DAVID GIL 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 in the world of teaching , in 2010 he became involved in an international project in Sicily, where he was closely linked to the Italian national teams and coaches
. With a Master’s Degree in Golf Course Management, David has worked in Golf Operations at the best courses in Andalusia, until 2018 when he joined the Villa Padierna Golf Academy by Michael Campbell project.
In 2021, David decided to create his own golf academy, DG GOLF ACADEMY, based in Marbella and recently in Switzerland. David is currently a professional at La Cañada Golf Club in Sotogrande.
Golf academy: Technique or distance control according to level and age.
When it comes to analyzing the keys to have more consistency around the green, after seeing throughout my career as a teacher many students both in practice and on the course, we would have to differentiate by handicap levels, but in general, and speaking of beginner players, I have seen that the big difference between adults and children is that adult players know how to appreciate the distances but make many technical errors.
Children have less distance control, but tend to swing with more technique. For this reason, and trying to generalize, practice in these two cases should be planned differently. In the case of adult players, it would be necessary to work on technique more on the driving range. But in the case of children, practice around the green should be planned through games, with tools such as cones or tees, so that they develop more distance control without leaving technique aside (but always in game mode and without using different clubs).
A single stick for different strokes at the beginning is what can help them the most.
Golf Academy: Common faults – over the top
What is over the top?
This is such a common fault that practically 90% of the students we have at the school have experienced it at some point in their golf career. Let’s say that we commonly call it DOWN OUTSIDE. The consequences of this error are quite detrimental to the game, as we can produce trajectories so different that players can even be confused, as we can send balls directly to the left and on the other hand hit balls with sliding effects and the ball ends up completely to the right.
The reasons
The reasons for this error centered on a coordination failure at the start of the descent, but the error was not only at that point.
Let me explain it. The first thing we should take into account would be the positioning in front of the ball. Players who make this mistake are usually positioned with a posture that we call OPEN POSTURE. This means that the SHOULDERS, HIPS AND FEET are pointing to the left of the target and the club face would be pointing more to the right of the body.
How do we correct it?
1. Placement to the ball
I advise you to ask a friend to stand right behind you so that before you start your stroke he/she can check if your shoulders, hips and left foot are more
forward than your right foot. If they are, it means that you will start the movement slightly turned: this would be the correct posture.
Your left arm in the placement will be visible and not covered by your right arm. This is clearly visible to your assistant from behind. Finally, avoid placing the ball too close to your left foot.
2. The rise
At the end of the class, I will give you several exercises so that you can practice. The important thing is that you know the technique. THE ARMS FOLLOW THE SHOULDERS This is a key issue. Many times we think of leaving the body so still that we block it, and in a good golf swing the shoulders have to move. The body has to turn and, for this to happen, the first thing we have to move to raise the club well are the shoulders and then the arms begin their ascent.
If we do it this way, the club will not go up on the outside.
Basic exercise: Put a rod just 2-3 centimeters away from the ball so that the club cannot go over it when going up or down.
3. The descent of the stick
This is a critical point, since we can position ourselves well, we can climb well, but if at this point we are not clear about the correct sequence, it will be very likely that the club comes down on the outside and we make – Pull shots (straight ball to the left) – Slice shots (ball that comes out with effect from left to right) If the placement is correct and the ascent is made with a good spin so that the club does not go outside, at the top of the ascent our club would be well placed and it will be time to know the sequence of our descent.
What is the sequence of the descent?
Think about the following: when you are positioned at the beginning of the swing, our chest is pointing to the front; when we go up, our chest would be pointing to the right, so when we start to go down we would have to KEEP OUR CHEST POINTING TO THAT SAME PLACE and pull our arms without changing our body position.
The first thing we move when lowering are the arms. If we pull the body first, we will descend on the outside, if we pull the arms and body at the same time, we will also descend on the outside.
Basic exercise
1.-Swing in front of a wall.
Both on the way up and on the way down, the pole must be kept away from the wall, without touching it.
Nail rod in the direction of the target and place the ball underneath.
The stick may not touch the rod either on the way up or on the way down.
For this common mistake, we have several exercises that you can train on the driving range.
– IMPACT BAG
The impact bag placed close to the ball and try to get the club through without touching it.
– BALLING ON AN UPWARD SLOPE
We use ramps so that the body begins to rotate. The idea is to hit without touching the ramp.
– PUT AN OBJECT (ball, tee or bottle) right after the ball.
Hit without touching the object. This way you will see if the trajectory of the club is in line or inward.
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