Playing for Money: Derek Gillespie- Working on Old Habits

By Wayne | Videos: Playing For Money

Derek is a good example of what professional golfers go through when they try to play for a living: it’s incredibly hard, and when you’re a good player but can’t quite break through Q-School and get status it gets frustrating to the point where you consider not doing it anymore. Derek was just about there when he entered and won a tournament in Puerto Rico that qualified him for the PGA Tour event opposite the WGC. He didn’t strike it well there and missed the cut, and on his way back north decided to stop by for a look. I haven’t seen Derek in about a year and a half, but every lesson starts with what the player brings so we went at it like we usually do and unsurprisingly found that most of the same issues we worked on in the past needed (at least in my opinion, which is what Derek was looking for) to be worked on again, namely getting the right arm too far behind in the backswing and crossing the line at the top, which for a guy who doesn’t shallow the club rapidly in transition leads to problems heading into impact. Here I try something a bit different in Derek’s backswing to flatten the left wrist and point the club more left at the top.