Making A Club Champion Podcast
Chris Baker
Ep: 3: Gary Smith Short Game Principles and Actionable Golf Drills
Episode Notes
“Anyone who struggles with the short game tries to create more and more control over the golf club and the ball, and of course the best players do the opposite.” Gary Smith
Gary Smith is a Golf Monthly UK Top 25 coach and has 14 years experience working with England’s top amateur stars as an EGU Technical Coach working with European Tour players including Danny Willett, Justin Rose, Chris Wood, Ross Fisher, Ollie Fisher, Richard Finch, David Horsey, Seve Benson, Nick Dougherty, and Gary Wolstenholme. Gary is the go man for short game lessons in the UK and I had the fortune of being coached by him back in 2004.
Gary has also played in The Open Championship three times, and a winner on the European Tour. Gary is based at Based at Sutton Green Golf Club
In this particular episode, Gary explains his philosophy on the short game, sharing the drills and technique he teaches his players. He also shares a funny story on how he creates an incentive for his players if they don’t execute on certain shots.
- How Gary communicates his lessons and what makes them so effective. [04:30]
- What Gary looks at when coaching the linear method [07:45]
- Gary challenges coach's advice to aim left to hit the ball straight at your target. [10:00]
- What is the process to put in place to hit a 15 yard short? [11:30]
- Why ball position should be relevant to the sternum. [12:20]
- Gary philosophy on coaching a player. [17:00]
- Gary shares a story of Olly Fisher. [19:20]
- We go through my notes from my first coaching lesson with Gary. [23:00]
- The process of club selection. [24:30]
- Gary explains the lie and how to use simple routines [25:40]
- Matty Perry’s process for determining shot [26:40]
- How can a player use bounce/slider? [28:35]
- Gary tells the story of how he met Wayne Riley and the interesting game they used to play. [33:00]
- The process of being selected for England. [36:00]
- The importance of having specifics (data) about your game before going to a coach. [40:00]
- Software and feedback on yardages. [42:00]
- Gary’s recommended resources and gear. [51:00]
The four stations of implementing new lessons by Gary Smith
- No target: When implementing a new technique, start by getting a feel of the new positions and forget about the target. You can call this "The Technical Station." Where you are introducing change