Carlie Butler

I am back home in Melbourne coaching at MGA for a few days before we head to Sydney next for the Australian Open at Royal Sydney. Carlie Butler has been down from Sydney for the past two days and we have been working on her strategy and plan for improvement next year on the European Tour. Carlie had a reasonable year this year, making a lot of cuts and securing her card for 2007. Carlie knows she has the ability to take a step up and be a tournament winner. The main areas we are working at are powering her swing up. Technically, Carlie swings the club as good as any player, but the fact is she needs to be more dynamic and hit the ball further. Carlie works hard in the gym and over the past couple of years has developed good core strength and stability. As a result she now has the base to generate more club head speed. We are working with the same power training program developed by Vern McMillan and myself. A combination of The Leaderboard exercises and resistance training using the Club-kite. Carlie's club-head speed at the momement is just under 100mph. She will get that to 105mph in the next few months, and that will equate to an extra 10 to 15 yards off the tee. The net result will be instead of needing to hit 2,4 and 5 irons for second shots, she will need a couple of clubs less and as a result her average distance from the pin will be closer and she will make more birdies. Par 5's will offer more birdie chances when she can comfortably get up around the green for two. Carlie is a hard worker and now with a few years experience of competitive golf behind her I think she is ready to go to the next level.