Friday, 03 February 2012 11:05

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Well it didn’t seem that long ago since I was in Dubai for the last event of the 2011 season and now I was back for my first event of the 2012 season. A new year new possibilities…..

I arrived in Dubai a few days prior to heading to Abu Dhabi. Lee Westwood Chris Wood and James Morrison were there for a few days practice before the first event of the desert swing in the adjoining emirates with Lee.

It was good to catch up with Lee in particular, with whom I hadn’t seen since his stunning performance in Thailand. Lee finished the season strong and really seemed to take on board the suggestions I had made on his putting. He certainly was starting the ball on line more and with better speed. Two of the key outcomes we had highlighted that needed to be improved.

In Dubai we collected some data on his stroke to see how the Christmas period had affected it and it was a case of just brushing up on the same things.

I also hadn’t seen Chris Wood for a while as he had missed the last bit of the season due to injury. We did some good work as Chris had slipped into aiming poorly which then leads to him compensating and an inconsistent starting line. When Chris aims well he putts well.

James is a new pupil. I helped James a little at the end of 2011 and he putt in some good performances. On the back of that James wanted to commit to some more detailed work on the tour week to week. I actually believe James is an exceptional putter already so it more of case of making James practices efficiently and maintain a higher level of consistency.

I arrived in Abu Dhabi on the Monday of the event. The greens as usual were very good. Quick and with a fair amount of grain made them quite tricky and I think many of the players were struggling to read them and factor in the grain.

On Tuesday I spent some time with Darren Clarke and Ross Fisher with whom I am back working with. On Wednesday I walked a few with Thomas Bjorn in the pro am as he was struggling a little with his putter. However he was striking the ball fantastic, if the putter warms up he will be a contender these next few weeks in the desert. I also caught up with Michael Hoey on Wednesday and we spent some time green reading which is an area that we have highlighted he can improve on.

It was a busy week, the general pattern was up for the 630am bus in the morning and back on the 630pm bus in the evening, quick shower, dinner at the hotel and then bed at 930pm. Not the glamorous life people might think when you tell them you are off to Abu Dhabi for the week working.

With it being a long haul trip I stayed for the first rounds and spent some time walking the course and watching the guys. It’s always good to see how players take their practice to the course. It also helps you develop a better feel for how good a player is at controlling their speed or reading the green. Vital ingredients to successful putting.

I returned home on the Friday night and will miss the Qatar Maters before returning back to Dubai for the desert classic. Life on back on tour!

Tuesday, 01 November 2011 15:32

Valderamma was the venue this week.  This is always a great event to come due for many reason not least because the greens are always fantastic. Stimping at 12.5 this week and slopey they will prove to be a real test.

I arrived Monday and despite the rain and wind kept myself busy at the course. First up was David Howell. Every now and then David will ask me to have a look at this stroke. David is an experienced campaigner and a great putter. His stats are as good as anybodies over the least 6 or 7 years. So he knows what he should be doing. I spent a little  time giving him some feedback and I think he left the session with a lot more confidence that he had at the beginning.

On Tuesday I met up with Ollie Fisher in the morning and walked the front 9 with him. It was good to get out on the course and see the how difficult the greens are with certain pin locations on certain holes. The key I believe on putting on slick sloping surfaces like here is to make sure the tempo doesn't change, you just shorten the stroke. The biggest mistake I see golfers make when they get on really quick greens is that they slow the stroke down to take the speed out of the ball. When you loose your natural timing it can affect the mechanics and distance control. So my message this week was keep the flow to your stroke just match the stroke length to the putt. When you do so it always feels like a more aggressive putt, in terms of the motion, but with the appropriate speed in the ball. You also have to accept you will be making some short strokes this week!

Tuesday afternoon I spent with Thomas Bjorn. I hadn't seen Thomas for a few weeks, after putting tremendously well over the summer he struggled in Portugal on the last round otherwise he could have made it 4 wins this year. We spent the Tuesday and the Wednesday morning out on the course getting him back to the feelings he had prior to Portugal.

On Wednesday afternoon I caught up Richie Ramsay. Richie has been working hard on his putting in recent weeks and had a great finish in Valencia last week. His stroke has improved this year and with a recent tweak to his set up which has helped his alignment it was looking even better. On the Wednesday we spent most of the session testing his alignment and speed control on breaking putts ready for the challenge that lay ahead.

Hopefully the event will be back at Valderamma next year, it really is a favourite of mine. Indeed I would love to play the course one day myself. My next event on your will be Singapore. Until then.............

Phil Kenyon with Richie Ramsay at Valderamma

Saturday, 01 October 2011 00:39

It was up to St. Andrews this week for the Dunhill Links Trophy. I always look forward to going up the 'Home of Golf'. It's an inspiring setting and with the good weather forecasted there's no better place to be.

On the Monday I arrived mid afternoon to meet with Chris Wood and we spent some time at St Andrews. There are 3 different courses this week, St Andrews Old, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, which will be played on over the first 3 days before returning back to St Andrews for the final round on the Sunday.

On Tuesday morning I walked 9 holes with David Horsey and Chris Wood on the Old Course. It was a perfect morning for golf. Nice and warm and no wind, making it a real pleasure to walk such a historical links.  Both Chris and Dave were looking very good.

In the afternoon I spent some time with Lee Westwood. The week previous I had been down to see Lee in Worksop. This was the first real session of any length we had managed to get together since I started to help him in Holland a few weeks ago. One of the things I have addressed with Lee is his tempo. On the Tuesday it was looking a lot better and Lee himself was feeling a lot more confident with it. Look out for a more flowing stroke with a slightly more upbeat tempo this week.

On Wednesday I met up with Tommy Fleetwood first thing in the morning at St Andrews before he went up to Carnoustie for his practice round. Tommy has been putting better of late which has resulted in some fine performances on the Challenge Tour and him securing his full tour card for 2012. We spent a little time checking his stroke mechanics before doing some work on his green reading.

After that I popped down to Kingsbarns to meet with Michael Hoey where we spent some time working on Mike's stroke mechanics and also working on his green reading routine which will be particularly important around Kingsbarns as the green are so undulating. Mike is great guy to work with and is improving all the time as a player.

In the afternoon I met with the Open Champion Darren Clarke. Darren has a new putter this week. After a frustrating spell on the greens in the last few events he has decide to rest the putter he won with at St Georges. He has thicker grip than usual on his new putter which actually helps him grip the club more in the palm of the hands, as he has a tendency to grip the club in the fingers. Technically the main focus this week was his pace through the consistency and speed of his routine.

Other students in the field this week were Ollie Fisher, Rob Coles and Richie Ramsay. Hopefully one of the boys can do the business this week and make win number 9 for HSPSE students!

Friday, 16 September 2011 14:04

The Vivendi Seve trophy was the venue this week at Saint Nom La Breteche Golf Club near Paris. I had 3 players playing in the series of matches, two on the Great Britain and Ireland side and one on the European side.

I arrived Monday evening and endured the madness of the Paris Ring Road to make it to Versailles in one piece. On the Tuesday I spent some Time with David Horsey who was making his debut in this event. Specifically we spent some time doing some pace drills before Dave went out and played 9 hole of practice.

After Dave I caught up with Thomas Bjorn with whom I hadn’t seen since his win in Crans. It was great to see Thomas and talk through his performance in the Swiss Alps, with what was a fantastic display of iron play and of course putting! Interestingly Thomas was 1^st in greens in regulation that week and also 7^th in putts per green in regulation (with 1.68 per green) which is a great combination.

Darren Clarke was also playing this week. I had visited Darren last Sunday at his home in Portrush to do some work. We had a productive day despite the weather so it was just a case of supervising his drills and practice this week and making sure he was on top of things and ready to play. His stroke looked really good and much improved than the last few weeks. I had not seen him since the Open during which time Darren had crept back into a few old habits. However if he trusts what he is doing out on the course the putts will start dropping again just like they did at Royal St Georges.

Finally I spent a little time again with Lee Westwood. Lee seemed quite positive about the work we had done in Holland, where we had worked on his tempo. We continued that here, using a special prototype training device called the ‘tempostik’ that gives a player visual and auditory guidance for the tempo. Lee’s stroke looked like it had a lot more flow to it. Hopefully he can roll a few in this week for the GB and I team.

Perfect result would be a GB and I victory with Thomas Bjorn as top points scorer!

Lee Westwood under the eye of putting coach Phil Kenyon

Friday, 16 September 2011 13:59

It was Holland this week for the KLM Open. This place is a little bit like Gleneagles in that we always seem to get bad weather the week of the Dutch open, which is a shame as the Hilversum course looks a great layout. Having walked the course it reminds me a little of the great inland/heathland courses we have in the UK. In fact some of the holes remind me very much of Ganton.

I arrived Monday evening ready to meet David Horsey early on the Tuesday to walk some of his practice ground and spend some time with him on the course. The course was really wet due to the heavy rainfall it has suffered in recent weeks. The greens were also very soft, and you could sense they would suffer as the week went on with the heavy traffic and more rain due.

On the Tuesday I also met with Steve Lewton who is in his rookie year on tour. Steve visited the studio last week for the first time so we caught up to see how he was progressing. Most of the stuff we had worked on was set up related. Steve has been struggling starting the ball on line, as we managed to spot a few things in his body alignment which affected his head positioning which in turn affected aim and path.  Demonstrating, even with tour players, the set-up is all so important.

On Wednesday I met up with Chris Wood. We spent a little time before he played in the pro-am. Chris's stroke has been looking really good in recent weeks. His aim had got a little out so we worked on that. I feel confident Chris will show some form between now and the end of the season.

Michael Hoey was also playing this week so we spent some time on the Wednesday. The main focus for Michael at the minute is pace work. So we spent some time doing some specific pace drills to fine tune that.

There were a few players I work with that were not playing this week such as Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and Ollie Fisher so it wasn't as manic as it can be.

Finally late on Wednesday I spent some time with Lee Westwood. This is the first time I have had the opportunity to work with Lee. His coach Pete Cowan had asked me prior to the event that if we both had the time would I have a look at Lee and capture some data of him on the SAM system. After the pro-am late on Wednesday we managed to do that.  The brief session proved interesting and Lee was very engaging and good to work with. Hopefully he liked what I had to say and we get a chance I really to improve his putting. From experience having walked with Lee in the Ryder Cup there are very few players from tee to green that are better.

Tuesday, 30 August 2011 20:28

It was back to the European Tour this week and Gleneagles for the Johnny Walker Classic. This is a regular event on the European Tour and no matter what time of year they have it the weather always seems to be terrible and the greens always poor. This year was no different.

On The Tuesday I met up with Rob Coles in the morning, as I hadn't seen Rob for while. Rob has been having a good season this year and is looking to finish strong for the remainder of it.

Rob had crept into a few bad habits at set up which we corrected and while he was also 'fanning the club open' slightly going back, so I gave a him some drills to help focus on a better backswing position.

In the afternoon I met up with Michael Hoey. With Michael we spent most of the session working on controlling his swing length and tempo. Michael can creep into a couple of bad habits which affect his ability to control his speed and which also cause deviation to his path.

One of the drills we did with Michael that really helps him with his pace was to set up a box using 4 tee pegs. The front of the box forms an entry point and the back of the box an exit point. The Box was 10 foot long and then we placed a tee peg 15ft from the box from which we putted from.

The Aim of the drill is to put the first ball just past the first tee peg and short of the exit point. Then on the 2^nd ball put it just past the first ball but short of the exit point. 3rd ball put it past the 2^nd ball but sort of the exit.

You can guess the pattern here. The more balls you can get in the zone without hitting them short of the previous ball or past the exit point the better. As soon as you are short or long the game is over. See how many balls you can score. This is great practice drill for you to instinctively train pace control and also at the same time it gets you 'external' and into the roll of the ball rather than focusing in technique.

On Tuesday I also met up with Chris Wood. Chris was stroking it well and I was happy with the work he had done over the last month. He hasn't quite been getting the results recently but I feel strongly something pretty good is round the corner with Chris.

It was also good to meet up with Ollie Fisher. Ollie's win the week before at the Czech Open was really satisfying for me. Purely because I know how hard Ollie works and although he hasn't been getting the results over the last year he has always displayed a great attitude and commitment. I worked with him when he was an amateur and then we started again during his second year on tour, so as you can imagine it was great to see him clinch his first victory. I saw him last when he came to the studio and as you would expect after holing some good putts down the stretch his stroke was looking good in Gleneagles, so it was a case of more of the same please!

On Wednesday the weather was typical Johnny Walker weather with showers throughout the day. With it being pro am day I walked the course with Chris Wood and Thomas Bjorn separately. Thomas was looking good in practice and he if can translate that into tournament play some good results are around the corner.

My next event is Holland for the Dutch Open next week.

Sunday, 28 August 2011 21:46

It was a great to be at the Atlanta Athletic Club for the 2011 USPGA. This was the first US Major I had attended so I was looking forward to the experience and appreciating the different demands the challenge brings.

The players I had competing were Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke and David Horsey.

I arrived on the Sunday evening ready to walk a few holes with David Horsey early Monday morning. The first impression of the course was awesome. Long, great condition with fast sloping greens it will test the player's imagination and pace control.

On the Tuesday I walked with Thomas Bjorn and then separately again with David Horsey. By Dave's own admission the greens were taking some getting used to, so on the Tuesday afternoon Dave and I also spent some time on the putting green trying to recreate the putt's that he would face on the course. The grain on the greens went with the slope so the down hill putts were exceptionally fast. The practice putting green was very reflective of the greens on the course so it was perfect preparation. We spent the time working on David's green reading and matching pace to the read.

On the Wednesday I caught up with Darren who was happy with his preparations so we didn't really do any work on the greens. It was great to catch up though as I hadn't seen him since his win at St Georges.

On the Thursday I walked the course following the players which is good to do when I can get chance. It gives me an opportunity to see how the players transfer what they do on the practice green to the course.

On the Friday it was more of the same on the course. Although I did also catch up with Darren in the morning, in his warm up, as he had struggled on the greens on the Thursday.

Unfortunately none of the guys managed to make the cut into the weekend, which was unfortunate.  One player who did make the weekend, with whom I have worked with was Edoardo Molinari. Edoardo has been playing more in the states this year so I haven't seen him at all. On the Friday Edoardo asked me to have a look at him as by his own admission he had been struggling over the last few weeks on the greens. We spent some time together and I spotted a couple of old faults that had crept in. It didn't quite click for him over the weekend but with Edoardo planning to visit the studio over the next few weeks, hopefully we can give him a better direction.

Overall upon reflection of the week it was a great experience for me as a coach. The USPGA is a fantastically well run event. They really do look after the players as well as their coaches and support staff. The course was very different to those we have in Europe and in particular the greens, so it was good to help the guys prepare for the unique conditions. Next year the USPGA will be at Kiawah Island, let's hope I will be back.

Thursday, 14 July 2011 21:39

Well it was Royal St Georges this week for the 'The Open Championship' and surely the greatest golf tournament there is.

I have been to a lot of golf events over the years but I always get excited about going to the Open. There is something special about the atmosphere and the whole experience. The golf course, the sea air, the weather, the fans, the way the players embrace the tournament. It all adds to making it the best week of the year.

This week I arrived on the Sunday to meet up and walk a few holes with Henrik Stenson, as I hadn't seen much of him this year what with his schedule being mainly in the US. The sun was shining and the links was looking great. Henrik was hitting it well and looking good on the greens. He will be my outside bet this year.

On the Monday the sun was shining once again. In the morning I met up with Henrik to do some work on the putting green. In the afternoon I met up with Thomas Bjorn and we spent some time working on Thomas's stroke on the green, keeping tabs on his alignment as he has the tendency of aiming right which means he has to pull the ball on line. This can lead to inconsistency for Thomas.

On the Tuesday it was time to catch up with the other students who were playing this week which were Darren Clarke, Joost Luiten and Simon Khan.

On the Tuesday afternoon I walked 18 holes with Darren Clarke who played with Lee Westwood. The wind was pumping really strong which made the golf course an extremely difficult test. The 7^th hole had a 230 yard carry which both Darren and Lee were not able to make. While the Par 3 11^th was 227 to the front edge which again could not be reached by Darren or Lee's driver. If the wind keeps up the R & A will surely have to push some of the tees up otherwise the some of the holes will be unplayable.

On the Wednesday morning I walked 18 holes with Thomas Bjorn, Thorbjorn Olesen and Anders Hansen. I have been helping Thorbjorn recently so it was good that Thomas was playing with him, so I could get to see how he goes about things on the course. Again the conditions were tough with strong winds making it hard work.

On a final note it was great to see a recent student Adam Wootton at Royal St Georges. Adam who plays regional events and on the 3^rd Tier Jamega Tour had visited the studio for the first time a few weeks back, as he had been struggling with his putting for a while.

With a bit of luck the stuff we worked on paid dividends very quickly, as he went away and sailed trough both qualifying stages with some great putting displays by all accounts.

I was really pleased to be able to see Adam compete at the Open after making the effort to turn a weakness into a strength. Just rewards.

Henrik Stenson hitting into the 18th Hole on Sunday

Saturday, 09 July 2011 09:47

It was up to Inverness this week for the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart Golf Club. It wasn't the best of starts turning up at the airport on the Monday evening to find out the flight had been cancelled by Fly Be, or 'Fly Maybe' as they should be called. So it was of case of back home and then back to the airport Tuesday morning for the rescheduled flight.

Castle Stuart is a new venue on the Tour and a return to links golf the week prior to the Open, which I know many of the players had welcomed. So everyone was eager to see what the course was like.

Castle Stuart certainly has spectacular scenery and surroundings. The course is situated right on the shores of the Murray Firth and many of the holes overlook the Firth gives great views whilst playing. The course is not very demanding off the Tee but approach play is a greater test due to the undulating greens and many options in pin placements.

On the Tuesday I met up with Thomas Bjorn in the morning and we did some work on the putting green. Thomas has a new putter in play this week, similar model to the one he has been using but a different spec. This one has a lot less loft which helps Thomas roll the ball better.

Darren Clarke was also playing this week, the main focus at the minute with Darren is pace control. He has improved his technique a lot in recent months so we are more able to focus on controlling speed. Darren was looking good on the practice green doing the pace drills he has at the moment.

On the Wednesday I did some work with Simon Khan. It was great to see Simon show some form in finishing 5^th last week in the French Open, just a couple of shots out of first place. He commented his putting was better which was reflected by the stats. With Simon we have been working creating a better tempo and freeing the stroke up to get the best out of what are excellent mechanics.

In the afternoon I also met up with Michael Hoey. The session with Mike focused on controlling his swing length to control his speed as well as keep him focused on how he lines up to breaking putts the best.

Other players at Castle Stuart this week I work with are Ollie Fisher, Chris Wood, Richie Ramsay, Dave Horsey and Rob Coles.

Hopefully one of the boys can conquer the links this week. Next week it's of to The Open for the best week of the year and the best tournament of the year!

Friday, 01 July 2011 12:15

France it was this week for the French Open at Golf National. This is a popular week with the players as it's such a good golf course, as well as having good practice facilities and being a well run event. This will be a great venue for the Ryder Cup 2018.

Tuesday was busy day. I was at the course for 8am to walk a few with Michael Hoey. Michael was playing with Matteo Mannasero, so it was great to watch 'Manny' at close quarters. He was very impressive as well. He shows unbelievable maturity as golfer for somebody of that age.

With Mike was spent some time looking at his green reading and how best he lines up on breaking putts to make sure his processes maximise his ever improving mechanics.

After 9 holes with Mike it was off to the Practice putting green to see Darren Clarke with whom who I hadn't seen for a few weeks. We spent some time working on a few drills to help Darren improve his starting line as he had been hitting a few pulls of late.

I also spent some time with Joost Luiten who finished 3 rd last week in Munich, his best result so far this season. Joost's stroke was looking good, he felt he left a few out there last week but it was more down to pace control and green reading.  Martin his caddie is also helping him line up at present to help give him the confidence of where he is aiming so he can then trust his aim and stroke.

Ollie Fisher was stroking the ball really well and is looking good on the greens. I sense that Ollie could be about to turn his form around.  In the afternoon I walked a few holes on the course with Thomas Bjorn. Thomas was looking good, and just needs a run of events now to show the form he had earlier on the in the year. The last few months he has played very little golf due to poor health and the loss of his father.

On Wednesday I walked 9 holes with Chris Wood. We spent some time focusing on his pace control and lag putting as that hasn't been up to his expectations of late.

I also spent some time with Gareth Maybin this week for the first time. He asked me to have a look at him as he felt like he could improve his putting. We spent some time on the green and I gave him a few things to work on. It will be interesting to catch up with him next week in Scotland to see how it progressed.

Finally on the afternoon I spent same time with David Horsey. He often likes to come up late on a Wednesday when it's gone quiter to get some work done. We spent some doing some pace drills to get the speed of the greens and then some competitive holing out drills to help prepare for the mindset of play rather than practice. David as ever was looking good.

That's all from France, next week I will be at the Scottish Open in Inverness. Looking forward to that.