Andrew Coltart hangs his spikes up

Andrew Coltart has decided to call it a day on the course. I've enjoyed his appearances in the Sky studio so far, so hopefully we will see more of him this season.

John Huggan interview

I saw him have a hole in one at the 1995 Dunhill on the 8th at TOC.

From the John Huggan interview ...

“I remember one spell where I went to see David Leadbetter,” he says. “I worked away for two months solid. I hit thousands of balls. Then I went to Gleneagles to play in the Johnnie Walker. I couldn’t remember any good shot that I’d ever hit.

“That was a lesson to me about coaching. I was trying to perfect a swing and, in doing so, had forgotten how to play.

Sage piece of advice from which we could all benefit.

Hope you're working that short game Mary.

gael

That is a classic sympton of the modern game....a case of paralysis by analysis. The old style 'feel' players of yesteryear appear to be a thing of the past now.

drive4show wrote:gael

That is a classic sympton of the modern game....a case of paralysis by analysis. The old style 'feel' players of yesteryear appear to be a thing of the past now.

Yet, they usually have long careers. Look at Watson for instance, while I think Luke will still be able to swing like that for decades yet.
Can't see Woods and his "lavvy chain" swing lasting for too much longer.

Funnily enough though Watson was what, 34, when he won his last major.
And you have examples of guys like Mickleson and Cabrera who batter the ball who have won majors in their late 30's.
But I do agree Donald should stay competitive for a good while, but he needs to keep his short game and putting going to stay right at the top.

Coltart such an unremarkable player who always achieved beyond his talent IMO but that's definitely a good thing and think he's very likeable when he's on air so good luck to him and a smart move I feel.

Isn't his sister married to Westwood!!!

Lukes swing should last a lifetime. Also why the likes of Furyk with his unorthodox action still works because its natural to them and never been tinkered with to search perfection. Only one part of the swing matters and that's impact position everything else is pretty irrelevant!

Super

You are becoming boring now, with your constant snipes at Tiger, get ready to eat your words, when he picks up another Major this year.

I think Coltart did the right thing, as he also suffered on the greens as well

OP, I've said nothing out of order, Woods swing is rubbish, if it wasn't he wouldn't have to tinker with it so much, besides, is having regular swipes at the least likeable guy in golf any worse than the people who constantly defend him?

They all tinker. By his own admission Donald spent 2-3 years trying to find a way to hit the ball further. Then he realised he needed to just play his own game and thats what would work best for him.

From what I've seen too many amateurs try to mess with their swing. I laugh when I see them at the range looking in the mirror.

Most of them just use the mirror to take a sneaky look at the arse of the bird in the next bay!

BlueCoverman wrote:Most of them just use the mirror to take a sneaky look at the arse of the bird in the next bay!

Damn I've been rumbled ...

Is it so bad to say Tiger has a crap swing! The best he ever swung it was under Harmon since then its been ugly! Effective yes and that's all that matters not how pretty it is!

Look at Adam Scott lovely swing but bet he'd swap it for Tommy Gaineys if he could have half of Tigers Haul in tournament wins!

Guys at the ranges in mirrors crack me up looking at each aspect of their swings only to address the ball with completely different posture and swing planes! Then there's the camera phone mates, the ones that video each other on their iPhones.

The range I use is old school and that's how I like it, you have no mirrors or automatic tees, just a nice matt and rubber tee. Chuck a couple of alignment sticks down and make sure you have the fundamentals right then the swing is highly irrelevant just getting back to impact square is all that matters

I use the mirrors at the range to check the position of my clubhead at the top, as my pro has told me I have a tendency to be closed and I need to get it neutral. Glad to know I'm providing the other folks there with some amusement!

Mirror on the range: one of the scariest things I ever witnessed in my life the first time I tried one. I quickly went to another mat at the other end of the range with that frightened look that lasts a good ten minutes. And I'm not talking about viewing my swing, that was fine. It was the image of one ugly mug staring into the mirror that left me with permanent scars.

SJ its nothing personal against you I just find mirrors to be the single most pointless training aids because in order for anyone to see what teyre swing looks like in one you have to look back into in. Even if you just turn your head to look whilst trying to maintain correct posture your minds eye sees the wrong image of what your plane/path/position actually is because of the angle of the view plus the fact every mirror is different due to the glas used, magnification or warped from weather!

I think camera (even camera phones he says biting the bullet) have the edge here as you can film the swing realtime then playback. Pause and capture the actual swing without having to contort/look behind/or stop the swing in process. That's just my opinion

Look away now if you wish to be spared an old fart reminiscence beginning, of course, with the time-honoured expression of ...

I remember when ...

... video-tape was the new technology of the time.

As far as I'm aware, I think it was the first time a coach (at least a coach in Scotland) had used it for coaching sessions. This 'out of world' experience happened at the Inverclyde National Sports Centre (nr Largs) and was organised by the SLGA. The contraption (for that is surely how it would be described today) had to be wheeled out to the practice ground.

Old technology it may have been but it still managed to make me do this when I saw my swing for the first time!

Gael
You must have been a tidy player if you got invited to Largs in them old days?

I must admit to occasssionally dragging Mrs MPB to the range to film me on the iSwing app. My golf swing is not a pretty sight but i find it impossible to honestly know what you are doing without some sort of film or photo. It all feels so different to how it looks

drive4show wrote:gael

That is a classic sympton of the modern game....a case of paralysis by analysis. The old style 'feel' players of yesteryear appear to be a thing of the past now.

It's a shame because Coltart used to have a classy looking swing. Presumably, he must have started to feel pressure to try and gain more yardage, hence Leadbetter, who was 'the one' to go to at that time.

It's possible of course that, after a stint of talking about the game for a number years, he may get the itch to try for the senior tour. It may present a more level playing field for him with the longer hitters coming back to him, so to speak and, hopefully, allowing him to enjoy competing again.

He is very highly thought of at his home club (Thornhill - Duke of Buccleuch country). When our children were young, we had a family holiday in the area and there were references to AC throughout the club. It was also a very child friendly club, something which we've never forgotten.

Doon the Water wrote:Gael
You must have been a tidy player if you got invited to Largs in them old days?

Alas Doon, not tidy enough. Accruing four scottish and one Vagliano reserve spots, my amateur 'career' ended in my mid-twenties. In short, I was too old! Up to that point, the criteria for selection seemed to centre on experience ... the more you gained, the more likely you were to be selected. Unfortunately for me, this also coincided with the era when selecting criteria changed and 'they' decided that experience didn't matter after all and went instead for the teenie boppers.

Funny though, this strategy doesn't seem to have yielded a greater number of victories over the sassenachs!

Aaahhh Largs, my old stomping ground! When I first took up this wonderful game I used to play nearly all my golf at Routenburn and Whinhill up the road in Greenock.

Happy days