Choose your own reality.

The facts may not lie but do they provide the whole truth? Exploring alternate realities may be surprisingly helpful. 


We can choose how we perceive any given situation; why not elect to see things in the way that best suits your needs?

Recently friend told me about a long-running argument with his girlfriend; she maintains that "everyone is special" whilst he makes the point if everyone is outstanding, then no-one is. He then asked what I thought.

My opinion?

They're both correct, and in equal measure. Neither has the ascendancy.

Over on the Pro Sports Psychology Forum, Dr E Kingston shows an optical illusion and then provides a set of statistics from a soccer team. He then goes on to give a number of interpretations, all of which are true. 

The full post can be found here: 

http://prosportpsychsym.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/optical-illusions/

This is a liberating realisation; no longer must we be slaves to our first perception of our situation. We always have options (a friend once illustrated this by pointing out that even if we were to find ourselves facing a firing squad we could choose to have our eyes open or closed! An extreme example perhaps, but true nonetheless)

The crucial question then becomes - what is the best way for me to view this situation so that it leads to my advantage? Where is the positive?

My last post was intended to be light-hearted, but not frivolous. Look at the end - all of these are things I've said to help me find the positive in a round that many would have seen as disappointing. I'm frequently teased for relentlessly seeking the positive, but would I really benefit from negativity?  I see it all the time on Twitter - golfers who are way better than the average denigrating their games, talking themselves down incessantly.

To be clear: I'm not advocating attempting to improve through false positivity; I'm not suggesting that you tell yourself things that are untrue but aspirational. You may try that if you wish - but I certainly won't be joining you. Everything I'm saying is true; all I'm doing is examining the facts as they are and then choosing to interpret them in the fashion that drives me forward in the best possible manner. We have a choice in how we interpret any situation; knowing this means we can choose whichever viewpoint is most advantageous.

Or...you could continue to talk yourself down, take the most negative opinion and keep on throwing those clubs.

Just know that if you do, I'll be smiling...it's pretty easy for me to find the advantage in that situation.

Always look on the Bright Side of Golf

Some things in golf are bad
They can really make you mad
You might end up throwing clubs or even worse.
When your ball's amongst the thistles
don't worry, give a whistle
and this'll help things turn out for the best...


And always look on the bright side of golf
[whistled] do-do do-do do-do do-do
It's the bestest way your game could evolve
[whistled] do-do do-do do-do do-do


If golf seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
And that's that it's supposed to be a game
When you've made a triple bogey
Or you're stuck behind a fogey
Please purse your lips and whistle just the same...

And always look on the bright side of golf

[whistled] do-do do-do do-do do-do

It's the bestest way your game could evolve

[whistled] do-do do-do do-do do-do

The game might seem absurd,

if your card's the final word

and you're searching in the rough stuff for your ball

Commit to getting better 

And brush up on your skill set - a

You'll soon take fewer strokes into the hole...

And always look on the bright side of golf

[whistled] do-do do-do do-do do-do

It's the bestest way your game could evolve

[whistled] do-do do-do do-do do-do

Is golf really worth it?

When you look at it

It can frustrate and torment oh that is true

But outdoors in the sun

Can be a lot of fun

Don't let frustration suck the joy right out of you...

And always look on the bright side of golf

[whistled] do-do do-do do-do do-do

It's the bestest way your game could evolve

[whistled] do-do do-do do-do do-do

(come on, cheer up!)

Always look on the bright side of golf

(everyone's been 7 off the tee, you know)

Always look on the bright side of golf

(at least you've had a chance to work on recovery shots)

Always look on the bright side of golf

(Plenty of putting practice today)

Always look on the bright side of golf

(There's always next week's Medal)

repeat ad nausem until fade...

With apologies to Mr Idle, the other members of Monty Python and Brian.

A silly post, but with a genuine sentiment. I hope it will stick in your head as much as it's stuck in mine. The only downside is I'm likely to send my playing partners daft with all the whistling....

What's wrong with your golf swing?

Do you really think your swing's good enough?

Why on earth would you? Look at all the bad shots you've hit, those tops, slices and duck hooks you can't seem to eradicate? The times the divot flew further than your ball?

OK, so there's one or two good shots there from time to time. But that doesn't mean you can play; the ball rarely flies exactly as you envision. Doesn't that define a bad shot, even if you manage to scramble some kind of result?

Do you believe your poor shots result from your poor swing which in turn means you're a poor golfer?

Your shots are bad which means your swing's bad which means you're bad.

No wonder you're frustrated. 

You need a nice big dollop of swing change, a slice of mechanical practice washed down with  video analysis. 

Don't you?

I look at things a little differently. 

I think we've got this back to front.

After all, there are occasions where you've hit the ball beautifully.

You've experienced that odd little frisson when you return to your senses after an effortless swing to see the ball fly as you intended.

You've hit chips and pitches that have left your fellow competitors slack-jawed with astonishment.

You've done this with your current swing. 

So why change? What will you gain from a painful and difficult overhaul of  your swing? Do you really think that swing change will lead to you playing better shots than the ones I've described?

Why then do you feel a need to "fix" your swing? Could a "broken" swing really have given you the moments of pleasure described above?

I think not. Here, instead, is Dr Geek's Swing Critique.

• Are you frustrated because your best swings aren't good enough? 

• Or does your frustration arise because your best swings happen so infrequently?

• Do you really need to fix your swing?

• Or should you be focusing on making your best swings more often?

Starting in competitive golf as a 28 handicapper, I was astonished to find little difference between my best swings and those of 10-15 handicappers. 

The difference in our skill level was obvious from our poor swings, rather than our good ones.

There were obvious differences in both skills and scores. The lower the handicap, the fewer the mistakes. Their misses were less severe and less often and even when then found themselves in real trouble they extricated themselves with minimal damage to their scorecard.

Crucially, their misses were much more predictable. This allowed them to plan their shots taking into account the likely reward and risk scenarios.

Most of us are time-poor. We have jobs, families and commitments which mean we don't have as much time as we would like to devote to our obsession. 

As I've stated above, major swing changes can take a lot of time and dedication to complete. Very few of us have that time to spare. Although we try to convince ourselves otherwise, it's quite  likely life will prevent us following through with it. 

So what happens if we fall off the "Swing Change wagon" ?

Let's see if you recognise this scenario...

Disillusioned and desperate, you head to see a new Pro. He might video your swing; he'll certainly point out all you're doing wrong before starting to set it right. By the end of the session your weak slice has become a draw and you're excited. You make time for the range every night for the next week; although work's busy you're fired up with enthusiasm.

You've got another lesson 2 weeks later. You're at the range twice a week by this stage, which you tell yourself is a manageable minimum...and then life gets in the way. Work's busy; family and friends need your time. You're out of the habit; you spend your spare time  resting and suddenly it's three weeks since you've been to the range...

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not calling your commitment into question.

It's just what happens to us all. Even golf has to take a back seat sometimes. But what happens to our swings?

If we're lucky...nothing. We regress back to our standard swing and forget what we've been taught...if we're lucky.

What's more likely is that we remember bits and pieces of the information we've been given, but we've lost the teacher's framework, the context. We remember our description of the how the swing felt, not realising we may well have distorted this over time. Effect is mistaken for cause. 


In short, we're a mess.

Time lost and financial cost with significant risk of getting worse. Surely there's a better way?

Perhaps we should concentrate on the swings we have rather than the swings we want? 

Maybe we should work towards making our best swings...more often?

If I were to play my best shots 10% more often I'd be delighted.

That figure might seem terribly low to you. But 10% more perfect shots means 10% fewer imperfect ones. And that's not even the main benefit. It'd be impossible to hit the ball beautifully 10% more often without significantly improving control of the club face through impact. This  means  misses would become less severe and more predictable.

You might not need to fix your swing. Scrape away all of the things you've added over the years in an attempt to "improve"  and you might just find it's a whole lot better than you realised. It's all too easy to  focus solely on your  swing and neglect everything else.

Before embarking on a major swing change ask yourself this:

"am I squeezing every last drop of performance from my current ability?"

If the answer's yes, then by all means go ahead and overhaul your swing. But if not, please consider correcting this before taking on a major change.

But you don't have to take my word for it. If you're at all unsure, please feel free to make that change. Particularly if you'll be playing in my club championship. I quite fancy a run at the matchplay stages and would be delighted to see my competition tie themselves in knots.

Seriously though, if you do go ahead and make that change, stay in touch. Drop by halfway through the season and let us know how it's working out for you. I'm always happy to re-examine my ideas in the light of new evidence.

But until then, I know what I'll be doing. I'll be here,working to make what I already have the very best it can be.


Shall we see who gets the most from their efforts?

As ever, I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts should you agree or disagree. Leave a comment down below and  let's start a conversation. 

Tweet me up @The_Golf_Geek at any time for golf related chat. 

Golf tips and drills won't bring you skills...

..but games should do it nicely.

We can't really have fun as we improve...can we?

Let me see if this sounds familiar...

How to fix your swing?

After another frustrating round, you start looking for answers.

The quest begins; you scour golf magazines, search the internet and take advice from anyone who offers. There are long sessions at the range scraping over ball after ball, enduring the pitying gaze of other golfers. Doubt floods in and you start to worry you'll never get it.

And then.

Something clicks. You find the "magic" tip. Suddenly you start to enjoy things again. Confidence returns. Golf is fun once more. You're so delighted you share your discovery with anyone who'll listen. You really feel that you've got it.

Haven't you?

Sadly, you don't. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when things start to slip, but they do. Not to worry, all you have to do is to reapply the magic tip...isn't it? But, much like a sitcom in its fourth season, the magic has gone. An unpalatable truth lies before you.

Your improvement occurred in spite of the tip, not because of it.

It's the boom & bust of tips and drills. The bogus focus on the golf swing as the sum total of golf improvement. A cycle that can repeat in perpetuity, or at least until you throw your clubs into the darkest recesses of your garage.

Frustration is the only guarantee of this approach. I know because I've been there.

This obviously isn't the case when we see a PGA pro. At least then the advice is individualised and fitted to your swing...isn't it?

Not necessarily. Some professionals are married to teaching a system, rather than focusing what an individual might already have. I'm not a golf instructor, so I'm loathe to criticise. However, I'm dubious a complete swing rebuild is what most amateur golfers want or need. Might the frustrations arising from this contribute to the number of golfers leaving the sport each year? It's certainly not a route that I'll be going down.

Or your professional may be keen on video analysis. Again, this is something I'm not sure is as helpful as they may believe. I'm not alone in this; Michael Hebron at Neuro Learning Golf, the Instinctive Golf team and Marc Solomon of Golf Made Simple are prominent doubters.

I started dabbling with golf during an illness enforced absence from work. Progress was slow, but addiction came quickly. I started following the course I've outlined above, peppered with the occasional half hour range lesson. As a return to work loomed I fretted that my hard won skills would dissipate.

But they didn't.

In fact they started developing faster than I'd dared to dream.

Some of this was a matter of reaching the threshold where the ball flew as intended that crucial bit more often...and some was due to sitting down and committing to fitting golf around work and family life.

Some of my development was down to these factors. Some, but certainly not most.

I changed how I practised.

I'd already invested quite some time listening to the Golf Smarter podcast. I'd been very impressed by a number of coaches who appeared to be advocating a paradigm shift in instruction. They wanted to move away from golf's prevalent culture and its limitations. One of their main ideas was to stop the golfer playing "golf swing" and instead get that golfer playing golf. To achieve this, they suggested that golfers start to "practice like they play". This made a lot of sense.

Why should we practice like we play?

Not long before Mrs Geek & I got married, we completed an Advanced Life Support course. This was a very busy course, covering everything from how to press on the chest through passing a tube into the larynx up to delivering the patient to Intensive Care, all over a period of 3 days. It was a mixed group of participants with differing knowledge bases, so the course had a lot of ground to cover.

What's interesting is how this was done. There was a course handbook to be read before we started, then a few lectures and a quick recap of the basics on the first day. But most of the course was running through carefully crafted scenarios designed to cover all of the relevant information.

Repeated simulation of real situations formed the basis of instruction.

The scenarios started off basic, but by the end they were getting more and more complex. The instructors were all excellent at creating and maintaining the correct atmosphere, to the point where you'd feel a genuine pang of sadness any time the dummy "died". As I'm a robust soul and had made no secret of my desire to be an instructor, my scenarios were most complex of all by the end of the course; they even had me trying to manage a situation where a pregnant woman had collapsed into a swimming pool after taking illegal drugs! It was a relief to discover the final test was a bit more straightforward, whilst still covering all of the necessary areas.

It's very different to how golf is traditionally taught.

If we'd been teaching these skills as golf is traditionally taught, we'd probably still be there. We'd be looking at slow motion replays comparing a candidate's chest compressions to an instructors, or flicking through magazines to see how to get the angle of the laryngoscope perfect.

Instead we ran through the algorhythms so often I could recite them in my sleep, and did so in situations far more complex than we would typically see. This led to a much greater understanding of what to do and how to do it. And it worked for everyone, not just those with the greatest knowledge base and experience. One of the best things was how egalitarian it was, putting nurses, doctors and paramedics on an equal footing.

Most of all, it was a lot of fun.

It's pretty obvious it's different from the traditional paradigm of golf instruction. There's good reason for this. It's an internationally recognised qualification which is paid for by the taxpayer. Almost all of the participants were government employees undertaking paid study time. It's also, as you can imagine, an important thing to get right. The course therefore has a huge responsibility to educate participants fully and in the most efficient way. It's essential the education is both efficient and sufficient. I've never heard anyone who's been on one of these courses dismiss it as worthless.

How does this relate to golf?

If repeated simulation of real life scenarios is an effective way to teach health professionals vital skills, then surely it's an effective way to learn golf? It's certainly improved my game and revolutionised my practice. Instead of aimlessly thwacking balls out into the range before scraping over another ball to hit it in the same general direction with the same club, I'm using special shot challenges which challenge me to hit specific shots to order. This is learning how to control the club, which in time will lead to mastery. Done properly, it makes the range a lot closer to the course. This makes it easier to take your "range game" to the course- a frequent lament of golfers. Quite apart from all of that, it makes practice a lot more fun, which is great for those of us who can't always find the time to play 18 but can squeeze in 40 minutes of practice.

Choose your coaches wisely.

A good coach is wonderful to watch in action. I spent a long time looking for my current coaching team, and I couldn't be happier. Their group sessions are very similar to that life support course. There's a brief discussion of the theory behind the desired actions, a run through the basics and thence to repeated simulation of "in-game" scenarios. This often progresses to harder than usual situations, or the deliberate inclusion of pressure (e.g. make x consecutive shots from y feet). Add in a bit of friendly competition and you have an excellent environment for sporting growth that's fair, fun and fit for purpose.

Increased fun, decreased frustration and the confidence that time spent practising will lead to on course improvement. What's not to love?

Let me know your thoughts. You can catch me on Twitter, but did you know that people who comment on blog posts have a 42% greater chance of being thought attractive by the opposite sex?*

*sadly, this isn't true. But it should be. And I really like what you've done with your hair today.

Are you Lost In Space?

The remedy is already in your possession.

Imagine you had a state of the art device which could revolutionise your golf. This device would require some calibration, a brief period of trial and error but after this would be the single most important tool at your disposal. It would be easy to use, cheap to run and best of all would be absolutely free.

You'd use it constantly...wouldn't you?

After all, you'd be crazy to pass up something like this. Why on earth would anyone not want to use it?

And yet most of us completely fail to realise such a system is already in our possession.

It's even thought to be older than our sense of smell.

You can't hear what it's telling you because you've forgotten how to listen and it's hurting your golf game.

It's not the sense that tells your arse from your elbow; instead it gives scrupulously precise information on where your arse is relative to your elbow. It's vital for any pursuit that involves moving any part of the body whilst looking elsewhere.

It's the awareness of the body's posture both at rest and on the move, arising from nerve sensors inside our muscles, tendons and joints. Often known as kinaesthesia or proprioception, it doesn't matter what you call it. Just learn to listen to what it's telling you.

Cultivating our awareness of this sense accelerates acquisition of motor skills. How often have you had a swing lesson, spent some time at the range working on what you thought you should be doing only to find at the next lesson you've got it wrong? Would it not be easier to remember the positions our body should be in when we're aware of how those positions feel? Are we not more likely to be able to repeat the great shot we just hit if we train our position sense to analyse and record the movement? Positional awareness is crucial should we wish to influence any complex sequence of movements.

We have in our possession a complex sense more remarkable than any GPS system and yet we're happy to spend significant amounts on gadgets whilst neglecting our intrinsic hardware. Which of these do you think has more potential to improve your golf?

Once again, I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Thanks for reading!

Go with the flow and you'll feel like a Pro

Is your shot routine a well-oiled machine?

Think of the last professional golf event you watched. Think of the final round where the TV cameras take more time over the players in contention, rather than jumping around with televisual attention deficit disorder. Think of all the times you watched players complete their shot routine. Now think of the last time you played and the routines you saw out on the course.

Imagine someone has taken the trouble to motion capture the shot routine of the entire gamut of golfers, showing them from initial planning until the initiation of the back swing. Do you think that you would be able to tell the professional from the amateur? The single digit handicap from the lucky-if-he's-28?

I'm confident it'd be obvious to anyone who took the time to look. Even if all of the golfers were replaced with a CGI Tiger Woods.

It all comes down to flow.

This dawned on me recently. I found myself behind some novice golfers during a practice round. Their skill level was immediately apparent, even from 250 yards down the fairway. The time they took over the ball was remarkable; it was obvious they were trying to consciously control every part of their swing. There were too many practice swings to count, and then a very long pause before the backswing started with a jerk and a wobble.

Please don't misunderstand my reason for mentioning this. I wasn't harrumphing about the delay, I didn't put my bitch wings up or stride forward to remonstrate.

Instead I watched, waited and pondered. It really wasn't that long ago that I was there, 18 months at most. My last attempt at a medal round has also shown that I still need to be on my guard. If I'm not playing at my best I have a tendency to slow down and try to think my way through my swing. To date, this has never made the situation any better and usually makes it worse.

Think about it - have you found yourself thinking how to do something that's usually automatic and ended up making a mess of it?

As a student, I had a lecture on the anatomy of walking - a pretty interesting topic, not least because computerised analysis of gait patterns was just starting to be used. (I'm showing my age here; we've now reached the stage when similar technology is being used to analyse the biomechanics of the golf swing).

The really fascinating thing is what happened after the lecture. Not one of us was able to walk comfortably. We were clumsily stumbling, bumping into each other as we tried to consciously control something we hadn't thought about for years. I'll never forget the smile on the lecturer's face.

So if trying to consciously control something as fundamental as walking is a disaster, what then are the chances of consciously controlling our swing leading to a good result?

I was practising chipping a couple of weeks ago, working on trying to get balls into a laundry basket. I realised that my best shots were coming when I set up and swung with swiftly unhurried efficiency. These swings were not rushed, but I'd be focused on my target, swing my eyes back to the ball, feel settled (I thought of it as "half a heartbeat", the lub of the lub-dub) then starting the swing. Once again the focus was on propelling the appropriate amount of energy to the target letting the back swing take care of itself. This was very successful, and results improved still further as I concentrated on making the routine flow as slickly as possible.

In other words, I start my swing before I start thinking. The flowing rhythm through the routine allows me to swing reflexively, with my feeling brain rather than under the clumsy control of the higher or thinking brain. Don't get me wrong, the thinking brain has a role in golf, but it's limited to the initial planning phase of the shot routine. It quickly analyses the factors affecting any given shot along with calculating which shot characteristics give the best chance for success. It then decides on the shot, the club and the aim, before handing over the baton to the feeling brain.

Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson at VISION54 probably characterise this best with their Think Box/Play Box concept, going so far as to encourage their players to put down a marker as a decision line whilst rehearsing so that they get used to the discipline of moving from thinking to feeling, of making the decision and then committing to it.

I've struggled with this a bit, as my thinking brain is used to calling all the shots. It's hovering in the background like an IT consultant watching their technophobic partner on the Internet, just dying for the slightest opportunity to take over. By flowing into the routine and executing the shot with swiftly unhurried efficiency, my feeling brain can execute the shot before the thinking brain has even realised what's happened and is still filled with thoughts of the target, by far the most useful place for most if not all of us to park our conscious attention. What do you think most tour professionals are thinking of when they swing? I'm certain that focusing my attention on this area over the winter will yield better results than trying to perfect how I swing a club.

What about you? Is your routine the well oiled machine of the low handicappers at your club? Is it consistent and fluid, running freely from behind the ball to your follow through? Or are you, trying too hard to swing the club precisely through the latest positions in Golf Monthly, or constantly trying to learn how to swing during a round? Can you identify with my experience above?

If you can, why not try it next time you're mucking about chipping. Pick the target, swivel eyes back to ball, tiny pause...then go. Watch the results. Try it at the range if it works in your short game.

It might just be an easy way to look, feel and ultimately play more like a pro.

This is what I'm going to be working on this winter. If you're intrigued and think it might helpful, please give it a go. Please let me know if and how it works for you.

(This post was a re-working of a post that didn't quite work. I'm working through PushingSocial's keys to spectacular blog posts. I can heartily recommend this program and their excellent content. If you're blogging and are new to the game or looking for a way to tzuj up your content, check them out)

First Medal Score: 104

You might think I'd be disappointed with that score, and you would be right. But not in fact that disappointed. Yes, it's at the upper end of my usual range; yes, I want to do better. But frankly I was just too happy to be out to be upset, and I'm finally getting to play with (and watch) battle hardened golfers. And I like what I see.

There was also an awful lot to be happy with. I was pretty nervous about the first drive, particularly as there was a bantering group behind us on the tee. Fortunately Laurence and Charlie noticed this and asked if I wanted to go first- the first of many things for which I'm grateful to this pair. I hit a reasonable shot- a little shorter than usual, a little right of where aimed but this wasn't due to an open club-face as it would usually be. We were playing into a strong headwind. It's not unusual to have wind on the course- after all, it's a links course in the North East of Scotland- but it was in the opposite direction to the prevailing wind. Second shot fell short, third was indifferent, then a chip and one putt for a respectable 5. A good start.

Things went wrong on the second. A drive shorter than my usual, again into the wind. I was about 190-200 out, and therefore decided to play 2 iron shots into the green, in accordance with my pre-round plan. Given the wind and playing from an sharply uphill lie I hit a three quarter 8 iron, and then went to hit a similar 9 iron. I wasn't happy over the ball...but still hit the shot; what Dr Joe Parent describes as an "anyway". As usual, the result wasn't good. I hit a dribbly little top into a bunker, short siding myself. First shot left the ball in the sand, second took way too much sand and only just popped out with a chip and a putt for a 7. I started to get a bit down on myself- we were finishing a hole just before the group ahead tee'd off, so time was not an issue.

Crucially, I didn't see this and didn't realise my focus had gone from the shot and 'feeling' the club-face onto the ball onto not embarrassing myself and not holding things up. From a positive to negative focus, with predictable result. I shanked the next tee shot, a 4H(24 deg) to a par three, into tall grass, put recovery into a deep bunker, hit w-a-y too hard off the back of the green, onto a downslope then hit without deciding between a pitch or a chip, fluffed it, hit a chip with my lob wedge rather than go back to get a more appropriate club before hitting first putt way past and four feet wide, then getting down in tow more.

If that last paragraph seems breathless and rushed, that's because it was. I wasn't stopping and taking my time to focus and think, just wanted it to be over to get finished. But even with getting an 8 with all the time these shots took we still had to wait on the next tee. I deviated from my plan as I'd decided I was going to come out of that particular bunker sideways; whilst it may be OK to deviate from a plan it should only happen after some thought something that was definitely lacking.

Fortunately, I caught myself on my way to the next tee. I realised I was scurrying, hunched over, the body language and gait of a man who wanted it to be over. That's not the way to be on the 17th tee, let alone the 4th. I stood tall, put my shoulders back and loped my customary lope with a smile on my face.

I'd love to say that magically sorted everything out, but of course it didn't. The wind was still blowing, the course was substantially longer from the Medal tees and I was regretting leaving my 6 iron out for a 9 wood. But it made all the difference to my attitude and perception, and I started hitting shots that got genuine approval from my playing partners. It was really interesting to see them. My game is improving, but often they weren't hitting shots that were much better than mine, but they were making better decisions on shot and club selection. It feels a bit like learning to drive a car - once you pass your test you start learning how to drive. I feel like I can really move forward from here, that it might not take too long before scores start improving.

I was out in 57, and came back in 47. I focused much better on shots, and hit some lovely shots into the greens. Despite taking my putter too far back and decelerating (the thing I'm working on this next week!) giving me some difficulty controlling my putts, I putted reasonably well. I did have a few misses from short range, but a shorter stroke will sort that. I largely stuck to my plan, played lots of 3/4 and full 9 irons into the greens with good success, largely held onto my focus apart from the odd shot here and there and it never even occurred to me to think of mechanics between shots. Of the things I've started working on after the Instinctive Golf day, I seem to have adopted the baseball grip without too much distress, my club was almost always square and I seem to be starting to be a bit less rigid at address. The last of these is what's giving me the most difficulty, but it's coming into line. It's important to remember I've only been working on these for a fortnight and I've not been at the range once (although I have hit a few balls in the playing fields near home), so this is really very promising.

What will I change next week? Well, I'll be trying to get to the range to try out my 9 degree driver. The 12 degree is too high for a windy links course, really. The 9 wood will come out of my bag, as it's probably too high to consider, and I'll leave the 24 degree hybrid in. I will try to get out to the 6 hole course with my 4 & 5 irons, as if I can start to hit these reliably, the lower flight they offer means that they should probably be considered for the bag, although I suspect next week will be too early for that. And I do love my 6 wood. I'll be working hard on maintaining focus, and not being quite so rushed onto the first tee. I'm going stretch every day this week, and before the round too. I'll add a bit more variety and fruit to my on course snacks, and drink water more frequently. I'm going to change my plan so that I'll be hitting more full/three-quarter 9 irons into the green. But not that much, really.

At home, it'll be putting, putting, putting, with me trying to explore making a shorter, more positive stroke. If anyone reading has any suggestions on how to accomplish this, I would really appreciate it if you'd leave a comment.

I'd like to finish by thanking my playing partners, Laurence and Charlie, once again for taking me out and offering advice and tolerance. Cheers boys, same time next week?

I'm a happy geek...

...it's not only Hannibal Smith who loves it when a plan comes together. Even the fact that Master Geek appears to be teething and is sitting on my knee at 10.30pm restricting my typing to one handed cannot deflate me.

The amazing thing is that my breakthrough had the most inauspicious of beginnings. I had a pretty lousy day at work, and came home in a mood that refused to lift, despite the best efforts of Mrs Geek. Around 9pm I realised I wasn't going to achieve much, and after some none too subtle hints from Mrs Geek caught up with some angry comedy. I felt a bit bad that I'd not managed any practice but knew that the chances of me managing anything productive were slim.

And yet...the mind is a strange thing. Without realising it, I must've been mulling over this and marrying it to this. As my mood lifted, I had an urge to try this out; My downstairs hall will tolerate anything up to a half swing with anything up to a five iron (this was discovered the hard way. The money to pay the handyman to fix my dents came from my golf fund. The fact I'm still alive to tell the tale tells you how much of a saint my wife is ;-)

Because I've started to practice deliberately, trying to feel my swings, it was easy to feel the right arm extension through the ball and the downward hit; I realised this is what I did when I hit the pitch shots I was happiest with. I then added Terry Koehler's instruction to look at the front edge of the ball if you want to get that crisp, "trapping" strike (more of Terry's instruction can be found here)


I then tried with my eight and five irons, and this was also very promising. I initially used a more pitch-like swing, with the upper and lower body more synchronised. From my time at the range, I know I hit it further if I swing with more of a whip-like action (I feel my lower body turn start first, my upper body lagging a bit more). I did this, and results were again good. To be honest, I'll wait and see which swing is more consistent at the range; I'm pretty sure I can get past the macho nonsense and go for accuracy over distance with my irons. I tried again tonight, and the feeling's still there. And it feels good.

I discovered John Graham (@JohnGrahamGolf) and Jason, the Golf Guru (@onplanegolf) on Twitter, and both are remarkably good teachers.The key for me was the concept that flipping came as a result of "stalling the pivot" and the video evidence both of John's and Jason's showed us exactly what they meant- any ex-golf magazine tip junky knows that "scooping the ball in the air" is bad, but not many can tell you exactly what that means, let alone the way to cure it demonstrated in Jason's blog (John also has drills to stop flipping; he is incredibly involved in the technical aspects of golf, but also very passionate about the need for awareness, something often missed by the more technical teacher).

My suspicion is that, although it may often seem that there are many different theories and ways to swing, a great deal of the variation is due to the same things being expressed in many ways. A truly great teacher won't rest until they have found the correct way to express this so a student gets it (the archetype of this might be the late Mr Penick). Twitter seems to have a number of these teachers, who will not only share their knowledge but also engage with those wishing clarification. I'm a subscriber to the Golf Smarter Podcast too, and there are a great many interesting coaches on there too and the 45 minute average is a good length of time to form an opinion on the methods and theories proposed.

As if that wasn't enough, I had a great run on the putting "leapfrog" to develop putting "touch"- not only did I have my highest score, and my first run with no balls short, I then followed it with a score of 7, with the eighth just sliding past the back marker.

A good couple of evenings all in all, from an inauspicious beginning.

It's been a while...

...life gets in the way of golf far too often. However, I've had some progress. I've had some sessions at the range, using the practice "challenges" suggested by Neil Plimmer and VISION54; these give deep practice, and I do my best to use my full routine on every shot, also picking a target.

I've also been doing putting drills at home- Dr Parent's putting games for touch and feel (his game for touch is suggested in slightly different forms in a few of the blogs I'm following), as well as the "ladder out/cluster back drill" (hit putts, with ball going twice as far each time, and then back to starting point. Do it with eyes closed for an even bigger challenge)

That's the good points. The bad is that I haven't done enough of it yet. Not nearly enough. There is mitigation- I took golf up during a long period of illness, with lots of time off work, nearly three years. I've been returning to work, and am trying to get to full time. I'm getting there, but tired. However, I need golf now, and will try to accommodate it around family life as much as I'm able. With it getting lighter at night this should be easier. Mrs Geek is being fantastic, but I can't ask too much of her; will try to make my medal rounds early Saturday mornings for example.

Have managed at least one practice a week but will try to up that to 2-3 times. Encouraged by results on the course though.

In the past I've had real issues getting my club down square, pushing and pulling the ball to the point where I was almost screaming in frustration. I stared and stared at it until it looked ridiculous whatever I did, like when you spend too long looking at a word and it's alternative spellings until they look like hieroglyphics. And every time I thought I'd got it down, it'd start happening again, and again and again.

And then I decided to forget about it- went for what I term an "outward" focus. I would go through my new routine (from the wonderful Golfer Within series of Roseanna Leaton's) which is select target, abdominal breath whilst blinking once then slow programming swing behind ball, then stepping into my setup, putting club down whilst looking at the target. And then not changing position, not even a little bit. Then one last look at the target, place tongue just behind teeth and focus on keeping it in place, relaxing feet and turning back to the ball, then immediately starting my swing, rather than my old habit of trying to stare thee ball into submission. I have in the past used a clearkey with excellent effect, but I'd started to rush my last one (easy-peasey-lemon-squeezy) and thus my swing, so the tongue trick is taking the place of it just now; I may substitute the phrase "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" if the tongue trick loses it's magic.

Results with this are absolutely fantastic. I feel very positive about this season. Goals include: 4 off handicap and breaking 90. I'd also like to experience the pressure of being in contention in a competition, so I think Stableford competitions are the best chance of that.

I'm also invovled in some very interesting discussions on Twitter (@mightyalmac). Should you happen to chance upon this blog, feel free to look me up.

Statistics tell us that the average handicap has not decreased in 20 years, which probably constitutes a rise in real terms given improvements in clubs,courses and balls.

I am determined to buck this trend- I will improve!
(of course, there are likely to be frustrations along the way- I hope to chronicle these with a degree of humour and humility, but will settle for one out the two ;-)