PGA Features

The Cast

Top Coach

Gary Alliss, head professional at The Belfry, PGA Cup captain and PGA Master Professional

Hacker 1

Lee McLaughlan (Macca) - PGA.info writer

Hacker 2

Matthew Millard (Milly) - PGA.info writer

The Challenge

Too many golfers ignore the benefits of lessons. Over the coming winter months Lee and Matt will receive regular expert tuition from Gary to improve both the quality and enjoyment of their respective games and also demonstrate that investing in lessons can be as valuable as money spent on new equipment.

The Bet

£10 - Macca and Milly will put all their winter coaching to the test with a one off winner takes all strokeplay challenge at the PGA National in April.

Act Four Scene Two - Milly Hits Problems

At the beginning of our course of lessons with PGA Master Professional Gary Alliss we were told 'things will get worse before they get better.' This seemed a fair thing to say as sure enough there were all sorts of strange shots being played. But after a short while things seemed to turn out alright as I watched, time and again, iron shots from the fairway soar into the air travelling straight towards the target.However, a few months down the line and things have started to go dreadfully wrong.

The biggest problem I have at the moment is the dreaded 'fat.' In the last few rounds I've played I have barely been able to hit the ball 100 yards off the fairway and taken divots so big I have contemplated getting into them and burying myself. Many an amateur golfer has had this problem and there are a number of things that could be contributing to it. So how do you stop taking 6ft long and 2ft deep divots and hitting the ball 50 yards? How do you get back to crashing those irons all the way to the heart of the green?

Alliss had the answers:

• Check the ball isn't too far forward in your stance.
• Make sure you don't have too much weight on your right foot, ensure it's evenly spread across both feet.
• If it's just the irons that you're fatting you've got to make sure that when you take the club back you're turning your right shoulder and moving your left right across your right thigh.
• It may be that you're picking the club up too quickly which is causing everything to move too fast, then you find you're having to move your body out the way of the swing and coming in too quickly.
• If you feel you're not doing any of these and you have a good position at the top of your swing it could be that you are throwing the club at the ball rather than simply releasing it.

According to Alliss, the best way to practice against fatting the ball is to get hold of an old piece of carpet and take it into the garden (that's if you can't trust yourself in the living room). Place it on the ground and practice your swing. At first go through it all slowly to make sure you're getting your shoulders turning on the backswing and your arms turning on the follow through. Then simply aim to just nick the carpet where the ball would be.