Par Breakers Golf Academy – Golf Lesson
By Chris Neu - http://www.neucruegolf.com
I recently had the opportunity to get a lesson with Bernard Sheridan of Par Breakers Golf Academy in Limerick, PA. His qualifications include:
- Founder of Par Breakers Golf Academy
- Certified Golf Channel Swing Fix online instructor.
- Golf Writer at The Golf Channel Instruction Blog.
- Certified By USGTF , Impact Zone Golf, Body Balance Fitness, Mizuno Certified Club Fitter
- Inventor of the Putting Disc and Par Breakers Laser Swing Trainer and the Quantum Core Swing Method.
- Specialties: Golf Instruction at all levels and Quantum Core Rotation.
I spoke with Bernard about his background, philosophy and swing thoughts. He said that he is the working man’s teacher and uses anything from alignment sticks to playground balls to make the swing better. His influences all start at the core. Jimmy Ballard was the main name that he mentioned. He also mentioned the Golfing Machine and Bobby Clampett’s Impact Zone. Swings are different, but the dynamics of all good golf swings are the same. He gives lessons online, inside at his facility and on the course.
Lesson
To start out Bernard had me hit 8 iron into the Flightscope bay. I hit 8 irons a few times, then hit 6 iron a few times. He also captured my swing on his iPad through the V1 application. Looking at my FlightScope details they were decent. The main detail he noticed was that I was getting in the way of my own swing. It all starts with my posture. My shoulders were way forward and made my chest squished. I’ve been doing it for so long that I could get around it, but I was getting stuck often. My stance was also slightly closed. I had a very steep shaft angle coming back down from the back swing and I had to catch up to the ball quick that way.
So what we worked on was a pre-shot routine to take care of most of the posture issues and getting my swing bottoming out 4 inches after the ball. He mentioned that most pros swings bottom out 4 inches after the ball and that is why they take divots after the ball. So I start behind the ball. Visualizing what shot to hit. Then pick a target. Then move to the side of the ball. Picking a near target a few feet in front of the ball. Line up the face to that near target and align body. Stand up straight and push my shoulders back and chest out. Then lift the club up and take my grip. Drop my hands straight down. Push my hips back and add some knee flex to where I feel comfortable. Then take a practice swing to get tempo and swing feel. Then address the ball and hit it. Hold the follow through until it lands to keep balance. Creating a routine helps create good swings and builds confidence. I added ten yards to my 6 iron after adjusting the posture and ball position. All in an hour lesson.
Bernard is good at related aspects of the swing to other parts of life. The swing is first like adjusting a drum head. You have to work it from all angles and get all of the angles right. After playing and tuning it for awhile, then you just have to make fine tune adjustments before playing. A singer doesn’t just go perform at a concert. They do mic checks and rehearsals before the performance. My back swing kept going when my body stopped. A boxer doesn’t keep his arm going back after he is set to punch. He would lose energy in the punch. My posture was bunched and shoulders forward. I couldn’t shoot a free throw in my normal posture and needed my shoulders back to stay out of my own way. It is simple comparisons that make the swing make sense.
At the end we went over two drills to do. The first is the core rotation drill. It is a partial swing with two alignment sticks set up in front of and behind the ball. Keeping the butt of the grip toward my left front belt loop I would make a short swing keeping the toe of the club pointing toward the middle of the back alignment stick and the far point of the front alignment stick on the follow through.
Watch here – Core Rotation Drill
The second is the posture drill. Taking a normal stance then backing your butt against a wall it so it touches at the points of the inside of your back pockets. On the back swing move to the right side and on the follow through move to the left side. During the release move from the wall.
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