John’s approach
Your swing. Better shots.
The purpose of a golf lesson is to help you play better golf. John works with your natural swing, focusing on how you strike the ball and the shots you can produce.
Give the swing a job
Start with the shot you want to hit.
It might be a solid iron to the middle of a green, a tee shot with a more manageable curve, or a lower flight when the wind picks up. A clear intention gives you something to work towards and a way to judge the result.
John’s focus is on connecting what you do with what the ball does. Where does it start? How does it curve? Is the contact solid? Can you produce the flight you intended? Those questions put the swing in the context of playing golf.
Work with what you have
A swing can have its own rhythm and appearance and still produce good golf. The important question is whether it delivers the contact and control you need.
John’s approach starts with your natural movement. Keep what helps you play well, and work on what prevents you from hitting the shot. A change should earn its place by improving the result.
That still involves technique. A movement that repeatedly disrupts the strike or clubface control needs attention. The aim is to understand its effect and improve it, with a clear purpose for the golfer.
Make impact count
The club’s meeting with the ball is central to John’s coaching: where the ball is struck on the face, the direction the face points and how the club travels through the shot.
A better strike and a more useful flight are practical signs to look for. For shot-making, the goal can change: you might want a different starting line, less curve or more control of height. The face and path need to work together for that intended shot.
The flight gives you evidence to discuss. Contact and, with your consent, video add to the picture. What your ball flight can tell you
See the cause. Work on the shot.
What a movement feels like can differ from what you see on playback. John uses V1 Pro video analysis during a lesson, with your consent, to help connect the movement with the ball’s behaviour.
The useful question is what that movement changes about the shot. In your own lesson, that gives the discussion a purpose: understand the issue, work on it together and watch what happens to the contact and flight.
How video analysis works A pupil’s account of working on iron contact
Take the idea into your game
A useful takeaway from a lesson is knowing what to work on and what improvement should look like. Ask John for that focus, then give your practice a target and pay attention to the pattern of shots.
One good ball is encouraging. A shot that becomes available more often, including when you play on the course, gives you a more useful picture of progress.
How to practise between golf lessons Understanding a recurring slice
Bring your game to John
John has been a member of the PGA of Australia since 1971. He gives private golf lessons for all levels on the undercover range at Thurgoona Country Club Resort, Albury, with no club membership needed.
Lessons are $100 an hour, or $80 an hour for juniors under 16. Call or text John on 0417 682 008 to arrange a time and tell him what you’d like to work on.