The Golf Lesson
by Scott A. Sumner
Evan Littlefield is the Head Teaching Professional and Co Owner of Pure Golf Thunder Bay. He starting golfing, chasing his brother around on the course at about 8 years old. Evan then went to high school for Grade 11 in Hilton Head, South Carolina and finished off in Orlando at the Core Golf Academy with Sean Foley before playing NCAA golf at college in New Mexico.“ It was nice to be able to work hands on with Sean Foley for 3 or 4 days a week. To get that insight as a player was great but now as a teacher and a coach it's even better to pass on what I have learned from him about the swing today.You can always learn more about the game.”
First and foremost at Pure Golf, Evan wants to make sure the person enjoys their time when they are here with a comfortable environment.“ I want to get to know you as a person, chat and have some fun. I don't get too technical with you, depending on whether that is the route you want to go. We begin by watching you hit some golf balls and hopefully give you a few tips and tweaks to your golf swing for your golf game. By the end of the day we hope you get a little bit better and have some fun while you do it.”
During your lesson you start by hitting balls for 5 to10 minutes to get loose and become comfortable hitting balls inside which can be a big thing for people. Evan will see if you have any particular part of their game you want to work on or you can start as a blank slate.
“We are fortunate to have Foresight Technology here as we now have not only my eyes to go off of, but the simulator technology that's tell us exactly where your swing is going. It looks at the club path,what your club face looks like when you strike the ball,where you actually strike the ball on the club face, the heel, the toe, the centre, high or low- whatever it might be.The computer technology helps us convince ourselves here is what we need to change and really help us to work on things to get better.” said Evan.
“ I would like to work with someone for a while as there are so many different areas of the golf game where you can improve. The swing is one thing but there is the short game, putting, chipping, wedge shots, iron game, hybrids, woods you hit off the tee and the grass and the driver swing- there are so many different areas.”
“ We can use the Puttview putting green which is a simulator putting green that has ball tracking technology that allows you to play games, run drills and is very good for teaching, fitting and to just to practice.”
I enjoyed my lesson with Evan who was able to immediately pin point an important area to work on in my swing which involving getting more weight to my left side to help go through the ball better. The stats on the screen allow you to actually see this and how you might improve.
It was fun to get fitted with Cameron and taking a lesson from Evan to get going on my journey to play better and enjoy the game of golf even more!
