Buena Vista Golf CourseGolf Venue in Taft, CA

Dream of mastering a perfect swing? I bring 25 years of experience to the green, helping players of all levels unlock their potential and deepen their love for the game.

"Much appreciated. Review: Today I had my second lesson with Taffani. Today’s focus was on my irons. Starting with my pitching/approach wedge moving to my 8 iron, then to my 4 iron. During this session (and every session) we use 1 bucket of balls which takes about an hour with instruction. After I did my warm up stretches, I was ready to begin the lesson. Tiffani took the time to explain the difference between each type of iron (pitching, short iron, and long iron). She explained the difference in stance, ball position, and strike as compared to a driver. * side note* This area has been a pain point for me as my strikes are very inconsistent often resulting in topping the ball, slicing, or hooking the ball. Starting with the pitching wedges, she showed me how to properly stand, how much power to use, and place the ball. One of the priorities she had me focus on as well was how my grip impacted how my club addressed the ball. She rotated the club so that I could properly address the ball with my grip. It felt weird at first as I have a strong grip and she correct my club to look as if I were going to strike it going far left. She explained that my grip tends to open up and this correction would result in a straight ball. HOLY COW if she wasn’t right. I hit about 12 balls and 10/12 were straight, and high. She then challenged me to lower the power and focus on hitting a 50’ marker. This was a struggle as I am still learning to adjust my power, but within 5 balls I was able to get within 10’ of the marker. The next portion was the short irons, specifically the 7 iron as we didn’t want to use the 9 as it was in close proximity to my pitching wedge. The same experience was had where I was constantly hitting the ball straight, which again was not something I had experienced prior to this lesson. I did manage to hit a fade and Tiffani explained that my shoulders were off causing the fade. She provided an in-depth lesson on how this translates in a golf game. That going straight isn’t always practical but putting a draw or fade provides accurate ball placement when needed. *this is something I have seen on youtube but it has never been explained* I proceed to try to change my stance to draw or fare the ball and I do. I was very happy learning this new skill and now I have an advanced technique I can practice. The last portion was with the long irons, specifically my 4 iron. Truthfully the struggle was real. She showed me how my stance should change, and how to place the ball compared to my short irons versus my driver. Again, this has been a pain point for me as I have avoided using these irons and I can never hit the ball correctly and the club I have causes a lot of pain when I miss. Once the stance and ball location was understood I kept topping the ball. Strikes were decent as they were forward moving, but I kept topping the ball. Tiffani noticed the struggle and gave me a memory of wise words given to her by her grandfather about watching the ball. As I was striking I would look up to see where the ball was going rather than striking the ball THEN looking for the ball. This caused my body to lift up the club resulting in topping the ball. With this small correction, I began striking the ball, getting the proper lift and distance. I walked away with a lot of information about my swing and now have focus points to maximize my time on the range. To me this is the most important part of any lesson. What do I take away and how do I recognize what I am doing wrong so I can adjust on the next strike. Thank you again Tiffani for providing an insightful, fun, and welcoming learning environment. You make learning fun which is the most important part of any coaching program.