Pula Golf Club was the venue this week for the Mallorca Classic. This has become a regular event on the European Tour returning each year to the Jose Olazabal designed course located on the east of the Spanish Island. On the week of the funeral of Seve Ballesteros it was particularly apt to be at one of Jose's courses in Spain. Indeed the minute silence held on the Wednesday at 1pm to mark the funeral of the great man was well observed and very moving, with all the players and spectators joining together, wherever they were on the course, to pay their respects.
Not all the of the players I work with were participating this week, so it wasn't as manic as usual and enabled me to spend a little bit more time on the course with each player.
Darren Clarke was back playing after a 5 week break. The last event I had seen Darren was Morocco in March, so it was good to catch up and see where he was at. We did some work on the putting green late Tuesday and I walked 9 holes of the pro-am with him on Wednesday.
One of the things Darren has been working hard on is to keep his posture and height in his putting stroke. He has a tendency to loose height and his weight moves into his heels. This causes him to get a little 'handsy' and also an inconsistent strike.
One of the drills Darren is using at present is to hit putts from a 'Putting Mirror'. The reflection and feedback from the mirror help Darren get a feel for a better balanced stroke. The Putting Mirror is one of the best generic training aids out there, and will help you get into a better set up and stroke. In particular it is great to help you get your club and body aligned properly and make sure the eyes stay still during the stroke.
Simon Khan was also playing this week. With Simon we have worked on his set up position to help is aim as well as tempo which are both looking better.
I also met up with Chris Wood on Tuesday. Chris had putted really well the week prior in Barcelona, to make the best out of a poor ball striking week and so was happy with his stroke. He has been working hard this year on the putting green and things are starting to take shape. This week we kept on top of his set up, which has been a focus recently and also did some pace drills to get to grips with the change of pace of the greens this week. Last week the green in Barcelona were particularly quick. The greens in Mallorca were also in good shape, although just not quite as quick.
Next week the tour moves into Maderia. Most of my players won't be playing so I won't be attending. Instead I will be at Velbert Golf Club, near Dusselfdorf, Germany, which is an official Harold Swash Putting School to spend some time with the coaches there and the members.
My next event will be Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship, which is the showcase event for the European Tour and will see the strongest field of the year. Looking forward to it.
