You are a golfer and you want to progress, like all enthusiasts of this sport.
You take a class once in a while.
But an hour here, an hour there, at best it solves a technical problem, at worst it disrupts your swing.
The solution may be through a refresher course, over a full day, the only way to approach all the compartments of the game.
This is the solution that I chose, accompanied by 3 friends and here is how the day went…
9:00 a.m. – Arrival at Golf Barriere de Deauville, welcomed by Julien Xanthopoulos, with whom we will spend the day
9:15 a.m. – Introductions followed by a warm-up, stretching and a few shots with a 7-iron and driver before getting down to business
9:45 am – Individual session on the Trackman which provides a detailed analysis of your swing. Accompanied by the video, picks up all the flaws (that’s the problem with the video: it doesn’t lie!)
10:15 am – Debrief of the technical session (gentle, yet brutally honest!)
10:30 a.m. – Session with specific individual exercises aimed at the problems that were identified
11:30 a.m. – New post-exercise Trackman session to check progress
12:00 p.m. – Off to the technical area for the short game – specific individual work with focus on weaknesses (no comment!)
12:30 p.m. – A welcome lunch break!
2:00 p.m. – On the way to one of the 9-hole golf courses, just to put into practice what we have been working on int he real world. To be totally honest, it took us a while to adapt…
4:30 p.m. – Julien discreetly takes the opportunity to analyze the only part of our game “which suffers the fewest technical shortcomings”: putting!
5:00 p.m. – All on the putting-green – specific work thanks to 4 distinct exercises to improve: weight, slope-reading, direction and putting under pressure
6:00 p.m. – The session continues with the nightmare for all amateur golfers, or almost: bunkershots ! Julien shares his knowledge and gives us THE thing that seems to make us, every now and then, sandbox aficionados!!!
6:45 p.m. – The day ends with a final Before/After video analysis…and to be honest, we are all amazed by the progress made!
This “day with a pro” will not lower our handicap by 10 shots (you never know!)
but it has given us pointers and something to work on to significantly improve our game. But above all, to take even more pleasure in practicing a sport that is like no other: Golf.
I would like to warmly thank Julien Xanthopoulos for his welcome, his kindness, his involvement and his professionalism.
Especially since Julien never tried to fundamentally change our swing, at the risk of “breaking everything”. He strived to correct our weak points, while taking into account our individual traits.
In my opinion, this is the sign of a great professional!
