David Gil is one of the PGA Golf Professionals of the “Villa Padierna Golf Academy by Michael Campbell” at Villa Padierna Hotels & Resorts. He was 19 years old when he started working, in 1998, as a golf professional in Almenara (Sotogrande), creating the first CAR academy in Andalusia.
He later traveled to England where he worked at David Leadbetter’s Academy. Upon his return, he created the Sotogrande Golf School for Juniors, from which great professional players have emerged.
Always linked to teaching, in 2010 he became involved in an international project in Sicily, where he was closely involved with Italian national teams and coaches.
With a Master’s Degree in Golf Course Management, David has worked in Golf Operations. in the best fields of Andalusia, until 2018, when the opportunity arrives at Villa Padierna, where it brings to life the project “TGA Golf Academy by Michael Campbell. A project full of life that is growing day by day and today is among the best Academies in Spain.
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THE SHORT GAME
This is clearly the facet of the game that will help us most to improve the final result of our card, and therefore I will reveal some technical details for you to improve it.
I could say something similar about the putt, but we will dedicate an exclusive number to this stroke just for it.
In this class I will try as always to help you with technical concepts, differentiating and focusing on two of the strokes that we will do the most. They are very different from each other, although sometimes we may doubt which one to choose before facing a short putt to the green:
1.- the chip
2.- the pitch
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THE CHIP
The definition is that it is a very short shot close to the green where the ball stays rolling longer than in the air.
My advice on which club to use is that, depending on the level of the player, the execution should be done with different clubs. Good players tend to have more control of power, direction and spin and will benefit from clubs with more loft. On the other hand, if they are medium or high handicap players, I recommend clubs such as the 7 iron or 8 iron.
The technique
The stance
1.- Stand very close to the ball
2.- The shaft of the club will be placed more vertical
3.- Rest the club on the ground lifting it a little from the heel
4.- Put the axis of your chest (pole buttons) slightly ahead of the ball, 80% of the weight on the left leg.
With these four factors there will be less rotation of the club head during the swing, so the movement will be more in a straight line.
The swing
It is a fairly basic movement, since it is very short, but one of the most common mistakes is to leave the body blocked.
1.- What happens if you block?
The logical thing to do is to shrug your arms and give a top to the ball. When players block too much, they can also nail the club.
2.- How can we improve this?
The correction to this problem is to turn your knees slightly on the downswing.
You will be able to keep your arms straight and your club will pass more easily.
3.- The angle of attack must be negative (we will hit the ball first and then the ground).
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THE PITCH
The definition: it is a shot always within the distance of about 70 meters in which the ball remains most of the time in the air and rolls little when landing on the green.
My advice on which club to use: We have in our bag a good number of clubs that we can use for the short game. I always advise my students not to force the swing and above all to try to make short movements, as these will be much easier to control and therefore be more accurate in the execution and the result.
So leave the 58 and 60 degrees for very short and high shots and start using more clubs like the 54 or 56 degrees. With a good swing, these clubs will give you the ball height you need.
The technique
The stance
1.- The feet will be slightly closer than the shoulders
2.- We will distribute the weight equally on each leg: 50% on each.
3.- Ball and hands centered in the stance
Look for a very neutral and comfortable position, with the body aligned without forcing the angles of the shoulders.
The swing
Once our stance is correct, we must avoid using very open loft clubs to avoid having to make very long and fast movements.
1.- Swing length
– Work on a half or three-quarter swing. Sometimes a little less than half swing will suffice.
– Always try to make the length of the upswing and the end of the swing similar or equal.
2.- Control of the wrists
– If we move the wrists too much, the club will move very close to the body and we will lose a lot of power, while the angle of the club at impact will be very open.
– If we block the wrists, the club will move too far away from the body and it will be very easy to over hit the ball.
3.- Angle of attack
As in the chipping stroke, the angle of attack will be negative (ball impact first and ground first). My advice is to practice a couple of times before you hit the ball and try to get the club to brush the ground without chipping.
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