VISUAL AID AND COACHING KIT CONTINUED
Different coloured rings can be placed within the fan of success and fun, scoring exercises introduced. Tethered Air Balls I was introduced to tethered balls air balls by Jonathan Powe. They are such a useful addition to the coaching kit – plug one into the centre of the court, and along with a partner, play balls across the court to the (tethered) target as a training session for clearance or roquet – keeping a score adds some competitive fun. Having one of these to practice with alone keeps the eye in as well as saving time retrieving balls!
This series of photos show the striker’s ball with a dot in blue wax crayon.
The result is an excellent contact between mallet and ball - shown by the position of the wax on the mallet face. *Blue is a medium weight stroke - say 14yard power In the next picture, the red dot is on the other side of the ball and the stroke is played with the other end of the mallet.
Coaching technique can best be done when the coachee can see themselves playing a stroke from at least three positions; front, side and behind. Being filmed and having the footage played back in both real time and slow motion will reveal a number of things – some good and some not so good! What is important is that problems can be identified by the player and coach together. Any weaknesses can worked on together in small increments including: the aiming line, the address, the stance, the grip, the swing – back swing, transition and follow through, balance, torso and head movement and tempo. There are excellent video coaching apps available, but the slow motion on an iPhone will be enough for anyone to get into video analysis.
The result shows how the ball has been struck off centre and low. *Red is a full power stroke Video Analysis Undoubtedly the most powerful visual aid is the video camera, iPad or iPhone. Filming and analysing the swing in golf and other sports has been around for a long time and I started using my iPhone as a coaching tool over ten years ago and it’s now a regular part of my GC Workshop course and most 1-to-1 sessions.
These 92mm diameter air-flow-balls are available online through Newitts – the strings and ground plugs are also available through other suppliers. Point of Contact Knowing that the ball is being struck correctly is a vital part of accurate ball control. I remember seeing Robert Fulford’s mallet face for the first time. Almost like a square Polo mint with a round hole in the centre from consistently striking the ball correctly. Ball striking can be monitored by using a wax crayon to mark the ball. The wax is transferred to the mallet’s striking face when the ball is struck, at the point the mallet’s striking face contacts the ball.
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