt status in 2002 and 2010) who has 6 Web.Com victories (or whatever that tour was called at the time he won) to his credit, which gives him status out there every year. He is 48 years old and is thinking about trying for the Champions Tour, but he has been struggling the last couple years and came to me for some help. This is our first lesson and it was only an hour…

Playing for Money: Jeremy Wells Part 5

By Wayne | Videos: Playing For Money

It took me a while to write the copy for this one so Jeremy has already come for another lesson after this one, but the good news here is that he has been playing consistently better, making cuts and making money in the mini-tour events he has been entering. Jeremy has developed an excellent swing, but here we see some recurring tendencies that we need to get a handle on so that we don’t have to keep fixing the same things.

Playing for Money: Derek Gillespie Part 2

By Wayne | Videos: Playing For Money

Derek came back this week for another couple days and the progress was quite apparent. By the end of the second session he was swinging beautifully, and watching him strike the ball was quite impressive. He is not very big but he is powerful and the speed he produces through impact is surprising. As you will see he has an excellent swing, and I fully expect big things from him in the near future.

Playing for Money: Derek Gillespie Part 1

By Wayne | Videos: Playing For Money

Derek came to me in December feeling down about his playing prospects and hoping I could help him get back on track. He is 37 and has had some very good years on the Canadian Tour, finishing in the top few money winners back when there was no exemption offered for doing so. More recently he has struggled, and he decided to make the trip down from Toronto as sort of a last ditch effort.

Online Students: Nathan Maust Part 2

By Wayne | Videos: Online Students

As I watched this video over again it occurred to me that without slowing Nathan’s swing down it would be close to impossible to come up with an intelligent diagnosis, or at least one based on reality and not guesswork, in order to improve his pivot and hand movement. Nathan is obviously tremendously powerful, and with a few technique changes he could really have something going.

Online Students: Erik Ludtke Part 3

By Wayne | Videos: Online Students

As you will see in this video Erik has absolutely made some real progress with his swing. I make a few suggestions here, most notably with a continuation of the work on the posture and the transition movement with the pivot. As usual all this is interrelated as Erik’s tendency to bend his neck down at address leads him to raise it up a bit as he gets to the top, where he starts down by shifting his knees under himself and backing up when viewed from down the line and leaning his upper body over his lower at the change of direction from face on. With better use of the ground Erik can improve his sequence and continue to improve the overall package.

Lesson of the Week: Gabe Reynolds, PGA

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Gabe is a teaching professional from the North Texas Section who was instrumental in getting me invited to work with the staff at Preston Trails GC in Dallas. Gabe had seen some of my videos and suggested that the club spend its education budget money on having me down for 3 days to teach the assistants and to help them with their own teaching. This is the 3rd time I have worked with Gabe, and in the past two years he has won some major club pro events in his region.

No Excuses

By Wayne | Articles: In Golf as in Life

I recall reading Carlos Castaneda’s epic “A Journey to Ixtlan” my junior year of college, my first year at Louisiana State U. after transferring from Wake Forest. According to NCAA rules I had to sit out a year before playing for LSU, and I found myself with quite a bit of extra time on my hands, especially considering I had injured myself while lifting weights and was unable to practice or play. I took Spring Break and headed to Arizona in my yellow Chevy Vega to see an old high school classmate I had convinced myself was destined to be the love of my life, in spite of the fact that I had not seen her in years and had never even dated her in the first place.

Wayne D. Working on the Driver

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

My swings with the long clubs are getting better but I’m still wrestling with the tendency to punk out on my backswing pivot when my back muscles get tested starting around shaft parallel in the takeaway and extending to the top. You can see in the video how I start to straighten the right leg and let the motion move out into my left leg and hip, while at the same time my shoulders flatten and my right arm stays too low and pinched in at left arm parallel.

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Monthly Archives: February 2016